Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Merlin, get that stupid smile off your face”

Merlin suppresses a snicker, opting to smile wider at Arthur.

“I'm afraid I can’t do that sire”

“And why can you not?”

“I'm just imagining what you’re going to say to the king after our-” Merlin coughs, “-recent discovery”

At that Arthur scowls, “It is not funny”

“It is a little bit”

They had gone on a solo mission this time without the knights, King Uther had ordered Arthur to travel alone to the far north side of Camelot to search for a magical beast that was recently sighted, so obviously he had to take Merlin along to do all the cooking and chores while they were on the journey.

Though there were claims of a magical beast spotted in the North, when Merlin and Arthur made the journey there, they were surprised to see not a magical beast, but a skulk of foxes. Apparently this ‘magical beast’ had been stealing rabbits from the neighboring villages and one thing led to another.

Merlin chuckled as he recalled the memory of Arthur with his sword drawn, creeping slowly and ready to pounce before they had found out about the truth.

“How was I supposed to know the villagers were just exaggerating?”

“Well if you haven’t been such a clotpole about it, you would have listened to me instead of believing the first thing you hear”

Merlin could see the eye roll making its way in Arthur’s face, “But you're the prince, I'm sure you’ll let the king know about the journey” smiling a toothy grin in Arthur’s direction.

There was a moment of silence before Arthur scoffs, “You know Merlin, I bet you wouldn't even last a day being the prince of Camelot, your small brain wouldn't even begin to comprehend the responsibility”

Merlin let out a snicker, “And I bet your prat self can’t handle being a servant, too arrogant for that I'm afraid”

Arthur was about to retort when a gush of strong wind slams both Merlin and Arthur, their horses skidding to halt as Merlin felt a wave of goosebumps roll over his skin, his eyes flashing gold momentarily before it was quiet once again.

Arthur seemed a bit shaken, getting off his horse he scans the area, “It's getting dark, we’ll set up camp. Merlin go fetch some water for the horses”

Merlin stares at Arthur in exasperation, they had been travelling on horseback for more than 5 hours and his back had started to ache a little bit. no. correction, his back was absolutely aching in pain and now he has to wander about for a stream for the horses.

“Yes sire” he muttered, begrudgingly jumping off his horse and reaching for two buckets. He makes his way out of the clearing, wincing as his back screamed in pain.

Merlin heaved a heavy sigh as he stiffly walked, searching for the sound of rushing water to guide him to a stream. It was getting dark, but Merlin could feel the magic of the forest alive and well, gently leading the way to where he wanted to go. He wondered what had happened for his magic to react the way it did, perhaps the forest was trying to tell him something?

His daydream was interrupted when he heard the sound of rushing water ahead of him, the air felt more humid as he made his way to the sound of the stream.

While he walked, he could hear the sound of voices, muffled sounds that grew louder once he approached closer.

“SHSHSHSH I am concentrating over here!”

and

“What are you even doing!? You're just staring at the ground like a filthy rat!”

and

“Excuse you, it's called checking for footprints to find a way out of these woods-”

and

“Well hurry up then you prat, My shoes are as muddy as it is.”

Merlin’s curiosity peaked, rounding the trees to see who these people were. His back pain long forgotten as he peeked to see the new strangers.

There were two men, one crouching down with eerily familiar blonde hair and the other standing next to him with ebony locks, his clothes screaming rich rich rich.

Merlin was still eyeing them from the Trees when suddenly the blonde fellow looks up and makes eye contact with him. A wave of goosebumps rolls over Merlin as his eyes flash gold again, he stares at the blonde’s familiar blue eyes. Where had he seen those before?

“What are you looking at?” The raven-haired man questioned, looking in the same direction and spotting Merlin in the trees.

‘Caught’ Merlin thought as he sheepishly stepped out of his hiding spot trying his best for a friendly smile.

“Uh, Hello there”

The Golden-haired man was still staring at him, eyes narrowing. But the other seemed to light up.

“Finally! Someone competent to get us out of these woods”

Merlin watched as the blonde rolled his eyes and suddenly remembered why he looked so familiar.

Because that was Arthur, he looked exactly like Arthur but not Arthur because Arthur is back at the camp-

“Excuse me kind sir, can you give us some directions out of these woods? I'm afraid we’ve gotten a bit lost and-”

Merlin focused his attention back to the Dark-haired man and was shocked to see his own face staring back.
It seemed the other had noticed and was now staring critically at him.

Merlin steps back, “W-Who are you!?”

“I should be asking you that imposter! It is treason to pose as the prince of Camelot especially with clothes like that.”

Merlin's head was swirling with thoughts and questions, too fast for him to even think, he blurted out the only thing he could muster up “What’s wrong with my clothes!?”

“Well for one, they are dirty servant rags-”

Luckily, The Arthur look-alike intervenes, stepping in between them as if stopping a brawl from taking place.

“Sire, I think there may have been some magic involved when we were ambushed” looking directly at Merlin as if assessing him.

