Merlin 1. Prologue

OOC: This is my very first fanfiction. I apologize if there is any major spelling or grammar issues in it. I would love some feedback though.

**_Prologue_**

Small gray ash, like tiny white snowflakes, sprinkled down from the sky covering the ground. It almost made the ground look like it was covered by a thin sheet layer of snow.

The sound of horse hooves seemed to echo loudly as the knights, mounted on them, rode through the village in dead silence.

Gazing around them the only things they saw were mountains of dead bodies stacked on top of one another in a tall pile making the air around them reek with the putrid smell of roating and decaying flesh.

Every house in the small village was either all broken into with smashed windows covering the ground in glass and doors knocked off their hinges lying flat in the doorways of homes or completely burned down to the ground.

An overwhelming sense of anger, dread, helplessness, and despair began to fill the hearts of knights as they continued to witness the death and destruction around them.

At the front of the group leading the knights was a man with short blonde hair, fair colored skin, and blue eyes. He wore a thick layer of chain mail armor, brown pants, long dark brown boots and a long red cape with the symbol of a dragon on it.

He wore the expression of a frown on his face as he did well to keep his cool composure in front of his men so not to look weak in their eyes.

Sharply pulling the reins of his horse to a halting stop he turned about to face his fellow knights. "Split up and looks for any survivors." He commanded before taking off in another direction to do the same.

"Yes Sire!" They all replied in usion before following through with their order and begin the search clinging onto the small bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, some fo the villagers had managed to survive the masacure.

Searching amongst the rubble and the few houses that still remain standing seemed to take hours. The more they looked the more the feeling of hope to find some survivors began to diminish. Still they kept on looking. But for all their efforts they could not manage to find even one remaining survivor.

"We must move on. There's nothing more we can do to help these people now." One of the knights grimly spoke as he and the others began to regroup together.

He had dark brown hair that went all the way down to the bottom of his neck, brown eyes, and wore the same uniform as the rest of the knights with the exception of the small crescent necklace he wore around his neck.

"He's right Sire. We need to keep moving." Another knight spoke. He had short, dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and had a light goatee on his face.

The knights' leader looked around the village for a moment in silence before turning back to face his knights nodding. "Very well. We'll ride on 'til sundown and make camp for the night."

"Wait!" Another knight disagreed. He had short dark hair, dark brown eyes, and his skin bore a light tan to it making his fair colored skin just a little bit darker than the rest of the knights.

He took off his cape and ripped off a large piece of it tying it to a long wooden pole that he stuck into the ground.

"It'll serve as a memorial for those whose lives were tragically lost here." He added with a tone of anger and remorse in his voice. He hung his head a moment as the cape piece, bearing the emblem of the golden dragon on it, attached to the pole began to swing in the wind.

The leader of the knights walked over him and gently placed his hand on the knight's shoulder in a form of silent comfort. "I know how you feel.." He told him softly and sympathetically.

The knight looked up and turned to face his friend. "Thanks Arthur.." He replied in a voice barely above a whisper. Being in the destroyed village reminded him of his childhood when he had lost everything and everyone he had cared about due to raiders coming to his village and killing everyone but him who had managed to escape. It was the very reason he had become a knight in the first place, to prevent something like that from ever happening again.

"If you two love birds don't get moving we're gonna leave you behind." The knight with the crescent necklace teased with a wide grin on his face.

"Very funny Gwaine but you know we would never leave Lancelot, or even Arthur for that matter, behind." A dark skinned and brown eyed knight replied back to him with a stern tone in his voice.

"Awww you're no fun, Elyan." Gwaine replied with a fake pout crossing his arms over his chest.

Arthur and Lancelot walked back over to the knights shaking their heads at Gwaine trying to keep from smiling a little.

"Let's get moving. We have a lot of ground to cover before sunset." Arthur told them as he and the other knights mounted their horses and rode off leaving the village ruins far behind them.


	2. Chapter 1

The knights rode on towards the forest as the sun began to slowly set behind them. Upon entering the forest they pulled their horses' reins to a halt.

"We'll make camp here for the night and continue on at first light." Arthur told the knights.

They dismounted their horses and tied their reins to a low hanging tree branch. The reins were tied tight enough so the horses couldn't run off during the night but not too tight so they could be allowed graze on the grass all around them.

Next they began setting up camp, pulling out their blankets from the bags on the horses saddles, pulling out water canteens to refill, and lightly snacking on a few slices of bread, cheese, and a couple apples they had brought with them to eat.

"I'll go collect some firewood to build the fire." One of the knights, who was very strong and tall, offered before walking off to do so.

"Who is going to take first watch?" The knight with the dirty blonde hair asked.

"You can take first watch tonight Leon. However if you get tired before your watch is over I want you to wake Percival so he can take over, understood?" Arthur told him.

"Understood, Sire." Leon replied with a nod.

Later on that night Leon stood a couple feet away from the rest of the sleeping knights. He stood staring out into the forest in complete silence with his back toward his companions as he began his watch for the night.

Arthur however had found himself unable to sleep, despite how tired he was, from the day's earlier events. He lay wide awake on his back staring up at the stars high above him. For a moment he wondered if the reason he couldn't sleep was because he was worried about Merlin and Gwen back home in Camelot.

_'Gwen and Merlin are fine. I have no need to be worried about them..' _He thought to himself dismissing the thought away as he closed his eyes trying to go to sleep but still found himself unable too.

He opened his eyes once more and looked at all the sleeping knights around him letting out a soft and barely audible sigh. How he envied them. They could sleep so peacefully through anything. Why couldn't he sleep as peacefully as them?

Knowing he wasn't going to get any sleep he decided to go for a long walk instead. Maybe if he was lucky it would tire him out enough and he could finally get some sleep.

As quietly as possible he got up to his feet and started walking away from the knights trying hard not to accidently trip, stumble, or step on any of the knights sleeping around him as he walked on through the dark.

A pair of brown eyes opened slightly as Arthur passed by him. They watched him closely as he walked off waiting until he was a certain distance away before slowly getting up and following him.

Arthur didn't stop walking for quite a while and when he finally did stop he stood leaning himself against a tall pine tree staring far out into the distance completely unaware to the fact that he was being followed.

"Arthur? Are you alright?" He heard someone speak in a voice barely above a whisper behind him.

Arthur turned around to see who it had been addressing him only to notice it was Lancelot. By the very dim light of the moon, that shone above them through the tall tree branches, he had just enough light to faintly notice a look of concern on the knight's face.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just couldn't sleep that's all." Arthur told him which of course was the truth.

"Nor could I." Lancelot replied as he walked over closer to Arthur so they could stand side by side.

"And so you decided to follow me." Arthur added with a small hint of annoyance in his tone.

"Someone had to make sure you didn't run into any trouble." Lancelot replied ignoring the annoyed tone of Arthur's voice.

Arthur was about to scold and remind the knight that he was more than capable enough to take care of himself but he didn't get the chance when they suddenly heard the sound of twigs snapping and bushes rustling.

Instinct kicking in sending Arthur on high alert he drew out his sword holding it one hand while the other silently gestured with two fingers for them to split up and cut off whoever had been spying on them to trap 'em.

Lancelot nodded as he drew out his sword from the scabbard that hung from his belt before running off in the direction opposite to the one Arthur had run off in.


