Arthur sighed as he took off his helmet and placed it on the table. It was rather hard to wear the full, complete armor at all times of the day, especially when he had to do the usual 'chores' of keeping the manor running, like cooking food, taking care of the horses, and making sure that Merlin was as comfortable as he could possibly be.

He had to hand it to the boy: he wasn't weak. Despite the fact that he had to be in a lot of pain, he kept it hidden with his snarky and sarcastic attitude. He talked to Arthur like they were equals, which only confused Arthur, and forced him to wonder if maybe the bandits had hit him too hard on the head for his own good. That was the only explanation he could come up for it.

He ran a clawed hand over his sweat soaked head and entertained the idea of a bath. There was a water pump in a small shed connected to the manor that allowed Arthur to get all the water he needed, but the large tub he required was in his room, where Merlin currently resided.

If Arthur was being honest, he was avoiding Merlin. The boy was very talkative and every time Arthur walked into the room he seemed to have something different to say. How one could come up with so much to say when they were unable to move from one spot, Arthur wasn't entirely sure.

From somewhere up above where he was, a shuffling noise sounded. Arthur tensed and strained his ears a bit. What in the world was that sound? It sounded almost like….

There was a loud thud from a floor above him, along with a low moan of pain. Arthur's mind instantly flashed to Merlin crumpled on the floor in pain up above him and in an instant he was gone.

He was half way there when he remembered he didn't have his helmet on.

Arthur spun around on his heels and raced back into the kitchen, snatching his helmet up off of the table. He sprinted up the stairs as he slammed it down on top if his head, not caring about the ringing it set off in his ears. A moment later he burst into his chambers, his eyes automatically scanning the bed.

The bed was completely empty. The covers were rolled up and twisted and only half on the bed. His heart began to pound louder in his ears until the blood rushing through was all he could hear.

Another low moan broke Arthur's trance like state. He ran over to the edge of his bed, searching for the cause of his worry, which he managed to find in a pile of blankets and water on the floor.

"What do you think you're doing you idiot!?" Arthur exclaimed as he rushed to bend down next to Merlin. His armor clanked together which elicited another moan from Merlin.

Merlin pried his hand from his aching head to look up at the man kneeling next to him. Arthur once again felt the urge to check that his whole face was covered, but he resisted the temptation.

"What does it look like, my lord?" Merlin asked, his tone somehow managing to make Arthur's new title sound vaguely like an insult. He waved his hand over himself, which Arthur now realized was covered in water from the jug lying next to him on the floor. "I was trying to get a drink."

Arthur remembered when he had came in earlier to check on Merlin the boy had still been asleep so he had left the jug of water and some food on the table across the room. He inwardly cursed his absent mindedness and the boy's strong stubborn streak. Why couldn't he have just left the food on the bedside table for him?

Arthur puffed out a burst of air from his nose, trying to calm himself down. Merlin seemed to tense a bit at the sound coming from Arthur, and he cursed himself again. Why was it so hard caring for injured people? He had absolutely no idea how Gaius did it all the time and for all these years.

"Can you stand?" Arthur asked once he was sure that his voice wouldn't be quite so growly.

Merlin rolled his eyes at Arthur. The prince wondered how Merlin was even able to keep his eyes in his head with all the eyes rolling he did. "Of course I can. I just tripped a bit," Merlin said.

Arthur was reminded of the many times he had seen the boy trip while watching him through the mirror. "You have got to be the clumsiest person I've ever met," Arthur said as he gripped Merlin's good arm. With one swift heave he had Merlin seated on the bed, water still dripping off of him.

Arthur walked over to his wardrobe and began to dig for the smallest set of clothes he had. Several articles of clothing fell onto the floor as Arthur rummaged deeper and deeper for anything Merlin could wear.

"We've actually never met," Merlin muttered under his breath. Without the curse on him, Arthur never would have heard him.

"What?" Arthur asked, sticking his head out of the wardrobe. Merlin jumped, obviously not expecting Arthur to have heard him. Arthur, seeing that Merlin wasn't going to answer, asked the question again.

"I said that we've never actually met. You know, because you've always got all that armor on so I've never seen your face," Merlin said, waving a hand towards Arthur.

Arthur hadn't considered that Merlin might actually want to know what the person who saved him looked like, that he might want to know the face of the person he'd been staying with for a few days now. Should he show Merlin what he looked like? Did the boy deserve that much?

Arthur shook his head at the thought. What more did the boy deserve? He was staying in a prince's bed, eating food that he prince himself had prepared, and was having his injuries seen to by a prince. The boy should be on his hands and knees with gratitude.

Something told Arthur that it would take a lot more than any of that to bring the boy to his knees however.

Arthur bunched the shirt and trousers he had picked out for Merlin into a ball and tossed them to him. Merlin flailed for a bit, attempting to catch them with one hand.

"What are these?" Merlin asked, untangling them and inspecting them.

"Clothes," Arthur answered as though it was the simplest thing in the world, and to him it was.

"Yes, but why are you throwing them at me?"

Now it was Arthur's turn to roll his eyes, although it made no difference seeing as how Merlin couldn't actually see him with the helmet covering his face.

"Because the clothes you are wearing are wet and dirty. Or do people not care about that smell where you come from?" Arthur asked. His sensitive nose could smell the sweat the boy had accumulated over the past few days, and he could have certainly used a bath.

Merlin's face reddened at Arthur's comment. "Kind of hard to bathe when you've been confined to bed, my lord," Merlin said, "Not everyone can afford to have servants do everything for you."

