A/N: I have written Morgana more as she is in the first seasons of the show. Basically, she's good. :) Happy reading!
"MERLIN!"
Arthur's shout echoed down the corridors of the castle as he marched towards his unfortunate servant. Merlin, startled out of his late-afternoon nap, tumbled off the chair and onto the floor, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He scrambled to his feet and wildly looked around for something to do, eventually grabbing a nearby brush after dithering for a few moments. By the time Arthur burst into his bedroom, Merlin was busily scrubbing away at the table.
Arthur scowled. "What are you doing?"
Merlin looked up, innocently surprised, as though he had been too engrossed in his task to hear the prince enter, stand over him and fold his arms. "Scrubbing," said Merlin.
"With a clothes brush?"
Merlin looked at the brush in his hand and gave Arthur what he hoped was a winning smile. "Yes. Gaius said it would be more effective than your average scrubbing brush. We servants have to know these tips and tricks."
Arthur narrowed his eyes, clearly not believing Merlin's lie for one second. "You really need to brush up on your excuses," he said, and Merlin snorted. "You should have rescued me from that councillor's meeting an hour ago. It was the dullest thing I've ever attended, and I grew up listening to the king's speeches." He strolled behind his changing screen. "I must dress for dinner."
"This early?" Merlin asked, frowning out of the window at the position of the sun in the sky. "Who are you dining with?"
Arthur's red shirt, the second one on that day, flew over the top of the screen and landed in a heap at Merlin's feet. "Just my father and Morgana. No one special."
Merlin threw the useless clothes brush on top of the wardrobe and took out a fresh shirt. "This is unusual effort," he remarked under his breath. "Makes a nice change."
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" he called back quickly.
Arthur's head appeared round the screen and he glared at Merlin. "It is not unusual," he said. "As a prince, I must make an effort with the way I present myself to the world. Which is more than can be said for you." He looked Merlin up and down and wrinkled his nose. "Do you ever wash?"
"Frequently," said Merlin defensively. "But we don't all have excellent servants who take care of our laundry for us."
"Excellent servants? Maybe I should get myself one of those," said Arthur, his voice muffled slightly from within the fresh shirt he was pulling over his head.
"You already have one," Merlin said.
"Oh, is he hiding behind you?" said Arthur, pretending to peer behind him. "Can't see anyone."
"Very funny." Merlin rolled his eyes.
"Get me that jacket, will you?"
"This one?"
Merlin fetched Arthur's brown leather-lined jacket with the padded shoulders. Arthur put it on, struck a pose in the mirror (to which Merlin had to clap a hand over his mouth to stop himself from spluttering with laughter) and took it off again.
"What's wrong?" Merlin asked, the smile fading from his lips.
"It's not right," said Arthur.
"What?" Merlin said incredulously.
"It's not working for me," replied Arthur stubbornly.
"Working? It's a jacket! Stop being such a princess," muttered Merlin as he drew a dark-blue studded jacket out of the wardrobe.
When he turned back to the room, Arthur was messing about with his hair and peering at himself in the mirror.
"I mean, I knew you were arrogant and all," said Merlin with one eyebrow raised. "But I didn't realise you were this vain."
Arthur didn't even bother to look in his servant's direction. "Shut up, Merlin."
Arthur tried on the blue jacket and had barely worn it for two seconds before he had shrugged it off again and declared it "not right". Exasperated, Merlin returned to the wardrobe. They went through this rigmarole a total of seven times before Arthur finally decided on the brown padded jacket he had put on first.
"Really?" said Merlin, totally unimpressed. He flung the previous jacket into the wardrobe and folded his arms crossly.
"Yeah," said Arthur, admiring his reflection in the mirror. "Now I'm ready."
"And also late," added Merlin.
Arthur, whose mind this had clearly escaped, shot out of the room like a scalded cat with Merlin pounding after him. "What's the hurry?" Merlin panted. "You've been late for dinner a million times before!"
Arthur didn't bother to reply as they ran down a flight of stairs. He skidded to a halt outside the king's chambers, took a deep breath and entered it with more decorum than by which he had come. Merlin, who was red in the face from the exertion and unexpected burst of exercise, arrived half a minute after the prince and had to bend double, clutching at the stitch in his side.
