A/N: Hello all! Here is my latest effort for Merlin. I am so grateful to everyone who has read/favorited my stories. Thanks all, and please leave a review!

Weakness

Prince Arthur trained his knights to have no weaknesses. He had put them through grueling sword training in the rain and made them work on sparring in the freezing cold. He had instilled the philosopy that the death of a fellow knight was something to be mourned, but not something that they should waste their time crying over. With these methods, he had created the best army of the five kingdoms. And, as the leader of Camelot's troops, he practiced everything he taught with the utmost strictness.

Or so he thought.

Now, Arthur leaned against his wall and stared out the window that let him see the main square of Camelot. He was seeing everything - women in fancy dresses laughing and talking, traders peddling their wares, children running home for dinner- but nothing made any sense. He folded his arms and tucked his chin into his chest, not even processing the brilliant oranges and pinks of the setting sun.

In one afternoon, he had found a chink in his seemingly unpenetrable armour. He had a weakness, and not just any weakness, but a weakness that was easily accessable and vulnerable. A weakness that could be exploited. He supposed that he had always had this weakness, but it had taken the events from earlier to bring it to his attention. But now, everyone knew. Everyone could use this against him. Every bandit and evil sorcerer and smuggler in the woods.

He had always taught his knights not to have weaknesses. What would he do now, now that it was so blatantly on display? What would his knights think of him?

They had just been transporting goods to an outlying village; basic necessities such as food and blankets, seeing as that the people had just been attacked by a squad of bandits. It had been a small party, consisting of Arthur, a few knights, and Merlin. The idiot had insisted upon coming on the mundane mission, and even though the prince would have never admitted it, Merlin's mindless, ceaseless chatter did wonders for his mood.

"And why do I always have to put your armour on. I mean, didn't you learn that when you were a child?" This was the latest of Merlin's string of chatter, and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Because that's your job, Merlin," Arthur replied casually. As his manservant started on another tirade, Arthur heard leaves rustling. The activity didn't sound like an animal. "Shut up, Merlin," he hissed. The other knights instantly sensed tht something was wrong and began to unclasp the buttons of their cloaks.

"Why do I always -"

"Merlin!" Arthur cut him off, and this time, Merlin fell perfectly silent. He had realized that something bad was happening. Arthur watched as Merlin tensed up on his horse.

"What is it?" Merlin whispered, and Arthur just held up a hand. He needed to concentrate, figure out what the threat exactly was before they faced it. However, the prince didn't have the chance. Before he could even get his knights into a defensive position, a gang of bandits leapt from the trees, screaming and brandishing swords.

The knights and Arthur jumped from their horses and pulled their swords from their belts. Arthur spared a glance to his side to find Merlin, who was nervously clutching a spare sword. Arthur chuckled and turned his attention back to the bandits. He and the knights wouldn't need Merlin's dismal fighting skills. There were only a few of the bandits, so with any luck, Arthur could get rid of the bandits, get the supplies to the villagers, keep Merlin quiet for the ride home, and be home in time for dinner.

He turned to a bandit with a scraggly beard and wild eyes and engaged in combat. The man was quite good, and Arthur would have smiled if his men and cargo hadn't been in danger. He hadn't had such a challenging fight in a long time. After a few more seconds, the man with the beard lost steam, and Arthur took the chance to plunge his sword into the man's gut. He fell, and Arthur extracted his sword before glancing to each side. The other knights were faring well.

"Arthur!" The prince heard a strangled cry and suddenly, his hopefulness had vanished. He whipped around to see Merlin on the ground, bleeding from his lip, his eye blackened, and a bandit standing over him. The bandit rose his sword high above his head, in the way an executioner would.

"No!" Arthur hollered. He was too far away from Merlin. Why couldn't the idiot stay close to him? The bandit turned, and flashed a yellow-toothed grin. He pulled Merlin up by the collar and put him in a chokehold. Then, the bandit brandished a thin, silver blade, which he pressed to Merlin's throat. Arthur grimaced when he saw droplets of blood form on the pale skin, but his quiet panic grew to rage when he saw Merlin bite his lip nervously. "Let him go," Arthur hissed. "You don't need him, he's not the enemy." Arthur moved towards Merlin with quiet, calm footsteps, trying to reassure his manservant.