The other scoffed “Yeah, I figured”

Merlin was utterly baffled, looking between the two with dawning realisation. They looked like him and Arthur but swapped, his look-alike wore expensive robes and armour fit for a prince and Arthur looked as if he got his clothes from the servants' laundry. Merlin recalls the shivers that went through his spine earlier before and how he felt it again when he made eye contact with this Arthur. Also, ‘Sire!?’

“Ok, What is going on!?

The Two men looked at Merlin suspiciously, the Arthur look-alike glanced at Merlin’s own look-alike, seemingly having a non-verbal discussion while Merlin stood there looking like an idiot.

Then the Arthur look-alike spoke up

“You don’t happen to be named Merlin are you?

Merlin blinked

“Uhm, that is my name, yes”

The duo glanced at each other again and Merlin couldn't take it anymore.

“Alright, I need answers.” He points an accusing finger at the both of them “Who are you and why do you look like me and Prince Arthur”

At those words his look-alike made a shocked noise staring at him with wide eyes, “Uh, sorry- Prince Arthur?”

Fake Arthur intervened again looking equally as confused as the other, “Ok I think we should all take a step back and explain a few things”

Fake Merlin was still staring shockingly at Merlin, only being snapped out of the trance by his Arthur, who had started recounting the story of how they got here in the first place.

“Prince Merlin and I-”

Merlin choked at the word ‘prince’

“-were out in the woods taking a walk when bandits attacked us, we easily got them off but I assume there was a sorcerer amongst them as we got hit by one of their spells. The last thing I remember was a blinding light, then I was shaken awake by Prince Merlin and we ended up in this place”

Merlin listened intently, only tripping up when Fake Arthur mentioned the title ‘Prince’ in association with his name, He had to ask.

“You, uh, mentioned the title ‘Prince Merlin’ once or twice, I’ve never heard of a Prince Merlin before. Are you from a different kingdom?” Merlin asks, looking at his disturbing doppelganger.

The two stared at him confused, glancing at one another again

Fake Merlin speaks up

“You mentioned Prince Arthur before, can you tell us what kingdom were in?”

Merlin frowns as he tries to follow the train of thought that his doppelganger seems to be having”

“You guys are in Camelot, King Uther is the presiding king and i'm the servant to his son, Prince Arthur”

This time the duo both share noises of shock as they process this new information, doppelganger Merlin leans in to his Arthur whispering, though Merlin could still hear him.

“Arthur, do your magic hands too see if he’s telling the truth”

“they are not called magic hands-”

Merlin couldn't help himself from hiding his shock- and excitement

“Wait Arthur- you..you have magic?”

His look-alike’s eyes seem to darken, stepping in front of his Arthur like a shield, “yes, he does and if you go and report back to anyone about that-”

“no, no. I'm not going to do that, it's just-”

Merlin sighed in exasperation, looking around to see if anyone’s around, once the coast was clear he pulls out his hand, spreading his palms out and whispering a spell.

“Scinnhíw”

Merlin feels the familiar rush of his magic, channeling it to the center of his hand, he produced a golden mist that slowly takes the shape of a dragon. Its wings stretching as if waking up, gliding out of Merlin’s hands and doing multiple loop de loops, he then gently waves his hand and it disappears.

When he looks up, he sees Fake Arthur gaping at him while his doppelganger looks thoughtful

“Huh, would you look at that”

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Explanations were in order, and it soon became clear that they were dealing with magical forces that they couldn't begin to comprehend, Other Arthur theorizes that they got sent to a different universe, one that is familiar yet very different.

Merlin agrees, suggesting to both of them to come with him so he and Arthur can help with their dilemma, quickly filling up the two buckets he makes his way out with two new strangers in tow. Merlin silently pleads to every god in the sky that Arthur won’t kill them on the spot.

The mystery duo finally gives Merlin a proper introduction and it almost sends him to an early grave.

“You’re saying, where you’re from… Arthur is your manservant?”

He couldn't hide the amusement in his voice even if he wanted to, he recalls the coincidental conversation he and Arthur had earlier, he can already imagine Arthur mucking out the stables, the thought of it alone fills Merlin’s heart with gleeful delight.

His counterpart scoffs looking at his own Arthur with a bemused smile, “believe me, I can’t imagine him being a prince let alone the Prince of Camelot”

Servant Arthur just looks overwhelmed, glancing between the two Merlins
with a constipated face.

“You'd be surprised” Merlin counters, leading them to the clearing where he and Arthur stopped by to rest.

It was well past dark, but he could see the embers of the fire Arthur had made that acted as a beacon to navigate back, reaching the clearing with his water buckets in hand, Merlin sees Arthur stoking the fire with a stick, a bored expression etched across his face. He looks up and spots Merlin, his eyes akin to relief before switching to annoyance. Merlin can tell Arthur is about to berate him, but quickly stops as he sees two figures emerge out of the darkness.

Merlin sets down the two water buckets and gestures the other two forward, now coming into the light, other Merlin examines the Arthur in front of them.

“Bloody hell”

He looks between Arthur and his own Arthur in mild hysteria

Arthur looks over at the mystery duo, Merlin notes the realisation that spreads across his face as he examines the two new strangers.