"You're late," King Uther said coolly as his son arrived with his ungainly servant.
"I'm sorry, sire, my manservant was late to attend me," Arthur said smoothly.
Merlin's jaw dropped at this outrageous lie.
"I could put him in the stocks, if you wish," said Uther.
Merlin's eyes popped as he goggled at Arthur.
"As tempting as that is, I shall simply give him extra chores," said Arthur, taking his seat at the king's right. He had to hide a grin imagining what Merlin's face looked like, but resisted the urge to look.
"You are far too lenient, Arthur," the king said, taking some meat off one of the large silver platters in front of him. "It is not acceptable that he keeps you from your king and father's command."
"Well, we are honoured that you eventually decided to grace us with your presence," Morgana said dryly. "
Arthur smirked at her. "I know."
Gwen, with a jug of wine in her hands, edged around the walls until she reached Merlin, who still looked faintly ill.
"Are you okay?" she whispered, eyebrows raised.
"Yes," gasped Merlin. "Just…stairs…running…" He gestured to his throat.
"Ah." Gwen hid a smile at her goofy friend. "Here, take this," she said, thrusting the wine-jug into his hands. "I will do the serving. You don't have a difficult job if you keep their cups full." She began to move away to the side-table of food. "And don't drink any," she added, spinning round and smiling.
Uther snapped his fingers and Merlin quickly got his act together and scooted forwards, pouring wine into the king's goblet with shaky hands. Morgana held a hand over her cup but Arthur beckoned Merlin for some wine, holding out his goblet. Merlin, as he was pouring the wine, tilted his jug to the left ever so slightly so that droplets of ruby-red liquid spattered Arthur.
Revenge, thought Merlin, as Arthur scolded him for his clumsiness, knowing full well that Merlin's slip up had not been an accident.
Morgana, sniggering, made a snippy remark, and she and Arthur contented themselves with bickering for the next half hour.
"Enough," said Uther, leisurely holding up one hand and smiling jovially at his son. "Arthur, you will never win against Morgana. Her wit surpasses most men I know."
"That is not true," said Arthur, embarrassed. He stared at his empty plate.
Morgana laughed and gave him a brazen smile whilst Arthur scowled. "Even as a child, I was quicker than you, in the schoolroom and on the training field," she said.
Uther chuckled, appreciating Morgana's teasing.
"You would never be good enough to join the knights of Camelot," said Arthur, with the air of a man trying to regain his dignity.
"Forgive me for not wanting to prance around with you girls all day, playing with my hair and occasionally knocking some swords together," Morgana laughed.
Arthur glanced towards Merlin and Gwen, and his cheeks were oddly pink. He stood up. "I shall not stay here only to be insulted," he said. "I will retire to my chamber."
"You need an early night," smiled Morgana sweetly. "I understand."
The king chuckled again.
"Goodnight, my lady," said Arthur stiffly. "Goodnight, my lord."
"Sleep tight, Arthur."
"Come on, Merlin," snapped Arthur, sweeping out of the room without even looking in his direction.
"Great," Merlin whispered to Gwen. "Now he's in a bad mood. And who bears the brunt of it? Me, that's who." He sighed, but smiled at his friend. "I'll see you later."
"Bye, Merlin."
As he followed Arthur, the sound of Morgana's silvery, tinkling laugh followed them down the corridor.
"Can you believe her?" Arthur seethed.
"She has a point," laughed Merlin, but stopped abruptly at the look Arthur shot him. "I mean-"
"What an evil old troll Morgana is," he said grumpily. "I'll get her back for this." He tore off his jacket. "The effort of choosing that blasted jacket wasn't even worth it." Merlin smirked knowingly at this and Arthur turned on him. "Wipe that smug smile off your face," he said sharply. "You have a load of extra chores to do for making me late for the king-"
"But I didn't! You're a liar," Merlin protested, immediately outraged.
"I meant, you have a load of extra chores to do for spilling wine all over me," said Arthur, smiling sweetly. "Maybe you'll be more careful next time." He took his shirt off and threw it at Merlin's face.
"It was hardly all over you," Merlin said defiantly. "You know, Morgana's not the evil old troll. You are."
"You can start by washing these wine stains out. Off you go," smiled Arthur, seemingly returning to high spirits at the sight of Merlin's irritated face.
