My apologies for this chapter being so late, all of my time has been taken up by personal stuff that I won't say because they're are boring and trivial things(i.e. applying colleges sucks). Thank you so much for waiting this chapter, I know that it has been over a month since the last update. Please don't hate me. Thanks for the reviews, unfortunately I don't have time to personally reply to them right now. I will try to get the next chapter as soon as possible, it won't take longer than a week, scout's honor. Now read the dang chapter, I honestly don't know why you'd be reading this, you lovelies have been waiting for this update long enough!

Chapter 10:

"Merlin!" Elaine called, rushing across the courtyard while holding up the folds of her skirt to keep from tripping. "Gaius!" She hurried to catch up with them, garnering their attention, and grabbing onto Merlin's arm to slow his steps. "Is it true? Did Arthur really kill a unicorn?"

Merlin nodded grimly, "It's true." He was surprised by her reaction, her hand fell away from his arm and she recoiled away from as if she was afraid of being too close.

"Oh no," She said softly, her eyes went to Gaius. "This is bad. Terrible. Horrible." She glanced away with a confused expression, "Atrocious?" She mouthed, wondering if the adjective could be applied.

Merlin snapped out of her thoughts, "Elaine, have the dust fumes been getting to your head?" He asked, looking at Gaius for help.

"First of all, there are no such things as dust fumes." Elaine glowered at Merlin, not liking the look he was giving her. "Second of all, don't you know about the curse? Kill a unicorn, and a curse will befall on you. Did Gaius not tell you?" Her blue eyes went to the elderly man.

"Of course I did." Gaius replied, affronted that she would think otherwise. "Your rambling was very unclear, and confusing to Merlin."

Merlin made a noise of exclamation, "I- That's not true!" He sulked when Gaius raised his eyebrow at him. "It didn't have to be pointed out." He tried explaining to their disbelieving faces.

"Don't pout, Merlin. We have more important things to worry about." She nudged her friend, "Like the curse that is now on Arthur."

Merlin's lips turned down, "Maybe there is no curse. There haven't been any sign of it. The curse could just be a myth."

Elaine fought her instincts to say something too overtly sarcastic, "And maybe everything will be sunshine and daisies from here on out." She pursed her lips after speaking, Merlin giving her a sharp look. "Alright, fine. Maybe there could be no curse, but highly doubt it."

Merlin glowered at her, "Thanks for that. I'm sure it took a lot of effort."

Elaine grinned mischievously, feeling proud with how she could poke at Merlin. "It did actually, thank you for noticing."

Merlin shook his head, a faint smile on his face. He wouldn't have admitted it, but Elaine had grown on him—like mold. He looked over at Gaius, the man had been watching them a furrowed brow, his famous look of disapproval and judgement stuck on his face; it also could have been his normal look, Elaine still wasn't sure, but she did know that she received the look a lot from him recently. "Gaius, what do you think? Is there a curse?"

Gaius nodded solemnly, "Unicorns are magical creatures, and it never bodes well for anyone who destroys their life."

Elaine turned to Merlin, nudging him to face her, "Tell me what happened while you were with him." Elaine prompted, she figured there was something in the story that would give them a definitive answer about the curse. The signs had to be there whether Merlin recognized them or not.

"Arthur killed the unicorn," Merlin answered hastily, not understanding why she was asking and believing it to be redundant.

Elaine winced and her eyes squeezed tight, "Besides that." She spoke softly and her eyes reopened after a pause. "Think, Merlin. Start from the beginning."

"Fine," Merlin stopped in his stride and pulled her to the side of the hall into a little alcove. "Arthur sent me into the grove first," He clarified. "As bait."

Elaine instinctively rolled her eyes at Merlin's tone. Reasonably, she knew Arthur would never put Merlin in any real danger, but Arthur's lack of regard for him knew no bounds. "And…?"

"I went in and found the unicorn." Merlin's blue eyes glimmered like he was seeing it for the first time again. "It was beautiful."

