The door slammed with a loud boom, startling Arthur right out of his dream…
"Merlin!" he hissed angrily, sitting straight up in bed, glowering at the manservant.
Merlin, wearing his same old jacket and blue neckerchief, took no notice of the Prince, which only irritated the Prince further. He had been dreaming of Gwen, and Merlin had no business barging in so loudly. That was no way to wake up from this sort of dream.
"Good morning, Sire!" sang the servant, putting down the tray he held.
Arthur's scowl deepened. "It was fine until you came in like that. I asked you to learn to knock, I know, but are you trying to break the door down?"
"Knocking wasn't loud enough," responded Merlin, quite unfazed by Arthur's black look. "Cheer up, Arthur, it's a great day!" He made his way to Arthur's wardrobe and grabbed him a shirt, throwing it towards its owner.
Arthur tossed his sheets to the side and grabbed the shirt from the foot of his bed. "What makes it so great?"
Merlin's goofy grin was ten times brighter than usual. He'll start bouncing up and down any minute now, thought Arthur, somewhat alarmed.
"It just is," said Merlin with a laugh. "Do you think I need to polish the armor today? I planned on waiting until tomorrow, but…"
"Merlin, what's wrong with you?" Arthur cut him off.
Merlin grinned even wider, if that was possible. "Well, it's nothing. Just the greatest news I've heard in weeks."
Pulling the shirt over his head, Arthur's reply was muffled.
"What was that, Sire?" asked Merlin, rocking back in forth on the balls of his feet happily.
"I said, tell me what the news is, then." Arthur took a sausage, inspected it, and bit in.
"Oh, you won't care."
"Sure I will."
"No, you won't."
Arthur met his eyes for a moment, and then back down at his food and said, "Okay. I won't care. Merlin, today I need you to take my shirt – you know, the red one – and…"
Merlin suddenly laughed. "Okay, fine, I'll tell you! Blair and Victor are getting married!"
Arthur looked up. "Who?"
"Blair! Victor! I've only been trying to get them together for weeks!"
Rolling his eyes, the blond prince muttered, "Oh, that Blair and Victor. That clears it up."
Merlin didn't notice the sarcasm, but just crowed gleefully, "And it's really all thanks to you, Arthur!"
"Me? Merlin, I don't even know these people!"
"I know you don't, but I've been using you to get them together for a while now. I admit, I thought it was a long shot at the end, what with both of them being so stupid, but it worked out beautifully!"
"Merlin."
"Yes?"
"I have no idea what you are going on about."
From the look on Merlin's face, one could assume that he'd just learned his birthday would come twice this year. "Oh. Well, then. I'll have to tell you the story, won't I?"
Dismayed, Arthur began to stand. "You know what? I think I'm okay, actually…"
"No, no, you wanted to know what I was talking about! Sit down."
Arthur made an effort not to groan. He couldn't ignore the feeling that he'd just walked into a trap, and he would be here a while. But he sat back down.
A/N: Yes, same Blair introduced in my story The Start of a Beautiful Friendship, chapters one and two. It's not necessary to read that, but you can if you wish to meet Blair. Victor, however — he's new. These updates will be fast and short. Please review, and I hope you stick around for the rest. I can offer you a good reason to do that, too!
The reason being, I just used the word 'dismayed'. That's an amazing word, and made me happier than it should have!