Okay, here it is! It isn't much, but hopefully it will tide you over until I can get chapter three written. Again, I am so sorry for the wait. Normally, my ex best friend would stay on my back about updates and such but. . .yeah. . .some stuff happened. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! Just a few fluffy introductions and sweet moments before we get to the good stuff.

"Are we there yet?" A dark haired girl whined. "We've been walking for hours."

The girl had long, dark brown hair that lay over her left shoulder in a tight braid, leaving no room for loose strands. At her side trudged her sister. Identical of face and structure, the only difference that could be spotted was the braid sitting over her right shoulder instead of her left. Each wore a dark green dress with black trimming that laced up tightly in the back, and brown work boots that were hidden beneath their skirts. On their wrists, simple bracelets made of scrap leather, with one small stone hanging from the side. The first girl had a green stone, the second a deep purple.

"No, Anni." An older girl spoke through her teeth, trying not to snap and wake the sleeping baby in her arms. She had been dealing with the complaining twins all day.

"It's okay, Anni," said her twin, "we'll be there soon."

"You're right, Ada." Anni relented, before smiling. "Then we get to see Merls."

Everyone seemed to perk up at this, the thought of seeing their brother causing them to speed up just a bit more. The older girl looked at her siblings.

Tiergan was walking ahead of her, gripping Forest in his right hand and holding the reigns of the horse in his left. The regal-looking black steed had been gifted to them a few years ago by a wealthy traveler after their mother had healed him of his illness. He had called the horse Humphrey, but Merlin had jokingly called him Humperdink enough that the name stuck. (Her brother had gotten the dreadful name from one of mother's many storybooks. Later, Kaytlyn Rebekah had chosen to name the newborn after yet another character from the story.)

On the horse's back sat two small figures, the second and third youngest of their clan. In front was Luken, a head of white-blonde hair (their great grandfather's hair, according to Hunith) gleaming brightly in the sun. He was dressed simply: a green tunic and brown trousers held on by a thin belt were accompanied by a muddy pair of boots. However, despite his dress, Luken had always stood out more than any of them. With his wide, smiling eyes and toothy grin rivaled only by their oldest brother's, the child radiated peace and happiness. As his name suggested, the seven year old was the light of their lives.

Riding behind him was a small girl, much smaller than others her age. At the age of four, she came up barely past the knee of most adults. She wore a plain, midnight blue dress and no shoes; though she owned a pair of work boots identical to the rest of them, the girl wore them only when absolutely required to. Unruly raven curls were held back by a pale red cloth that looked suspiciously like one of Merlin's old neckerchiefs. Around her neck was a leather cord, and at the end was a light blue stone. The stone itself, when held up to the sun, seemed to hold every color of the rainbow.

The child fiddled with the stone, a clear sign that she was nervous about something.

"Kaytlyn Rebekah?" The older girl asked. "Are you alright?"

The young girl looked up, the piercing blue eyes that they all shared meeting hers. "Worried 'bout Myr, Meri."

The newly-identified Ameri cracked a smile at the name. Their youngest sister had taken to calling Merlin "Myrddin" out of the blue one day. The others had tried to correct her, but Merlin told them off. He loved the name, as he loved his sister. Those two had always been close.

"Why? Is he in trouble?"

She shook her head. "Nuh uh. Bu' Cam-lot bad place if Myr found ou'."

Ah. Yes, it was true that they had all worries about their brother's life when he was sent to the city of blood. But he had managed alright so far, and now they were closer to keep an eye on him when they needed to.

"Don't worry about Merls, Kayt. Look, there's Camelot." Tiergan called from ahead.

Ameri looked up to see red and gold flags ahead. This was it, their future awaited. Or their doom. Guess we'll find out. "Come on then, family of mine. Let's go find our brother."

Back at the castle, said brother was laughing as he hauled armor down to the training field. Guinevere walked alongside him, catching him up on all of the latest gossip she had heard from the other maids. Merlin shook his head, amused at his friend's antics. He dropped the heavy armor on the table and groaned, rubbing his shoulder. He had slammed it into a wall on his way down, resulting in quite a bit of worrying from Gwen and the dread of the expected bruising he would have in a few hours.

The raven-haired young man leaned back against the table lazily and watched as Arthur spoke with harsh criticism at one of the younger knights. He rolled his eyes, already bored.

After a few minutes of pretending to pay attention, heard one of the townswomen speak behind him. "My goodness, isn't that an adorable bunch?"

He turned around and followed to woman's gaze. His eyes landed immediately on a deep black steed that probably should have had a knight on his back rather than carrying packs on the saddle. On his back, two small children, the girl clinging to her brother's back shyly. Holding the reins, a dark brown- haired boy, tugging along a younger child with only slightly lighter hair. The horse was followed by two girls, who walked with elbows linked and hands clasped behind their backs. They showed no expression.

A young woman walked alongside the group, a bundle of light brown cloth cradled gently in her arms. She observed her surroundings cautiously, and gave the younger children reassuring looks every once in a while.

A murmur swept across the crowd, causing Merlin to look to his right. The King, followed by Gaius, walked gracefully down the steps, giving off the feeling of both awe and power that only a king could. He looked at the group of children, watching, yet not really saying anything. Gaius smiled at the kids kindly and gestured them forward.

The eldest shifted the bundle in her arms slightly to free her right hand, which she then raised slightly before closing her fist. The strange party halted instantly, the brunette boy tugging gently on the reigns of the steed. The young woman walked forward to stand a few paces away from the king and bowed her head in a show of respect. "King Uther," she greeted, her strong voice echoing in the courtyard.

