CHAPTER 10 : IF SPROUTS WERE GOLDEN

Morning came too fast and Merlin stood at the window watching the guards placing a catafalque at the bottom of the steps in the courtyard, in preparation for the funeral. It was covered in white and Jonathan's bier would be placed there for the brief honour ceremony. Merlin had heard that the Duke had offered a sizable monetary gift to Jonathan's parents in recognition of the loss of their son.

Breakfast was delivered and Merlin went into the antechamber to get it and set the table. Hearing him put the platters on the table Arthur moaned and snuggled deeper into the bed. Merlin said, "You're going to have to get up some time, why not make it now and eat your breakfast?"

"But, I don't want to...I'm warm and comfortable..."

"...and lonely to boot?" added Merlin.

That got Arthur's attention so he finally threw back the covers and stood up, grabbing his dressing gown. He wandered across to the window and put him arm around Merlin's waist. He blew seductively in his ear before sitting down.

"What are you going to wear today?"

"I'll dress as a knight as Jonathan and I were invested in the same year. If it wasn't that we have a guest, I would have talked the king into letting me stand with my brother knights. However, it would be too much to expect him to allow that, as he will want me on the stairs to show solidarity with him before William. I intend to follow the body to the cemetery. Do you remember when we buried Daffyd and the others? That was horrendous. Remember how brave Gavin was. That whole episode is something, I never want to repeat."

"I remember the times, Daffyd showed me the way around Camelot when I fist arrived. He was one boy in a million, Sir Rodick said that his mother still has problems accepting it. I think Rodick also misses him as I've noticed that he is always very understanding when squires get into trouble. Poor man, he had such hopes for his brother. Life can be so cruel"

By the time the squires were gathering in the courtyard, Arthur was dressed and ready for the day ahead. The king had mentioned afternoon meetings with Duke William and Arthur knew that he would be expected to at least put in an appearance.

They walked silently down to the courtyard, Arthur taking up a position on the stairs with Merlin a couple of stairs above him slightly to the side. The sound of muffled drums disrupted the silence and the funeral escort made their way through the portcullis. Jonathan's standard was carried by a senior squire who then stood at the bottom of the steps. Four brother knights carried the bier on which Jonathan's body was laid. He was wearing chain mail and his red cloak, his helmet resting at his feet. As the knights crossed the centre of the courtyard, the king and the duke descended the stairs, Gaius following behind with Sir Rupert with the knights formed a phalanx on each side of the bier.

Sir Rupert briefly addressed the assembly. "We are gathered to pay our respects to a brave and noble knight. It is always a sorrow to bury one of our brother knights but when that knight is young it is a double sorrow. Sir Jonathan will be remembered for his bravery, his willingness and his loyalty to the Code. He will be missed by his friends in Camelot."

Sir Brian stepped forward, raising his sword, he said, "For the love of Camelot!" The chant was picked up by all present. The escort turned and lead the way out of the courtyard, the standard bearer went next followed by the bier on the knight's shoulders. The knights and some of the senior squires followed them to the cemetery outside the walls. Arthur bowed at the king and said, "Sire, Sir William!"and left the steps to follow his brother knights. Stopping momentarily, he spoke to Sir Rawn who was sitting on a bench near the stairs, not well enough to follow but determined to be present. With Merlin following, he then walked to the cemetery.

Lunch was a quiet affair. Most of the knights were deep in their own thoughts. Death striking their ranks as it often did, was not a stranger but never a welcomed guest. Some of them planned to do some training that afternoon but it would be very low key, more to clear their minds than to seriously practice manoeuvres.

Arthur had the meeting to attend, telling Merlin that he was free to spend the afternoon as he wished but that he would have to attend supper with the king and his guest and he would be pleased if he would be there to help his dress and serve him. "Go and spend the rest of the afternoon with Gaius. It will do you good to have a change of scenery. I need time away from you as you are an awful distraction!"

"But, I have done nothing to cause any problems, I don't think that the king even knew that I was on the stairs, I was trying to be inconspicuous. I am really working at having a low profile where he is concerned."

"To my father maybe, but I had the hardest time convincing myself not to pull you into an alley as we returned from the cemetery. Honestly you are not only alluring but addictive!"

"...save it for tonight and by then you will have had time to find some other nice words that apply to my person."

Arthur leant over and said "Sexy and...!" He leaned even closer and whispered something that made Merlin smile but not without blushing. Arthur placed his arm across his shoulders and gave him a little squeeze.

"Stop it, Arthur, you have a meeting to attend and I am going to Gaius's. We can continue this later."

"See, what did I tell you, alluring and addictive."

"Maybe, inamorato..."

With that Merlin went to leave but was stopped by Arthur's, "Inamorato, what's that?"

"Have to check in a dictionary to make sure, but I feel it's something wonderful!" and he was gone.

The talks were long but Arthur surprisingly found them quite interesting. The Duchy would be under the protection of Camelot and when Duke William died, it would become part of Camelot. Arthur would probably be the one to benefit from the additional lands as the duke though old, was hale and hearty. The paper work was finally completed.

