Chapter 1: Complicated Relations.

Merlin and Arthur were walking towards the library, side by side as usual. Both dressed in casual attire, perfectly in step with each other. This was all normal. What was strange, though, was the reason. They had both been summonsed to the library by Geoffrey. Arthur still had a childhood fear of the man and Merlin was cautiously wary of him so they were a little worried.

"What do you think he wants us for?"

"Why would I know? I hardly ever go in the library." Arthur made a face. "It smells all musty in there."

"That's the smell of old books," Merlin responded. "It's a comforting smell."

Arthur just grunted. He gave up trying to understand his best friend's peculiarities many years ago. They had now reached the library and, taking a deep breath first, they strode in.

"Good evening my lords," the ancient librarian greeted them. Merlin shifted uncomfortably at the use of his title but Arthur simply nodded back. "I've asked you both here because I found some old records that might interest you both."

"Records? That's Arthur's domain," Merlin said quickly. "He is better at those sorts of things."

"Merlin, you have a better grasp on the classical languages that our King and you know an additional language besides. If anything, records should be your area." Arthur was torn between being triumphant that Merlin couldn't leave and being upset that the former peasant was better educated than him. "Have a seat at the table over here, both of you." Geoffrey shuffled to one of the study tables and the boys say down on the bench opposite him.

A book lay open on the table before then and he pointed to the right hand page.

"Gaius asked me a while ago to look up the Ambrosius line. He wouldn't tell me why. I must confess with you changing all the laws it has kept me busy and it had been pushed to the back of my mind. I finally found it though and I understand why he asked it of me. Arthur? What do you remember learning about the Ambrosius family?"

"Not much, sorry." He knew that history was his least favourite subject but he did hate to be a disappointment to his tutor. "They were a very old and powerful family. They were Kings once but their lands became part of Esseter a long time ago. And I remember that at some point the line disappeared."

"Good." Geoffrey was pleased. "That's most of the important bit. When they gave up their land to the king of the more united land, they were still high ranking lords. Unlike many other small kings that became absorbed and settled down as dukes, the former King Alexander became a universal ambassador. He traveled from kingdom to kingdom learning their cultures, their laws, and helping to mediate relations between them.

"Here's where your education was stunted though. We do know what became of the Ambrosius family." Arthur raised his eyebrows at this.

"By the time you were born, many of his descendants had filtered down into the lower classes of society, but one was still prominent. He had been at Camelot often. This was Balinor, your father."

"My father?" Merlin was having trouble wrapping his mind around this. "My father was an Ambrosius?"

"And so, by extension are you."

"No way," Arthur scoffed. "Merlin? A noble?"

"See for yourself sire." Geoffrey redirected their attention to the book before them. Here was the Ambrosius family tree branching out all the way down to Balinor II, son of Lessi Ambrosius and Peter Waters. Clearly they chose to keep the Ambrosius family name even when the husband was outside of the family.

"You know what this means, Arthur?" Merlin said with a slowly spreading grin. "Since my family is older than yours, that means I, Lord Merlin Ambrosius, outrank you."

"MERLIN!"

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The initial excitement passed quickly. Merlin was still Merlin even though he had a very noble family history and a family crest. But the man himself kept finding every opportunity to head to the library and read up on his family history. For a poor farm boy who knew only his mother, this was amazing. He knew he had a destiny going forwards, but to find out he had a rich history was something else. It felt like he had a legacy to live up to. It felt daunting until he mentioned this to Gaius. His mentor raised the infamous eyebrow and reminded him that "although you don't like to think of it this way, you are a figure of prophesy and your birth and great deeds have been foretold ages before. It's very likely that your ancestors grew up trying to live up to you." Blushing furiously, Merlin ducked his head and didn't mention that feeling again. Although he had helped bring magic back to the land and four of the five kingdoms were united, Merlin still felt like that was more Arthur than him. He certainly didn't feel like a legend no matter how much the Druids praised him.

It was when he had returned to studying the family tree when he discovered something of further interest.

On one of the more distant branches of the family tree, there was a handwritten annotation at the bottom. It read, "Mary has since given birth to a son Thomas who is a blacksmith in Camelot." With a quick spell, he copied the page and set out to find Elyan. He found the knight polishing his sword in the armoury.

"Elyan?" Merlin asked tentatively. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." He looked up at his friend. "Anything."

"Alright." Merlin shifted his weight from his left to his right foot. "You don't have to answer this if you don't want to. I know the subject may be tricky and unwanted. But what I wondered was if your father ever mentioned his mother."

Elyan's hand stilled.

"As I said you don't have to answer if you don't want to. I know it's tough that your father died and once again I'm-"

"Merlin." Elyan held up a hand to still his speech. "It's fine. I was just thinking. And yes, he used to speak of her often. We visited her once or twice even. She lived on a farm somewhere outside of Camelot's borders. Mary, I believe her name was." Merlin nodded, deep in thought as Elyan kept talking about the stories his father used to tell.

"Right." Merlin cut him off mid-thought and the knight knew he had stopped listening a while ago. "Come with me." He spun on his heel and walked off. A bewildered knight put away his sword and followed his friend.

Merlin opened his senses to find Gwen and walked directly there. Without knocking he strode into her chambers.

"Merlin!" she half-heartedly scolded him. "Will you ever knock? I could've been dressing."

"I haven't knocked in twelve years and you were alone in the room so I knew you weren't dressing." Gwen rolled her eyes and greeted her brother as Merlin sat down at the table and cleared a spot. He pulled the rolled up paper from his jacket pocket and spread it flat on the table. The siblings sat down opposite him.

"Merlin, this is your family tree," Gwen began hesitantly. "Why are you showing this to us?"

"Because of what I just found. Look down here." He pointed to the handwritten note. "I asked Elyan and he said that your father's mother was named Mary. Now how many Mary's do you know that have given birth to a Tom the blacksmith?" He watched Gwen and Elyan with a small upturn of the lips as their eyes flicked between the parchment and each other.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Elyan asked. "We are also part of the larger Ambrosius family?"

"Exactly!" Merlin's grin split his face. "We're family, Gwen!" She squealed in delight and jumped up to crush Merlin in a hug. "I did always say you were born to be a Queen."

"Pssh. That does not mean you knew all along." Merlin raised an eyebrow but he laughed as well. That was exactly what he was planning on claiming.

"Hey Merlin," the knight interrupted their giggles. "Do you realise what else this means?"

"You aren't actually a commoner knight?"

"No, you're related to Arthur." Merlin's wide eyes said it all.

AN: I was going to hold off on writing Merlin fanfiction for a while, but as you can see I am back. Took me less than a month. This is quite a short story, less than 6,000 words total. It is also already fully written, courtesy of a three-day bus trip around Scotland and the tediously long train ride there and back from London. Uggh. But, because it is complete, you will receive regular updates, probably on Sundays, but maybe not. Honestly it depends on the feedback I get. So I hope you have enjoyed this first little chapter and are sufficiently intrigued to wait and read further. Cheers.