Merlia

A not-expected new home

     Sebastian's group spent hours trying to find a safe place to spend the night. The sun was almost down and it was getting colder and colder every minute. Their legs ached and they couldn't stand walking another step.
     They finally found a place near the mountains and settled themselves. "We'll spend the night here," said Sebastian, "and we'll leave at first light." Night fell upon them, and everyone went to sleep.

     Mark was the first one to wake up. He looked here and there and suddenly shouted, "Amelia? Amelia?" Everyone else woke up.
     "What is it, Mark?" Asked Sebastian in confusion. "Amelia's not here," he said. "Where the hell did that girl go?" Everyone started looking for her and calling out for her but there was no response.
     Amelia was gone to god-knows where. "Come on," said Sebastian, "we can't just wait here and do nothing. Let's get moving, maybe we'll find her on our way so keep your eyes open." They started moving and at the same time were cautious.
     In the opposite direction, toward south, Amelia was walking breathlessly.
     She had left the Druids for their own good, or at least she thought so.
     I'm sorry, she thought, because of me you had to face all this. But not anymore, she added, I left you so you wouldn't get into more trouble. I hope you would forgive me for what I've done, though I don't have the right to ask for your forgiveness.
     She kept walking until the sun was directly on her head. She couldn't stand the heat. She felt like she's going to melt.
She walked and walked till the moon was up.
     After about half an hour, she caught a glimpse of a castle. You see, it was the castle of Camelot, where Uther Pendragon lives.
     Uther is known for his hatred for magic and enchantment. He also hates the Druids most. It is a misconception held by him that they are secretly plotting to destroy him and return the old order of magic to the land.
     Twenty years past, when he first ruled Camelot, he banned sorcery and sentenced whoever practiced it to execution. Those days were known as the days of the Great Purge.
     Although knowing that, Amelia didn't waste a second to think about either moving on or turning back.
     She headed straight to the castle; hoping to find a place to live in.
The castle was large and constructed of white brick. It has several tall towers and complex architecture and is considered Camelot's greatest asset in war as it is known to be virtually impregnable.
     She reached the castle gates and told the guards she wishes to speak to the king.
     They led her to the throne room. It was a spacious room with columns on either side and three thrones in the end where the king was sitting, talking to an old man.
     "Greetings, my lord. I've come here from the villages surrounding the kingdom of Essetir," she lied.
     "Essetir?" Asked the king. "Cenred's kingdom?"  "Yes," she answered, "it is so. You see, my lord, our king is idle. He cares not about his kingdom. And where I came from, food is less to be found. We are running out of supplies.  So I came here full of hope that you may let me work here."
     King Uther knows Cenred, and he knows what kind of king he is, so he gave her a job as a cook.
     "Thank you, my lord." "As for your living place," he said, "there is an empty house in town, you may live there. Gaius, would you please show her the way?" "Of course," said the old man and bowed. "Please, come with me." Amelia bowed to the king and thanked him once more and then left with Gaius.
They arrived at her new house. "I'm Amelia, by the way," she told him. "Nice to meet you Amelia. I'm Gaius, the court physician. You had a long journey, so I'll leave you now. If you ever needed anything, don't stop yourself from coming to me." "Thank you very much, Gaius. And I won't."
     Before leaving the house, he told her, "Tomorrow, I'll send someone to guide you and show you around." "Alright," she said. "Thank you again." He smiled then left.
She unpacked her things and then laid down on her bed. She now realized that she never slept without Mordred, and without Aglain's stories. But neither Mordred nor Aglain were here now, so she had to live with their memories. "Good night, Mordred," she said. "Good night, Aglain." She managed to close her eyes and go to sleep.
She dreamed. There was a woman, a little boy—about four years old—and a girl in the same age as the boy. They were twins. "You love your sister, don't you?" The woman asked the boy. "Yes, I do," he answered. "And I'll always look after her and protect her from any harm." The girl smiled and said, "And I'll do the same. We'll protect each other." "Then I guess no one will protect me," the mother joked. "Who said that?" Protested the boy. "We'll protect you first, then protect each other; for without you, we wouldn't have been here." She was pleased and more than happy for what her children became and will become. They played together and seemed very happy.
Amelia woke up in the morning, her vision not clear yet. She remembered parts from her dream. Still, she couldn't quite remember the faces. Names were mentioned in her dream but she couldn't remember them as well. She wished that one day she would. At least it would help her know her family.
She washed up, made her bed and had her breakfast.
     Moments later, someone knocked the door. She opened and a young man was standing there.
     "Good morning," he smiled. "Good morning," she smiled back. "Um, I'm Merlin. Gaius sent me. He told you I was coming, right?" "Oh, yes," she answered. "I'm sorry you're gonna have to be stuck with me today." "No, it's fine. It's not everyday I make new friends." Amelia smiled.
     "I'm Amelia," she introduced and raised her hand to shake his. "I hope you're feeling comfortable in your new home," he said. "Yes, I am, thanks."
     On their way, he introduced her to the places within the town and the castle and talked to her about some things.
When they arrived at the kitchen, "excuse me, everyone," he declared, "may I have your attention please?" Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened to Merlin.
"Today, you have a new member in your kitchen. This is Amelia." Everyone smiled at her and greeted her.
     "Let me introduce you to everyone," he said. "This is Tom. He is very nice and sometimes, very lazy." "Look who's talking," protested Tom. Amelia laughed.
     "And this is Mary," he continued, ignoring Tom's comment. "That is Bianca, Alberta, Terrin, Bob and Alex. Now, don't be hard on her. It is her first day, after all. We don't want her running away." Everyone in the kitchen laughed.
"Merlin," someone's voice called out from outside the kitchen. "Here comes trouble," murmured Merlin. "Oh dear," sighed Alberta, "what've you done this time?" "You asked the wrong question," said Merlin. "It's not what I have done, it's what I haven't done."
Not more than two seconds, a blond young man entered and he seemed really angry. He started yelling at Merlin. "There you are," he said. "May I ask, what have you been doing yesterday?" "Um..." hesitated Merlin, "I was collecting herbs for Gaius," that's a total lie, he thought.
"Well, I'm absolutely sure that Gaius' herbs don't need all day to be collected," shouted the young man, "I told you to muck out the stables, change my bed sheets, clean my spare armor, find a new shield..."
He kept talking and talking and you could imagine how Merlin felt. "...and then to prepare my horse for an afternoon ride, but did you do any of them? No. Instead, you're just wandering around here and there, you completely useless servant. Now get to work." "Yes, sire," he groaned then left and the young man followed.
     Amelia was shocked. "What just happened?" "You'll get used to it," said Alex. "This always happens between the prince and Merlin."
     "That's prince Arthur?" "Yes," answered Tom. "And he says that I'm lazy. Huh." Amelia giggled and then started helping the others prepare food.