Sir William leant over saying, "Shame you didn't bring your manservant with you today, Arthur. I could have given him his reward. Send him to my chambers later and I will see that he receives it. Jarvis, here will see to it if I'm not there. You are exceptionally lucky to have him in your service. Treat him with respect, he well deserves it."

The duke would be spending a few more days in Camelot and then would return to his home. An escort of Camelot knights would make the trip back with him. To facilitate the turn over of land, the king had named two junior members of his advisory council to accompany the duke and remain there in a liaison capacity.

Arthur made his way back to his rooms. Merlin was still away so he sat at the table and tried to catch up on work which he had let slip. There was a tap at the door and Leon entered. "Arthur, I'm worried..."

Merlin tapped on the door to of the guest chambers. He had received notification, while he was with Gaius, that the duke wished to see him immediately. The door was opened by his advisor with papers in his hands. "Oh, Merlin, Sir William has just gone to see Sir Geoffrey, I am to follow him. Jarvis here, will see you and give you the duke's gift."

Merlin entered the chamber and Jarvis was sitting at the table with a leather purse in front of him. He stood and smiled, "Come over and sit down. The duke is sorry that he was unable to present this in person but asked me to take care of it."

Jarvis explained how the duke was impressed with his actions in the woods. Therefore, the duke wished to repay his quick thinking and courage. Merlin felt like saying, 'Get to the point. I have to get back to dress the prince.' Jarvis put his hands on the leather purse and brought it closer to Merlin.

Suddenly, Merlin felt uncomfortable. Jarvis continued, "Now we all know how ill-paid servants are even those in the royal household and the duke was wondering if you would consider a proposition from him. He would be willing to take you back to the duchy as his personal manservant with perks. If you agree, he will approach the king and request your being transferred to the duchy along with the liaison personnel. If you do not agree, he will still approach the king. He mentioned that he felt that there was a little friction between his majesty and his son's manservant. Is that true?"

Merlin felt sick. He knew that if Sir William did approach the king with his request that the king would be only to happy to see the back of him, regardless of what Arthur wanted.

His mind shot back to the conversation he had had with Arthur when he teased him telling him, that should he ever go into anyone else's service, he would be still willing to entertain him. They had been fooling. He had absolutely no intention of accepting a bribe to become the bed-servant of an old man.

He was furious. He rose from the chair, but Jarvis grabbed his wrist, his index finger stroking the base of his thumb. He controlled himself as he was ready to send the man flying but knew he only wanted to get out of the chamber.

"It isn't bad working for the duke and I would be around to help you...you know...settle in and..."

Merlin felt a shiver run up his back. This man was propositioning him. If it wasn't so absurd, it would be laughable. He had the feeling that Jarvis was the instigator for the move not the old duke. He felt unclean just having him imprison his wrist. He swallowed, to control his temper.

"There's no need to be upset. I'm sure we could come to an agreeable understanding." Reading the look of disgust and horror in Merlin's eyes, he dropped his wrist and covering his tracks said, "No need to worry if you don't want to consider it. I'll explain the situation to the duke. Here, take the money. It is his gift to you free of any demands."

Merlin looked at this poor excuse for a man and turned on his heels. He thought, 'I'm my own person and strong, pity the poor serving men who have to deal with treatment from the likes of him.'

"Merlin, take the money."

Merlin swung around and sent the purse flying, gold coins scattered across the flagstones. "Explain that, to you master!" he said and left the room.

He was upset and annoyed. He wandered down the corridor deep in thought. 'Did he tell Arthur or just ignore the whole sordid mess.'

He felt a hand on his shoulder and spun around pushing the person forcefully into the wall. "Get out of my sight and take your dirty suggestions with you. Open your mouth and I will see that it is permanently closed!"

He turned and stomped off.

He heard someone moan, "Merlin, that hurt...why...what did I do?"

He turned Leon was leaning against the wall, holding his shoulder and his chest. "Leon, oh my God! I thought you were someone else. Oh, I'm sorry. It wasn't meant for you. Are you alright?"

"I've felt better but what happened to you. Why are you riled up? What dirty suggestions? What were you talking about?"

Merlin walked over to him and checked his shoulder, probably bruised and the same with his chest. "I can't talk about it now. Anyway what were you doing in this wing?"

"Arthur sent me to see if I could find you. I'd heard some rumours and wanted to warn you."

"Well, I think you were too late..."

"But you're alright?"

"Yes, it's a garbled story but I think I got to the crux of it."

"I'll go with you back to Arthur."

"Walk down with me but don't come in. If Arthur hears of this, he will not be able to behaviour cordially to the duke and certainly not to one specific member of his party. Join us tomorrow for breakfast and I'll try to explain what I think happened."

Leon saw him to his door and said, "See you at supper. I'll keep at eye on the situation."

"Where have you been? I'll be late for supper...What's wrong, you're upset about something. Merlin, are you alright?"

