As far as outsiders could tell Arthur and Uther appeared to be having what was an entirely congenial conversation. The members of the household knew differently and also knew not to interfere, and also make it look as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
"Are you seriously telling me that you thought to keep it to yourself?" Uther hissed.
"Yes," Arthur said, his own voice far more pragmatic than his father's. "I didn't want people to overreact. You're overreacting."
"Because you didn't tell me!"
"Well, I wasn't..." Arthur took a breath and sighed heavily. "The first time... the first time I wasn't sure. The second time seemed more certain but still, I don't know, there was just some instinct that told me to keep it to myself. I didn't know if anyone else might have heard anything, and not spoken, or if it was just me he had spoken to. Telling someone seemed like I would have been betraying his trust, and I didn't want to do that. It's not as if I haven't debated the idea of telling you, a lot. I just thought it was better to wait and see."
"And this was the third time?"
"No, the fourth. The third time... I knew maybe I should have mentioned it, but I backed out. I'm sorry dad, but I chose to do that as what I thought was best for Merlin, and I didn't want to drag anyone else into the moral crisis. And we really should talk about this when we are not in the middle of a busy party, and Merlin knows there is something wrong."
Both of them paused to glance at Merlin. Not only did the party consist of playing in the pool, but later on, when it became too cold to swim, they played board games. Uther had, over the years, bought various large scale versions for both children to use in the garden, and they appeared every year. At the moment they were on snakes and ladders, working in three teams. Merlin shuffled a piece further up the board and glanced over at Arthur and Uther again. Both men smiled at the little boy and he returned it tentatively.
"Perhaps you're right. I just hope no one else noticed. There is something I maybe need to discuss with you."
Arthur rolled his eyes, that was typical of his father. Put the conversation off and then drop in something to ensure Arthur would come back to him over it. Uther wandered off to talk to some of the adults gathered by the bar and Arthur moved closer, watching Merlin carefully.
It had all started when he had reached Merlin, at the side of the pool.
Swimming over he had put his feet down on the floor of the pool and stood in front of Merlin, who still had his arms out. Arthur reached up, taking the hint. He put his arms around Merlin's waist, pulling him close.
"Do you want to come into the water?"
He felt Merlin's head bob up and down and Arthur slowly lifted him off the side, easing him down into the pool. Despite the fact that he had requested Arthur to do so, Merlin's grip tightened with fear. He whimpered into Arthur's ear and both legs wrapped tightly around Arthur's waist. Since Arthur stood in the water it only lapped up to his waist and therefore only caught Merlin's legs, but that seemed to be enough to send the boy into a panic. He clung to Arthur, whimpering occasionally, especially as Arthur bent his knees to dunk Merlin deeper into the water.
"All right. You've been watching all of us in the pool, so you know it's fine. It's fine. Merlin relax, let go with your legs, you'll float."
Merlin's whimper made him sound unconvinced but he let go. Arthur slowly lay back in the water. He heard Morgana going through the water polo rules with Mithian, who had joined them. Morgana didn't just talk, she hinted with her hands that they were all to carry on, although they changed the boundaries of the court slightly, so they would not crash into Arthur and Merlin in the shallow end.
As Arthur went into the water as far as his shoulders Merlin whimpered again, squirming in his arms, so Arthur levelled out again.
"Come on Merlin. You can do it. Swimming is fun."
Merlin's arms tightened and he buried his face into the crook of Arthur's neck. It made Arthur wonder if something had happened, or, more accurately, what someone had done to Merlin, involving water. Arthur dipped down again, leaning back to glide a short distance in the water. Merlin's breaths huffed heavily. His entire body remained rigid, but he stopped whimpering. Arthur let himself drift again being very careful to prevent any water from splashing into Merlin's face. Merlin didn't make the job easy, being tense in the water made him far heavier, but Arthur knew he wouldn't relax until he had been given time to get over whatever fear he had.
"If you relax Merlin, you'll float. I know you're scared but you know I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
That seemed to be talking for affect, Merlin had to know that. Still Arthur did feel something of a glimmer of respect for the little boy in his arms. Although Uther had not directly disclosed what had been done to Merlin, and the other children, things had been leaked. Oddly Uther had done nothing to try and prevent information from the reports and court cases getting to the press, which was something he usually worked obsessively to prevent. Arthur half suspected that Uther, this time, had advocated and controlled some of the leakage. Also the other children had talked to therapists, to their parents and other family members.
