Hello again! I'm back with a new short story (5 chapters) I hope you'll find as engaging as my others.

Merlin sighed as he closed the door to Arthur's chambers behind him. After Vivian and her father had left, Arthur had made up for the days he'd been too lovesick to notice Merlin, let alone give him his usual chores. Merlin had had to do all the chores for those two days today. He leaned against the door for an extra moment, to catch his breath before walking back to Gaius's chambers.

When he reached Gaius's door, he smiled and stepped through. He closed it behind him and nearly tripped down the steps, but recovered at the last second. The sound made Gaius look up. "Are you quite all right?" he asked.

"No," Merlin replied, "Arthur nearly worked me to death today. I had to do all the stuff he forgot about while he was enchanted. Two days' worth." He grimaced and went to sit down at the table across from Gaius. "Is that dinner?" he asked, pointing down to the food in front of him.

"Indeed. Eat up before you fall over."

Merlin tore into the food. He hadn't had anything since breakfast. Silence settled over the room until he finished. "Thanks Gaius."

"You're quite welcome. Now off to bed with you."

Merlin nearly tripped again on the steps up to his little room. He lit his candle with a single word and was glad he had. All the books about love spells that Gaius had dug up were sitting on the floor where he'd shoved them last night. They'd still been on his bed when he'd fallen sleep.

He picked his way over to his bed and sat down. Glancing at the floor, he picked up a book at random and started thumbing through it. He was drawn to a particularly gilt page. Some of the words were in the Old Language, which he could read well. But most were written in Latin, which he barely recognized. The Latin appeared to have been written sometime after the Old Language. Very curious.

Merlin bent his head closer to get a good look at the spell's words. Læt mín tréowlufe ácýðeþ oþ mec. Let my true love reveal herself unto me. He thought for a moment, and said to himself, "Oh what the heck. Who's it going to hurt?" He read over the spell silently to get the pronunciation right, then spoke out loud, "Læt mín tréowlufe ácýðeþ oþ mec."

He felt his magic flare up for a moment before settling back to its usual level. Alas, no girl appeared, but maybe it needed a few moments to work. He sat and waited a few more minutes, flipping through the book some more. But still no girl appeared. "Forget it," he said to no one, and shut the book. He tossed the book to the floor and got his sleeping clothes on. Then he flung himself to his bed, pulled up his blanket and went to sleep.

xxxXxxx

Upstairs in her chambers, Lady Morgana startled awake. Her eyes flared gold for a moment and she whispered, "Merlin." Her eyes closed again and she quickly drifted back to sleep, not remembering what she'd woken for.

xxxXxxx

In the morning, Morgana blinked her eyes open, surprised. She couldn't remember having any dreams last night, even though she'd forgotten to put her bracelet on. Even more surprising was the fact that she felt completely rested. Energetic. That happened rarely, so she decided she'd enjoy the day to the fullest while she could.

Gwen was surprised to see her mistress wide-awake and sitting up in bed. "My Lady, you're awake!"

"Good morning, Gwen! I feel wonderful this morning!" Morgana replied.

"You look wonderful! Come, eat breakfast and tell me all about it."

Morgana went to her table and ate almost all the food Gwen had brought. Gwen marveled at this—Morgana hardly ever finished half of what she brought. She bustled around the rooms, tidying this and that while her mistress ate.

"Gwen, is there anything planned for me this morning?"

"Not this morning, no. This afternoon you're to dine with the King and Prince, but you're free until then."

"That is great news! I feel like spending the morning outside. Tell me the weather's pleasant."

"The weather's pleasant, My Lady."

"Fantastic! We can go to the market and maybe watch the knights train. Mmm, strong sweaty men."

"Morgana! How shocking."

"Oh you know you like it just as much as I do."

"True. Arthur will be down there, and Merlin."

"Merlin . . ." Morgana's eyes lit up. She was struck by a sudden desire to see him. "All right, let's do it." She pushed her plate away and began discussing clothing with Gwen. Within thirty minutes, Morgana was ready to go down to the training yard.

