A/N: Here's chapter 2 as promised! So… if you guys thought the last chapter had a lot of fluff… in my opinion, this chapter puts the last one to shame in the fluff department. It really got out of hand. None the less, I hope you all enjoy! Also, apparently I really like banquet settings because this one also takes place during a banquet… with all these big meals, no wonder Merlin worries about Arthur's weight. ;)

Thank you all for the reviews/follows/favorites so far! You guys rock!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Merlin.

"Come now, Arthur," coaxed Agravaine in his usual slick voice, accompanied by his iconic Cheshire Cat grin. "After all this time, who is the person you trust most here in Camelot?"

The question was posed in an almost rhetorical voice, Arthur's uncle obviously believing that the answer would undoubtedly be himself. He was, after all, the only kin the king had left who- as far as Arthur knew- wasn't trying to kill him.

Arthur pondered the question for a moment, the answer obviously not coming as quickly as Agravaine has expected. His eyes roved over all the people sitting around him at the banquet. Although his gaze did linger on a few people, Leon, Gaius, and a few other knights of the round table, they ultimately moved past all the nobles and knights and ended up in the back of the room where the servants were gathered.

Agravaine followed his king's gaze to see it had settled on one specific servant who was leaning up against a corner, seemingly dozing off.

"Your servant, sire?" Agravaine said with thinly veiled reproachfulness.

Unlike what most masters would do when they saw their manservant sleeping on the job, Arthur just got a small, amused, almost affectionate, smile on his face.

"I know most of the time he seems like a complete idiot, because, well, he kind of is. But he's been at my side for years now, and his loyalty has never wavered."

"Yes, but sire," Agravaine said. "I meant trust as in someone who you trust to... have your back, protect you with their lives, someone who you can tell your inner thoughts to," he looked to the servant in disdain "not someone who you can only trust to get a stain out of your shirt and bring you your meals."

"You'd be surprised, Uncle. Merlin is quite capable when he wants to be."

Said capable man's head snapped up after having dropped down to his chest. Arthur chuckled softly and shook his head and, finally catching his servant's eye, raised his cup and shook it slightly to indicate it needed to be refilled.

Merlin shook his head to clear the sleep from his brain and made his way quickly up to his master.

"You weren't dozing off again, were you Merlin?" Sighed the king in mostly feigned exasperation.

"Me nod off? Why would I ever do that when refilling your wine is so exciting?" Arthur only rolled his eyes and held out his goblet as a reply.

"Hold your cup still, Arthur." The younger man complained when the king was too distracted by what was going on around him to notice his traveling hand had caused Merlin to almost spill for the third time.

Arthur, for his part, either didn't hear or chose to ignore the other man and when his cup wobbled to the right a bit too far, the king suddenly found he had a lap full of wine.

"Merlin!" He exclaimed, slamming down his goblet and grabbing a cloth to try and wipe some of the drink away.

"Well, I did tell you to hold your hand still! Anyway, it's just a bit of wine, don't be a prat about it."

Arthur only glared at his servant before, to the king and his manservant's surprise, his Uncle cut in.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this, sire." To say that Agravaine was a bit miffed at the raven haired servant at the moment was quite the understatement. What right did this insolent peasant have to take Agravaine's rightful spot as most trusted by the king? What made him so special?

It was these questions running through his head that might have been the cause of his brief laps in judgment. He knew how the higher ups in Camelot were supposed to treat servants, but at the moment, Agravaine was too angry to care.

Arthur was a bit stunned by his Uncle's sudden offer to deal with his manservant. It was an unusual request, seeing as Arthur would have left the younger man's punishment at yelling his name and glaring at his from across the hall for the rest of the night. What else was there to "deal with"?

It was that stunned feeling that caused Arthur to momentarily freeze and allow his uncle to pass. He was still frozen when his uncle stopped in front of Merlin, glaring at the young man for a moment.

But when his uncle raised his hand and backhanded Merlin sharply across the face, that got the king to move.

Arthur stepped forward to stand protectively in front of Merlin, creating a human barrier between his steaming uncle and his manservant, who had a hand on his stinging cheek, staring with wide eyes at the two men in front of him.

