It was night and the full moon shone pale over Camelot. A lonely man walked down the street. He stopped outside a wooden door and brought out a key, unlocking it, he passed through the gateway and continued through the room to a second door. He hesitated for a moment before entering the room. The firm hand closed the door. The owner of the hand then leaned back and crossed his arms. His blond hair reflected the moonlight and his muscular body made a broad shadow on the wall.
The man, Arthur Pendragon, the prince of Camelot looked down at his master servant, Merlin. The black haired young man was asleep in his bed, mumbling and twitching slightly now and then.
Arthur took a deep breath, like he was going to sigh, and started to cough. The sudden loud noise woke the servant, causing him to rush out of bed, grab a cup of water and hand it to the prince. Arthur took it, drank deeply and sighed in relief.
"Thank you" he said putting down the cup on a table standing nearby. "And sorry, for waking you up."
"It… It´s okay" Merlin quickly said to please his master. A frown appeared in his face. "What are you doing here, sire?"
Arthur looked down.
"I couldn´t sleep."
"So you thought that since I´m your servant I don´t get to sleep either?" Merlin said with a teasing look.
"Watch your tongue!"
Merlin lowered his head.
"Forgive me, sire." Merlin sat down on his bed again. "How.., how did you get in here anyway?"
Arthur lifted his key chain.
"Oh…"
"And the fact that Gaius´s sleeping like a baby."
Merlin smiled.
"Yeah, he´s hard to wake up."
A few moments of silence.
"Merlin, can I talk to you?" Arthur asked looking away in shame. Merlin watched him with a confused look.
"Of course, sire" he answered.
"No" Arthur burst out. "Not as a servant, but as a friend?"
Merlin nodded.
"Sure you can."
Arthur nodded, clearly absent. He sat down on the bed next to Merlin and began pulling his hands through his hair. A sure sign of nervousness.
"The unicorn" he started, breathing heavily. "It was my fault."
"No one blames you."
"But it was still my fault. And I know this should be history, the horn is buried and Anhora is gone…"
Merlin placed a hand on Arthurs shoulder.
"And the unicorn is alive again. You should feel no guilt."
"People could have died, just because I was…" he closed his eyes.
"It´s okay Arthur. Everyone´s fine."
"I´m not."
Merlin frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Arthur sprung up again, hands in his hair.
"It means… It means that I was scared. Okay."
Merlin looked at him with concern.
"Well. It´s… it´s normal being scared of dying. Many people are…"
"I´m not scared of dying!" Arthur interrupted. "I never have been." He turned his back to Merlin. "Sometimes, I think it may be easier, for everybody, if I died." He turned back. "You see, then I wouldn´t be a burden to my father anymore. And Morgana definitely wouldn´t miss my comments. And you… Then you didn´t have to stand me being so mean to you. It´s normal though, the Prince bossing the servant, but I wouldn´t put your life on the line. I… I don't want to do that again… I."
Merlin jumped up.
"Wait, you´re telling me this because you don't want me to die. Why?"
Arthur swallowed.
"I don´t know. It… It may be because you´re kind of the only real friend I´ve ever had." Arthur looked down, ashamed over himself for admitting something like that. It wasn´t like him. He was usually arrogant and pretty mean, so it was a surprise for him when Merlin put a hand on his shoulder. Arthur looked up and saw Merlin smile.
"I´ll always be here Arthur, "he said. "And I would gladly give my life for you any day. Because I´m your servant and you´re my prince, but also as a friend. I promise."
Arthur shook his head.
"That´s exactly what I don't want you to do. I´m supposed to protect you, not the other way around. I´m the prince, it´s my duty."
Merlin dropped his hand.
"Didn´t you just hear what I said?" He asked. Arthur crossed his arms. "I said I´d die for you."
"And I said I won´t let you," Arthur declared seriously. Merlin looked at him and saw on Arthurs face that the friendly talk was over.
"As you wish, sire," he said a bit uneasy. He knew that he would never be able to hold that promise. Arthur turned around and started to walk to the door.
"Don´t wake me up tomorrow, Merlin. I think I´ll sleep a bit longer. And…" he turned around one last time. "Start wearing pants while you sleep." By that Arthur walked out of the room and the house, leaving Merlin standing in his room, wearing only a tunic and his underwear. He sighed.
"Yes, sire," he said before lying down and falling asleep.
AN: Sorry for the quite abrupt ending. My inspiration got depressed, threw itself out of the window, landed on a crow and flew away. Gone forever. …Well, sort of. … Not really. (-_-)
Anyways… Please review and tell me what you think.^^
//Faara