Merlin probably had a fear of water for a very good reason, but fact of the matter was, he seemed prepared to face it, and conquer it. Arthur knew that had to be down to the work that he, and the rest of them had done, but still, that probably didn't make it any easier for Merlin.
He drifted again, gently easing himself closer to the side of the pool and he put his feet back down on the smooth tiles. Carefully, he shifted Merlin in his arms, Merlin went back to clinging on. Arthur ran a hand up and down Merlin's damp back.
"Do you want to get out Merlin?"
Arthur frowned, moving Merlin again to allow Merlin to tuck his head down on Arthur's shoulder.
"You don't have to if you don't want to."
Again Arthur paused. Around him people discreetly ignored him. The people at the far end of the pool started the new game, although Morgana occasionally glanced over, and so did Gwen. Compared to the rest of them, they knew Merlin best and could see his reactions. They couldn't hear what Arthur murmured to Merlin, clearly doing his best to soothe him.
Out of the water Uther, Balinor and Hunith watched the interaction. As Uther watched his eyes narrowed, watching Arthur talk, pausing occasionally. The tension around his eyes was the only giveaway that something was wrong. He watched Arthur try again, drifting in the water talking as encouragingly as he could.
He paused again when Merlin's gaze drifted to the group playing a slightly more subdued came of polo. He gave a squeak of panic as Gwen disappeared under the water to swim clear of the action.
"She's fine Merlin," Arthur assured him , watching Gwen's progress as she swam to the shallow end and surfaced. Arthur tried not to look down at her breasts in the bikini top as she lightly swam to the dolphin toy bobbing about in the water and reaching out grabbed it by the tail. She swam towards the pair and held out the toy.
"Hold onto this Merlin, and Arthur can prop you up."
Arthur nodded at her. Merlin looked at the dolphin apprehensively and then at Gwen, a little frown on his face. She let the toy go and it obligingly bobbed on the surface.
"He's full of air see Merlin, he floats, so he'll stay up."
Merlin watched.
"I'll still keep hold of you," Arthur assured him.
Very slowly Merlin looked from one person to another, then to the group who had decided subdued water polo wasn't working and they were now just paddling about batting the ball between them in a gentle fashion. Morgana slowly drifted towards the trio in the shallow end. She gave the drifting dolphin a light tap to send him back towards Merlin and as it reached him Merlin slowly loosened on arm from it's vice-like grip on Arthur's neck. With a thoughtful expression on his face Merlin put a hand on the toy and then glanced at Arthur.
"I've still got you," said Arthur. He kept his hold on Merlin's waist, but let him twist in his grip to reach out with his other arm and Merlin grabbed the toy, pulling it closer and holding it just as tightly as he had Arthur causing it to sink a little. Merlin's face contorted with fear. Arthur propped him slightly higher.
"You need to relax Merlin, like sleeping, so you'll float."
Merlin looked at Arthur and then, just by a fraction, Arthur saw Merlin's grip release. It almost tightened again as Arthur let go of Merlin's waist and put a hand under him to keep him up in the water.
"Kick your legs."
Arthur screwed his face up as Merlin's feet caused water to go everywhere, but he started to propel himself forward in the water. Gwen and Morgana stayed on either side of him, slightly ahead, moving backwards in the water, both of them by mutual agreement holding their arms out just in case they needed to grab him. He still looked terrified as he clung to the toy and continued to plough a path through the water but Merlin determinedly carried on. If he sank slightly Arthur increased his hold until Merlin levelled out and he slowly got to the far side of the pool.
Both Morgana and Gwen cheered a little but it faded as Merlin sagged, looking tired. Arthur efficiently grabbed him again, lifting Merlin up into his arms. Merlin settled limply and gave a contented huff.
"Well done Merlin," Arthur said.
"Bring him out now," Gaius ordered having watched the entire display and seeing Merlin's reaction at the end.
"Hang on," Percival said. He hoisted himself out of the pool, to much ogling by the women. His now wet shorts clung to his lower body, displaying the muscle, and hiding nothing. Even Vivian deigned to lower her sunglasses to get a look. Freya smirked as she watched, as for a moment, concentrating on helping Arthur get Merlin out of the water, Percival moved unselfconsciously. Arthur lifted Merlin up, which caused him to struggle for a moment until Percival, with very little effort, gathered Merlin up and lifted him out, cradling Merlin in his arms.
Merlin huffed, and on opening his eyes, stared up at Percival with a startled expression.
