The Once and Future King

Prologue: The Once and Future King

       Seventeen years ago...

         The news was everywhere. Prince William and Duchess Kate were having yet another child. His name was not yet revealed.

        Yet one old man, with a bushy white beard and a red neckerchief, knew exactly who he was. The baby was the one he had waited for for more than three centuries. 

        His name would be Arthur. And he would be a great king. 

        Memories flooded Merlin from three hundred years ealier, of his best friend. The one who tried to kill him (on many occasions), whom he laughed with, saved, and served willingly (though not always wholeheartedly). He remembered Arthur's body in his arms, the precious thank you from his dying lips. 

        Just a few more years, he thought. Till Arthur will find out... His servant has returned. I've waited this long. 

Present day

        Merlin, now appearing age eighteen, had become a servant in the Anglesey farmhouse. Most of the time, he was never seen by anyone, just doing the dirty work, the things that nobody knew about. For the first time in three hundred years, he felt... Comfortable. At home, maybe.

        Merlin had watched as time passed around him. Albion had thrived as a nation. He had gone from the Renaissance to the Space Age. It amazed him how well mankind got by without the knowledge, or use, of magic. 

        One day, while Merlin was mucking the stables (as per usual), Prince George, now nearly nineteen, came in with his fencing foil, completely ignorant to Merlin's presence. Merlin was only noticed after George realized that he was watching him.

        "What're you looking at!? Finish with your muck and leave!" 

        Of course, Merlin was used to being ordered around, so he took his time. As soon as Merlin finished, he walked out the other side of the stable. Just as he left, Arthur walked in to consult his older brother on the topic of football. George pulled out his phone and Arthur peeked over his shoulder, seeing the answer, then left satisfied. 

        This happened over the course of the next few days: Arthur would leave and Merlin would walk in, or vice versa, always just missing each other by a matter of seconds, Merlin desperately wanting to find his friend. Arthur was oblivious to Merlin's existence.