not as long as the previous chapter i'm afraid, but the story is starting to properly begin to unfold itself now.
Please review!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next few weeks passed fairly quietly, at least as quietly as they could, considering they were in Camelot. Merlin was only late for work five times, causing Arthur to start inventing new tasks to be done just to get back at him. Arthur reckoned that Merlin must either be incredibly stupid or incredibly naive not to notice how crazy the jobs were getting. Either way, Merlin kept his mouth shut, however much he grumbled to Gaius, Gwen or even himself when the prince was not around. Gwen sympathised, Gaius scoffed and, quite strangely, Merlin had very in depth conversations with himself about why Arthur was the way that he was. The best conclusion that he came up with was the combination of being a royal and a prat…
It was exactly three weeks since the awful day that Merlin had a day that was even worse, however impossible he thought this was. It didn't involve ridiculously messy rooms; it didn't even involve sword practice. But funnily enough, it did begin with Merlin being late for work.
Arthur was sitting in his chair, trying not to let his frustration with Merlin reach boiling point, and determined to think of some job that was unpleasant to do as revenge. Drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair, Arthur heard the door open slowly. Thinking it was Merlin trying to slip in without the prince noticing, Arthur opened his mouth.
"About time. You really have to stop this lateness, Merlin; I'm starting to get bored."
"So, he's late as well as inexperienced then." An unexpected voice responded, "He may have saved your life, but I'm beginning to feel like it was a mistake appointing that boy your manservant."
Arthur rose quickly and found himself face to face with the king. The last thing that Arthur had intended was to let the king know about the lack of punctuality that Merlin seemed to possess.
"He isn't. Late, that is, or inexperienced. I told him not to get here until he had mucked out my horses..." Arthur's voice trailed off as his father gave him a look of the utmost disbelief.
Arthur really didn't know what else to say to try and get Merlin off the hook. Feeling an amount of guilt that surprised even him about what he had just landed Merlin in, Arthur looked around his room (back to its normal state) for inspiration and a change of topic. What was the king doing in here anyway?
Opening his mouth once again, Arthur made to ask him but before he could, Merlin arrived. Bursting through the doors in such a typical Merlin way, he charged into the room, nearly crashed into the king and slipped over, all the while saying the words that just disproved everything Arthur had just told his father.
"I know, I know. I'm late again. This time it was Gaius's fault, he wanted to..." Merlin's voice trailed off in a similar way to Arthur's when he realised who was also in the room. Sitting at the king's feet, Merlin looked up apologetically and luckily had the sense to stay quiet.
"You were saying…?" Uther asked his son, who at least had the mind to look ashamed.
Arthur held his breath, really not knowing how Uther was going to react. Merlin's use of the word 'again' had made it quite clear that this was a recurring problem. And knowing his father the way that he did, he wasn't about to let an ineffective servant get away with being late for work. Especially not when his master was the prince of Camelot and heir to the throne. It was just a matter of how badly he reacted.
"Guards." The king called back through the open door.
Arthur shut his eyes to hide the dismay and guilt he was feeling. Merlin simply sat on the floor, frozen, looking horrified at the king's summoning.
The clanking of armour on the stone floor announced the arrival of two guards, who hurried into the room, looking about them anxiously. Frowns of confusion crossed both their faces simultaneously as they took in the scene before them. Their king was standing by the door, looking annoyed. Their prince was standing opposite him, looking ashamed and, if their eyes weren't playing tricks on them, guilty. Then there was the boy in the brown jacket that was always hanging around Arthur, sitting on the floor, looking worried. It was not a situation that they were used to being called too.
"This boy has an appointment with the stocks." Uther said, gesturing to Merlin as he did so.
Merlin's face fell even further, if that was at all possible, as the guards pulled him to his feet and marched him out of the room.
Arthur tried to catch Merlin's eye as he was dragged from the room, to say without words that he hadn't wanted this to happen. But Merlin had not once looked at Arthur, making him feel more wretched than before.