"My 'ostage, mate, nothin' more," the bandit chuckled. "Someone you wanna protect, eh?" His eyes narrowed. "Give all the cargo, and he lives. You say no, 'e dies. Simple. Now, put your sword down, call of the knights."

"Arthur, no," Merlin rasped. His eyes were bulging, and Arthur felt an intense pain radiating through his chest. The bandit growled and pressed the knife against Merlin's throat again, and the boy whimpered.

"Call the knights off," he hissed.

Arthur bit his lip. He couldn't just give up valuable supplies that were meant for needy people, but the way that the bandit was holding the knife was sending unfamiliar feelings of fear through him. He couldn't just let Merlin be slaughtered.

Arthur glanced around. The other knights had defeated the bandits, and were coming to see why Arthur wasn't running the the last standing offender through. As they grouped around Arthur and saw Merlin with a knife to his throat, they readied themselves to fights. However, Arthur stood frozen, his sword entirely forgotten.

"Arthur," Merlin hissed. "Don't give in to him. Leave me." Arthur just shot Merlin a dirty look that he hoped conveyed his annoyance with that suggestion.

The bandit just laughed nastily. "The boy's no knight. 'e's just a servant, yet 'ere we are." He glared at the prince and adjusted the knife, making both Merlin and Arthur squirm. "So what is it, then? What make this weaklin' so special?"

"Please. Just let him go, and you can go."

"With the cargo?" the bandit suggested. Merlin's eyes grew panicked.

"I can't let you do that. But I can give you a full pardon. Please." Arthur could hear his voice growing worried, but he couldn't find it within himself to care.

"Let me tell ya..." the bandit started, but all of the sudden, his eyes bulged, and the knife clattered to the ground. Merlin scurried away to a nearby tree and collapsed to the forrest floor. He wiped at his bloodied throat, and when he removed his hand, he stared at the blood with an almost fascinated expression. The bandit fell to his knees, and Arthur watched as one of his most trusted knights pulled his sword from the man's back. While Arthur had been needlessly begging, someone else had taken action and had possibly saved Merlin's life. Arthur swallowed hard.

"Right. We need to get the supplies to the villagers. Someone take a look a Merlin's throat, we need to keep going." Maybe if he kept going, he would just be able to think about what just happened. He would have to think about the panicked look in Merlin's eyes, the way he told Arthur to heave him, how -

"Sire, he's passed out!" Sir Leon called, and Arthur whipped around. Sure enough, Merlin was slumped against the tree. Arthur sprinted to where he was laying, pushing the other knights aside. He dropped to his knees besides Merlin and checked his pulse. It was steady, but he didn't want to risk anything by dragging him on. He brushed a bit of dark hair away from Merlin's forehead, not caring about what the other knights would think.

"We're going back," he announced. He picked Merlin up and slung his over his shoulder, and then gently put Merlin on the back of a horse.

"But sire, we need to deliver the supplies," Sir Leon argued.

"Then you will go on. Merlin needs treatment."

"The people are expecting an appearance from their prince. Besides, your father will not be happy."

"Then tell them I am busy. As for my father, I will deal with him. Now, I need to get Merlin back to Gaius." Arthur hopped onto his horse and urged the mare to go.

"Sire." He paused at Sir Ronald's voice. The man had been a knight since Arthur was a child, and though very wise, he hardly ever spoke. "Don't let your fondness for the boy become a weakness."

"Right." Arthur's voice sounded unconvincing, even to his own ears. "I will return to Camelot, while the rest of you take the supplies." With that, he rode away with a sick feeling at the pit of his stomach.

Nearly an hour had passed, but Arthur was still standing in the exact same position by the window, the earlier events still fresh in his mind. When exactly had Merlin become a weakness for him? When had he began to feel that if he lost Merlin, he would be losing a lot more than a servant? The images of the knife pressed up against Merlin's throat still danced in front of his eyes. Even though Merlin had awakened just a few minutes after being returned to Camelot and was in good health, despite some bruising and the cut on his throat, Arthur could think of a thousand ways the day could have gone differently.

