Merlin blinked and snapped back to reality.

"Not good," he squeaked before getting up and scurrying through his messy cottage to open the door.

"What's not good!?" the owl screeched, only to be ignored.

"I'm never gonna find a better match for this boy if I look for a hundred years! OH!" he exclaimed as he collided with the small blonde himself, making both of them fall backwards. "What are you doing here!?" he said as he got up and dusted himself off. Arthur shook his head to get his messy triangular fringe out of the way.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? I was looking all over for you. What have you been doing?"

"Uh…just a little uhm, spring cleaning you know." he coughed.

"But it's winter."

"So it is. Anyways I'll be on my way so uh, top of the morning."

"What's the hurry?" the boy asked, trying to keep up with the elderly man.

"Some important wizardry mayhem business." he said as he slid the tween out of the way as if he were a futuristic game pawn.

"Like what?"

"You don't wanna know. Now I say you get back to the castle, because I have to leave right this very minute."

"Well alright but what is so important?"

"Here it comes." Merlin sighed.

"Here what comes?"

"Three….two…one…" he said as he folded a finger for every number he said.

"HAHHHH!" shrieked a voice.

"There it is." Merlin exhaled. Arthur reluctantly removed his hands from his ears after the loud scream faded out.

"Oh..what was that?"

"Chan eil! Chan eil! Chan eil! Leig air falbh (No! No! No! Let go!)" It had to be a female, and whatever she was saying definitely wasn't in english.

"What's that?" Arthur asked.

"It's Gaelic." Merlin said casually and swiftly.

"Gaewhat?" the boy repeated with a cringe at the odd name.

"Chan eil! Chan eil! Na dèan! Cuidich mi! Mas e do thoil e! (No! No! Don't! Please!)" she cried again.

"Dùin doll! (Shut up doll!)" a male voice yelled in the same tongue.

"Is that-." Arthur was cut off by Merlin grabbing him and moving him aside again.

"My business I need to get to? Yes, so my boy I…hey…what am I thinking? You have to come too! Of course! It only makes sense if I am to determine if this young lady is your future spouse or not."

"What's a spouse?" he asked, more childish than ever.

"Something you won't understand now but will probably start begging for when you're about….oh 17 or…oh never mind that we gotta go." Roughly, he grabbed the boy's arm and dragged him through the snow.

"Wha-da-er-wait! Merlin, what is it!?" Arthur babbled as he was being dragged through the snowy bushes, into an isolated part of the forest.

"That." Merlin said as he pointed towards the scene unfolding before them. As they approached, they noticed a Scottish man, who had previously abducted the girl, holding her green, tattered satchel. Arthur could see a man who looked like Kay gripping a rope tied around the girl's fragile neck like a leash. The girl was playing tug of war with the rope as two other men stood beside the man with the rope, one of them holding a small bag of coins. The girl, irritated and slightly scared, had long wavy auburn hair that was whipping side to side as she struggled to break free. Her greenish brown eyes were filled with agitation.

The man holding the bag of coins spoke up after the merchant stopped the girl from squirming. "So, Morgan. Tell me about her," he asked.

"Well, she's a bit of a loner. I think she's about eleven or twelve," replied Morgan.

"Hey tack briosgaid airson brains, tha mi ceithir-deug! (Hey biscuit tack for brains, I'm fourteen!)" retorted the girl.

"Well, she's snuck out of the local orphanage and somehow managed to survive. But to sum it up, she'll serve you fellows well," Morgan added.

"One of the buyers commented, "She doesn't look very like she speaks much English."

"Oh, of course, she does, fluently," replied Morgan. "Er, show 'em lassie," he said, looking down at the girl tied on the rope.

"Chan eil! Feuch an leig thu leam falbh! (No! I will not! Now let me go!)" the girl yelled back.

Arthur whispered to his teacher, "What's going on?"

"This is what men do to young girls with no parents or protector," Merlin whispered back.

"They put them on leashes?"

"Worse. They are sold or traded as slaves and killed if they refuse to do hard labor," Merlin explained.

As the girl got up to run, she was jolted to the ground as the man tugged on the rope. "Na feuch ris beag flim flam! Bhithinn gam marbhadh mura dèanadh tu prothaid cho math. (Don't try it little flim flam! I would kill you if you didn't make such good profit!)" he warned her. He turned to his buyers and said, "Don't worry, she speaks it, she's just being difficult right now."

One of the buyers asked, "Sounds like a deal. How much do you want for her?"

"Name your price," Morgan replied.

