A knock at the door to Merlin's room brought Arthur's attention back to the present, away temporarily from the revealing letters of the past. Gaius entered, carrying a tray laden with a king's food, a weary smile on his face. Arthur set down the letter he had been about to pick up and moved aside some room for the elderly physician beside him. Placing the food down on the bedside table, Gaius sat and took a moment sadly reminiscing about every moment that had happened to his young ward. Arthur waited politely for a moment before speaking.

"Thank you for bringing me food, Gaius. There are others who can do this. I know that you are busy looking after Merlin."

"I'm afraid that there isn't much I can do for him right now, my Lord. He's fallen into an uneasy state where he doesn't seem to be falling weaker or growing stronger either. I'm worried that he might not last another day." Gaius replied, his voice now weak with worry. "I also know that discovering all of this in one day would be very… commanding of anyone. Food is necessary to survive this journey."

"I'm not entirely sure what journey I'm traveling on." Arthur said. "I haven't even passed Merlin's first adventure here yet and already, I'm sensing that Camelot has been shrouded in sorcery for much longer than I or my father have ever imagined."

"You're right about that and… my Lord, I'm incredibly glad that you are taking the chance and the time to be so open-minded and willing to continue through this but the night had come upon us. You will have a kingdom to rule in the morning, you have one to rule right now and the letters will still be here and for better or worse, Merlin will remain unconscious." Gaius instructed hesitatingly. "Where have you reached in Merlin's journey?"

"A few days before the banquet." Arthur replied, feeling a little as though he was a young child again being forced to bed by his governess. Although, thinking more maturely upon the matter, he knew the old physician was right, of course. His fatigue would not be beneficial to anyone. Gaius nodded slowly before gently taking the pile of letters from beside him and leafing through until he found the right one. He placed it in his hands and wearily stood.

"That letter contains the end of that particular adventure, the first of many here but one of the most important. Read this and then please return to your chambers. I am sure your wife will be waiting with eager news. I wish you good night, your Grace." He said and ambled out of the room.

Arthur smiled softly for a moment before turning to the last letter of the night.

Dear Mother,

Word travels fast when it begins in Camelot but this time, I do believe that you have unfortunately heard of what happened before this letter reaches you. Please, do not overreact or come here. I can't have that happening now. It'll set off warning bells with the King or Prince Arthur. Mother, just read this and hear my side of the story. It's vitally important that you also know an unbiased and unexaggerated version of the events. While reading this, please do know that there was no other choice that I could make.

Arthur's eyes widened at the apparent gravity and importance of Merlin's written words. Something important had occurred on Merlin's first adventure in Camelot, something that could possibly jeopardize his magical position by the sound of it. The only event that could even… the appointment of Merlin to his manservant. That could be the only reason but he sensed something more had happened that night. He could only continue.

I will not dawdle with petty and meaningless details about new friendships gained in the castle or what I might have eaten for breakfast. Not that I would have done that but again I stress the weight of this letter. Of course, this pertains to the feast celebrating twenty years since King Uther banned magic and marked the end of the Purge.

The day after I was released from the stocks, I was walking through the market place when Prince Prat and his daddy's men walked past and began to taunt me. The dollophead was asking for a fight, almost begging me and although I was trying to focus as much on your teachings and rules as I could, something inside me made me challenge him back. I'm not really sure what it was but something continued to draw our paths together and eventually our maces. Now mother, I understand what that sounds like but I need you to listen.

I document this particular event for you because I feel it has a certain weight of importance over what occurred at the feast. As talented as he is at being annoying and snobby, there can be no doubt that he is skilled with fighting. As soon as I failed to catch the mace when it was thrown to me to use, I understood this. Advancing upon me, I tripped and fell to the ground and the next thing that happened was pure instinct, like that time with the boys back home. I used my magic to make two hanging hooks catch his swinging mace.

Three times I used my magic will a crowd of excited peasant on looked, oblivious to the fact that what was happening to their Prince was anything but coincidence. No one could guess that I was using my magic to protect myself and I eventually gained the upper hand. Arthur was about to yield until I grew distracted at seeing Gaius join the crowd. The old man has this specific facial expression that could make mountains cower and King's grow old in a moment. Arthur's forgotten mace was dropped on the floor so he pulled the straws off the end of a broom and quickly forced me to the ground with a few well-placed hits.

He certainly proved he was a royal ass when he made a show of sweeping the ground after the guards arrested me for a second time. I believe it must have been out of some moment of clarity and insanity when he released me right there and told me that I was brave and had some undefined quality about me. As much as I enjoyed the stocks, I believed I would be stinking of rotting vegetables for the rest of the week from just one visit.

