The next morning, Merlin sprinted down the stairs, ran outside to reach the tiny supermarket near his home. He bought a bottle of milk and a piece of freshly baked butter cake and went back home with his phone right up under his nose so he could read the words of this mornings news. Walking like this and with his mouth full, Merlin did not see where he went. The result was that he bumped right into old Mr. Gaius, who nearly fell over due to the impact. Merlin helped him stay on his feet.

"I'm so sorry!" Merlin exclaimed. "I didn't see you, I swear..."

Mr Gaius narrowed his eyes. "Then get that thing out of your face and use your eyes, boy! It's no wonder accidents happen when people don't use their eyes!"

Merlin sighed. "I know. I'm really sorry, though." 

The old man uncrossed his arms. "Well, no harm done. Luckily." He looked Merlin over a few times. "Do you have a lift to work?"

Merlin shook his head. "No, I just figured I'd take the tu- wait, are you offering?"

The old man rolled his eyes. "Be ready in twenty minutes. That's when I leave."

A huge smile appeared on Merlin's face. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" Then he ran upstairs to his apartment and left the older man with a slight frown, mumbling: "youth nowadays..."

Merlin was quick to find this things he needed for the day and he was down the stairs again within ten minutes. The door to Mr. Gaius' flat was wide open and Merlin frowned since he was sure he could hear a lot of thumps and rustling in there.

"Where did I put that ancient piece of..." the old man mumbled. He was balancing on a latter that had - without doubt - seen better days.

"Mr. Gaius?" Merlin asked. "Do you need help to find something?"

The old man was surprised to see Merlin appear so quickly and almost fell from where he stood - but Merlin was quick enough to stabilize the latter before Mr Gaius could get hurt. Merlin smiled. "Why don't you let me help find whichever book you're looking for?"

Mr. Gaius took a moment to look at the young lad before agreeing. "It's called 'Celtic mythologies and symbols'," he explained. "And it's a heavy and very old book, young man, so be extremely careful with it." He climbed down and let Merlin take his place. While searching, Merlin learned that the book shelves consisted almost entirely of books concerning old Celtic and national history.

"You must know a lot about the Celts," Merlin said and pulled out a dusty giant of a book. "Got it." He handed the book to Mr. Gaius, who looked utterly surprised.

"Is it the wrong book?" Merlin asked, frowning as he didn't understand the expression on Gaius' face.

"It's the right book..." he mumbled and narrowed his eyes and Merlin climbed down the stairs again. Mr. Gaius suddenly got busy browsing through the book.

"Can I ask what you're looking for?" Merlin said, trying not to interrupt too much.

Mr. Gaius closed the book and put it in his bag. "I am a tour guide at the Palace Museum. It is my job to remember the meanings of the old symbols and myths, but it would seem my memory isn't as sharp as it used to be..." Mr Gaius pointed to Merlin's neck. "Can I see that necklace you're wearing? It is Celtic, isn't it?"

Merlin looked surprised that Mr Gaius had noticed. "Yeah. I inherited it from my mum. It's the only thing of hers that I have. I carry it with me where ever I go. it sort of my lucky charm. I never take it off."

Mr Gaius looked Merlin over for a second before nodding. "As a memory," he said and fumbled with an old ring on his finger. Then he caught himself slipping away into thinking about events from the past and quickly looked at his watch. "Oh well, we better get moving. I'm never late for work and I don't intend to start now. Are you ready?"

Merlin nodded. "I am." So he got into Mr Gaius' car and the two of them drove through several twisted roads, saw more red busses than Merlin had time to count and got to St. James' Park where the royal family's residence, Buckingham Palace, appeared before them. Mr Gaius drove them past the main gates so that Merlin could get to see the palace in all its glory like any tourist, and then got them through to the staff parking lot and showed Merlin how to get through on his own. It was a lot to remember and it only increased when Mr Gaius introduced him to Miss Hilda, who was to show him what his new job really was. Merlin was supposed to keep the museum tidy and help Mr Gaius close it up at night. Miss Hilda gave him his new uniform, asked him to wear it at all times, and showed him where to find all the equipment he would need for his job.

So dressed in his new uniform, Merlin walked around the exhibition with all the information and artefacts, to get to know the place. He even passed Mr Gaius leading a tour through. It was all in a dark setting with each item safely put inside a glass case where a spotlight would illuminate it and underneath a small textpiece would explain what was displayed where. Very neat and elegant. There was everything from old pots, cans and jewellery to old books. The main attraction of the entire museum was in the safest place of the entire palace. The room itself was more a vault than a room and in it was a book called "The Book of Kells". Merlin knew it from his mum's stories, and that its ancient pages were the key to understanding Celtic Mythology and the myths themselves. It was only the most acknowledged professors and archaeologists who had ever been allowed to touch the pages of that book since it had been found some hundred years ago... Merlin read most of that in the text below the book. This exhibition however still held a lot of knowledge that Merlin didn't have... It didn't take miss Hilda much more than five minutes to locate Merlin daydreaming in the vault room and asked him not to get distracted while working. He would always be welcome to visit the museum outside working hours. So Merlin took it upon himself to make a good impression on his new boss by getting the museum as clean as possible. As soon as the last tour had passed through the 1st room he cleaned the floors and took out the bins and repeated the process in the rest of the rooms and did the same thing the next day. He cleaned the vault room (3rd room) a little extra and moved on to clean the ceilings at the end of the week. He skipped the shop only since it wasn't his area. Now all that was left were the toilets, which he cleaned once an hour every day and when the museum closed. It was a good thing the museum was small, Merlin thought, because this was hard work.