The girl's eyes widened as she screamed and once again tried to run away, scratching the ground and being pulled back. "Quiet!" the man yelled at her as he bent down to her level, only to receive a kick in the face from her as she backed away from him. One buyer stooped down and seized her upper body while the other prepared to grab her lower limbs. Nevertheless, the girl skillfully kicked the first buyer's chin, causing him to clutch his face in pain. Meanwhile, she swiftly struck the second man's shin, freeing herself from his grasp. With determination to get away she sprinted off defying her petite and scrawny stature. She was a fighter, but not a good one. The buyer groaned as he gripped his shin.

"Morgan, what in Gods green earth was that!!!!?" he moaned.

"Well, I may have forgotten to mention that she's a bit of an escape artist, so be careful because she's not as easy as most girls. And did I mention she's a scammer and a thief? She's stolen from my jewelry shop multiple times," Morgan explained.

"Chan e cha do rinn mi! (No I didn't!) she exclaimed.

Of course you did, lassie. I saw you take those earrings! You're like a scrappy little squirrel with your bony frame and dark red hair," he taunted.

"Chan eil fios agad (You have no idea)," she muttered in response.

"Well, it seems like she needs to be taught a lesson," Morgan declared.

"I think I can handle that," one of the buyers said as he drew his sword.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, alarmed by the sight of the weapon.

"May I?" the man with the sword asked.

"Be my guest," Morgan said, seizing the struggling girl by her armpits and dragging her to the man. The man then held the blade to her neck while she continued to squirm.

"N-n-no!" she shouted as the man prepared to slit her throat. She wriggled even harder, but their altercation was soon interrupted.

"Woah! Woah! Hold it!" Arthur exclaimed with Merlin behind him. They all looked at him, including the girl. "What is going on here!?"

"None of you business shrimpo!" the man holding the girl snapped. Arthur flushed red and grew hot. What did he just do? He should wear that heavy crown thing more often.

"That is king shrimpo to you." Merlin said, putting his hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"What? You…..oh!...Your Majesty," he said as they all bowed except for the girl who was sitting in the snow, knees bent, supporting herself on her elbows. She gave an angry wince as her leash was jolted. "Uill? Bogha! (Well? Bow!)" he growled. The girl stood up.

"Chan eil mi a' cromadh sìos do dhuine sam bith! A-nis gearraich an ròp seo agus leigh leam falbh! (I am not bowing down to anyone! Now cut this rope and let me go!)" she yelled, ignoring the presence of royalty.

"Shut up!" The young lady made another attempt to escape, but was stopped when the merchant grabbed the sash on her waist. Then she cleverly bent down and untied it and ran once again, but found her hair being pulled back this time. "Nice try. Now where was I?"

"A' deanamh tàir air an Righ tha mi creidsinn. (Insulting the King I believe) she said with raised eyebrows, irritating the man. "A-nis mura h-eil suim agad, tha mi a' smaoineachadh gu bheil àiteachan againn le chèile airson a dhol mar sin uh, mullach na maidne.(Now if you don't mind, I think we both have places to go so uh, top of the morning.)" she said before she spun around and began to politely walk away. The man rolled his eyes and pulled the incredibly annoyed girl back.

"Oh speak English for crying out loud!" he yelled.

"Chan eil fios agam dè a tha thu a' bruidhinn,(I don't know what you're talking about.)," The man who was holding the sword, lazily pointed it at her with a dull face. The girl jumped. "Alright! I'm talking! What do you want!?" she said in perfect English with no accent whatsoever.

"Wait one second," said on of the traders. "If she's Scottish, how come she got no accent?" he inquired.

"It really isn't any of your business, acorn for brains, but I lost it a while ago." the girl said as she crossed her arms.

"You to stay quiet yew smart alec." the Scottish man growled at her.

"I don't think I will." the girl said with a haughty face.

"Donchyew take dat tone with me pewee. And enough with your mut'rin'. Do I look stupid to you!?"

"Yeah! You kinda do!" she yelled, throwing her hands behind her.

"Oh you little punk! I'm gonna beat the puberty out of you!"

"Lay one of your nasty mitts on me and I will do something violent." she threatened.

"Shut up! And if yew wan' ti talk about nasty, how 'bout da many promises you break, the things you steal and da people yew beat up?" Morgan huffed as he crossed his arms.

"What do you mean by promises?" the girl asked.

"Out of pity for a poor little orphan I promised not to poot yew in a slave dormitory as long as you stayed out of trouble! But i' looks like that be very very difficult for you!"

"You never specified exactly what 'trouble' meant and you never said to stay out of it, that was not part of the deal!" she yelled.

"Well then I shall give you an example," the Gaelic man said. "How about when you stole from that jewelry shop yesterday?"

"Uh oh." she muttered as she started to blush.

