Here's chapter 2! I know this doesn't seem like it has a plot, but trust me, as long as this story goes like I plan, it should most definitely have a plot. (I hope the story goes in the direction I need it too. These things tend to have a mind of their own, you know.)

Okay, so I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I noticed that even when Arthur and Gwen were married, he and his wife didn't share a bed. Me being the genius that I am (and that people is what I like to call sarcasm) decided that what must've happened was that Arthur and Gwen still had separate bedrooms, but once a week (or month or something) got to 'share' a bed. I think that's how it worked. Or at least, how it worked in the Merlin TV show. It's the only thing that makes sense. So if that's wrong, I'm sorry, but I'm sticking with canon, and since the show never really specified what happened, I made it up in accordance with what would make sense. Thanks for understanding! :)

Sorry I didn't update yesterday; it was kind of a blur and I didn't realize until around midnight and by then I was just too tired to care. But it's here now!


Merlin burst through the doors of the King's chambers.

After realizing they only had a few hours to get back to the castle, Merlin had woken Syra by shaking her and shouting her name. She hadn't appreciated such a rude wake-up, but she grudgingly agreed that it had been necessary since they would both have been late in attending their duties. Also, Syra could never get up on time – she wasn't a morning person in the slightest. Merlin had hastily pulled his clothes on, helped Syra into her dress (why do those things have to be so damned complicated?), and together they ran all the way from the lake to the castle, and if Merlin had used a bit –okay, a lot– of his magic to help them, well, who was there to care? Not Syra and certainly not himself.

Somehow (read: through the use of lots and lots of magic), the undercover-warlock managed to make it in time, with breakfast in one hand and fresh laundry in the other, to wake the king. He carefully placed the tray on the royal table, put the fresh laundry away, pulled back the royal curtains, and…

Wait, where was the royal prat himself?

As if on cue, Arthur strutted into his room, a dazed smile on his face. His light-hearted smile turned into a light-hearted smirk as he caught sight of his manservant. "Hello Merlin. Forgot I was sharing with Gwen last night?"

The manservant was about ready to throw the table. Or just fall asleep on it; he wasn't sure which would be more enjoyable.

How on earth did he forget that? He'd been so excited, not having to wake up Arthur in the early mornings since it was Arthur and Gwen's night to be together. Oh, that's right. Some villager had to ruin it by claiming a murderous creature lived in one of Camelot's lakes and Merlin, being Emrys and all, had felt obligated to check out the man's exaggerated proclaims. Even though the man turned out to be right, that wasn't the point of Merlin's frustration. The point was he forgot. Instead of standing in Arthur chambers like a complete dollophead, the warlock could've stayed with Syra for a few more minutes before calming wondering back into the city and still be on time to leave with the knights on time.

Groaning, Merlin slid into the King's chair. Out of spite for Arthur, annoyance at himself, and just plain hunger, the manservant began munching on the royal food.

Arthur only rolled his eyes, but then he did a double-take. "Merlin, why do you have leaves in your hair?"

"What?" Simultaneously, Merlin turned beet-red and combed his fingers through his hair. Yes, he definitely took a part of the forest with his back to Camelot. Thinking quickly, Merlin blurted the first thing that came to his mind. "I need to talk to Gwaine!" Well, it wasn't a complete lie.

Blinking, Arthur observed his friend. "And how, exactly, does that answer my question?"

"It doesn't." Merlin stuffed the rest of the sausages into his mouth. After he chewed and swallowed, he said hastily, "I just need to talk with him."

"Nice try," Arthur said, grabbing Merlin's arm as he tried to flee the King's room. "We still have yet to have that talk about last night."

"Ah, yes. Speaking of last night, shouldn't we be going back to the lake? You told Leon you'd be there in the morning."

"Don't change the subject!" Arthur scolded.

Merlin opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the chamber door opened gracefully, revealing Queen Guinevere and all her glory. Trailing behind her was Syra. Her hair was in a tidy side-braid without even a hint of leaves or twigs in it. Her dress was in pristine condition as well. Staring at her, Merlin idly wondered how she did it – how any girl managed to do it. The manservant looked like a down-right mess, while the maidservant was the picture-perfect image of neatness. Suddenly realizing Gwen was speaking, Merlin only managed to catch the last part of the conversation.

"…stop it before it's too late."

"Exactly!" Merlin exclaimed, hoping he was right on Gwen's subject matter. "I was just telling Arthur here we needed to go back to the village straight away. The sooner the better!"

Gwen nodded approvingly at her friend, while Arthur simply glared.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing, Merlin. Unfortunately, you and my wife are right. I'll get the men, you gather the supplies. Meet me downstairs in half an hour." Arthur held up a finger in front of his friend's face. "Half an hour Merlin. Don't be late."

"Of course, sire," Merlin said, bowing mockingly. He couldn't see Arthur's face, but he knew there was a suppressed grin on it. Of course, it was gone once he straightened up again.

