Arthur wakes to the sound of a small, childlike sniffle coming from across the room. He opens his eyes, careful not to move, and looks at the source of the noise. There is a small, skinny boy with dark hair, sitting with his back to Arthur. The king hears the sniffling noise again, and realizes the kid is crying. He feels concern for a second, before jolting up- how did a kid get into his chambers without anyone noticing?
When he sits up, the boys hears him and turns. His pale blue eyes widen, and he wipes the tears from them quickly. He looks to be about five or six.
"Who are you?" Arthur demands. "What are you doing here?"
The boy tenses, shifting into a slightly defensive position as if he expects Arthur to attack him. "I- I don't know why I came here," he says, voice trembling slightly. "I thought I was s'posed to." Before Arthur can question that, the boy adds, almost as an afterthought, "my name's Merlin."
Arthur freezes. Surely it's just a coincidence? This can't be Merlin. This must just be another pale, skinny boy with black hair, blue eyes, and ridiculous ears who happens to have the same name as the king's manservant.
"Where am I?" Merlin asks, wiping his nose on his too-long sleeve before looking around the room.
"You're in my bedchambers," Arthur says slowly.
Merlin frowns. "This doesn't look like Ealdor."
Okay. So this other identical (but younger) boy with the same name also lives in Merlin's home village. Coincidence, still. Must be.
Or sorcery?
"What's your mother's name?" Arthur asks, trying to figure out if this is who he thinks it is.
"Hunith," Merlin answers.
It's him.
"Merlin," Arthur begins carefully, "do you remember me?"
The boy frowns, narrowing his eyes as he thinks. "No," he answers finally. "Am I s'posed to?"
Arthur tries to think of a response, but he has no idea how to handle a situation like this. "Wait here," he instructs, before running from the room. Several guards ask him if something's wrong, but he ignores them.
He arrives at Leon's chambers first. The knight is still sleeping, but Arthur feels little remorse for waking him early; it's not long to sunrise, so he would have had to get up soon anyway.
"Leon!" Arthur hisses.
The curly haired man jolts upright, scanning the room for the source of the noise until his eyes land on Arthur. "Sire?" he questions. "Is there a problem?"
"Sorcery," Arthur says. Leon's eyes widen in understanding.
"Should I ring the warning bell?"
"No! This is… a bit personal. I require the assistance of my most trusted knights."
Leon gets out of bed. "Should I… get dressed first?" Arthur notices for the first time that he's still wearing his nightclothes.
"Yes. When you're clothed, join me in my chambers with the others," Arthur orders before leaving the room. He goes to get the other knights, trying to ignore the thought swirling through his mind:
How the hell am I going to fix this?
"This had better be good, Princess," Gwaine grumbles as he enters Arthur's chambers. He glares at the king for a second before noticing the small boy sleeping in the corner. Gwaine frowns.
The other knights enter the room, all noticing Merlin at around the same time.
"A kid?" Gwaine asks incredulously. "You brought us here for a kid?"
Leon clears his throat, shooting Gwaine a look. "With all due respect, sire, I was under the impression that there was a threat of sorcery?"
"There is," Arthur says grimly. "Because this 'kid' is Merlin."
"No way!" Elyan gasps.
"Are you serious?" Gwaine demands.
"Huh," Percival puts in quietly.
The noises of surprise wake Merlin, and he blearily looks up at the group of knights. He frowns for a second, before something like terror covers his face. "No! Don't hurt me! I'm sorry, I can't help it!" Merlin covers his head with his arms in a protective gesture, his tiny body erupting into violent trembles.
The knights stare in shock.
"Merlin, mate, we're not going to hurt you," Gwaine says gently, kneeling next to his small friend.
The boy uncovers his head slightly, but his body remains tense and the fear doesn't leave his expression. "But you're the knights with the red capes," he says, his voice wobbling slightly.
"Yes, we are," Leon agrees, joining Gwaine on the ground. Elyan and Percival soon follow.
"Why would we want to hurt you?" Elyan asks carefully.
"Because I-" Merlin breaks off in a sob. "I can't say! She won't let me say! Don't kill me, please!"
"Merlin, we won't kill you," Arthur assures him once the shock has diminished enough for him to form coherent words. "What can't you tell us? Who won't let you?" Something occurs to him. "Is someone threatening you?"
Merlin flinches back from the knights who now surround him, and he looks so tiny and helpless as he attempts to curl away from them that it makes Arthur physically sick that Merlin thinks they would hurt-kill him. "She's n-not threatening me. It's just that I can't tell you cause you'd burn me and I'm scared and I didn't want to be like this and I promise I'm not a monster!"
"We believe you," Gwaine says with a comforting smile. "But who doesn't want you to tell us?"
"My mommy."
"What?" Arthur hisses, shocked that Hunith would terrify her son this way, and Merlin lets out a small cry of fear and curls in on himself in a defensive gesture.
All the knights turn angry glares on the king- even Leon.
"Don't scare him even more, Princess," Gwaine whispers harshly.
Arthur attempts to keep his voice steady as he continues to talk to Merlin. "So, your mommy told you that you couldn't tell us, because if you did we would burn you?"
Merlin keeps his head hidden behind his arms, but he moves it up and down slightly in a nod.
"Merlin, we would never hurt you," Percival says.
The boy doesn't move, and Arthur sighs. "One of you, get Gaius."
Leon is the one to go, and the rest of the knights just stare at the tiny Merlin, unsure of what to do.
"Why is he so scared of us?" Gwaine asks, shaking his head.
"I wish I knew."
"This sorcery is not permanent, but it is very powerful indeed. It should wear off within a fortnight." Gaius says as he examines the terrified child. "Until then, just try not to let him wander off or get into too much trouble."
The knights all stand around, nodding their understanding of Gaius's instructions. They had all agreed it would be best not to wear the red capes around the boy, and Merlin seems to be a bit calmer because of it.
"Gaius, he seems to be scared of us. He says… he thought we were going to kill him. Do you have any idea why?" Arthur asks.
Gaius doesn't look surprised. "Oh, my dear boy," he says sadly. He then turns to his king. "Merlin had a… difficult childhood in Ealdor. I expect that what he heard about the knights of Camelot isn't quite as noble as you may think."
Arthur stares at him expectantly, but Gaius says nothing more. "When you say difficult childhood-"
"-that is Merlin's story to tell, Sire," Gaius cuts in.
Annoying as it may be, Arthur knows the physician is right- he should not know anything about Merlin that his servant doesn't want him to know. He has no right to the personal details of Merlin's upbringing.
"Of course," he mutters in response. He turns to the knights. "You are dismissed."
Nobody moves.
"Like hell we're leaving you to babysit Merlin!" Gwaine snorts.
"I have to agree with him there," Elyan says. "He's our friend, too."
"We want to help," Leon adds.
Percival just nods.
Arthur sighs. "Alright. We can take turns watching him. But I want to watch him first. I have some questions for him."
The knights nod their agreement. Gwaine gives a very self satisfied smile before leaving the room, the others trailing behind.
"Alright, Merlin," Arthur says. "Let's begin."