It was at times like these when Merlin wished he could use magic to trip Arthur up or something, but instead muttered unflattering things about the prince all the way down the corridor. It would be a long time before he got back to Gaius, his dinner and his soft bed.
Arthur walked away, sighing, back to his chamber.
She had barely even noticed him.
The next morning, Merlin was up early and on his way to prepare Arthur's breakfast, making good time. He hoped Arthur's sour mood after Morgana's teasing had melted away but, knowing his luck, that was unlikely.
"Rise and shine," he said, throwing the shutters of the window open and pushing the curtains back.
From his bed, Arthur grumbled and rolled over. "Get lost," he said into his pillow.
"Good morning to you too," said Merlin, who was extremely used to Arthur's morning manners. "Your breakfast's here." He rapped on the table, and Arthur slowly tumbled out of bed. His fair hair was in a tousled mop on his head as he looked around with bleary eyes. "Eurgh," said Merlin, watching him. "I'd say it was a good thing you're smart…but then I'd be lying."
"Merlin, get my clothes out and kindly shut up," Arthur said, ambling stupidly over to the table where his breakfast awaited. He had just put a grape into his mouth when there was a knock on the door. "Get that, will you?" he said with his mouth full.
Merlin obliged, walking over to the door and opening it. "Hi, Gwen," he said brightly.
Gwen, who was dressed neatly in a blue gown, looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, smiled. There was a small white gillyflower tucked behind her ear. "Hi, Merlin," she said. "I have a message for Arthur."
"It's not a pretty sight, I warn you," Merlin replied. He pulled the door open and stepped back so Gwen could enter the room.
"My lord, Lady Morgana has asked if you would like to ride with her at midday once you have finished training the knights," Gwen said. "She wishes to show you that the things said at dinner yesterday were only in jest."
Merlin turned to see Arthur's reaction, especially after Morgana's merciless teasing last night, and his jaw dropped. Arthur was stood there, looking alert and fully awake. His bedhead had totally disappeared and he seemed to be standing rather stiffly, making the muscles in his shirtless torso bulge. Merlin tried to catch Arthur's eye, but he was being steadfastly ignored.
"You may tell Morgana I am looking forward to it, Guinevere," Arthur said graciously. "I will bring Merlin and a picnic, and you can come to keep him company, if Morgana permits it."
Gwen smiled at him. "I'll tell her, my lord. Thank you." She bobbed a tiny curtsey and exited the room. As she passed Merlin, she shot him a grin, but he was still looking at his master in shock.
The door swung shut behind Gwen and Merlin made a face. "Are you flexing your arms?" he asked in disgust.
"No," said Arthur, a little too forcefully, and his shoulders relaxed.
Merlin laughed at him, not bothering to hide his amusement. "You've gone bright red," he said.
Arthur glared at him. "That will be all, Merlin," he said tightly. "I do not need your help at the training session this morning so go and do whatever Gaius makes you do in your spare time – go pick herbs or something." Merlin shook his head in mock despair and turned to leave. "Oh, and Merlin, get a picnic ready and make sure you're in the courtyard at midday. Do not be late."
"When am I ever?" said Merlin, grinning and leaving Arthur to shout a derisive insult after him as he strolled down the corridor.
Back in the physician's chambers, he explained what had happened to Gaius, who was poring over a vast, ancient book as he listened.
"Oh, Merlin," he sighed, looking up and shaking his head at the ignorance of his ward. "Arthur's not acting like that for no reason. Can't you see? He's in love with Gwen."
Merlin stopped so abruptly, he almost fell over his own feet. "What?" he spluttered. "In love-? In love with Gwen? With Gwen?"
Gaius sighed at him. "Yes, Merlin. I've certainly thought it for a while."
"No, no, you've got that all wrong," said Merlin cheerfully, pacing up and down. "Arthur isn't in love with Gwen. I would know!" Gaius watched Merlin as he thought over recent interactions between Gwen and Arthur, still shaking his head in disbelief. "But Arthur's a prince and Gwen's just a servant," he said.
"How observant you are," said Gaius dryly.
"No, that's too weird," Merlin said. He sat down on the bench opposite Gaius and crumpled his face up as he processed the idea.