"Syra dear," Gwen turned to her maidservant, "Why don't you help Merlin? It'll quicken the process and," she leaned in closer, whispering something inaudible. Both girls were grinning after Gwen pulled away.

Shaking his head, Arthur offered his arm to his wife, "You girls and your secrets."

Guinevere took the outstretched arm, smiling happily. "But you really don't want to know, do you, Arthur?"

Her husband laughed. "No, I really don't." Turning around, he called out, "Don't forget, Merlin! Half an hour!"

x~X~x

"That should be the last of it," Syra said, looking at the bags filled with clothing, food, and weapons. "Is there anything else you usually take?"

Merlin shook his head. "No, I think this will be good. I should head down to the stables now…" Wringing his hands together, the warlock cast yet another glance at his siren.

Sighing, Syra turned to face the man, "Merlin, what is it? You've been looking at me for the past twenty minutes."

As Merlin deliberated what to do, he made a series of faces. Finally, he blurted, "What did Gwen whisper in your ear?"

Taken aback, Syra blinked and cocked her head inquisitively. "Why does that matter?"

"It's just… You got this look. In your eyes. And it reminded me of… You know, when we… What did she tell you?"

"Well, she just told me that the quicker we got this done, the more time we'd have for a little fun," Syra said matter-of-factly.

Merlin blanched. "Wh-what? Does she…know? About us?"

"Of curse she knows. I tell her everything."

"Everything?" Merlin echoed in horror.

"Of course." Syra wetted her lips. "Merlin, is something wrong? Was I not supposed to do that?"

"Well normally… That doesn't usually… You tell her everything?" The manservant was still trying to process what exactly everything entitled too. There were certain things he didn't want Gwen knowing, and in this case, the 'certain things' had absolutely nothing to do with his magic.

"Well not your magic. Or the fact that I used to be a flesh-eating monster."

"But…everything else?"

"Yes …" Biting her lip, Syra took a tentative step forward. "It's just… I didn't know. Anything really. I'd never done anything like that before and the first time… Well, it scared me. When I was a full-blooded siren, I never had feelings like that. Gwen was one of the only girls nice to me, and back then she hadn't been Queen. So I asked her. We've been talking ever since."

Merlin remembered that night. The very first night. Uther had still been king.

Merlin and Syra had been yelling…again. Syra kept demanding Merlin release her from the curse since he was the only one with enough power to do it, while Merlin himself had been refuting her, saying she'd only kill more innocent lives. Funny how at one moment they had hated each other, and the next, they couldn't get their hands off the other. Merlin's not exactly sure who made the first move –he thinks it might've been him– but he does know that that was only the first night in a long, series of nights.

After that, Syra stopped asking for her curse to be lifted. At first, Merlin thought it wouldn't last. They were just two creatures of the Old Religion who happened to fancy each other, but it would soon end. Only, it didn't. It grew, in fact. Now, Merlin's almost positive he loves her. Loves Syra. Which is crazy since she's a man-eating monster… A man-eating monster, who also happens to love flowers and the smell of freshly baked bread, loves talking about nothing in particular and loves outlining Merlin's chest. Even when Merlin talks about Freya, his first love, she doesn't seem to care in the slightest! (This even after Syra experienced her first bout of jealousy a few years back.) She might be a monster, but she's also human.

"So when you say everything, do you really mean…?"

"Yes." Syra nodded enthusiastically. "Sometimes, she even tells me stuff."

He knew he was going to regret this, but he had to ask. "What kind of stuff?"

"Oh all sorts!" Syra jumped on Arthur's bed, messing up the sheets that Merlin just tucked in. Patting a seat next to her, Syra continued talking as Merlin sat down. "She tells me her day and I tell her mine, she explains certain things to me, though after so many years, she hasn't really needed too. I understand a lot more now than I did then. Like how people have 'personal spaces' and I can't get too close. Except for you of course," Syra winked. "Oh! She was the one who taught me how to wink. It's loads of fun."

Merlin watched enraptured, as Syra's face brightened. He could now understand why Arthur could barely take his eyes off Gwen, even when they had to hide their relationship. Whenever Syra talked about something she loved, her eyes would practically shine with excitement. Merlin didn't doubt that Arthur experienced the same wonder when talking with Gwen.

"In the beginning," Syra continued, "She told me about what exactly happened on the first night, and what each part of the body means and how it reacts to certain things. I've learned so much from Gwen, but that's not the juicy part."

By this time, Syra was leaning against Merlin's arm with her head on his shoulder. She traced non-existent patterns on his thigh.

"Oh?" Merlin asked, watching her finger.

"See I tell her what we do, she tells me what they do."

"What they… What?"

Syra hummed and brought her lips to Merlin's neck, only to pout when Merlin pulled away.

"When you say that, do you mean…" Merlin shook his head, as if clearing his mind. He tried again. "So you and Gwen…discuss…your…love lives?" Merlin asked, already knowing the answer, but hoping he had been wrong. Unfortunately, he hadn't.

