"Merlin, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Merlin replied happily, looking up from his newly acquired sword. "I'm coming with you."

"Merlin, the battlefield is no place for a servant," Arthur sighed, running a hand through his already dishevelled hair, "especially one with swordsmanship as appalling as yours!"

Far from being discouraged, Merlin set about looking for any imperfections in his weapon's surface with a sly smile.

"If I'm not there, who else is going to save your royal backside?" he joked lightly, not taking his eyes off the sword.

"My knights!" Arthur shouted exasperatedly, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration and turning away while Merlin just smirked at his sword. Why did this idiot constantly insist on putting himself in unnecessary danger? And why did Arthur keep letting him?

Attempting (unsuccessfully) to drown out the little voice in the back of his head that insisted on pointing out how Merlin's steadfast determination to stand by his side – no matter the situation – was more than a little flattering, Arthur turned back to Merlin."You would just be getting in the way if you were there," He tried, searching for the right words to make Merlin understand. "Anyway, I can't spare any of my knights to babysit as you hide in the side lines. Not on a battlefield. Not in a war."

There was a soft sigh as Merlin finally lifted his eyes from the sword and met his friend's gaze with a small sad smile.

"Arthur," he began softly, taking a step towards his King "there is absolutely nothing that you could say to convince me to stay behind. My place is by your side and it's where I intend to stay. Till the day I die."

The utter seriousness and loyalty in his friends tone hit Arthur right at the core. There were times that Arthur forgot about this side of Merlin. The side that was normally masked by the clumsiness and idiocy that his servant was famous for. But there were times that this other Merlin surfaced. The man who had shown unfailing loyalty to Arthur since he had arrived in Camelot all those years ago. The man who stood unafraid by his side through many a lost cause. The man who gave people the strength and confidence they needed to go on, even when all seemed lost. When Arthur looked in his eyes, he felt no fear. Only a calm assurance that everything would be alright, as long as he had his manservant by his side. Of course, this moment of revelation was interrupted as a sly grin slid across Merlin's face.

"Anyway," he called over his shoulder as he abruptly turned and walked to where the knights were gathering, "I care a hell of a lot about that armour. I'm not going to let you mess it up!"

Laughing quietly to himself at the memory of those words, Arthur followed with a new spring in his step. He didn't know how he had done it, but Merlin seemed to have managed to lift the weight of the world off his shoulders.