In all his glory
By: Eressie
Disclaimer: Don't own Merlin, don't be silly…
Summary: A normal sitting for a portrait did not go exactly as King Arthur would have wanted it to.
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The once still and peaceful afternoon was interrupted by a loud bang that surely was strong enough to make the walls tremble.
The said bang was the sound of King Arthur stepping into his chambers and slamming the door behind him as hard as he could. With the door closed he set his eyes on the one other person in the room, namely his servant; Merlin, who sat frozen by the table holding a silver goblet in one hand and a polish cloth in the other.
The servant's eyes were wide open and he was breathing fast. Arthur's sudden appearance and the loud noise had startled him from his daydreaming as he polished the silverware before him.
"What the hell are you doing?" Merlin blurted out. "You almost gave me a sodding heart attack!"
Arthur continued to glare at his servant with the most threatening and furious look he could manage, a look only the ones the king had slayed in battle had received before. It even made Merlin lean back a bit in his chair; almost feeling frightened. Usually he was unbothered by any of Arthur's intimidating faces his master could pull.
The king raised his hand and pointed forcefully at his servant as he stomped into his champers. "You-"
"What?" Merlin frowned and followed Arthur with his eyes.
Arthur growled and grabbed the goblet in Merlin's hand and with a roar he swung it as hard as he could into the wall just beside the door. Merlin's hands shoot up in surrender when Arthur once again fixed his eyes on his servant.
"Whatever it is, sire, it wasn't my fault!"
"It better not be!" Arthur growled. "Help me out of my armor!"
Instead of taunting the king by saying 'say please', he stood up quickly and did as he was told (for once). It was really not the right moment to add fuel to the fire. Merlin was fairly certain that the king might actually kill him this time if he would say something wrong.
"What on earth has happened to you, sire?" Merlin asked carefully as he helped Arthur get out from his heavy chainmail.
"Happened?! I'll tell you!" he said with a raised voice when he finally was free from his battle gear. "I-"
Merlin raised his eyebrows when the king abruptly stopped speaking. "Yes?"
Arthur's face turned slightly red and he turned away from his servant and walked to his desk instead. He sat down heavily on his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, looking very surly.
Merlin tried not to smirk at the king's flushed face. He put the armor away on its place in the wardrobe before he approached Arthur.
"Sire?"
The king muttered and glared down at the table at his unfinished paperwork that he had abandoned earlier that morning, avoiding looking at Merlin.
"Arthur? You're not going to tell me?"
"It was so- so… RUDE! How dare he!?" he yelled and slammed his clenched fists down on the table before him.
Merlin frowned. "I'm sorry but who did what?"
"Derek of course!" Arthur shouted as it was clear to everyone who he was talking about.
"Samuel's apprentice? What did he do?" he asked. "Did the sitting with Samuel not go well? Did the painting not please you?"
"Please me?" spluttered Arthur.
And Merlin could tell that his last sentence caused a strong reaction from the king. The warlock could not imagine what could have possible gone wrong. The king was supposed to pose for a new painting that Samuel, the artist, was creating of the king. Nothing unusual with that, Arthur had many times been portrayed from time to time by the elderly artist ever since Arthur was a child.
Samuel have always been very talented, the very best artist in Albion. That was the reason he was allowed to paint portrays of royals. He always made his paintings look so full of life, so realistic that it looked like it was the real person sitting there within the frame and not an image.
Many artist, novices and experts alike looked up to Samuel and praised his talent. Over the years the now rather elderly man had had many students, and Derek is one of them. The young man had been Samuels apprentice for only a year, but he already showed great skills in the art of painting.
Derek was a kind man; Merlin could not understand why the king would get so angry towards him.
"Did Derek spill paint on you or something?" Merlin wondered, the only reason he could think of that could perhaps anger the king. But such a minor reason could not possible be the reason for such anger, could it? But then again, you never quite knew with Arthur.
"I- He- Gah! That insolent, awful… perverted man!" yelled Arthur. Merlin's eyebrows shoot up at the word perverted but did not say anything. "I'll tell you what he did! He did a painting of me!"
Merlin shrugged. "So?"
"A very rude painting!" Arthur said and blushed. "Of me… wearing nothing but my crown."
Merlin snorted. "You posed nude for him?"