“Merlin, care to explain yourself?”

Merlin sucks in a breath, averting his gaze to try and gather his words in a way that Arthur would understand, “Uh well, this is going to be really hard to believe-”

Arthur raises an eyebrow

“Try me”

Merlin blurts it out all in a rush, “so remember what we were talking about before, about the whole swap scenario?” Merlin’s head a jumble of thoughts as he continues, “ I found these two near a stream and they seemed to have been caught up by some magical spell-”.
His rambling got caught off by Arthur, who looked more confused by the second. “Does that explain why they look like us?”

Merlin sighs, weary from the long journey, he looks over at the two behind him. “Well, uhm, I think it's best to just let them introduce themselves”.

His counterpart steps up, a quiet air of confidence oozed around him as he clears his throat.

“Greetings fellow Arthur variant-”

“Arthur variant!?”

Other Merlin ignores Arthur, “I am Prince Merlin, son to Queen Hunith, Prince of Camelot and captain of the royal archers of Camelot, this is my manservant Arthur and-”

At this point Arthur just starts laughing, head shaking

“You can’t be serious”

Other Merlin frowns staring daggers at the Arthur in front of him, “I beg your pardon, I am very serious-”

“If this is your idea of a joke, I’ll admit it is quite funny-”

“You think this is some kind of joke!? I am the Prince of Camelot and you will treat me as such with respect!”

At that, Arthur’s face darkens, which did not send shivers to the back of Merlin’s spine thank you very much. “No, I am the Prince of Camelot and whether this is a joke or not I will have you in the dungeons for proclaiming such false statements.”

Arthur pulls out his sword, aiming it straight at Merlin’s counterpart
Merlin was about to step in, but Servant Arthur was quicker, stepping in front of Other Merlin.

“We mean you no harm, as we had explained to your servant, a magical accident happened while we were at the woods and we had somehow ended up here in your universe”

Arthur was beyond flabbergasted, narrowing his eyes in suspicion as he assessed the other Arthur. “And what evidence do you have to prove this?”

Counterpart Arthur hesitated, looking between the Other Merlin behind him and the sword that was now pointed at him. Merlin was about to interject again when Other Merlin started rummaging around in his pockets, face slightly hesitant as he pulled out an object.

“I carry this everywhere, surely you recognize this”

Servant Arthur leans back, spotting the object, he turns sharply back towards his Merlin

“Merlin-”

“This was my fathers sigil, he gave it to me before he died”

Merlin’s eyes widened, peering over to look at the sigil that was held tightly by his counterpart. It featured a design of a familiar dragon spread out across the rim of the sigil, the color of silver grey reflecting from the light of the fire. He looked towards Arthur and was surprised to see a small flicker of understanding that flashes in his eyes.

Arthur held out his hand expectantly, Other Merlin seemed hesitant but gave in, handing over the sigil for Arthur to examine.

Merlin looks back at Other Merlin’s face and takes a step back when he sees the undeniable face of grief in his eyes, a feeling he knows all too well.

“Fine”

Arthur hands back the sigil, which Merlin’s counterpart takes in swiftness pocketing it securely.

Merlin turns sharply to Arthur finally breaking through the tension he interjects, “Fine as in you believe them?”

“Shut up Merlin”

Arthur looks at the two new strangers dropping his sword, “Once we arrive at Camelot, we’ll go to Gaius and ask if he knows anything about…this”

The other Arthur didn't seem convinced, assessing the man in front of him carefully, it seemed Arthur noticed the other staring, so he apparently decided to stare back.

Merlin rolled his eyes as he began shuffling with his filled water buckets towards the horses, one Arthur was plenty enough but now two? Merlin has his work cut out for him.

The sentiment was shared by his counterpart, the staring competition ultimately broken when other Merlin jumped in, seemingly unbothered by the growing palpable tension in the air.

“It's like looking in a mirror honestly”

Arthur seemed to take offense to that, glancing at other Merlin with a frown. “So”, he started, turning to face Merlin’s counterpart. “You mentioned you were the ‘Prince of Camelot’ tell me, are you as incompetent as Merlin is in this universe?”

Other Merlin glowered, raising an eyebrow, “Judging by the idiotic way you speak, I’d say you don’t know a thing about court politics, which makes sense since Arthur is an idiot when it comes to social cues-”

Arthur scoffs at that, looking at other Merlin up and down in a pretentious manner.

“I bet you can’t even hold a sword without your scrawny legs shaking”

“I imagine you can’t draw a longbow to save your life” he fires back, a sneer making its way to his lips.

Arthur’s expression turns sour, he stares down in malice towards the Merlin in front of him while Merlin himself tries his best to choke back a laugh. Though Arthur is a knight renowned for his strength, Merlin remembers how he had once tried to draw a longbow, failing miserably and giving up.

