Hey guys it's been a while since I've written anything at all, and if you're wondering why I've had another massive Fandom change is because Merlin has been keeping sane while I've been stuck at home sick and Merlin plot bunnies have been eating my brain. So I decided to get out here and see what you all think. This is not a slash fic, not that I'm against slash fics, one I'm no good at writing them, two I see the Arthur/Merlin relationship as a more brotherly one hence probably how this whole fic came about too. Not that I'm against Merthur it's just not for me. Anyway have fun reading the story.

One Rule though is no flames, because that's just mean. I do, however, appreciate constructive criticism, ideas and advice, as these help improve my writing and the story.

I do not own Merlin, or any of the characters nor plotlines from the show I may use. I do own my individual story ideas and characters I make to help the story along.

Words:5,463

Pages: Nine

Date Updated: Wednesday 21st of Novemeber 2012

Rated T for violence and gore, there will probably be some once I get to the nit and grit of the story, and there may be some bad language and sexual references.

Oh and the characters may be a bit OC, as in this their still children but I tried to keep their base personalities, honest. And there are probably all kinds of mistakes. :)

Now thanks to lilyflower1234, Mediatrix, Questionable Answers, izzybit29, thepheonixsong for reviewing last chapter. I also want to thank all of you who favourited and alerted this story and me as an author. More importantly I want to say OMG i've update in a week, it's a miracle.

Now on with the fourth chapter I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 6: Lessons

"Every child should have a caring adult in their lives. And that's not always a biological parent or family member. It may be a friend or neighbour. Often times it is a teacher."
~Joe Manchin~

The sun had barely crested above the horizon, and already several members were already wide awake. In fact very few were asleep. The colder months were nearing and the villages needed to make as much use of the fairer weather as they could. However, that wasn't going to stop a certain band to go adventuring and having some fun.

Julian packed and tied down the last few items onto the village horse's back. He'd convinced his fellows to allow him into using it and that the trip would be good for the animal as well. Julian turned to find his daughter Emma was the only one waiting beside him, and he'd sworn Merlin and Will had been there only a few moments beforehand. He, however, had yet to see Arthur. "Emma, where the boys?" He asked softly, wandering what mischief they'd gotten themselves into.

"You'll see." Emma answered meekly, smiling coyly.

He was about to ask for a bit of an elaboration, he really was but he didn't get the chance. He was interrupted by the sound of very loud yelp and what could only be described as maniacal laughter. He looked up alarmed, in time to see to Merlin and Will running toward him for what seemed their lives, while laughing voraciously. He soon found out why, when a dripping wet and exceedingly annoyed Arthur came into sight. He looked on absolutely confused, as the younger boys hid behind his legs gasping for breath and giggling in between.

"What did I tell you two the last thousand times I would do to you, if you dumped water to wake me up again?" Arthur growled as he skidded to a stop in front of Julian and glared at the two boys hiding behind him. Ah now it made more sense.

"Arthur! Change your clothes before you catch your death out there!" Hunith called back from the house. Arthur muttered something darkly under his breath, before turning on his heel and obeying his mother.

"What was that about?" Julian asked confusion, causing Merlin and Will to burst into another fit of laughter, leaving Emma to explain the morning's shenanigans to her out of the loop father.

"Arthur's not much of a morning person. He likes to sleep in and well… Merlin and Will like to wake him up, preferably by dumping a bucket of cold water on him. Though I don't know how they manage to get away from Arthur." She replied, mumbling the last line in her own kind of thoughtfulness.

Julian laughed lightly at the childish antics and went back to packing. He vaguely listened to Merlin and Will as they entailed their magnanimous trick to Emma, as if it were a saga of epic proportions, while Emma tried warning them that Arthur was bound to get them back. So animated were they in the retelling of the event, in real detail concerning Arthur's apparently very girly reaction, that they failed to notice Arthur's return.

Julian watched in both surprise and slight amusement as Arthur deftly tackled both boys. He easily manoeuvred himself so he trapped Will by sitting on him, while keeping a firm grip on his brother as Merlin tried valiantly, yet vainly, to escape. Without much effort, Arthur tugged Merlin down and quickly had him in a headlock and began giving Merlin a merciless noogie. Once Merlin began begging, really begging for forgiveness, he let him go and turned to give Will the same treatment until Will was in the same position as Merlin. Arthur stood smugly, arms crossed and watched the two boys rub their incredibly sore heads gingerly, both still muttering apologies.