"Then it ran away when it saw you?" Elaine suggested, trying to draw him out of his had been trying to picture the scene and found she could see the unicorn in startling detail, they fact brought back unwanted memories.

"No, it came to me." He replied in an awed tone, his eyes returning to their usual glimmer as the scene faded from both of their minds. "Or I went to it. I can't remember it exactly."

Elaine eyebrows rose slightly, "It didn't run from you?' She had learned that unicorns tended to be cautious creatures and would generally run from men. Unless…

"No," Merlin was confused as to why she seemed so surprised by this account. "It allowed me to pet it even."

Elaine's brows had risen comically, almost to her hairline, and her lips were fighting to keep her grin away. "The unicorn allowed you to pet it?" She repeated, slowly nodding her head to get her mind around the idea forming.

"Yes?" Merlin answered, but his confusion made it sound like a question. His eyes darted towards Gaius a few paces away, the man was no help to him, instead was staring fixedly at a crack in the stone wall. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

"It's not-" Elaine responded quickly, vigorously shaking her head. "It's just… Well." She chuckled lightly, "Unicorns won't put themselves in dangerous situations unless they are drawn to something."

"Well?" Merlin questioned, wondering why she hadn't elaborated further. Elaine usually jumped at the chance to prove her knowledge over Merlin's. "What are they drawn to?"

Elaine licked her lips nervously, her cheeks beginning to redden, but it was too late to turn back now despite her embarrassment. Merlin's would be too amusing. "Unicorns are very innocent creatures and tend to be drawn towards other innocents." Her grin broke across her face, causing Merlin to become suspicious. She continued, "Others that are pure of body. Like children and…" She cut herself off, pointedly looking at Merlin. She hadn't even needed to finish, her impish grin and redenned cheeks made Merlin able to finish it in his head.

He made a sharp noise of exclamation and took a step back, immediately taking a step forward again as if he couldn't decide which would be better. He shifted on his feet and his hands couldn't decide if the they be in front of or behind his back. His ears turning bright as Merlin sputtered for a reply, "Oh! Huh? Is that right? Um-"

"It's right." Elaine interjected, humorously watching Merlin squirm under her gaze.

"Uh- I think it was meant for… like—" He vaguely waved his hand, his mind scrambling for a solution to this. "—pure of mind? Yes, that's it. I have a very innocent mind and-"

"Your mind is not that innocent."

"Yes!" Merlin argued, "Yes, it is. And I don't think you implying that-"
Elaine giggled and covered her mouth, "What is it I'm implying?" She questioned, feigning her own innocence.

"You're implying that I'm- ah!" He cut himself before finishing, a bashful smile lighting his face. He pointed an accusing finger at the girl, "You almost got me there!"

Elaine broke into a fit of giggles, "Almost got you where?"

Merlin shook his head at her endearing behavior, "You think you're so clever, don't you? You and Arthur could be family with the way you treat me so." He muttered under his breath, "Arrogant prats."

"Merlin!" Gaius called out, affronted and surprised by his words.

Elaine's giggles renewed by the two, she waved off Gaius's attention.

"What?" Merlin demanded, he believed she should be the one getting scolded.

"Manners!" Gaius said to him entreatingly, "She is a Lady!"

"Really?" Merlin scrutinized Elaine, his next response made her giggles turn into howls of laughter. "Does she know that?" He asked with faux concern.

"Merlin! You can't speak to her like that!"

"She was just speaking about my virginity!"

"So you are one!" Elaine yelled louder than she expected, prompting Merlin to try to get her to be quiet. "I knew it! Well, I didn't know it, technically, until like the whole unicorn thing. Honestly, I had been very in the middle about this. I had assumed that most men your age had already, but then I saw the girls from Ealdor and… well, they weren't horrendous. They did smell, but then again, you usually do too. And with Arthur-"

"Would you stop?!" Merlin interrupted her babbling nonsense, he was growing more red and irritated as she spoke. Elaine ceased her incoherent talking at his harsh tone, he glanced away from her. "I have to get back to Arthur. He's expecting lunch." Merlin gave Gaius an exasperated look as he strode away.