	3. Chapter 2

A bush. That's where he had been led to. After he and Arthur had split up to find who had been spying on them, he found a set of fresh footprints. Following them led him to a series of bushes of many different sizes. After some time of tracking the footprints that cleverly led him in a couple circles, he had managed to find the exact bush that the spy had run to hide into.

As he stood in front of the bush with his sword still drawn and ready he could faintly hear the sound of soft frightened whimpering coming from inside it.

Slowly and cautiously he bent down until he was completely lying on the ground so that he may get a better look at what was hiding inside the bush.

It was a lost and scared little boy. Noticing Lancelot had discovered his hiding place he slowly began to back up away from him almost like a small animal that had been cornered by a larger and dangerous predator.

An overwhelming sense of pity suddenly came over Lancelot as he stared at the boy.

The boy couldn't have been no more than the age of five and had short brown hair that stuck up in several places, more than likely from running through bushes, his skin though covered in dirt and cuts was a very light color from what he could tell, and his brown eyes were red, probably from crying, and open wide in panic.

Looking at the boy Lancelot couldn't help but briefly remember when he had been around his age and had found himself lost and scared in the woods far from home as well.

_It had been right after his parents were brutually slaughtered along with the rest of the villagers after the raiders had come and attack the village._

_He alone had escaped by fleeing to the woods and hiding until it was safe to come out._

For a moment he wondered if that was what had happened to this little boy too. Was it possible he had suffered from something exactly like what he had suffered through many years ago?

"Please...don't hurt me..." The little boy pleaded his voice filled with fear.

That was when Lancelot remembered he still had his sword out of it's scabbard and pointing threateningly into the bush. Quickly Lancelot slipped it back into the scabbard that hung from his belt.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Lancelot told him keeping his voice sounding soft and gentle so not to frighten the boy any further.

Slowly he began making his way over closer to him to which the boy responded by retreating further back into the bush until he found he could go no further feeling his back pinned up against a tree that stood directly behind the bush.

_He's lying. I know he's lying. He means to hurt me. Why can't he just leave me alone? What did I ever do to him? _

"Lancelot!" Lancelot could hear Arthur yelling his name making him realize he had forgotten about their plan to circle around, flush out, and trap the spy but that had been before he realized that the spy was no more than a terrified little boy.

"Over here!" Lancelot called without taking his eyes off the boy fearing that if he did the boy would run.

He could hear quick footsteps running towards him and Arthur's voice asking "What are you doing?"

"I found the intruder." Lancelot told him softly without turning to face him.

Deciding he wanted to get a better look for himself Arthur walked over beside Lancelot and got down on the ground just as he did looking into the bush.

Realizing it was only a little boy Arthur couldn't help but blink twice in surprise.

Seeing Arthur there too the little boy whimpered again. _Why are they here? What do they want with me?_

"Do not be afraid. I am Sir Lancelot and this is my friend King Arthur of Camelot. We only want to help you I promise." Lancelot spoke again softly to reassure him.

"That's what those men said and they lied! Just like you're lying now!" The little boy yelled at them as he began scooping up dirt in his hands and throw it into the knights' faces. He had decided if he couldn't flee he would fight.

Lancelot immediately covered his face with his arms to prevent any dirt from getting into his eyes while Arthur, scrunching up his eyes, ignored all the dirt constantly being thrown at him as he reached his arms as far back into the bush as he could and firmly grabbed the kid's wrists stopping him from throwing anymore dirt at them.

"Listen to me, we're not going to hurt you. We're only here to help you, understand?" Arthur told him in a soft but stern whisper.

The boy didn't respond but instead looked down at the ground as if ashamed for a moment before he eventually broke down. He closed his eyes tightly shut and let the tears he had been holding back for so long come falling down his cheeks like pouring rain.

Feeling sorry for the boy, Arthur let go of the boy's wrists and backed up a couple of paces away from the bush with Lancelot. "Come here." he told him.

The boy looked back up at Arthur sniffling and using one of slightly torn sleeves of his shirt to wipe away the rest of his tears. Slowly he crawled out in front of the bush.

Lancelot and Arthur both sat up in a more comfortable position exchanging a quick glance with one another seeming to share the same pity for the boy.

Opening up his arms a little Arthur let the boy come sit in his lap and gently put his arms around him in a hug.

_Maybe they aren't lying. Maybe they really don't mean to hurt me...if they did they would've surely done it by now right?_

"There. Isn't that better?" Arthur asked him.

The little boy nodded. He liked hugs after all and even though he had just met these men he was already beginning to feel safe with them.

"What's your name?' Lancelot asked him.

"Richard."


	4. Chapter 3

"What are you doing all the way out here by yourself? Where are your parents?" Arthur asked Richard.

For a couple heartbeats Richard couldn't bring himself to answer and though he didn't say anything Lancelot was quite convinced he already knew what the boy's answer was going to be.

"D-dead.." Richard choked out the words his voice cracking with emotion before he buried his face into Arthur's shirt and began to cry soaking the shirt with this tears.

Arthur hugged him and gently rubbed his back trying to comfort him. He didn't judge nor did he blame the boy for crying over the loss of his parents as he was sure that if he was his age he would probably do the same as well.

A small smile came to his face as he remembered the lullaby Merlin used to sing to their kids, Landon and Lil, every night before bed.

In a soft voice he began to sing the lullaby aloud to Richard.

"Come stop you're crying, it'll be alright.

Just take my hand, hold it tight."

He gently took one of Richard's hands into his own and let Richard grip it.

"I will protect you from all around you.

I will be here don't you cry.

For one so small you seem so strong.

My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm.

This bond between us can't be broken.

I will be here don't you cry."

The music had calmed Richard almost making him wish the moment could go on just like this forever.

Arthur stopped singing when he noticed Richard had indeed stopped crying and was looking up at him smiling. The song had worked like a charm.

Lancelot was smiling as well. After watching the sweet scene between Arthur and Richard he could already being to tell Arthur and Richard were forming a strong bond with each other.

"I like that song. It reminds me of when my dad used to sing to me every night before bed." Richard told Arthur.

"Yes, I do too. My husband, Merlin, used to sing it to our kids every night before they went to bed." Arthur replied.

"Is he nice?" Richard asked.

"Huh?" Arthur replied a little taken aback by Richard's question.

"Merlin. Is he nice?" Richard clarified before repeating the question.

Arthur found himself trying hard to resist the urge to blush as he nodded. "Yes Merlin's always been one of those really nice guys."

"I wish I could meet him.." Richard muttered barely audible before changing the subject and asking "Can you sing some more?" wanting to hear more of the song.

"Sure." Arthur replied.

"I'll go stand watch." Lancelot whispered to Arthur, who nodded in response, as Lancelot got up and walked a couple feet away from them leaning against a tree with his back towards them.

"Where's he going?" Richard asked saddened to see Lancelot go off by himself.

"To keep watch and make sure we stay safe. Don't worry he'll be back later." Arthur reassured him.

"He's very brave." Richard commented watching Lancelot with a smile. _'Maybe someday I'll be just as brave as him and just brave as Arthur. Then I'll go around helping people and not be afraid of anything just like them' _He thought to himself.

"Yes he is." Arthur replied nodding his head in agreement before contuining with the rest of the song.

As he softly sang it to Richard, Richard smiled yawning a couple times as he felt himself slowly drifting off to sleep feeling the happiest and safest he had felt in the last few days.

