As the rays of the sun crept across the windowsill and lit the dancing dust mites in the air, Arthur slowly opened his eyes, momentarily confused by the lack of noise from his useless servant. He opened his mouth to yell for Merlin when reality suddenly hit him in the face and he remembered what had happened the previous day.

He threw off the bed sheets as he looked for his clothes. It was then that he realised he was still fully clothed from last night and he did not even remember going to bed as he had spent hours pacing the room trying to make sense of the situation. He swore loudly. How could he have been so stupid? He went to the door and asked the guard to summon the commander to come to his chambers immediately with 4 men.

He resumed his overnight pacing backwards and forwards across his chambers. Words spoken many years ago came back to haunt him "There's something about you Merlin, something I can't quite put my finger on" how had he missed something as important as this? He continued pacing, thinking about the events of yesterday.

"Sorry I'm late"

The rushed, half hearted apology spilled from his servant as the door was flung open and Merlin almost fell into the room carrying Arthur's breakfast tray.

The King rolled his eyes and threw the nearest item to hand in the general direction of the voice before burying his head back under the richly embroidered bedcovers. Merlin swiftly ducked and the pewter goblet hit the wall with a crash, spilling water across the floorboards and down the tapestry hangings. He crossed to the table and dumped the breakfast tray on it with a clatter before moving towards the curtains.

"Move those an inch and you're spending the day in the stocks" muttered the mound of bedcovers on the royal bed. Merlin grinned before throwing both curtains wide open and spilling the sunlight into the room.

"Good morning Sire" he shouted and then proceeded to grab and try to pull the blankets off the bed, ignoring the ever colourful language that was emanating from the King. Suddenly the situation was reversed and Merlin found himself on the offensive, fending off a torrent of pillows and cushions that were thrown at him. He gave up on the swearing mound of bedclothes and retreated towards the wardrobe, rummaging around to find clothes suitable for the morning. A blond head eventually emerged from the pile of blankets and Arthur stretched and yawned, rubbing his hand across his face before disappearing behind the dressing screen as Merlin threw a pair of dark trousers and a red shirt over the top of it, the two of them had this routine perfected from years of practice.

"So what are your plans for today then?" Merlin asked as he proceeded to demolish two of the three sausages he had bought for Arthur and then moved on to an apple.

Arthur poked his head around the side of the screen and glared at him "you mean besides replacing my manservant with one who doesn't steal my food? Honestly Merlin, a donkey with half a brain would do a better job than you and not eat so much"

"But you'd miss my stunning good looks and fantastic sense of humour too much" Arthur snorted at this, trying to turn it into a cough and failing.

"We're going hunting" Arthur sat down at the table and pulled the plate of food towards him. Merlin, who had moved to retrieve the blankets and pillows from the floor and make the bed groaned and pulled a face considering throwing one of the pillows at the back of Arthur's head. Arthur knew how much he hated hunting. "Don't even think about throwing that at me Merlin, unless of course you'd prefer to spend the day in the stocks" added the King, who had not even turned around, proving he could read Merlin's thoughts almost as well as his servant could read his.

Merlin grinned, it was years since Arthur had bothered to carry out this threat but he continued to use it on a daily basis. "Well, I do prefer my vegetables to be fresh and preferably not all over my hair" he replied. "You have remembered you've got a council meeting this morning?"

Arthur groaned, apparently he had overlooked this minor detail. Merlin grinned "and you have read all the reports and the full agenda haven't you?" Arthur's face fell further at this comment. Naturally he hadn't read all the documentation, it was still in untidy piles on his desk. Merlin, of course, had read the reports. After all, he made it his business to read every piece of paper that passed by Arthur's desk (and many that didn't). Arthur always made full use of Merlin's surprising thirst for information and relied far more on his manservant's knowledge of politics than he cared to admit. In fact, the members of the council would have been horrified to realise just how much of their new policy in the few months since Uther's death had been dictated by a mere servant.

"Of course I haven't read it, that's what I pay you for" the King retorted. "Why keep a dog and bark yourself?"

Merlin stopped making the bed and glared at the King. "Are you comparing me to a dog?"

"Yes, a rather useless and very spoilt one that should do more to earn its keep" said Arthur, slowing chewing on a slice of bread.