Elaine crossed her arms, watching as Merlin's long legs hurried to get away from her. She pursed her lips, "I just mucked up things, didn't I?" Gaius gave her a look that said that she would be repenting this for the next few weeks. "Yeah, thought so."

After spending the next few days awfully alone with Gwen spending her time trying to fix everything and Merlin doing everything he could to avoid Elaine, she decided that it was time for an intervention of sorts. Mostly, her trying to push past Merlin's awkwardness with as much force as necessary.

Elaine knocked on the door that led to the Physician's quarters, when she didn't hear a reply, she went inside. The first room was completely empty, but she could hear Merlin's voice coming from the back room. Steeling her courage, she walked up the stairs and entered his room. "Merlin, I think-"

"Elaine!" He practically jumped out of his skin, the book that had been in his lap tumbled to the ground when he abruptly stood.

"Merlin!" She teased, voicing the same surprise tone he had when he said her name. She leaned against the doorframe as her eyes scoped around, finding it odd that until this moment Elaine had never actually seen his room.

Merlin put his hand on his bedpost and leaned against it uncomfortably, "What are-" He adjusted his voice to sound more masculine. "What are you doing here?"

Elaine's eyes narrowed on him, he was acting stranger than usual. "We need to talk." She closed the door behind her and looked for somewhere to sit. She tossed a shirt off of Merlin's bed and sat down where it had been resting. She looked back at Merlin, furrowing her brow as she did. "Sit, Merlin. You look like you're about to faint."

He made a move to argue, but after seeing her expression, he complied. "What are you doing here?" He repeated his unanswered question, his voice returning to normal.

"I came to see if you are doing anything about the crops and water. Obviously the curse is real." She sighed and leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees. "Gwen is going to collapse from all the work she is putting herself through." She gave a hard look at Merlin, "And you aren't looking much better than her."

"I'm fine," He rebuked, waving away her concerns.

Elaine propped her chin with her fist, giving Merlin a steady look that showed how much she didn't believe him." No, you're not." She pointed at the bucket of sand and discarded book of magic. "You're using too much of your energy on this. You won't be much use if you continue like this."

"What am I supposed to do?" Merlin entreated to her, "Nothing seems to help and I need to fix this." He picked his book back off of the ground and opened it in his lap.

Elaine put her hand on his wrist to stop his thumbing through the pages, "Listen." His blue eyes looked up to meet hers. "If this isn't working then we just need to figure out another solution that will work. It'll be okay, this is just everyday for us." Merlin nodded and she moved her hand off of him, "We need oranges." She spoke suddenly, her voice raising an octave. "They always helped me after I spent a day using my magic. Their good energisers."

Merlin smiled as his eyes lit up, "When did you spend a day using magic?"

"Days." She corrected, tilting her head to side and clenching her hands. "Plural, technically." She chuckled breathily, "But that story is for another time."

"Elaine, do you have secrets?" Merlin teased; he meant the question to be taken as a joke, but when her face turned to stone and her body tensed, he wished to take it back.

"Everyone does."

The door opened and Gaius entered, interrupting Elaine from saying anything else. Despite his old age, his shrewd eyes took in their close proximity and uncomfortable expressions with disapproval. "I was hoping you might be trying to turn it back to water." Gaius told him, nodding his head at the bucket of sand. "I know I've cautioned against using magic, but if ever there was a time to use your talents, it's now."

"I wish I knew how. I've tried everything." He glanced at Elaine and gestured his hand at the book. "If it is magic, it's more powerful magic than I possess."

Gaius and Elaine shared a look as Merlin read through his book, both wondering how the curse would be broken if not by his magic. It wasn't until the sun started going down that Merlin took a break from trying to turn the sand back into water.

