Merlin woke extra early and was actually on time in waking up Arthur. He was incredibly exited to see the knights and couldn't wait until the meeting. Arthur and Merlin headed down to the throne room where Percival, Gwaine, Leon, Elyan, and Mordred were waiting. Arthur and the knights talked and bantered slightly for 15 minutes before there was a knock at the door. Arthur took a seat in the throne and looked to see his knights assembled beside him.

"Be respectful," Arthur said, glaring at Merlin "enter," Arthur said looking expectantly at the door.

Three knights entered the room. They wore solemn expressions, but Merlin could hardly contain his excitement. The knights in front of him were Sir Jacob, Sir Gabriel, and James. James was Merlin's best friend in Altair. He had short blond brown hair, and was Merlin's height. He looked into the room and observed the knights standing around Arthur. His shoulders were tense and he stood close to Gabriel. He was not a knight when Merlin left when he was 12, but 10 years was along time, and it looked like a lot had changed. The first thing Arthur did was tell them to recount their story. Gabriel, the tallest knight, with long reddish blonde hair, did most of the talking. He appeared to be the leader of the three and the others looked to him to give the orders. Jacob piped up when he forgot bits of the story, but other that than he remained silent. James stood beside them and surveyed the room. Merlin smiled looking at him. He and James had spent all their time together. Merlin knew everything about James and James knew every thing about him. James had a similar appearance to Merlin; when in Altair they were always mistaken for brothers. James had longer hair than Merlin, his hair covered a scar just visible through his bangs.

Merlin remembered exactly how he gotten that scar. The two of them had been wandering through the woods when they came to short cliff over a river. James slipped and fell in hitting his head on a rock. Merlin scrambled down the steep embankment and pulled his unconscious friend out. He pulled off his neckerchief and bandaged the cut before using magic to take him back to the city to be healed. Merlin shook his head and returned to the present watching the knights of Altair.

James eyes eventually landed on Merlin. His eyes widened and he gasped, Merlin smiled at him but quickly shook his head and pointed at Arthur. The other two knights look at James in confusion. James pulled the closer to him and whispered the new revelation to them. Their eyes widened in shock before they nodded their head in understanding. They glanced quickly at Merlin before continuing their story. The story finally came to an end. Arthur slowly nodded as he processed the information.

"Sire," Gabriel stated, "If you are to fight with us, you should know that we are a kingdom of magic. The prince himself has magic. We believe that magic is like a tool, and it is the people that make it evil or good."

Arthur grimaced at that. "You are right to tell me this, it is something I need to know." Arthur paused here before continuing, "I don't like magic and it is banned in Camelot, but I am willing to ally myself with it in order to fight with you in this."

"Thank you," said the knights, "we are in your debt."

"In the mean time, do you need help finding your prince?" Arthur questioned. At this the knights looked slightly panicked.

"No, its fine," replied sir Jacob quickly, "we found him last week in Essetir."

"Alright if that is all, then my manservant Merlin will lead you to your chambers," Arthur said gesturing to Merlin.

"Follow me," Merlin directed walking out of the chambers. As soon as they rounded the corner a hesitant voice called to Merlin.

"Sire," Jacob called. " is it really you?"

Merlin turned to face them. "Yes, but no titles, I don't like them, and know one knows about me either,"

"Merls!" shout James joyously and hugs him.

"Can't…breathe," gasps Merlin wiggling out of the embrace. He smiles at the knights. Tears started forming in his eyes. He was so happy to see the knights and his best friend.

"Okay, this is fantastic and all," James said, "but did I hear the king call you his manservant? How is that possible? You should be a knight, even at 12 you were better that all of your fathers best knights, sorry Gabriel," James says giving an apologetic glance in Gabriel's direction.

"Okay, well first of all, Arthur does not know of my skill with a sword, I thought it would be too close to my true identity. He thinks I am a farm boy from Ealdor. The only reason I am his manservant is because I saved his life." The knights nodded. It made sense so far. James grinned, that was merlin. He practically saved someone's life everyday.

"Do you still have your sword? And have your been training?" Gabriel asked.

Merlin's eyes flashed gold as he uncloaked his sword. "Yes, of course I've been training. I just train in a clearing a short walk from Camelot" he said answering Gabriel's question.

"Can we see?" asked Jacob, curious as to whether his friend improved over time.

"Yeah, sure, follow me," Merlin stated walking to the edge of Camelot. He recloaked his sword on the way there, not wanting to take any chances. Merlin and the knights soon arrived in the clearing where Merlin proceeded to uncloak his sword and the dummies. Merlin went to the center of the clearing while his knights stood off to he side. He fought all 9 dummies and finished even quicker than his usual time. He then fought the dummies using his sword and his magic at the same time. All 9 dummies were annihilated in under a minute.

Jacob whistled appreciatively, "Wow…you have gotten better,"

"Yeah, a lot better," Gabriel added, with a smile.

"You wanna try?" Merlin asked eying the knights.

"Sure," they replied in unison. Jacob went first, eying the dummies warily. He swung his sword in graceful arcs and quick slashes, defeating the dummies in just over eight minuets. Gabriel went next. He had a more brutal fighting style, using quick jabs and short slashes. Then followed James, he was the youngest of the knights, and very nimble he dodged and slashed through the dummies in quick succession. They finished in similar times. Gabriel was the fastest of the three at seven and a half minutes. Merlin recloaked his blade and the dummies before leading them all back to the castle and to their rooms.