That night, two more strange happenings occurred and I can only say that both of them were maddeningly cruel. Lady Helen, the fake noble, arrived in Camelot and dined with the King. A voice called to me from my sleep and went I traveled down to the dungeons to see who it was, the power of it's magic had me curious. I discovered it was the last living dragon, the Great Dragon of Uther's purges.

There is no need for you to worry. The guards did not catch, they are surprisingly inadequate of doing anything other than sit around looking pretty, and even then some cannot do that. They were playing a game of dice so I sent them both willingly chasing after the escaping dice. Two guards in Camelot's only dungeon and they both abandoned their posts to chase dice. I have a feeling that escaping in and out of this castle must be easier than the world perceives it to be. The thought has also brought about the realization that out of the many people Uther burned as sorcerers, hardly any would have been actual magic-users. It was out of choice and good reasoning that I remained over-night in my prison my second night.

I had never seen anything like a dragon before, mother. His eyes were a deep, molten gold and he was larger than all of Ealdor combined. Yet he spoke in riddles and left me with two many questions, too soon into our conversation. The Great Dragon was not only the source of all of that magic that I felt but he could also speak the human language. I had never been more mystified and amazed or more annoyed, even while bantering with the Prince Prat.

Even though it may appear like it, I haven't drifted off topic. There was one thing that the Great Dragon told me that I could not be forgetting soon. He said it was my destiny to use my gifts to protect Arthur. I guess it was either out of goodness or these words that the ungrateful prat isn't dead now. Many other things happened in the days leading up to the feast. I had an incident with the Lady Morgana and Guinevere, I delivered a potion to the Lady Helen where I discovered a magic poppet and first became suspicious and Lady Helen's servant was murdered.

Either by luck or fate, Gaius had me attend the feast with him so that I may better acquaint myself with the world of the nobles and begin my work as a servant. The feast was well into swing when the Lady Helen began her first song. Mother, you should have seen it all. Grandeur beyond anything I could imagine, the women were beautiful, the men chatted over silver goblets of wine and Prince Arthur was very much a prat. Even under enchantment, Lady Helen's voice was angelic, until she began her curse.

I suppose I was the only one who didn't fall asleep because I have magic, no one else would be quite so brave or idiotic to enter a feast celebrating the virtual end of magic under King's Uther Pendragon's careful gaze. As the imposter sung, everyone began to drift to sleep where they sat and eventually the lights blew out and cobwebs began to grow over everything. The first thing I did was clap my hands over my ears so that I couldn't hear her enchantment. With everything that had happened, the poppet doll and magic book hidden in her room, the threat delivered by Mary Collins about 'a son for a son' and this magic curse, I finally realized that this was not Lady Helen.

Lady Helen had most likely been killed so that Mary Collins could assume her identity and journey back into Camelot, unsuspected, to murder Prince Arthur. I couldn't let it happen. Camelot needed a King and King Uther was old and infertile. Prince Arthur Pratdragon was the only heir and innocent of this crime. I had to do it. As Mary walked under the grand chandelier, I used my magic to cause it to break and fall on her. The sleeping nobles and royalty began to wake when she stopped singing. Too late, they realized that the woman's spell had broken and was now revealing her true appearance. Just before she died, Mary took one last chance and threw a hidden dagger at a stunned Arthur.

To Camelot, it happened a lot slower than how I felt it was as I used my magic once again to slow down time so that I would have time to pull Arthur out of the way. Thankfully, no one was hurt as the dagger landed in the back of the chair and Arthur was safely out of harm. Despite having saved the dollophead's life, I felt a rush of self-happiness through me because I had saved a life using my magic! Finally, I had found a use to it as the Great Dragon had foretold. I am no monster after all and I was rewarded by being named Arthur's manservant.

I suppose that I'm glad to say that the prat didn't appear to be so happy about it either. Out of all of this though, all of this near revelations, I had gained something out of it. A reason behind my magic and the most beautiful gift from Gaius. A book of magic so that I could learn spells.

Thank you Mother for reading this so patiently while I explained my side of the story. Thank you for sending me to Camelot. I do believe that something great might grow from my staying here in the city with an intense hatred against my kind.

I love you,

Merlin

Hello! This story has not been abandoned, I've just been forgetting to update it. :)

Big thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. I've finally finished the first chapter! Arthur's reaction and a conversation with Gwen will occur next chapter. Thank you everyone. The reason why I got this up finally was because I saw the amount of followers, favorites and reviews this has. Truly, it really helps me to update.

Love to you all! Please wait patiently for the next chapter. :)