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Red Sky

The young man watched as the light danced across the morning sky, leaning on the edge of the tower. This, he thought, was the best thing about working in the castle; you could watch the sunrise across the eastern sky. Of course it was a rare occasion that he was actually awake to see this, but then again he hadn't slept the night before. The red light swirled in amongst the blue; a rhyme came to mind:

Red sky in the morning,

Shepard's warning.

Red sky at night,

Shepard's delight.

His mother always used to say it to him when they worked in the fields. He was always awake for sunrise back then. That was another thing that changed. The work here did leave him more physically drained: he was constantly running back and forth on errands here; or helping the knights training; moving targets or polishing armour; sharping swords; running baths or collecting herbs. It was too much! He let out a sigh, it was hard work. He remembered he once yelled at Gaius for the same problem. He couldn't do that now; Gaius had become more reliant on him since being held captive by Morgana. He was weaker but still Gaius. The King was struggling, not really sure who to trust on his council since his Uncle's betrayal. He moved away from the edge of the tower and headed off to the kitchen. Life goes on, he thought glancing back at the sky just one more time. Maybe today would be better.

The young man grabbed the King's breakfast off the side before the cook hit him with a ladle - she had a pretty good aim and a swing powerful enough to be a knight. He turned the corner taking the stairs one at a time, walked for a while then entered a room without knocking, he never knocked. He sat the tray down on the table and strode over to the curtains yanking them open, wincing as the now bright sunlight greeted his eyes. He heard the king moan and turn over in his bed.

"Mornin'." The young man called, walking back to the tray setting it out on the table and started to pick up the discarded clothes from yesterday. He let out a yawn covering his mouth with the back of his hand, he was so tired.

"Merlin!" the king yelled.

"What?"

"I told you I wanted to sleep in." Merlin racked through his mind trying to find this memory, he couldn't find anything of the sort.

"No you didn't." Merlin said grabbing a shirt draped over a chair, he looked outside at the sky trying to judge the time, he still needed to get those herbs for Gaius. He hear the king groan and turn over in bed

"Wake me up in an hour, and close those curtains!" Merlin sighed again, tucking the dirty clothes under his arm, obeying Arthur's order before leaving. At least now he'd have time to get those herbs.

Merlin scurried down the steps taking in a breath of fresh air. He loved that first breath of crisp air in the morning. He nodded to the guards before heading off in the direction of the forest. He needed to hurry if he wanted to get back to wake Arthur in time. He was luck as the herbs Gaius requested were right on the edge of the forest. He would be back with 10 minutes to spare at the latest if things went well. He pulled his thin coat tighter to his body as he walked through the market that was already crowded with people, trying to buy things before work. That's where everything went wrong.

The man was lying by the tavern, Merlin didn't see him as he stepped aside to let an older woman pass and tripped over his sprawled out leg. The man snapped out of his drunken sleep, glaring at Merlin who was now apologising to him, not that the man was paying attention. Merlin ducked his head in embarrassment and moved to continue only to be spun around to face this guy.

"Who do you think you are boy," The man snarled leaning into Merlin's face, alcohol still recognisable on his breath.

"I'm sorry …" Merlin started, only to be smacked across the face with an open hand. No one had done that to him since he and Will almost crushed an old man with a tree. He felt shame spreading across his face. He lowered his head again, not looking the man in the eyes; this only seemed to anger him more.

"Look at me boy!" He yelled and the started to hit Merlin. Merlin tried to remember what Gwaine had said about fighting in taverns, but all he could feel was pain. He fell to the ground a received a few sharp kicks to the ribs, then he finally fought back. Merlin managed to grab the man's foot and twist it, pulling him to the ground. He scrambled to his feet and sprinted off towards the castle not looking back. He ignored the pain as he brushed against people in the crowd, that had started to form around the fight, making his way back to Arthur's room. Gaius' herbs would have to wait.

Merlin made to Arthur's door before the pain became too much, he leant against the wall trying to let the pain subside. After a few minutes it calmed only for his ribs to scream in protest as he stood up. He let out a gasp before shaking his head trying to clear the black spots that were dancing across his vision. He needed to keep moving, forget about the pain. He stood tall before bursting into Arthur's room striding over to the curtains again.

"Rise and shine," could be heard from the open door followed by a 'manly' squeal as a cup almost hit the young man, a maid shook her head, laughing, as she walked past the King's room, everything was returning to normal.

Sir Gwaine hated patrol first thing in the morning - nothing exciting ever happened. He walked beside Sir Percival who wasn't much of a talker. This was boring. He was looking longingly at the tavern when he heard it.

"That's right King Arthur's manservant rolling around in the dirt with that man from the tavern…" Gwaine grabbed Percival's arm dragging him towards the two women holding the conversation.

"Excuse me, my fine ladies…" Percival rolled his eyes, thinking Gwaine was trying to set him up with another girl. "But where you talking about Merlin?"

The two young ladies exchanged looks before nodding slowly. It was common knowledge the knights were protective of Merlin.

"Yes, my lord." the older of the two answered. Gwaine scoffed at the title but the girl continued anyway. "He got in a fight with a man outside the tavern earlier, and he looked hurt." Percival thanked the girls as Gwaine yet again grabbed his arm, this time dragging him towards the castle. Although the motive was shared. They needed to find Merlin.

I've changed a few things review and let me know what you think.