Chapter 62 [Several Days Later]

[Merlin's Chamber]

Merlin folded his third tunic carefully and set it with his other clothes on the bed. He knew it probably seemed like bad form for a noble to pack his own clothes….

…especially when one had a distinguished servant like Edwin who was Merlin's long time friend as well to do it…

Still the Warlock, perhaps in a way of hanging on to some piece of his former place, insisted on some menial labor for himself. Admittedly, he had polished his own looking glass, swept the floor with the old straw broom and even made his own bed in the morning. It gave him a sense of accomplishment.

He sighed heavily knowing that he couldn't hold back the hands of time or its passage for that matter. By the next day, he would depart for Nemeth along with Mithian, Gawain, Britomart and Lancelot. He'd spent time studying up on Nemeth's laws and customs down in the archives under Geoffrey of Monmouth's careful eye. Of course he'd accompanied Mithian on horseback rides across Camelot's countryside and visits to the royal gardens.

Still Change weighed on him.

Adjustment nagged his foot falls.

You've done this before! Remember what it was like to leave Ealdor and come here. It's not like you can't come back to visit. You're going on to do bigger things. You have your destiny! In this way, you can help Arthur become high king! He considered himself in the mirror and exhaled at the noble emerging from the servant's cocoon therein.

Actually we can help him to do that, Merlin, his beloved Princess interjected over the link. Sorry to intrude on your introspection. I felt the brooding cloud through the wall. Are you all right?

I'm fine. It's just hitting me. I'm moving on. I leaving Camelot behind and heading for the next stage of my life. I know we can always come back to visit but….

…but you won't be the same when we do. I get it, Merlin. As Father said, your instincts do you credit. It's why you're a fine Prince, will be a great King and an okay husband for me.

Only okay? He chuckled; her teasing jab lightened his heart a bit.

You do need a bit of spit and polish, Merlin. Still I'll take a bit of tarnish and dirt on that white armor of yours. I don't expect you to throw yourself away, you know. I still want the dedicated prat that I'm in love with, she soothed punctuating it however with jabs and teasing. We'll talk about this with Arthur and Gwen tonight at dinner.

Yeah the state dinner. Everyone on best behavior.

Perhaps. It will be just us. Who knows? She let out a loud rather undignified belch over the link.

Excuse me? What was that?

That? It was just me being me. All of the stilted state games upset my stomach too, you know. You do know I like to have fun, right? I have news for you, Merlin, being the Crown Princess now is weighing on me too. That's why Father said, we have to pick our moments.

He nodded getting her gist.

I think Gaius wanted to see you. Perhaps you might want to pack up those things? You should have done that days ago, she reminded him.

Part of me thinks that if I don't pack, I won't have to say good bye. I know I'm being an idiot but….

It's your sentimentality speaking to you. Even as you move on, you want security. It's a part of human nature. Just know you aren't alone. Okay? Go on and talk to him. Oh and Merlin?

Yes?

I love you.

His cheeks flushed with joyous crimson. I love you too. He sighed while heading for the door.

Time to get on with the affair at hand….

[Physician's Chamber—Ten Minutes Later]

Gaius sat at his table mixing up remedies for the latest round of plague in Laolburgh. It should have been fairly easy task to mix the herbs in question and mash them into the desired mix. Still his mind wandered away from its given task….

…toward the abandoned back bedroom….

He sighed and set the pestle in the bowl. "You knew this would happen at some point," he lectured himself. Still the lonliness weighed on his heart. He sighed heavily and tapped his fingers on the chipped and faded wood in front of himself.

A light knocking at the door stirred him from his reverie. He looked up to see Merlin waiting to be invited in. "Merlin? Land sakes! Get in here!" He beckoned him in with a sharp hand motion. "Your mother was worried sick. So was I. I thought you'd be down here before now."

"Uh yeah," Merlin conceded while rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry about that. Master Geoffrey helped me with researching Nemeth's customs and traditions. I've…well…I'm really excited to go on to all of this but…this is going to be really silly."

"You don't want to leave here either," Gaius surmised, the Eyebrow arching an extra inch in emphasis. He shuffled over to the younger man's side. "Oh, Merlin! We all have to keep moving through this life. No matter how we wish otherwise, those things precious and terrible run their course and fall away. I won't be around forever. Neither will Arthur and Gwen. But for while it lasts, you have a supremely excellent opportunity. Because of King Rodor and Princess Mithian, you are a free man and a Prince no less! You have a new life with responsibilities at court and within the Old Religion. However you have support both ways. Talesin assured me that he will watch over the Princess and you."

"I'll still miss you, Gaius," Merlin noted as he embraced the elderly man.

"And I will miss you too," Gaius insisted. "Now will you please clear out your things? I don't want to have to send them over land." He shot the old stern look that he often gave Merlin during his early tenure in Camelot.

"I'll get right to it." Merlin walked slowly across the chamber and toward the back room. He grabbed a couple of burlap sacks and headed for his old room. As his foot falls crossed the aged floor, his mind flashed across all of the memories—treasured and otherwise—from that, his first actual refuge from the outside world….

…the one that gave him a chance to develop his gifts and survive in a hostile world….

