Big hugs to those who reviewed and started following this story - you guys are awesome! Granted, the math test took the fastest way straight down to hell, but it's okay; your reviews more than made up for it. :)
As it turns out, Hunith had (somehow) managed to figure out that Gaius knew where he lived, and as a result decided to find out for herself as well.
"I sent him a very specific letter," she had explained, "Which may or may not have been a tad unsettling letter, and since his reply pretty much confirmed it but he refused to tell me your location, I decided to travel to Camelot in order to convince him to tell me face to face. Oh don't look at me like that, Balinor, it wasn't any threats promising pain and death – I was just highly convincing."
Since Gaius can look Uther bloody Pendragon in the face and lie without blinking, he doesn't want to know how convincing she was in order to get the old physician to tell her the truth.
Hunith's tired, and with good reason; first she journeyed to from Ealdor to Camelot in order to give Gaius a piece of mind, then walked through the wilderness to find her son's father, and now she's walking straight back to Camelot, almost reluctant to even stop for the night (Balinor pointedly pretended to be dead on his feet in order to get the woman to rest).
It's past noon when the white towers of Camelot enter their sight, and Balinor feels the air leave him in a whoosh. Once upon a time the reaction would have been one of awe, but now it holds nothing but anger and pain. Hunith squeezes his forearm in silent support before they walk closer to the gates.
"Hunith, perhaps we shouldn't," he blurts out in a hushed voice. "You can go in and fetch Merlin while I wait here; I still have a bounty on my head. I'll put the both of you in danger by even standing close to you." Hell, that was the very reason why he left Ealdor in the first place – so she could have a safe life (although, his mind points out drily, that didn't really work out as planned, now did it?).
"It's been over twenty years since anyone saw you last, dear, why on earth would anyone expect you to come back now?" Hunith asks, patiently tugging at his arm to get him to walk faster again. "Besides, do you see the guards at the gates? They look about half our age; there's no way they would recognize you. I don't think Uther himself would know you; he's not exactly good at spotting sorcerers in his home, thank the gods for that."
Nevertheless, he's as tense as a bowstring when they walk through the gates, no doubt pulling off the inconspicuous look bloody perfectly. However, none of the guards spare him as much as a passing glance.
"That wasn't so hard, was it?" she smiles as they mix with the townspeople in the streets.
"Uh-huh," is the only reply he's got, because now that he doesn't worry about entering Camelot anymore, he finally starts worrying about meeting his son. Whom he didn't even know existed, and who had to grow up without a father (gods know bastards don't have an easy life, why on earth would Merlin even want to meet him?) "What if he hates me?" Balinor asks, feeling his hands sweating and heart thudding.
He's being ridiculous again and he can't help it.
From the look Hunith's giving him, she finds him ridiculous too. "Balinor..."
"Have you even told him I'm coming? Oh no, I know that face, you haven't. Hunith!"
"I didn't want him to spend days panicking before he even met you!"
"Oh, so now he's panicking at the very thought of meeting me? That's a fantastic sign!"
"You're panicking at the thought of meeting him, dear."
"...Fair enough."
Now they leave the streets (he notices Hunith had skilfully kept him from the courtyard, where all the executions had taken –and take – place) and enter a familiar corridor, eventually leading to the physician's chambers. She doesn't give him time to get cold feet and immediately walk up to the door to knock. The door is opened by Gaius, who looks decidedly unsurprised to see them yet raises his infamous eyebrow. He shuffles to the side and bids them to come in.
"It's good to see you again; both of you," Gaius says. "Although I'd love for the circumstances to be different – as in circumstances where your presence would not get us all killed."
"Sorry to disappoint," Balinor replies, standing still for a moment before gripping Gaius' arm in a heartfelt greeting. The man seems frail, so old compared to the image of Gaius he remembers, hair white and face carved with deep lines.
Gaius clears his throat. "I assume you must be hungry; please, sit. I'm afraid Merlin isn't home right now, although I've scheduled for him to have a day off in order to help me with chores."
"He gets days off from work in order to do more work?"
"It's a working system."
They sit down at the table and Gaius serves them soup – he decides he's spent far too much time eating whatever he finds, because for once the old coot's food actually tastes good (Hunith tells him it's just because he used to be spoilt rotten and didn't want to eat anything except for the very best).
"Do you want me to give you something for the nerves?" Gaius asks pointedly as he takes in Balinor's shaky appearance.
"I don't think I want to be drugged to the gills the first time I meet my son," Balinor replies drily.
"He's been insufferable," Hunith tells Gaius, "I'm starting to think I shouldn't have told him he has a son at all, and just dragged him to Camelot and locked him in a room with Merlin."
"And then Merlin's first impression of his father would have been said father fainting," Gaius answers calmly and Hunith hums in agreement. Balinor doesn't have time or strength to feel offended.
A quarter of an hour later the door is opened again, abruptly cutting off their conversation. A gangly boy with a mop of dark hair stumbles inside, carrying a wobbling stack of books in his arms while struggling to shut the door.
"Gaius, did you know the library has five different volumes on the advantages and disadvantages – mother!" The book pile tips to the side and the boy tips with it in order to catch the books, somehow spinning around and deposing them on a nearby table without dropping them or himself. He strides forwards with a grin (leaving the book pile to keep wobbling on the edge of the table in peace) and Hunith's away from the dining table, quick to meet her son with a hug.