"It's true your highness. She stole from a nearby bijouterie store. I watched her."

"Watched her you did?" Merlin asked, unconvinced.

"No he didn't," the girl said as she crossed her arms. "I would never steal anything," she said with closed eyes. "Not with a witness present of course." she mumbled.

"Look I know it was you!" the merchant shouted. "And I can prove it!" The girl's eyes widened as she gasped. Arthur started to debate on whether this strange girl really was a thief or not. But still, it was nothing to be kidnapped and enslaved over. Morgan began to dig through the bag that he had stolen from her to find nothing but rags and worthless items in it. "What!? But I saw you take it! Yeah I specifically remember, you stole a bright green emerald necklace!"

"Well then if I took it where is it?" she asked like how a real snooty girl would. The man turned towards Arthur.

"You gotta believe me your highness. I saw what I saw and this little rat is guilty!" He turned back towards the girl. "You must be hiding it!?"

"You must be blind," the girl said with a haughty face and proudly closed eyes. "Are you blind?" she asked in a snarky voice. The man had had enough. He took his hand and slapped her across the face, hard. She grunted, looking like she wanted to cry, but also like she didn't want to be seen as weak and so, washed the tears away with a glare. Arthur was stunned. Sure, plenty of men would slap haughty misbehaving boys, but a girl? And on the face? She messaged her cheek. She didn't look like she was in pain, just in embarrassment and anguish. "A simple 'no' would have been alright, but sure." she uttered.

"My-good-man," Merlin argued, while he poked the man's chest with his finger. "Have you no manners or do not know that it is completely unnecessary to hit a young lady? What are you going to do with her anyway?"

"That's a good question," the girl said in a sly voice. She crossed her arms and then turned to the man who had brought her there. "Sir Morgan, maybe this is a good time to tell everybody about my new career you've assigned for me." she said with a mischievous smile, knowing she had the man caught. Morgan snatched a sword out of one of the his buyers hands and then swung it at her feet. The girl jumped up high and out of the blades way, only to end up landing hard on her back in the snow.

"Nothin' out of you, you little rat." the man sneered as he pointed at the girl.

"You...still didn't...answer the question...ohhh." the girl moaned as she rubbed the pain out of her back.

"That is right. Now what were you doing with this young lady?" Merlin asked.

"Uh-oh-er-uh-well," the three men muttered at the same time. "Uh….this young woman here happens to be a willing maid servant."

"I am not!" the girl objected as she hopped out of the snow, seeming to have recovered from her fall.

"Oh yes you are lassie. Why, asa matter of fact, maybe I'll sell you as a slave to the King. At least you're the same age!" he paused to think.

"Same age?" the girl repeated, quite confused. "I'm fourteen though and isn't he like...I don't know...eleven?" she asked in a skeptical voice as she pointed at Arthur.

"He's actually going on thirteen." Merlin commented, only to be ignored.

"Say Morgan...that's a swell idea," said one of the men. "D'you know how much you'd get if you sold her to the castle staff?"

"Dat be true." the Scottish man agreed. The girl quickly shot up after feeling her temper click.

"Oh-ho-ho no you don't man!" she protested. "Ain't nobody gonna sell me but me. And me says no!" she let out. "And me also says I'm sick and tired of being called a thief and I'm sick and tired of them constantly trying to sell me as a se-." The man cut her off as he slapped his hand over her mouth.

"Shut up!" he said through a fake smile as he then picked her up by the hair.

"Ok! Ok! I'll shut up! Just leave me some hair! I'm allergic to pain!" she said with a scrunched face. Arthur slightly giggled at her spunk. It was almost appealing to him, but he didn't know why.

"Well I do believe I can help you with that." he whispered, holding his blade up to her throat. The redhead gave a nervous laugh.

"Well on second thought." she squeaked.

"That. Is. Enough!" Merlin interrupted. "Now leave this young lady alone! Girls are not objects to be bought! And since you evidently don't know that, let her go!"

"And who are you to order me to spare the life of this conniving squirrely thief!?"

"Watch it, I bite." she murmured, right before he threateningly turned towards her again.

"Nobody, but he is!" He pointed to Arthur and then kicked the boy in the shin to speak up.

"Ow! U-u-uhm yes. Just as he said. You won't sell her. N-n-now I command you to let her go..er please." Merlin slapped his forehead.

"Very well then your highness," He pushed the stumbling girl away, "If you want to keep this worthless child alive then so be it. But if you really wish to do so, then I'm afraid you're gonna have to be responsible for the little f-r-e-a-k."

"Who's Frank?" Arthur asked, mis-spelling, but was ignored by both.