"Yes." Syra frowned, "Is that a bad thing?"

It was Merlin's turn to frown. "I'm… I'm not sure, actually," the warlock admitted. "Girls generally discuss things that guys… Well, that guys don't care to talk about."

"Gwen and I talk about everything," Syra explained. She went back to tracing designs onto Merlin's body, but this time, it was on his collarbone where she removed his neckerchief. (When had she done that?)

"You, Arthur, ourselves, the kingdom, myths, other girls. Sometimes, other guys." Grinning, Syra laughed, "We talk a lot."

Merlin couldn't help but laugh too. "We talk quite often too."

"Yes," Syra agreed, "But I don't want to talk right now."

Grinning, Merlin met Syra's sly smile with his own mischievous eyes. He had completely forgotten about the lake monster and needing to be in the stables. "Then what do you want to do?"

Syra giggled and swung her leg so she was straddling Merlin's hips. "Oh I can think of plenty of things…" She leaned in, catching Merlin's lips while the manservant used his skilled fingers to begin unlacing her dress. They didn't notice the door opening until a surprised voice called out:

"Merlin, where are- Merlin!?"

x~X~x

The manservant scrambled away from Syra, who looked a little more than annoyed at their interruption.

"Arthur!" Merlin shouted. "I- You- We're- This isn't what it looks like!"

The King, who still stood shocked in the doorway, unfroze at the comment and raised an eyebrow. His lips twitched as he tried not to laugh. "Oh really?"

"Well…"

Huffing out her irritation, Syra slid off the King's bed. "Well I suppose I should go attend Gwen now." She looked at her King, her face hiding none of her frustration and anger. Pointedly, she turned to Merlin, gave him a tongue-twirling kiss, said a stiff, "Goodbye," and left the chambers, her shoulders square and her eyes locked straight ahead.

As she left, Arthur closed the door behind her and turned to face his speechless and wide-eyed friend.

"So… Not what it looks like?" he asked slyly.

Merlin's intelligent and sarcastic reply went somewhere along the lines of: "Uh… "

The look on his manservant's face caused Arthur to laugh. He leaned against the wall, grinning mercilessly. "Merlin, you were with a woman."

"Um, yes…" Merlin said, his face slowly emerging from daydream-expression to one more in touch with reality.

"A woman," the King emphasized, his grin getting broader by the second.

"Yes…?" Merlin said in a 'what are you getting at' tone.

Arthur shook his head disbelievingly, but a grin was still plastered on his face. "I don't know whether to be happy for you or completely scarred for life."

"I take offense to the last retort," Merlin grumbled, scrunching up his eyebrows and pouting his lips. He looked the spitting image of a little kid, and Arthur just had to laugh again because of it.

"And to think, I called you 'girl' just the other day."

"Yeah, and I take offense to that too," the warlock grumbled.

"She's not bad," Arthur mused. "But a girl like that, you'd better watch her back Merlin."

"Hey!"

The look that was sent Arthur's way would've sent shivers down his spine had it not been Merlin being the one glaring. Still, Arthur couldn't deny the fact that apparently Merlin was quite possessive –a bit scarily so– of those he liked. (Vaguely, Arthur wondered if he fell under that same category in Merlin's eyes; they had been friends for many years and, even if he denies it, Arthur considers Merlin his best friend, and he will deny every saying that.)

Putting up his hands in an 'I surrender' gesture, Arthur said, "I only meant that she's very pretty and a lot of guys might try to court her, so you should just be weary of that."

"Keeping her isn't the problem," Merlin said, and though his tone was a bit icy, his eyes were soft. "It's getting her to leave me alone."

"No wonder you wanted to talk to Gwaine."

"Mhm- What?" Merlin looked at Arthur, startled.

"Well, that generally is his area, so to speak. Ladies." Arthur suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "You said earlier you wanted to talk to Gwaine…"

"Oh. Right." Merlin gnawed on the inside of his lip, his eyes downcast. "It's just… Well his advice hasn't exactly…worked…"

"Erm… What…was it?"

The conversation had suddenly taken an abrupt turn. Arthur was talking about feelings. Feelings! And he was offering Merlin advice; advice that would (most definitely) deal with emotions, and what are emotions? Feelings! That was what girls chatted incessantly about, not grown men. It was obvious that Merlin was getting uncomfortable, so when his wife walked in, looking slightly worried, Arthur quickly changed the subject, which he could see that Merlin was slightly relieved about.

"Ah, Guinevere. How are you?"

"What are you two still doing here?" Gwen asked, frowning and completely ignoring her husband's question. "The knights have been waiting for you for quite a bit now."

"What? Oh!" Arthur had completely forgotten about the mission he was on. "Right, we must go to the village. Come Merlin!"

The two friends quickly speed away, leaving a confused Queen, who, after a moment, shrugged and smiled fondly after her boys.