Author's Note: This is my first Merlin fanfic, so I'd really love some feedback! I hope you like the first chapter. :D

"Meeeerlin!"

At the sound of his name, Merlin awoke with a start.

Where was he? He took a quick glance around the dim-lit room. Ah, yes. He had been asleep in bed.

Right.

And by the sound of it, he seemed to be the only one in the entire castle still not up.

Boy, Arthur's going to be mad, he thought while yawning involuntarily. Speaking of which...

"Merlin, what's taking you so long?" asked Arthur, his voice getting nearer by the second. The bedroom door finally swung open, and there, dressed up all by himself (which had to be a miracle), stood the King of Camelot, frowning as he took in his surroundings and his servant's weary expression .

"There you are! Queen Annis and her men are about to arrive." He took one glance at Merlin's attire and sighed. "Look, I know I said I didn't care what you wore today, but you could've at least found a clean shirt to wear – even I'm being forced to dress up a bit."

Merlin just sat there, his mind blank, as Arthur sighed once more.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten about Queen Annis' visit?"

"Uh, no! No, of course I haven't forgotten," Merlin laughed nervously. "What do you take me for, a complete idiot? Ha. Haha. Hahaha…"

The King rolled his eyes then proceeded to exit. "Five minutes," he warned, "I'm giving you five minutes to be in the courtyard and ready, or else I'll have George replace you permanently this time, understood?"

"Yes, sire!" said Merlin, as he hastily scrounged for a nice shirt to wear. Once Arthur had left, Merlin couldn't help but smile proudly at the king's improving preparation skills.

Wow, he wondered, if I had known Arthur would start getting up on his own, I would have made him marry Gwen earlier.

Only a week after she had been crowned Queen, Gwen's rule had already begun to show its effect on the people of Camelot. Not only were they all happier, but they felt safer too, and peace had been restored. The kingdom certainly seemed to agree with her place on the throne, despite being the daughter of a blacksmith.

Merlin shrugged on his signature brown jacket and quickly made his way down to the courtyard. By the time Arthur spotted him, a fitting punishment had already formed in the King's mind.

"Great timing, Merlin!" he grinned cheerfully. "I need you to muck the stables."

Merlin spluttered in protest, "But I only cleaned them yesterday!"

The king only laughed. "Well, you'll think twice about sleeping in then, won't you?"

Sighing heavily, Merlin slowly made his way to the stables to begin working. If only Arthur knew how much I've done for him, he thought bitterly. Maybe then he wouldn't be such a clotpole…

Merlin had been sweeping up the last of the remaining dirt when he heard someone come in. Careful not to alert the intruder, he looked back quickly, but saw only the horses.

Stop behind so paranoid, he thought, as he turned back to his work.

A few moments later he heard the same noise again – a rustling of some sort. Startled, Merlin grabbed his broom and held it in a somewhat threatening manner towards the direction the strange sounds had come from. He received a surprised yelp in return.

"Show yourself!" he declared. With great caution, the figure slowly emerged from the shadows, and at once Merlin dropped his weapon.

It was just a serving girl.

Well, no, he thought carefully. Not just a serving girl – her honey blonde hair and bright green eyes were all too familiar. But where, oh where, had he seen her pretty face before?

The girl looked flustered as she hurried to explain herself. "Uh, sorry! I was just, err… well. I'm Clara, in case you were wondering. Which you probably were, seeing as you don't know who I am... Oh, dear. I'm not making a very good first impression am I?" She hid her face, and mumbled, "I'm just going to go disappear now…"

Merlin couldn't help but laugh at her bashfulness, and he replied, "Personally, I think it's a pretty good first impression - considering I'd been just about ready to kill you."

This time it was Clara's turn to laugh, "Kill me? With a broom? I don't think so."

Merlin grinned, and then extended his arm in greeting. "I'm Merlin by the way – I work for the King. As his, uh… advisor." More like personal slave.

Clara took his hand and shook it firmly. "Advisor, huh? I wasn't aware mucking out stables was part of the job." She smiled knowingly, and said, "It's nice to meet you at last, Merlin. I've heard quite a bit about you and your… advising."

Well, that certainly ruined his plan to impress her - though he had to admit he was a bit surprised that anyone had bothered to remember him at all, let alone talk to her about him.

"Who exactly did you say you were again?" he asked curiously.

Clara quickly back-tracked, "Oh! Sorry - I'm Queen Guinevere's Lady in Waiting."

Ah. That would explain why her face had looked vaguely familiar. But, then again, he hadn't seen her much around the palace this last week, which was strange considering Arthur and Guinevere shared a room now. Ugh. Arthur's early wake-up calls had sure gotten awkward…

"How long have you been in Camelot?" questioned Merlin, eager to distract his mind before he grew nauseous. "I've never seen you around before."

Clara nodded, "You wouldn't have, really; I just arrived from Engerd yesterday. Gwen – I mean, the Queen – asked for me personally, if you can believe it. I'd met her a few months back you see, when she was in exile, and she'd needed a place to stay. I had this motel then, passed down from my mother, and I'd lent her a room for a bit; she must've heard we'd gone out of business since then, because next thing I knew, I was given a job in the royal palace! Couldn't believe my luck…" She looked up at Merlin, suddenly shy again. "Sorry, am I rambling again? It's a bad habit."

Merlin shook his head, and said, "No, no! Not rambling. More like… I don't know. But I like it."

He smiled at her reassuringly, hoping she got the message. She must have, because she grinned back at him.

"To be honest," Merlin added, "The talking cheers me up a bit. It's been pretty lonely lately, what with Gwen being Queen now and all. No one fun to talk to."

Clara raised one eyebrow, an amused expression playing her delicate features. "No? Well, hopefully I can change that. With the rate I talk, you'll wish I'd never come at all."

Good humour shone in her emerald eyes as she exited the stall, leaving Merlin certain that what she had just said would never become a reality.