Gotta love vacation time! And my writers block is lifted! Here is the next chapter enjoy!
If any of you have any comments or suggestions for future episodes, let me know!
-Ebop
The following day was Merlin's first day as Arthur's manservant. And he was not amused. Waking up at false dawn, he rolled out of bed and stumbled to the kitchens. Once inside the humid kitchen, he looked around until he found where the prince's plate was sitting near the fire. Merlin frowned at the amount of food the cooks had placed on it, it could feed a small family! He looked around and placed half the food on the platters from which they came. He smirked, if Arthur had kept eating like that, he would become fat and not fit to fight. Merlin laughed at the picture he drew in his mind of Arthur being overweight and trying to fight in the tournament.
Smiling at the smaller breakfast, he grabbed a water pitcher and started toward the prince's chambers. He had not entered them since he was a child, and he was a bit giddy to see how much it had changed.
He entered the room and stood for a moment, it had not changed that much. The main difference was there was no chest of toys. Merlin placed Arthur's breakfast on the table and walked over to the sleeping prince. He grinned and his eyes flashed gold. The curtains flew open and the sun shined directly on Arthur's face. Merlin saw Arthur say something before the prince grabbed his pillow and blocked his eyes with it. Merlin simply looked at the bed and his eyes flashed once again. All of the blankets and pillows lifted up toward the top of the canopy and left an irritated prince behind.
"MERLIN!" Arthur yelled, Merlin simply pointed to his ears and grinned. He ducked when Arthur threw his goblet at him.
Merlin pointed to the table and Arthur slowly rolled out of bed. Arthur sat down and began to eat; he did notice that there was barely any food and he turned to glare at Merlin. Instead, he curiously watched Merlin go through his dresser and pull clothes out, then put them back. Arthur rolled his eyes. He picked up his spoon and threw it at the man, hitting him in the leg. Merlin turned with eyebrows raised.
"We are training today. I only need a plain tunic and trousers. My armor is in the armory." Merlin nodded at the request and got everything the prince needed. After Arthur's meagre breakfast, he went to get changed. Merlin was clearing the table when a sock hit him. He looked at Arthur again.
"What?" Merlin asked irritably.
"You need to help me get dressed." Merlin stared at the prince. His loud laugh made Arthur take a step back.
"You can't dress yourself?!" Merlin laughed so hard Arthur finally stepped back behind the screen and got himself dressed, only putting his shirt on backwards. Merlins chuckles still followed him as they left the room to go to the armory. Arthur smirked, Merlin wouldn't be laughing after training.
An hour later found Merlin and Arthur outside the citadel, fully armored.
"Ready?" Arthur asked. Merlin shrugged and tried to sign, but the gloves were making it hard to communicate. Arthur simply nodded and drew his sword, Merlin copied. Arthur attacked suddenly.
Arthur had told Merlin earlier how to protect himself. Body, shield, body, shield, head. But, it seemed that the man had forgot. Arthur bonked Merlin on the head and then tagged his back. Arthur gave him a look and Merlin shrugged.
Arthur attacked again, Merlin suddenly doing much better. Arthur frowned, until he noticed the gold in Merlin's eyes. Arthur grinned, at least he now is a formidable opponent!
After a minute, Arthur hit Merlin in the head again and Merlin toppled over backwards, his helmet falling off. Arthur took off his gloves and Merlin copied once again.
"You are braver than you look. Most servants collapse after the first blow." Merlin winced and held his head.
"Is it over?" Merlin asked feebly, Arthur grinned.
"This was just the warm up! Now it is time for our mace work!" Arthur swung a mace over his head and Merlin jumped away.
An hour later, Merlin trudged into the court physician chambers, arms filled with armor which promptly fell out of his hands when he tripped on the stairs. Gaius looked up and smiled.
"How was your first day as Arthur's servant?" Merlin simply grabbed his head and groaned. Gaius led him to the table and started to rub his shoulders.
"It was horrible, and I still have to learn tournament etiquette by tomorrow morning!" Merlin complained as his eyes flashed and a book slid toward him and opened. Gaius slapped the back of his head.
"What have I told you about using magic like that?!" Merlin ignored his father and continued to read the book. Gaius stopped rubbing the boys shoulders and turned Merlin around.
"What if you get caught? I don't think my heart could handle seeing you being taken away!" Merlin suddenly looked regretful and looked down.
"Sorry, I know you worry. I will be more careful." Gaius nodded and hugged his boy. Merlin sighed and returned his attention to the book.
"You should look at my list of duties." Merlin complained, Gaius rolled his eyes as he grabbed Merlin a bowl to eat lunch.
"We all have duties, even Arthur." Merlin snorted.
"It must be so tough for him. He gets all the girls and the glory." Gaius gave him a pointed look.
"He is the future king, people expect so much of him. He is under a lot of pressure." Merlin nodded after a minute.