When Richard had finally fallen asleep Arthur stopped singing the lullaby and gently lied Richard down on the ground before repositioning himself and lying down beside him with his arm drapped protectively over him.

For a moment Richard opened his eyes once more and a small smile appeared on his face as he found Arthur sleeping next to him. Again he found himself wishing Arthur and Lancelot could stay with him like this forever as he closed his eyes once more and went back to sleep.

Arthur hadn't been entirely sure at what point he had fallen asleep as he lied on the ground beside Richard but he was sure it had to have been awhile ago because he awoke to Lancelot gently shaking him awake.

"What is it?" Arthur asked him in a whisper after opening his eyes and yawning a couple times.

"It's your turn to stand watch." Lancelot told him yawning a couple times himself clearly exhausted for standing watch most of the night.

Arthur nodded after all it was only fair Lancelot got some sleep too.

He moved slowly and quietly as possible so not to wake Richard as he got up to his feet and walked away to where Lancelot had been standing watch earlier.

"Don't worry, I'll stay with him." Lancelot promised Arthur with a whisper before lying down next to Richard the exact same way Arthur had been earlier. It wasn't long before he too drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 4

By early dawn, Arthur had ended his portion of the night watch as he, against his better judgement, sat down next to the sleeping forms of Lancelot and Richard leaning his back up against a tree before drifting off to sleep.

He didn't sleep long however as he awoke to the faint and distant sound of his and Lancelot's names being called.

Lancelot must've heard it too because he also awoke and slowly sat up yawning. "Leon and the others must be looking for us." He said in a still half asleep tone.

Arthur nodded. He felt a little bad as he was sure he and Lancelot must've scared the living daylights out of them for sneaking off like that but he didn't regret doing it either. If they hadn't they would've never found Richard which made Arthur shudder to think what would've happened to the boy then.

"Then we'd better go and find them before they worry about us any further." He replied as he stood up on his feet.

Lancelot nodded as he gently slipped his arm off Richard's silent sleeping form and gently shook him to wake him.

Richard stirred slowly as he sat up stretching and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Morning." He sleepily greeted them with a yawn.

"Morning." Arthur and Lanceot replied in usion.

"Why are we getting up so early?" Richard asked.

"We need to regroup with the rest of the knights so we can ride back home to Camelot." Lancelot explained to him.

_'They're leaving? Already?' _Richard thought to himself sadly assuming that by 'we' Lancelot had meant he and Arthur.

"Oh..." Was all he replied sounding rather disapointed.

"You seem disapointed." Arthur pointed out matter of factly.

"..I just thought that we could spend more time together before you both left..." Richard admitted looking away and hanging his head sadly.

"Leave?" Lancelot repeated before he began to grin and started laughing with Arthur.

_'They're laughing? They think this is funny?' _Richard thought to himself feeling a little confused and insulted before turning back to the face the two knights and ask "What's so funny?" as he glared at them.

"You didn't honestly think we'd leave you out here alone with nowhere to go or no one to take care of you, did you?" Arthur replied after he and Lancelot had managed to wipe the grins off their faces and stop laughing.

"Well I-" Richard started to reply but stopped as he suddenly began to feel pretty stupid for assuming they would leave him to fend for himself. From the warm feeling in his cheeks he was pretty sure he was blushing with embarassment.

"A knight will never turn away or abandon someone in need of their help, it's against the code, I want you to remember that." Arthur lectured him.

Richard nodded. "I will. I promise." He replied completely determined to keep his word as he rose to his feet and followed Arthur and Lancelot further off into the woods.

"So...what's it like?" He asked a couple moments later if only to avoid the silence as they walked off.

"What's what like?" Lancelot asked him in response.

"Living in Camelot." Richard clarified.

"At the risk of sounding too boastful, Camelot is the greated kingdom of them all. There really isn't much place at all like it." Lancelot replied as Arthur grinned hearing them talk about the kingdom.

Richard smiled as he listened attentively to Lancelot and Arthur continuing to tell him more about Camelot. The more he heard from them the more excited he became to see go and see it.

"Arthur! Lancelot! There you two are! We've been looking everywhere for you." Percival, being the first to spot them, spoke from where he sat upon his horse with the rest of the knights on theirs holding onto the reins of Arthur and Lancelot's horses.

Dismounting his horse and still clutching the reins of Arthur and Lancelot's horses he walked over to them quickly followed by Leon, Elyan, and Gwaine right behind him.

"Now what have you two been up to?" Gwaine, in his usual calm and laid back tone, asked like it wasn't no big deal at all.

"We got a little distracted and sidetracked." Arthur explained his eyes gesturing down towards Richard, who was standing between him and Lancelot, looking up at the rest of the knights with a big grin on his face.

Following Arthur's gesturing glance, all of the knights looked down a moment staring at Richard noticing him for the first time.

As if he had been waiting for his exact cue and had just recieved it, Richard said "Hello. I'm Richard."

"We're bringing him back to Camelot with us." Lancelot added to the knights who nodded in response.

The first to speak to Richard was Elyan who said "Nice to meet you Richard. I am Sir Elyan and thse three are Sir Percival, Sir Leon, and Sir Gwaine. And don't worry they are not as scary as they look."

Richard couldn't help but laugh at that knowing it was meant to be a good humored joke and not to be taken seriously.

The rest of the knights grinned before chuckling a little as well.

After the rest of them greeted Richard Leon and Percival handed Arthur and Lancelot the rein to their horses before they mounted on their horses ready to be off.

Arthur mounted his horse first while Lancelot gently picked Richard up by his waist and gently placed him on the saddle of Arthur's horse before proceeding to mount up onto his own horse.

Leaning against Richard a little, as he tightly cluthched the reins of his horse, Arthur was easily able to make sure Richard didn't fall off the horse as they all raced off back towards Camelot.


	6. Chapter 5

The ride back to Camelot took about a day and a half but as they passed through the large trees surrounding the forest, just outside the city's walls, Richard could just faintly make out the tall grandeur buildings rising up behind the trees.

He couldn't help but marvel at just the mere size of the city alone.

As they passed through the forest and made their way into the lower town of the city Richard couldn't help but stare at all the activity going on around him. Everywhere he looked he saw houses, shacks selling all kinds of goods from various types of grain and food to items like boots and fabric for clothing, and people of every size, shape, color.

Never before in his life had he ever seen such a large city. Compared to the small village that he had been from the city of Camelot itself was enormous. It would take at least four large villages just to fill it.

Everyone they passed either bowed or greeted them with a friendly hello and nod of the head as they passed by them or moved out of their way to continue on with their daily rountines of buying, selling, shopping, cleaning, and working in order to keep the place up and running.

_'The people here are so happy and friendly.' _Richard thought to himself with a smile. Back where he was from everyone seemed to merely tolerate the lives they had without complaint but if you knew them well enough you knew they weren't really happy. Maybe some people might've been happy but certainly not like everyone who lived in Camelot seemed to be.

As they continued on out of the lower town Richard noticed the houses got bigger and nicer looking and there were less people buzzing about the city. He no longer saw children running and playing the streets. He no longer saw women squatting over a bucket of soapy water cleaning their laundry or hanging them up on a clothes line to dry. Instead he saw people dressed in much nicer clothing standing around talking to one another, probably about local gossip, only to stop and give them a quick greeting and continue on with their conversation.

