"Why aren't you asleep, sire?" Hunith smiled as her son entered the room.
Merlin pursed his lips in distaste.
"Please, not you too" he sighs, dropping himself on the end of the bed.
"I was just teasing you" she takes pity on the boy "Don't worry, you did good today"
"I spoke to more people tonight than in my whole life" Merlin raises one brow "I've also never received so many veiled insults"
"They'll learn to respect you in time" She sits next to him, wrapping an arm around his back "You know how to act, you're smart and have good instincts. It'll just take more time for other people to notice"
"You've been grooming me for this since then, haven't you?" He looks down.
"Because I had to, not because I wished you to be a prince" Hunith runs a hand through his hair, messing it up "But aren't you glad?"
"I suppose" he sighs, "I wish you'd stay"
"I can't stay, not for now at least" she sounds regretful "But I'll come visit from time to time. Until then, you have Arthur. And Uther" she adds after a moment, and to Merlin's incredulous stare, explains "He might not be as bad as you think"
"He would kill me without a second thought" The servant protests
"Not anymore. Maybe after a third thought" She jokes, but turns serious a moment later "If it was up to me, I would steal you away to the safest place on earth, but such a place does not exist. You've started changed Arthur for the best; maybe you can have some influence on Uther's cold heart still"
"Well, you're allowed to hope" He shrugs.
Uther had actually been decent during the feast, making a generous announcement that did not expose much of his life and left his mother out to any that could not read between the lines, keeping an eye out for him while he spoke to a few nobles that approached him. Getting into conversation with a nobleman was strikingly easy, he noticed. If they were of your same rank or lower, they welcomed you like an old friend. "Good evening. How are you adapting? Well, I did not come alone; here is whom I brought. My kingdom is better than other kingdoms because. Oh, but obviously you are forgetting about this fault your kingdom has. Wonderful party, isn't it?"
Those who were not striking conversation with him were watching. Did he know how to behave? Could a commoner really just become a prince? Some nobles hated the idea of someone rising so far above their station, but they smiled and chattered, since no one would dare criticize the king. Well, no one who hoped to leave with their head and land intact, that is.
Still, Merlin had not ever been more delighted for something to be over. Having a hundred eyes trained on him and noting his every mistake while laughing to themselves was not first on his list of fun past times. In fact, it did not even make into top five hundred. Being chased by magical creatures ranking somewhere between a hundred or two.
He wanted nothing more than to fall on his new, comfortable bed on the new quarters the king had provided for him now that he had spoken to his mother, but he still had one more thing to do.
"Arthur?" he knocked on the door
"Enter" The prince's voice carried from his spot on a chair and he looked up to see Merlin entering "You never knock" was his brilliant comment.
"Well, you never spend more than a day without talking to me" The servant-made-prince closes the door behind himself "Did I do something wrong?"
"Did you –" the prince laughs suddenly "Did you do something wrong?" he gets up "You're worried about that?"
"I'm worried about you suddenly shutting me out!" The servant exclaims, "For a cabbage-head, you're being awfully difficult to understand"
"That's because you'd need a brain to understand me" The prince smirks, falling into their comfortable banter, but it drops a moment later "I admit I have been… worried"
"About?" Merlin prompts
"About what shirt to wear, what do you think?!" The prince moves his arms expressively "Oh, wait, you don't"
"You're worried about… me?" Merlin frowns
"Of course I am, Idiot" Arthur sighs, "Being a prince is not just sitting and chatting during feasts, you'll have responsibilities now"
As if I did not have those before, saving your ass is a full-time job.
"Well, I can handle it. And if not, blame your father" Merlin shrugs with a smile
"Our father" Arthur corrects
"Right" Merlin agrees, but does not say it. He cannot, at least not now "We're good then?"
"Yes" Arthur answers with a grin "We're good, brother"
"Good night then, brother" Merlin grins back, the word causing a warm feeling to fill his chest as he leaves the room.
"Hey, Merlin!" Arthur calls from the door and he stops in the middle of the corridor, looking back "Be ready to wake up early, we start your proper training tomorrow!" The older prince warns, and then closes the door again.
"Someone kill me now," Merlin mutters, waking to his room.
Even the soft bed is not enough to take away the terrible feeling that things are about to get much more complicated.
Sorry about the wait, but I did say I couldn't guarantee fast updates always.
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See ya next chapter ;)
