A/N: For anyone who is following Absolution (my Narnia fanfic), I am NOT giving up on that! I've had this one written for a couple months (all the way done) and just decided to publish it. This fanfiction was with me through a lot of emotional turmoil, so…yep. But I like it and to me, that's the most important part, although I do hope that some other people are able to enjoy it. As usual, I do not own the TV show Merlin or any of the characters/settings/events that you recognize from the TV series. They belong to BBC/NBC/SyFy/all the people who wrote the Arthurian legends that the show is based off of.
It was a very ordinary day in Camelot.
"Merlin, have you forgotten?" Arthur snapped, eyes flashing.
The prince's young manservant looked around, baffled. It seemed as if he had done every chore imaginable in the past few hours. "Forgotten what, Sire?" he asked innocently, glancing around the chamber again.
"My dinner Merlin!" Arthur spat, smacking Merlin on the back of the head. His manservant barely flinched.
"Sorry," Merlin mumbled, turning to leave.
"Idiot," Arthur hissed, loud enough for Merlin to hear.
Once Merlin was out the door and a suitable distance down the corridor, he muttered, "Prat," but continued dutifully towards the kitchens.
As always, servants were scurrying about the kitchens, looking for ingredients and bringing trays of food to their lords or ladies. "I'm looking for Prince Arthur's dinner," Merlin called, looking around for anyone who might be able to help him.
"I believe I have what you need," a crisp voice behind him stated.
Merlin turned to see a young woman about his age holding a tray. He reached to take it as she moved forward, resulting in the tray and all of its contents spilling onto the floor.
"Oh , well done!" the girl snapped sarcastically as she dropped to her knees to recover the fallen tray and its contents.
"S-sorry," Merlin stammered, kneeling on the ground in an attempt to help recover his lord's ruined dinner. "I really didn't—"
"I really don't care what you did not do or did not mean to do!" she cried, mocking Merlin as though he were several years younger than her. "What irks me is that you managed to undo my work with shocking speed and agility! Perhaps this time I should let you prepare the tray and I will bring it up to His Highness!"
Merlin looked around, making sure that everyone in the kitchen was too busy to pay any mind to their conversation. "Just…put it back," he whispered.
"What?" the kitchen girl snapped, her tone sharp enough to draw attention.
"You were the one who—"
"I know, but I have no intention of giving the prince food that has fallen on the floor!" she said vehemently.
"It won't kill him. Besides, he's a bit of a—" Merlin cut himself off, glanced around the room and leaned closer to the girl.
Unfortunately, she moved when Merlin did and their heads collided. "Ouch," she murmured, squeezing her eyes shut in pain. "Just…do something. I need to go," she sighed as she arose, leaving Merlin sitting on the floor.
He began to recover the contents of Arthur's tray, wondering why everyone seemed to be so irritable today.
Arien practically danced through the corridors of Camelot. Her work for the day was done and she was free to enjoy the bit of daylight that remained. As she walked, she saw the boy who had brought Prince Arthur his food earlier. I ought to apologize. He didn't mean to knock the tray over, she pondered, approaching him. "You brought the prince his dinner today, correct?" she called.
The young man started and nearly ran into a column. "Uh, yeah," he replied, looking quickly around.
"I wanted to apologize for snapping at you earlier. I'm…not exactly used to how busy it is here, and it can be a bit overwhelming at times," she confessed.
"No, no, it's all right. I'm used to it from Arthur. Worse, actually," he revealed, smiling.
Arien looked around cautiously. "And you are not afraid of speaking of the prince so…unfavorably?" she inquired.
"You could say that we have a bit of an understanding," he explained.
"I see. You are his manservant?" she wondered.
The young man nodded vigorously. "Yeah, my name's Merlin," he stated, extending his hand.
"Arien," she replied, shaking his hand with a smile.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, but I've got to go clean Arthur's armor," Merlin revealed, making an expression of disgust.
"Sounds thrilling," Arien remarked sarcastically. "I suppose I shouldn't detain you any longer…but maybe I will see you tomorrow?" she pondered.
"Yeah, I hope so. Not that I'll be disappointed if I don't but it'd be nice if—"
"Are you always so…awkward around women?" Arien asked him, trying to hide her smile.
"Course not," Merlin muttered, nearly running into the column again.
"As I thought," Arien remarked, smiling slyly as she walked away…and into another servant.
Merlin turned, hiding his grin as Arien apologized profusely to the middle-aged woman she'd nearly knocked over. "It's contagious," he whispered to her when she turned around.