Arthur scoffed at that. How he wished he still had servants to do everything for him! As much as he enjoyed cooking, which was a secret he hoped he'd take to his grave, he missed the day's where he could yell at a servant and they'd do the cooking for him. Or the cleaning, washing, water gathering….

"Does it look like I'm paying anyone to do everything for me?" Arthur asked.

Merlin gave Arthur a once over, his eyes noticing every mark, dent, and scratch in the man's obviously expensive yet neglected armor. He'd seen knights in Camelot all but threatened to beat their servants for such shoddy work on their armor.

"Not with armor like that," Merlin said, a small secret smile spreading across his face.

This boy is lucky that he'd Gaius's ward,' Arthur thought, otherwise I might have to throw him out a window.'

Arthur took a deep, calming breath, although he was surprised that it wasn't really needed. He should have been a ranging beast by now, not wanting to continue joking around with the peasant boy.

"Just get changed will you?" Arthur asked, hoping his voice sounded more annoyed than he really was.

Merlin's smile slid off of his face, and he dropped his gaze to the clothes in his lap. It was apparent that he was stalling changing.

Realized dawned on Arthur. Merlin's arm still wasn't healed enough for it to be out of the sling, much less for him to wrestle a shirt on. He also didn't seem to be used to the idea of people being in the same room while he changed.

Arthur cringed at the other thought that occurred to him. He was going to have to help Merlin change. He barely even dressed himself, much less dress other people. But the boy did need to get out of those dirty clothes now.

He quickly quieted the part of his mind that was telling him to just walk away and leave Merlin to solve his own problems, as he marched over to the bed. He gripped Merlin's good arm and raised it above his head. Merlin, sensing what he was doing, tied to raise the other arm.

Instantly, Arthur gripped Merlin's injured arm gently, hoping that this wasn't going to hurt Merlin as much as he knew it was going to.

"Try to relax," Arthur said lowly. "It'll make moving it much easier."

Merlin nodded his head, but his body stayed tense. He turned his head towards Arthur and gave a sheepish look. "Easier said than done."

Arthur sighed but he had figured that this would happen. He slowly began to take Merlin's arm out of the sling, trying not to move his shoulder too much. Gripping the edge of Merlin's yet again soiled blue tunic, which Arthur had put back on him while he had been in a deep sleep the other night, he pulled it slowly down Merlin's good arm before working it over his head. Arthur was again cursing himself internally. He should have never put the stupid shirt back on. But Merlin had seemed so uncomfortable laying there in bed without his shirt on, so after he had fallen asleep he had tugged it back on the boy. Merlin had slept completely through it, not even stirring once.

Arthur straighten Merlin's arm out a bit, ignoring the sound of pain he made as Arthur worked. Gently, Arthur tugged the shirt free from the injured limb. Satisfied that it was finally free, Arthur wadded it up and threw it across the room.

Getting Arthur's tunic on Merlin was a lot easier. The shirt was much too large on the scrawny boy and the arm holes were wider, better to fit Merlin's bird like arms in, leaving plenty of room for his arm to stay by his side.

He adjusted Merlin's arm back into the sling and then paused. Merlin quickly spoke up.

"I've got it from here," Merlin said. Arthur furrowed his brow. Now quite understanding what Merlin was talking about until he realized that the trousers Arthur had picked out were still laying in Merlin's lap.

Arthur felt his face reddened now. "Oh, of course. I'll uh, I'll just be going," Arthur said as he nearly fled from the bed. No, he didn't flee. Princes don't flee, they make tactical retreats.

Either way, he was gone before Merlin could say another word.

XXXX

A Few Days Earlier

XXXX

Wind swirled around kicking up leaves into the night sky. A man sat in front of a large tent, staring into the fire. If he was surprised or startled at all by the sudden tornado appearing next to him, he showed no sign of it. Instead he reached over for a stick and began to prod at the flames.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you can't just do that whenever you want to," the man said. His tone was flat, no emotion coming through, and his eyes were worse.

A moment passed and neither of the two figures who had appeared in the clearing said a word. The young man raised an eyebrow at the silence that had met his comment. It wasn't like those two to ever keep their mouths shut.

"Sire," a voice wheezed. Instantly he spun around to see two of his men huddled together, both of them bloody messes. The man jumped up and raced towards the two. Before he could get there though, they dropped.

Blood covered almost every inch of the men; one of them even had blood pouring from his face in rivers, like a bear had had a personal vendetta against him. His hands instantly went for his wrist and his neck, checking for a pulse. He visibly relaxed upon finding one, even if it was slow and weak. At least he was still alive.

"Sire," the other man said again. The young man knelt down next to him, lifting his head to make it easier for the man to speak. The man swallowed a few times, cringing at the pain it sent through his body.

"What happened?" the young man asked. Anyone could see the very real concern shining in his eyes as he looked down at the two men.

The man looked up at the young prince. "We were attacked," he said, although that much was obvious.

"What could be a match for you two?" the young prince asked. These two men were trained in both magic and swords, what could have possibly gotten the best of them?

The man's eyes widened in fear. "It was a beast, sire. A terrible beast," the man said. Then, his eyes fluttered before rolling up in the back of his head and the rest of his body went limp.

"Ivan?" the young lord said. "Ivan!" The sounds of the young man yelling brought other people running, these ones dressed in the chainmail rather than the heavy furs that the other two men were wearing. Several people bent down and lifted the injured men from the ground, and rushed them to the physician's tent.

Nobody commented on the enraged look in the young prince's face. That was a very wise choice on their part indeed.

XXX

Alright guys, it's one in the morning, an hour after Halloween ended. Which means, I got off work about an hour ago and I'm super exhausted. Anyways, I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter, and I love y'all!

Til' Later!