Hi everyone! This is my first Merlin ff ever written, and, I surprise myself by writing it in English! (My natural language is Swedish..) I think this story will be about 3-4 chapters long and it might take a while between my updates, writing everything in a different language than you're used to take its time! But I hope you'll enjoy it.
/JvJ


The Prince and his Servant, is that all we'll ever be?


"Merlin"
As usually, the blond crown prince walked into the room without even a knock on the door as warning – a gesture that made his raven haired servant jump of surprise before he, a little bit panicked, tried to cover-up what he was doing.
Gaius had been out checking some of his patients outside the village when the great snowstorm arrived, so he'd sent a letter where he told him that he had been offered a bed for the night and that he, Merlin, shouldn't worry about him – as soon as the storm faded away, he would came straight home again. (And do we have to mention that the old court physician also told his young nephew to do no magic meanwhile he wasn't there to look after him?)
So Merlin, quite happy to be alone for a while, had taken advantage of the opportunity to borrow the old man's cauldrons and ingredients to see how well he could use his powers in potion ways, ignoring the warning words of his uncle.

"What are you doing?"
Arthur stretched out his neck so that he could look over his servants shoulder and down into the cauldron where a dark, chocolate looking, liquid were boiling.
"Oh, how sweet – you are preparing me some hot chocolate in this bloody nonstop-winter storm", the prince smirked, his eyebrows playfully raised, "now get your cooking bottom in to your room and get yourself a coat – you're going out, you'll fetch me some more wood – it's freezing in my chambers."
"But sire –", grumbled Merlin, but a sharp look from the prince made him turn around and walk into his small bedroom, hoping that the prince would follow without giving his potion any further look – any suspicious magic-look over it and it would be his head on the Christmas plates instead of the big Christmas pig.
He swallowed nervously, knowing that Gaius wouldn't be too pleased with him when he came back and found a whole cauldron filled with a magic potion – that had also happened to be seen by the crown prince himself.
Actually, he admitted to himself, he had no idea about how the potion worked ore if it even was magical – all he had done was to follow his instincts, and to be true, his instincts weren't always leading him where he'd meant to. So, there was a tiny, tiny chance that Gaius wouldn't notice anything.

He got his warmest coat around his shoulders and left the room, noticing that Arthur were lending over one of Gaius old books and by the look of it he was reading.
"Oh, I didn't know you liked reading", Merlin said with a nervously smile, noticing his magic book laying among the other books on the desk.
"Well, as future king of Camelot – I have to. But really Merlin, you shouldn't be cooking – you really suck."
It was first when the prince turned around that Merlin noticed the cup in the blond boy's hand, a frail smoke still rising from the chocolate colored liquid.
"You've – you've tasted it?" Merlin shouted out, his eyes wide open, "But –"
"Well, you've cooked it for me? Right?" Arthur raised a small eyebrow, "Ore was it maybe for the lady Morgana?"
The prince laughed, his blue eyes shimmering with playfulness as he teased his raven-haired servant who started to blush.
"No, sire, absolutely not!" Merlin objected, shaking his head so hard he thought it soon would fall off, "I mean – did you drink all of it? "
"Cool down Fussy and get me some wood!" The prince said, still with a laugh in his dark voice, and placed the half-empty cup on the table, "and no – I didn't drink it all, it tasted terrible."
Merlin couldn't stop a smile from taking place on his lips, it seemed as it was nothing magical at all about the potion. At least the prince still was his usual, teasing self.
"As you wish", Merlin said and pushed the prince towards the doorway, "I'll be back before you miss me, I promise."
"Hah!"

The prince headed back to his cold chambers and Merlin bravely walked out in the snowstorm to fetch the prince some more wood.
"Merlin?" A bright voice cut through the storm and Merlin turned around, the snow pitching his face, making his ears, nose and cheeks' burn of cold.
"Gwen? What are you doing out here?" He had almost reached the woods, leaving the castle behind him. The young maidservant was walking with her yellow coat tightly wrapped around her shoulders, read nosed and with her breath as a white smoke from her mouth.
"My lady needs more wood, she still got that nasty cold, and with Gaius out of town I have to do everything I can making her fever go away." She sneezed, but smiled bravely.
"Oh, but I can do that – cut some wood I mean, you go and make sure that the lady Morgana is all right", Merlin said with a smile, "If you want, you can go and get some of that rosemary-thing that Gaius have and then I'll come to lady Morgana's chambers with the wood."
"That would be lovely Merlin, absolutely lovely", Gwen smiled and her eyes were shining of the truth in her words, "If you want, I can prepare something hot to drink when you come back, as returning a favor I mean".
"Thanks Gwen, that sounds good", Merlin said with a frozen smile, his feet hurting by the cold.
"Yea, then I'll see you soon", the dark-haired maidservant said and returned back to the castle, Merlin looked after her for a while but then, he kept going for the woods – knowing that it wouldn't take so long for him to fetch some wood if he just used his powers. He could be safe outside here, who would be stupid enough to go out in this bloody snowstorm, but loyal servants?

Back at the castle, Merlin first went back to his chambers, his cold body longing for something hot to drink. He almost walked straight into Gwen, who precisely opened the door to the physician's chambers, and both of them smiled openly.
"Hi, I've warmed something for you", she went back to one of Gaius desks and fetched him some chocolate. Merlin smiled and thanked her, the hot cup slowly warming his cold hands.
She watched him with a smile when he raised the cup to his lips, he tasted the drink and tried not grimacing - it tasted awful.
"Mmh, Gwen", he said with a frail smile, trying not to upset the girl "it tasted lovely".

"Oh, I hope so – I found a whole cauldron of it over there, thought that maybe it was something that Gaius had left for you?" She said, heading for the door, "You'll come by with the wood later?"
Merlin didn't listen, he stared at the chocolate-looking liquid in the cup he was holding and a bad feeling crawled up at the back of his neck.
"Merlin, are you all right?" Gwen's worried voice made him come back to reality and he smiled falsely, nodding without looking at her.
"I'll come by later with the wood, yes", he said and didn't even notice that the young maidservant already had left the room.
This couldn't lead to anything good.


Now be sweet and leave a review about this chapter, or I'll turn you in to Uther and he'll chop your head of. *mad laugh*