At the very end of the lower town of the city stood the castle itself. As they approached the large white marble stone steps that led up to the large oak coated wooden doors, Richard couldn't help but stare at it in complete awe with his jaw dropping open slightly.

The houses themselves seemed like small little market fruit stands compared to the large castle looming before him.

"Like it?" Arthur asked him with an amused grin watching Richard's reaction.

"It's so big..." Were all the words Richard could manage to muster out.

"You expected something smaller then?"

"No...Yes...I don't know..." Richard replied shrugging his shoulders.

"Well if you think the outside is huge just wait 'til you see it from the inside." Gwaine spoke giving Richard as light and friendly elbow nudge in the chest.

"It's even bigger on the inside?" Richard asked in a surprised response opening his eyes wide as he tried to imagine just what it would like from the inside.

"Yep. Much bigger." Gwaine replied as he and the other knights dismounted their horses handing them over to a couple of young stable boys, at least half older than Richard, who took them to the stables for a good brushing and rest from the long journey home.

Richard of course had been lifted off Arthur's horse, gripped gently around the waist, by Lancelot before being placed on the ground.

"Come on. I'll take you to meet Merlin and my kids." Arthur says taking Richard's hand and leading him through the large oak doors entering the castle.

Inside the castle along every large white marble stone pillar and beams were many different color and pattern tapestries. There were some that were purple and gold, some that were blue and white, some that were red and golden, and some that were yellow and orange.

"They're so pretty." Richard couldn't help but comment aloud as he stopped a moment to stare at a large red one with the emblem of a large golden dragon on it, just like the ones Arthur and the other knights wore on their capes.

"Huh? Oh you mean the tapestries. Yes they are kind of nice aren't they? They represent the symbols of each kingdom that has sworn their allegiance to Camelot." Arthur told him.

"You mean like allies?" Richard asked as he turned to face Arthur who now stood right beside him.

Arthur nodded before continuing down the hall leaving Richard to follow him. Noticing Arthur had continued on ahead of him, Richard jogged quickly behind him to catch up walking as quick as he could to match Arthur's stride.

As they contined walking down the hall they passed so many different rooms and hallways that Richard had lost track of just how many there were.

When they reached their destination at the very end of a long hallway Arthur stopped in front of two large oak doors and knocked on one of them loudly.

"Come in." Came a voice from the inside.

Arthur turned the knob to the door to open it before walking on inside.

Sitting on the bed was a tall and thin man, around Arthur's age. He had short dark hair, pale colored skin with cheek bones that stood really stood out on his face, and blue eyes. He wore a long red and brown robe that went all the way down to his feet.

"You're back." He spoke happily as he stood up and walked over to Arthur hugging him relieved to see him again.

"I brought someone here for you to meet." Arthur said after hugging him back and pulling out of the hug. He beckoned Richard forward with a slight waving motion of his hand.

"Merlin, this is Richard. Richard, this is Merlin." Arthur simply introduced them to one another.

"Hello." Richard greeted him.

"Hello Richard, it's nice to meet you." Merlin replied after giving Arthur a look that clearly said he wanted an explanation once Richard was out of earshot.

"Arthur told me about you." Richard said with a small smile.

"Oh did he? And what did he tell you?" Merlin asked curiously.

"He said you were his husband and that you were really nice."

_'So he didn't mention I was a sorceror too? Probably a good idea since it probably would've frightened him if he did..' _Merlin thought to himself before replying "That's right." and returning the smile.

Changing the subject he added "Why don't I take you to see Landon, Lil, Mark, and Jake? I'm sure they would love to meet you."

"That would be great! I've never had kids around my own age to play with." Richard replied hardly able to contain his excitement.

_'Poor thing. He must've been so lonely.. I remember that feeling...' _Merlin thought to himself barely able to hide the look of sad sympathy on his face as he and Arthur left the room with Richard to find the other kids.

"Welcome home Arthur." Spoke a tall, stout, and elderly looking man with short, shoulder length white hair, and light colored skin. He wore a long red and brown colored robe like Merlin had.

"Thank you Gaius." Arthur replied.

"And who is this?" He asks noticing Richard standing between Arthur and Merlin looking up at him.

"This is Richard. Richard, say hello to Gaius our court physcian." Merlin replied back before Arthur had the chance.

"Hello Gaius. Arthur and Merlin are taking me to meet other kids to play with." Richard spoke with a big grin.

Gaius couldn't help but smile and chuckle a bit at Richard's enthusiasm. "Then I won't keep you waiting."

"Speaking of the kids, have you seen them Gaius?" Merlin asked.

"Last I saw them they were playing outside with Gwen." Gaius replied.

"Great. Thanks Gaius." Arthur replied leading the way down the hall with Merlin.

Richard followed a couple paces before turning to face Gaius. "Thanks."

"No problem. Have fun." Gaius told him.

"I will! I'll come back later and tell you all about it!" Richard promised before running after Merlin and Arthur to catch up with them.


	7. Chapter 6

Merlin, Arthur, and Richard exited a tall white marble archway that led out to a vast and open large grassy green field.

In the middle of the field playing together were four kids, all looking to being close to Richard's age, and a woman, who looked to be around Merlin and Arthur's age, sitting and watching the kids play with her back facing them.

Merlin and Arthur led the way out to the middle of the field while Richard walked quickly behind them trying his best to match the pace of the two adults longer strides so to keep up with them.

"Hello Gwen." Merlin spoke first to the woman to get her attention before she turned around to face them. A warm smile appearing on her face.

She had a much darker skin complexion compared to that of Merlin and Arthur though it was still very light compared to that of Elyan's dark skin. The color almost made Richard think of hot chocolate.

She had dark brown eyes that matched the color of her long black curly hair and wore a simple, long sleeved blue and white dress that went all the way down to her ankles.

"Hello Merlin." She greeted before adding another hello to Arthur as well.

"Hi! I'm Richard!" Richard introduced himself before Gwen could have the chance to ask who he was.

Gwen giggled a little at Richard's rushed introduction that revealed him to be very friendly and outgoing despite his very young age. "Nice to meet you Richard." She replied.

"Go ahead and play with the other kids Richard. I need to speak with Merlin and Gwen for a moment." Arthur dismissed him.

At first Richard didn't comply right away with Arthur's order as he took a moment to ponder what it was exactly that Arthur wished to speak to Merlin and Gwen about without him around. His curiousity didn't last long however as it soon subsided and he turned his attention back to the kids jogging over eagerly to play with them.

Right before he approached them however a thought occured to him causing him to stop immediately in his tracks. What if they didn't like him?

His eager excitement subsiding with the feeling of nervousness he stood watching the kids continue to play together hoping for an invitation to join them.

One of the kids, a girl with long blonde hair, light colored skin, and bright blue eyes, was the first to notice Richard standing and watching them.

She stopped playing with the others for a moment and gave him a warm friendly smile as she walked over to him. "Hi! I'm Lil, what's your name?" She happily introduced herself.

"Richard." He replied back as a huge feeling or relief began to wash over him dragging some of the nervousness he had felt away.

The other kids stopped playing as well having just noticed him as well and silently stood staring at him. All of them were boys. The first one looked just like Lil with his short blonde hair and blue eyes but didn't seem to be as friendly judging by the frown on his face and the guarded look of suspicion he was giving Richard.

The second boy was taller than the blonde one and looked to be at least two years older than him. He had short brown hair like Richard's and icy colored blue eyes. Unlike the first boy however his expression was unreadable to Richard making it hard for him to tell if he was friendly or not.

