Hi everyone, thanks so much for reading. I hope you are enjoying it. A big thank you to Gypsy for your lovely review , you made my day :) . I love Gwaine /Merlin friendships. I feel at a loss of words to write in this A.N - I guess this chapter will follow Merlin's POV, I struggle with banter , so I hope it flows ok. If I owned Merlin , I wouldn't be writing fanfiction :) Enjoy and would love to know what you all thought.

Chapter 2: Something More

The next morning Merlin awoke bright an early. Groaning in discomfort as the large splitting headache made its self-known. Sitting up slowly he rubbed his aching head with gentle fingers, taking a deep breath. The night before was a hazy dream, he couldn't quite grasp. He remembered entering the tavern and something about Gwaine, but that was about all. He scrubbed his eyes and was startled by a loud snore. Merlin looked over and smiled fondly at Gwaine, he sprawled across the bed, mouth hanging open as drool soaked the straw pillow. Merlin carefully got himself up and splashed cold water on his face to awaken properly, from the supplied bowl.

He was lucky enough as he emerged out of the chambers on his way to Arthur to stop the servant already carrying the King's breakfast. He asked the servant to bring another plate for Gwaine with strict instructions to the servant not wake the man from his slumber. He knew that the presence of food would be enough. Once that was done, he made is way slowly to Arthur's chambers. Suppressing the nauseating feeling in his stomach as the smell of the fresh bread hit his nose.

He entered the King's chambers quietly, placing the tray down on the table without making a sound. As he threw open the curtains, sunlight streamed into the room, making the young man squint in discomfort. He turned back around to see if the King had awoken yet. Merlin sighed heavily, the king hadn't moved. Merlin really wasn't in the mood to deal with Arthur's ire, especially in his current state. Instead he allowed the prince to sleep, while he slowly cleaned the room and prepared Arthur's clothes for the day. Once his chores were complete, Merlin had no choice. He had to wake Arthur. If he left it any later, the prince was likely to take out his frustrations on the servant like he normally did. Grinning with mischief, Merlin pulled the blanket off his master. He was awarded with a loud yelp.

"Good Morning Sire". Merlin announced as cheerfully as he could muster. It was far from as loud as he would normally shout at the King, but yet it was no less enthusiastic.

"Merlin!" the prince shouted as he sat up to face his annoying servant. "Do you ever learn? This is no way to wake your King!"

With a shrug of his shoulders and a smile Merlin replied, "But it's a perfect way to wake a prat."

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled, as he pulled his pillow from behind him and threw it at his servant; failing to notice the slight wince from the boy. Merlin tried to avoid the projectile, but unfortunately with his slow reflexes, was unable to avoid the missile. And it collided with his already aching head. What he wouldn't give for one of Gaius headache remedies (even if the thing tasted vile). Merlin was just grateful Arthur hadn't had a goblet handy. Grumbling Merlin picked up the pillow as Arthur disappeared behind the screen to get changed.

Merlin listened to Arthur as he shifted around, getting ready for the day. He was just straightening out the bed sheets, when Arthur came around the screen with a frown on his face. "Merlin, where did you get this shirt?" the king asked scowling at the garment he was wearing.

Merlin glanced at Arthur, squinting as the sun fell across his face. "From the wardrobe. Where I unpacked your things last night. Where else?"

"Tell me then, why in God's name does it smell like Gwaine's socks?"

"Gwaine's socks….?" it was then Merlin noticed that the supposed shirt was in fact the same, that Arthur had been wearing the previous day. "Oh….I will get you a new one Sire" Merlin quickly went to pick up the new shirt he had intended to give to Arthur. He turned around to be greeted with an angry glare.

"Merlin, you gave me yesterday's shirt. I would have spent the entire day with Queen Annis smelling like the horses! "

"So, that's different from normal?" Merlin cheekily replied.

"I don't smell like a horse, Merlin!" Arthur cried hotly, as he threw the dirty shirt at the servant. "And it would be your fault for not cleaning my clothes properly." He tried to be smug." Besides I think you would be the one that smells like the horses!"

"It's only when you send me to clean the stables" Merlin replied annoyed.

A sardonic grin stretched over Arthur's face. "Which reminds me, after you have taken that lot," Arthur pointed to the pile of dirty clothes in Merlin's arms. "See that you go down and check on the horses."

"Why? Caerleon have stable hands they will be perfectly alright". Merlin did not fancy spending a morning with the horses shovelling hay; he was still struggling to stay up right.

"Because Merlin, I have asked you to see to them. You are my servant. Even though I think you seem to forget that"

"Oh I never forget "Merlin rolled his eyes. The movement triggered a sharp stab of pain to push behind his sockets, causing him to grunt in pain.