Morgana led Gwen through the castle and out to the training yard. They walked to the far side where there were benches set up for those who wanted to rest or observe. She and Gwen settled themselves down at one end. Merlin was at the other, sharpening a sword. Morgana felt a warm tingle rush through her body. She scooted a little closer so she could talk to him.

"Hi Merlin," she said to him.

"Milady," he nodded at her in deference.

"Pshh, Merlin, we're friends. Call me Morgana,"

He gave her his winning smile. "All right, Morgana. What brings you out here today?"

"Oh we just wanted to see how well Camelot's knights perform."

He quirked and eyebrow at her. "Really?"

"Sure. It's been a while. And as Camelot's First Lady I need to be able to reassure the rest that our men are fit enough to defend us."

"I didn't know that."

"Not many do." Of course she's making that up. But she might get away with adding that to her official list of duties. Hmm.

Just then Arthur finished off Sir Leon and trudged over to Merlin. The servant jumped up to hand the Prince a cup of water. "Morgana," Arthur said, "nice to see you. But please don't draw attention to yourself. I don't want my men distracted."

"Sure, Arthur," she winked. Merlin chuckled.

Arthur turned to him. "Oh, you think you're immune to her? Fine. You're up next then."

Merlin looked at him, surprised. "But . . ."

Morgana stood. "Don't worry Merlin. Surely you can hold your own by now." She laid a hand on his arm and leaned a little closer. "I think you have a chance." Then she laid an impulsive kiss on his cheek.

He looked at her in shock. She simply moved back to her place on the bench. He didn't move again until Arthur came behind him and bumped his shoulder. "Here," he grunted, and handed his servant a shield and a blunted sword. He walked back out to the spot Leon had vacated and twirled his sword.

Merlin looked back at Morgana and Gwen. They waved at him and that gave him a bit of courage. He walked out to meet Arthur and took up a defensive stance. The Prince swung at him and he successfully stopped the strike with the shield. The rest of the fight went much the same way. Occasionally Merlin deflected strikes with his sword. He even got in a few jabs of his own before Arthur feinted to Merlin's right, but swung left to hit him on his unprotected side.

"Ahh," Merlin gasped and dropped his shield and sword to grab at his left arm.

"What is it?" Arthur asked, trying to mask his concern.

"You sliced my arm, you oaf!"

Morgana and Gwen jumped up and ran over. "No I didn't," Arthur argued.

"Oh yeah, then what's this?" Merlin lifted his hand from his arm and the other three saw a long, shallow cut just above his elbow.

"Arthur! Why'd you do that?" Morgana tossed at him.

The Prince looked flabbergasted. "It's a blunt sword!"

"And you're stronger than you think," Morgana spat back. Merlin and Gwen watched the exchange with interest.

"Well if he wasn't such a girl—"

Morgana cut him off. "That's enough. Find someone else to slice up." She turned to Gwen, "Come Gwen, let's get poor Merlin to Gaius. He cares." She pulled a handkerchief out of her sleeve and put it on Merlin's cut. Then she put his hand back on it and slung an arm around his shoulders to lead him away.

Merlin glanced back at Arthur, who stood there looking like a scolded child. He really hadn't meant to injure Merlin, just poke a little fun. He finally turned and walked over to where the rest of the knights sparred.

xxxXxxx

Gaius stood at his table brewing the King's nightly potion when his door banged open. He jumped a bit and turned to look at the intruder. Gwen held the door open as Morgana, with her arm around Merlin, helped him down the stairs and over to the table.

"What happened?" the physician asked.

Morgana looked up at him. "Arthur decided to be a bully and sliced Merlin's arm open."

"We were sparring," Merlin offered.

Gaius rolled his eyes. "Not again," he muttered, and went to where he kept bandages. "Gwen, would you pour some water into a bowl please?"

