Merlin had heard shouting, and if Merlin's years in Camelot had taught him anything at all, it taught him shouting was not good. Go figure. Instead of entering the throne room, where the yelling was coming from, Merlin stopped just short of the door, listening to see just who it was. And just as his suspicions had predicted, it was The King and Queen, this was the fifth or sixth time, in just a fortnight, that Merlin had heard them arguing. Once, even, this morning, when Merlin was delivering breakfast, though they quickly hushed when Merlin entered. This time, however, Merlin could listen in, and see what this was all about. Merlin was a bit of a snoop, at times, after all. It came in very handy when needed.

"I didn't ask to be queen, Arthur," Gwen was saying. "I am doing my best."

"And I didn't ask to be king," Arthur retorted, sounding irritated. Merlin could just picture The Kings face in his mind; eyes narrowed and a sneer on his lips. He looked at Merlin like that all the time. "It seems to me, you had much more of a choice than I did..."

"You asked me to be queen!" she argued, voice going high, like she was really insulted Arthur had just said that.

"I asked you to be my wife. You didn't have to say yes-"

"Perhaps I should not have?"

"...Is that how you feel?"

"If you are going to criticize me, then yes!"

"You can leave any moment you wish," Arthur argued back, Merlin bit his lip, trying to stay quiet, but Arthur sounded so hurt. "...if somehow this is not living up to your fantasies. However, this is the real world, Guinevere, I'm trying to protect you from it's cruelties."

"What do you know of the real world?" Gwen fought back, voice rich with anger and, perhaps, bitterness. "You...who hide behind a title? I was a commoner, like those who you try to protect me from. You speak of hardships, you know nothing of, you sit in your warm chambers while your people starve and freeze to death each night!"

The was a silence, an all telling silence, that this argument had gone too far, and this time, it was The Queen who had gone over the line. "...it wasn't the people of Camelot I wanted to protect you from," Arthur finally spoke, quiet, so quiet, in fact, Merlin could only just make out his words. "I will not make the same mistake twice..."

There were footsteps and Merlin took a few steps back, before the throne room door burst open and there was Arthur, angrily stomping. Merlin couldn't hide himself quite well enough from Arthur's view, behind the door, and Arthur stopped, turning to look at him in the corridor. Their eyes met, and Merlin could see the hurt in them, just as he had feared, but also the anger. He got ready to be told off, this would not be pretty, Arthur was already emotional enough, Merlin winced in anticipation but Arthur only rolled his eyes and continued walking.

Merlin stood rooted there, not sure if he should go after Arthur or not, that would probably only anger him more, and he didn't need that right now. He just needed time to calm down. Arthur disappeared down the hall, and Merlin sighed, he could hear soft, quiet cries coming from the throne room, and he didn't bother going to see Gwen either. To be perfectly honest, he hadn't even wanted to, even if she was his friend. He wasn't trying to play favorites, or anything like that, but if he was...there wasn't really a contest, Arthur won, and would always win. Beyond all that, Gwen had said some very hurtful things, and right now, Merlin just didn't think she deserved comforting.

In the end, Merlin's heart lied with Arthur, he had known it the very moment they had kissed a few months ago, and there was very, very little, if nothing at all, that could keep Merlin away. And somehow, through no fault of his own, he wound up following Arthur. He found him in the armory, sitting on a bench and ringing his fingers together. Arthur knew it was him before Merlin could even announce himself in anyway. Arthur just knew Merlin's behaviors too well these days.

"You agree with her, don't you?" Arthur asked, softly. His cheeks were pink, like he might have been crying, but Merlin didn't want to believe that was true. He was taken aback by the question. He quickly shook his head. Arthur...he was special, in a very pratty way. He pretends he has all this confidence, and he does, on the battle field, he was a great fighter, but personally, Arthur was very self conscious, he doesn't believe in himself like he should. Merlin would never forsake that, like Guinevere had today. But perhaps she didn't know this Arthur. Maybe only Merlin did."You think...I don't deserve to be king?"

"Never," Merlin answered, lips turning up, into a small smile. "No one deserves to be king more than you."

"Why? When I let my people starve and freeze to death?" Arthur countered, not looking up at Merlin once, even when he sat down next to him, on the bench. "I haven't done anything to deserve it..."

"You can't fix everything, you're not a miracle worker, no king is..."

"Then how does that make me different than any other king?"

"It doesn't," Merlin shrugged, he couldn't explain why, (even though he knew the answer,) but Arthur was just special. "Maybe I just believe in you more than anyone else believes in their king?"

Arthur looked up, and over at Merlin, their eyes met for a second time that afternoon. Arthur's features began to brighten a little bit. "...then, you're an idiot." Merlin couldn't help but laugh at that, and Arthur did, too. It was a short, burst of laughter, but it was something in the right direction.

"I definitely am," Merlin agreed.

"At least you've finally admitted it."

"Oh, I never denied it, I just liked to keep you guessing."

"Is that your excuse now?" Arthur's grin was big, and genuine. Merlin's plan then, had worked perfectly. "Is that why sometimes you sound unusually wise and other times you trip over your own feet?"

"I have big feet...?"

Arthur laughed. "Never mind, I just got my answer..."

(A/N: Thanks, guys, for the comments and such, I honestly didn't think this would get any hits, I'm not sure how much Merlin stuff really get's around anymore. It's been a long time since I wrote and all that. Anyway, I know this is short, it just barely got over 1k words, but I figured shorter chapters means more chapters more often, This took me like 20 minutes to write, so I mean...I can update this all the time. Let me know what you think!)