Truth in the reflection –Chapter 1

Author woke up feeling stiff; a quick glance at his surrounding indicated he had fallen asleep on the hard ground. He had been out hunting with Merlin when they were forced to take shelter from the weather.

He stood up and walked toward the entrance of the cave they were currently occupying. It was still dark, but he could see the light of day somewhere off in the distance. He hadn't intended on spending the whole night out and could just imagine what his father would say when they got back. He had promised to be back in time for the ceremony of the newly appointed knights; which if he hurried could still be kept.

His stomach growled for food, but he needed to get Merlin awake so they could be on their way home. He walked back inside the cave and found where his servant lay. "Merlin, it's time to head back home".

Merlin came awake as he felt the light brush of Arthur's foot on his shoulder; "Is the storm over?"

"It appears so, but if we are going to get back before my father notices we need to get moving".

Merlin rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "I should get breakfast started then?"

"There's no time Merlin, your stomach will just have to wait until we are back".

"Oh, I didn't mean it for me sire, I just wanted to make sure you had something".

Arthur moved about in the dark cave until he came across his sword. He picked it up and then handed Merlin his pack of supplies. "Come on Merlin, we need to move out now". He knew that they would get back with just enough time to change; but if they hurry, perhaps he would have time for a bath. This one night in the cave had left him feeling rather grungy.

Merlin took his pack from Arthur and reached inside. Once he found what he was looking for he stood up, "Here Arthur, at least eat some Jerky".

Arthur was starving and silently took the offered meat. He wasn't about to admit to Merlin that he was thankful for his persistence. He followed Merlin outside, but once he was there he felt a sudden chill. He reached for his cloak so he could pull it over his shoulders but found it missing. He looked toward the horses where he knew Merlin to be. It was still dark out, but he could see well enough to get a look at his servant. Merlin had his back to him, but there was something quite familiar about the way he looked. "Merlin, are you wearing my cloak?"

Merlin shook his head without turning around, "No I'm not wearing your cloak". He looked down at himself, but was glad that Arthur could not see his face; which by now was filled with embarrassment, "Sorry Arthur, I didn't take this from you. I don't know how it came to be on me".

Merlin started to undo the straps keeping the cloak fastened to his neck but noticed he also had Arthur's ring on his finger. What was going on, why was Arthur's ring on his finger. Once the cloak was off he started to say something to Arthur as he turned around, "I'm sorry sire; I don't know how this happened?"

A look of shock fell over his face as his gaze fell upon Arthur. It was a look that Arthur shared as well.

Merlin found that he was not looking at Arthur at all. Instead he found himself looking at his own face. He quickly looked down at himself again and realized that he wasn't just wearing Arthur's things, he was in fact Arthur. He looked at Arthur again and saw that he looked to be in shock. Merlin didn't need anyone to tell him why, he already knew. Arthur was looking at his body that he was no longer occupying.

Merlin came to the quick conclusion that somehow both of them had switched bodies; which was not a good thing. His thoughts raced to the fact that only magic could be responsible for this. He wanted to test his abilities to see if he was still in possession of his own magic, but he didn't want to do it in front of Arthur. He could just imagine what was going through Arthur's mind, but he knew one thing for certain, how were they going to explain this to King Uther.

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