"I'm fine...now let's get his royalness dressed so that he can shine at supper. I'll tell you later, it wasn't very important. Anyway, Leon's coming for breakfast. Gold or deep blue, have you decided?"

Arthur gave him a look, knowing damn well that there was more to the story than its lack of importance. But it could wait as he intended to also tell him, what Leon hold told him that afternoon.

Merlin soon had Arthur dressed to his satisfaction and then he quickly changed into something suitable for supper.

He'd show Jarvis, just how important his position was at Camelot with or without perks. The he giggled to himself, 'Well...certainly there were perks.' He looked across at Arthur, caught his eye and gave him a smile.

Arthur smiled, walked over and put his hand behind him stopping him from moving away and ran the back of his hand to Merlin's chin, tipping his head so he could look into his eyes and said, "Merlin, where would I be without you?"

Merlin grinned, "Probably still trying to get dressed, Sire!"

"You're the only one I know who can be impertinent and respectful in the same breath!"

"One of my many abilities and if you are good, tonight I will show you the reverse, politeness with a tinge of disrespect. Yes, disrespectful but on second thought, not too polite either."

"When would I want you any other way?"

Merlin leant forward and laid his forehead against Arthur's. "Do you realise that if we were mind readers, we could tell what we were each thinking?"

"I for one, Merlin, have no trouble reading your mind at this very moment! However duty calls..."

With his arm around his shoulders, Arthur walked him into the corridor and happily managed to get to the floor where the dining hall was located, without having to remove it. He liked feeling Merlin against him walking down the halls. Their life was difficult as they were like limpets in private and strangers in public.

The stress of living continually under scrutiny was demanding. They had to abide by the rules and be extra cautious as they never knew, when someone might see something and decide to better themselves by bringing their relationship to the notice of the court. Knights didn't count as the majority of them realised that they were close friends. How close was debatable but Arthur knew that no knight would step forward to accuse them. Anyone doing so would be promptly dealt with by his brother knights.

Still he knew that Merlin and he needed to be on guard. Arthur smiled, once the duke left, he was going to inveigle a few days off. He knew of a particularly lovely Manor House, where he and his manservant would be welcomed and looked after; half a day away on horseback yet an eternity away in tolerance.

Sprouts were one of the vegetables and Merlin gave him a wicked grin and put two of the biggest sprouts on his plate. "Be a good boy now, Sire, eat up your vegetables!"

Arthur smiled sweetly and as Merlin walked around his chair, he managed to catch his thigh. He held it preventing him from moving, having his attention he said under the surrounding voices. "Merlin dear, remove them or you'll be wearing them!"

Uther glanced in their directions but saw nothing untoward. Arthur released his grip and Merlin leant over and managed to invite both of the sprouts up his sleeve, "For later, Sire," he said with a wicked grin."

Leon sitting beside Arthur laughed, "You deserved that Arthur."

"But he started it!"

"I'll enjoy seeing how he finishes it...! said Leon with a smile at Merlin who had each sprout balanced on the top of Arthur's chair. There'd be fun and games if Arthur unintentionally dislodged them and sat on them.

"One wonderful thing about Merlin," Arthur confided, "He's not vindictive!"

"Oh, really!" said Leon and winked at Merlin who tried not to laugh and have Uther glare at him.

Arthur did look cute with two sprouts sitting just above his shoulders. Merlin caught Gaius's eye and the older man just raised one eyebrow as a warning. Merlin decided that maybe he was tempting fate. So when Arthur next needed his wine goblet refilled, he managed to get the sprouts back into his hand. Going to the sideboard, to get a pitcher, he left them there as a little memento. Returning, he filled Arthur's goblet, with a look on his face as though 'butter wouldn't melt in his mouth'!

Merlin eventually climbed into bed, he'd tidied the room, hung up all their clothes, banked the fire and finally was able to stretch out and relax. He turned to Arthur and said, "Why do you dislike sprouts? Did one of them do something to offend you?"

"Merlin, you are so funny! Well, you think you are! No, it's simple, I don't like sprouts because no matter how often they are rinsed. They still contain tiny flies...you can see them if you peel back the covering leaves."

"...and that's going to hurt you? It's a good source of protien and you've certainly eaten many a fly when you are riding." He said theatrically, "Arthur, the great one, is put off because a little fly, finding nowhere else to live, picks a lowly sprout as his home, chooses a wife and together they raise a little fly family and live happily ever after in their little sprout house."

Arthur was now firmly convinced never to let a sprout pass his lips. "Merlin Love, you just beautifully explained my reason for living sprout-less."

"Arthur, did I ever tell you about the worms in meat...?"

Merlin was suddenly attacked and although he tried hard he couldn't get Arthur off him so he just relaxed, smiled and decided to enjoy all the attention, he was going to receive.

The firelight was still painting its patterns on the bed curtains when they finally fell asleep. Merlin murmured to a sleepy Arthur, "Please, can we play the sprout game again tomorrow?"

"Yes, if you stop bothering me now and let me go to sleep!"

Merlin lay in Arthur's arms and smiled...