Other Merlin’s mouth curls into a smile, “Ah, I see I hit a sore spot there, didn’t I? Typical Arthur, got nothing to say when he’s insulted-”

“I'm not the one trying to squeeze his chest until it explodes. What are you even wearing? That chestplate looks like it's suffocating the life out of you”

“Excuse you, this is called being practical and fashionable, something you clearly have no concept of as that uniform is disgustingly- ”

“My uniform is perfectly fine! It strikes fear into enemy hearts and is the Pride of Camelo-”

“I highly doubt that”

“Ok that is it, I am not going to stand here and get insulted by some other version of Merlin” he turns away and looks at the fire, grumbling in frustration as the embers slowly disappear.

Merlin comes over and looks at Arthur in amusement, “I see you two are getting along, I’ll go get some more wood for the fire-”

Other Arthur seems to perk up, having watched the whole debacle in silence he interrupts,“Ah it's alright I can just-”

Merlin watches in slow horror as Arthur’s counterpart lifts his hand, about to cast a spell. Acting quickly he speedily made his way to Other Arthur, eyes pleading for him to please stop.

“UH, Youcan warm yourhandsafterIgetmorewood-”
His eyes widen as if trying to tell servant Arthur that his counterpart does not take kindly to magic users. Other Arthur blinks in surprise, dropping his hand down as he seemingly connects the dots.

Arthur interjects, sighing exhaustedly “I’ll come with you, at least this time it’ll be more quicker”

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Though everything was settled and the fire burned bright again, the tension did not dissipate. Merlin began to sweat as Other Merlin and Arthur were staring daggers into each other, sitting at opposite sides of the fireplace.

But that wasn’t the reason Merlin was sweating, because besides him, Servant Arthur was helping him feed the horses and make the stew for dinner, which was beyond weird.

“You know you don’t have to help me, right?” Merlin mumbled as he finished out the last of the scraps for the horses.

Servant Arthur was quiet which was so unlike Arthur-

“Does he know?”

Merlin stared at him, “know what?”

“About your magic”

Merlin felt the warmth leave his body as he continued to stare at Other Arthur, blue eyes staring into blue eyes.

“No” he breathed, whispering as to not alert the other two at the fireplace. Other Arthur made a grunting noise, looking at Merlin disapprovingly.

“Look you can’t tell him-”

With a roll of his eyes, servant Arthur sighed in exasperation, “I won’t, but I think you should tell him”

Merlin felt a wave of frustration bubble up to the surface, of course he’s thought about telling Arthur, for years he’s thought about just blurting it out, relieve himself off this burden but he couldn't- he can’t-

Averting his gaze Merlin clenched his fists

“No, no, he’ll kill me himself-”

“I assure you, he really won’t”

“How would you know!? He won’t understand, It's not as if you know anything about-” Merlin looked up and was taken aback by the look of understanding that crossed Other Arthur’s face.

“He will”

With that, Servant Arthur grabbed a bowl and scooped up some stew making his way over to the fireplace, Merlin watches as he gives the bowl to Other Merlin and sits down next to him.

Arthur seemed to be a bit peeved by this, turning back to shout at Merlin to get him a bowl too.

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They were quietly eating by the fire, occasionally sending looks and glances across from each other, Merlin couldn't take it anymore.

“Arthur-”

“What”, Both Arthur’s look up, then realizing their mistake they avert their eyes.

Other Merlin chuckles, looking over to the Arthur next to him, “Not you, idiot”

Merlin could hear the mumblings of, ‘shut up’ and ‘he sounds a lot like you’ while setting his bowl down. He could see in the corners of his eye that Arthur was staring at the duo across from them with a weird expression.

“Right, we need to think of different names for you lot” he interjected, clapping his hands and looking pointedly at the people across.

“Is there a different name you want to be called or…?”

His counterpart looked thoughtful

“Fine then, call me Wynn, it is the royal family name of Camelot” he boastfully exclaimed.

Merlin nodded and turned to Other Arthur, but before he asked, Arthur beat him to it.

“And what do we call you?”

Other Arthur looked at the both of them and shrugged, “I do not own a family name, but you can call me Ambrose”

Wynn looked over to Ambrose with an amused expression, clearly about to poke fun but Arthur interrupted.

“Alright, Wynn and Ambrose, we’ll rest here for the night, then tomorrow we ride to Camelot” He stands up and stalks over to his sleeping bag, leaving Merlin alone with the two.

“Really Arthur, Ambrose. You chose that name?”

Merlin looked over at the other two, “does that name mean anything?”

Wynn scoffed, “Yeah, it's what the drui-”

Ambrose stood up, interrupting Wynn and gave him a look, dragging him to where their sleeping area was and shooting an apologetic look towards Merlin. He could hear the hushed conversation they were having but couldn't make out any of the words.

Merlin sighed and made his way towards his own sleeping bag, settling in for a long night.

Chapter Text

Arthur is beginning to regret his decision. 