"Arthur?" a raspy voiced questioned. The prince turned around to see Merlin standing in the doorframe with Arthur's dinner in hand. His throat was bandaged and his left eye was swollen shut, but other than that, he looked fine. He walked in and placed the trays on the table before coming over to where Arthur was standing. "Are you okay?"

"It's nothing, Merlin." Arthur turned away from Merlin, not wanting to show the true extent of his concern.

Merlin chuckled and leaned against the other side of the wall. "You know, you are probably the greatest prat the world will ever know. Even when a knife is at my throat, you can't admit that you were even slightly worried about me." The words were said in jest, but for Arthur, it felt like someone had just plunged a sword into his gut.

"That's the thing," he said softly. "I can't admit that, because people will use you against me. They'll kidnap you and torture you just because you're my... because you're my friend. Word will get around." Arthur finally turned around to face Merlin. "I can't have a weakness. I can't have someone who I would do anything for."

"Arthur, I'm not entirely helpless. And besides, you would know when to draw the line. If I was lost, you wouldn't endanger the whole of Camelot for me." There was amazement in Merlin's eyes.

Arthur thought for a moment, studying Merlin closely. The bruises on his pale skin taunted and mocked the prince, and the thought of any other wounds made Arthur's skin crawl. "I don't know, Merlin," he said in a low voice.

Horror grew in Merlin's eyes. "No. If I am gone to the point that you don't know whether I'm alive or dead, don't put the entire kingdom at stake for me."

"Don't be stupid, Merlin, I wouldn't -" Arthur found himself unable to finish the sentence, his voice seemingly stuck in the back of his throat. "Merlin, I couldn't. But don't think that I wouldn't." He looked away, a red flush blossoming on his face.

"Only you, Arthur," Merlin said quietly. "Only you would go through hell and back to save a servant."

"For a friend, Merlin," Arthur corrected. "I didn't... I couldn't... it hurt to see that knife at your throat. I would have never left you like that." Arthur cleared his throat and stared out at the courtyard again. The sky was darkened, now, and all the children had gone inside. "I've been telling my knights not to have any weaknesses for as long as I can remember, now they all know I have one. One that can be tortured and kidnapped and -"

"Arthur. You can't do this to yourself. I can handle myself. Besides, this isn't one-sided." Merlin looked to the ground. "I can say that I would give my life for you without a second thought."

"But who would use me against you?" Arthur asked, somewhat bewildered. Merlin, although he had a knack for causing trouble, was a servant. Nobody would want to use him against Merlin.

"Just... never mind." Merlin's face had turned red, so Arthur decided to leave it as a conversation for later.

"What am I going to say to the knights? I have been telling them for ages that it is unacceptable to have weaknesses, and they saw me freeze today. They all know I would have given up the cargo to save you."

"Maybe it's time for a change, then. Everyone has weaknesses, Arthur, and if you tell the knights that weaknesses are human, they'll respect you for telling the truth. Maybe they'll respect you even more for being more... human."

Arthur glanced at Merlin, who was staring out the window and into the courtyard. There were times where he thought he knew his friend, and there were times like these where he realized that there was so much more to Merlin than what met the eye. He could be so wise but so idiotic at the same time. The prince smiled to himself before drawing Merlin into a hug. Merlin stiffened with shock before sinking into's Arthur's embrace. They stayed like that for a few more moments before letting go. Arthur cleared his throat and Merlin shuffled his feet.

"What was that?" Merlin asked.

"It's called a hug, Merlin, and if you speak of it to anyone, I'll throw you in the stocks for a week. Now, go draw some bathwater." Arthur smiled as Merlin shook his head and walked out the door. Something else popped into his mind.

"Merlin?" Arthur blurted out. His friend turned around with an exasperated expression on his face. "I'm glad you're alive."

Merlin gave Arthur a wide grin. "You mean a lot to me too, you great big prat."

Thanks all! Reviews are loved and appreciated :)