"Sir Mordred, I apologise but I cannot tend to you right now. There is something I must do for the King."

Mordred frowned at George.

What was this strong sense of magic coming off him?

"The King asks me to repair this locket" George says as he unclenched his fist showing Mordred the gorgeous locket.

Mordred's eyes widened and felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him; images began flashing in his mind.

A woman's hand

Two hooded figures

Layla

Merlin

Myriddin

"Sir Mordred!"

Mordred was brought back to reality when he saw George supporting him by the arm.

Was I about to fall over?

"Milord, have you eaten?"

"I-"

"George, what are you doing with my locket?"

The two men turned to see Merlin standing there, looking at them with a rather incredulous expression. George detached himself from Mordred and faced the fellow servant.

"Your locket? This locket is the King's!"

Merlin scoffed at that, "Open the locket and you'll find a lock of brown hair on the left side and lock of black hair on the right."

George deadpanned but did open the locket; his eyes widened when he discovered that Merlin was speaking the truth.

George was gobsmacked, "Why-?"

"It doesn't matter, I would appreciate it if you returned it to me please" George looked up at Merlin.

"B-but the locket is-"

"Damaged? I know, I found the glass shards under my dresser, probably hastily kicked under there by Arthur to cover up his clumsiness."

George gaped at Merlin, shocked that he could call the king clumsy.

"George, I can fix the locket myself so just hand it over."

George frowned at Merlin's unusual demeanour but complied with his wishes and handed him the locket.

"Thank you George" Merlin managed a small smile in thanks, more like his usual self to ease George.

George nodded absentmindedly, he was wondering more about the connection Merlin had with the locket. It had to be something precious to him for him to act so out of character like that.

"George, would you mind taking over Merlin's duties of bringing the king and queen their lunch and their dinner afterwards? Merlin is in no condition to do so."

Merlin and George turned to look at Mordred, "No condition?"

Mordred looked at Merlin then, "You're angry at Arthur right now. I don't think it's a good idea for you to see him so soon."

Merlin's eyes narrowed at the younger man while George nodded his head.

"I understand then I'll be off to the kitchens then!" George rushed off, grateful that he had an excuse to leave thus leaving, Merlin and Mordred alone in the hallway, staring at each other.

"You want to talk about it?"

Merlin sighed, "You're not going to let it go are you?"

"Nope" Mordred says, cracking a small smile.

Merlin shook his head, "Alright I'll tell you but on the way back to my quarters, I need a nap after this bothersome day."

Arthur and Gwen shocked to return to their quarters to find George with their lunch, "George? Why are you here? Where's-?"

"I'm sorry milord but Merlin caught up with me on my way out of the castle."

Arthur's eyes widened, "He saw you with the locket?"

George nodded and Gwen shook her head as he settled into her chair, "Now look what you've done Arthur! Merlin is probably very upset with you now."

Arthur frowned at his wife but George spoke up causing the blonde-haired man to turn.

"Merlin is not upset."

"Seriously? Then I've got nothing to worry about!" Arthur grinned, relieved as he settled into his chair until he saw George shaking his head.

"He is not upset but he is angry. Very angry in fact."

Gwen looked at George in surprise, "Merlin? Angry?"

George nodded, "It was very unusual for him. He looked so serious and firm that it perturbed me greatly."

"But for Merlin to be angry-"

"-the locket must be very precious for him" the king finished for his wife.

Oh boy…

"You need to speak with him Arthur. You need to apologize." his wife tells him.

Arthur sighs and George speaks up again as he fills the goblets with their drink.

"Sir Mordred is calming him down. In fact, he was the one who asked me to bring your lunch and dinner later."

"Even dinner?" Gwen repeated.

George nodded as he handed her goblet to her. Arthur picked up his own goblet and drank it empty.

Gwen peers into her cup thoughtfully, "Well I suppose it makes sense, I suppose it would be better for Merlin to be given the day to cool off."

Arthur sighed, "George would you go and tell Merlin that he officially has the day off for today and tomorrow?"

"And you will be taking over his duties as my husband's manservant in his place" Gwen added.

"I'm fine with that but...do I have to be the one to tell him?"

"Was Merlin that scary, seeing him so angry?" Gwen asked, curious.

"Well not scary per say, intimidating would be better."

Arthur groaned, he really screwed up now.

The next morning, Arthur and Gwen set off to the physician quarters but on the way, they bumped into Mordred.

"Mordred?"

The knight bowed in respect, "Milord, milady."

Gwen smiled in acknowledgement, "We heard you were there for Merlin yesterday. Thank you."

Modred nodded, "Anything for him. Are you going to see him now?"

"Yes" Arthur answered.

"Best of luck then" Mordred told them. Mordred moved to leave but Gwen raised her hand to stop him.

"Mordred?"

"Yes your Highness?"

"The fact that you were able to calm Merlin down...does that mean you had seen him in such a state before?"

Mordred nodded, "I was on the receiving end of it actually and it was very...surprising."

"What did you do that made him angry?" Arthur asked, curious.

"I can't really say...I'm sorry."

Arthur and Gwen looked at each other and back at Mordred but before they could question him further, Mordred made his exit.

Strange

The royal couple entered the quarters to find it was empty and Merlin's door unlocked. They entered hoping to find Merlin but to no avail.

"What is this?" Gwen wandered over to the dresser to pick up a leather-bound book.

She opened it and gasped, "Arthur! You have to look at this!"

Arthur came over and peered over his wife's shoulder to see a beautiful drawing of a horse on the page. Gwen flipped through the pages to find other beautiful drawings of different kinds on every page.

"Let me see that" Arthur took the journal from his wife and turned to the first page. It was a drawing of what Arthur realized was the outskirts of Camelot, just on the way to the city in fact.

He flipped through a few more pages to find a drawing of himself, from the time, he had first met Merlin. In the drawing; there was a very boyish expression was on his face, Merlin drew him laughing with glee.

With a pang of guilt, Arthur remembered he was bullying his last manservant at the time when Merlin first came up to him. The memory of Merlin standing up to him brought a smile to Arthur's face.

The first person to ever go against me.

"Flip to the next page" his wife tells him, breaking her husband's train of thought.

Arthur did as he was asked and saw that the next drawing was of his wife when she was still Morgana's maid. Merlin drew her to have a kind expression on her face, smiling sweetly.

"Touching my things again I see."