"Of course I didn't!" Arthur screamed. "Don't be stupid, Merlin, I would never do such a thing!"
Merlin grinned. "Really now? How come he decided to draw you in such a way?"
"I don't know! But I want that bloody painting burned and Derek banished from Camelot!"
Merlin chuckled. "Surely you're overreacting?"
"I certainly am not! I sliced that bloody thing to pieces, but you can still see…. everything!" Arthur said and gestured around with his arms. "And then I send him to the dungeons with the guards. Can you believe this, Merlin? The nerve…!"
Merlin laughed. "I am sure he tried to paint you the very best he could, you are after all our great king and I am certain that he tried to pain you in all your glory!"
"You're so funny, Merlin." snarled the king sarcastically.
"I'm hilarious." Merlin said with a smile. "You know, it's too bad you ruined the painting, you should have given it as a gift to Guinevere." he laughed. "I would love to see the look on her face!"
Arthur frowned. "Are you saying there is something wrong about the way I look?"
Merlin snorted. "No, of course not sire." he smirked. "Derek certainly doesn't think so."
"Shut up Merlin."
Merlin laughed. "You should be flattered. He obviously put a lot of effort in creating this painting to make you look your best."
Arthur gave him a strange look. "You're saying I look my best nude?" he said slowly. "You better not have any nude paintings of me stashed somewhere, Merlin!"
Merlin gasped. "What?" he laughed. "Why on earth would I? I think you been near strong paint-smell too much!"
"Shut up before I throw you in the dungeons as well!" he growled and stood up. "I've don't need anymore… abuse today!"
Merlin held up his hands. "Okay, I'm sorry, sire." he said with a chuckle.
"I've never been so humiliated! The two maids in the room had themselves a good look at the bloody painting before I got the time to shred it!" he said and blushed. "They could not stop giggling to themselves. This is no giggling matter!" he said frustrated. "And you can wipe that stupid smile of your face as well!"
Merlin scratched his chin and tried to stop smiling, but failed quite miserably. "I take it Derek did not do a very good job then? Perhaps he huh… lessened your eh… greatness as a king?"
Arthur gave him a strange look. "No." he said, "The painting was very accurate, I'd say! There was no exaggeration or reducing either of any kind, thank you very much."
"No exaggeration you say?"
Arthur shifted where he stood. "None what's so ever." he said. "There is nothing I have that I cannot be proud over."
Merlin laughed as he went over to the thrown away goblet by the door, he picked it up and looked for any dents, but there were none. He looked up at Arthur as the king began to speak again.
"Speaking of pride... Derek definitely looked pleased with himself." he said uncomfortably. "Every eh… inch of him appeared quite… proud."
Merlin stuttered. "Oh…" Arthur nodded and looked away.
The awkward silence that followed was shortly interrupted by a knock on the door, and a curious Guinevere appeared in the doorway.
"Is everything all right in here? People have been hearing loud yelling for a while now, but they have been afraid to enter."
"Everything is fine, Guinevere." Arthur said with a forced smile.
"Really? What have you been talking about?"
Merlin laughed. "Well you see-"
"Shut up, Merlin!" Arthur said through clenched teeth.
Merlin ignored the king. "-Arthur here has been-"
"Get out of here, Merlin!" he bellowed and walked swiftly towards his servant. He grabbed the laughing Merlin by his arms and pushed him out through the door.
"Gwen, you got to hear this!"
Arthur growled. "One more word from you, Merlin and you will be locked down in the stocks for a whole year. No pauses. That will be your new home, no matter what season, day or night." Merlin gasped. "I am not kidding."
A paler Merlin gave a small nod and the door was slammed shut in his face. Arthur turned away from the door with a sigh and gave a polite smile towards Guinevere.
"Never mind the idiot; he is just being stupid as always. Now," he said and clapped his hands together, "how does a nice picnic sound?"
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End
Woo my first Merlin-fanfic!
Review please! It is you that keeps me motivated and happy ^^
Oh, you who are feeling sorry for Derek, don't worry Arthur did not actually banish him! It was just something he said without thinking because he was embarrassed. Derek was shorty released from the dungeons also by the way. Not that he really minded being there because one of the guards that took him there never left him. Strange were you can find love sometimes XD
/Eressie