Merlin leaned back against the wall off the stable and breathed in the scent of hay and manure that always laid thick in the air. He frowned irritated for himself, if Arthur was going to nag him about smelling like a horse tonight again, he would drag Arthurs royal ass down to the stable himself and force him to try and mock the stable without getting the smell on him. He really thought that Arthur had been even more grumpy and prattish lately, always sending him on more chores than usual and the idiotic prince had even started follow him around claiming that he knew Merlin was slacking off with his duties. Well he dared Arthur to do everything he did and still have the time to safe his sorry ass from everything that seemed to have one thing on their minds, kill the prince. Seriously couldn't the magic world mix it up at bit, maybe try to kill Uther or someone else once in a while? Not that Merlin would like to spend his time protecting Uther of all people, but at least it would spice things up a bit. He sighed and forced himself out of his thought and grabbed the shovel again, just when the stable door opened and Gwaine walked in, singing quietly to himself and had that big smile on his face that Merlin didn't think he had ever seen him without. He felt his heart skip at beat at the sight of Gwaine and couldn't help the stupid grin that spread through his face. So if Merlin was honest with himself he was kind of half crazed in love with Gwaine, and had been ever since they meet on that tavern, and Gwaine had acted so carefree and joyful in himself that Merlin couldn't help but get sucked in. Which had kind of been a problem at that time, since he already was so in love with Arthur, despite his prattish ways, that it hurt sometimes to be even close to him. And he didn't even want to get started on Lancelot, because there he really had have no choice, if you meet Lancelot, you fell in love with him, it was that simple. So in his stupid ways, and here he could agree with Arthurs comments of him being an idiot, he had fallen in love with three guys and neither of them could he be with or would ever notice him someone like him. Sure Gwaine flirted with him every chance he got, but Gwaine couldn't breathe without flirting with everyone and Merlin had himself seen Gwaine sneak off to Elaine's house some nights and he was sure Gwaine was in love with her. And Lancelot was following Gwen around like a puppy, and their whispered conversations was gossip all over the castle. And Arthur, well that was a dream that could never happen. Sure Merlin's destiny was to protect Arthur, to be the other side of his coin but Arthur would never know that, Merlin was sure he was going to die one day protecting Arthur, and Arthur would never see him as anything more than his clumsy and idiotic servant Merlin, with two big ears and a goofy grin on his face. But Merlin was pretty okay with loving his three men from afar, he had spent so much time hiding who he really was that those feelings was just another secret for him to protect.

- Merlin your sneaky minx, didn't see you there! Gwaine shouted when he raised his head and noticed Merlin standing there grinning at him.

- Come on Gwaine, its day time were else would I be if not slaving in the stables? Merlin joked and Gwaine burst out laughing.

- Yeah sometimes I don't know if I want to step inside here to ride a horse or to ride you Merlin, Gwaine flirted and Merlin whacked him slightly on the arm and forced away his blush, he really wouldn't mind if Gwaine decided to ride him.

And that was dangerous territory that he wasn't suppose to think about, especially with other people around, so he shook those thoughts away for later use, preferably when he was alone in his bed tonight.

- So I actually came here to saddle some horses, Arthur wants to go hunting so my guess is that he's out there screaming your name right about now, because he has forgotten that you actually already are in the stable. So help me out and Arthur won't throw something heavy at you, Gwaine grinned and Merlin's inside turned cold.

Not hunting, he hated hunting. He would never understand why Arthur kept insisting to take Merlin with him, especially since Merlin did everything in his power to make sure Arthur never caught anything. I mean sure he was clumsy, he couldn't deny that, but the way he stumbled around and made noises during hunts, not even a drunk person could manage that. So either Arthur knew what he was doing and took him along just to annoy Merlin or he really thought that Merlin wasn't capable of walking two steps without falling down. He didn't know which one of those Merlin hoped actually was true. He and Gwaine quickly saddled the horses, four Merlin noticed and he wondered who the forth man would be and then they lead them out on the court yard where Arthur were waiting with Lancelot at his side. And Merlin decided that god really had a weird sense of humor, really spending the day out in the forest with the three guys he loved, that could not end well. Not that Merlin believed he would throw himself at them or anything, but being in the present of one of them sometimes made Merlin behave like a fool. Saying things that didn't made sense or like the other day when he had actually walked in to a stone wall because he was busy ogling Arthur training the knights, all sweaty and out of breath. So actually being in the present with all three of them with no other people around to distract him, made Merlin afraid that he would say or do something completely idiotic and they would laugh at him.

- There you are, you utter idiot, I've been looking for you! Arthur shouted when he saw them coming towards him and Merlin couldn't help but to roll his eyes.

- Arthur every single morning since I've been your slave... I mean servant you have sent me to the stables, how can you forget that? Oh sorry, look who I'm talking to, the prattish prince himself. Merlin declared and Arthur glared at him and Merlin just smiled like nothing ever happened.

He knew he got away with a lot more than anyone else, if anyone besides Merlin and maybe Gwaine would talk to Arthur like that they would have their head on a chopping block before they knew what hit them. But Arthur had never once actually told him to stop it, and meant it so Merlin would keep on insulting Arthur until his head actually would diminish a bit.

- I'm the prince Merlin, you can't talk to your prince like that, Arthur declared but no one believed he really meant it, so Merlin just shrugged his shoulders and then helped Arthur up on to his horse.

When they all were riding out from Camelot Merlin couldn't help but get a feeling that something was going to happen, his magic was licking at his senses that something wasn't right but Merlin pushed it away, he couldn't actually say to Arthur that they shouldn't go hunting because the magic in Merlin sensed that something was wrong. So he swallowed away the uneasy feeling and kept on riding with his senses on alert.