AN: So this is one of those 'mean noble stories', sort of, but it'll have its own twists and turns :). Hope you enjoy.
The Merlin!whump will begin next chapter.
Written with AnnaDavenport
"Good morning!"
Light came rushing into the prince's room, and he groaned loudly. Was it really morning already?
"It's morning, bright and early, time to get up! Should I get your breakfast? Should I prepare something? You'd better get up or the king might be pretty mad. Remember he asked you to go on the patrol to the border early this morning? You probably don't want to make the knights wait for you and I already saw one of them awake and the others are probably already awake, so you should get up pretty soon. It's not like I'm late waking you up or anything, the sun is just really bright today. So, you going to get up so the king doesn't get mad at us and hopefully you because you're the one just sitting there staring at me rather than getting up and-"
"Shut up, Merlin," Arthur snapped from the bed, where he had been sleeping peacefully until Merlin had burst in. "What time is it?"
"Oh, um, I don't know exactly but the sun has been up for a while and I think it might be later than I usually wake you up but I can't be sure and the only reason I might be later is because Gaius had to go to the lower town early this morning so he didn't wake me up so I slept in a bit, but only a bit! So… It might be around… I don't know… Ten o'clock?"
"Ten?" Arthur yelped, sitting up suddenly. "Merlin you idiot, I am supposed to be leaving in half and hour! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"
"Well, you have a half hour, and it's getting to be less the longer you sit there…" Merlin trailed off. "Sorry?"
Arthur groaned and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "You can't do anything right can you?" He moaned.
"Why would my father make you my servant? Couldn't he just make you one of the knights servants? That would be reward enough." Arthur mumbled as he stood up. "Get me some clothes to change into as soon as I am done eating, I assume you have brought my breakfast up?"
"Uh, no I'll go get that. I thought I should wake you up first, then get your breakfast because that way you have more time to do things before you have to leave and eat your breakfast and everything. Should I go get that now?" Merlin asked with a gulp.
Arthur rolled his eyes then fixed Merlin with a glare, "Yes!" He shouted, "Go and get my breakfast! You are so incompetent." He muttered.
Merlin pressed his lips together to keep himself from retorting, it'd probably only put the prince in a worse mood, and he hurried down the stairs to the kitchen. After the cook finished shaking a ladle in his face and complaining about how she'd had to warm the food several times before he'd finally shown up, Merlin ran all the way to Arthur's chambers, bursting through the door with a gasp.
"H… Here," Merlin panted. "Here's your breakfast, eggs and meat and all. Can I just put it here because I have to make a quick stop at either Gaius' chambers or the kitchen or something just really quick, it'll only take a second because I just got up and woke you up this morning so I haven't really done anything yet so can I just have a second to go get something from one of those places?"
"No," Arthur snapped, "You need to grab my armor and be ready to help me put it in for patrol then you need to saddle my horse and make sure we are ready to leave."
"We? Wait I'm coming too?" Merlin looked rather shocked by this idea. "I'm coming on the patrol?"
"Of course you are, you are my servant and you will need to attend to me throughout the day. Now go make sure everything is ready, we need to leave in twenty minutes."
"Oh, twenty minutes? Wow, okay I'll go get your armor then. One second, I'll be back really quickly, you'll see! It's in the armory, right? Okay, just making sure. Okay, here I go then! Do you want all your breakfast, by the way, every single bit? Are you sure?"
"Just go, Merlin." Arthur said, in a calm, unnerving voice. "Make sure everything is ready or you will be spending all day in the stocks."
"Oh, it'll be ready, don't worry. I've never been on a patrol before, so I'm kind of excited! I wonder what it'll be like… Well, I'll see you soon!" Merlin hurried out the door and into the armory. Some of the knights were already inside, examining swords and determining their sharpness or something, Merlin wasn't quite sure exactly. He grabbed the prince's armor and nodded to the knights, giving them a quick 'hello' and a smile. They didn't return either, which annoyed Merlin a bit, but he shrugged it off and hurried away back to Arthur's chambers where he deposited it in a pile on the bed and then ran away before Arthur could say a word.