Merlin read the same words over and over in his book, but he was having a hard time understanding. Suddenly, he remembered Gwen. She would teach him faster than him reading a book about it! He quickly grabbed all the armor and headed to Gwen's fathers blacksmith shop. He knocked on the door Tom, Gwen's father, opened it.
"Merlin! How are you?" Tom asked, Merlin smiled.
"Fine, how are you? I am looking for Gwen." Tom nodded.
"I am fine, Gwen will be here soon for her dinner." Merlin nodded and Tom took some of the armor out of his arms. Merlin sat at the table and Tom went back to work. Merlin only had to wait for a few minutes, Gwen opened the door and saw her brother and smiled.
"Merlin! How was your first day?!" Merlin smiled at her and hugged her.
"Busy, I need help. The tournament is tomorrow and I have no idea how to put armor on. Another servant had to do it today and I couldn't follow what he was doing." Merlin confessed, Gwen gave him an understanding smile.
Gwen picked up the armor and looked at him. A grin formed on her face.
"Ok, come here. I am going to put the armor on you." Merlin simply laughed and walked over, not wanting to endure her wrath if he said no.
She placed the voiders on his arms.
"Voiders." She finger spelled. Merlin nodded.
The chest piece went on Merlin.
"Hauberk." She finger spelled.
The went in that fashion until Merlin was covered in armor and repeating over and over again. After an hour, he finally felt comfortable and smiled.
Gaius was busy making potions and draughts when Merlin entered their chambers. He sat down and ate a piece of bread as he continued to read about tournament etiquette.
Gaius finished the sleeping draught for Morgana and tapped Merlin on the shoulder. The young man looked up, and Gaius could see the tiredness seeping in his eyes.
"This is for Morgana. To help her sleep." Merlin nodded and grabbed the vial. He felt like he was on autopilot, his body knowing exactly where to go as he yawned heavily. He knocked on the door and he was pleasantly surprised when Morgana opened the door.
He handed her the vial with a small smile. "For your nightmares, I hope this helps." Morgana took the vial and sighed.
"Thank you, I am so thankful you brought this to me. I thought I may needed to go back to your chambers for it." Merlin nodded and yawned again. Morgana looked at him worriedly.
"Is Arthur working you too hard?" Merlin shook his head.
"No, I just need to get used to having more work to do. I don't know when we can continue our lessons though. Have you finished the last book I gave you?" Morgana nodded.
"Yes, but I do not require a new one right away. When you have time." Merlin nodded and suddenly felt very awkward. She had kissed him last night. Yes, it was on the cheek, but now that he was thinking about it he could fee the heat of her lips on the spot where she kissed him.
Morgana blushed when she saw how Merlin was looking at her. She panicked and quickly bade him goodnight and closed the door. Merlin shook himself out of his stupor and went back to his chambers to sleep. Morgana sat on her bed and quickly drank the draught and fell asleep, dreaming about a certain raven haired man.
The following morning, Merlin brought Arthur his breakfast, woke him up the same way as he did before, and made him dress himself. They went down to the training grounds to get ready for the tournament. After a steady breath, Merlin went to work on putting Arthur's armor on with confidence, like Gwen did yesterday. Apparently, it was going to take more practice because Arthur was becoming irritated.
"You do know the tournament starts today?" Merlin rolled his eyes as he fixed a buckle.
"You nervous?" Merlin asked when he finished the buckle. Arthur laughed.
"I don't get nervous." He replied. Merlin rolled his eyes.
"Everyone gets nervous." Arthur glared at him.
"Shut up." Merlin stifled his laugh and placed Arthur's cape on him, then handed him his helmet.
"You are all set." Merlin stated proudly. Arthur rolled his eyes.
"Aren't you forgetting something? MY SWORD!" Merlin scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Yeah sorry, I guess you will be needing that." Arthur grabbed the sword and marched off. Merlin shrugged. It went better than he thought it would!
Merlin followed Arthur down to the arena and watched as the king made another speech. Merlin had seen many tournaments as Gaius' ward, helping him with the wounded when needed.
Merlin glanced to the royal box, and smiled when he saw Morgana and Gwen. They seemed to be talking, perhaps ogling the knights that had come for the tournament. Merlin shook his head as he saw the ladies giggling and discreetly pointing at the knights, it seemed Morgana was elated to watch another tournament. She always spoke of how she loved watching the different techniques the men use to overpower, or outsmart, their opponents. Merlin tried not to smile too brightly when Morgana looked over at him. She waved at him and he returned the gesture politely, trying not to flush as Gwen pointedly gave him a look from across the arena.
Merlin quickly turned his attention back to see the king motioning toward a box of gold. Merlin rolled his eyes, as if all these knights didn't have money to start with. That money alone would support the entire lower town for months. The knights began to move out of the arena and Merlin got comfortable, there would be many duels before the day was out.