They had woken up very early to get to Camelot on time and they were almost finished preparing for the journey ahead, the only problem was the horse situation

“There is no way I'm travelling on foot. I require a horse” 

He sighs, longing to strangle this other version of Merlin, “We can’t risk having two people in each horse, two of us will have to walk”

He watched as Other Merlin feigned a bored expression flicking his eyes lazily around the camp and spotting Merlin and Ambrose, who were packing up. “Well we can just get Ambrose and your Merlin to lead while we ride”

Arthur was about to object, but paused when he realized he wasn’t opposed to the idea. Merlin and Ambrose, having heard the conversation while they were packing up, were quick to voice out their opinions.

“Now hang on a minute, i think we should all discuss this-”

“It's a 5 hour journey-”

“It's been decided! Merlin, be a good servant and prepare the horses we don’t want to be late to Camelot.”

He could hear Merlin’s muttering as he set off to grab the horses, murmurs of ‘prat’ and ‘dollophead’ could be heard as he walked away. Arthur smiled, never a dull moment when Merlin insults him in a treasonous level-

“Ambrose, come and give me a hand with my armour”

Arthur watches as Ambrose hurries to Other Merlin’s side, helping him put on and tighten his armour just as Merlin has done for him many times before. 

It was still quite jarring finding out about the duo that Merlin brought in last night. Now that the morning sun made its way through the dense trees, lighting up the area, Arthur could see how identical the two were from him and Merlin, his counterpart had the same build, hair, and eyes as Arthur, the only difference being the clothes that the servants of Camelot wear, and Merlin-

Well, suffice to say Arthur had never been more mortified in his life. The royal garments that Other Merlin adorned were confusing to say the least, and messed with Arthur’s brain. He couldn't imagine Merlin outside his servant clothes, let alone tight armour that accentuated certain features-

Arthur coughed, his face flushing embarrassingly, probably from the cool chill of the morning air. He shook his head as he spotted his own Merlin with the horses, an annoyed expression painfully obvious in his face as Arthur picked up his muttering.

“Finally have a horse in one of these missions and what does he do? Give it to the two strangers, after everything i’ve done for that pra- ”

“Merlin!” Arthur makes his way to him flashing him a smile he knows will tick him off, grabbing the two horses' reins “Go and pack up the rest, we need to leave before the afternoon.”

Merlin glares at him, Arthur could almost hear his teeth grinding, “Yes Sire”

When everything was packed up, they set off to Camelot, despite protests from both Ambrose and Merlin they ended up treading on foot.

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It was about an hour in, when Merlin decided to interrupt the peaceful silence that Arthur was enjoying.

“I have a question for Ambrose” 

Ambrose looks up, eyes darting to Merlin “What is it?”

“Well I was wondering, if you're the servant to the prince then are you also perhaps Gaius' apprentice?” 

At that, Ambrose’s face paled significantly while Other Merlin laughed.

“He certainly is Gaius apprentice, a terrible one at that-”

“Shut up Merli- uh I mean Wynn, I am not terrible-”

“Tell that to the villagers you almost poisoned- ”

“That was an accident and you know it!”

Merlin looked bewildered, eyes darting between the two while they bickered. Arthur was annoyed, can’t these babbling idiots stay quiet?

“So I’m guessing that was a yes?”

Ambrose sighed, ignoring his prince’s retorts and turned to look at Merlin, a look of fondness in his expression.

“Yes, when I came of age, my father sent me to Gaius. He took me in and taught me everything I know”

“Which isn’t all that much” Other Merlin mutters under his breath, though everyone heard him, Ambrose responds back with a quick tug of the horse's reins, causing the animal to stumble with the prince in tow.

Arthur chuckles as the horse beside him regains balance, undignified squawking could be heard from the Other Merlin as he holds on for dear life, shouting insults at Ambrose. Though Arthur hid it back with a calm face, he was glad to see that his counterpart didn’t let this arrogant Merlin order him around. 

Merlin just looked amused, “It's the same for me as well, my mother was the one who sent me to Gaius”

Other Merlin seemed to perk up in curiosity, raising his eyebrows in surprise, “What of your father? Surely he didn’t agree to tha-”

“I never got to know him” Merlin hastily supplied, Arthur noted his nervous expression, how his grip tightened in the reigns as his eyes darted around the area as if trying to distract himself from the current topic, he clears his throat.

“Ambrose, I have also been meaning to ask you something”

Noticing the shift in topic Ambrose quickly took it in stride, turning his head to look at Arthur”

“Yes?”

“I’ve noticed that you have roughly the same build as me, do you carry a weapon, or are you diligent with your servant duties unlike Merlin here?”

In the corners of his vision he could see Merlin roll his eyes

Ambrose chuckled at that, “I do carry a weapon, I’ve been self taught with the way of the sword” 

Arthur was pleased to hear that, looking at Merlin with a not too arrogant face, “I think you’ve got a lot to learn from Ambrose Merlin, even as a servant, I'm not a whimpering fool.”

Beside him, he could hear Wynn let out an offended gasp but Arthur only had eyes for Merlin.

“Oh Yeah? Tell that to Prince Merlin Wynn over there, he sure looks more like a prince than your condescending arse-”

“Are you saying that you would make a better prince than me? Because I assure you-”

“Well there’s not much to beat when it comes to you-”

“Careful what you say Merlin, I could have you in the stocks for that”

Merlin gave him a smile as if to say, ‘I'm still better than you, deal with it’ and Arthur huffed, his face flushed in annoyance.