He set the book aside next to some fresh orange peels; stretching his arms above his head, he exhaled loudly. "I better go find the rat that has infiltrated Arthur's chambers."

"There's a rat?" Elaine asked interested at the prospect, sitting up on his bed. She had taken liberties while watching him fumble with his magic, even took a nap while he was busy. Elaine had brought a more comfortable blanket from her chambers, once she saw the coarse one he had before, along with the oranges she bribed the cook for.

"Yeah, that's what I just said."

"Can I come?" Elaine jumped off of his bed and followed him out of his room.

Merlin made a face, "Why?" He asked Elaine, perplexed on why she would be excited to see a rat, he thought she would be horrified with the idea.

Elaine grinned, "Because I want to see the rat that would dare to challenge Arthur's wrath." She waved her fist in the air for extra emphasis, making Merlin laugh.

After having a rather unsuccessful time trying to catch the rat, Merlin and Elaine headed back across the courtyard. At one point they had managed to catch the infernal beast behind a curtain in Arthur's room, but when they pulled the curtain back, it had hissed at them so ferociously that they both yelled and moved out of its way quickly. Things quickly went downhill from there.

"Merlin, you do realise there is a curfew?" Arthur's voice yelled out as he strode towards them from the gate, the guard leaving for their patrol behind him. His eyes widened slightly when he saw Elaine was with him. "Elaine? What are you doing with Merlin?"

Elaine smiled at the sight of the prince, "We were rat hunting." She answered bitterly, still upset that the creature had managed to escape their clutches.

"Yeah, we were trying to get the one in your chambers." Merlin elaborated at Arthur's confused expression

"Did you find it?" Arthur asked, directing his question at Merlin as he reached them.

"No," Merlin replied as he and Elaine's shoulders slouched from the dismal answer.

"So you two have been outwitted by a rat?"

"They do say rats are very intelligent." Merlin told Arthur, looking at Elaine for help.

She nodded readily, "Yeah, they do. I have heard that."

Arthur stared her down, "Elaine," He prompted, his tone very eloquently voicing how much he didn't care about a rat's intelligence. "Go home. You too, Merlin. I don't need the embarrassment of having to lock up my own servant for breaking curfew."

Arthur's eye caught sight of movement from one of the halls that branched out of the courtyard. "What was that?" He inquired them, causing both of their heads to turn to see what he was fixated on.

"What?" Merlin repeated, tilting his head to get a better look.

Arthur touched Merlin's arm, then took off at a run towards where he had seen a figure disappear. Merlin was only a step behind, used to having to chase after the prince. Elaine was annoyed that they would just leave her behind, but after picking up her skirt, she followed after them. Arthur and Merlin easily followed after the hooded figure, jumping down the steps that led into the lower floors of the castle. Elaine didn't have their long legs and wasn't as agile in her dress, but they eventually managed to trap the stranger in the catacombs.

There was light coming from one of the halls, but everything else was illuminated by moonlight. Arthur pointed at Merlin, then down one the halls. He made a circular motion as Merlin nodded in understanding. Arthur pointed at the steps after looking at Elaine, she did the same as Merlin even though she had no idea what Arthur was miming.

Arthur stalked down one of the halls, abruptly turning around when he noticed Merlin and Elaine following. He grabbed onto his servant's arm, doing the motions again this time in Merlin's face. "That means you go the other way and cut him off." He spoke angrily, and gently shoved Elaine towards the stairs, "Wait there. Let no one past you."

"Okay," Merlin replied, and hurried to follow his orders.

Elaine crossed her arms, "Why do I have to wait here? I'm not a child."

Arthur frowned, "Would you rather come with me?" He asked, knowing how to get Elaine to back down. "This way?"

"I-" Elaine paused, her eyes catching sight of the tombs of fallen knights that lined the walls. It was the same in the direction Merlin left in. "No, you're probably right. I should wait here." She stepped back towards the stairs, accidently bumping into the iron railing. When she looked up again, he was gone.

