A/N: I'll be moving to a new place August 1st and starting a new job on the 3rd :)
Also, if any of you were reading the White Collar fic I started ages ago, it's finished and I'll be posting it all before I move.

Camelot. He was excited and frightened at the same time. His mother assured him that Gaius would take good care of him, but that was all she had said apart from the familiar mantra of "keep it secret".

This whole thing was an overreaction, really – Will would never tell anyone about his magic – but he'd not argued. Ealdor felt smaller with each passing year, and by leaving he might be able to help his mother with more than just the chores. Surely a city such as Camelot would hold many wonders; he may even be able to find some books! He'd not had anything to read aside from the small stack of parchment with verses and adages his mother had used to teach him. Occasionally a neighbor would ask him or Hunith to write a letter on their behalf, but it wasn't the same.

What he really wanted to read now was the letter his mother had written for him to give to Gaius. What was she telling the old man? Would he know about the magic? But the letter was sealed so he let it be; no way to know how his new guardian would react if his meddling were detected.

Merlin stood on the ridge of Ascetir and looked out at the forest below and mountains beyond. He'd come here before - several times since he'd first stumbled out of the caves he'd been exploring and seen the marvelous view – but it felt different this time. This time he would actually be going to those places he'd only fantasized about. He inched up to the very edge of the rock and breathed deeply, feeling the breeze and imagining he was soaring.

Yes, he'd heard that Camelot's king hated magic, but surely he wouldn't look twice at a skinny peasant. In fact, Merlin would probably never even see a royal up close – even if Gaius did live in the castle.

"You there, boy!"

Merlin was startled out of his dreams of what a castle would be like and turned to see three men with clubs watching him.

"Hand over that pack," the one in front pointed with his weapon.

That pack held nearly all of his meager possessions, but the letter was stuck in his belt and living with only one set of clothing was better than not living at all. He fumbled with the straps, getting his jacket stuck in one and then catching it on his belt. The pack shifted, putting him off balance, and when the bedroll started falling out he reached for it without thinking.

"Oi!"

The would-be robbers started forward as he tipped and all four of them shouted when he fell over the edge, arms too tangled to be of help.

The rocky slope a short distance below saved him from a freefall into the valley, but knocked his breath and any thoughts of magic right out of him as he tumbled swiftly down. His body caught on a protruding branch and he lay there confused until the debris he'd dislodged caught up and knocked him off. The second cliff was a surprise – not that he could have done anything about it in his current state – and he had a brief moment of flight before the trees interfered.

He woke with the echo of a crack! in his ears, looking straight up into the canopy of a lush forest. Several broken branches dangled above him and he hastened to move before any decided to fall.

It took him a moment to realize how impossible that movement should have been.

Merlin patted himself down, checking carefully wherever there were rips in his clothing, but found no injuries.

What...

He looked up again, spotting his pack dangling from a tree right before the damaged branch gave up and fell to earth.

His magic hadn't helped him during the fall; he knew that. It may have been able to heal some small injuries – he'd never had success in fixing anything major, and no success at all in healing when he tried to – but this was unfathomable.

Ignoring the churning in his stomach and firmly averting his eyes from the far-off ridge and cliff, Merlin told himself it simply hadn't been as bad as he'd thought and retrieved his pack.

If nothing else, he'd saved a lot of travel time.