"Goodness, Merlin, don't they have any food in Camelot?" she grumbles as she pinches his side, clearly displeased with the lack of fat.
"Good to see you too, mother," Merlin quips before leaning away, smile suddenly replaced by a frown. "What brings you here? Is everything alright?"
"Nothing's wrong with me or Ealdor," she assures him. "I'm here to help you, really… There's someone I'd like you to meet."
Merlin looks up at Balinor as though noticing him only now, giving him a quick smile. Balinor doesn't remember rising from the table, but he's already standing.
"Merlin, this is Balinor," she says, giving her son a small push. "Balinor, this is Merlin."
"Pleasure to meet you," Merlin says, holding out a hand in greeting (he's quite tall; about as tall as Balinor, but certainly not as broad shouldered, and Balinor recognizes the ears as his own father's, something that makes him strangely pleased, and -).
"The pleasure is mine," Balinor finally says as he grips Merlin's hand, the pause long enough to be noticeable. He holds onto the hand a little bit too long, which is certainly noticeable, and Balinor silently curses his own social incapacities. At least no one can blame him for not being socially grateful (not anymore) after living in a cave for twenty years.
"I believe I have my rounds to make," Gaius says out of the blue, stepping away from the table and moving towards the door.
Merlin throws a befuddled look after the man. "Wasn't I supposed to –"
"Stay, Merlin."
The boy makes a face and mutters something that sounds like "not a bloody dog", and in the next second Gaius has left the three of them alone.
"Well," Hunith says, stepping forward. "Balinor can help you with what you mentioned in your letter – you can trust him. He has my complete trust."
Merlin turns calculated eyes towards Balinor, as though he can look right through him. "Could you be a little more specific, mother?"
"He has a very specific set of magical talents," Hunith explains, and Merlin practically lights up in excitement at the mention of magic. "Behave, Merlin; we'll discuss the magical matters in a while. There's something else you should know."
She falls silent, apparently far more hesitant to tell Merlin than she was about telling Balinor. Merlin's eyes dart between them and he carefully prods his mother. "Mum?"
"Alright, let's start this over," Hunith mutters before raising her voice again; "Merlin, this is Balinor. Your father."
Merlin doesn't move a muscle, only stares at his mother for a long while before snapping his head around to look at Balinor, still without saying a word. His eyes narrow slightly as he gazes at his father, head cocked to the side as though he's looking at a particularly strange dissected frog. He shoots yet another questioning look at his mother, who calmly nods at whatever silent question he's asking.
"Where were you?" Merlin finally asks him, voice devoid of any emotions except for caution.
Balinor swallows nervously. "I had fled from the fires of Camelot. Uther's men were looking for me; I had to leave Ealdor to keep your mother safe. Had I known she was…" He cuts himself off and tries to not sound as though he's making up excuses.
"You didn't know I existed?" Merlin guesses.
"No. And I can't begin to say how sorry I am that I wasn't there."
Merlin stares at him some more (if it weren't for the eyes that remained blue, Balinor would have been sure he's using magic to see how sincere he is). Suddenly a bright smile spread over his face again, as though the suspicious frown hadn't existed at all, and he holds out his hand once more. "I think we need to do this again," he says, "Hello, father. I'm Merlin; it's good to meet you."
Balinor lets out a slight chuckle and grasps the offered hand. "I don't know what it is to have a son."
"Or I a father," Merlin replies, and Balinor dimly notes that he's mirroring his son's grin, and at their side Hunith's face is smiling – they're all smiling like fools, and lord, what does he do now then? He's quite sure a hug is moving too fast; father or not, he doubts the boy would want a man who's practically (literally) a stranger to go around hugging him.
"Now, mother said something about discussing the magical matters in just a little while?" Merlin urges hopefully and Hunith swats his arm.
"He has no little to none amount of patience," she explains, "He gets that from you."
"I heard you're a warlock," Balinor notes.
"Balinor is a dragonlord," Hunith continues raptly, turned towards Merlin. "I think you know how he can help you."
"…Not really, no. I can take my guesses, but I've never even heard dragonlords," after a hesitant pause he adds an apologizing; "Sorry."
"A dragonlord shares a bond with dragons, for we are kin," Balinor explains slowly, giving Hunith a long look. "I understand Hunith means this is the 'specific set of skills' I have that you need – I'd love to know what on earth she's talking about."
Hunith deliberately ignores him. "And when a dragonlord commands a dragon, the dragon must obey."
"There's quite a few ethical rules about the commands, I can't walk around abusing my power –"
"So I trust you know why I thought his area of expertise was quite useful."
"Oh," Merlin says and beams yet again, "That certainly makes things easier."
"Pardon me for asking, but what makes what easier?"
"Ah, well," Merlin shrugs, "There's sort of a dragon imprisoned under the castle, whom I may or may not have promised to release and I'm pretty sure he's going to go on a rampage when I do, and he absolutely refuses to promise that he won't attack anyone."
The unsteady book pile left on the table finally gives up the fight to remain standing and crashes to the floor, and Balinor finds the timing highly ridiculous.
Aaaand next up is the overgrown lizard under the castle.
So I'm pretty sure Balinor knew that Kilgharrah was still alive and captured (unless my memory fails me), but I'm going with that he knows Kilgharrah was imprisoned but is unsure whether or not the dragon's still alive. Because reasons.
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