"Apparently," Arien said as she walked away, waving to Merlin.
For a few minutes after they parted, Arien and Merlin both wore ridiculously massive grins.
"How was it, Arien?" Aurelia asked as her young friend entered her petite cottage.
Arien groaned, pulling her fingers through her hair. "I finally understand why you come home in such a foul mood some days," she confessed. "It's not easy work. At times, it seemed like it'd never end."
"But you worked quite a bit back in Greendale. Is this really so different for you?" Aurelia wondered.
"I worked for my family back home, so I could take a moment to rest now and then. Now, it's just running around for hours on end. If anyone sees me standing still for even one second, they immediately tell me to do some pointless little task!" Arien exclaimed agitatedly.
"Be glad that you got the job you have, though. I hear that the royal family's servants have the worst of it," Aurelia said, trying to comfort her young friend.
"I can imagine. I met Prince Arthur's manservant earlier and from what I could tell, he wasn't overly thrilled about his master," Arien explained.
Aurelia's eyebrows arched mischievously. "What did you think of him, Arien?" she asked, a smile upturning her mouth slightly.
"He was very nice," she replied, her tone incredibly civil.
"Of course. That's how it will start," Aurelia remarked. "First, it's, 'Oh, he's a very nice boy,' then you'll be saying, 'How I love the prince's manservant! He's so handsome and dashing and I want to kiss him all day!' Then one evening you'll come home with a ridiculously large smile on your face and I'll get to hear the story of your first kiss," she explained, impersonating Arien's voice in a rather unflattering manner.
"I don't believe you'll be hearing that anytime soon," Arien revealed.
Aurelia grinned. "I am an expert, Arien. Before meeting Omar, I made plenty of my own mistakes, one of them being my failure to realize how valuable Omar was at first."
"Ah yes. He should be asking for your hand quite soon now, no?" Arien inquired.
Immediately, Aurelia blushed. "I couldn't tell you," she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper.
"So eager to talk about my romantic life—which doesn't even exist—but as soon as there's mention of your own, your face goes red as a tomato," Arien pointed out, trying not to giggle.
"Oh hush," Aurelia said, playfully shoving her young friend. "Remember who is providing you with food and shelter."
Arien replied, "I couldn't forget. Which reminds me…thank you. If you hadn't opened your home to me, I'd be…"
"Living on the streets?" offered Aurelia.
"I was actually thinking 'dead,' but that would also fit nicely," Arien pondered.
"Either way, you're very welcome. Life is considerably more interesting with you around…and it may get even more fascinating once you and—what was the fellow's name?"
"Merlin," Arien provided, sounding rather unhappy, though she was blushing.
"Yes, once you and Merlin begin to write your beautiful love saga, I will be quite glad that I took you in," Aurelia stated, mischief glinting in her brown eyes.
"Oh dear," Arien sighed. She already knew that Aurelia was greatly enjoying her nonexistent romance with Merlin.
Merlin's steps were heavy as he strode the corridors of Camelot. He was not doing anything, but he was so exhausted that even walking felt like an unnecessary exertion.
"Merlin!" a cheerful feminine voice called.
He looked ahead to see Arien walking towards him. "Arien, how've you been?" he wondered, smiling wearily.
"Ready to be done," she whispered, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure you feel the same way."
"Oh, you have no idea," he replied.
Arien smiled slightly before saying, "I haven't seen you for a few days…though I assume you've been quite busy, what with Prince Arthur nearly dying."
"Yeah, that took up quite a bit of time," he revealed. Between trips to the Isle of the Blessed, I couldn't do much else.
"I can imagine. Life as a servant is…exhausting," Arien sighed. "But I suppose it will get easier with time."
"It does," Merlin promised. "What did you do before you started working as a servant?
"I lived with my family in the village of Greendale," Arien began. "We had…well, my parents had a farm many years ago, but I can't remember it. We had sheep and pigs when I was young, but we had to butcher the sheep when I was about thirteen. Times haven't been easy for my family, especially since there are eight of us."
"Eight?" Merlin wondered, shocked.
"Yes. My sister, Aurelia, left home a few years ago and came here. I joined her to ease the strain on my family. They won't have me to help with the pigs and weaving, but it's one less mouth to feed," she explained.
"That must have been…difficult," Merlin said.
"Leaving home or knowing that my family was impoverished?" Arien wondered.
"Both," he replied.
"It's strange, leaving somewhere so familiar to pursue something new," Arien pondered.
"I know," Merlin muttered.
Arien looked at him, her emerald eyes urging him to continue. "My mother sent me here because…she thought I could be something more," he clarified. "I didn't—don't—know my father."