The last boy had short curly black hair , dark brown eyes, and skin color just like Gwen's. He, unlike the other two boys, seemed to be pretty shy.

"That's my brother, Landon, my cousin, Jake, and my very best friend, Mark." Lil introduced them as she noticed Richard staring at them all. "And don't worry they aren't as unfriendly as they look. Come on I'll take you to meet them." She added taking Richard's hand, not giving him the option to protest, as she led him over to the other boys.

"Who is this?" Landon, the blonde one, asked his sister not taking his eyes as Richard glaring at him slightly. He was very protective of his sister especially around strangers.

"This is Richard. And be nice Landon he is new here." Lil sternly replied to her brother.

"Where are you from?" The second boy, who went by the name of Jake, asked.

"A long way away from here.." Richard replied not really wanting to talk about his home if only to avoid the sad and hollow feeling he felt inside just from thinking about it.

Lil gave him a sympathetic look as she saw the sadness reflecting from Richard's eyes at the mention of his home. She didn't know what had happened but she did know whatever it was it had to have been pretty bad if he didn't even want to talk about it.

"Where are your parents?" The third boy, Mark, asked.

Richard had to force himself to swallow hard as the image of his dead mother and father flashed before his eyes.

_They like many of the other villagers, lay dead on the ground in a tall pile. Their hot and sticky bright red blood soaked the grass on the ground seeming to forever stain it red. Their eyes, wide open in desperation and fear, were forever open relfecting the very last thing they ever saw: Their killer._

It was a horrific sight that he would never forget.

"Dead..." He finally managed to choke out trying hard to fight the tears starting to form in his eyes as he looked away not wanting to let them see him cry afraid if he did he would look weak to them.

The kids all seemed to be quite shocked and saddened by his answer, their jaws open slightly leaving their mouths open.

_Dead._ Richard's words echoed in Jake's mind. It was a hollow empty feeling he knew very well. As he had no mother and was being raised by his father. His father never spoke of his mother and refused to talk about her leaving him to figure her to be dead.

"I'm so sorry..." Mark apologized feeling terrible for asking and feeling even worse for the loss Richard was suffering from. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose both his parents forever and never see them again.

"Me too." Lil added. She felt incredibly sorry for Richard. She was sure if she ever lost her parents she wouldn't be able to handle it and would have a hard time trying to go on without them but she at least had her brother Landon and the rest of her family to help her cope through it while Richard had nobody at all.

"Let's continue our game..." Landon says changing the subject of the conversation which was the best way he knew how to handle the situation.

Jake nodded happy to be pulled away from him broading thoughts. "You can play too." He added to Richard secretly hoping by doing so it would help cheer Richard up a little.

"...Okay...what are we playing?' Richard asked glad for the change in subject and distraction.

"Catch the fox." Mark told him with a small smile.

"What's that?" Richard asked pretty sure he had never heard of that game.

"It's a game we invented, kinda like tag but with a few different rules." Jake replied.

"What kind of rules?" Richard asked.

"Instead of the person who is it chasing after you their job as the fox is to outsmart and separate the group or the hunting dogs and lure them into time out spots without being caught or cornered from the dogs.

If you are trapped by the fox the only way you can get out of time out is by being rescued by one of your teammates. If you are the fox and get trapped into a time out spot the game is over." Landon explained to Richard in detail. Because it was a game he and Jake had invented it was he and Jake who understood it the best.

"So the fox is the one being chased instead?" Richard asked making sure he completely understood the context of the game.

"Yep, that's right." Jake replied with a slight nod of his head.

"So how do we decide who the fox is?" Richard asked.

The other kids all gave each other sly grins before shouting out "1, 2, 3, NOT IT!" at the same time catching Richard off guard which made him the fox. Grinning and laughing they all began to chase him as he ran from them in the field.

Arthur, Merlin, and Gwen meanwhile had been discussing Richard as Arthur told them how he and Lancelot had found him lost and alone in the middle of the woods and that he had been the only sole survivor of the village masacure they had been sent to investigate.

"Poor boy. I can't imagine how he hard this must be for him." Gwen spoke after Arthur had finished telling them the story. She knew what it was like to have both of her parents dead but her mom had died when she was little leaving her father to raise her and her brother until they were adults but Richard was still a little boy with no parents at all.

Merlin nodded solemnly in agreement.

"I'm telling you this sp you both will understand and accept my decision of what to do with him now." Arthur replied.

"What are you going to do?" Merlin asked him.

"I'm going to hold a council meeting in the council chambers and bring everyone there and announce Richard as my ward. My father did it for Morgana and I think I should do the same for Richard. I only hope not to have the same outcome that my father had with her later on." Arthur told them.

_OOC: Jake belongs to Me._

_Lil, Landon, and Mark belong to my very good friend Meg_


	8. Chapter 7

The very next day, Arthur called a very special meeting in the council chambers summoning all of the knights, Gwen, Gaius, Richard, Landon, Lil, Jake, Mark, Geoferry, the court geneolist, and all the councils advisors to attend.

"What do you think the meeting is about?" Mark whispered to the other kids as everyone made their way into the council chambers for the meeting.

"Dunno, but if my father summoned it, it must be important." Landon replied shurgging his shoulders.

Richard himself was far too busy taking in the area around him too pay much attention to the conversation.

The council chambers themselves were huge. At the very front of the room was a platform with two large wooden thrones sitting on top of it.

The room itself seemed to be held up with large marble plaforms standing all around each end of the room.

Near the very top of the walls, just below the ceiling and behind each side of the thrones, were several large glass stained windows that seemed to light up the entire room by bringing in the sunlight from outside the castle.

Arthur and Merlin were the very last to enter the room as they walked through the middle of the crowd on a large red rug that led all the way up to the plaform and divided the crowd into two separate sides of the room.

As they made their way to the platform they walked hand in hand giving a small smile or nod to who did the same to them before sitting down on the thrones at the top of the platform.

"Friends, Knights, Council members, I have called this meeting today to share with you some great news." Arthur spoke loudly and clearly to address everyone in the room starting off the meeting he had called.

He stopped for a brief pause as his eyes scanned the assembled crowd stopping when he met Richard's gaze.

"Richard, come forward."

Richard stood very still and confused as he felt everyone's eyes go on him. _Why did Arthur want him to join him and Merlin on the platform? Had he done something wrong? No he couldn't have Arthur had said this was about good news, but he still wondered what did that have to do with him?_

"Go on, Richard." Lil whispered to him as she gave him a little push forward.

Richard gulped nervously before slowing making his ways forward up the stairs onto the platform to face the crowd.

Arthur placed his hand gently on Richard's shoulder as he continued once more to address everyone in the room. "Yesterday, I discussed Richard's future here in Camelot with Merlin, Gwen, and Lancelot and they all agree with me that Richard shall remain living here in the castle as my ward. It is my deepest wish you all accept my decision and treat Richard with the very same respect you show my children, Landon and Lil."

Everyone seemed to be a little surprised at first but none more so than Richard himself.

_'His ward? What's a ward? And why does he want me to be one?' _Richard thought to himself.

"Congratulations Richard!" "Welcome to Camelot Richard!" He was being greeted and welcomed by everyone in the room with friendly slaps on the back and playful ruffling of his hair.

