The Crest of Ambrosius

Chapter 11

A/N: Wow, so it's been a while. I didn't mean for it to take this long, but I was finishing my last semester of undergrad and I'm proud to say that I've graduated a semester early and I was accepted to my top choice grad program, which I'll begin this fall! To make up for my absence, I've written a longer chapter. Hopefully now it won't take as much time between chapters. At least for the next 6 months, I'll only be working a day job, so I won't have to worry about homework and applications taking up my time. Thank you for sticking around through my erratic posting! I truly appreciate all the votes and comments! I hope you enjoy!

"Merlin!" Arthur cried indignantly, horrified that a servant of Camelot, no matter how close to the King he may be, would dare address another kingdom's royalty in such a manner.

"No, it's quite alright," Aurelius placated. "I think it may be best if perhaps Merlin and I took a walk."

At the warlock's terse nod, the two men departed before anyone else could think to interject in the odd situation. As they disappeared into the surrounding woods, the Camelotian knights seemed to break from their stupor.

"What the hell just happened?" Arthur was the first to begin spouting questions as Gwaine seemed to be questioning just how much he'd drunk that night.

Garrick, seemingly shaken by the turn of events, attempted to explain, "I- I'm sorry King Arthur, but I'm not sure I can quite explain everything. But I should apologize as we may not have been completely honest with you."

Immediately on guard, Arthur gestured for him to continue.

"It is nothing that will cause you or your people harm," Thomas interjected. The older knight seemed especially concerned about the hasty, and somewhat tense, departure of Dreócræft's princes. However, his placation seemed to have the opposite effect on Arthur and his knights, who were becoming more apprehensive as the Dreócræftan knights avoided an explanation.

"For the gods' sake, Thomas, I'll tell them," Elias spit out, quick to temper. "We know Merlin."

"Of course you know him. We've been traveling together and he served you in Camelot." Arthur may be the King and good at strategy, but he could be a bit dense when coming to conclusions. Especially those that could change his perceptions of those that he cared about.

Now somewhat over his shock, Garrick cut back in. "No, Arthur. We know him from before these past few days. I'm sorry that I cannot explain completely, as it is not my place. But I can tell you that we know him quite well, in fact, as he lived in Dreócræft before the uprising."

Arthur froze. Merlin wasn't from Ealdor.

He lied, again?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Merlin!"

Merlin sniffled from his hiding place under the bed. Of course his big brother would come looking for him. It never failed that whenever he wanted to be alone, Aurelius would be able to find him, no matter how good a place he chose to hide. And Merlin was good at hiding. Always teased by the other noble children about his stature, they never realized the benefits of being so small. He could hide wherever he wanted, in places no one else would ever suspect; curled up in a tiny broom cupboard, under the lowest beds, even in the little trunk he kept in his room that was supposed to store his toys. He never had a knack for keeping things tidy, so the trunk generally made a good hideaway.

But despite his skill in being hard to find, Aurelius always seemed to be the one to best him. Not that he completely despised this, since he supposed it meant that Aurelius cared. But after almost burning down some guest chambers while practicing his magic this afternoon, he really didn't want to be found. He was only trying to learn to keep his magic under control. Merlin was practicing on small objects: gently moving a goblet or quill into reach, closing doors without slamming them, and, when it all went wrong, trying to light a candle with a small flame. But he didn't account for how difficult this last action would be, nor the layer of dust coating the rarely used room. When the candle lit, so did the dust and, spooked by the rapidly growing fire, Merlin forgot to keep his emotions under control.