They were still sore by the time they left an hour later and Arthur was still smug.
They were still sore when they made it to the lake at noon, with Arthur watching on with that same smugness.

When Merlin and Will began to complain lodly, Arthur simply replied. "I warned you, it's not my fault you two clot-poles won't stop doing it."

They both grumbled a bit more before ceasing to mention it anymore, now beginning to plot their revenge against Arthur. Arthur watched them sceptically knowing exactly what they were doing, he rolled his eyes. It was all going to end the same way, with Arthur giving them both noogies. Mildly he thought maybe he should do longer ones, as maybe that would get them to stop. Though he highly doubted his plan would succeed.

Merlin and Will soon ran off, Emma followed quickly, none them of them wanting to help unpack and set up camp. Julian gave a shout out to be careful, while Arthur stayed behind to assist, surprising the only adult among them.

When Julian had finished getting off all the equipment off their horse's back, he left to water the tired animal down and then hobbled it so it would not wander away. The moment the equipment hit the ground Arthur began to sort it, so when Julian returned he was stunned to find each set items neatly piled into groups. Arthur smiled as Julian gave him a pat on the back.

As they pitched the tents, Julian was again astonished by Arthur, he was more of a help than a hindrance. He listened well, and was quick to do things when asked. They barely spoke just concentrated on getting the camp all set.

Julian began a fire and set a pot on it and made a quick soup, so he and the children could have some semblance of a lunch. At the smell of food, the missing children quickly reappeared and begun munching immediately once their food was handed to him.

After lunch they set the fishing poles on the bank. The lake was fair sized and the water clear, the bank didn't flatten out into the water, but instead over hanged slightly, there was about a foot between the undersides of the bank to the water. They sat comfortably on the grassy bank and waited for the fish to come.

However, having Will and Merlin sit and wait patiently for a second was a miracle, so you can imagine that waiting to catch a fish would not have gone over well. A few minutes in, there were complaints of boredom, and the two rowdy boys defaulted to their favourite past time, annoying Arthur.

They grinned at each and waltzed over to Arthur. "Arthur." They sang in almost perfect unison. Arthur glanced at them momentarily, rolled his eyes and went back to watching the fishing pole. The two younger boys frowned irritated at his lack of reaction, he was getting better at ignoring them. They sat on either side of him and began to poke him. They poked and poked until Arthur finally stood.

"Arthur I really wouldn't stand if I was you…" Emma warned and that was all Arthur needed, he spun on his heel as both Will and Merlin went forward to push him into the lake and ended up behind them, with a light shove he sent them flailing into the water. Emma giggled as the water splashed and she heard the younger boys grumble at her.

"I knew we shouldn't have told her, but no you said Emma won't tell. Well, Merlin she did." Will muttered sarcastically.

"Okay... Okay I'm sorry. Arthur can you help us get out?" Merlin asked.

"Nope."

"Why not?" Both Will and Merlin exclaimed, only a bit out of sync.

"Because if I try you'll just pull me in with you." Arthur answered simply.

"Hey that's a great idea! We should do that next time." Will stated excitedly within Arthur's very hearing. Arthur just rolled his eyes and laughed at his brother and friend. The two soggily climbed back onto the back and immediately gave Arthur and Emma hugs, in turn drenching them with water.

Arthur grumbled while Emma shrieked shrilly in surprise, Arthur wiggled out of Merlin's grip and sprinted to Emma and tackled Will off her. This set a new round of laughter off, as Will and Arthur began to wrestle playfully and tried to pin one another down, they were soon joined by Merlin and became a giant table of arms and legs. Emma sat near her father and watched, laughing and shouting pieces of encouragements to each of the boys.

They kept it up for over an hour and didn't stop until the heard Emma shout out excitedly. "Dad's got a fish." This immediately got the boys attention as they saw Will's dad holding a foot long trout. They all insisted on touching it and holding it and watched with fascination as Will's father gutted it, instructing them on how to do it correctly.

Will, being the mischievous little imp he is, picked up some of the fish guts and brought them over to his older sister, and began bringing them closer to her face.

"Will stop it, that's disgusting."

"Oooh the fish guts are going to get you." Emma shrieked and stumbled up when Will brought them a little too close, enticing Will to chase her with them. Emma shrieked and squealed at him to stop, and Will laughed joyously. Much to Julian's chagrin, Emma didn't hide behind him but Arthur. She clutched desperately onto Arthur's arm.

"Arthur get him to stop, please?" She pleaded whiningly. Will continued with his attack, while Emma kept Arthur himself in between her and her brother.