Merlin then went down to the stables where he readied the horses. Some horses were already gone, apparently other knights were also out this morning, but there were enough horses for everyone going on the patrol today. Soon there were seven horses ready, one for each knight, one for himself, and one for Arthur. Once the horses were already, Merlin turned to leave, however two knights came in and frowned at all the saddled horses.
"Why so many horses?" The first knight, Sir Calion, asked Merlin.
"One for each member of the patrol," Merlin answered. "Is that wrong?"
"Only the Prince and the two senior knights get horses," the second knight, Sir Bedivere, told Merlin. "You can put the rest away."
"Oh… So what do the rest of us do, walk?" Merlin looked rather confused.
"Yes." Sir Calion said, "Put those away and be quick about it."
"Oh, okay," Merlin nodded, and he began hurrying to get the saddles off the other horses. He realized, suddenly, that he needed to get back to Arthur so he could help him do last minute things before they left and likely Arthur was wondering where he was. This unsaddling thing was not a deterrent he needed, not at all. In his rush, he dropped one saddle several times, which rather annoyed him, however soon the horses were all back in their stalls, and Merlin dropped the last saddle in the rather large pile he'd made. He still needed to put them away the rest of the way, but maybe he could just hide the saddles and do it when he came back? Or, he could, but the knights were still watching him and chuckling slightly. With a sigh, Merlin went about putting the saddles away the rest of the way, and finally the last saddle was in place. It'd need to be cleaned before it was used again because dropping it had put a layer of dirt all over it, but it'd be okay, right? Now he really needed to get back to Arthur.
"Aren't you going to clean those?" Sir Calion asked snidely. "Where do you think you are going?"
"I have to get back to Arthur because he'll need things done before we leave and we leave really soon, so he'll be wondering where I am so I have to go but I'll do these when I come back. I hadn't expected to go on the patrol so I didn't know to get things ready and everything, so I have to hurry back and get things ready for Arthur right now so if you'll excuse me I really have to go."
Sir Bedivere's eyes narrowed and he glared at Merlin. "Do not address the Prince in that manner." He snapped, "You shall only call him Sire or master."
"Oh… Sorry," Merlin nodded slowly. "Of course. So, can I go help him now?"
Sir Calion looked like he was about to order Merlin to clean the saddles but Sir Bedivere grabbed his fellow Knights arm. "It would be best to not keep the Prince waiting." He said and nodded for Merlin to go, "But you will clean these when we get back."
"Oh, yeah, of course," Merlin nodded. He then smiled at the knights. "I'll see you on the patrol! It's my first ever! I'm kind of excited. Sorry, I'll go, I need to help Arth… I mean his highness."
Merlin hurried away and into the castles, the knights watching him carefully.
"Why did he get the job again? I was not at the infamous banquet," Sir Calion muttered. "Why's he so happy about a patrol, it's standard for the prince's servant. Does he really have no idea about any of the standard procedures? It's ridiculous that he got the job. Someone needs to instruct him how to be a proper servant before the king finds out or then he'll really in trouble…"
"But who should teach him?" Sir Bedivere asked. "The Prince doesn't have the time, and I don't know of anyone else who has noticed yet besides us."
"I don't see how they couldn't, he's so incompetent," Sir Calion frowned. "Why doesn't the Prince do something about him? I've heard he yells every once in a while, but what good'll that do with a servant like this one? He seems to bounce back from every complaint the prince comes up with. I wonder what he'll be like on this patrol... What do you think, Bedivere, how can someone make him a better servant because we both know a country bumpkin like that needs some kind of instructing or they'll end up in the dungeons or worse."
"I guess we'll just have to take it upon ourselves to teach him the errors of his ways." Bedivere said, "I think the others would be willing to help us, at least while we do patrol."
"Yes, perhaps so," Sir Calion agreed with a nod. "It's settled then. Let's go tell the others and then we'll show this good for nothing servant how to improve so he doesn't get himself kicked out of Camelot."
The two knights nodded in agreement and then, with smiles on their faces, they left the stables.
AN: So this is just a short intro to a story which is already 48 pages... Please review and tell me what you think :)