Arthur sighed, staring out his bedroom window. His father hadn't been the same since Morgana's betrayal. Though, to be fair, no one had. None of them had seen it coming. Morgana was loved by everyone. For her to turn so cold-hearted, well, it seemed impossible.
"Good morning, sire!" Merlin burst through the Prince's doors, breakfast tray in hand. Arthur rolled his eyes.
"Don't you know how to knock?" The prince's servant simply grinned.
"Just trying to surprise you, sire." Merlin set the tray down on Arthur's desk, wiping his hands on his shirt. His expression grew worried when the prince said nothing, still gazing out his window. Merlin dipped his hand in the water jug, flicking little droplets at his prince.
"Merlin!" Arthur yelled, glaring at his servant.
"Yes, my lord?" Arthur grabbed one of the spoons off the tray, flinging it at Merlin, who quickly ducked, used to this type of thing. Merlin went to grab the spoon off the floor, keeping a wary eye on Arthur, in case he decided to throw something else at the poor manservant. "You see? Back to your normal prat-ish self." The prince scoffed, and sat at his table to eat breakfast. As Merlin gathered laundry, he hummed a small tune.
"Merlin."
"Yes?"
"Shut up." Merlin stopped for a moment, before humming a quieter tune. He quickly moved about his daily chores, leaving the prince to eat breakfast in silence. The silence was almost worse for Arthur; it allowed him to think about what had happened within the past two months. Camelot has been rebuilding, but it wouldn't be back to itself for a long time.
Merlin made his way quickly through the castle halls. Servants hustled about, carrying on with their daily tasks like they always did. But the air seemed darker, the tone was less cheerful. Lancelot brushed past Merlin, to focused in his thoughts to notice the manservant.
"Lancelot!" Merlin called out to his friend.
"Yes?" The knight glanced to see who was calling his name. "Oh, Merlin! Just who I need to see. Have you seen Prince Arthur?"
Merlin shook his head. "That's what I was going to ask you! I've been searching for him everywhere. Gaius wants to talk to him about the king." Lancelot nodded his head in understanding, stepping aside to let a maid pass.
"Well, if you see him, tell him the council wishes to talk with him about Camelot's current... situation." Lancelot bid farewell to his friend, allowing Merlin to hurry off and find Arthur. After a few moments of asking around, an idea dawned on the warlock. Quickly, he headed to the training yard, and was pleased to find the prince hacking away at the training dummies. He winced as Arthur took the head off two dummies in one side swing of the sword. The prince scoffed, kicking the dummy's head.
"Well, you certainly showed him." Arthur whipped around, nearly lopping his manservant's head off at the statement. Arthur sighed when he noticed who has spoken up.
"Merlin! What were you thinking?" Merlin shrugged. "Oh, that's right, I nearly forgot. You don't think." He opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it.
"I only came to tell you that the council wants to speak with you." Arthur scowled, stabbing the ground with his dirt. "Unless you want me to tell them you are too busy killing all the training dummies?" Merlin was cut off with a smack from the prince, who still said nothing. "So... that's a yes?"
"Merlin, clean my sword, and polish my armor. I'll be in the throne room when the council needs me." Merlin rolled his eyes, grabbing the sword out of the ground. "Oh, and Merlin?" The young warlock looked up to see a glove flying towards his face. "Don't forget to wash that too." A few of the knights could be heard snickering at the boy's misfortune.
"Right away, sire." Merlin muttered under his breath.
Merlin was making his way towards the throne room, wincing at the sound of loud voices coming from the other side of the door. Quietly, he slipped in to see that Arthur was the main cause of the near yelling. The warlock stood next to Gwen, who was listening intently to the conversation.
"What's going on?" He whispered. She turned to him slightly, keeping her eyes on Arthur.
"The council isn't too hopeful about the king's condition, and they want Arthur to step in as sovereign ruler in case he doesn't recover." Merlin winced. That explained his sour mood. "Arthur refuses, saying that Uther will get better." Gwen sighed as the prince continued to argue with the council.
"I'm not ruling yet, and that's final!" Arthur managed to silence the voices. He turned to Gaius, looking for someone to back him up. "Isn't it true that my father should recover?"
"Well, sire..." the court physician seemed hesitant.
"Come on, Gaius. Spit it out." One of the council members urged.
"The king isn't suffering from a physical illness. It's more of a mental affliction, one that only he can decide whether or not he recovers from." This caused the council to murmur amongst themselves. "But," Gaius began again, silencing their whispers. "I believe that the king can make a full recovery." Arthur nodded, satisfied.
"Thank you, Gaius." He shifted to address the council. "Now, there's nothing to worry about. Meeting adjourned." As the council began to disperse, Merlin noticed the melancholy expression that had made its way back onto the prince's face. He let out a sudden, sharp breath when Gwen elbowed him, hard.
"What was that for?" He hissed, rubbing his ribcage. That was going to leave a bruise.
"Try and cheer him up!" Gwen jerked her head in Arthur's direction.
"Me?" Merlin asked incredulously. "Why me? Why don't you go and cheer him up, give him a kiss or something- gah!" Gwen elbowed him again. "Would you stop doing that?!" The stubborn woman simply gave him a push towards Arthur. Merlin sighed, walking up to him. The prince didn't even acknowledge his servant, he simply stared at the closed doors to the throne room. Merlin cleared his throat, attempting to get the man's attention. Still Arthur paid no mind to the warlock. Merlin cleared his throat again, louder.
"If you have something wrong with your throat Merlin, talk to Gaius." Arthur muttered, sitting down on the throne. Merlin turned towards Gwen, an irritated expression on his face. He pointed at Arthur in an "now what?" gesture. Gwen simply waved her hand, mouthing for Merlin to try again. The servant rolled his eyes, shoulders drooping. He turned back to the prince.
"Sire?" Merlin started. Arthur gave a slight, noncommittal grunt in response. "I wanted to tell you... uh..." Merlin glanced around hopefully for an idea. He should've planned this ahead of time. Arthur was looking at the manservant expectantly now, waiting for him to finish.
"Yes?"
"Well, you seem down lately, so I thought- well, Gwen thought- I mean..." the prince scoffed at Merlin's stuttering. "I thought that because you seem in need of cheering up, that you and some of the knights could go on a... hunting trip?" Merlin felt like kicking himself as soon as the words left his mouth. Arthur going on a hunting trip meant that Merlin would be going on a hunting trip. The prince seemed to consider the idea for a moment, his expression brightening slightly.
"That's... actually not a bad idea! Well done, Merlin." The warlock grimaced, passing it as a smile. "Begin the necessary preparations. And don't forget to sharpen my sword before you pack it!"
"Of course, sire." Merlin bowed his head slightly, making his way out of the throne room, where he found Gwen waiting.
"Well?" She asked, her arms folded.
"He wants to go on a hunting trip." Merlin told her. She smiled.
"That's great news, Merlin!" Gwen turned, starting to leave. She paused, facing Merlin. "Thank you. I just hope that this gets him out of the slump he's been in the past two months." Merlin watched as she quickly left him.
"Oh, yes, great news." He muttered irritably. The angry servant began to make the preparations for another one of the prince's... oh-so-wonderful hunting trips. Yet another mistake made by Merlin.