Yay, chapter two :)
Cookies to my reviewers! Sorry if the characters are a little OOC :p

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How he would act today was planned by him the night before. He would act perfectly natural, perhaps just a little more friendly towards Merlin. Just a smidge. No, no, that would be too weird, Merlin would notice straight away.. or would he? The prospect of Merlin noticing such a little in Arthur made the prince ever so slightly excited.

"Sire, I have your breakfast from the kitchens." Announced a suddenly present Merlin.

"Uh.. Ahem. Yes. Very good, now go do your chores."

"You haven't exactly told me what to do yet Arthur."

"Oh, um, go downstairs and muck out the stables."

Merlin groaned as he started to head out of the princes bedroom, "It's too hot for that today."

Perhaps this would be a time to be nicer thought Arthur, after all, he liked the overly massive grin Merlin usually had on as opposed to bored unhappy face his servant now bore.

"If it's too hot, you don't have to muck them out, if you want you can stay here where it's cool and tidy up my room or something."

Merlin turned around slowly with a quizzical look on his face, trying hard to detect a hint of sarcasm or the hidden catch in his masters new order.

"Arthur, are you sure?"

"Yes, you just said it was too hot outside."

"You don't want me to muck out the stables because I said it was too hot..?"

"I don't want you to be in discomfort."

Snap, that just flew out of my mouth thought Arthur.

Merlin scanned the room, the quizzical look still brandished on his face, searching for a trap of some kind. Finding nothing he proceeded slowly to tidy up the mess on the bedroom floor.

"Arthur, are you sure you're ok today?"

Crap, he knows, thought Arthur. Can't be too nice to him or he'll figure it out.

"No there's nothing wrong with me. On second thought Merlin, don't be such a lazy idiot and go muck out the stables. In fact, I'm going to give you a time limit of twenty minutes. If you don't finish it in time then it's the stocks for you. And yes, I will be giving the villagers permission to use potatoes."

Merlin frowned; this was slightly more in character for Arthur but also a lot more prattish than normal.

"Sire, are you sure there's nothing wrong with you today?"

Arthur let out a small hysterical laugh, oh my god what if he knows?!

"Nothing, not at all, why do you ask Merlin?"

"Well, um. First of all you let me stay indoors as opposed to mucking the stables just because I complained about it, and that for you is abnormally nice. Then you turn around and give me a time limit to muck out the stables and threaten to put me in the stocks. Which is more prat like than normal."

Arthur hadn't really been listening to what Merlin was saying, he was too busy watching the way the sunlight filtered in through the windows giving his manservant a slight glow, and his eyes a slight sparkle.

"Arthur, are you listening to me?"

"Wh-.. Anyway, I've decided I want to go hunting now. Get my gear and inform the knights."

The fresh air will be good for me, and with the knights around there will be less chance of me making a fool in front of Merlin, thought Arthur. Congratulating himself for making such a cunning plan so quickly, Arthur missed the uncomfortable expression pass Merlins face as he headed out to get the knights.

The air was crisp and the forest around him silent. Arthur listened for the tell tale sign of an animal lurking nearby. All he needed was the snap of a twig or the distinctive crunch of dry leaves.

-snap-

Arthur was the first to hear it, snapping his head to the right and running after the now in full flight deer, the rest of the knights and Merlin following behind. Arthur had a clear shot of the deer. Noticing Merlin watching him in the corner of his eye, Arthur made a showy display of shooting the deer. The crowd made their way to the dead animal.

"Dinner." Arthur exclaimed with a grin on his face, turning to look at his manservant. Instead of the swooning I'm-so-in-love-with-you-you-manly-prince look Arthur expected, Merlin instead was looking away from the deer with a disturbed look on his face. Arthur looked at his manservant confused. Usually his superb hunting skills impressed even the most reluctant of females his father pressed upon him to make a good impression on.

"What's with that stupid look Merlin?" The prince asked as he dropped back his walking pace so he was now walking beside Merlin.

"Nothing sire. I just don't like the idea of hunting that's all." Muttered Merlin.

Arthur was pondering on a way to respond when one of the knights at the front called out.

"My lord, look what we've found here, it was probably left by the doe we just killed."

Arthur raced to the front, Merlin followed behind. On the ground in front of them, cowering behind a small shrub was an obviously scared fawn.

