So this really doesn't comply with the cannon at all, but it's always been something that stuck in the back of my mind as something that would be funny.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin

It was an easy decision, really. They were already in the area and Merlin was looking a little down. So Arthur rounded up his knights and shuffled them an hour to the west, right at Ealdor.

Merlin's face lit up when he saw his home. He was beaming brighter than Arthur had seen him in months. He figured it was because of all that had happened in Camelot. Morgana was gone, Lancelot was gone, Uther was basically gone. It felt like every time Arthur turned around somebody had disappeared, even if they were still physically alive. And he could only imagine what it was doing to Merlin.

Merlin wanted to save everyone, and to lose three people in such a short amount of time was probably not healthy for him. What got Arthur really worried was that Merlin was becoming a good servant. He showed up on time, did everything without complaint and to the best of his abilities. Arthur could no longer ignore how sick his manservant was starting to look. He always looked exhausted, like the mere act of existing was getting to be too much.

So Arthur, being the kind and noble king he was, decided to go on a patrol. And if that patrol just happened to take them up to Ealdor, then he wasn't really going to complain.

Hunith, of course, was more than welcoming to the knights, ushering them all into her house for some food.

"Ever since you helped us out, there have been no raids! It's amazing how much more food we have now," Hunith said, smiling all the while.

The men were all polite, helping Hunith clean up her house and take care of some other chores.

"Hunith," Gwaine said, calling the woman over to him, "do you need that hole patched up?" He pointed to the ceiling. Indeed, there was a bare spot, just enough so that Arthur could tell it needed some patching.

"I can go get some things to patch it up," Merlin said, walking through the door.

Gwaine and Elyan stood up and followed him. "Wait up, wait up. We'll help!" Gwaine called, chasing after Merlin.

Leon leaned back and smiled. "I haven't seen them this relaxed since we went to the tavern."

Hunith stopped mending a skirt and looked up at Leon. "Tavern? Did Merlin go with you?"

"Well, yes?" Percival asked, glancing towards Arthur. Arthur shrugged. He knew Merlin didn't hold his liquor very well, so Hunith was probably worried about him getting hurt.

"But you didn't let him drink anything, right?"

"Well, I think he just shared some wine with Elyan," Arthur said.

Hunith lowered the skirt, her eyes burning into Arthur. Arthur didn't know if he liked this version of Hunith. He shifted in his seat and had the sudden urge to apologize, despite not doing anything wrong.

"Um, Hunith, is everything alright?" Leon asked.

Her eyes narrowed, causing Leon to shrink back. "You took my son to a tavern?" she spat.

"Well, we all were going and Merlin is usually the one who gets us all back safely anyways so…" Elyan trailed off.

"What kind of people makes a child drag their drunk asses out of a tavern?" Hunith shouted. Arthur, Elyan, and Leon exchanged looks.

"Well, Merlin's not really a child, Hunith." Leon tried to placate the woman. It didn't work.

"In what kingdom is fourteen not considered a child?" she cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

Leon stopped trying to calm her and instead stared blankly. "Fourteen?"

"Yes. Merlin is fourteen."

"He's…oh, um…We didn't know," Percival managed to squeak out.

Hunith turned and looked at him. "What do you mean you didn't know?"

"Well he never really told us his age and—"

"And you never asked?"

"It never really came up in conversation," Arthur said. Even though Hunith had stopped shouting, she still looked like she wanted to kill Arthur.

"Really? You never once asked when his birthday was or how old he was or anything?" Hunith said, her voice steadily rising.

"Well, to be fair, I've only really known him for about a year," Percival peeped. Hunith turned to glare at him. "But that is still no excuse and I am deeply sorry for not knowing," Percival quickly amended.

"You are all in so much trouble. That includes Merlin. He should have told you." Hunith turned back to her sewing, her back straight and stiff and her eyes still burning.

"You shouldn't be so hard on Merlin. You remember what it was like when you were young and reckless," Leon said.

"Why do you think I have Merlin?"
Leon shrank back in his chairs. The house remained uncomfortably silent until they heard laughs coming up. Arthur's eyes widened.

"Oh, Gwaine's with Merlin," he whispered.

"Why would that be a problem?" Percival asked.

"Because Gwaine is with Merlin. You know, Gwaine." Arthur gestured at the door. Percival's eyes widened with understanding.

"Why would that be a problem?" Hunith asked.

"No, no reason. I just don't think he knows. I'll go tell him," Arthur said, standing up and walking out the door. He saw Gwaine, Elyan and Merlin walking towards the house, all three laughing. No doubt Gwaine was poisoning Merlin's innocent young mind with tales of prostitutes and taverns. Arthur had to put a stop to it before Merlin was corrupted even more.

"Arthur, what's wrong?" Merlin asked.

"Nothing, I just need to talk to Gwaine for a second." Arthur grabbed ahold of Gwaine and yanked him over away from Merlin. He wasn't sure how the kid would react to them knowing his age.

"Ow, princess. What's got your panties in a bunch?" Gwaine hissed as Arthur dragged him around to the other side of the house.

"Look, you really have to lay off the raunchy tales around Merlin."

Gwaine cocked his head. "Why would I tell Merlin any raunchy tales, he is way to young to know about some of the things I do."

"Too young?"

"Yeah, he's only like, fourteen or something." Gwaine gestured to where Merlin and Elyan were standing. "Why, how old did you think he was?"

Arthur shrugged his shoulder and scratched behind his ear. "Eighteen," he said quietly.

Gwaine threw back his head and laughed. "Oh honey, this is why you need to talk to people and ask questions," Gwaine said, throwing an arm around Arthur's shoulders.

"Wait, you knew? For how long?"

"Yes and when we first met. I thought Merlin looked awfully young to be in a tavern, so I asked him and he told me. I can't believe you thought he was older." Gwaine was still laughing as they entered the house. Though he quieted down pretty quickly when Hunith exploded at them once more.

oOoOoOo

Merlin couldn't have been more miserable. There was a reason he didn't tend to disclose his age. Now he was working fewer hours and was no longer invited out with the knights. Even Gaius started talking about growing bodies every chance he got. And it seemed like the news about his age reached every worker in Camelot.

Everyone started cooing over him like he was a baby, pinching his cheeks and giving him sweets. It was embarrassing. The only thing that made it slightly better was that Gwaine still let him drink in his chambers on occasion and still talked about his many nights at the tavern, though not in as much detail as Merlin knew could be said.

So if you couldn't tell, this is really just something out of left field. It doesn't really fit with the show's timeline and is probably best read as just a very, very out there possibility. Thanks for reading.