Gwen hurried to comply with his wishes. When Gaius came over with the bandages, she picked one up and dipped it into the bowl. "Take off your jacket and roll up your sleeve," she told Merlin.

Morgana helped him with that, even though he could have managed on his own. He didn't really understand her attention, but was secretly happy to be fussed over for once. She sat on the bench next to him while Gwen cleaned the cut.

Gaius came over then with a jar and a couple of bottles. "Let's see how bad it is then." Gwen moved out of the way so Gaius could sit on Merlin's other side. He picked up the injured arm and examined it closely. "It looks pretty shallow, so you won't need stitching." Merlin sighed in relief.

"That's good news," Morgana said.

Gaius reached behind him for the jar he'd brought over. "Honey will prevent infection," he told her when she gave the jar a puzzled look.

"Thanks, Gaius," Merlin said. They watched Gaius dab honey on the wound and wrap a bandage around it. As he tied it off, Merlin sighed again.

"What is it?" Morgana asked.

"I should get back to Arthur."

"No, I don't think so," Morgana said. "You should stay here and rest a bit. If Arthur gets upset I'll tell him off."

"It's almost lunchtime, My Lady, would you like me to bring it to your chambers?" Gwen asked.

Morgana thought for a moment then smiled. "I have a better idea. Why don't you bring all four of us a bit of lunch here? That way Merlin can rest and we can chat. We don't get to talk enough, do we Gaius?"

The man in question was staring at her, surprised. Since when did she want to lunch with them? He looked at Merlin, who had the same look on his face. "Uh, no, we don't, My Lady. That's very generous of you."

Gwen left the room. Morgana turned to Merlin. "How are you feeling Merlin?"

"Much better, Mi—" Morgana glared at him. "—um, Morgana. Thanks."

"Good. I just get so tired of Arthur treating you like nothing. I mean, you do so much for him, and does he ever say thanks? Nooo."

"Actually—"

"You follow him everywhere, into all kinds of danger, and does he ever give you chainmail even? He makes you do all sorts of things I'd never even think of telling Gwen to do. For crying out loud, there are stable boys to clean the stables. That's what they're for!"

"He doesn't—"

"I know you've saved his life more than once. You even helped rescue Gwen! I just wish he'd realize how valuable you are, at least give you a raise."

"Morgana," Merlin said firmly. "Thank you for your concern. That's very kind of you, but you don't have to worry about me. I can handle what Arthur dishes out; I've been doing it for almost two years."

Morgana flushed a little. "Oh, yeah. Well I'll talk to him anyway and make sure he takes it easy on you for the next few days. Until you're healed."

"He won't listen, but I appreciate the gesture." They fell silent for a couple minutes. Merlin looked at Gaius, a plea in his eyes.

Gaius sighed internally. "So, Morgana, what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"

Morgana perked up and explained how she and Gwen were going to the market later. They both needed new dresses. Then they'd go back to Morgana's chambers and plan the styles of the dresses. Merlin was trying desperately to keep his eyes open when Gwen tapped at the door. The Lady jumped up to open the door; both of Gwen's hands were laden with trays.

"Oh thank g—thank you Gwen," Gaius said, and made room on the table for the food.

They ate in almost-silence. Morgana appeared to be talked out, which was fine by everyone else. She seemed to be unusually hyper today. When they'd all finished, Merlin offered to take the trays to the kitchen so Gwen and Morgana could go directly to the market for their fun. She agreed, and the girls were off.

Merlin sighed. "Wow. I don't mind being fussed over once in a while, but that was excessive."

"Her behavior does seem to be a bit off."

"Well, maybe her shopping will take some of that energy out of her."

"We can certainly hope."

Merlin stood. "Well, as much as I'd like to, I can't sit here all afternoon. Arthur won't let a little cut stop him from ordering me around." He picked up the trays. "See you later Gaius."

"Bye, Merlin. And be careful, will you?"

Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be up in a few days. :)