"Can't eat it, it's too small and the meat wouldn't be good, but it will be a helluva easy kill."

Said one of the knights with an excited grin on his face, identical to the ones of the rest of the knights standing around the prince, waiting for a congratulatory slap on the back for providing the prince with this extra amount of fun. Arthur thought for a minute. This would be an easy kill, not to mention fun, but should he really kill a defenceless baby deer? Looking around at the eager smiles of his fellow knights, Arthur slowly reached for his sword.

"No." Said a small but determined voice. Merlin stood in front of the prince, with an expression of anger so calm it was almost deadly. "I won't let you kill it" said Merlin, not without his voice wavering a little.

Arthur stood looking shocked at Merlin, unsure of what to do. He had never seen his manservant so angry before. Meanwhile, Merlin looked at the knights surrounding Arthur, their faces murderous and threatening to hurt him if he dared go on defying the prince. At this Merlin dropped his angry facade and tried one last time to persuade the prince to stop.

"Please Arthur, it's only a baby, leave it, don't hurt it."

Arthur could not decide for the life of him what to do. He knew he should kill it, after all it would prove his dominance and all the better to do that in front of his knights. But the look his manservant was giving him now was even worse than the one before. His eyes were pleading, his voice full of emotion and his eyes filled with sadness. Arthur looked over to the fawn cowering behind the bushes, its expression almost identical to Merlins. Arthur sighed, he probably wouldn't forgive himself afterwards since no doubt Merlin would hate him after this. Arthur took his sword out from the sheath, around him the knights let out a small cheer. Arthur walked over to the fawn, then Merlin once again ran out in front of him, this time instead of facing the prince, rushing over to the fawn and cradling it, a protective glare in his eyes.

"I won't let you kill it. It's one thing to shoot something to provide food for others, it's another to shoot something just for the sake of it and for fun. It's not going to be of any use to you dead and it's completely harmless. Arthur, it can't even defend itself."

Arthur stood still, unsure of what to do. There was no way he was going to kill the baby deer if it meant endangering Merlin.

Then one of the knights lost it.

"How dare you defy the crown prince of Camelot, you lowly servant. Who gave you permission to use the lords first name? Move out of the way or so be it I'll not hesitate to harm you."

Merlin shook his head defiantly and held the fawn closer

"Move!" shouted the knight, picking up a large rock and throwing it at Merlin.

It hit the warlock with such a force that he struck out a hand to keep himself from falling from his crouching position. The rock had brandished a minor cut on his jacket. Merlin winced, the pain evident on his face. He made no signs of retreating, instead he held the fawn even closer to him.

Merlins pained look snapped Arthur out his thoughts.

"Who threw that rock?" said Arthur. His voice calm but so laced with venom the knights shuddered.

"I.. I did.." said one of the knights in a small voice. This was not the reaction he was expecting.

"You do NOT hurt Merlin, and you do NOT throw insults at him." Arthur was surprised to hear he was almost snarling.

"Merlin, get up." Said Arthur, turning his head towards his manservant, voice calmer.

"I.. I'm not letting you kill it" said Merlin in a small voice where fear was obviously evident.

"I'm not going to you idiot. Get up and go hold my things, we're going back. Try not to trip over anything, we don't need any more hold ups."

Arthur started to walk back towards the castle, realising just now what he had done. His reputation amongst his knights mostly likely had just plummeted. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his knights walking uneasily back towards the castle, unsure what to make of what had just happened. Arthur sighed, what had he done. Then he saw Merlin, and it was as if everything he had just done was suddenly worth it. Arthur could have sworn that just for a second a look of admiration and the I'm-so-in-love-with-you-you-manly-prince look flashed across Merlins face, going as quickly as it came. Either he imagined that or it was real. Arthur preferred the latter.

Back at the castle Merlin finished polishing Arthurs armour. As Arthur dismissed him, Merlin stood up to leave, stopping just before he reached the door.

"Sire?" said Merlin turning around.

"Yes Merlin?"

"Thank you for today." Said Merlin with the most breathtaking smile before exiting the princes bedroom.

"Your welcome.." muttered the prince in a small voice to an empty room. That last smile was priceless.

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x) protective Arthur.