     As for poor Merlin, he began his chores and spent all day working. All what was left is mucking out the stables. He spent two hours doing that.
     "Do this Merlin," he copied the prince, "do that Merlin. Merlin, if you miss one chore—" "I see you have finished all of your chores," said Arthur. "Yes, I have," he groaned. "Good, let this be a lesson to you. Next time when I ask you to do something, you do it immediately."
     Merlin nodded and smiled, and as soon as Arthur left, he said, "you want me to do it immediately? How on earth am I supposed to do that when you're raining more and more chores on my head?"
     The prince's horse was staring at Merlin as if saying, don't you dare talk about my master that way. Merlin looked at the horse and said, "What're you looking at? We both know how a bossy arrogant Arthur is. Oh, I must be losing my mind. I'm talking to a horse."
     He washed up after doing his chores and sat down to have supper.
     "Well," said Gaius, "how was your day?" "You mean besides the usual?" Asked Merlin. "Good, good." "And what about Amelia? Is she coping well with her new job?" Merlin lifted his head and looked at Gaius. "She seemed happy on her first day. After all, she's not Arthur's servant so she doesn't have to do seven-hundred chores in one day." Gaius chuckled.
     There was a moment of silence afterwards. Merlin was thinking about something. "You seem troubled," noticed Gaius. "Huh," Said Merlin. "It's nothing. Just a little bit tired." But Gaius knew that there was something. There's always something with Merlin. Always.

As for Amelia, she kept thinking about her Druid family and how much she'd missed them.
     She remembered when one time she and Mordred pranked Sebastian by putting a spider in his tent—spiders terrorize Sebastian. He screamed and ran here and there in his tent until it was completely ruined.
Amelia laughed as if it was happening right now, but soon realized that it was only a memory of the past. She then managed to close her eyes and sleep.