"Agravaine!" Arthur spat out in a whispered yell. He was trying not to create more of a scene than they had already made. "I know you haven't been here long, but you should know by now that we do not treat servants in an abusive manner! And Merlin is my manservant and my friend. I will not allow him to be treated poorly." Arthur stepped aside and put a hand on Merlin's shoulder, pulling him forward. "Uncle, I believe it would be best if you apologized."

Agravaine stared incredulously at his king. Apologize? To a servant? This was absolutely ridiculous. He could hardly deny the king of Camelot, however...

Agravaine grit his teeth and pulled on a sickly sweet smile, looking down to the raven haired man and inclining his head ever so slightly.

"My humblest apologies, Merlin. I was out of line." The words sounded as if they had been dragged, kicking and screaming, out of his mouth, but Arthur knew this was the best he was going to get from his uncle, so he only cast Agravaine one last withering glare before turning his back on the older man and facing Merlin.

"Are you alright, Merlin?" The king asked softly. Even as Merlin nodded his head shakily and slowly lowered his hand, Arthur could tell it was a lie. There was a distinct red hand shaped mark on his right cheek and a nice bruise already starting to form.

By the uncomfortable look in his eye and the deep blush starting to creep its way onto his face, Arthur knew that the younger man was also very aware of the tense silence and all the eyes locked on the three men at the front table.

Arthur cleared his throat and turned to face the nobles and servants who were staring back at him. "I think it's time I retire for the night. Goodnight."

There was a chorus of mumbled 'goodnight sire's and 'My lord's as the king turned, with one last frown at his uncle, and left, knowing Merlin was following dutifully behind as always.

Neither Arthur nor Merlin said a word while they made their way to the privacy of the king's chambers. Upon arriving, Arthur grabbed his night clothes and stepped behind his changing screen while Merlin stood waiting for the king to hand him his now wine stained clothing.

"You might as well throw those away. There's no way that stain is coming out." Arthur said as he passed his manservant the clothes. His tone wasn't angry as much as long-suffering. This wasn't the first time Merlin had spilled wine on him and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

Merlin looked down at the soiled shirt and pants and momentarily contemplated using magic later to get the stain out, but decided it would make Arthur too suspicious.

"Sorry about this." Merlin apologized softly, indicating the clothes in his hands.

Arthur sighed and looked over at his servant. The bruise on his face was growing, already it had doubled in size and deepened to a purple in just the time since they had left the banquet.

"I don't care about the shirt, Merlin. You've done it enough for me to be used to your incompetence by now." Arthur's attempt at their usual banter fell flat as Merlin kept his eyes down and his fingers picked absent mindedly at the shirt in his hands. "Merlin," When the king still didn't get the younger man's attention, he sighed once more and walked over to Merlin, gently gripping his chin and lifting his head. When the servant tried to pull away, Arthur only grabbed the back of his head and pulled him back.

"Just let me see it, Merlin." Much to the blonde's surprise, the younger man did as he was told for once and stood still.

As Arthur examined the bruise on his friend's face, he could feel his anger rising like hot magma inside of him. His uncle hadn't held back and a small cut in the center of the bruise, which had somehow escaped the king's notice until now, was leaking a little stream of blood slowly down the warlock's cheek. Arthur thought it must have been caused by one of Agravaine's rings.

Arthur took his old shirt from Merlin's hands and used the sleeve to carefully dab at the blood. When the younger man winced at the contact, Arthur cringed and muttered a soft apology.

After all the blood was wiped away, Arthur stepped back and noted with disappointment that Merlin didn't look any better.

"I just don't understand it," Arthur said as he put the shirt on the table and turned back to face the younger man with his arms crossed over his chest. "Why would Agravaine do that right after I told him-" Arthur stopped, feeling slightly uncomfortable at what he was about to admit to his servant.

"Told him what?" asked Merlin when the king didn't continue. Looking at his manservant now, with his bruise- which seemed to have settled on its size, but couldn't make up its mind on what color to be, seeing as it had now turned a shade of deep red- and his blue eyes looking imploringly up at his master, Arthur felt he owed Merlin the truth in that moment.