"I'm sorry, Merlin," Arien murmured. "It must have been so difficult to leave your mother and come somewhere where you knew no one."
"It was, but…I'm used to it. Things are different for me here," he stated.
"I can imagine so. You went from an ordinary village boy to Prince Arthur's manservant in a matter of days," Arien pointed out, silently asking for a deeper explanation.
"Actually, I was just supposed to help Gaius—the court physician. Serving Arthur just…I dunno, happened," Merlin said.
Arien nodded in response and shifted rater uncomfortably on the spot. She wanted to continue talking with Merlin, but wasn't entirely sure what to say. Outside of her brothers, her contact with the opposite sex had been rather limited.
"So…why did you pick Camelot?" Merlin inquired in a desperate attempt to keep their conversation alive.
Arien smiled. "My sister chose it, actually, so I followed her. I'm glad she did, though—I like it here," she explained. And I like you, but platonically, she thought.
"Well that's good. Camelot is an interesting place to live," said Merlin.
"To me, any place is interesting. Greendale was a very ordinary village and my family was no exception to the monotony. Every day, I would wake up and do the same thing. I suppose I miss that a bit now—at least I was good at everything I had to do. Here—" Arien cut herself off, laughing.
Upon seeing Merlin's look of perplexity, she continued. "My first day here, they decided to let me make bread. Out of everything I've ever cooked, bread is probably what I'm worst at—and the fact that my family never had yeast didn't help very much."
Merlin grinned at her. "And you forgot the yeast?" he wondered.
Arien shook her head. "I wish that was all. I was a bit frazzled, so…somehow, it…um, exploded," she confessed, trying not to laugh.
Merlin lacked Arien's impeccable self-control and began laughing as soon as Arien paused. He looked so happy and free that Arien couldn't stop herself from joining him.
"I'm shocked they allowed me in the kitchens after that," Arien confessed once she'd caught her breath enough to speak. "But it's good that they did or I wouldn't be talking with you right now."
"And I wouldn't have gotten to feed Arthur that interesting meal," Merlin pointed out.
"No, of course not," Arien murmured with a smile. "Did he say anything about any sort of…unusual flavor?"
"Actually, he didn't," Merlin said lightly. "Which is stranger than if he'd mentioned an odd taste."
Arien giggled. "I can't believe it," she said in moderate awe. "How often does this happen?"
"Almost never. Usually the kitchen staff is less friendly than you," Merlin explained.
"Worse than me that day?" Arien inquired, making a face of disgust. "I was very rude to you at first."
"Well, usually I'm not allowed to serve Arthur food that fell on the floor," he clarified, "so what you did was rare."
"Then I'm glad something good happened because of my poor behavior," she murmured.
Before either one of them could speak another word, an angry male voice shouted, "Merlin!"
Prince Arthur strode into sight, his eyes narrowed at his manservant. "Merlin, do you happen to remember what was asked of you twenty minutes ago?" the prince asked, speaking through his teeth.
Merlin stared blankly at his master for a moment. "Get your bedclothes!" he exclaimed, then added in a more resigned tone, "Sorry."
"Right you are, Merlin. The only question that remains is…what shall I do with you now?" Arthur pondered.
"It's not his fault, my liege. I was the one who distracted Merlin from his duties," Arien admitted, her head lowered.
"I can see how that would happen," Arthur mumbled, his gaze shifting bemusedly between Arien and Merlin.
Merlin and Arien looked at one another with wide eyes. "N-no, she didn't distract me like that!" Merlin declared passionately. Arien, who was the color of snow, nodded dumbly at Arthur.
"Whatever you say, Merlin," Arthur remarked, sarcasm heavy in his voice before stating, "Once my bed is made, muck out my stables."
"Yes Sire," Merlin responded as Arthur walked away.
"I suppose I should let you go now," Arien said.
"Yeah, I have to get to work," Merlin added. "But I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Probably. I'll be running around all day—we should meet up at some point," she answered. "Bye, Merlin," she called over her shoulder as she walked away.
"Bye Arien," he whispered once she was out of sight.
Dragging his feet every step of the way, Merlin continued to the stables. He wanted to look for Arien, but he'd neglected his duties enough for one day.
"I thought I'd take over this particular duty for you. Besides, it was my fault that you were detained…so I think you should go."
Arien's voice drifted out of the stables. She spoke quickly so that Merlin could not say anything until she was done. "No, I stopped, so it was my fault too. Arthur would know if I didn't do it anyways," he objected.
