Short-Changed
Merlin shuffled slowly around Arthur's chambers, lethargically shifting items around in an attempt to make the room tidier. Arthur observed his servant's slow pace, wondering what had caused the usually lively man to be so despondent.
"Whatever is wrong Merlin? You're walking around as though you are going to the pyre with a face like a wounded bear."
Merlin glanced at Arthur with a look on his face as if to say 'you can't be serious' before turning back to his chores. Arthur felt personally affronted by the dismissal, from his servant of all people! Striding over to where the servant was folding his clothes, Arthur reached out and grasped Merlin's arm. The resulting reaction left one worried and the other slightly embarrassed. Merlin spun around startled and immediately felt light headed. Arthur suddenly found himself holding his servant up by his arm. Looking down, the Prince realised that Merlin was unconscious, so he did what any reasonable person would do on that situation - he panicked, internally of course, because Princes do not panic.
He gently lowered Merlin to the floor and proceeded to tap his face in an attempt to wake him. When that failed he decided that the person to call was Gaius but realised that he could not leave Merlin on the floor, as the physician would most certainly scold him for not taking care of his ward. Leaning down Arthur placed a hand under Merlin's knees and another under his shoulders, lifting him off of the floor. A frown overtook the Prince's handsome face as he took in how little his servant weighed. It was alarmingly little for such a tall boy, for a boy was what Merlin was, being several years younger than the prince. He gently placed Merlin on his bed, on top of the covers, and once again tapped his face while calling Merlin's name. When there was still no visible response Arthur moved over to the door and ordered a servant to fetch Gaius immediately. With that done, Arthur returned to his task of trying to get Merlin to wake up.
"Come on Merlin, stop be a lazy good-for-nothing, I don't pay you to lay around all day, I pay you to wash my clothes, muck out my stables, clean my chambers, sharpen my sword and polish my armour. Wake up Merlin, please." A note of desperation crept into the Prince's voice as his speech was met with no response.
Hearing the door to his chambers creak open he turned to look at the newcomer.
"Gaius, thank the Gods. Merlin collapsed when I grabbed his arm and startled him slightly earlier and he still won't wake up. What's wrong with him Gaius? And he's so light, I'm pretty sure that he shouldn't weigh as little as he does, I mean, I've lifted children heavier than him."
Throughout the Prince's bout of verbal diarrhoea Gaius's eyebrows climbed higher and higher up his forehead. Taking in the rather bizarre situation in front of him he came to the conclusion that something was most definitely wrong and that the prince was very agitated about it. Going over to the bed he observed his ward, nothing escaping his gaze. After checking his pulse and eyes, Gaius came to the conclusion that Merlin had passed out from hunger and exhaustion. Straightening, the physician turned to face the agitated prince.
"Merlin has passed out from hunger and exhaustion linked to that hunger, sire. If you don't mind could you send for some broth, please? I'll wake him when it arrives."
The Prince nodded and moved to the door, sending a servant to fetch some broth from the kitchens. Closing the door he faced Gaius and asked the question that had been on his mind since the physician started speaking.
"How could this happen, Gaius? I'm know he gets paid enough to have three meals a day. Ok, I might work him a bit hard, but the idiot should know better than to skip meals! I would most definitely give him time to eat a meal, I'm not a monster Gaius - he should know that. This shouldn't have happened Gaius."
Throughout the prince's tirade Gaius remained silent but the moment Arthur stopped he laid into him.
"What do you mean you pay him enough for three meals a day? He barely gets enough for one meal a day, and that's before he sends some home to his mother! I have been meaning to speak to you about this for a while, but I never quite got around to it. I can tell that that was a major mistake on my part and the only person who has suffered for it is Merlin. You ought to be ashamed of yourself Arthur Pendragon."
Arthur looked shocked as the elderly physician laid into him about Merlin's pay. Then he looked confused as he was sure that Merlin was payed enough.
"What do you mean he doesn't have enough for three meals a day, I made sure to calculate enough for him to have three meals a day, plus enough to send home to Hunith as well as have a little to spend on himself. There is no way that he should not be able to have food, I made sure of it!"
The Prince's impassioned speech was meet with a raised eyebrow.