"All right Little Guy," Percival said gently. He waited for Arthur to clamber out of the pool, with a slight repeat of the ogling as he did so, and he passed Merlin back, at which point Percival redeveloped his self-consciousness and got back into the water as quickly as possible.
"Are we winning?" Arthur, having escaped Uther's wrath, now asked Merlin as he returned to snakes and ladders. Merlin stuck out his lower lip, as he moved the piece onto a snake's head and then pushed it back down the board. "Guess not."
Normality seemed to resume at the party. Gwen watched it all carefully. She could have joined the other girls gossiping by the pool but she was older than they were, and she wasn't sure she would have much to say to them. Watching them she could see there was tension in the group already, due to Mithian's arrival. Gwen watched the four of them on the sun loungers by the pool. Vivian sat at one end, she had hardly vacated the seat all day, as if she expected people to come to her. Elena sat next to her with Morgana on the other side, and Mithian occupying the far end. It didn't escape Gwen's notice that most of the conversation was Morgana and Elena's. There was the odd interjection from Vivian and then, at various points Mithian spoke, usually with a scornful look on Vivian's face, which she did little to conceal.
"I did think about joining them but they look a little engrossed," Freya commented as she moved up next to Gwen. Freya held a plate piled high with food from the buffet table.
"The self-elected Alpha female is already a bit put out by the new girl," Gwen commented.
"That doesn't sound like Morgana," Freya said.
"I don't mean Morgana, that girl Vivian, on the end. She doesn't look very happy with Mithian."
"I don't think Morgana and Elena take her very seriously," Freya mused. "Vivian that is."
"Possibly not."
They paused for a moment and looked around. Freya stared at the house behind them.
"That house is bloody amazing, I got lost trying to find the loo."
"It is, mind you Mr Pendragon works for it. He's always in his study if he's not at the office."
"He seems nice, which is weird. You don't really expect him to be... well... nice..." Freya said. Gwen smirked.
"He's not always, but on these occasions he is," Arthur commented, having snuck up on the pair of them. Merlin trotted along next to him holding Teddylot with one arm, Arthur's hand firmly in the other. Freya turned and her eyes widened, her face flushing as she looked at Arthur, and she nearly choked on her mouthful of quiche.
"Oh God, sorry. Why do these things always happen?!"
Then she coughed a bit more. Arthur laughed.
"Don't worry, you are not the first person to think it, and you will not be the last," Arthur said still smirking. "Come on, do you want something to eat?"
He glanced down at Merlin, who nodded, beaming brightly. Grinning at Freya again Arthur led Merlin in the direction of the buffet table, where there were a few people gathered. Gwaine and Lancelot appeared to be in the middle of a 'how high can you pile your plate' competition.
"No one is going to snatch the food away you know," Arthur pointed out. Both of them looked up.
"This way we don't need to walk as much, only going up twice instead of four times," Gwaine pointed out. Lancelot sniggered and then sidled away and much to Arthur's irritation he went over to Gwen and Freya, offering some of the contents of his plate to Gwen. Percival had joined them, looking quite startled and pleased as Freya stood as close as she could, without actually overtly touching him.
"Ooohh are you jealous," Gwaine asked Arthur as he saw the scowl.
"What?" Arthur asked, going slightly red.
"The lovely Gwen. You and Lancelot both seem taken with her."
Before Arthur could retort Gwaine's face turned serious, his eyes darkening, making him look haunted. Arthur guessed the teasing was going to bookend the request that Gwaine was going to make, which was something Arthur could understand. To make it less difficult for Gwaine Arthur extracted his hand from Merlin's and started to pack a plate with stuff for himself and Merlin, while his troubled looking friend asked.
"Are you giving me a lift in the morning?"
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Arthur had agreed, which meant he had still not spoken to his father about the situation the night before. Instead that would have to wait until the afternoon. For now Arthur drove down the sunlit country lane with Gwaine in the passenger seat and Merlin, cuddling Teddylot, secured in the back. Arthur wasn't quite sure at what point the decision to take Merlin along had been made. He didn't think there had actually been a decision. Instead Merlin had been following him about that morning and Arthur hadn't thought twice about putting him in the back with him.
On reflection it didn't seem like a bad idea to bring him. Merlin's presence seemed to ease most tensions for the adults around him. Gwaine, so far, had been quiet since they started driving, merely watching the familiar scenery as it passed by. Arthur occasionally glanced behind him to smile at Merlin. Every time he did so Merlin beamed back at him, but he seemed to sense that there was a level of tension in the car, so he contented himself to do the same as Gwaine and watch the scenery.