A few minutes later, Merlin reappeared, jogging from back from his hall and giving Elaine a befuddled look. Arthur was back before Merlin could have said anything.

"He was right here!" Arthur yelled at Merlin, gesturing with his hands then pointing an accusing finger at Merlin. "If you let him past you-"

Elaine stood up from the stairs, putting herself between Arthur and Merlin. "Don't blame him! It's not his fault you're chasing after a shadow."

"A shadow?!" Arthur repeated incredulously, his finger now pointing at her. "He was right here! You must have let him past you!"

"Nobody has been here except for us!"

"Are you blind?!"

"Are you looking for me?"

Three heads whipped towards the soft voice that spoke out, an elderly man in a grey cloak and holding a large staff with antlers at the end stood calmly as the three adolescents tried registering what they were looking at.

"I told you it wasn't a shadow." Arthur muttered out of the corner of his mouth to Elaine, she was too busy gaping at the familiar figure to rebuke the prince's smugness.

"I am Anhora, keeper of the unicorns." The ethereal man told them as Arthur and Merlin turned to face him, Elaine letting their shoulders obscure her view.

Arthur gave Merlin a look, he obviously he wasn't impressed by the humble man and his title. "Camelot's under curfew. What's your business here?"

"I have come to deliver a message."

Elaine took another step back, her hand reaching out to grasp onto the back of Arthur's jacket. He took no notice of her hand, "And who is this message for?' His voice had gone into neutral tones, the same tones he would use to speak to irritable diplomats.

"It is for you, Arthur Pendragon."

Arthur walked towards the figure, ignoring Elaine's hand trying to keep him from getting any closer, his voice going low from his pique. "Is it you who is responsible for killing our crops and turning our water into sand?"

"You alone are responsible for the misfortune that has befallen Camelot."

"Me? You think I would bring drought and famine on my own people?" Arthur questioned furiously, Merlin noticed Elaine flinch in the corner of his eye.

"When you killed the unicorn, you unleashed a curse." Anhora's soft tones were like cool water compared to Arthur's fiery ones, the man wasn't fazed by the prince when most people would be apologizing profusely by now for any grievances. "For this, Camelot will pay dearly."

"If you have put a curse on Camelot, you will lift it, or you will pay with your life."

"The curse is not my doing."

"Undo the curse, or face execution." Arthur clarified without needing to, taking more steps towards Anhora, He spoke the threat easily with measured low tones.

"Only you can do that." Anhora told him, not stepping back from the prince. "You will be tested."

"You're under arrest." Arthur told him, but when his hand reached out for Anhora, he had vanished into thin air. Arthur's head spun around, searching for him, but didn't find him until Anhora spoke aloud.

"Until you have proven yourself, and have made amends for killing the unicorn, the curse will not be lifted." Anhora said, standing at the top of the stairs, looking down upon the three of them. Elaine couldn't help thinking that he played the vengeful spirit facade very well. "If you fail any of these tests, Camelot will be damned for all the eternity."

Afternoon light streamed through the castle and casted its glow on the white stone walls, Elaine hurried down the steps to meet Merlin in the courtyard. The servant was dismounting his horse while Arthur was handing off his horse to a stableboy. "Merlin," She called, catching up to him easily as Arthur strode past her into the castle to seek out his father. "What happened?" She questioned, her eyes not leaving Arthur until he was out of sight, his face seemed to have been cast down and his body tense from pique.

Merlin frowned, his eyes were also on Arthur. "He failed the test."

Elaine gasped and grabbed onto Merlin's arm to snap him out of his stupor, "He- What?" She furrowed her brow and gripped onto him tighter. "What happened? Things were going so well. He passed last night's test."

Merlin moved her hand off of his arm, frowning at its harsh touch. "I don't know, he ran off in the forest and when I found him the test was already over."