While thinking to himself, Merlin didn't notice that a door opened at the other end of the hall from him - or really, it was a secret door. Out came a particularly good looking young man, who had the bluest eyes in the entire country and blonde hair that was nearly of gold. He was surprised to see that someone was still working at this hour. He moved towards Merlin, frowning, and sort of confused as to why he hadn't been seen yet.

"Merlin!" Mr. Gaius called. "I leave in five minutes, will you be ready?"

Merlin stopped sweeping the floor momentarily. "Yes, Mr. Gaius, nearly there!" he answered and continued his work... but slowly stopped when he sensed someone was watching. Looking up, Merlin narrowed his eyes in disbelief. This was someone he never expected to meet in person. Not up close, anyway. Prince Arthur himself was looking at Merlin, or in fact, he was staring, and it sort of irked Merlin. 

"Um," Merlin said slowly when he realised Arthur seemed to be amused. "Your highness?"

Arthur smirked. "Tell me, is your name actually Merlin? It can't be, can it?" And just like that the initial respect Merlin had for the prince vanished into thin air and he continued his work.

"I can't help it if it is, " Merlin answered and hoped the prince would go away.

"You must be joking..." Arthur said, and sat himself down in one of the chairs nearby, watching Merlin work while laughing to himself.

Merlin could see the irony of the situation, but he also got more and more annoyed with the prince and his constant stare, so he ignored him to the best of his ability - until it became too much. "Excuse me, but I have work to do," Merlin said.

Arthur looked offended. "I'm sorry?" he exclaimed. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

Merlin really wanted to roll his eyes. "Unfortunately, yes," he mumbled and when the prince seemed more pissed than before, he quickly faked a smile. "I'm sorry. I have work to do your highness. Is that better?"

The prince pointed a finger at Merlin to reprimand him again, when they heard voices in the museum.

"Ah, bugger," Arthur threw his head back in annoyance, trying to think of a way to escape his two bodyguards. Thinking fast, it was clear that he only had one possibility. He grabbed Merlin's arm, surprising the commoner. "Look, I need you to do something for me," Arthur said. "Hide me from those guys in there and I won't bother you again."

Merlin took his time to think about it. "All right..." he said. "You can hide in the cupboard." Without further due, he pushed the prince into the dusty cupboard where Merlin would normally throw in old broomsticks and used cloths. The prince would fit right in, he thought. Just as Merlin got the cupboard closed, the two agents were standing behind him.

"Good evening. We wonder if you might have seen the prince pass through here?" the first one asked. He was tall and very muscular whilst the other one, who was looking intensely at Merlin, was more athletic and seemingly fast on his feet.

Merlin shook his head three times. "No...?" he answered, but it came out more like a question. "He must have gone past me."

The guards didn't look entirely convinced, so Merlin had to try harder. "Look," he said. "I've spent an entire day cleaning this place. Is it any wonder I get tired and miss a thing or two?"

The taller one nodded. "Well, if you do see him..." he said, and then they headed off to continue their search for Arthur . Merlin unlocked the cupboard and watched as the prince dusted himself off. He looked mildly insulted.

Merlin fought the urge to smirk. "My shift is over, so I've got to leave. I'm sure you know your way around here, anyway..." Merlin explained and finished up his work for the evening.

Arthur didn't say anything to begin with, only when Merlin was about to leave he did. "Are you not going to ask anything in return?" the prince asked.

"Only that you don't bother me," Merlin answered.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Wait a second. Do you have something against me and my family?" he asked, confused. Normally people would be over the moon to meet him, but not this scrawny little guy.

Merlin shook his head once. "No. I just thought you would treat a commoner with a little more respect, that's all. But like I said; I better head out now if I want my lift home."

Arthur shrugged. "As you like," he said and was off to run through the secret doorway again and Merlin bit his lip as he changed back into his own clothing. He knew that he had probably just done something slightly illegal. It might cost him his job if it was discovered, he knew that, and the prince would most likely care less about Merlin and his job. When driving home, Mr. Gaius noticed that Merlin was more quiet than usual and thought about asking a few times, but found an excuse not to do so. Then Merlin said something about taking the tube next morning.

"Did something happen?" the older man asked.

Merlin shrugged. "I just had no idea the prince was such an arse."

"Oh." Mr. Gaius smiled a bit. "I heard you two talking. I believe you did the right thing."

Merlin frowned. "Really?"

"Yes," Gaius said. "Because that boy deserves a small break in his life even if he is a bit arrogant."

"Why?" Merlin asked, baffled. He couldn't imagine that Arthur would needing anything. He was a prince afterall.

"Because he hasn't had it easy. He only has his dad. You must know that his mother died in an accident when he was young. The king has always travelled a lot and Arthur has never been allowed to go to school and sit in a classroom like the rest of us. He has only had Stuart to go to school with. I believe it must have been hard for the boy. He was a very quiet child in the years after his mother passed."

Merlin let this sink in. "I didn't think of that," he said.

Mr. Gaius gave a nod. "I know. I saw you looking at the exhibition, too. You must have liked it if you like the old Celts."

"I loved it," Merlin responded. "It has so much information and I don't know half of it."

Mr. Gaius looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'll tell you something. What if I promise to show you a few of the things I know, about London and history - including some information about that necklace of yours - in return for you buying me dinner?"

Merlin smiled. "Deal." So they drove off to a local pub and ordered two rounds of fish and chips and brought it back to Gaius' place. Here, the two could easily spend a night with their noses buried in shelf after shelf of old mythology books. Merlin learned that Mr. Gaius was actually an expert in Celtic history and Mr. Gaius was beginning to realise there was more to Merlin that just a simple dollop headed young boy. In fact, he was still puzzled as to how he could find that book some weeks ago when he first arrived. That book had a strange tendency to disappeared as if it could only be found when it was needed. It was also the book Gaius had used to extract information about Merlin's necklace. And it was no ordinary heirloom, that much Gaius knew.