Merlia

Reunited

They have tried to solve the dragon's riddle for days, but Amelia and Merlin had no luck.
One morning, Merlin was getting water from the well when he saw his mother.
"Mother!" He said as he placed the bucket on the ground and went to hug her.
"My boy!" She said happily and hugged him back. She took a minute to look at her son. She hadn't seen him for months now.
"What're you doing here?" He asked her.
"Well I'm here to see my son. You chose to forget and not ask about me. I can't do that, you know."
"You know that's not true, Mother."
His mother laughed and said, "of course not."
They walked together to Gaius's chambers. "Gaius," Merlin called, "look who's here." Gaius came out from behind a bookshelf and his eyes widened at the visitor. "Hunith!" He exclaimed and placed a kiss on her cheek. "What a pleasant surprise! How it's wonderful to see you."
"Thank you, Gaius," said Hunith.

     Merlin spent the entire morning with his mother, surprised that Arthur hadn't called him for once to do his chores. In the afternoon, the prince stormed into the physician's chambers. "Merlin!"
     "You don't have to yell, I can hear you," said Merlin.
     "Very funny. Now get up on your feet you have to polish my armor, clean my room, prepare my lunch..."
     "Prat," mumbled Merlin and his mother giggled.
     "You can't call me that," snapped Arthur, "I'm the prince."
     "Alright then, royal prat."
     "Go, Merlin," said his mother, "I'll just stay with Gaius. It's alright."
     "I'll try not to be late."
     Merlin left to his chores and Hunith was alone with Gaius. Not until Amelia arrived ten minutes later. "Gaius, are you in here?" She knocked the door.
     "Come in, Amy," he opened the door for her. "How can I help you?"
"Uh, yes actually. My head is going to explode, with the work and the overthinking about...you know."
"Yes, yes. Have a seat, I'll be right back."
Amelia turned to the chair and saw Merlin's mother sitting there. "Oh," she said, "hello. I didn't see you there." Hunith stood up and smiled.
"It's alright," she said.
"So are you a friend of Gaius's?"
"I am. And I'm also Merlin's mother, Hunith. And you?"
Amelia looked at Hunith incredulously, and so did Hunith. "I'm Amelia. I'm a friend of Merlin and Gaius's. It's...it's nice to meet you." They shook hands but still felt strange around each other. They sat down.
     "I..." said Amelia after some time. "I feel like I've seen you before."
"You look familiar too."
"How strange!"
"You know...I once had a daughter named Amelia. I...I lost her when she was very young."
"Merlin had a sister? He never told me."
"It's because I never told him. She was his twin. They were very close to each other. When we lost her, they were four years-old. As the years passed, Merlin forgot about her. I didn't like how things became but I also didn't mention her because I didn't want him to feel responsible for what happened to her."
     Amelia felt that she was remembering something. "Why? What happened?"
     Tears ran down from both Amelia and Hunith's eyes. "They..." Hunith said shakily. "They were playing. I've always told them not to wander away from the village, but they wouldn't listen to me. Stubborn little children, they were. They used to come back home before the sun went down. But that day, they didn't come back. I looked for them in the village. Didn't leave a place until it was entirely searched. They were nowhere to be found.
     "I felt my heart was going to come out of its place. I took some people with me and we headed to the woods. We called for them but with no response. After about half an hour, we heard crying. It was Merlin. I ran to where the sound came from and there he was, sitting beside a tree. He was alone. I asked him about his sister and his answer was: I don't know.
     "We searched for her for days but we couldn't find her. Everyone gave up and assumed that she was...that she was dead, but I still had hope. I kept looking for her on my own and hoped that good luck would be on my side but I had no such. I stopped looking for her, that's right, but I always knew that she was alive. A mother's feeling is always right.
     "Merlin kept blaming himself for losing her because it was his idea to go to the woods. I couldn't stand it so I asked him to forget about her. And so he did. With great difficulty. Wherever she is now, I don't know if she remembers us or not. But if she does, I truly hope she doesn't think that her family bailed on her or left her to die. And if she doesn't, and is living a great life, then it's best for her."
     Amelia could see the pain Hunith was suffering. She pulled her into a hug to calm her down. And also because she needed that hug too. She felt safe in her arms. They both did. "Shh," said Amelia, patting Hunith's back, "quiet now. I'm sure that your daughter is safe. She doesn't think that you bailed on her, not for once, believe me."
     Hunith pulled away from their hug and stared wide eyed at Amelia. "How do you know that?" Amelia smiled slightly and put her hand on her neck. Hunith's gaze followed her. She took the necklace she was wearing out of her clothes and showed it to the woman. Hunith gasped the moment she let an eye on it.
     "Did your daughter have a necklace like this one?" Said Amelia happily. "Because if she did, then I might...I might be your lost daughter!"
     Her mother didn't wait for a moment and hugged her little girl passionately. They both cried in joy. "Amy, my little girl! Look at you, how you've grown! I missed you so much!" She kissed her daughter.
     Unbeknownst to them, someone was outside the door, listening to every word they said. It was Merlin! His eyes were full of tears. Suddenly everything made sense to him: the strange feeling he felt when he was around her; everyone telling them that they looked like each other; Amelia suffering from the poison that he drank; the dragon saying that they are related...
Only she who brought you, he remembered, can reveal it. Of course! The one who brought them, the one who gave birth to them. Their mother. He entered the room quietly. Amelia and her mother turned to find him standing there in disbelief. He stared at his mother for quite some time.
"Why?" He said as he walked to his mother. "When were you planning to tell me? If she hadn't shown up, would I never know about her?"
"Merlin..." said his mother. "You heard everything. I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how. I didn't want you to spend your life in an unnecessary guilt. You were only a child. A four years-old kid. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for keeping this from you." She cried deeply. Amelia tried to calm her down.
     "Don't cry, mother," she tried. "He's not angry with you. He's just...he's just upset that you kept it a secret from him when he had the right to know about it. You were after your son's safety and future. You didn't do the wrong thing."
     "I was selfish," Hunith choked out. "I think I did it for my own good. I wanted him to forget about you so that no one mentions you in front of me. But it didn't change the fact that I thought about you every second of my life. I was being selfish." This time she said it with disgust in her tone. She hated herself for what she did.
     "A mother can never be selfish when it comes to her kids," said Merlin after a moment's silence. "You weren't selfish. It's just like what Amy said; you were after my safety and future. And if you say that you're selfish again," he added, stepping closer to his mother and sister, "well, you'll just have to face the angry side of me. And you'd never want to face the angry side of me."
     "Yeah, because it doesn't even exist," joked Amelia.
     Their mother laughed.
     "That's it," said Amelia, hugging her mother. "Keep laughing all the time."
     Merlin joined the hug and they were happy.
     As for Gaius, he kept watching from behind, happy for his friends' happiness. "I guess you won't be needing this drink, after all," he said.
     "No," said Amelia. "No, I won't."