Richard tried his very best to give each one a warm smile and thank them for their kind words but in his mind he was still trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Merlin had to have seen the look of confusion on his face because he walked over to Richard and hugged him whispering "Is something wrong?"

"No..I just don't understand. What's a ward?" Richard whispered back.

Merlin smiled a bit at Richard's cute naviety. He was so young and still had much to learn. "Being a ward is kind of like when someone takes you in their family, adopting you, and raising you as one of their own." He explained.

"So you mean that you and Arthur-"

"That's right Richard. Arthur and I want you to be our new son."

Now Richard was at a mixture of emotions. He was both surprised that Arthur and Merlin wanted to adopt and raise him and happy that his life seemed brighter now with the promise of a new home and a new family that loved and cared about him.

"I have a family!" Richard yelled happily as he hugged Merlin back and ran over to Arthur hugging him and hugging Lil and Landon.

Today was officially the happiest day in his life because he knew now that he would never be alone again.


	9. Chapter 8

_7 years later_

Several happy and quick years had passed since the day Richard had come to live in Camelot and was taken in by King Arthur and his husband, Merlin.

Since then Richard began his training as a page determined to work his way up to the rank of a knight. He often dreamed of going to different far off places, seeing the world, fighting dangerous mythical beasts, and saving the day.

"Richard!"

Richard had been carrying a couple of scrolls in his arms walking through the halls of the castle making his way to the library but stopped for a moment as he heard his name called.

A smile appeared on his face as he recognized the sound of the person's voice addressing him to be his none other than his younger step sister Lil. She had grown quite a bit since the day he had first met her seven years ago. Her blonde hair had grown much longer and even she too had grown a couple inches.

"Hey Lil, finish with your lessons early today?" Richard asked. The lessons he had been referring too was her magic lessons since it had been only two years ago that everyone had found out Lil had inherited the magic gene trait from her father Merlin.

Richard had been happy for her when he found out she possessed magic but he was secretly relieved that he himself didn't have to learn magic as the very thing itself still made him quite uncomfortable and though he had no real hatred of it at all he tried not to show how uncomfortable it made him around everyone, especially Lil and Merlin.

"Yes. And I overheard my fathers' talking to Gaius." Lil told him excitedly as she grinned from ear to ear.

"What did they say?"

"Uh uh. Can't tell you." Lil replied teasingly shaking her finger back and forth at him in a mock scolding manner.

Richard frowned. "Then why did you bring it up?"

"Because we need to find Landon, Mark, and Jake first and then I'll tell you guys what I heard."

"I think I last saw them in the kitchen running errands for the cooks. I need to drop off these scrolls first to Geoferry and then I'll meet you guys outside in the field. We can all talk there." Richard told her as he began making his way back down the hall.

"Okay, I'll the rest of the guys and meet you there!" Lil called after him before leaving in the opposite directions toward the kitchen to find the others.

Later on after dropping off the scrolls to Geoferry in the library, Richard rushed through the servant quaters as quickly as he could using them as a shortcut to the field outside where he knew Lil and the others would surely be waiting for him.

As he rushed through the crowded hall he had to dodge past servants and try hard not to accidently bump into one or knock over the various things they carried in and out of the small hallway.

"It's about time you got here! What took you so long?" Landon spoke up first as he noticed Richard running up to them.

"Sorry..Geoferry made me wait until...he finished looking over...something.." Richard replied in between panting as he leaned over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"Don't mind Landon, Richard. He is just impatient to hear this great news Lil has promised to tell us." Mark told Richard giving his friend a small smile.

"Yeah and since we are now all finally hear why don't you tell us what this is all about Lil?" Jake spoke up turning to face Lil crossing his arms over his chest as he was now starting to lose his patience as well.

"I overheard my fathers' talking to Gaius while I was studying from one of Gaius' old spell books and they said that they all believe you guys are ready to have your squire ceremony tonight." Lil told them with a beaming smile on her face eagerly awaiting for their reactions.

"Yes! Finally! Man, it seemed like we would have to wait forever." Landon replied with a small smile as his way of showing his excitement.

"Are you sure?" Jake asked Lil somewhat in disbelief. He had chosen to put his squire ceremony back a year so that he, Mark, Landon, and Richard could have one at the same time but he too was now eager to recieve his mentor and begin his training.

"I wonder who are mentors will be." Mark spoke hardly able to contain his excitement.

"I don't know but I am sure that Arthur will pick nothing but the best knights to train us." Richard replied as he secretly hoped the hours would just fly by quickly so it could be time for the ceremony to begin.

Fortunately for the boys the time seemed to go by rather quickly until it was nearly time for their ceremony to begin.

In Arthur and Merlin's chambers, Landon and Richard were currently being fussed over by Merlin who had insisted on making the two of them look perfect for their special ceremony.

Gwen too had insisted as she was currently fussing over not only her son, Mark, but Jake, because he had no mother to fuss over him, as well.

"Stop. My hair looks fine really.." Landon huffed with annoyance as he grew tired of Merlin fussing over the bangs of his short blonde hair.

Richard tried not to laugh at Landon's "torment" as he finished buttoning up his brown leather jacket. He was glad that Merlin finally finished fussing over his hair and seeing him move on to Landon amused him greatly.

"Wipe that smirk off your face Richard or I swear I will mess you up real good!" Landon threatened as he looked over and glared at Richard.

Richard paid the threat no heed as it was only another one of Landon's empty threats that he often gave to those who were annoying him but never had truely acted on.

"Alright. I'm done. Go ahead and put on your red jacket." Merlin told Landon as he smiled proudly watching Landon walk away and quickly slip on the red jacket his father, Arthur, had tailored special for him.

Once he had finished buttoning it up, Merlin lead the way out of the room and into the hall where Gwen, Mark, and Jake were waiting for them.

"Where's Lancelot?" Merlin asked Gwen as they all walked together towards the council chambers where the ceremony was going to be held.

He was surprised not to see Lancelot with his wife Gwen to escort her and their son, Mark, to the council chambers.

"He said Arthur needed to speak with him for a moment and that he would meet us there." Gwen told him though she didn't sound disappointed at all due to being too overwhelmed with pride for her son Mark.

"Where's Lil?' Mark asked Richard and Landon with a disappointed frown. He had been hoping to see her with them to hear what she thought about his brown curly hair being nicely slicked back and his brand new black leather jacket.

"She's waiting for us in the council room. She wanted to go early so she could get a good spot to watch the ceremony from." Richard explained as he placed a hand on Mark's shoulder and gave him a small smile.

Mark gave him a small smile back and nodded telling himself he could wait to see her after the ceremony.

As they entered the council chambers, they walked confidently through the two rows on the long red rug greeting everyone assembled with either a smile or polite nod of the head until stopping in front of the platform.

Gwen went to go join Lil, Gaius, and Elyan at the front of the crowd as Merlin made his way up the platform to proudly stand beside Arthur.

"Friends, Knights, and members of the court we are all gathered here for a very special occasion. Today we admit four young pages who have trained very hard to become squires.

As you all know a squire begins the very foundation of Camelot for it is there that he joins the ranks of the knights and the guards who help protect our great city from both the danger outside our walls and inside." Arthur started the ceremony only pausing for a brief moment as the crowd clapped.

He waited until the noise had died down before continuing on with the speech.