The action didn't go unnoticed to Arthur, who was watching him closely. Picking up the fresh bread and biting into the still warm roll. He walked up close to Merlin and literally shoved the object under the boy's nose. The overpowering smell, caused Merlin's stomach to flip, and the colour to drain from his face.

"What's the matter Merlin, you're looking a little green. " Arthur calmly stated. "Perhaps a day in the kitchens helping to prepare tonight's feast would be necessary after the stables". Arthur took another large bite of the roll right in front of Merlin. Watching with satisfaction as his servant grimaced in displeasure.

Eyes twinkling Arthur turned away as a sign of dismissal. He sat down at the table to finish his breakfast watching as Merlin stumbled around the room. As he reached the door, Arthur called out to him. "Merlin, do be mindful this isn't the end of your punishment for spending the night at the tavern. When we get back to Camelot you won't get off so easily. George awaits". Arthur took pleasure in the groan that reached his ears.

With the final word "Prat!" Merlin left Arthur's chambers.

It was all Gwaine's fault, Merlin decided, as he shovelled hay. If the knight hadn't been pestering him to go to the tavern the entire day before; none of this would have happened. Merlin paused in his chore, as he remembered the look on Arthur's face when presented with wearing a smelly shirt. A small chuckle escaped his lips. Leaning on the pitch fork, Merlin glanced around the stables to examine his achievement over the past couple hours or so. He heaved a heavy sigh, the horses had been seen to, but he wasn't anywhere near finished with the hay. Caerleon's stable hand had taken offense when Merlin had shown up to care for Camelot's horses. Merlin had had to explain that Arthur enjoyed giving him the job as a form of punishment. This seemed to please the stable hand and he had left Merlin to it.

He began to resume his activity, only to stop moments later as a disturbance reached his ears. He could hear yelling and screaming amid sounds of people trampling the ground. He dropped the pitch fork and ran outside the stables looking for an explanation. There were a few people running away from the main road, but nothing to determine what was going on. He distinctly heard Queen Annis yell out instructions to her knights. That meant Arthur was probably in the thick of things as usual. Running between the stables and another building he stopped short as people blocked his path. Pushing his way through the crowd, he came across a sight that would later be something rather humorous, if the situation wasn't so serious. The Royal party including Queen Annis, Arthur and a few of their Knights and one or two servants were penned down in the center of the crowd, arms raised to protect themselves. Someone was pelting rotten fruit and small stones at the group from different angles in the surrounding crowd.

A few of the knights were attempting to locate the culprits. Merlin craned his neck and picked out at least 10 peasants. Three were to the right of his position, another three were to his left and four others were directly in front of him. Each seemed the same as the currently watching crowd who were all trying to either stay out of the way or flee the chaos. Merlin could pick them out in the mob, each one was throwing projectiles, their faces hidden behind scarf's; only their focused eyes could be seen. They were using the people who had come to greet Arthur and Queen Annis as cover. Merlin spotted more knights from both Camelot and Caerleon arrive on the scene. Merlin noticed a stall filled with apples, just behind one group of the throwers. He crouched down to be inconspicuous, noticing three small stones. He grinned and let his magic come to the surface. Picking up the stones he allowed his magic to float them in his hand and then flicked them towards the three to his right. They clipped his three targets, one in the back of the head, one in the elbow and another one on the hand. As soon as the stones had been on their way he flicked his glowing eyes to the apple stool and broke the wooden stand. The legs snapped and spilled apples into the crowd. This caused some innocents to fall over, and his intended targets to lose their balance. He straightened up and smiled in satisfaction as there was a pause in the onslaught.

This gave time to the knights currently making their way to the assailant's to get through the crowd. He watched as one of the peasants was apprehended by Sir Leon, the man threw one last object at the royalty. The small sack fell short, but as it hit the ground a loud bang echoed around the area. A small explosion of thick black smoke erupted out, causing the entire cluster of people to react in panic. Mass hysteria rippled across the crowd. More smoke bombs were exploded at the same time adding to the confusion from the remaining 9 peasant's. They had obviously been waiting for the signal after regaining their stances. In the confusion it allowed, the miscreant's time to escape and Merlin got caught up in the crowd as he tried to make his way to Arthur's side.

A flash of familiar auburn hair streaked past, catching his attention. He watched as Gwaine grasp the young woman around the arm and began to drag her away. She had been the one who had thrown a smoke bomb, closest to him. He glanced back to where Arthur was, only to see him and Queen Annis being ushered back to the safety of the castle seemingly unharmed. Knowing that Arthur was now out of danger and in capable hands, he picked his way to follow Gwaine. The girl with the auburn hair had sparked his curiosity, a fuzzy recollection of a musty tavern and a sinister smirk hidden by a sweet smile. He had to hurray, as they disappeared into the crowd.