"Just minutes before he…" the blonde waved a hand, indicating Merlin's face. "Agravaine asked me who it was I trusted most in Camelot, and I told him that person was… well, um… it's you."

Because Arthur was looking down while he made this confession, he missed the series of emotions that danced across Merlin's face. The first thing the young warlock felt was shock. He would have assumed that Arthur's most trusted confidant was Leon or even Gaius, not himself. He also felt a wave of warmth wash over him, knowing that Arthur really did have faith in him and didn't view him as a useless idiot all the time. The final feeling wasn't so nice. It was a little seed of guilt, knowing that while Arthur said he trusted him, Merlin still couldn't trust the king with his secret. He tried to consol himself by the thought that he really did trust Arthur with his life and genuinely considered the man to be his closest friend, there were just certain things the king wasn't ready to know.

"Maybe," he began hesitantly, going back to Arthur's original question. "maybe Agravaine was… jealous?"

"Jealous of you." Arthur deadpanned.

"Well," the servant defended. "he was probably expecting that, as your uncle, you would say you trusted him the most, not some," Merlin gestured to himself. "servant."

"Yes, bet you're not 'just some servant', are you, Merlin?" When Merlin didn't respond, Arthur trudged on, struggling to leave his pride behind for the sake of reassuring his idiot of a manservant. "Well, I mean… you and I… we're friends now, aren't we?"

The question was phrased in a way that made it almost sound like an accusation and it made Merlin smile.

"I certainly like to think we are." Merlin answered as he began making a fire in the hearth, feeling some of the tension melt out of the room. "Even if you are a prat."

"And you're an idiot." Arthur fired back automatically, but with a smile. As he sat down at the table, Arthur realized the more he thought about it, the more he realized the term "friend" didn't really seem to properly describe Merlin.

A friend was someone who you could tell about your hardships, someone who you would rather didn't get hurt, someone who made you work hard to keep them by your side.

But Merlin… he shared in Arthur's hardships, he was someone who Arthur would sacrifice himself for in a heartbeat in order for the younger man not to get hurt, someone who knew all of Arthur's short comings and faults and stuck by his side all the same.

"No… no, you're not a friend." Arthur concluded out loud. When Merlin flashed him a surprised, hurt look, Arthur was quick to amend. "You're more like an obnoxiously endearing little brother who I'm constantly having to bail out of trouble."

Merlin gave Arthur a brilliant grin as he stood up. "That would make you my extremely prattish older brother who is constantly ordering me around. Sounds about right." Merlin said as he came and sat down across from the king at his table, looking at Arthur for a moment before lowering his head and admitting quietly, "I've always looked up to you like an older brother."

"And I've always looked out for you like you were my little brother." replied Arthur, causing Merlin to look up in surprise. He had been expecting the blonde's customary insult about Merlin being a girl. "And as long as you continue getting yourself into trouble," Arthur smirked as Merlin bit his lip guiltily; they both knew the day Merlin stopped getting into trouble was the day hell froze over. "I will continue to look out for you."

Merlin smiled and once again shyly lowered his head "Thanks, Arthur."

"Don't mention it." Arthur paused a moment before saying firmly. "I mean it. If you value your life, you won't mention this conversation to anyone."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Merlin said with a chuckle as he stood up. "Is there anything else you need, sire?"

Arthur pushed himself up from the table with a hefty sigh. "No, I believe I'm going to turn in got the night. You're dismissed."

Merlin nodded and made for the door before Arthur's soft call stopped him.

"Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"I've always wanted a brother."

"…me too, Arthur. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Merlin."

A/N: Well? Was it alright? I certainly hope so! And some good news! A reviewer, Lady of The Wind Dweller, has given me a wonderful prompt, so there will be another chapter after this! It will take a few days to get it up because it isn't written yet… but keep an eye out for it in the near future! It's another "Merlin defending Arthur" one, but with different circumstances from the last chapter… Anyway, thank you for reading and let me know what you think!