Arthur won his first round, Merlin thought about going to congratulate him, but he decided not to. He instead watched the next knight, a man with three snakes on his shield. He was a skilled fighter, and Merlin had never seen him before. Merlin watched as the knight was became undefeated in his many matches. He was moving up the ranks quickly to be in the semi-finals. Hours must have passed before a tap on Merlin's shoulder made him turn around.
"You do remember you are my servant?" Merlin rolled his eyes and pointed to the arena.
"This is more fun." Merlin almost grimaced at the incensed look Arthur gave him. Almost, instead he gave a short laugh and turned back toward the arena, in time to see the knight with the three snakes victorious again.
"Who is that man?"Merlin asked. Arthur looked at where Merlin pointed.
"Knight Valiant." Arthur scowled, which made Merlin smirk.
"Looks good with a sword." Merlin's smirk deepened when Arthur hit him on the back of the head. The knight in question walked up to them. He spoke to Arthur, Merlin tried to figure out what he was saying but could not. He knew what is was must have been mocking since Arthur did not shake the man's hand or smile at him.
When Valiant walked away, Merlin tried to diffuse the tension.
"Creep." Arthur shared a look with Merlin and gave a little smile before smacking him on the arm.
"For tomorrow, you need to repair my shield, wash my tunic, clean my boots, sharpen my sword, and polish my chainmail."
Merlin stared at him with a look of disbelief.
"Oh, and no cheating!" Arthur ordered him as he walked away. Merlin wanted so badly to make him trip and fall on his face, but he took a deep breath and collected all of the armor.
Once in his chambers, Merlin smirked. Arthur would never know if he used magic to do his chores. He pictured in his mind everything was clean and immediately the armor began to animate themselves. Merlin sighed heavily as he sat down and summoned his book to read.
Merlin had an candle by the door, and if anyone entered the physicians chambers it would extinguish. It was, in a way, his alarm to know when to stop using magic this blatantly. It had worked in the past, but he used it when he was practicing spells or reading his spell book. Never for chores. Well, there is always a first! Merlin thought to himself.
After a few minutes, the candle was extinguished and Merlin dropped everything to the ground, hid his book, then picked up the closet thing to him. As he began to sharpen the sword, his door opened. He smiled at Gaius.
"Are you using magic AGAIN?!" Gaius fumed at him. Merlin tried to look innocent as he shook his head. Gaius pointed to the floor, "What is all this then?" Merlin shrugged.
"If you want to cheat on your chores, you need to have a silencing spell. All of Camelot heard Arthur's armor crash onto the floor." Merlin sighed and nodded his head, quickly going to his spell book to refresh his memory of the silencing spell.
Gaius left the door open and Merlin saw that supper was ready.
Elsewhere in the castle, the king and his ward were congratulating the knights on their victories at the reception. Morgana loved tournaments, it showed the best in men, but the receptions and feasts became monotonous. She shared a glance with Gwen as knights continued to nod their respect to her. The king suddenly struck up a conversation, and Morgana turned to see who is was.
Of course, it was Knight Valiant. She had been impressed with his swordsmanship in the arena. She caught the end of their conversation.
"To lose is to be disgraced." Valiant stated, Morgana saw Uther's proud smile.
"I couldn't agree more. Knight Valiant, may I present the Lady Morgana, my ward." Valiant bowed and kissed Morgana's hand.
"My lady." Morgana smiled at him, she didn't know what to say. So, she stated an obvious fact.
"I saw you competing today." Valiant smirked.
"I saw you watching." Morgana flushed in embarrassment, but Valiant didn't seem to notice as she saw he glared at Arthur.
"I understand the tournament champion has the honor of escorting my lady to the feast." Morgana nodded.
"That is correct." She said with a tight voice.
"Then I will give everything to win the tournament. My Lady." He nodded to her and walked away to shake hands with other knights. Morgana and Gwen watched with interest. He thought he would win against Arthur? Ha!
Morgana turned and saw Arthur in front of the king, she decided to goad him about Valiant. She smirked at him when he passed in front of her.
"The knights all seem rather impressed by Knight Valiant." Arthur smirked and leaned closer.
"They are not the only ones, I see." Morgana continued to smirk at him, not allowing his comment to affect her.
"You're not jealous, are you?" Arthur leaned back and gave her a short laugh.
"I don't see there's anything to be jealous of." Morgana's smirk turned into a glare as the prince walked away to join the knights. Morgana leaned her body back toward Gwen.
"Could Arthur be any more annoying? I so hope knight Valiant wins the tournament." Gwen raised her eyebrows.
"You don't really mean that." Morgana stood straight once again.
"Yes, I do." Gwen stayed silent for a moment.
"I know someone else you wish would escort you to the feast." Gwen whispered quietly into Morgana's ear. She saw the woman flush and Gwen smiled victoriously.