"Will that's enough, your sister doesn't like it." Julian ordered sternly his voice not unkind.

All the children turned and looked at the adult present in shock, completely forgetting he had even been there. It wasn't like they were exactly used to it, they had their mothers but they were often busy keeping food on the table and so they were often left to their own devices. Usually it was Arthur or the twins who kept them from going overboard.

"Ah, yes papa." Will rapidly acquiesced. Emma gave him a smug triumphant look as she stuck her tongue out at him, Will returned the gestured. At a jovial order from Julian, they settled and sat to fish.

Oh course Will and Merlin got bored again, so Julian showed them how to skip rocks. He found a flat rock of the right size, talked about technique at little then gave them a demonstration. With a flick of his wrist he sent the stone jumping across the lake. As you can imagine they were excited to try it, and were quickly joined by Emma and Arthur. Almost immediately a competition began about who could skip it the farthest.

When Julian caught a fish they would stop momentarily to inspect said fish, and under Julian's supervision one of them was allowed to gut the fish. Emma flat out refused to, Merlin was slightly squeamish, Will was absolutely delighted, while Arthur was curious. The first time it was Will, the second was Merlin and the third fish was Arthur's. Between each time they would skip stones,

On Will's turn he was quite exuberant, and pulled the guts out with gusto, and the preceded to throw bits of guts at his friends and sister, with much admonishment from his father. Merlin, however, began out very uncertain, and was slightly disgusted at the sight of blood and guts, but to his credit he didn't let it affect him much and was quite good at gutting the fish. He smiled widely upon getting praise from the closest thing to a father figure he had. Upon Arthur's turn, Arthur used his own dagger, the one he been found with. Julian eyed it curiously but said nothing. It glided through the meat with less resistance than Julian's small knife. Arthur pulled the guts out neatly and handed the fish back to Julian so he could scale it, like the other two boys had before him.

By nightfall they had six fish in total all of decent size providing a fulfilling meal. While Julian set about preparing and cooking the fish, the children had time to themselves.

Will and Arthur decided to spar, which was really them whacking one another with sticks in an attempt to give the other colourful bruises. Merlin and Emma watched in tireless amusement from the sidelines, yelling both encouragement and taunts to the two combatants. Arthur was the faster of the two and the more surefooted, and was handily beating Will, giving him a few solid whacks. It soon degenerated into senseless, chaotic and inelegant struggling.

It didn't take long for Merlin to get dragged into the mess. Merlin and Will quickly began tag teaming on Arthur to get him back for earlier. With their tag team and a bit of help from some discreet magic, they succeeded in pining Arthur and then began a game of stacks on. Emma joined smiling as she jumped on top of the boys. Arthur groaned from the bottom of the pile with the added weight, thinking 'why him?'

A few minutes later, with much groaning from Arthur and cheerful bragging from Merlin and Will, dinner was finally called by Julian. The children swiftly rose and they tucked into dinner quite cheerily.

Julian watched them curiously, noting the changes that had gone about in the last few years, they had all grown. He felt a pang of loss and longing at having missed those formative years. He wondered at all the moments they'd had, the fun, the laughs, the smiles, the jokes, the troubles, the tears and sadness. He missed them all and he'd never really know all about them, and he could wonder all he wanted, so he tried not to, it was hard but he forged ahead and tried to make new memories with the children.

His eyes fell to the blonde boy and watched the boy curiously as he ate. Arthur had the same knife… well dagger, out that was used to gut the fish, though it was clean now. He caught a glimpse at it before, not a good one but enough to see it wasn't exactly shoddy.

"Arthur can I look at your dagger?" Julian asked kindly, no demand in his voice. Arthur looked at him momentarily before shrugging and handing it over.

He took it carefully from the boy's hand, and ran a hand gently over the steel blade. The edge was sharp but he noticed several imperfections, a few knicks but it was more than that. The edge seemed a bit off, as if someone had sharpened it like they would a common knife. He shrugged, it was probably Hunith. He turned his attention to the hilt. He almost passed it off as almost average until he saw 'Arthur' engraved on the cross-guard. He did a double take and examined it more carefully.

The grip was comprised of worn leather which Julian could see had once been of very fine quality. Julian noticed the pommel and cross-guard were embossed with gold, although the colour had dulled from a lack of polishing. Upon the cross-guard, he noticed a swirling intricate pattern carved masterfully around Arthur's name. He balanced the dagger on his finger to gauge the dagger's balance and found it nearly perfect. As he traced the carvings with his eyes around the engraved 'Arthur', he felt a sense of familiarity. On instinct he flipped it around and nearly dropped the dagger in shock. On the back he found the same cravings as its sister side but instead of surrounding 'Arthur', it surrounded a small dragon, that could be only the gold dragon of Camelot.