Elaine's face twisted from irritation, stepping away from Merlin. "I told you that it would be a bad idea to go seek out Anhora. I said: Bad idea, do not go looking for trouble. It never works out well."

Merlin made the same face as her, "That's cause you never gave me any real reason. " He reminded her, incredulous with her agitated behavior not believing she had any liberty to it.

"I shouldn't have to, Merlin." She replied, believing that her anger was justified, maybe a little bit misplaced. "You should trust me, and know that I have as much at stake here as you do."

"I do trust you," Merlin replied, perplexed as to why she would say otherwise. "Have I ever done something to make you think that I didn't?" Elaine didn't give an answer, choosing instead to glower at him. "Exactly. So why are you acting strangely?"

Elaine glanced away from him, "I'm not acting strangely." She argued, but the words sounded false even to her own ears.

Merlin gave her a bewildered look, "You just accused me of not trusting you!"

"Okay!" A blush crept onto her cheeks, her eyes meeting Merlin's with reluctance. "I might know a little bit more than I'm saying." She spoke quietly purposefully, hoping that he would drop the subject if he didn't hear her correctly; it didn't work.

Merlin pursed his lips and glanced around the practically empty courtyard, he crossed his arms and stepped closer to Elaine. "What do you mean?' He asked, lowering his voice, assuming her quiet tones were meant to keep passerbys from hearing.

Elaine sighed, "I sort of-" She stumbled over her words, wanting to correctly explain without giving too much information. "Kind of- maybe, know what we're dealing with."

"Right," Merlin's face voiced his confusion, "It's Anhora, the guardian of the unicorns."

"No, that's not-" Elaine ran her finger across her brow and to her temple, sometimes she wished Merlin had someone to teach him about this. Gaius had given an effort, but handing a boy a book and basically saying 'good luck' isn't the same thing. "He's not lying when he said that he can't lift the curse, only Arthur can. Unicorns, and most magical creatures, are born from wild magic." Her nose scrunched up when he still seemed confused, even more so than before.

"Wild magic," Elaine soliloquised as her teacher had done. "Is a form of magic-"

"There's different forms of magic?" Merlin interrupted, beginning to catch on and getting ahead of himself from excitement.

"Geez, Merlin, do you want to say that any louder?" Elaine asked sarcastically, looking around to see if anyone had heard him. He apologised and asked her to continue, she complied with a scolding look, forgetting for the moment that he was several years her senior.

"Of course there's different forms of magic, nothing is ever simple especially not magic. You should understand that by now." Merlin started, and Elaine hurried to continue to keep him from interjecting again. "But I don't have the time to explain to you all the forms so here's what I will tell you. Wild magic is a form of magic that generally only seen with faunas and floras, thus earning its name, and is a very raw form of magic. For every action there are counter-actions; it prefers to keep things balanced, like most forms, it just manages to take it to whole other level. It's very volatile, not refined, and most sorcerers try to stay away from it because it's never worth the risk." Elaine made a face and started to speak sarcastically, "Fortunately for us, we have Arthur to ruin that and are forced to get involved with it."

"Alright," Merlin began to nod, understanding dawning on his features, he actually was a quick learner. "But we can still fix this. We just need to find out what balances the magic again."

Elaine gulped and looked down at her white knuckles, "That's what I'm afraid of." She met Merlin's eyes, seeking his strength when she lacked none. "I think Anhora is going to kill Arthur."

That night, Merlin came banging into the library, looking for Elaine, creating a ruckus as he shouted her name. Elaine dove out from behind a bookcase, clasping her hand over his mouth with grimace fixed onto her face. "Merlin, what is wrong with you? My grandfather will have you thrown in jail for screeching like that at this hour."

He started mumbling, then registering that there was a hand obscuring his voice, he hurried to push it away. "Arthur is leaving for another test." He told her, his distress was evident in his labored breaths.

