Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, this is an alternate universe fan fiction, in which I have used characters, places, quotes and the story from the BBC TV show which I do not own.

A/N: Without further ado, since there had been a lot of ado in my life at the moment.

No-One Knew

~MERLIN~

After about twenty minutes of companiable silence, the turrets of Camelot's castle could be seen, bright and majestic between the green of the forest.

"I trust you will be able to make your way back?"

Arthur nodded in return, obviously looking at him in a new light. "Until we meet again."

They both stared at each other, making a silent alliance of friendship and trust.

"Your city is waiting."

Merlin watched as Arthur started to make his way to Camelot, and made himself invisible, following him.

Just in case.

Once Arthur was safely inside the city walls, Merlin caught himself staring at the castle with longing, and willing himself to turn away. In the end, logical reasoning won out. If he went in like this, questions would arise. He would return tomorrow morning making sure that he was no longer wearing the cloak that Arthur identified Emrys with, and that he had a bag with him - he was supposed to be traveling after all.

The walk back to the cave was taking much longer than the same distance from it with a companion, Merlin decided. Maybe he should keep a pet?

His internal musings almost made him not notice the group of figures standing in front of him, about fifteen to twenty in number. They were actually the nearest people (excluding Arthur) had been to his dwelling, as it was heavily guarded with numerous enchantments, almost as much as he had put on Arthur's chambers: no one who was not a trusted member of the castle would be able to find it.

He could immediately identify them as druids from their attire and their aurae, but they were not one of the many camps he was familiar with. But that was not what was occupying his mind at the moment. All of them, each and every one, the infants and the elderly alike were kneeling down on one knee, as a loyal knight would do in front of his king. What more but that they were bowing down to him. He was left speechless at the display.

They stayed that way for several moments, before rising one by one. When all of then were standing, and staring at them with something alike to wonder in their eyes, one stepped forward. "Greetings to you, my liege Merlin, High King of the Druids, and Mage Thaumaturge. We are honoured to be in your presence."

"And I yours." Merlin replied somewhat weakly. "But please, there is no need for bowing and the..." he waved his arms about trying to convey frivolity and absurdness of the whole thing without being rude. "...titles. I am just like anyone else."

Merlin stood a little ruefully, as all, save the younger generation who didn't understand, gaped at his reply in awe. He fidgeted a bit, trying to find a way out of the spotlight, when he caught sight of one of the younger children, who had a sling across her arm.

He went and knelt by her on instinct, forgetting the situation he was in and quite oblivious to all the attention he was getting. "Hey, what is your name?" he asked gently.

"Lena." she whispered to Merlin with a expression that Merlin could not decipher.

"Lena, that's a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. What happened to you arm Lena?"

"Well, father and brother, and I, we had to go to Camelot, even though it is supposed to be scary and dangerous, cause..."

Merlin listened to the young girl's tale with fascination. How different and wonderful life is through the mind of a child.

"...and then Gaius put this on me. It hurt much less after he helped me, but it still hurts sometimes and it is really annoying cause I'm not allowed to run around and play!"

Merlin grinned at hearing the story Isuilder had told him once more. "Would you like me to fix it for you?"

He received a gasp in return, "Can you?"

"Of course, and it won't hurt a bit!"

She thrust her hand forward, and Merlin chucked at her enthusiasm.

"So how do you like Camelot, Lena?" have asked curiously.

"It's great! It so pretty and colourful and lively! You can buy anything in the market, and there's lots of place to play games! And the castle! It's so big and the people inside it are so nice. Especially the King. He is really kind, and he told the mean people to let us go. He gave us more food too!"

"That's great! He has become a great person hasn't he?"

"Do you know him?"

"Yes, I do. Would you like to hear a story about him?"

"Yes please!"

"Well, many years ago, when King Arthur was only a prince and the King was Uther, there was a meeting between two kingdoms.

The two kings met in Camelot to reconcile and become allies again. After the meeting was over, there was a huge feast. Everything was going well, when one of the servants of the other kingdom told the servant of Prince Arthur that she had seen her king lace the prince's goblet with poison.

Now, since Arthur's servant was very loyal to him, the servant stopped Arthur drinking it in front of everyone. The kings were very angry so made the servant drink from the goblet. The servant did, knowing that Arthur would be safe if he did so, and fell to the floor unconscious. He was taken to the court physician, who told Arthur that if the servant wasn't given the antidote in time, he would die. But the antidote was a flower which only grew in a cave in a forest far away from Camelot.

The servant would have surely died, if not for the prince, who fought Uther and snuck out on the quest for the flower. When he got to the caves, he defended a woman against a dark creature. This woman took Arthur into the caves, saying that she knew where the flower grew. But when they saw the flower, she revealed her true form. She was Nimueh, the high priestess who had corrupted because of hatred and pain, and she trapped Arthur in that cave, clinging to to the walls, and left him to the mercy of these huge spiders. It was dark, so dark that he could not see where he was going or where the spiders were. So someone sent a light to help guide him, which urged him go on without the flower.

But you know what, the good man, would not, and did not leave the cave without the flower."

"He saved the servant."

"Yes."

"That was a really good story. It was true wasn't it?"

"Yes. Arthur will become the greatest king to have ever ruled."

The was a moment of silence when Merlin watched the little girl contemplate the story.

Then suddenly, she gave a surprised gasp.

"My arm, you fixed it!

Merlin chuckled. "That I did."

She gave a trill of excitement and ran over to her friends, promptly reminding him as to where he was.

"Thank you, my lord." one of the elders said.

"Please, my friends just call me Merlin. Or Emrys if they are any of the druids of this forest. I do not recognise your clan, where do you come from?"

"We are originally from the forests of Camelot, but Uther's tyranny made us abandon our sacred dwellings and leave for the deep south were we might live in peace. Today, we can return to the place that has been our home for many generation, thanks to you, Emrys."

Merlin smiled at that, not only as he didn't use any titles, but because his efforts were paying off. "I am glad, welcome home. Where will I be able to find you?"

"We will set our camp in the clearing an hour east of here. If you do not mind me asking, which part did you play in the story?"

The corners of Merlin's eyes crinkled as his face melted into a heartwarming smile. "I was the servant. I was also the light-sender."

"Does he know?"

Merlin shook his head, "One day... if anything troubles you, you need only call me and I will come. May the magic of the old religion shine upon all of you."

"And you. Until our next meeting."

They spread apart to let Merlin go on his way. He smiled at them and ruffled Lena's hair as he went past, giving a final wave to the children, and making his way back to the cave with a happy heart in place.

A/N: So the reason this took so long was because I wrote another Merlin fan fic for Hope Lions' Secret Santa for Aaronna, a talented writer with some great ideas, who also happens to be one of my faithful readers and reviewers! (Thank you Aaronna!) It is on my profile by the name of To lose all you Love and I would love to hear your thoughts. I am planning on updating that story in the future too, but for now, I promise to focus my attention back to this one. Thanks for reading!