AN: Be warned; this is a total crack! fic inspired by a lot of redbull and a handful of haribo. Luckily, it's pretty short :L.

Pretty simple language btw (almost childish at some points I'm afraid); not the best, but it kind of required it :L.

Dedicated to Myrmidryad for being a great reader and reviewer ;) :D

Please, please, please review. I had like, over 200 visitors for the last chapter and only one review :o :(.


It was just another day when Arthur found it; a strange, thin object that had mysteriously made its way into his chambers. It was silver, the colour of metal, but metal it was not. No, it was a strange material, hollow-sounding and smooth. The prince eyed it warily, unsure of whether to approach it or not.

He circled round it, eyes coming to rest on a piece of elaborately decorated parchment signed with four simple words;

To Arthur,

A gift.

"A gift?" he said aloud, wondering who on earth it was from. It looked expensive; Morgana maybe, or one of his knights? "Oh well. What harm can it do?" His fingers traced the smooth material, stumbling briefly over a crest; Sony, it said. "Never heard of it," Arthur said to himself and he wondered what family it belonged to. As he studied it, he realised that it was composed of two parts kept together by three, small hinges. He lifted the lid quickly, giving an audible gasp at what he saw.

There was a mirror of some sort set in a silver frame, black emptiness with the occasional smudge of a finger print. On a different section lay letters and strange symbols, all displayed on some sort of spongy base. Arthur stabbed at it with his fingers and at once the object came to life with a chime.

Arthur leapt back, eyes wide as he contemplated what devilry had been exacted to create such a sound. Something on it flashed, amber then green and the blackened screen burst in shades of white and blue.

The first thing that caught his eye, after he had admitted a high pitched shriek of course, was the words '' at the top of the screen.

"Fan-fiction?" said Arthur with a frown that soon turned to a smile. "Well, I certainly have many fans. It's only natural that they would want to write about me."

He looked further down the page, eyes coming to rest on the words 'A Forbidden Love'. They were underlined and in a bolder print then the rest of writing, and Arthur in his brilliance correctly assumed it to be the title of the piece. Directly underneath it were the words 'slash' and A/M.

"Slash? A/M?" exclaimed Arthur, completely befuddled. "What's that?"

The answering silence did little to inform him and he began to read, surprised to find that the primary characters in the piece were himself and Merlin.

"Merlin?" he scoffed after reading a particularly flowery paragraph focusing on his servant. He reread it, his mouth becoming a thin line amongst pale skin. Truth be told, he was slightly annoyed that the servant was stealing his limelight. "Why on earth has someone written about Merlin?"

He read on, eyebrows arching at the occasional reference that he found strange and obscene. Arthur felt a sudden pulling on his loins and the urge to embrace the other man rose within him.

"What?" he snapped, eyes bulging in surprise. "Why would I want to embrace Merlin?"

And then he saw it, and with it came a horrific sense of understanding. A/M stood for only one thing; Arthur/Merlin. He reread the awful thing twice, both sickened and absorbed by the short passage.

"Splayed the servant's legs? Eased himself in?" The prince's voice shook as he spoke, his face becoming a frightening shade of green. "Tongue lapped at... That's hardly possible. Me and a servant! This... this... this... this is..." For once in his life, the young Pendragon was lost for words. "This must be destroyed!" he squeaked eventually, green fading to an unnatural shade of white. "This must –"

"They say talking to yourself is the first sign of madness." The sudden interjection made the prince jump, blue eyes wild as he slammed the lid of the object shut. "What's that?" Merlin asked, curiosity raging in his gaze.

"A... A... I have to go," Arthur stammered, face reddening at the sight of his servant. He found his gaze drifting to Merlin's lips and he pulled it away, annoyed that the dreadful writing had muddled his brain. He'd never be able to look at Merlin in the same way again!

"Oh," the sorcerer replied, goofily grinning at his master. "Okay."

Arthur scarpered quickly, knocking papers to the floor in a desperate bid to escape. He didn't stop to pick them up, focused only on getting away from the younger man – and that awful story - as fast as possible.

Merlin watched him go, slightly surprised that the prince was acting so strangely and out of character. Arthur was not one to run away when problems arose; he was a fighter, stronger by far than most of the people Merlin knew. What was it that had him running for cover?

Merlin crept over to silver object, curiosity convincing him that if he was quick, no ramifications would come of his disobedience. He knew he should leave, but the thought was unexciting; a few minutes couldn't hurt. Could it?

He opened the object, surprised to find that the inside was lit by some sort of invisible candle. He lifted it up, searched underneath it for any form of light source but found none. Magic, he eventually settled one, and at once, he became suspicious. Had Arthur gone to tell Uther of the mysterious object and its magical properties?

Merlin inched closer and began to read.


AN: Please review :). I'll love you if you do. I'll even spare some cookies ;). Also, if you guys liked this (odd) fic, I'll write up Merlin's reaction as well?