He slowly opened the door; his feet slowly shuffling into the small room. Over the next hour, he went through his old servant garb, discarding most of it. He regarded the old neckerchiefs, still serviceable after years of use as Hunith intended when she'd crafted them back in Ealdor. He felt her vibes soaked through the material. I'm glad she'll be back there with us. Mithian and I can take care of her. He set them in his bag. Then he peered under the bed and removed the concealing boards. There he found his staff and grimoire still secreted there. I should be grateful that Morgana and Morgause didn't find them! He set the items in the sack as well. He checked every nook and cranny of the area to make sure he hadn't left anything behind.

Even as Memoria pulled at him, he could still feel the faint echoes of Mithian's energies crackling through the air. He smirked to himself closing his eyes and taking in the essence much as with her perfume or the sparkle in her eyes. He felt her aura all around him confirming Gaius' advice.

Feeling my energy, are we? his fiancée supposed over the link.

Just reassuring myself with your presence. That is all right, isn't it? he supposed.

Reassuring is great. Don't be a typical man and try to summon an image of me at that point, Merlin. I want you to see me for the first time on our wedding night. Please, she requested.

He sighed heavily.

I knew you'd think of something like that, she replied with a hearty snort. Please, Merlin.

All right…I won't, he relented while doing a last check of the area.

Thank you. I do appreciate it. I love you, she concluded before signing off.

He shrugged to himself while stripping the bed. He folded the blanket and left it on top of the mattress with the thin pillow. The sheets he placed beside the bed. Then he realized that he should leave them clean. He considered the linens. His eyes glowed. "Glan!"

The sheets sparkled as if covered with pixie dust; the cleansing energies purging the dirt, stains and odors from them.

He smiled. "Never leave a good turn undone." Instead of casting another spell, he decided to physically make the bed in deference to the elderly physician's lessons. He gave the floor a few hearty sweeps with the old broom for a topping flourish.

"Thank you, Merlin, for being thorough," Gaius expressed. "It seems my haranguing had some effect after all."

"Some," Merlin teased with a hearty grin for his mentor while checking the pillow again. "Everything's packed."

"Yes well my next apprentice will need to use it. Now won't he or she?" Gaius supposed. "You have everything?"

"Wish I could take you with us as well," Merlin lamented.

"Yes well, I'd only weigh you down. Master Wyngate is a skilled healer in his own right. Besides it's not that far to Whitgate from here. I can be there in a day if need be," Gaius noted. "We'll see each other tonight and then tomorrow before you leave. Will I get to speak with your king and mother then?"

"They departed this morning for Whitgate. King Rodor wanted to give me one last night here before I head for my new duties. Mithian will be there. Gawain, Lancelot and Britomart wanted their own time. We'll all leave together tomorrow at dawn," Merlin explained. "I still can't believe I'm a Prince."

"Yes well…it's far from the idiot you were on your last transition." Gaius chuckled knowingly. In his mind's eye, he recalled the boy from Ealdor who stumbled through his initial steps in that place barely at times avoiding detection and keeping his skin intact. "Now at least you will not have to hide any longer."

"Nor will you," Merlin reminded him.

"At long last, nor will I any longer," Gaius concurred; the relief and satisfaction clearly evident upon his face. "You see, Merlin, your efforts are bearing fruit. Especially with Prince Kay's death, you will be called upon more so now."

"I wish I could have convinced him before he died. You didn't see how he looked at us there," Merlin recounted. He shivered from the recalled derision in the deceased Prince's face.

"I've seen those looks often enough to have a good idea unfortunately. It will take time but you have Mithian and your allies. Don't forget that you only have to look here," Gaius reminded him.

"I couldn't have said any better, Gaius."

Both men turned to see Arthur watching them from the chamber's outer door. Gaius bowed quickly while Merlin offered a nod of his chin for the sovereign's benefit.

"Forgive us, Sire. We did not know you were standing there," Gaius apologized.

"Quite all right, Gaius. When I didn't find him in his chamber, Princess Mithian informed me Merlin was here. Finish your packing?" Arthur explained. He inspected the newest noble with a practiced eye admiring the fit of the blue tunic and brown trousers.

"I have. I was just going to bring these things upstairs. Did you have need for me, Arthur?" Merlin wondered.

"I could have you polish the silver or something. George is killing me already…" Arthur started before seeing Merlin rolling his eyes. He smirked knowingly and put his hand up to stop the expected retort. "Of course I'm not serious, Merlin. Look at you. You're a full prince now and the co-heir to a throne. Did you have anything else before dinner?"

"Not really. I was just going to meditate in the gardens a while. Perhaps Mithian might want to go as well," Merlin suggested.

"Actually Gwen and she are visiting. Guess that leaves us to our affairs, doesn't it?" Arthur supposed. "Take a ride?"

Merlin looked to Gaius who nodded in affirmation. The latter's eyes flitted back toward the resident king.

"Then I accept," Merlin agreed. "Lead on."

Arthur smiled. "Excellent! The horses could use some riding. Shall we? The afternoon's getting on. We shall see you at dinner, Gaius." He led the former servant out of the chamber.

Gaius shook his head admiring how Arthur had acknowledged Merlin as a peer. "Unbelievable. Will wonders never cease?" With that his mind felt clearer. He could focus on the cures on his workbench again.

Things did indeed change…in this case for the better….