"Beating." Merlin complained aloud, not that Arthur was listening. "I'd rather do anything. Scrubbing pots . . . getting amputations . . . drowning kittens . . . anything but beating!"

He scowled at the king's back from where he was loping a few steps behind the hunters' horses. The rest of the beaters were spread throughout the woods around them, doing their best to rustle up anything that might interest Arthur and the knights.

Gwaine, riding a few paces behind the knights, downed a swig of ginger tea from the canteen of it Gaius had provided him with and grimaced, commenting to Merlin, "I'd be a beater for you if you'd magic away this headache."

For a second, Merlin was startled; Gwaine didn't know about his magic. Then the knight gave a wan grin, and the wizard realized he'd been making a joke. "Or you could just knock me out till it goes away."

"That would just give you a worse headache, you know, little man." Percival put in from ahead of Gwaine.

"Sire!" One of the outermost beaters appeared through the trees, waving an arm as he dashed toward them. "I've spotted deer!"

"Show us where." Arthur spurred his horse into a trot as the beater, a short middle-aged man with a heedful of curly black hair, swung around and ran back the way he'd come. The knights fell in behind Arthur and Merlin jogged after them, keeping close.

A ways out from where the beater had spotted the deer, the hunters dismounted and moved forward more stealthily, though their heavy crossbows and boots seemed loud and clumsy to Merlin, who had years of practice gliding swiftly and silently through the woods.

When he spotted the deer, two small fallow does, Arthur directed the knights out to either side, circling their quarry so their chances of escape were diminished. He waited until Leon moved into sight opposite him, signaling that the hunters were all ready to shoot.

Arthur carefully took aim and let fly; his arrow hit home behind the nearer deer's shoulder. The doe screamed and tried to take a step as it fell; the other began to bolt, but three arrows flew out of the tree cover; one missed, another hit its flank, and a third found its mark from directly in front of the deer, bringing her down instantly.

The knights broke cover, exchanging triumphant grins. Mordred approached the deer Arthur had felled, putting another arrow in it to be sure it wasn't suffering; then they retrieved their shafts and passed them off to Merlin to be cleaned, with the exception of Leon's, which had been broken when the deer came down on it.

Two servants took the carcasses and disappeared with them, back in the direction of the packhorses that had been brought to carry the hunters' game.

The beater who had spotted the deer fell into step beside Merlin as Arthur and his men remounted. "Need some help cleaning those arrows?"

"Oh, no, I can do it. Thank you, though." Merlin gave him an amiable smile.

"No, really." The man glanced toward the knights with a wry grin. "I'd love to take a break from beating."

"That makes both of us." Merlin passed him two of the arrows. "I'm Merlin, by the way."

"Yes, I know who you are." The man gave another dry smile as they shook hands. "You've made a bit of a reputation for yourself as the only servant who's been able to stay in Arthur's employment more than a month. I'm Matthan. You're Gaius' apprentice, too, right?"

"Yes; you know him?" Merlin questioned curiously.

"Not well." He shrugged. "He's been keeping my wife and I supplied with something that helps ease the pains we get from our arthritis."

"Oh, he mentioned you earlier, I think." The wizard nodded. "Is the arthritis very bad?"

"I can't speak for my wife, but I know I get severe pains without Gaius' remedy."

"That's too bad." As he scrubbed the gore from an arrowhead with the rag he kept in his pouch for such purposes, Merlin frowned sympathetically; his thoughts drifted to the soreness he felt in his aged form. "Arthritis can be terrible."

"Yes." The curly-haired beater agreed. "But usually it's not too awful, thanks to your uncle."

"I'm glad he can help." The boy glanced up. Matthan didn't look like the sort of fellow one might expect to suffer from arthritis; he seemed rather robust and healthy, with a dark tan and bright, intelligent blue eyes under his dense, dark hair. He was probably only five to ten years older than Merlin. That thought made the wizard grimace; hopefully he wouldn't be getting arthritis at that age.

"It's usually worse for my wife Jeneen than for me." Matthan told him as he wiped the last spot of blood off his second arrow. "The remedy doesn't work as well for her as it does for me."

"That's odd." Merlin responded, examining his arrow. "I don't see why the same remedy shouldn't work just as well on both of you. I'll mention it to Gaius; maybe he can make it stronger."

"That would be wonderful." Matthan handed over the two arrows he'd been cleaning. "Here you go. Better get these back to the knights."

Merlin nodded agreement, adding apologetically, "And you should probably get back to beating."

"I know." He tipped a casual salute off his brow. "Good to meet you, Merlin."

"And you." The young wizard called after Matthan as he jogged back toward his position.


A/N: Guys, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get this up. But the good news is, the stage is now set! The story is in motion! Well, it sort of has been, but...whatever. I'm trying to make you guys think this installment is a big deal. Which it is kind of important, but...

Anyway, once again, I apologize for the wait. I hope you guys haven't forgotten me. :/ Please review, even if you don't have much to say or I've posted the next chapter! The only reason this is up is because I got a couple of late reviews and they motivated me to get my rear in gear on this (thanks, Hocapontas. :D And yes, I'm hoping to pay some attention to the relationship between Merlin and Mordred). Also, just for the record, EvaTodd, you probably don't even remember reviewing, but I really appreciated your commentary on the Arthur/Merlin/knights dynamic.

Can't promise when the next installment will be up, but I'll try to make it sooner than this one was.