Instantly he knew where he'd seen blades like this before, they'd looted the dead Knights and found more than a few daggers of the same type, albeit without the embellishments of the engravings. He turned and looked at the boy, scarcely able to believe that he believed his own improbable theory, and again he found himself wondering, except this time about what it hell he was going to do.

Should he tell the boy? Should he pack up now and head back to home and tell Hunith? Should he just take the boy straight back to Camelot? He didn't do any of it. Instead he called Arthur over and taught him how to polish and take care of his dagger properly. When they were done, the edge was sharp and without a single knick and the blade and golden hilt gleamed beautifully in the fading light.

The next morning was just as eventful as the previous morning, in exactly the same way. Julian noted with amusement as a dripping wet Arthur stumbled back to his tent to change, while the younger boys rubbed their sore heads gingerly.

Julian had come to a decision regarding his revelation. He would tell Hunith and help her keep the boy safe. He thought to take him back to Camelot but he was unsure of Uther's reaction. He could be grateful or he could be disbelieving, which would most likely lead to Uther believing sorcery was involved, which of course would end dreadfully for everyone. Of course there was the chance he was wrong, that the boy had simply found the dagger but he doubted it.

He had also come to another decision. He was going to teach the boys how to fight and survive on their own. He would teach them how to bow hunt, how to track, how to build snares and how to clean an animal. He would also teach them how to fistfight and he was toying with the idea of teaching them to fight with weapons, their mothers wouldn't like it but in these days learning such skills were invaluable.

So that was how the day started, the boys were quickly occupied with lessons, and Emma while originally disgusted became quite engrossed with those same lessons.

Merlin followed Julian with the others, curious to the day's events. He was excited to be involved but a part him didn't want to hurt the animals. Yes he knew how important meat was in their diet and it was certainly delicious but he'd honestly rather not have to actually kill the animals.

Also he was rather terrible at it. He did after all have a rather nasty case of clumsiness, which lead to him scaring any game away. Will fared a little better, so did Emma, being far more light footed. And surprise, surprise, Arthur caught on quickly being better than all of them put together.

In daily chores Arthur was generally quite shocking, honestly. He could barely stitch up a broken seam, he failed at washing clothes, and Arthur attempting to help their mother cook was an absolute nightmare, he could burn nearly anything, even being under Hunith's supervision. And then came the outside chores. Arthur collecting eggs from the chicken coup was a source of endless amusement to Will and Merlin. Every time Arthur collected eggs, he ended up being harassed by a flock of very angry chickens. And the cows! Oh how Arthur loathed milking the beasts. He could never seem to squirt the milk into the bucket, he always missed. The last time, he had squeezed too hard on the teat and narrowly missed being stepped on by an irate cow. However, he was incredible with the horses, and Merlin had to admit an amazing rider.

But when it came to things like this, Arthur just had a knack for it. Merlin had seen his brother manage to creep up on a plump rabbit and catch it, bringing it home for dinner. He was also the best in a fight out of their little group, as well as out of most of the village children their age, and they'd had their fair share of tussles to know so. Now it was in the skills that Julian taught that he excelled in.

Merlin smiled, he felt a bit jealous but he was proud of his big brother. At times because of his lack of skills at household chores, he was often at the butt of jokes and it wasn't fair. He strove to help everyone but it just seemed to go wrong for him. Right now, however, Arthur seemed to be in his element and Merlin realised he was barely conscious of it. So he continued along and smiled even wider when his brother began helping the rest of them get the knack of it.

When they'd reached camp, they had a few rabbits, all of which Julian had gotten using a longbow. He set them down and the children crowded around and listened as he began to demonstrate how to skin and clean an animal. They all watched with morbid curiosity as Julian skinned, gutted and bleed the creature out. He didn't let them do the other rabbits, he left them so they could take them home.

As lunch came, he set the children off and began to cop the rabbit into pieces and made a more substantial and filling soup. As it cooked he searched around and found a few relatively straight sticks, and began to carve what he wanted to be the tip of the mock swords. For the hilt he wrapped some cloth, so they could have a more comfortable hold.

Will watched what his father was doing curiously and soon paid for it when he was tackled over by Arthur.

"Ha tagged." Arthur sprinted off laughing as Will struggled up and regain his breath.