"Without a doubt then." Merlin agreed.

"Hey wait right there bud," the girl protested as she pointed a finger at the man, whilst still facing the ground. "I'm not going to the castle and if you think I'm going back to that orphanage you've got another thing coming!" Morgan scratched his head.

"Hmm, well, agree to disagree, but I think Anthony's a bit sick and tired of you breaking out of the orphanage. However I'd hate to put you in the presence of royalty with the mouth you've got." He thought for the moment. "But on second thought, you do have an open invitation there so maybe they'll give you some humbling."

"You're joking right?" she asked. "Cause if you are that's a good one! A real knee slapper!" she said anxiously.

"Afraid I'm not, lassie. So if I were you, I'd take my advice and shut up!" he growled at her. The gril placed her ahdns over her ears.

"You know...if I wanted your advice I'd've asked for it!" she yelled back.

"You still haven't learned your lesson have you?" asked the scottish merchant.

"No, I guess I haven't. Now give that back!" the redhead said, trying to clutch her green bag which Morgan had stollen from her. The man dug through it first, and he pulled out a golden key on a red ribbon before throwing the satchel back to her.

"Alrigh' 'ere! But I'm hangin' un to dis. I can weld it into a good horse shoe " he said, examining the trinket.

"NO! Give that back please! You can take the bag! Just give that back!"

"What? Dis be da key to your box of stolen goods or sometin'?"

"NO! GIVE IT BACK!" she said, yanking it out of his grip like her life depended on it. "I'm leaving, thank you very much!"

"Oh it doesn't look like you don't have much of a choice anymore!" the man argued. He picked her up by the collar of her shirt and threw her between Merlin and Arthur. "Congratulations lassie, looks like you finally found yourself a home." he said after he and the other two men laughed. The girl lifted her face out of the snow and shot him a side eye.

"Y'all think this is real funny donchya' Morgan?" she muttered. The girl looked up at Arthur and glared before pushing herself up. Arthur was confused. He had never seen this girl before in his life, however she seemed to hold a type of grudge against him...but for what? And why?

"Sure is lass!"

"Just cause your little ol wife left you don't mean you need to take it out on the short people! Don't worry man, she'll come back." she called. The girl stuck her tongue out and started to mock the men in gibberish.

"Have fun lassie!" she heard Morgan call as he and the two other men walked away.

"HEY!" the girl yelled at him and the merchant turned around. "This is gòrach!" the girl said as she kicked the snow in their men only responded with laughter before they all disappeared into the forest. The ginger haired girl placed her hands on her hips and scowled. "I cannot believe this các!" she shouted as she kicked the snow in discouragement. "One little necklace gets stolen and you all go nuts!" The girl then turned to face both Merlin and Arthur and glared. She turned around and ran away.

"Wait right there young lady," Merlin said as he picked her up by her shoulders. She squirmed as he expected. But what he hadn't expected was for her to kick his frail stomach, hard. He dropped her and they both fell to the ground. "Ohh!" he moaned as he clutched his middle. The girl continued to run away, ashamed of nothing she had done.

"Merlin! Are you alright!" Arthur squeaked as he dropped to his side.

"Don't let that girl get away!" he strained.

"What!? Bu–But why!?"

"Do as I say! Don't let her get away!"

"What if she hits me!?"

"Then you don't hit her back! Now go!" Arthur swallowed hard as he pursued after the little girl -although she was probably older than him by a few months if not a year. He caught up to her and saw she was trying to jump up a tree, but failing due to her height issues. She turned around and stared at him wide eyed.

"It's ok, don't move." he said as if he were trying to tame a wild animal.

"Go away." she growled shakily.

"I'm not gonna —OOF!" he exclaimed as she spun her body and kicked his arm. She made sure it didn't hurt that much because he really didn't do anything….yet that is. "Why did you do that!?"

"I told you to back off!"

"That does it!" he said as they began to tackle each other in the snow. Arthur, being taller than the opponent for once, was able to get the upper hand and pin her on her back. "Alright, I don't want to hurt you."

"You're a little too late for that!" she said, trying to escape."Do you think this is funny? I've got jobs to do and places to be beanpole, now get off!" She hit and elbowed him several times but she still just couldn't break free. She dropped her head back in the snow. "What do you want!?"

"I don't want anything! But the old wizard back there. He wants you to come back and talk to him."

"I most certainly will not!" She tried to squirm her way out again, but the blonde's burning arms managed to keep her down.

"Well then I can't let you up." he said, raising his head with closed eyes while crossing his arms.

