Dil had never been so excited in his life!

Finally his father entrusted him with a mission. In all of his eleven years Dil had never been allowed into the humans dimension alone. He had never understood why his father was so paranoid, he could take care of himself just fine. Oh well, his patience had paid off and now here he was; Him against the world.

He'd been given strict instructions on how he should proceed after arriving at Ealdor. Now all he had to do was keep hidden and check on the kind lady who he remembers visiting when he was small. He and his guards had had to stay hidden then too.

Quietly, he casts the concealment spell he has known since as long as he can remember. Then, he sneaks up to the window and peeks inside. To his surprise no one's home. "Hmm… ?" It appears the task may be harder to complete than he originally thought.

Taking a closer look, it seems like the place has been empty for a while. Dread starts to cloud Dils mind as he realises he's failed his first ever mission. 'What will father say?'

Luckily, hope comes in the form of a shout.

"Hunith!"

Clumsily Dil races to the other side of the small house, a huge smile taking over his face when he sees Hunith. She's riding on an old, grey horse, the bags under her eyes and the slouch in her back implying that sees had a long way to come.

"Hunith!"

"Hunith."

"How are you?"

"Did you have a nice time?"

Dil understands that in a small village each member is like family, but as everyone comes out onto the street he can't help but feel a little overwhelmed. 'These people must have really missed her.'

"Did you see Arthur?"

"How's old Gaius?"

That stirs an old memory in Dils head, he's sure he must have heard Hunith mention Gaius last time. This annoys Dil as he's prized for his memory. He could read a book then recite the whole thing back to you word for word if he liked. 'Gaius… Gaius…'

"Did you manage to get any more of those seeds, like last time?"

'…Gaius…'

"Oh, say you did. Our Jack, here, loved 'em"

'…Gai-Gaius, Huniths friend from the city!'

"But first, how's our Merlin getting on?"

'He was some sort of scien-wait. Our Merlin?'

"Yeah, he still workin' himself to the bone?"

"Fattened up yet?"

"He got himself a girl?"

Everyone was silent as Hunith finally managed to carry all her belongings into her house with the help of the villagers. Dils brow creased. 'Who's Merlin? They obviously all know him well. If he's that close to Hunith shouldn't father know about him?'

Hunith came back outside, a large smile, matching Dils earlier expression, stretched across her face. "He's great. The city life's really agreeing with him. He's still wearing himself out over Arthur, but that is to be expected. He's still staying with Gaius, who is well, and yes, he was kind enough to give us some more seeds for our bread."

The villagers all started talking as one, each happy at Huniths news.

This confused Dil even more. It sounded like Merlin had lived with Hunith at some point and had moved away, and she's happy about it. 'Not a husband then.' With his curiosity spiked, Dil decided he needed to know more about this Merlin.

Five hours later and Dil had managed to gather some information by listening in on Huniths conversations with each of the neighbours.

Firstly, Merlin was "A growing lad-" meaning he couldn't be that old. Second, he's "Got some time before he needs to settle down, I say." Meaning he was without a better half. Also, he "was always such a handsome boy" which Dil really didn't want to know but thought may be important later on, so he had mentally written it on his list of 'What I Know About Merlin' anyway. However, for the last half an hour they had moved onto other topics and Dil was almost ready to give up. That's when, finally, things got interesting.

"I don't know what I'll do if my Christian decides to follow in your Merlins footsteps. I mean, I'm not like you Hunith, I need somebody to take care of."

Dil stood up from his crouched position underneath the window and risked a quick glance inside. Hunith was standing with her back to the window, in what appeared to be the kitchen area. The other lady, who Dil assumed was another neighbour, was standing just out of site. Hunith had her head bowed down slightly, Dil guessed looking into a cup of hot water.

Sitting back down under the window sill, even though they wouldn't be able to see him anyway, he paid careful attention to what he was hearing.

"I mean, he's my son, my boy, if he- Oh, don't get me wrong, I know Merlin's your son too! It's just-"

That's when Dil stopped listening. 'Son! Son! Ohhhh, no no, no. Father is not going to be happy.'