The King raised an eyebrow, slightly impressed by the girl's boldness. "What is your name, child?"

She raised her head to look at him. "Ameri, Sire. Amber Valerie. These are my siblings."

Uther nodded, his eyes drifting to inspect the other children before returning to her face. "Yes, I have been informed of your arrival, Amber Valerie. However, I was not expecting you to be so. . . improperly dressed."

A low rumble made its way through the crowd and Merlin clenched his fists, attempting to calm himself. Ameri could handle herself.

"My apologies for my improper dress, Sire," The satirical undertone was evident, and Merlin mentally scolded himself for not stepping up. "but my siblings and I have been working our entire lives. As one of the few able bodies in our small village, I have found that skirts and long hair often get in the way of work that needs to be done. Surely you can understand the impracticality of a bodice when one is laboring in the fields?"

The courtyard was silent for a moment, her words ringing in the King's ears. Merlin took a step forward, already coming up with a story to explain his sisters momentary loss of respect for the king. It was a long journey, Sire. She is overcome by the heat and doesn't understand what she's saying. Before he could speak, however, the king barked a laugh, shocking him.

"You have a mouth on you girl," Uther spoke, amused. "I'm sure it has been a long journey, so I'll choose to ignore your momentary lapse of judgement; but I'm warning you now, child, you are here as a favor to a dear friend of mine, and I am doing your family a great service by allowing you to set foot in my kingdom. From here on, you watch your tongue."

Gaius stepped forward. "I'll make sure to discuss it with her, sire."

The King nodded, satisfied with this answer. "Now, if you wo-"

He was cut of by a loud squeal as Merlin stepped out of the crowd. The little girl leaped off of the steed, landing on the shoulders of the older brunette boy. The crowd watched in awe as she scrambled down his side easily and took off, full speed, at the raven-haired boy. To their surprise, none of the siblings even flinched as the girl screamed, "Myrrdin!" There was a blur of blue as she jumped into his arms. Merlin laughed, swinging her around.

"Hello there, Kitten." He spoke softly as she buried her face in his neck, their arms wrapped around each other tightly.

Uther cleared his throat loudly, breaking up their little reunion.

Merlin turned to face the King. "I apologize, Sire, for my sister's behavior. She is not practiced in addressing authority."

The King sniffed, backing up a step. "I trust you are competent enough to show your family where they will be staying. I'll allow time to settle in, but I expect the nine of you to report to my court before sundown. We have much to discuss." He pivoted on his heel and made his way back into the castle, a group of guards following swiftly behind him.

The courtyard was silent, the citizens staring curiously at Merlin and the child in his arms. Then, Arthur's voice ordered them assertively to return to their business. Merlin breathed a sigh of relief, turning to his siblings.

Forest let go of Tiergan's hand, running forward to wrap his arms around Merlin's middle.

The warlock kissed his sister's head where it was still buried in the crook of his neck. "C'mon, Kitten, I need my arms." The small girl huffed leaning back into his arm. In a single movement, then had swung her around to sit on his shoulders, her hands coming to rest on the top of his head. Merlin continued to stand tall, as Kaytlyn Rebekah weighed little to nothing on his back. With his arms free, he was able to hug back him younger brother, who then reluctantly let him to to let the others in.

"Right there, Forest?" The boy nodded, giving him a closed-lipped smile. Merlin returned it before turning his head. "Well, I suppose these two are the only ones happy to see me? Right then, well, I'll be taking these two on a tour of the grounds. The rest of you can just hang out here if you'd like."

Ada let out a furious whine from the back of her throat, squeezing her twins' hand in frustration. Ada tugged her forward. "Nuh uh!"

Merlin shook his head, causing Kaytlyn to giggle and begin playing with his hair. "No," he sighed dramatically, "and here I thought we could all go play in the trees like old times. Oh how I was wrong!"

Ameri rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Merlin, all this because we wouldn't hug you?"

Merlin's eyes widened comically and he nodded furiously. "Oh, of course! A hug, darling sister, is the ultimate sign of affection between families such as ours. You're lack of affection is not only insulting, Ameri, but I think it very well may break my heart."

Ameri rolled her eyes again, shifting Wesley in her arms. Tiergan dropped Humphrey's reigns, running over to the young warlock. "Merlin!" he exclaimed, rivaling his brother's dramatics. He dropped to his knees, "Forgive us, we meant you no disrespect!"

Merlin sniffed. "Well, I suppose."

Luken laughed, reaching out so Tiergan could help him off of Humphrey's back. He skipped over to his eldest brother, white hair waving. "Hey Merls, how come we had to move to the city of blood?"

Arthur walked up behind his manservant, Morgana and Gwen following at his heels. "Excuse me, city of blood?"

Okay, so this is really really bad, but hey, at least it's an update right? I'll do better next time. . . hopefully. So there you go! Oh, and I'm thinking of throwing a little romance into this in later chapters. So I'm going to throw down a few possible pairings and my opinions on them and you guys can tell me what you think?

Merlin/Arthur (Everyone ships Merthur)

Ameri/Morgana (Two strong women just for fun)

Arthur/Ameri (I'm not a fan, but hey, if you guys request it)

Merlin/Ameri (It's fanfiction, twincest is not taboo in fanfiction)

Arthur/Merlin/Ameri (Admittedly, I'm partial to this one)

Let me know in the comments, and I'm open to any other suggestions you may have!

mmkay, bye