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They were at the edge of the woods, the view of Camelot now clearly shown against the morning light. Arthur stops them in their tracks as he mounts off his horse and gestures to the group to huddle around.

“Okay, the guard security of Camelot is tight-”

 Merlin snickers, Arthur turns to him and glares, promptly silencing him, but he couldn't wipe that stupid smile on his face.

He continues, “So you two need disguises” pointing at Wynn and Ambrose, “With how much you look like us-”

“You mean because we are you”

Arthur glares again, getting annoyed at the onslaught of Merlins trying to disrupt him. He sighs, waiting a bit, then continuing , “the guards will question us, so we’ll have to sneak around the gates. The problem is we need disguises-”

Merlin jumps in, “we can go to Gwen’s”

Arthur frowns, Gwen had helped aid them with many things but- “we can’t involve her with this.”

At the mention of Gwen, Ambrose seem to perk up, “I'm fine with that, it would be nice to see a reassuring face”

Merlin looks at Ambrose in surprise, “You know Gwen?”

The other merlin seems to smirk that, “Oh yeah, their inseparable honestly-”

 “your just jealous-”

Arthur has had enough of this nonsense, shutting his eyes to fend off a migraine he raises his voice in a commanding tone, one he usually uses for the knights, “that's enough”. Everyone goes silent, Arthur sighs, “fine we’ll go to Gwen’s”

They leave their horses and supplies at a secure spot before venturing out to the secret passageway that led to the inside of Camelot, when they arrived, other Merlin marveled in surprise, “I didn’t realize it was the same passage route as the one back at home”, Ambrose seemed to agree, running his hand along the walls with familiarity.

They made their way quietly, Arthur could already hear the hustle and bustle of the Camelot citizens as he was greeted by his home.

It looked crowded as per usual, he could see people getting to and from work while the children played in front of the palace, rows of shops and vendors were spread out as people shopped for goods and essentials. Seeing his home once more let out some tension that Arthur didn’t know he was building, finally he was back.

They hurried along to Gwen’s home, making sure that Ambrose and Wynn’s faces were obscured from the crowd. When they got there, Merlin stepped forward and knocked.

Arthur could hear the hurried footsteps before Gwen opened the door, her confused face turning surprised as she recognized Merlin, “Merlin! What brings you here? I thought you and Arthur were on a solo mission-”

“Yea and we’ve come back, look Gwen I need a small favor”

Gwen raised her eyebrows, assessing Merlin.

“What is it this time? Did Arthur set you up to something again?”

Arthur was a bit offended, but before he could make his presence known, Other Merlin went and did that for him, letting out a soft chuckle.

Gwen peaks out, leaning to the side as she spots him and the duo, her expression schooled into shock as she registered the faces of the pair.

“Uh- Merlin- Prince Arthur- why is there-”

“Yeah, uhm, can we come in?”

Merlin explains the situation to Gwen who’s eyeing both Wynn and Ambrose in shock, she’s made some breakfast and hands a bowl to Arthur, he takes the bowl gratefully, suddenly remembering how they didn’t have anything to eat before travelling.

“I'm sorry, I can’t wrap my head around this, you're saying that these two are you and Prince Arthur but from a different universe?”

Wynn, who refused a bowl from Gwen rolls his eyes, “Were right here you know- what?”  Ambrose elbows him in the middle of stuffing his face with food, turning to glare at the other, looking at him as if saying, ‘be nice’.

Merlin continues, “They’ve been caught up by a magical spell and we thought Gaius would be able to help them get back home”

Gwen looked thoughtful, “And how can I help with this?”

Arthur, who’s finished the breakfast and he had to admit it was rather good- interrupts. “My father will be suspicious if he sees them, especially since they look so much like me and Merlin” 

Merlin butts in, “Basically we need you to assemble a disguise for Wynn and Ambrose”

Gwen’s eyebrows raise, looking at the two, “Wynn and Ambrose?”

At that point, Ambrose had already finished his breakfast, jumping in as he explained to Gwen about how they had to change names so as to not get confused. Gwen seemed to relax a little bit, “Well alright then, I think I have some clothes- Oh! And something for the face to hide some facial features” 

Gwen starts zooming around the house looking for supplies to aid her, she goes through her father and brothers clothes as well, Merlin goes in to help her. Arthur watches as they discuss potential clothing disguises while he stands there with his bowl. He was about to walk out and wait outside before Gwen called after him.

“Arthur, could you fetch the makeup supplies in the first drawer?”

Arthur pauses, slowly looking at Gwen’s distracted face as he processes what she had just asked, Makeup supplies was it?

He goes to the drawer and pulls out the first compartment, staring in silence at the amount of makeup products that Gwen apparently had, it seemed to mock him. 