"When you think about it, it's not really so peculiar," Gaius said. "After all, Gwen is a kind, good-hearted, loyal and attractive young woman."
"Don't tell me you're in love with her too!" said Merlin, making a bug-eyed face. He stood up again and resumed his pacing across the same floorboards.
"Don't be foolish," said Gaius, taking off the spectacles he used for reading.
"But there are plenty of girls just like Gwen in Camelot, all falling over themselves to get Arthur's attention," said Merlin. "Not that I ever get time off to meet any of them," he grumbled.
"You shouldn't question what is in Arthur's heart," Gaius advised. "You should just accept it. And what's more, you should know that Gwen is in love with Arthur too."
"What?!"
"For heavens' sake, Merlin. Do you ever open your eyes?" said Gaius in exasperation. "For someone with so much talent, you can be incredibly brainless sometimes."
Merlin sat down again with a thump. He was quiet for such a long time, concentrating on all the times Arthur and Gwen had ever been around each other, that Gaius put his spectacles back on and continued reading the dusty old tome.
Was Gaius right? Could he be right? Now Merlin thought about it, he realised, as of late, there had indeed been a significant change in Arthur's behaviour every time Gwen had been around. How had he not noticed before? This morning should have been evidence enough.
"Didn't you say you had to be somewhere at midday?" Gaius asked eventually.
"Oops!" said Merlin, jerking himself out of his reverie and leaping to his feet. "I'll see you later!" he called over his shoulder and he hared out of the physician's chambers in the direction of the kitchen.
Audrey, the perpetually-angry chef, had always harboured resentment towards him since he had stolen a freshly-baked bun from under her nose only two days after arriving in the city. Dodging the blows with her ladle, Merlin quickly gathered together the picnic lunch Arthur had ordered and packed it into a wicker hamper almost twice as wide as him.
Staggering slightly under the weight of the hamper, his journey to the courtyard was slower than usual, and he arrived two minutes late, according to the insistent tolling of the Great Bell.
Arthur scowled as Merlin arrived. "It's about time!" he said.
Morgana, looking resplendent in violet silk, was sat on her gleaming white horse as she waited for them. Gwen, on a slightly smaller, grey mare, stood alongside her, and couldn't quite understand why Merlin was beaming knowingly at her. She puzzled over this and mouthed 'what?' at him.
Merlin began making silent shapes with his mouth in an effort to explain his new discovery, but it would have been impossible for anyone to understand what he was trying to say. Gwen shook her head.
"What are you doing?" said Arthur irritably, shoving Merlin towards his horse which was patiently waiting nearby under the care of a uniformed groom. "Stop making a fool of yourself. Hurry up."
The hamper had been secured behind Merlin's saddle and he found it a rather uncomfortable seat, but Arthur wasn't going to care. Eventually, the prince himself vaulted onto his horse, and they were off.
As was proper, Arthur rode ahead with Morgana, chatting comfortably, with their personal servants riding a few yards behind. They didn't have to go far into the Darkling Woods to find a nice picnic spot. It was a bright day, and slanted rays of sun filtered down through the trees of the clearing, casting a green dappled light across the forest floor.
"What about here?" Arthur asked, glancing back at Gwen and Morgana. He jumped off his horse.
"It's lovely, isn't it, Gwen?" said Morgana, pointing at the white star-shaped flowers under the trees. "Gillyflowers are your favourite, are they not?"
Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but Merlin cut her off. "No," he said shortly.
He had decided that this particular clearing wasn't nearly a good enough picnic spot for Arthur and Gwen's blossoming love. He was going to help Arthur out and do them both a favour. With his help, even Arthur couldn't fail to romance Gwen.
Arthur frowned as his unruly servant rode his horse in a circle around the clearing, pretending to inspect it but purposefully trampling down the few scattered gillyflowers Morgana had pointed out. "What do you mean 'no'? What's wrong with it?"
Merlin looked around the pretty clearing for inspiration and said the first thing that popped into his head. "The ground is all wrong," he blurted out. It's- dirty."
"The ground is dirty," repeated Morgana, staring at Merlin's odd behaviour. "Wha-?"
Merlin gave a nervous laugh. "Yes." He suddenly fixed her with a serious stare. "Can't you see?"