"Well, I'll help then. I have a little experience from the pigs back home," she decided.
"These horses are much larger than pigs," Merlin remarked.
"So I've noticed," Arien stated. "Cleaning out the pigpens is one thing that I'll never miss about home…especially since they often enjoyed pushing me in."
Merlin made a face of disgust. "Must've been awful," he mumbled.
"It was…but they ended up down there with me most of the time," she exclaimed, a playful glint in her eye. "So if you even think about—"
"Trust me, I wasn't," Merlin confessed.
"Good," she said with a grin, grabbing a pitchfork from the wall. "I just need to do one…thing," she murmured, propping the pitchfork against the wall.
Arien shook her hair out of its updo and shook it out. Merlin watched in awe as the ends of her hair caught the light for a split second before her loosely curled dark blonde hair fell past her shoulders. "Be glad you don't have this to deal with," Arien griped as she pulled her hair back up.
"Mmm," muttered Merlin, who was staring at Arien in awe.
She glanced in his direction and cleared her throat discreetly. He was so easily enthralled. This could cause problems, she realized, though she was secretly pleased with Merlin's attention.
"Right, the horses," Merlin mumbled, looking quickly away from Arien.
"Well this should be absolutely wonderful," Arien remarked sarcastically, trying to break the tension.
"Oh believe me, it always is," Merlin replied.
"Exactly how often does Arthur make you do this?" Arien wondered.
"Whenever I make a mistake worth punishing. It's either this or the stocks," he answered, grimacing.
Arien rolled her eyes. "I can see why he's not your favorite person," she muttered.
"Well, Arthur's not all bad," Merlin quickly explained. "He has moments of…not being a prat."
Arien laughed. "Beautifully phrased," she remarked. "At least you're honest about it."
Merlin mumbled something in agreement. Honesty was not his favorite subject; his hidden talent for magic forced him to lie more often than not. Desperately wanting to change the subject, he asked Arien, "What do you think of the prince?"
"I…don't think I could say. Everything I know about His Highness comes from what I've heard from other people, except what happened today. I think he could grow up to be a great king, but right now…he's not quite ready," Arien clarified.
"I think you're right," Merlin said. She's exactly right.
They worked in silence for a few minutes, both thinking deeply. When Merlin glanced at Arien, he noticed that she had a wistful expression on her face, as if she was thinking about something that was incredibly far away. "What are you thinking about?" he wondered.
"Home. I miss it more than I expected, especially when I'm doing something that reminds me of it so strongly—even something I generally hated. It's strange to be doing this without five boys pulling on your skirts and trying to knock you down," she confessed. "Not that you're poor company," she added quickly, "just…a bit more civilized and intelligent than my brothers.
"I don't think many people would agree with the 'intelligent' part," Merlin pointed out.
"Hmm," Arien said. "You seem rather bright to me."
"Feel free to change your mind," he replied.
"Call me a fool for saying this, but I don't expect to," Arien promised.
They worked side by side for nearly two hours, talking for most of that time. Once they were finished, Merlin and Arien both looked exhausted and moderately disgusted. "Thanks, Arien. It would've taken forever without you," Merlin confessed.
"Well…I'm glad it wasn't completely miserable. Maybe we should be a bit more…discreet when talking in the halls. No offense, but I don't really want to repeat this," Arien explained.
Merlin nodded in agreement. "Bye," he called to her as they walked in separate directions.
"You look a bit too pleased with yourself to have just finished mucking out Prince Arthur's stables," Gaius remarked as Merlin entered his dwelling.
"Well, I had a bit of help," Merlin said nonchalantly, tossing his jacket onto a nearby chair.
"Good heavens, you didn't use—"
"No, no!" Merlin cut Gaius off quickly. "Not magic. A friend."
"Apparently this 'friend' is rather exceptional if he or she makes cleaning the stables a task to smile about," Gaius pondered.
"She's not…we're not…she's just good to talk to," clarified Merlin.
Gaius looked slyly at Merlin and said, "I'm glad you've found such a valuable friend, Merlin. Would you like to tell me more about her?"
"Her name's Arien. She just came here from Greendale a few days ago," Merlin explained.
"Ah, is she the one who exploded the bread?" Gaius wondered bemusedly. At Merlin's expression of confused shock, he continued, "It's not exactly a secret, Merlin. When something that…interesting happens here, it won't soon be forgotten."
"Oh. Well, she seems to think otherwise," Merlin said.
"Anyways, I'm glad that you've found a friend," Gaius said.
"Me too," Merlin replied.