"Come on Merlin, perk up. We have a whole day to enjoy. No chores, no hunting. Its gona be great!"

Merlin tried his best to repress his smile at Gwaine's excited proclamation. He was still mad at them. Sort of. A little bit. Well not really. But they didn't need to know that. Better to let them stew a bit longer.

The knights surrounding the young manservant all shifted uneasily at their friends silence. They really were sorry.

They hadn't meant to ignore him for a whole week!

Things had just been so hectic with training and dealing with visiting nobles and other knightly duties and they all just assumed that at least one of the others had to be hanging out with him. When the week ended and they realised that no one had so much as said hello to him in the whole seven days they had been devastated.

Even Arthur had barely spoken to him between the ten thousand chores he had his servant doing on top of his work with Gaius.

Which is what brought them here.

To make up for their unintended neglect the knights and Arthur had arranged a few days out for the young man. A chance to spend some time exploring the forest with no worries like killing innocent animals for sport or tracking bandits or hunting sorcerers or any of the other reasons they usually ventured out into the forest which prevented Merlin from relaxing and enjoying himself.

"We can go west towards the river and make our way to the lake" Leon suggested. "Spend a few hours swimming and relaxing in the sun"

The smile was harder to keep in this time. It did sound like fun and Merlin knew it wasn't fair to keep his friends on edge like this when he had already forgiven them, but he wanted to make sure it never happened again. This last week had been so lonely and he had been truly hurt to be ignored by his friends for so long.

Although he now knew it was accidental at the time it had felt like they were pushing him away on purpose. For all his bravado it was sometimes hard for Merlin to overlook that he was the odd one out in this group. Not even counting all the secrets he was keeping about his magic he was still the servant among knights.

He knew that many of these men had been lower born just as he had, but looking at them in their chainmail and red cloaks, so grand a noble in comparison to his ratty brown clothes it was difficult not to feel like a lesser man.

As the week went on insecurities Merlin hadn't even realised he harboured worked their way to the surface and left him feeling lost, so sure that his friends had finally decided he wasn't worth their time anymore.

"Merlin we really are sorry" Percival pleaded. The young man could hear the guilt in the others voice and suddenly felt guilty himself. He was being unfair. These men were his friends. They had already apologised and had given him no reason to doubt their sincerity.

"I know. I'm sorry too" He smiled finally letting himself relax, his customary goofy grin settling into place "I'm done sulking now"

The whole group relaxed and perked up.

"It's about time" Arthur complained in an over-exaggerated way, wincing when Gwaine punched him in the arm in reprimand.

Merlin laughed as the two men began to bicker half-heartedly with each other as everyone else watched in amusement.

All as one the group followed Leon's lead towards the lake.

...

The sorcerer watched the group from the trees. They were obviously from Camelot with their customary red uniforms so distinctive of the kingdoms soldiers.

He could sense magic from the group. Emrys.

Geoffrey had been watching the young sorcerer for some time now. Seen the bond between him and the knights of Camelot. It was an odd situation to be sure. The greatest of all warlocks living in the kingdom that had made magic itself a capital crime. But Camelot was changing.

The young King was a better man by far than his father had ever been. More merciful, willing to understand, not deluded by his own pain and hatred.

Anyone who was paying attention could see that was Emrys's influence. Geoffrey was paying attention.

Many sorcerers had plans to destroy Camelot. Savage attacks in the name of justice and revenge. Geoffrey just wanted peace. Emrys would bring peace, to everyone. It was his destiny, but to do that his bond with the King and his knights had to be strong.

Geoffrey decided a helping hand would not go amiss.

...

Arthur dived for his sword as a ball of light whizzed past his head. It was so fast he barely saw it coming. Around him he saw his knights doing the same, some already armed and on their feet others still struggling their way out of the water and onto the grassy verge where their things had been discarded earlier.

Merlin jumped up from where he was lounging on the grass, eyes scanning the trees desperately looking for the source of the attack. If it even was an attack. So far the balls of light didn't seem to be doing anything. Just darting between them and causing to knights to scatter as they ducked and dived out of the way.

"Look out!" Lancelot's cry echoed through the clearing and Arthur ducked instinctively as one of the orbs swooped towards his head before suddenly veering up and fading into nothing. A sudden splash alerted him that he was not the one the warning was meant for.

The attack was over as quickly as it had started. The orbs gone without a trace.

The blonde King turned towards the water, eyes franticly scanning all of his friends, checking to see that they were all ok. The knights were running, all of them converging on the same place, all of them sharing matching looks of horror and fear.

Arthur felt the bottom of his stomach drop as his eyes landed on the still rippling patch of water.

Merlin!

...

Merlin's eyes stung as they opened to the sight of green murky water, he took a sudden surprised breath inwards only to feel his lungs burn as they filled with liquid. His head began to swim which was more than his body was managing right now. Arms and legs flailed desperately, tangling uselessly in a mass of fabric. He was sinking.

How did he get here? What was happening?

In his desperate struggle one thought made it through.

He was going to die.

Then there were hands on his arms, on his legs, on his shoulders. Pulling him up. He felt his head break the surface.

There was light. Sunlight.

He coughed violently. All around him frantic voices were blurring together as multiple people shouted to each other sounding panicked and confused. He didn't care. He felt himself being carried, felt the ground beneath his body as he was set down again. Felt grass under him.

He breathed deeply, letting the air calm him until sense returned and he was able to assess the surroundings clearly.

"Merlin?"

His name. They knew his name. He latched onto that, following the voice to its source to find a blonde man staring down at him looking both concerned and terribly, terribly confused.

Around the man others gathered. They all shared the same expression. The same confusion.

He gulped in terror, hoping they weren't angry with him.

"Merlin is...is that you?" The blonde man asked slowly.

He frowned. Who were these people? Did they know him? He wasn't sure. They didn't seem to be sure either.

"Y...yes?" He stuttered nervously still breathless from almost drowning and unsure what was going on.

...

The knights stared down at the form laying prone on the grass. The dark hair. Pale face. The striking blue eyes that gazed up at them in dazed terror.

It was Merlin.

They could tell. Their friend was too distinct to mistake for anyone else.

There was just one problem.

He was a child.

Regarding the name chosen for the sorcerer in this. (According to a quick Google search) Geoffrey of Monmouth was the name of a cleric who was among one of the first people to popularise the tales of King Arthur and Merlin.

Written on request. Second chapter to follow soon. Hope you all enjoyed. :)