"Tell me sire, just how far do you think five coins goes, hmmm?"
"Five...five coins? Gaius he's supposed to be paid twenty coins a week! Not five, no one can live on five coins a week and still work! Where are the other fifteen coins a week?" Outrage and utter disbelief coloured Arthur's voice as he paced and waved his hands around.
"Twenty coins a week, sire? That's very generous but he most certainly does not get that. Do you pay him directly or is he payed by the head servant?" Gaius asked, slightly abashed.
"He's paid by the head servant, Gaius. My father trusts him to pay his servant, so I thought that it would be fine for Merlin to be paid by him to. I never anticipated that he wouldn't pay Merlin fairly. I'll have a word with him and Merlin will be paid by me and me only from now on. Do you think that will be alright with Merlin, Gaius?" Arthur gazed pleadingly at the elderly physician.
"Sire, Arthur - that will be more than alright with Merlin. I'm sorry I accused you of not paying him properly without all the facts. Can you forgive me Arthur?"
"All is already forgiven, Gaius. You were only looking out for Merlin. Someone needs to do it as it appears that the idiot is incapable of looking out for himself."
A knock on the door interrupted the prince. Gaius answered it and found that it was a servant with the broth for Merlin. He took the bowl, thanking the girl, and closed the door. He gently placed the bowl on the table and went to his medicine bag, pulling out some smelling salts. Returning to the bed he uncorked the bottle and wafted it under his ward's nose. Merlin groaned and stirred awake, recoiling slightly from the offensive smell. Arthur smiled slightly at the sight of his servant awake and somewhat aware.
"Ahh, good to see you awake my boy," the elderly physician smiled down at Merlin. "I need you to sit up slowly and then we'll get you over to the table to have some broth."
Arthur moved forward to help Gaius get Merlin sat up. When the boy seemed steady enough, they helped him to his feet and over to the table where the broth sat waiting. Once Merlin was seated, the physician handed him a spoon and told him to eat slowly, else he might bring it back up again. Eating the broth, Merlin glanced up at the two men sat at the table with him wearing an inquisitive look.
"What happened? Last thing I remember was folding Arthur's clothes and turning around when he grabbed my arm, then….nothing. At least until I woke up on Arthur's bed. What was I doing on your bed, by the way?" Merlin glanced innocently up at Arthur through his long lashes.
"Well Merlin, you were on my bed because you are a complete and utter idiot! Did you really think that I would only pay you five coins a week? No one can live on that while working, no one! If you didn't have enough money to live on then you should have come to me and said, then this whole thing could have been avoided. You wouldn't have passed out from hunger and exhaustion and I would have known that you were not being payed the amount that I said."
Merlin looked confusedly up at the prince from where he was hunched over his broth.
"What do you mean that I'm not being payed what you said. Alfie said that you were paying me only five coins a week because of the awful job I'd been doing."
Arthur stood up abruptly, his chair scraping across the floor.
"I would never pay a servant so little, no matter how poor a job they do. I will most certainly be having a word with Alfie and I will be paying you directly from now on. He will be reimbursing you for all the wages that you have not been given and I will most certainly get to the bottom of why you were not payed the full twenty coins a week. Are you alright, Merlin?"
Arthur looked worriedly at his servant who had started choking on his broth. A couple of hard slaps on the back from Gaius and Merlin could breathe again. He looked up in wonder at Arthur, his mouth hanging open, doing an excellent impression of a goldfish, if Arthur did say so himself.
"Twenty – twenty coins a week? Really? Thank you Arthur, thank you!" Tears welled up in Merlin's eyes in gratitude. The prince smiled gently at his servant, taking in how young and almost childlike he seemed in that moment.
"Yes Merlin, twenty coins a week, enough to send some home to Hunith and still have enough for food with a bit to spend as well."
Gaius looked on as the young prince and servant smiled at each other and settled into the playful banter that had come to define their relationship. He smiled and thought that if these two were the future of Albion then Destiny had chosen very well.
A.N: Hope you guys liked it. I'm pretty proud of it. Just wanted to say that I know that this concept has probably been done before, but thanks for reading anyway. Please drop a review if you liked it, always open to constructive criticism. Thanks