It was Christmas Eve in Camelot, and the king's manservant was striding merrily towards his master's chambers, arms filled with washed bed sheets and pre-polished armour.

He burst through the doors.

'Morning, Sire!'

The king was leaning over his desk, adding notes to various pieces of parchment.

'What are you so happy about?'

Merlin's grin widened.

'It's Christmas, Arthur! Why shouldn't I be happy?'

'It disturbs me.' Arthur replied over his shoulder. 'A king's job is making his servant's life a misery. You make that task very hard if you are constantly grinning at me like a Cheshire cat.'

Merlin laughed at the man in front of him.

'Nothing ever pleases you does it?'

Arthur turned to face his servant, his face giving away his good mood. His face split into a grin.

'Nope. Nothing ever does. Now go and annoy someone else will you? I can dress myself today.'

'Dress yourself? It's a Christmas miracle!' Merlin laughed as he headed out the door, closing it behind him just as he heard a cry of 'Watch it!' as it slammed shut.

As he practically skipped down the hallway, Merlin glanced out of the window and stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened and he ran back to his masters chambers, bursting through the doors.

'Arthur!'

The king spun round.

'What is it Merlin? Whats wron-'

'It's SNOWING!'

Arthur looked at his servant in disbelief. He put his face in his hands and groaned.

'For crying out loud..'

'LOOK!'

Merlin raced over to the window and yanked it up all the way. He scraped as much as he could onto his hand and threw it in the king's direction.

Not prepared for the sudden attack, it hit him square in the face.

'HEY!'

'Oops. Sorry, Arthur.'

Arthur's face was bright red with the sudden cold and his eyes glared murderously at the boy before him.

'Right.'

He grabbed him by his red neckerchief and dragged him out of the castle into the courtyard, where a think layer of snow lay untouched.

Arthur let go of his manservant and grabbed a handful of the iced powder and threw it at the boy on the floor. And another one. And another one.

Merlin scrambled to his feet, only to get knocked back down by the force of a snowball to the face. He fell back down on his back, trying to block each attack with his bony hands.

Arthur prepared to make another snowball when he glanced at Merlin on the floor and burst out laughing.

'Merry Christmas, Merlin.'

Merlin looked up and spat out a pile of ice onto the ground and grinned.

'Merry Christmas, Prat.'

Another snowball hit his cheek from Arthur's direction and he laughed, before running off in the direction of the town, Arthur sprinting after him, arms filled with iced ammo.

'Yeah you better run, Merlin!'

The villagers chuckled as the young king and his manservant raced through their town.

It was just another Christmas in Camelot