"Wanna bet?" The girl maneuvered her arms from her side to on top of her chest and pushed Arthur off of her. She attempted to run away once again, and succeeded at first. She gave a mischievous laughter as she looked back at the little boy whining and groaning in the snow. The redhead was filled with major pride and energy, well that was until she collided with a tall thick tree in her way. She had just splat into it like a fly in a spiders web. The girl moaned, expressing her great embarrassment and idiocy. After getting over the comical sight of the girl running into the tree, Merlin peeled her off of it and waited for to regain her memory. He sat her down and she tried to run again, but he grabbed her wrist. "Leave me alone!" she growled. Arthur ran over to spectate the scene.

"It's ok my dear. Nobody is going to hurt you."

"Yeah sure," she sneered. "What now? You gonna give me free candy or something?"

"Merlin! Get away from her before she hurts you!" Arthur squeaked.

"Relax boy. Everything is under control," He bent down to the girl. "Tha e ceart gu leòr, a ghràidh. (It is ok, my dear. )" he said in whatever language that was. Her eyes widened, but not in a bad way.

"Tha Gàidhlig agad? (You can speak Gaelic?)" she asked innocently, shocked.

"What did you just say?" Arthur asked like a true English speaker.

"Gu dearbh. A-nis tha mi a' faicinn nach do dhèilig daoine uaisle riut gu math. Ach tha mi 'n earbsa riut nach 'eil mise no mo charaid beag mar sin. (Indeed. Now I see how awful gentlemen have treated you, but I can assure you that nor my little friend here are like that.)"

"Chan eil mi gad chreidsinn! (I don't believe you!)" she said before shaking her wrist free and trying to run away yet again. Merlin placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Well you will have to believe me if you want this back." he said in English as he pulled the gold key out of his sleeve.

"Give me that!" she said as she reached for it.

"Don't worry I will. As long as you apologize for attacking us."

"Look man I am not in the mood for this!" she yelled. "And attacking you? You're the one who isn't letting me leave! I'm no fool! I know what you're tyring to do!" They started to talk in Gaelic again. Arthur stood there and just listened to them argue in a foreign tongue until they came to what looked like a conclusion.

"Merlin, what did she say?"

"Well, she said she's sorry for kicking you and that her name is Hazel."

"Hazel?"

"Look I know it's not the name of the year but…..why am I telling you this? Either of you? In fact, why am I still here?" 'Oh no you don't. I know you are the one' Melin thought.

"Because you have just proven you cannot survive out there by yourself. Now you should come back with us before you freeze your red hair off."

"Absolutely not! I am not English and I am not from here! This ain't my kingdom and he ain't my king!" she said to Merlin as she stood on her toes to try to seem taller.

"We do not intend to do anything to you."

"Right." she said, unbelieving.

"Merlin, she doesn't want to come with us. It's wrong to just keep her prisoner."

"Yeah, listen to him!" Hazel said while pointing to the blonde.

"If you want to go out there and be recaptured by all means go on. Or you could come back with us and regain your little key."

"This is a trick, isn't it? So I can be sold again as a slave!? And not necessarily a cleaning slave?" she started to strut away. Merlin picked her up by her shoulders and put her in a different direction.

"Believe me, he wouldn't do anything like that to you." he whispered.

"Merlin's right, you should stay with us," Merlin smirked down at him which made him stammer. "Er ub da um…well..at least until winter's over." Even though she was a bit uncomfortable and incredibly annoyed, Hazel had to admit that she was cold, exhausted and didn't feel like running anymore nor being kidnapped. Arthur could tell she clearly didn't trust him or Merlin, even though he was the King of England, but she also knew that it would be incredibly stupid to refuse.

"Well I'm probably unemployed for being late. And I 'ain't gettin' fired for nobody," She then exhaled loudly. "But, I guess this beats living under a bridge so sure, why not?" she said casually, as if she had not just thrown a tantrum saying how much she didn't want to come. 'Finally'

"Well then, come along," She did so. "Oh and Miss Hazel, not to make any assumptions, but uh...can you read?" Hazel was quiet for a moment as she focused her vision on the ground that suddenly became very interesting to her.

"Uh...no sir," she said almost in an unsure voice that she had to nod her head to believe it herself. "That's right, I can't read a thing." she said in a tone that aroused many questions that had to time for answering.

"Interesting. So you were able to learn English without reading or writing?" Merlin interrogated.

"Yeah. I learned it by ear. That a problem?" she said, remembering her arrogant confidence.

"No, certainly not. Now uh, let's proceed."

"You never told me you could speak another language." Arthur whispered to his tutor as they both walked behind the uncomfortable redheaded girl.

"I never told you I didn't."

To Be Continued...

AN: What do you think? It will get better and more interesting as it goes on.