This is the short sequel to my story 'You're Mine' (and yes, it has been 6 years since I've finished that story!)

Just to clarify; I talk in this chapter about Merlin's death, but readers of the You're Mine story know that Merlin faked his death… it's just easier to just say Merlin's death instead of fake death.

~oOoOo~

Merlin was heating up some porridge, slowly stirring it and drifting off into his own thoughts.

It has been three years since he escaped Camelot, escaped from Uther. He swallowed hard, after all those years it was still an uneasy feeling when he thought back at the time in Uther's grasp… he had no other way to describe it.

The moment he and Arthur arrived in Ealdor was a joyous occasion as he got to see his mother again and some old neighbours, but he knew he couldn't stay for long. If word got out to Uther that there been sighting of him, hell would break loose. Uther would start an investigation... no, not even. Uther would probably believe magic had been involved in a way to his supposed death, and probably thought he would have been taken away from him for whatever reason. Uther would go to the tomb and would find out soon enough it would be empty. He would immediately start a search party and probably killing a lot of people in his way just to get his rage down into tricking him for his consort's death.

And that was something Merlin wasn't going to let happen.

So, here he was. In the cave in Lot's Kingdom where his dad lived for all those years. Merlin felt it was kind of ironic; his dad used to hide there from Uther and now he has done the same for all those years.

The time in the cave was mostly a lonely time, but every Thursday would be the day he would wait the whole week for. It was the day that Arthur came to visit him and sometimes his mum would be there as well. Even after all those years they still had to thread carefully and he had a few scares in the past, because every time a horse or group wandered near-by he thought it would've been Uther.

Arthur told him about Uther's moods and how he changed after Merlin's death. He told him that Uther had been very cruel the very first year after his death and had been short-tempered. He had been executing people for no particular reason and Merlin felt horrible about that, because he knew it was because of him.

But the past year thing changed, according to Arthur's reports. Uther had been drawn more and more into himself and Arthur didn't know what exactly was happening. Maybe he finally snapped and faced the fact that he truly lost his spouse and he couldn't do anything about that. Arthur said that his grieving became a lot stronger and he stayed in his bed chambers more, but also went out riding at the most absurd times and sometimes staying out for days at end with no one knowing where he went. Some even said that he had travelled to other Kingdoms, including Lot's, as Arthur told him on one of his visits. When Merlin heard that news, he had been staying inside the cave for over a week. He was too scared to show any sign of life in that week, too scared that Uther would somehowfind him.

Meanwhile the court advisors in Camelot were agitated, they didn't know what was going on with the King and badgered Arthur to step in and rule the Kingdom now his father was unable to.

But Arthur refused most of the time. He only stepped in if there were threats or the likes from surrounding Kingdoms, but nothing more than that. He had made a promise to Merlin three years ago, and that promise was that he would only rule the Kingdom with him at his side.

Uther was still alive and so Merlin couldn't return to Camelot, even if every fiber in his body wanted to because he would be close to Arthur again. But he wouldn't, couldn't, put everything they've worked for all these years on the line. They needed to wait until Uther's death.

A pop of the porridge made him snap out of his trip from memory lane and he got his plate to scoop some porridge on it. It tasted bland, but it was what he was used to. He had his freedom and that made everything better.

Once finished eating, he gathered everything up and went to the stream to wash everything. The cave wasn't the most luxurious thing ever, but he could understand why his father had chosen that spot. It had everything you need in close distance and far enough in the woods to barely being bothered by anyone.

Merlin smiled, it has been a while since he thought about his father. And even though they had only a few moments together, he valued them with his whole heart.

His smile dropped soon enough because he heard twigs snapping just a short distance from him. His hands let the plate slip out of them and his heart thundered against his chest.

It couldn't be Arthur.

It wasn't Thursday.