The others gazed at him in bafflement. Gwen's mouth was hanging open and she quickly shut it with a snap.
"Merlin," Arthur said, through clenched teeth. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
Merlin dismounted and Arthur grabbed his elbow, drawing him aside. "Yes, sire?" he asked innocently.
"What are you playing at?" Arthur asked angrily. "You're ruining the picnic."
"There's no need to worry," Merlin said cheerfully. "It's all under control."
"What is?" asked Arthur. He began to look increasingly concerned about the questionable sanity of his manservant.
"Arthur, I know," Merlin beamed knowingly at him.
"Oh, help us all," said Arthur, running a hand through his hair, exasperated at Merlin's apparent game of riddles. "Merlin, for the love of Camelot, what do you know?"
Merlin's grin did not falter. He lowered his voice significantly, glancing unsubtly over at Gwen, and winked excitedly at Arthur. "I know how you feel about Gwen."
Before Arthur could grab the front of his shirt and threaten him with a multitude of punishments if he so much as breathed a word, Merlin bounced away to Morgana. Arthur was left reeling. How on earth did Merlin know about his feelings for Gwen? Usually his servant was as oblivious and as stupid as a fly.
"Let me help you down," Merlin was saying in an overly-loud voice to Morgana, who jumped delicately from the stirrups into his arms. "Come on, let's go and find a good picnic spot!" he said.
"On foot?" asked Morgana, looking overwhelmed and faintly scared.
"Yes!" Merlin said brightly, leading her away from the clearing to give Arthur a chance alone with Gwen. He turned and wiggled his eyebrows at his master, not knowing that Arthur was in fact plotting his death in a thousand horrific ways.
Morgana, being pulled behind Merlin, soon tired of his enthusiasm and stopped suddenly. "My feet are beginning to hurt," she lied. "Why don't you go on and find the perfect clearing, and I'll sit here on this rock and wait for you?"
Merlin accepted this and journeyed on alone. Less than a minute later, he stumbled across another, larger clearing. He could hear the bubbling of a spring nearby. Smiling, he began to feel the familiar tingling of magic in his fingers. Warmth surged up his arms, over his shoulders and into his neck until it reached his eyes, which glowed gold. Slowly, he let his eyes move over the clearing, and in the wake of his gaze, magic began to make the air of the clearing shimmer.
The grass suddenly grew lusher and greener, the trees parted slightly to let more sunshine down and exotic, brightly-coloured flowers which had never been seen in Camelot before began to sprout out of the ground. Little grey rabbits began gambolling through the undergrowth and an orchestra of birds began to fill the air with their music. Finally, a carpet of white appeared as hundreds upon hundreds of gillyflowers opened their starry little faces to the sun. Merlin grinned at his handiwork. Arthur better appreciate his effort.
"Here!" he shouted back in the direction from which he had come. "I've found the perfect spot!"
It didn't take long to run back to Gwen and Arthur, having collected Morgana on the way, and lead the horses to Merlin's clearing.
"Wow!" Morgana gasped when the beautiful, colourful clearing came into view through the trees. "Merlin, you were right. Sometimes I forget how beautiful Camelot is."
Merlin shot a triumphant grin at Arthur, who was watching for Gwen's reaction. He was not disappointed as Gwen looked utterly entranced. "It's so beautiful!" she said. "And look at all the gillyflowers!" She smiled at Arthur. "It's like an enchanted forest!"
This was so close to the truth that Merlin had to turn away, grinning and thoroughly proud of himself. Arthur tossed the reigns of his horse at Merlin and offered a hand to Gwen. "See to the horses, Merlin. Make sure they're well-watered," he said, leading Gwen away to sit down.
This was not at all what he had expected. Merlin sulked at this treatment, but as he walked towards the spring with the horses, he turned back just in time to see Arthur lift Gwen's hand to kiss it with all the chivalry of a true knight of Camelot. Gwen giggled as Arthur plucked one of Merlin's perfect gillyflowers from the ground and presented it to her with a flourish.
Merlin grinned. Maybe his efforts had not been in vain after all…
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :)
This little story was only meant to be a bit of light, humorous reading but I'd still be really grateful if you could support me by leaving a review and letting me know what you thought. Thank you!