Summary: What does Merlin do on an average day? Chores (sigh), magic (yay!) and more chores...

Disclaimer: Characters not mine.

It was just an ordinary day like any other. Merlin staggered down the stairs, Arthur's armour spilling out of his arms. His feet and legs felt as heavy as lead from the hundreds of miles he must have covered already that day from all his errands, his back ached from mucking out the stables as well as cleaning Prince Prat's hearth which always required an extremely awkward tilt of his body to be able to reach far enough, and his arms throbbed from doing said Prat's laundry, polishing said Prat's boots and now fetching said Prat's armour from the far side of the castle where it had been discarded after Arthur saw Gwen almost falling over with Lady Morgana's oversized parcels. Merlin grinned as he recalled the sight of the 'No of course I'm not in love with Gwen, Merlin' Prince of Camelot practically tripping over in his haste to strip off his armour and hurry after her.

There was something digging painfully into his forearms – probably the bent edge of the right shoulder pauldron that Arthur had been complaining about for days and Merlin kept forgetting about. With a world-weary sigh, he leant forward against the wall to hold the armour in place with his chest as he shifted his arm to a more comfortable position.

He happened to have stopped by a window. It was merely a narrow slit in the curved stone wall but it was enough for him to be able to see down into the courtyard below. And what he saw made his whole body tense as alarm bells went off in his head.

There was a telling ebb in the flow of people passing through to the busy morning market, and sure enough Arthur strode into view under the covered arches. He was followed by Sir Leon and Gaius, the court physician probably on his way to deliver some medicine.

But what caught his attention was the oddly strategic set up in the courtyard. From his high vantage point he could clearly see the three carts arranged evenly around the centre, with a rope running from one to the next, forming a circle. When he saw a peasant woman concealing something in her hands, peering furtively around from behind one of the carts at Arthur 's group as they approached her location, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was a trap.

Before he could analyse the situation further the woman made some sharp motions with her hands. Merlin caught sight of a spark before she crouched down and, as she did so, a gap beneath the bulky sheeting covering the cart came into view – revealing barrels hidden underneath. The ropes, the barrels, the spark – they all connected in his mind as he realised the contents of those barrels in a heart-stopping moment of clarity – gunpowder!

The rope started sizzling from under the woman's feet and the spark burnt its way astonishingly quickly towards the next cart. Gaius had paused and leant down as a child ran up to him and tugged on his sleeve. Sir Leon had stopped too, listening to their exchange. Arthur, however, continued ahead into the circle of carts about to explode.

An icy cold spread through Merlin. No!

The first cart caught fire – then exploded right behind Arthur.

Arthur was thrown forwards into the air by the blast. He saw the fiery flames leap towards him from the corner of his vision, he heard the deafening roar catching up to him – then suddenly, he felt a warm, quiet softness wrap around his whole body.

The raging flames engulfed him but he felt nothing but mild warmth. All sound abruptly disappeared, leaving only a soft rustle as the comforting feeling embraced him.

Arthur was left too stunned to react when he fell to the ground, but whatever was protecting him from the blast also cushioned the fall to a dull thud. He saw a second explosion rip through the courtyard to his right, then a third to his left. And all the while, as the raging inferno swept over him, he felt and heard nothing.

Magic!

Arthur knew without doubt that someone had protected him. Who would protect me with magic?

He hadn't meant it as a question to whoever was protecting him but he felt the magic barrier shiver about him.

I am Emrys, he heard in his mind.

Even he, who had not a single even remotely magical bone in his body, could feel the gentle voice radiating with immense power. At the thought of such a formidable sorcerer running free in Camelot, fear and anger shot through him.

Calm yourself, my Prince, the voice soothed. I am your guardian warlock. I will never harm you.

Extreme doubt filled him. He couldn't help it, it was an instinctive reaction born of decades of his father's lecturing.

If I wished you dead, I need only to have let you die in the explosion.

Arthur couldn't argue against that logic. He was left utterly bewildered as to why a sorcerer would protect him. They were evil, they plotted to take over Camelot and destroy him and his father. Why then, did this one save him? Who was this sorcerer?

Warlock.

There was a moment of utter confusion. What?

I am a warlock, not a sorcerer.

Before Arthur could ask what the difference was, the voice continued.

