Title: In the eyes of…
Author: boblicy
Summary: In which the servants have eyes that can see what was happening more clearly than anyone else in Camelot.
Disclaimer: Usual no owning original Merlin tv show plot stuff goes here
AN: Several POV shifts will be going on throughout the story.
Chapter 1
No one notices them. No one notices the servants of Camelot who scurried to and fro day to day, maintaining the upkeep of the grand castle that King Uther and his son and countless other nobles lived in. But because no one notices them, no one realizes that they too have eyes and ears that see and hear far beyond what others usually missed.
- -o- -
"MERLIN!"
Was the call that started off Merlin's day as he ran from Gauis's room to the kitchen, to grab Arthur's breakfast from the irate cook, past the long hallways and winding stairways, all to take the already extremely late breakfast to his royal Pratness Prince Arthur. After turning in at ungodly hours last night after mucking up the stables, shining Arthur's armor (how does he get them so dirty in one day!), mending and stitching up ripped royal shirts and trousers, all on top of getting in a couple hours of spellwork studying, could anyone blame him for waking up a little late? But being the big-headed git that Arthur was, it would be beyond him to find compassion to the hard work that Merlin had to do everyday.
"I'm here sire, with your breakfast and everything" Merlin exclaimed as he rushed in through the Arthur's doors and proceeded to set breakfast out on the table and light the fireplace.
"Give it to Merlin to make "sire" sound like a grave insult that probably includes the word prat somewhere in its definition." thought Arthur as he impatiently sat at the table waiting to be served.
"Finally! One would think you were sent by the enemy in efforts to slowly starve me to death! But I know that the only reason why this ridiculous notion cannot possibly be true is that no enemy of mine is idiotic enough to trust sending someone as incompetent as you to do the job."
"If I were so incompetent, then who was the powerful sorcerer who have saved you from all the threats that have plagued Camelot all these years?" was something Merlin dearly wished he could snap back at Arthur, if it did not also mean that his head would be immediately intimately acquainted with the chopping block. So instead, being the extremely clever and witty manservant he was, Merlin pointed out something else, something that if spouted from the mouth of any other servant, would have had their heads rolling before the statement reached its completion.
"Well then your royal pratness, now that you have your very late breakfast that I purposely halved the portions of, I'm off to meet with your enemies, my real bosses, to happily report that I'm successfully starving you. I'll see you after the meeting with your father! Bye!" Merlin yelled as he back out the doors he just came in and down the halls before Arthur could react by throwing something probably heavy at him.
- -o- -
"There he goes again, jesting with his royal Highness as if they were childhood playmates" The servants would whisper in the mornings.
Every morning Merlin would be late to bring Arthur breakfast, and every morning they would argue about something inane, and every morning Merlin would quickly run away to avoid Arthur's wrath. Every once in a while a new servant would come along and gasp at the audacity the Prince's manservant had.
"He was insulting the Prince!" The new servants would exclaim. "How is he allowed to get away with these treasonous acts? Is he not afraid of being executed?"
After hearing these questions the older servants, who have had years of experience watching Prince Arthur's and Merlin's daily interactions, would just turn to each other, then turn to the new ones and with a secretive smile they would reply, "Carefully watch them today, and if you still do not understand by tomorrow, then we will tell you."
- -o- -
tbc.