"You don't pay me enough to even bother to bark" Merlin turned back to the bed and pulled the covers into place while running a finger along the curved wooden headboard. It had been a while since he'd bothered to dust that, and you could almost write your name in it. He just hoped Arthur had not noticed.

"Well..."

"Well what?" Merlin sounded genuinely perplexed as his mind wandered, considering which spell he could adapt to make the dust vanish.

Arthur sighed and walked across the room towards Merlin waving the slice of half eaten bread in his hand. "Are you going to tell me what's in those reports and give me a summary of the necessary legal stance we need to adopt?"

"What's the magic word?" Merlin smiled as so many magic words ran through his mind, maybe one day soon he could explain these to Arthur without the fear of losing his head.

"Let me see...Stocks?...Dungeon?...because I'm the King and I said so...take your pick."

Merlin laughed and gave an elaborate bow "Whatever you say my lord" he mocked as Arthur lightly cuffed him round the head.

"Idiot"

"Prat"

They returned to the table, where Merlin poured himself a drink and proceeded to give Arthur a run down of the agenda and the items being covered.

A few hours later, after a very long meeting, made only a little more bearable for Arthur by knowing that Merlin was also bored to tears and having to stand still and not fidget (too much) for the entire meeting, they made their way to the stables.

"Honestly, how ANYONE can talk for over an hour on the subject of appeasement of the noble houses I will never understand" complained Merlin.

"You never understand anything beyond where your next meal is coming from." Arthur was tetchy after the overlong meeting and desperate to get outside for some fresh air and freedom.

"Look who's talking" Merlin quipped

"Are you implying I'm fat?" Arthur's voice turned icy with warning.

"Nope". Merlin allowed a wicked smile to pass over his lips as he then stated very rapidly "...but your clothes and their visits to the castle seamstress to allow for expansion might tell a different story."

Arthur stopped so suddenly that Merlin, trailing a couple of steps behind, walked into him. He turned slowly to glare at his servant, it was the type of look that would have made anyone else wilt and had indeed been known to cause some servants to faint. Merlin however was used to this and just grinned at his master.

"Merlin" Arthur's specific emphasis on the first part of his manservant's name was normally reserved for situations like this, when Merlin was in trouble but Arthur could not think of a suitable reprimand quickly enough.

"Yes Sire?" Merlin's face was the picture of innocence as he looked at the King.

"Shut up"

They carried on walking for a few minutes before Merlin said "But why can't the nobles all just agree that as Uther's son, they owe you the same allegiance they promised to him? It would make life so much simpler"

"Unlike you Merlin, life was never meant to be simple. They see my father's death as an opportunity to 'renegotiate' the loyalty they owe to the crown and basically get the best deal for themselves. Which mostly means less tax and / or marrying off any female relatives to me". At this thought, Arthur gave a shudder.

"And what does Gwen have to say about that?" asked Merlin raising an eyebrow in a very good imitation of his mentor.

"I haven't told her." Arthur sighed before adding "and you're not going to either. I'll have enough trouble with the nobles and the council once they figure out what my marriage intentions are without making it more complicated"

"And what intentions would those be precisely?" asked Merlin, cheekily

"Honourable ones and none of your business" snapped the King "now get a move on. Aren't you supposed to already be at the stables getting the horses ready?"

"OK, I'm going"

Arthur watched as Merlin ran down the steps into the courtyard and towards the stables, pausing only to grin at a passing maid who smiled back at the dark haired man and then blushed furiously. Everyone in the castle was aware that Caty had a crush on Merlin. Everyone except Merlin that is. Arthur smiled and mentally filed this information for later use against his manservant when Merlin was next being cheeky about the King being oblivious to the blindingly obvious.

To say the hunting trip was not a great success would be an understatement mussed Arthur as Merlin yet again managed to make too much noise and frighten away the large plump rabbit he had his eye on.

"For goodness sake Merlin, can't you keep quiet for a single minute?" hissed Arthur, glaring at his unfortunate servant.

"If I wasn't expected to lug ALL your equipment around, it might be a bit easier" grumbled Merlin as he sagged to the ground with a clatter of various weapons and hunting paraphernalia.

"Alright, fine. You stay here and I'll go further into the forest to see what I can find. Just see if you can possibly stay out of trouble for a little while".