Magic in itself is neither good nor evil. Whether it serves to perform good or evil deeds merely depends on who wields it. Much as a sword would be wielded for different purposes by a knight or a bandit.

Could it be true? For the first time, he felt doubt creep into what had until now been a firm belief in what his father proclaimed as fact. He could feel this presence, this protective barrier, all around him on his skin. He could feel nothing evil in it. It felt … pure, that was the only way he could describe it. How could this magic be evil? Or was it a false disguise to hide the evil underneath? But the fact remained that it had saved his life!

You need never fear me. You, Prince Arthur, will one day be a great king. The Once and Future King, who will unite all of Albion. And I will watch over you to the end of my days. Whenever you need me, I will be here. My magic is yours to command.

As the flames died down around him and the last of the debris thrown up by the blasts fluttered down to the ground, he felt the protective barrier shimmer then disappear. He was left lying on the ground in the middle of the destruction, utterly unscathed.

The golden glow receded and Merlin's eyes returned to its usual startling blue. He sighed and shook his head with fond exasperation. The Royal Prat certainly did have an uncannily brilliant ability of finding himself in tight spots. Thankfully Merlin was always there to watch his back – and tidy his room and wash his clothes and exercise his dogs and polish his boots and muck out his stables and mend his armour (when he remembered)... The list was endless. Grunting, he heaved himself off the wall and staggered the rest of the way down the winding staircase, careful not to trip or drop any of the armour.

As he entered the courtyard he edged over to the circle of people around Arthur. There was a stunned silence.

"How -?" That was Sir Leon, summarising everyone's thoughts. Eyes wide, he looked from Arthur, who looked no worse than if he had just rolled out of bed, to the scorched, blackened debris around him, and back again. "What -?"

Gaius had a grim expression on his face, and frowned further when Merlin appeared. He knew what had happened, of course, and was concerned that somebody would guess that magic had been involved. Merlin simply winked at him, then proceeded to carefully arrange his face into an expression of disbelief and suitably dropped his jaw.

"Did something... blow up?" he asked loudly, drawing everyone's attention.

Arthur, having caught sight of his manservant, seemed to anchor onto him to snap out of his daze. "Did. Something. Blow. Up," he repeated in that scathingly mocking tone which spoke volumes of his assessment of Merlin's intelligence. "How perceptive of you, Merlin." He turned to his knight at his side. "Sir Leon, gather the knights and have half of them search everyone and everything to find out who and what caused this, the rest will search the town and see what else they can find out. You lot," he snapped, rounding on the soldiers who had just run into the courtyard as Sir Leon saluted and rushed off. "Assist the knights. Seal off the surrounding area and contain everyone. Gaius, see to the wounded."

"Already on it, Sire," came the physician's calm reply as the soldiers saluted and ran off after the knight.

"And you," Arthur finished as he turned back to face Merlin, but as he caught sight of his dishevelled, lanky manservant he seemed to run out of steam. He simply threw his arms up in the air. "Where have you been? I only told you to fetch my armour, you were gone a full half hour!"

Merlin grinned brightly in response. "And here it is! Do you want to put it on?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Merlin, something's come up."

"I saw, I saw. But it's amazing, isn't it? You're totally unhurt!"

Arthur glowered back at Merlin's maddeningly happy grin. He was utterly confused about his life being saved by magic and needed time to sort it out in his own head. He didn't know what, if anything, he was going to do about the sorcerer – warlock, he amended – and wasn't ready to discuss it yet with anyone, least of all Merlin.

"Don't you have things to do?" he retorted in response.

Merlin, if anything, seemed even more cheerful about not receiving an explanation for how he had escaped unhurt.

"Go polish that armour and make sure you smooth down that pauldron. And my sword needs sharpening. And when that's done –"

"No, no, that's ok," Merlin interrupted before he could be given even more chores. "I've got it, armour needs polishing and sword needs sharpening." He gave a bright smile then staggered away before Arthur could respond.

Merlin glanced back as he reached the archway. Arthur was shaking his head in long-suffering exasperation, but he was striding away with his usual self-assured step. Merlin grinned and continued on his way, satisfied that he had saved the day yet again and restored the status quo. Yep, it was definitely just another ordinary day.

Thanks for reading! My first fanfic, please R&R - honest comments much appreciated! :-)

Peace, Nanuk888