Gwaine shifted in the seat, pushing his wind blown hair back as Arthur turned through the gates and started up the winding drive of their destination, and pulled his car into the car park. As he concentrated on getting Merlin out of the backseat Arthur watched Gwaine out of the corner of his eye. He seemed to be hesitating, for very little reason. Gwaine knew the way into the building, and where they wanted to go, but Arthur, as the years had progressed, noted that Gwaine found it increasingly difficult to arrive, whereas when he was younger, it was difficult for him to leave.
This time he only started walking when Merlin put his hand into Arthur's and walked alongside him, heading towards the steps of the building. His little hand tensed as he assessed his surroundings. The old building did have a rather institutional air to it.
"It's all right Merlin, we're just here to visit someone."
Merlin frowned, but then after a glance at Arthur turned to look at Gwaine.
"We're going out to the pub for lunch after, aren't we?" Gwaine asked.
"As usual," Arthur said. The day after the party they had always done the same thing, almost as a tradition. They spent most of the morning tidying up and then went to the village pub for Sunday lunch. Uther had no intention of deviating from that plan.
"The party was good, did you have fun?" Gwaine asked Merlin. Looking up at him as he walked between the two of them Merlin gave his bright beaming smile.
"He's a happy little chap isn't he?" Gwaine added to Arthur. Arthur looked down at smiled at Merlin, who smiled back. He became distracted as they walked over the threshold of the building into the gloomy interior. The hallway didn't have a great deal of natural light, and the artificial lights seemed to strip the welcoming decor of some of it's friendliness.
Gwaine paused again, turning as a woman in nurse's uniform appeared from an archway on their left.
"Hello dear, she's in the conservatory."
"Hi Alice," Arthur said, since Gwaine appeared to have gone mute. "How is she?"
"She's good this morning, quite bright. You go on through."
Gwaine headed off. Alice paused to smile down at Merlin, hidden behind Teddylot.
"Hello." Merlin's blue eyes stared at her from behind the safety of Teddylot.
"This is Merlin," Arthur said. "Merlin, this is Alice, she looks after the people who live here."
Merlin looked at her, a slight frown in his face as he assessed her, and then he glanced up at Arthur. He could see the uncertainty on Merlin's face. He glanced up at Alice.
"He's a bit shy around new people. Come on Merlin."
Merlin trotted along next to Arthur, looking nervous and a little wide eyed. Arthur greeted a few people sitting about in the lounge area. There were more than a few now that he knew by sight and quite often stopped to talk to them, but as he had Merlin he kept the conversation to a minimum. Merlin kept as close to Arthur as he could, looking quite shocked when a few people paused to say hello to him, and more than a few 'aawwed' at him with Arthur, clinging to Teddylot for protection.
They caught up with Gwaine as he hesitated by the doorway to the conservatory, just out of line of sight.
"Where were you?" Gwaine demanded.
"Just saying hello to a few people."
Arthur ignored the aggression in Gwaine's tone and instead he stepped out of the hiding place Gwaine was occupying and headed through the open doors into the conservatory. He heard Gwaine huff as he passed, brushing Arthur's shoulder as they made their way to the far end and the woman sitting in a wicker chair. Other chairs were scattered around the room and Gwaine picked one up, moving it closer, before slowly sitting down in it. The woman smiled as Gwaine reached out to take her hand.
"Hello love."
"Hi mum, are you all right?"
Arthur hung back slightly, Merlin shuffled closer to him, peering around at the greenery, and then out of the window. Spotting a nearby chair Arthur sat down in it, lifting Merlin onto his lap. Merlin looked at him in confusion.
"It's all right here Merlin. It's not a bad place. The people here need looking after and the nurses like Alice do that. They look after Gwaine's mum."
Merlin blinked, looking at the scene in front of him as Gwaine held his mother's hand.
"I'm all right son. Did you remember to water the plants?"
A flicker of a shadow crossed Gwaine's face before he answered. "Yes, of course I did."
"I always forget, don't I," she told him, almost dreamily. Gwaine inhaled sharply.
"Not always."
"How's university? You are doing well aren't you? I wouldn't want Mr Pendragon to be wasting his money."
She looked at Arthur as she spoke, nodding in his direction, smiling in greeting. Gwaine glanced at Arthur and Arthur smiled at them both, doing nothing to correct the slight, but common, mistake as she assumed Arthur was Uther, confusing herself as she often did.
