Lost in Albion 3 (Merlin) - Completed

Chapter 1: A Soldier

Chapter 1 (1 Year Later)

It feels like, after all that Camelot goes through, in the end, it never changes. Merlin is still Arthur's servant, Arthur is still Prince Prat, I'm still a seamstress, and Castor still hasn't learnt to make his own bed.

But underneath the surface, everything is changing. It's a hidden rip current on the beach but the surface appears calm. People who don't see the signs, who don't know the water would swim out to it, getting dragged in but the others; they can see it.

I'm someone who knows the water.

Arthur looks like he hasn't changed, acts like he did when we first met him but the makings of a king show through. Small things. The decisions he makes, the way he leads his men.

Merlin is more confident in his magic. He's been practising whenever he has the chance and every now and then I would see him use it, right in front of people but so subtle that nobody would notice except for me because I know what to look for.

Leon, Castor, and I have returned to a somewhat normal state. It would almost be like before but there's still the missing piece of our lost knight, Torj.

And then there's me. The same little seamstress.

But I'm not.

Hidden under my bed in a chest is a guard's uniform. Everything from the tunic, the chainmail and most importantly the helmet. After practising for the past year through many long nights with Arthur and Castor I wanted to put those skills to the test. Surprisingly, Castor is a great teacher as well, took his lessons seriously and never held back as Arthur and Gwaine would. It challenged me in ways I never thought I needed but apparently, I did.

For the first six months, I trained every single night, either by myself with the dummies or with either man. Then I stole the guard's uniform six months ago and started posing as one.

Now, I would much rather be a knight. I long to wear their cloak but two things held me back. One, being that fact that Knights are prestigious, and the men have earned that title. It would belittle their years of efforts and training, insulting them. And two, I need to wear a helmet, or everybody would see me.

I've kept my hair on the shorter side, letting me wrap it up to fit underneath the metal. Because nobody knows who I am when I wear it, it gives me the luxury of choosing which orders I want to follow. All I have to do is ask Leon or Arthur what is happening and if something interesting is happening I just slip in unnoticed, the uniform hiding almost all features that one can use to identify something. But my mouth and eyes are still visible, and even under all the armour, the femininity of my face shows through, so I keep away from those who know me well enough.

It also gave me some problems when travelling over a long period of time as I couldn't take off the helmet and this is where my creative side came out. Because of my anonymity, I could slip away from the camp with a simple 'going to the bathroom' mutter to whoever is nearby and when I don't show back up, nobody really noticed. I would end up sleeping a little way from the camp but in case of not being able to, I can sleep in my helmet and use the excuse that I fell asleep before I could take it off.

It is my one dirty little secret. Something just for me. Absolutely nobody, not even Merlin knew of my little adventures. I used them to get experience, test myself and keep my skills sharp.

I spent more time than usual down at the training grounds, watching and listening for their techniques, studying the way they move and then take those skills and practice with them late into the night.

Xx

"And you call this...CPR?" Gaius checks, bent over Merlin who is lying on the medical bed to help me with my demonstration. I'm almost certain he volunteered just to try and sneak in a nap, but unfortunately for him, he had no idea that CPR is a...physical practice. Of course, we didn't do the entire movement.