Arthur was way out of his depth, he continued to stare at the drawer while his brain malfunctioned. Gwen should have specified, how was he supposed to know what Makeup to grab? Perhaps he should just take them all-”

“You should probably take out the face powder, and the contour, as well as some blush”

Arthur turned to thank whoever it was, but was greeted with Wynn, who was looking down at the drawer with a thoughtful look.

Still completely clueless, he mumbled pitifully, “Which one are those?”

Other Merlin seemed to look at him disappointedly and began to grab certain makeup products, putting them into Arthur’s hands. After he was done, he gave Arthur a look and went back to Ambrose who was looking at them with amusement.

Arthur didn’t have time to comprehend what had just happened, he went to Gwen and Merlin, setting down the makeup supplies at the table.

“Thank you, Arthur” Gwen softly said, smiling at him, contrasting Merlin who looked at him surprised. “I never thought, you knew makeup”

Arthur bristled, locking eyes with Merlin, “Well I know a lot of things Merlin, unlike you, Im actually smart-”

“Oh come off it-”

“Ehem” Gwen interrupts with a stern face, looking at both Merlin and Arthur disapprovingly. 

“If your both quite done, I should like to assemble these disguises”

She shooed off Arthur, leaving him in the living room with Wynn and Ambrose, who looked a bit bored from waiting. He then recalls the assistance of a certain Merlin and looks up at him in confusion, “How did you know what to get? For the makeup…”

Other Merlin looked bored, but answered, “I usually help with Morgana’s makeup sometimes, she taught me some stuff when I was little.”

Arthur was surprised to hear that, opening his mouth to ask more questions but before he could, Merlin and Gwen appeared from behind him.

“Alright you two, come in lets get you sorted out”

Arthur had little time to even let out a single word before the two were whisked away by both Merlin and Gwen. He lets out a puff of slight annoyance and decides to wait, sitting at the table.

After about 30 minutes in which Arthur may or may not have slept a little, a creak of the door was what alerted him awake, looking around frantically until he settled his eyes on the duo, who was being ushered out by Gwen.

As Gwen only had village clothes, her main focus was to mix together clothing they already had with new clothes that look rich and befitting of a Lord and his servant.

For the most part, if you give them a passing glance they look like their own person, so it's good enough. Merlin thanks Gwen who’s happy to help and they set forth to the palace with their newly acquired disguises.

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“Ah your back Arthur, tell me how was the mission? Did you apprehend the beast?”

Uther was sitting at the breakfast table with Morgana, who looked as if she wanted to be anywhere else but here.

Arthur tries his best not to choke out a laugh recalling the fox incident, hiding it with a calm smile as he approaches his father with the duo behind him. Uther notices and raises an eyebrow towards Arthur.

“And there seems to be some guests in our presence, come and eat with us, we have much to discuss”

Arthur clears his throat, politely declining the invitation and reports to his father that the ‘magical beast’ was apprehended, he didn’t want to upset him about the actual truth of the matter. He seemed pleased to hear that, nodding approvingly at Arthur. But before he added anything else, Uther continued.

“Well? Describe the beast's features, where was it specifically located?”

Arthur panics, mind turning blank. He hadn’t expected his father to ask for much details but he was always irrational when it comes to magic. He doesn't know what to say, so he ends up stuttering a bit, which Morgana notices, narrowing her eyes slightly at Arthur while Arthur struggles with his words.

Luckily, Wynn behind him jumps in.

“The prince’s bravery whilst slaying the magical beast was truly admirable, we owe him our lives.”

Arthur stares at Wynn, while Uther turns to the duo.

“Is that so? And who might you be?”

“Lord Wynn, and this is my manservant, Ambrose” , inclining his head to Ambrose, who bows. “A great honor to meet you King Uther, we come from distant lands and were travelling from the north when the beast attacked us, we were lucky enough that the Prince was in the area”

Uther seemed pleased, “Of course, with the surge of magic in Camelot these past days, I'm glad Prince Arthur was able to ensure your safety. Lord Wynn was it?”

Wynn nods, Arthur notices the unsettling glint in this other Merlin’s eyes as he continues to speak. “I’ve heard of Camelot’s great lands and riches but it is a wonder to see with one’s very own eyes.”

Uther chuckles, Arthur shifts slightly from where he’s standing. “And you must have traveled a great deal to arrive in Camelot.”

“Uhm yes-” Arthur interrupts, this was his chance, now that his father was in a good mood. “Our guests here have travelled a long way, perhaps we can provide them some good hospice as a gesture of goodwill.”

Uther nods at that, “Yes, you must be weary from the journey, I will get the head servants to prepare rooms for both of you” 

With a snap of his fingers, servants appear at both Wynn and Ambrose's side, leading them away, Arthur turns to follow them out but Uther stops him.

“Arthur, I wish to speak with you”

Arthur stops, rooted at the spot, he turns to his father. 

Uther excuses Morgana, and Morgana leaves, sending a worried glance at Arthur.

Uther sits up, facing Arthur with a calculating eye.

“You are aware as I am of how negligent we have become in the face of magic in light of recent events.”