Yes they'd been playing tag, but not regular tag. If you tagged someone you had to tackle them over, well except for Emma because she was a girl. It had been Will's idea to alter the game originally and now with Arthur here, he kind of regretted it because boy did it knock the wind out of you when Arthur tackled you.

They continued their game, with the person being tagged often changing, until Will's father called for lunch. There were many murmurs of satisfaction as they ate the food. It wasn't anything special really, some rabbit chunks in water and seasoned with some simple spices, but it was hearty and meat was a treat in their village.

After lunch, Will watched his father rummage through his things and find a second bow, it was a lot smaller than the other, almost a miniature of it. Julian had made it while he was gone for Will. It was rough but it would work and the younger children should be able to draw the drawstring. He quickly set up the targets and then began to instruct the children.

Will was first, his shots often went wide or didn't make the distance even with Julian's advice, the same went for the others even Arthur. They kept trying for the rest of the day right up until dinner, none making the target.

Julian sighed at the dejected faces. "Hold your heads up, it was only your first try and that bow isn't the best." They nodded meekly and sat and waited for dinner, too tired from practise to play. They ate the same thing as they ate for lunch. The moment they had finished eating they practically fell asleep. Julian jerked when he saw movement, he watched as Arthur rolled to his feet. The movement was shaky and sloppy but there was something in it, and Julian knew that it was probably a remnant from the training he received as a prince. He'd been seeing that remnant all day as well as his natural talent for fighting.

He watched Arthur pick up the bow and stubbornly try to draw it. Arthur frowned when his arms shook but he ignored it. He rolled his arms, knocked an arrow and forced himself to draw and shoot it. The arrow went wide. Arthur frowned and changed his stance until he slid into something that felt more right, more familiar though he didn't understand why. The next arrow he shot actually hit the target and the next and the next, and Arthur kept hitting the targets until he stopped when he was satisfied with his own progress. Julian clapped making Arthur jump and whirl around in surprise.

"Well done, practise enough and you'll be quite handy with a bow." Julian commented kindly. Arthur murmured a small thanks in reply, while looking down almost nervously before stumbling off to bed.

Julian watched them sleep peacefully, all blissfully unaware of the hardships the world would hold for them as they grew and he couldn't help but deliberate on how Arthur's true origin would affect that future. He sighed and lay down, speculating would do nothing but tire him out, so he rolled over and tried to sleep. Though try as he did, those thoughts plagued his active mind.

After lunch the next day they headed back to Ealdor, glad for their little trip. In the morning he'd showed them how to make and set snares, which they began to set as they neared the village. The children laughed as they set out the snares, running around as they tried to hide them from sight. They continued running as they came home, heading straight for their mothers babbling about their fantastic trip.

It didn't take long for their enthusiasm to interfere with their mother's chores and so Julian pulled them away to begin a new lesson. He murmured to Hunith and Margery that he'd keep them out of trouble and told Hunith he needed to talk to her soon. He took them to a field outside the village, so they wouldn't bother any of the other villages and handed them their wooden swords.

He began to instruct them in the rudimentary basics, to varying degrees of success. Will wielded the wooden sword as if it were a club, no matter how much Julian tried to correct him. So he took note of it and decided to fashion him a club or maybe a mace and teach him that. Merlin was grinning as he wildly wielded the sword, how he thought a sword should be wielded. This, however, lead to Merlin whacking everyone several times, before tripping himself up and making himself stumble. Arthur was better than the both, for one he was a better listener and two he was instinctive. Of course he was still clumsy, but compared to the others he was elegant and more importantly, he didn't wield it like a hatchet.

Eventually Arthur asked if he could practise with the bow again. Julian nodded leaving speedily to retrieve the bow and makeshift target from home and returned. He set the target and let Arthur practise, while the other boys amused themselves with a spar with their new swords.

Julian turned his head as he heard footsteps, and saw Hunith coming up the path toward them. She frowned at the sight in front of her, mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Is this what you wanted to tell me?" Hunith asked scoldingly, her eyes narrowed.

"No, but I guess you should know anyway. And don't give me that look. Better they have the skills and not need them than need the skills and not have them." Julian replied sagely, well as sagely as a court jester.

"Hmm, I guess you're right, but I still don't like it. I don't want them getting any ideas about going off to war." Hunith answered biting her lip worriedly.

"Merlin won't, he's not the war type. He'll prefer to stay with those he loves and protect them as best he can." Julian answered softly. He was glad to say Will was similar, though more because he was a trouble maker and wouldn't do well with strictness of a militant lifestyle. Though, that same trait might make stray from home in search of adventure.