Elaine gaped at him, "What do you mean- Did you go looking for trouble again? After I specifically explained to you what worst case scenario was. There is something seriously wrong with your head." She bemoaned, Elaine and Merlin hurrying out of the library.

"Yes, well, you can complain to me on our way." Merlin muttered, dragging her by her hand to the courtyard. It was unnecessary considering she was with him for every step, except for the last one when she saw the horse that was waiting for them.

"Come on, Elaine." Merlin said not giving her time to argue as he plunked her onto the saddle, straddling the saddle in front of her. He set the horse down the road at a gallop, the shadow of a figure far ahead of them.

They followed Arthur until mid-morning, Merlin explaining to Elaine the events she had missed, they reached the labyrinth not long after Arthur. Merlin quickly dismounted the horse, heading for the labyrinth, only pausing when he noticed Elaine hadn't moved. "What are you doing?"

Elaine grimaced, "I can't go in." She replied, not meeting his eyes, instead staring intently at the hedges and the stone wall that encircled them.

"What are you talking about?" Merlin glanced back, "You don't have to be afraid."

"No, Merlin." She clung tightly in the saddle when the horse shifted on its hooves, her grimace still present as her expression seemed to turn green. "I, literally, can't go in. The labyrinth it is filled with wild magic. Can't you feel it?"

Merlin looked at Elaine with confusion, "Well, yes, but I can go in. Why can't you?"

Elaine shook her head, "The wild magic- it needs balance and I-" She let out a fierce puff of breath, "Just go already! Arthur needs you, not me."

Merlin hesitated no longer and disappeared into the labyrinth after Arthur, removing her odd behavior from his mind as the leaves blocked his view of Elaine. He didn't reappear until the sun had started going down, half carrying a very drowsy looking Arthur. Elaine had moved to sit underneath the shade of a rowan tree, Arthur's and Merlin's horses grazing near her. She seemed to have gotten worse since he last saw her, Elaine's cheeks were pale and there was a beading of sweat despite the cool temperature and shade.

"Arthur," Elaine gasped when she caught sight of them; standing up, but not moving from her spot, hesitating in the shade.

Arthur moved away from Merlin and joined Elaine underneath the tree, clasping his hand on her shoulder. "You're here too? Of course, you are. Is Morgana and Gwen waiting for us with a picnic?" He spoke snarkily, but there was a faint grin on his face from the sight of her.

Elaine didn't bother hiding her smile, "It's good to see you too, Arthur. I had been fearing the worse, but now I realize that I was fearing the wrong thing, the worse is getting our arrogant prince returned to us." She teased and steered him towards his horse.

Arthur chuckled and struggled to climb onto his horse, his moves sluggish and Merlin came over to help him. He glowered at the offending pairs of hands, but didn't rebuke their help, looking down on them once he had gotten in his saddle. "I should have known you would be here, you are always following Merlin around—like a lamb and its herder."

Elaine scoffed, ignoring her blush, "That's not true!" She argued and got on the other saddle, her blush deepened when Merlin joined her and Arthur gave her a knowing look. "It's not! Here I was, having concern for you and what do I get in return? Haughty comments and slights." She rolled her eyes, "Can you believe this, Merlin?"

"I-"

"Yeah, Merlin." Arthur interrupted him, batting his eyes and mocking Elaine. "Can you believe this?" He made her voice sound more girly than it was.

Elaine scoffed again, "Ah! I don't sound like that!"

"Yes, you do!"

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

"No, I don't! Merlin, tell Arthur that I don't sound like that!"

The prince yelled a rebuttal before he could, and Merlin hunkered down in the saddle. Silently, thanking that he never had a sibling, especially not one as prat-y as these two. They spent the rest of the trip arguing about idle comments like if Arthur had an average size head or if it had expanded to fit his giant ego, the latter opinion belonging to Elaine. Merlin too, but he didn't dare to admit. At least, not until they had already returned and had more than one witness in case Arthur were to seek retribution.