A/N: In the process of putting all my chapters through a better spellchecker. Though I think Grammarly erases italics, so if anything looks like it should be emphasized, it probably was. Thanks!
"Rise and shine!" Chirped an overly cheery voice to Arthur's left, and suddenly sunlight flooded the room, invading Arthur's exhausted eyes. The king buried his face in the pillow, attempting to escape the bright rays that disrupted his slumber.
"Come on, Arthur!" The voice continued. "You know you have a council meeting to attend! And may I just point out that I'm actually on time today?"
Arthur groaned and begrudgingly sat up, bare chest heaving in a yawn. "Stupid council meetings," he muttered. "And you should be on time every day, like every other servant in the castle. You shouldn't get special recognition for doing the same as everyone else."
"Yes, but I am special!" Merlin grinned.
"Hmm," Arthur said, yawning again. "How long 'till the meeting?"
"Half an hour."
"Ten more minutes sleeping, then?"
"Arthur," Merlin said in an exasperated tone. "When you're late, you'll blame me, like always, and I'll have to do twice as many chores! And muck out the stables!"
"They do need doing..." Arthur said thoughtfully.
"Arthur!"
"Fine!" The king sat up slowly, with a shiver and a groan. Merlin immediately chucked him a pile of clothes, which landed in a heap by his bare feet.
"I have to go help Gaius," he explained to a confused and miffed looking king.
"Merlin-" The door banged shut, and Arthur sighed, staring at the stack of clothing on the floor, wondering what he was supposed to put on first.
Arthur strode into the meeting room and took a seat at the head of the table. The meeting was as dull as usual, all about pointless things that any peasant could handle. Why did it have to be him?
Halfway through the hour-long gathering, Merlin slid into the room, mouthing a 'sorry' to Arthur as he passed him to top up his goblet. Arthur hardly noticed - he was half asleep. He had got up earlier due to Merlin's uncommon punctuality, and he had had a late night yesterday. He was up half the night writing a speech about the upcoming jousting tournament, which he was not allowed to compete in this time. He was the judge. The young king imagined it would be amazingly boring, and hoped Merlin could keep him company.
"-Am I right, my Lord?" Sir Leon was speaking to him, Arthur noticed. Everyone looked at him expectantly.
"Uh..." What were they saying? "Sorry, I didn't hear. What was it, you're speaking of?" He hoped they had not been talking about it long, or he would look extremely stupid.
"We just had an entire conversation about it, Sire." Ah. "Sir Coleman believes that the dirt in the lower town could-"
He stopped, as they heard a polite knock on the door, and it opened to reveal a young man and woman. The man had a deep brown shock of hair that hung just to the tip of his ears and wore shabby clothes that were worn in patches and had rips and dirt rubbed on it. The woman was in a similar condition, wearing a beige dress that laced up at the top. She was blonde and pretty.
Arthur did not believe them to be from Camelot and was curious as to whom the strangers were. The pair bowed as they entered, but Arthur gestured to them to stand back up almost immediately. His father liked to leave people bowed down to him for quite some time, but Arthur saw it as unnecessary and a waste of time. A simple nod would do, if that.
"I hope we're not disturbing you, My lord," the man said. He had a deep voice, and it seemed to rumble. "We can come back at a later date, if this point in time is inconvenient."
"No, no, please! Carry on!" Arthur said hurriedly. They were a lovely distraction from whatever conversations and arguments the council were having. About dirt. The king just hoped that there was some sort of mission he would be called for, and he was not disappointed.
"Well, we came to ask you for your help," the lady said, with a sweet, soft voice that soothed Arthur. He felt even more sleepy than before.
"It's our horses," the man admitted. "They've walked straight into a bog just outside of your borders, Sire. We're travellers, you see, and without them we have nothing. Our village was burned by a dragon, not a year ago."
Merlin narrowed his eyes at the strangers. He didn't think Kilgharrah would attack any random villages without good reason, and there were no other dragons left. He gazed wearily at them, trying to determine their innocence.
"Of course, " Arthur said gravely. "We too were terrorised by this dragon. Luckily, it is now deceased, probably not too long after it attacked your village... What is it called?"
"Heringshire, my lord. It is a tiny place on the borders of Cenred's kingdom, often overlooked. We usually go unnoticed, unless anyone crosses directly across our land accidentally. I doubt you'll have heard of it."
"I have to admit, I have never come across it. But about your horses - I am offering you two of Camelot finest mares. Should you take them?"
"You can't just leave the poor, innocent horses to drown, Arthur!" Merlin exclaimed, his love of anything furry showing.
"I would have to agree, my lord," the woman said, interrupting the words that Merlin imagined would be 'shut up Merlin' that were forming on the king's lips. Her voice was so soothing it was almost hypnotic. "It would be cruel to let them die that way after all they've helped us through."
"I completely agree," Arthur said nodding, but with a slight glare in Merlin's direction. "Which is why I am now offering my services. I'll help you and your horses, and give you a bed for the night, if you so please."
"Oh no, Sire!" The man said quickly. "We would feel like a total inconvenience. We would much rather be on our way as quickly as possible!" Merlin seemed to be the only one to see this as suspicious.
"Well, okay then, but please ask if you change your mind. And in the meantime, take advantage of our hospitality and stay for dinner. We honestly would not mind at all!"
"Well, if you put it like that, of course we will! Just once I know our horses are safe and sound!"
"Of course! We shall ride out now, to rescue them." Arthur strode out of the room, gesturing for Merlin to follow.
Merlin, Arthur, Max and Julie, (the names of the two strangers), were marching down the path at a quick pace, so as to get to the horses before the worst happened to the poor creatures.
Merlin was all for saving animals, and was quietly glad that Arthur was helping instead of shooting animals for once. It was just Max and Julie that he found suspicious. He didn't know why, really. It was just the way the woman spoke. Almost like she was using magic, but in everyday speech, which Merlin knew to be impossible. Maybe it was just magic he could sense. Magic in general. They weren't using it against anyone yet, if they did have it, so Merlin tried not to judge them too much. He decided to try and find out a bit about them.
"So, Julie and Max. If you lived on Cenred's border, why did you come to Camelot for help?"
"We don't live there. That is where we're from," Max said with a smile. "We travel. Want to see the world. And it just so happened that your king was the fastest kingdom to get to, and we had heard of his kind and just nature, and hoped he could help us! And we were not disappointed."
Merlin made a non-committal hum, whereas Arthur beamed at the praise. Before Merlin could ask anything else, Julie spoke brightly.
"Here we are!"
They stepped past a cluster of trees, and there was the marshy bog right in front of them.
"I... Don't see any horses..." Merlin said uncertainly.
"You don't think they're already under?" Arthur worried.
"No," said Max, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "We don't. Because they were never there."
"What? Then why're we here?" Arthur exclaimed, and Merlin was much less shocked, having suspected from the start that it was a trap. He stood up taller, bracing himself for an attack. He expected someone to pounce on them, try and knock them out, but he hadn't even considered magic. He should have, yet he didn't.
"Because we need you, Arthur Pendragon, and your little manservant. Cwsg, fy frenin, drwy gydol y nos, heb amharu ar!"
Both the king and his servant, collapsed onto the woodland floor in a heap of limbs, in a deep slumber.
Julia said one sentence. One sentence, and Merlin and Arthur's world would change forever... Who's to say for the better or worse?