Merlin was standing, doing Arthur's laundry. He had been doing his chores for the last three hours and was almost done.
'Am I forgetting something?' He thought to himself."There was something about today that I kept reminding myself about...' Merlin, tired of trying to get the stain of wine from Arthur's ceremony tunic, looked around before doing a quiet spell. His eyes turned gold as the stain vanished. He froze as he heard footsteps.
Merlin quickly looked up to find an angry Gwaine turning the corner, sword raised and pointed at the young warlock's chest.
A flood of emotions flitted across Gwaine's face… anger, hurt, sadness, and overall betrayal."Why didn't you tell me?" He choked out. "Did you not trust me?..." A mask fell over the knight's face. "Well it doesn't matter NOW, Merlin, does it?! You are under arrest for treason." Gwaine, obviously quite hurt but trying to hide it, grabbed Merlin roughly and began dragging him down the corridor.
The short walk and few flights of stairs from the washroom to the throne room gave Merlin plenty of time to think of how STUPID he had been.
'I should have been more careful!' He scolded himself, 'Now, Gwaine's bloody furious! And, if Gwaine's mad, understanding Gwaine who's always been a good friend to me….. What will Arthur think?'
That one thought circled in his mind, over and over again, spiraling out of control, until he was startled out of his bleak thoughts by the throne room doors being thrown open.
Gwaine dragged his friend into the room and threw him harshly onto the floor. Merlin landed at Arthur's feet and hesitantly looked up into his king's eyes.
Arthur crossed the room, shock written across his face like an open book. "Gwaine have you lost it?" He nearly shouted, kneeling beside his manservant. "Merlin… are you okay?"
Gwaine bowed then looked up at Arthur."With all due respect, Your Majesty, I have caught Merlin in the very worst act of treason - sorcery." Gwaine cursed colorfully, having let the word 'majesty' slip from his lips instead of 'princess', his personal nickname for the young king.
Arthur looked at Gwaine as if was wondering if the young knight was in his right mind, but was startled when he caught a glimpse of Merlin's terrified face.
"Is it true?" Arthur whispered.
There was a long, heavy silence. And, when Merlin opened his mouth to talk, Arthur shushed him."According to the laws of Camelot, I, Arthur Pendragon, sentence you to-" There was a dramatic pause. "- do your chores."
Merlin looked up, confused and unsure of what the heck was happening. This set everyone in the room into peals of laughter. And, Arthur was laughing the hardest. Arthur. "You're too easy, Merlin." He snorted.
Merlin, a bit more at ease, took a look around the throne room, and noticed that the only other people in the room were his closest friends.
"As if you were a sorcerer, Merlin!" Gwaine chuckled behind him.
The others mumbled their agreements.
"Gwaine escort our 'prisoner' to his 'cell'" Arthur ordered, really meaning 'servant' and 'washroom'.
With a cheeky smile, Gwaine lead his friend out of the room and back into the corridor. When they were out of hearing distance, Gwaine pulled Merlin close and whispered in his ear.
"I know your secret, Merlin. But don't worry… I won't tell Arthur. I just… wish you had told me." He pulled away, plastering on a quirky grin and started walking in the opposite direction, whistling a merry tune. And, just as Merlin thought Gwaine was done with him, the knight turned and called over his shoulder, "Thanks for the fun, Merlin! I DO love a good prank."
AN: Thank you Merlinfanatic77 for Beta reading!