"And Arthur?" Hunith questioned once Julian's watchful gaze landed on Arthur. She saw his brow crease and worry bubbled up as he met her eyes.

"What about Arthur?" Hunith reiterated, her voice shaking slightly. Julian looked down and sighed quietly, he knew the answer but wasn't quite sure how to tell Hunith. For how do you tell a mother that her son will leave?

"Some men aren't born to be farmers, Arthur's one of them. I know you've probably seen it and just not understood. He's a leader Hunith, he's born to lead men into the battle. It's already in the way he moves, in the way he takes on responsibilities he doesn't need to and in the legacy of his very forefathers." Julian explained softly yet surely.

"Forefathers?" Hunith asked suspiciously, as a shiver ran down her spine.

"Hunith, I think I'm right. I think Arthur is Uther's son." He replied solidly, as he meet her widening gaze.

"No, I thought you said…"

"I know what I said Hunith, but I saw his dagger. It came from the forges of Camelot." He interrupted swiftly, almost harshly.

Hunith bit her lip, now completely unsure her whole world being thrown off kilter. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"What should I do?" Hunith asked almost desperately, she loved Arthur dearly, he was her son and losing him wouldn't just devastate her but Merlin as well.

"I don't know Hunith, I really don't. All I guess I can say is, what does your heart tell you to do?" He asked calmly watching Hunith as the thoughts raced through her mind.

At the words everything went blank. If Arthur was truly Camelot's prince and son to Uther then the best thing would be to take him there, is what she told herself. Yes it was right thing to do, losing a child would be devastating, she could only imagine how much so, even if it was Uther. It was also where Arthur truly belonged, wasn't it?

"It's what happens to people who use magic. The knights come and take them away to burn."

The words rammed into her like a hammer hitting an anvil, those shocking words that still haunted her from the first time Arthur had said them. Her real first instinct was to hold him tight and protect from the world, from Uther's hatred. He didn't remember his life from beforehand, and to take him back before he understood would be like abandoning him in the forest, it would destroy him. Shatter the good man he would become with bitterness and resentment at the world for being constantly left behind, discarded like he meant nothing.

Hunith couldn't do that to him, she loved him and she couldn't do it to Merlin either. They had their fights but despite not being blood they were brothers, she could barely imagine them apart. And she didn't know if she could let him go, he was a part of her life and giving him up would wound a part of her. It was slightly selfish but her heart told her to take care of him, keep him safe here in Ealdor.

"I have to keep him safe. He's my son and God forgive me if I'm wrong but I think it's what's best for him. I… I… I don't think he's ready, he's young and he doesn't remember." Hunith responded shakily, unsure if what she was doing was really best for Arthur or if it was her own selfishness.

Julian saw the pain in her eyes and the doubt. He looked at Arthur and saw that the boys had discarded their toy weapons and had begun wrestling and laughing in utter delight. He nudged Hunith gently causing her to look up at him with tear streaked eyes.

"I don't know if you're right either Hunith but look at Arthur. He's happy and he's loved and in the end there's nothing more important than that. When he's older and ready we'll tell him the truth and then he can make the decision for himself. For now just love him, Hunith, it's all he needs." Julian comforted her giving her a small gesture.

She stepped away and looked at the boys as they played. Arthur was special and so was Merlin, she'd give anything that they were not but alas that was not their fates. Julian was wrong, Merlin wouldn't stay in Ealdor either, he had a gift and he was destined for greater things, they both were. One day they would leave, maybe it would be on the same day, maybe on different days but eventually they would both leave the comfort of their home for the real world and part of her dreaded it. She feared it but it would come, so for now she would do as Julian said, she would love them.

So that's chapter 6.

So basically that's what I need Will's father Julian for, to act a father figure and teach them some skills. Basically he's teaching them the basics because i think as a regular soldier that's all he knows. Also while Arthur has forgotten everything about camelot his body wouldn't have, it would remember some of that which was taught. aka muscle memory.

And as for why Hunith doesn't take Arthur back to camelot is that she loves him and if she did it would be like abandoning him and that would destroy something in Arthur. Plus I think if they did take Arthur back, I don't really think Uther would believe them, simply because Uther I think would be a bit skeptical and could possibly believe that it is some form of deception and that magic is involved. And as we know the moment magic seems to be involved Uther ceases to listen to reason.

But these are just my reasons for my writing like this, feel free to disagree.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter and I'd love to hear what you all think, so pls review.

XD

Cya next chapter.