Merlin rolled his eyes and sighed before collapsing backwards in the grass "whatever you say Sire".

Arthur made his way deeper into the forest, the bright sunlight and clear skies being muted under the canopy of variegated green. He found a good vantage point above a small clearing with lush grass that would attract the creatures of the forest and settled down to wait.

The last few months had been difficult for the young King, the death of his father still weighed heavily on his mind and his new responsibilities were proving to be harder than he had anticipated. Being outside of the castle walls and without his normal entourage of councillors, clerks and hangers-on that he had quickly learned followed whoever wore the crown like sheep, was liberating. Arthur was discovering there was much more to being King than he had ever considered possible. How had his father coped with it all? He was also discovering an intense dislike of politics and the necessary paperwork that accompanied it. It was this dislike of paperwork and a sudden temper tantrum that had lead to his discovery of Merlin's depth of knowledge around the political workings of Camelot. He was still amazed at his servant's ability to recite facts, figures and information that Arthur was sure was strictly confidential, at any moment. How did Merlin know all of this? At first, Arthur had assumed Merlin was just receiting castle gossip but over recent weeks he had started to think it was more than that. Merlin knew everything that went on, both in the castle and in the wider area. He knew that Lord Eric was trying to fiddle his tax returns, he told Arthur that the Earl of Compton was mixed up with some particularly nasty bandit gangs to the south of the Kingdom, he even knew about the gold transfer to the Kingdom of Etali and Arthur was sure that was top secret. When Arthur had asked about his unusual knowledge, Merlin had just stared at his feet and mumbled something about Arthur carelessly leaving paperwork lying around on his desk which had earned him a few hours mucking out the stables. Arthur sighed, sometimes his servant was indeed a mystery wrapped in an enigma. However, Arthur had to admit it was useful to know all the dirty secrets of his higher ranking nobles, it gave him leverage in the council meetings. Ah yes, those meetings that left him with a throbbing headache and an intense desire to knock everyone's heads together. His council still consisted of the loyal retainers of his fathers era, who, while loyal men, had their own agenda and had originally made the mistake of considering Arthur a pawn to be manipulated in their own power struggles. While he was happy to consider their opinions and highly valued their wealth of knowledge, the young king had soon made it clear he was his own man with different ideas and priorities to his father. Arthur was starting to place his own individual stamp on his reign and proving he was certainly no pawn in the political game. His changes to rules and laws that he considered out-dated or unfair were a constant battle ground between himself and his council.

A small noise in the clearing bought Arthur's mind back to the hunt and he smiled to see a large pheasant strutting around. That will do nicely he thought as he silently drew his bow.

Judging it was time to make the journey back to the castle, he picked up the plump bird and headed back to where he had left Merlin, hoping the idiot had not managed to do anything too stupid while he was gone. He expected to find his servant fast asleep in the evening sunshine and, resolving to wake him up with a fright, Arthur crept the final few paces to the clearing and hid himself behind an old oak tree. Scanning the clearing, he saw Merlin crouched on the ground with his back to him. Just as Arthur was about to shout to him, Merlin stood up and threw both hands in the air releasing a small bird...and a shower of gold sparks. Arthur stood transfixed as the one person in the world he would never have suspected, never even have considered as being a traitor used MAGIC as though it were a toy. Merlin laughed with glee like a child as the sparks flew around the clearing before Arthur's stunned gaze. His mind went into overdrive, magic was dark and evil and corrupted and yet this was beautiful and joyful and harmless as the sparks collided into multi-coloured rain and fell to the ground.

Suddenly, Merlin jumped and the sparks vanished as he whirled around looking directly at the King who stared just as guiltily back. The silence was heavy, neither of them daring to speak until Arthur gathered his wits and stated bluntly "What were you doing Merlin?"

His servant shuffled guiltily, looking down at his feet. "ummmm...nothing?"

Arthur rolled his eyes and questions battled in his head. Magic is evil, Merlin has magic, therefore is Merlin evil? The laws state that all sorcerers should be executed but could he bring himself to kill Merlin? If Merlin has magic, why is he here? And why had he not told Arthur? So many questions that Arthur was already getting a headache. "Really? I was sure I saw something odd going on"

"Oh...um...it might have been...ummmmm...atmospheric disturbance? Yes, that's it, sort of sparkly lights in the air, Gaius says you get a lot of that at this time of year with the weather we've been having."