"Landon, as prince of Camelot you will need a knight that will teach you bravery, strength, honor, discipline, battle tactics, and how to lead men into battle that is why I could think of no better mentor for you than Sir Leon.

Sir Leon, you have been through many battles and wars with me and have proven yourself more than worthy to pass on the knowledge and skills that you have learned on to my son as his mentor until the day he becomes a knight of Camelot."

"Thank you Sire, I will not let you down. Landon will be a great knight and future leader." Leon swore as Landon walked over to join him with a proud smile.

"I'm sure you won't and with that being said it is time to move on to our next squire." Arthur says before turning his attention to Richard.

"Richard, When I chose your mentor I didn't need to think long or hard about it since I know there can be no better teacher for you than Sir Lancelot. It was he who found you that day seven years ago and it is he who I know will teach you all the chivalry, honor, courage, strength, and skill you will need to become a great knight of Camelot."

Richard smiled as he walked over to Lancelot standing beside him as Landon had done with Leon. He was happy that Arthur had chosen Lancelot to be his mentor because, though he didn't admit it out loud, Lancelot was his favorite of all the knights and he looked up to him.

"Jake, last year you respectfully declined to become a squire in order to spend your ceremony with your friends and now it is finally your turn to join your rightful place as a squire. For your mentor I chose Sir Percival. He is a strong, skilled, and brave knight who I am sure will pass on these skills to you to become a knight of Camelot."

Jake nodded and walking proudly he walked over to stand beside his mentor Percival accepting the choice of him as his mentor believing that with Percival as his mentor he would grow up to be one of the best knights Camelot had ever seen.

"Last but not least Mark it is time for your mentor to be chosen. I have thought long and hard for the perfect knight to mentor you and could think of no one better than Sir Gwaine. Sir Gwaine is a good friend of your father's and they have often fought side by side together in battle. I have no doubt in my mind that Gwaine will be a good teacher for you to teach you courage, strength, determination, and to be bold."

Mark nodded his face beaming with pride as he joined his mentor Sir Gwaine.

"Congratulations squires. Your training begins tomorrow. I wish you and your mentors the best of luck as you start your long journey to knighthood." Arthur concluded the ceremony while everyone cheered and congratulated the new squires and mentors.

"Congratulations guys! I'm so proud of you!" Lil exclaimed as she ran up and hugged Landon, Jake, Mark, and Richard.


	10. Chapter 9

Richard, Landon, Mark, and Jake had had a hard time sleeping that night. They were much too excited to begin their training early the next morning. Each of them determined to prove that they had what it took to become the best knights Camelot had ever seen.

By the time dawn had finally arrived the four boys had only managed to get a minimum of five hours sleep leaving them a little tired from the lack of sleep but none of them dared not show it for the risk of angering and insulting their mentors.

Dressing in their new uniforms as quickly as possible they rushed out onto the Camelot battle training grounds trying hard not to be late for their very first day of their squire training.

As they raced onto the large grassy field they noticed some of the other older squires already there standing in a perfectly organized straight line awaiting for their mentors to arrive.

"Look who decided to finally show up." One of the older squires smirked to the other squires as he noticed Richard and the others jogging up to them.

"Hello boys, eager to make a fool of yourselves today?" Another one spoke jeering at them.

"You wish. We are going to be the best knights Camelot has ever had." Jake commented back glaring at the squire.

"Ha! Now who is wishing?" the second squire jeered back at them.

"You four had better step aside and watch how real squires train." A third squire spoke up glaring at them.

"Oh yeah? Well why don't you-" Landon started to retort but was quickly cut off by his mentor, Sir Leon.

"That's enough. As squires you must all learn to work together, listen to each other, and get along as you will need to trust each one here with your life someday in the field of battle." Sir Leon scolded them all.

"Yes, Sir Leon." the squires replied in usion and seemed to hang their heads slightly in shame.

Richard couldn't help but notice one of the knights, by the name of Sir Ulric, smiling proudly at the older squires behavior towards him and his friends. He fought hard to resist the urge to glare back at the knight. He never did like Sir Ulric. He and his squire, Branton, had always treated him poorly since the day he arrived in Camelot but he was determined to work hard, prove them wrong about him, and finally earn the respect he so rightly deserved.

"For today's assignment all of you are going to be working on your lancing skills." Sir Ulric announced to all the squires as he paced back and forth in front of them like a general assessing his soliders.

"Branton!" He continued this time yelling like a general commanding an army in battle.

Lancelot, Leon, Percival, and Gwaine all frowned at Ulric. Neither of them liked the lack of respect he showed his squire or any of the other squires for that matter but he had senority over them in the ranking of the knights so they couldn't do much about it for now.

"Yes, Sir Ulric." Branton replied standing up straight with his head held high keeping eye contact with his mentor and never flinching when he spoke to him.

"Since you are the only one here with a minimal amount of skill with a lance you are going to show these mere...pages" Sir Ulric ordered stopping briefly to address Richard and the others before continuing "how it is done."

Branton nodded as he made his way over to the wooden horse they used to practice their lancing technique.

Lancelot, Leon, Percival, and Gwaine all exchanged a silent glance with one another before Lancelot decided enough was enough. He was going to have a few stern words with Ulric concerning his lack of respect and chivalric attitude.

"Ulric, I want to have a word with you." Lancelot spoke sternly as he strode over to him.

"That's Sir Ulric to you." Ulric corrected him coldly as he glared at Lancelot with a look of disgust believing himself to be much better than Lancelot.

Lancelot ignored the look forcing himself to remember that he must not to strike another knight unless there was good cause to do so and unfortunately for him being insulted wasn't one of those good causes.

"Sir Ulric, a word now." Lancelot force corrected himself as he walked a couple feet away from the rest of the knights and squires so not to be within hearing distance of them.

Ulric didn't look pleased but proceeded to follow Lancelot anyway.

"Sir Ulric, as a knight of the round table you know that all of the knights are treated equally and fairly, no one is better than someone else." Lancelot began to lecture him.

"In my day there was no porposterious round table. The head knight was the one in charge and by technicial standards that would be me." Sir Ulric argued with his head held high.

"That was in the day where you served Uther. Arthur is king now and has decreed all knights to be treated equally." Lancelot corrected him as he began to feel his anger rise up inside of him. Sir Ulric had always managed to get on his bad side and this time was certainly no different.

"Big words coming from someone who lied to get his knighting ceremony and isn't of noble birth which gives him no right to become a knight in the first place." Sir Ulric sneered back at him.

Lancelot tightly clenched his fists as he fought against the strong urge to punch Ulric straight in the jaw and finally put him in his place.

"That's enough! Ulric, you serve King Arthur now and will abide by his rules or forefit your title as knight. You will also treat all of the knights, including Lancelot, with the proper respect they deserve and will treat all of the squires with respect as they will someday be knights as well." Leon spoke up taking command of the situation before it got ugly.

"As you wish Sir Leon." Ulric replied glaring back at Lancelot one last time before leading the way back over to the squires who watched silently watched the entire scene as they tried to figure out just exactly what was going on.

As Lancelot joined the others Gwaine leaned over and whispered to him "Ignore Ulric he is just trying to start trouble as usual. Arthur knighted all of us so we have as much right to be here as he does."

Lancelot nodded before turning to the squires. "Richard, Landon, go over and join Branton on each side of the wooden horse and turn the wheel to make it move. While you're up there watch closely at how Branton holds and tips his lance to strike at the wooden dummy." He told them calmly wanting so bad to look back over at Ulric and say 'See? This is how you talk to your squire.' but didn't.

