Arthur really should have thought this through. Merlin had asked for a few days off to travel to Ealdor. Something about being homesick and missing his mother. Arthur couldn’t say no to that. However, not even an hour after Merlin had left, Arthur was following his tracks and now here he was, in Ealdor, without an excuse to give Merlin as to why he was there.
“Um…” For once the Prince of Camelot was at a loss of words. “I got lost?” Arthur knew his kingdom and the surrounding areas better than anyone. There was no way he got lost. No way he got lost and made it to Ealdor, anyway.
“You can’t ask me that. I’m the Prince of Camelot.”
Merlin had left Camelot, something he had tried not to do because he feared if he did he might not come back. He also did not like leaving Prince Prat all alone, since he always got into life threatening over his head situations. He needed to time though, he needed to get away from the daily threats to the prince’s life, and the fear of being found out, and working two jobs on top of his ‘destiny’. He didn’t tell any of this to Arthur though when he said he needed to go back home. The walk had done him good, seeing as when he got to his town all he wanted was some food and a nap. He had visited his mother, before heading to his childhood home, immediately feeling nostalgic, sad, and relaxed.
When he heard a knock at the door, he assumed it was one of the people in his village who had already heard of his return, what he wasn’t expecting was the aforementioned prince prat. Merlin gave Arthur a ‘seriously’ look. “You got lost? From the castle you have lived in all your life? And some how managed to get yourself a day’s walk away from the castle? Across the border, but yet managed to find my mother’s house?”
Merlin offered an amused smirk, “Then I suppose it is a good thing we are not in Camelot. “ He motioned for Arthur to come into the house, closing the door before asking. “Seriously Arthur what are you doing here?”