"Really?" Arthur's voice was laced with sarcasm but Merlin did not seem to notice that, or chose to ignore it.

"Yes, it's all to do with cold air meeting hot air and science...and stuff...ummmm...Sire" Merlin's voice petered out and he continued to stare at his feet as if they were the most interesting thing in the world to him.

Arthur continued to stare at him. Atmospheric disturbance? Did Merlin really think he was that stupid? Yes, there was a lot of hot air going on in the clearing at the moment and it was all emanating from his servant. Arthur's sense of duty would have him take his sword and run Merlin through where he stood, that is what he was obliged to do, it is what his father would have done. And yet, he had spent the last few months trying to persuade his council and the court that he was not his father and wished to pursue a less bloodthirsty and more peaceful path. Was this the way to do it? To embrace the use of magic? But there was also the question of trust, betrayal and deceit to consider, all of which seemed more important to Arthur at this time than his manservant's illegal activities.

He cleared his throat "Atmospheric disturbance, of course". He turned around towards where they had left the horses "Well, come on then, it'll be dark before we get back". He forced himself to walk away without turning to look back as the clatter behind him confirmed that Merlin was scrabbling to pick up the weapons and follow him. Arthur knew it was going to be a very long and uncomfortable ride back to the city and he had a very big decision to make on the way.

A knock at the door bought Arthur back to the present with a start. "Enter" he called and the door opened to admit Jeff, the Commander of the Guards. He was a stout man in his early fifties with deep set grey eyes with a permanent twinkle that were constantly alert for any sign of danger. He had held the position for many years and was highly regarded by all of his men and greatly respected by anyone who had worked with him for his insight and his eye for detail. He gave a quick, business like bow and waited for the King to speak.

Arthur quickly explained that he needed men to accompany him on a delicate mission to visit the court physician and opened the door. Jeff followed quickly and the guards fell in behind. Arthur recognised Dave, Mark and Ben as three long term members of the guard but the fourth was unknown to him. Jeff noticed this "This is Hugh Sire, he joined the guards nine months ago."

"Ah yes, Master Beringar's boy, is that right lad?" Arthur made a point of knowing the guards by name.

"Yes Sire" The young man gave a bow.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the door to Gaius' chamber. Arthur paused, he really didn't want to do this, but once again, what Arthur the man wanted to do and what Arthur the King had to do, were two very separate things. Arthur drew in a deep breath, flung the door open and stalked in.

Despite the early hour, Gaius was awake and dressed. He looked up from his seat at the table without surprise and nodded "He's gone Sire." Arthur glanced around the room noting the door to Merlin's room was wide open and stripped of his merge belongings. He turned to Jeff "wait outside" he said and the commander and guards left the room.

The door closed and the King glared at the physician. Gaius had been more of a father to the young prince while he was growing up than his own father ever was. From his first bruised knee it was always Gaius who had tended the prince, picked him up and wiped away the tears when he was younger and soothed away the pain and set numerous bones when he got older. It was Gaius that Arthur had always trusted to offer advice, to listen to worries and to help. Now, it was Gaius that Arthur needed to face and question about the illegal activities of his ward.

"You knew" the King stated coldly. It wasn't a question.

Gaius slowly nodded. "Arthur..." He began, but Arthur held up his hand "Don't Gaius!" he stated emotionlessly. "You should know that the only reason you are still at liberty is because he" Arthur could not bring himself to say Merlin's name "begged me for your life. I gave my word that you wouldn't be harmed and it seems that my word is worth more than some people's" Gaius hung his head at this rebuke. Having given his promise to serve both Uther and Arthur, he knew that he deserved the stinging words but he never for one moment regretted what he had done to protect his ward.

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know" the old man looked directly into Arthur's blue eyes and the King knew he was telling the truth.

"Very well. At least for once he managed to obey a direct order." the King gave a humourless laugh and walked towards the door. He placed a hand on the latch and then turned back to face the physician "and Gaius, if he ever returns and I discover that you did not tell me...I will have both your heads."

At that, the King walked out the door, leaving Gaius alone with his thoughts.