"Anyway, before incompetent servants got in the way, I came to tell you news of great importance." The king continued, drawing Arthur's attention away from the door and back to his father, "The sorcerer has returned to the outlying villages."
This news bought Arthur's mind back from his servant with an unpleasant thump. He didn't have to ask who this particular sorcerer was; there was only one that was bad enough to avoid being named, Claton. Camelot had suffered greatly at Claton's hand when he had last appeared, trying to take control of Camelot by killing anyone who slightly resembled a Pendragon. The knights had almost had him cornered when he had disappeared into thin air, literally. He had stayed quiet for some time now but that was obviously not a permanent thing.
"I will take the knights and ride out immediately." Arthur told his father, making for the door as he spoke, but was stopped in his tracks when Uther grasped his arm to prevent the fired-up prince from going anywhere.
"No," Uther responded, "we will wait for him to come here. Then we will have him executed under our terms and rules, not his."
"But if he's already in the outlying villages then who knows what damage and harm he could do before he even gets here. Not to mention the damage he could do in Camelot before we know he's in the city." Arthur couldn't see the logic in his father's plan at all. Surely the time to strike was when Claton was least expecting it.
"I said no, Arthur. And I forbid you to try and ride out, either on your own or with your knights. I expect you to be at the meeting later where the problem will be put forward to the council. And if you're not there, Arthur, then that unfortunate servant of yours will find himself taking the blame." Without another word, the king strode from his son's chambers, knowing that Arthur wouldn't risk Merlin in order to help the villages. The pair of them seemed to be the only two in Camelot who were unaware of how deep a bond that they were forming. Uther was aware of it, Gaius was more than aware of it, even Morgana could see it. Yet although the two of them would not admit it even to themselves, Uther knew that by using Merlin, Arthur would not dare go against his orders. So, maybe it was a little extreme but Uther would go to any lengths to protect his only son, especially against sorcerers.
Angrily, Arthur made to stride out of his room and go straight down to the stocks to apologise to Merlin, who was by now probably covered in vegetables, fruit and goodness knows what else. But once again he was stopped from leaving his chambers by an unexpected visitor. Morgana had seen the king leave Arthur's room, and knowing how rare it was for Uther to be in there, felt worried about what had happened.
"Is anything wrong?" She asked Arthur, who simply stared at her in disbelief. The anger clouding the prince's usually handsome face should have answered that question for her, yet Morgana still felt like she had to ask.
"Wrong?" Arthur responded, his voice dripping in sarcasm, "No, not at all. I only just got Merlin thrown in the stocks by accident, got blackmailed by my own father and had an evil sorcerer return to try and kill me. Nope, nothing is wrong!"
"I was only asking." Morgana responded, more heatedly than she intended. Taking a deep breath to calm her own nerves in order to not provoke the prince, Morgana realised exactly what Arthur had just said.
"Evil sorcerer? You can't mean Claton? I thought he had gone? How can he be back?" Morgana ran out of questions, making Arthur smile, despite himself. He should have known that the ever-inquisitive ward would have plenty to say on the matter. However, much as he would like to listen to her opinions just so that he could disagree with them, Arthur had more important issues to deal with – Merlin being one of them.
Once again, Arthur tried to leave, but, once again, was stopped by Morgana, "How exactly is Uther blackmailing you?" She asked softly.
"Merlin." He said shortly, "He seems to be under the impression that I would actually care if something happened to him. I can't help the villages where Claton is because otherwise Merlin will pay the price. I mean, as if that would stop me!"
"Then how come you're not already gone?" Morgana asked, her voice even softer than before. Arthur was such an idiot if he thought that he could hide the way that he felt about Merlin. The friendship between the two of them was undeniable.
Knowing that she had a point, Arthur simply glared and strode purposefully from the room. He wasn't stopped this time and quickly made his way down the stairs and out towards the market, heading for where he knew Merlin now was.