Arthur nods, wondering where this conversation is going

“Because of this, I will have you and the guards do weekly inspections around Camelot for any traces of magic. If you find anyone related, have them executed”

Arthur went cold, his hands tightening behind his back. His father had become more paranoid as of late, especially since the troll incident with Lady Catrina. First he sends Arthur off on a mission due to small rumours, now he’s demanding him to do a full search of Camelot just to find traces of magic that was probably not there.

It's even worse considering that Uther had increased taxes to fund any means to get rid of magic. Arthur could see how it affected the people, no doubt this new decree will cause a riot.

“Father, I don’t think this is a good idea considering-”

“Are you questioning the authority of your king, boy?”

Arthur stayed rooted, looking at his father defiantly.

“With all due respect after the recent events with Lady Catrina, the villagers have been left with nothin-”

“And they will do well not having to squander about and actually do their work”

“Father-”

“SILENCE”

Arthur bit back a retort, the ground seemed to glue him in place as he tried to think of something to change his father’s mind.

“you will not speak of that incident, and you will do nothing to change my mind. The order has already been made.”

Arthur stared at Uther, not daring to open his mouth in fear of angering him further.

Uther seemed to take his silence as agreement.

“You are dismissed”

Arthur turned around sharply, walking carefully out of the courtroom. 

When he was out, his walking became more fast paced as he entered the palace halls.

He stomps his way in the hallways not knowing where he’s going, his mind a mess as he grapples with the situation at hand. His emotions whirling around his mind, anger at his father, sorrow for the people, shame at himself-

He ends up at Gaius’s chambers. He enters and is surprised to see an ensemble of people present.

Gaius is talking with Merlin while Wynn looks around the room, well mostly in Merlin’s bedroom, and Ambrose is talking eagerly to Gwen. 

“I didn’t realize we were having a meeting here”

Everyone turns and stares at Arthur, then Merlin speaks,

“Ah, your back. How was the talk with your father?”

Arthur did not want to be reminded of the conversation he just had. “It was fine, anyways-” he looks at Gaius, “Gaius, what have you found?”

Gaius is holding a book with strange patterns and symbols etched onto the cover, most likely a magical book. How Gaius acquired he didn’t want to know.

“It's quite tricky sire, the spell that sent them here is a mysterious and complicated web of enchantments that I can’t begin to comprehend.”

“Well, we’ll have to figure this out quickly lest my father finds out about this”

Gaius nods quietly and gets back to work, gesturing to Merlin to help him as he gathers more books from his private library.

Arthur was getting antsy, he needed to release some pent up energy and since Merlin is busy he has to take his anger elsewhere, which is the rest of the people in here. 

“Why are there so many people here!? You.” he points to Other Merlin, who was looking at the assortment of medical jars that Gaius has.

“I thought the servants brought you to your rooms, why are you here?”

Wynn sniffs, Arthur finds that absolutely annoying, “Well if you must know, Merlin came to get us while we were at our rooms”

Arthur sighs, fighting off the headache that always seems to appear whenever Wynn was in the vicinity near him. Gwen stands up, sensing the mood of the room “I best be off, I imagine my lady is looking for me” she waves goodbye to Ambrose and leaves. 

Arthur still needs to blow off some steam so he makes a split second decision. 

“You” he points at Ambrose, “Your coming with me to the fighting grounds, lets see how you fair against me” 

Wynn shoots a bewildered look at Arthur, “now hang on a minute, he’s my servant not yours-”

Ambrose immediately stands up, “Alright”

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For someone who was self-taught, Ambrose matched him with speed and strength but lacked the technique and finesse that Arthur had been trained on since birth. 

There were no words exchanged between the two of them as they took their weapons. No words when they exchanged blows with the sword, Arthur channeled all his frustrations towards his strikes trying to get the other off balance, but Ambrose seemed to counter him at every attack. He soon lost himself to the rhythm of the fight, forgetting about the events that transpired today and instead focused on the feeling of the rough leather that gripped his sword and the adrenaline coursing through his veins-

It was rather annoying when someone decided to interrupt.

“I see you still have the energy, despite your journey”

Arthur stopped mid-way from a blow to the side, turning to face who interrupted them and was surprised to see Morgana standing there, Gwen behind her.

“And you seemed to have dragged our guests out as well” Morgana turned to Ambrose who stared openly at her, “Tell me, how well does Arthur fair against you? His skills are a bit rusty”

Arthur could see Gwen stifle in a laugh, “haha, very funny Morgana, thank you for your input”

“You're welcome, but that's not the reason I'm here. Gaius sent me to fetch you, says he’s found something”

Arthur raised an eyebrow, “Alright, I’ll be there in a moment”

Morgana eyed him, she’s probably suspicious but seemed to leave it at that, turning on her heels and walking towards the gardens with Gwen.

There was a beat of silence when Ambrose interrupts

“You know, your Morgana is very different to our Morgana” Arthur turns to Ambrose confused, “How so?”

“I don’t know how to describe it, but your Morgana seems a bit more..”

He seemed to hesitate, Arthur stared at him to continue

“-cold”