"No, I'm doing all right mum. Better this year, I just need to organise my project for the end of year coursework."
"Make sure you do. I want you to do well."
"I will mum, I will," Gwaine promised.
Silence slowly fell. Gwaine looked lost as to what to say to the person he knew so well, but could, sometimes, not recognise him. Arthur tried to sympathise, he was expected to, having lost his mother. But he had never had her in the first place, so he couldn't honestly miss her. He knew his father did miss her, and had done so over the years, especially when Hunith had stepped in to help out with Arthur. It hadn't made sense to him until Morgana had been adopted, and her grief had been clear.
He glanced down at Merlin, wondering, suddenly, if Merlin knew anything about his parents, or did they miss him. There had been no record of anything regarding his family, it was why Uther had taken him in. The publicity over the scandal had been nationwide, surely if anyone knew Merlin they would have stepped forward. Arthur felt a flare of anger at the thought of someone just disregarding Merlin. His magic was strong, and unusually powerful, but he had such a sweet nature that Arthur couldn't comprehend the idea of just abandoning him.
He snapped out of his angry contemplation as Merlin's blue eyes looking back at him were suddenly replaced by a landscape of purple fur. Arthur took tighter hold of Merlin and pushed Teddylot about to kiss the top of Merlin's head.
"Sorry. I'm not cross with you, I'm just thinking about people I feel quite cross with."
Merlin gave a murmur and looked back up again. The little interaction meant Gwaine and his mother turned to look at them.
"Who's your little friend then Arthur?"
Gwaine and Arthur shared another look, mutually deciding to again not comment on the fact that she had suddenly rightly identified Arthur. She didn't see anything wrong with what she said, not realised that minutes previously that she had thought he was Uther. It occurred to often for them to worry about.
"This is Merlin, he's just come to live with us."
She smiled at Merlin, who gave a tentative smile back, waggling Teddylot's arm in greeting.
"You're always good like that Uther," she said, and then paused, frowning, looking confused as she studied Arthur. Gwaine looked panicked for a second. Arthur glanced out of the window at the sunlit garden, some of the trees swaying gently in the breeze.
"It's a nice day, shall we go for a little walk? I'll rustle up a wheelchair from somewhere."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Arthur's suggestion broke up the potentially awkward situation. Gwaine pushed his mother along in the wheelchair, and they looked around the flowerbeds. Arthur didn't know much about it. During holidays he had helped Balinor out by weeding, digging and pruning, to earn a little bit of extra pocket money, and Balinor told him the names of plants and how to care for them; but as it was not really an interest of Arthur's the information didn't stick.
Merlin however had an entirely different view. He listened to Balinor avidly as he explained things and showed Merlin different flowers and plants. Now he listened with just as much interest as Gwaine's mother talked. Merlin pointed at things and then as they rounded a corner they paused to stare at a feeble little stem wound into a trellis. Merlin pouted as he pointed a finger at the plant.
"Poor thing, it's a honeysuckle," she told Merlin. "It hasn't done very well this year. I keep telling the gardeners what to do but… it doesn't seem to help. It's needs Balinor's touch I think."
Arthur smiled at that and then frowned as Merlin shuttled forward, reaching out to put one finger on a limp leaf. What happened next occurred so quickly that Arthur could do nothing to stop it as Merlin's eyes flashed gold and the plant suddenly surged upwards, the stem thickening, and bright green leaves unfurled.
By the time Arthur recovered himself and intended to step forward to control Merlin, four buds burst into life, the petals exploding from the bud. One sprang up in front of Merlin's face and he leant forward to sniff the fragrance.
"Merlin," Arthur said gently. He crouched down by Merlin.
"Goodness," Gwaine's mother announced looking at the honeysuckle in shock.
As Arthur's eyes came level with Merlin's the little boy bit down on his lower lip. He pulled Teddylot closer, half hiding behind the bear in his usual comfort gesture, when he was unsure.
"Merlin, we talked about this," Arthur said. "About not hurting yourself to do things."
Arthur watched as Merlin frowned at that, then he shook his head and pointed down to the soil. That caused Arthur to frown and follow Merlin's gesture to where he was pointing. The soil around the plant looked as if it had been disturbed slightly, although none of them had touched it. He looked back up at Merlin.
"What do you mean Merlin?"
Arthur jumped as Gwaine's mother reached out and touched him on the shoulder. He turned to look at her, seeing her more alert that she had a moment ago.
"Sometimes nature just needs pointing in the right direction."