"Yes, sir." Richard and Landon replied in usion rushing over to where Branton had went to do as they were instructed.

"What about us?" Jake asked.

"The rest of you will watch for now and play close attention because it will be your turn soon." Percival told them using the same calm tone Lancelot had used when addressing them.

Jake seemed a little dissapointed as he frowned but nodded anyway not daring to argue the point further with his mentor.

"Hand me my lance." Branton commanded Richard.

Richard glared at him fighting the urge to tell him to get it himself but did as he was told as he remembered what Leon had told them earlier.

Branton snatched it from him without even bothering to thank him as Landon and Richard began to turn the large wheels on each side of the wooden horse causing it to move forward towards the dummy.

As they kept turning the wheels they watched how Branton easily balanced the wooden lance under the crook of his left arm waiting until just the right moment to move it forward strike the dummy in the shoulder of it's left arm.

After being struck the dummy then began to rapidly spin which Branton seemed to easily avoid being struck by the rapidly spinning wooden arms. It was only after he momentarily looked away to give Landon and Richard a cocky grin that he was hit by one of the sandbags hanging from one of the wooden dummy's arms knocking him straight in the jaw and sending him flying off the wooden horse.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Get up this instant!" Ulric yelled.

Branton forced himself to his feet as Ulric ran over to him and began to loudly scold him.

For a moment Richard almost felt bad for Branton, almost.

The other knights watched disapprovingly before continuing with the lance training for the other squires.

Richard, Landon, Mark, and Jake had been knocked off the wooden horse so many times that they lost track of all the bruises they had gotten from it. As they walked back towards the entrance of the castle they proceeded to hang their heads in shame feeling like complete failures during the thier training session for the day.

Their mentors had told them not to take it so hard as it was only their first day and it would take awhile before they got it right but still they didn't feel much better. All they could feel was that they had embarrassed their mentors and let them down and nothing their mentors told them could change their minds of that.


	11. Chapter 10

The very next morning found Richard, Landon, Mark, and Jake all standing and waiting in line at the Camelot training grounds,with the rest of the squires, for their mentors to arrive and start off the day's training lesson.

"Well, I must admit I am little surprised. I would've thought after an embarrassing training session like the one you had yesterday would've simply given you all some sense to just give up and go back to being pages." Branton sneered at Landon and the others.

"You're one to talk, Branton. If you remember, you were knocked off the wooden horse too." Mark pointed out as he glared at Branton. He didn't know why Branton had to act like such a jerk all the time.

Branton was only a year older than the rest of them, which made him the same age as Jake, and hadn't been a squire much longer than the rest of them and yet he still believed he was far more superior then them.

Branton glared as his cheeks began to flush a little with embarrassment but before he could manage to comment back with a spiteful retort he was forced to drop the argument at the moment as their mentors made their way over to them in a straight line.

Each knight marched in a cohesive straight line saying nothing as they each stopped in front of their assigned apprentice.

"Since yesterday's training did not go well, we have all decided to try a different method for today. We are all going to train you separately, one on one, which will focus on one of the many different aspects that you will need to know in order to become a knight of Camelot." Leon addressed all of the squires though he only kept eye contact with his apprentice, Landon, the entire time.

"Each of us has taken the time to discuss our training plans for each of you today to ensure that each of you will all have different lessons and that no one will not run into another private training session." Percival added as he too only focused his eye contact with his apprentice, Jake.

"But I thought we were all supposed to learn to work together as a team?" Richard commented. Though he liked the idea of getting away from everyone else and learn some skills on his own he didn't understand how this was going to help them learn to work as a team.

"Don't worry Richard, this is only for today. Tomorrow you all will go back to training as a group." Lancelot reassured him.

Then one by one each mentor and squire team all proceeded to take off in opposite directions for the day's private training session until just Lancelot and Richard were left.

"Come along, Richard." Lancelot told him as he led the way away from the Camelot training ground field.

"Where are we going?" Richard asked Lancelot as he walked briskly to match his mentor's longer stride.

"The woods." Lancelot replied simply over his shoulder with a small smile.

"But what does a lesson in the woods have to do with being a knight of Camelot?" Richard asked frowning. He had been hoping they would be doing something much more meaningful like more lancing practice or combat training.

Lancelot chuckled a little as he stopped and turned around to face Richard. "I know you were probably hoping for something more exciting but being a knight is much more than learning to fight, defend, and tournament games."

"It is?" Richard asked seeming unconvinced.

"Do you remember that night I found you hiding in the woods?" Lancelot asked him as he continued to walk slowing his pace a little so that Richard could easily walk alongside him.

Richard nodded. He had never forgotten it. It was that night that had changed his life forever. Meeting Lancelot that night had given him the greatest thing he could ever ask for: a future. A better chance at life.

If he never met Lancelot he would've never met Arthur or even come to Camelot. He would've never met Merlin or Gwen or Lil or Landon. He wouldn't have met any of them and wouldn't have the family and life he had now. He was forever grateful for Lancelot finding him that night because that fateful night had given him everything when he had nothing.

"And do you know how I found you?" Lancelot continued to ask him as they made their way out of the city gates towards the woods located outside the city.

"You followed my footprints." Richard answered.

"That's correct. I tracked you. So today I am going to teach you some basic tracking skills." Lancelot told him.

"But I still don't understand how tracking comes in handy with being a knight." Richard argued.

"Knights spend a lot of time travelling from place to place whether it's through valleys, rivers, fields, or even woods. Tracking can help us locate one another should we become separated, it can help us track our enemies during time of war, it can help us find food and water, and it even helps us to know exactly where we are going." Lancelot explained.

Lancelot then stopped him in front of a large pine tree and pointed to some green moss located on the side of it. "See this? It's moss. Moss always grows on the north side of the tree."

"So it points towards home then." Richard concluded.

Lancelot nodded. "That's right. So if you were lost and trying to find your way back to the city all you would need to do is locate some moss and it'll point you back towards home."

Richard nodded. He supposed that made sense and it was good to know though he doubted he would ever really get lost.

As they continued on with more of the lesson Lancelot taught him about all kinds of different animal tracks, how to know which ones were which, and how to tell how fresh they were.

He also taught him about several different types of berries, leaves, and bushes. He taught him which were edible and which ones were poisoness.

The more time Richard spent with Lancelot in the woods the more he began to realize how comfortable he felt in them. It seemed odd but he was starting to feel at home when he was in the woods almost as if he belonged in them.

It even didn't take very long for Richard to catch on to all of the lessons Lancelot taught him and memorize them.

Lancelot seemed to be quite impressed by how fast Richard caught on to the lesson.

Watching Richard in the woods was almost like watching an animal in it's natural element though it didn't surprise Lancelot too much because it was in the woods where he had first found Richard years ago while on a recon mission with Arthur and the other knights.

By sundown, to make sure Richard had paid attention and completely grasped the information provided for him in the lesson, Lancelot had Richard lead the way home pointing out every set of animal tracks they came across checking how fresh along with the edible and unedible plants.

When they finally reached the castle Richard then caught up with Landon, Mark, and Jake to hear about the lessons they had been taught and tell them about the day he had had with his mentor.

As he listened to their stories, Richard found that he couldn't wait until tomorrow for his next training session.


End file.
