Love, Faith and Family

Chapter 16

Miriam was in a pale blue dress Gwen had made for her, her hair flowing down her back as she walked from Morgana's chambers, having delivered the ward a new sleeping draft in hopes to quell the nightmares that haunted her sleep, when Merlin approached her.

"You want me to do what now?" she asked in confusion and disbelief.

"Please! Gwen has already agreed to let you stay in her house, she has her hands full with Morgana, so please, please, please, will you do it?"

Miriam stopped in her tracks.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to babysit Arthur who is pretending to be a commoner in order to prove that he can joust without favouritism? What the hell kind of stupid plan is that?"

Merlin only shushed her.

"Look, please do this for me and I'll... Clean the leech tank for you."

She raised a brow.

"Gaius hasn't cleaned it since last year when we arrived from Ealdor. It's foul, are you sure you want to do this?"

Merlin sighed.

"No, but Arthur asked me to make it happen and I will, or at least I'll try. So, please, please, please, will you do it?" Merlin pleaded and Miriam gave him a pitiful look before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"You're sweet. I'll meet Arthur at Gwen's house but both you boys owe me big time for this," she warned and Merlin beamed as he hugged her in thanks before running off.

She didn't know what to do with her brother sometimes.

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The morning bells had just tolled when Miriam opened the door to Gwen's small house for Merlin and Arthur, the prince disguised in a blue cloak.

"Arthur," she said simply in greeting, not bothering with a curtsey.

"Miriam," he replied as he turned to face her, lowering his hood. "It's good of you to assist me, and of Guinevere to lend us her home."

Miriam's smile was tight.

"Yes, well, she has her rooms in the palace and her hands full with Morgana and I apparently cannot say no to doing a favour for my brother," she said pointedly as Merlin elbowed her side before muttering the word, "Food."

"I guess, I shall prepare some food for you," she said with a glare to Merlin, Arthur giving her an odd look as she moved over to the stove and Merlin and Arthur began to talk in hushed tones.

"How are the preparations coming? You found someone to play our knight in the tournament?" Arthur asked loudly, startling Miriam as she began preparing a basic stew.

"Yes. He's a farmer from one of the outlying villages and no one will recognise him," Merlin assured the prince who merely moved close to his servant.

"But does he look the part?"

He most certainly did not look the part.

The farmer Merlin found looked the polar opposite of what a knight would e as he stood before the three of them inside Gwen's home, Arthur watching with distaste as Merlin began the process of making him over.

And when the farmer was finally bathed and suited in armour, Merlin revealed the family tree he'd forged, having learnt his lesson with the whole Lancelot fiasco. Miriam had never met the man but Merlin had told her stories, so it was simply easier to have a fake noble from a fake noble family than a fake noble from a real noble family because no one was around to accuse them as imposters.

"From now on, you're Sir William of Deira," Merlin announced proudly, Arthur dropping his bowl of stew in defeat before they began lessons on how to behave like a knight. "Imagine you're really arrogant," he instructed.

"Knights do love to think they're better than everyone else," Miriam added and Arthur glared at them both.

"It's not arrogance. Ignore them, him especially, he's an idiot," Arthur said and Merlin gave him an offended look as Arthur addressed William. "A knight must behave with honour and nobility."

"Are those synonyms for snobbery and ego?" Miriam remarked and Arthur shot her a look that she returned before their attention turned to William who straightened his spine rather dramatically.

"That's better," Arthur said uncertainly. "You must convince everyone that you were born into a noble family."

William paced for a moment before halting and facing Merlin.

"Polish my armour, boy," he ordered with a deepened voice and Merlin's head shot up as Arthur beamed.

"Now you're getting the hang of it," he praised and William laughed in victory before Arthur's face turned serious as he said to Merlin, "That's a good point though, you do need to polish our armour."

"Yeah," William piped up and the three of them stared strangely at him.

This was either going to be brilliant or end in a huge disaster.

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That night Miriam was finishing up the dishes when Arthur announced, "It's been a long day. I think I'll turn in for the night."

But before Miriam could even consider discussing sleeping arrangements, because Guinevere's house only housed a single bed, Arthur claimed it, not even thinking about where Miriam would be sleeping for a second.

"I hope you'll be comfortable," she said bitterly, secretly hoping the opposite.

"I'm sure I will be," Arthur said before he struggled to get comfortable on a bed that was luxury compared to the cot she slept in at Gaius'. Deciding that she was too tired to argue with the clearly oblivious prince, Miriam simply collected one of Gwen's spare blankets and made a bed for herself on the floor, nothing she hadn't done a million times.

As she rested her head on a sack of grain, eyes already drooping after running around with Merlin to make arrangements for tomorrow as well as cleaning up for and after Arthur, it was his voice that rang out through the small house.

"Goodnight, Miriam," he called and it was a truly strange thing to hear, even more so to respond to.

"Goodnight Arthur," she replied as she made a mental note to yell at him tomorrow.