CHAPTER ONE- The First Task

Arthur was furious, stomping down the hallways blindly. How could he not be, he had seen his manservant using magic. How did someone react when one of the people they trusted most, was one that would help see Camelot destroyed? But even as he thought that his brain rejected it. That didn't sound like Merlin? Merlin couldn't even arrive on time, how could he hope to take over a kingdom? That was how he had found out, his manservant had been late, and so Arthur had gone to drag him out of his bed, only to walk in on objects floating around the room.

His manservant was a magic user, he had betrayed him. But no sooner had the thought re-entered his head, did he shake it away. This was Merlin! He had to be the most stupidly loyal person in all of Camelot. He was the opposite of the sorcerers his father had described to him as a child. Uther had described them as ruthless killers who would be corrupted by the magic they used. But Merlin was good, too good. He hated hunting, how could he be corrupted? He was Merlin. He was just so Merlin, the clumsy, idiotic, loyal, happy manservant. He couldn't be evil.

And like poison, the thought of his father's sentence for the crime of magic reared its head in his subconscious. It stole his breath away. Arthur frantically shook his head against the image that appeared in his mind. No, never! He couldn't sentence Merlin to death. Couldn't stand and light the pier with him upon it. The thought of Merlin not being alive was wrong, so incredibly wrong that Arthur's knees almost buckled. It wasn't out of care, Arthur assured himself, no if Merlin died then he would have to find a new manservant, and he wasn't going to deal with George's bronze jokes for the rest of his life. But Merlin hadn't told him, and they had been friends for years! Fine, he admitted it to himself, Merlin was his friend! A friend that had been lying to him for years.

"Arthur, are you okay?" Guinevere's voice broke through the barrage of confusing thoughts. She was looking on concerned as her husband pulled helplessly at his hair. Arthur hadn't even realized she was in the room, or that he had made it back to his room.

"I just…" Arthur couldn't bring himself to share something that might turn one of Merlin's good friends against him. How would Gwen react to the fact that Merlin had magic, did she already know?

"Tell me what's wrong?" Gwen asked, pulling Arthur's hands gently from his hair.

"I… Merlin has magic." Arthur whispers out pitifully. Gwen's eyes widened as she glanced at the door and back. She quickly moved to lock it, before rejoining her husband in the middle of the floor.

"How do you feel about this?" She asked, looking at him cautiously.

"I don't... He's Merlin." Was Arthur's helpless answer. But it brought a smile to Guinevere's face.

"Then you have your answer. The question is what are you going to do about it?" She asked, her soft smile not leaving her face.

"Did you know?" Arthur questions, at seeing her calm acceptance of the fact.

"I had my," she mulled over what word to use next, "suspicions. When I was accused of causing the plague, he knew my father was well again before I told anyone. But my thoughts were similar. Merlin isn't evil, so I simply pushed the thoughts from my mind." She said looking down at the larger hands she held in her own. "But what are you going to do now? You can't," she paused again thinking of how to phrase her request. "Please don't harm Merlin." Gwen couldn't bear the fact that her friend may be hurt. Merlin was a true friend to her; he wasn't like the numerous ladies of the court all clamoring to get close with the queen of Camelot. Merlin had been her friend when she was a servant, the least she could do was be his friend even though he had magic. Meanwhile Arthur was shocked that his wife would even consider that he would hurt Merlin.

"I could never hurt Merlin, but he has lied to me for years." Arthur said anger making itself known in his tone. The anger was interrupted by the thump sounded against the door.

"What the..?" The soft voice of Merlin drifted through the door. He had obviously tried to walk into the room, not expecting the door to be locked. Gwen darted across the room faster than Arthur could move.

~M~

Merlin had landed rather painfully on his backside when he had bounced off the door in front of him. The door opened only enough for Gwen to appear in the gap.

"Merlin, are you okay?" She asked as she saw him sprawled on the floor.

"I'm fine, why was the door locked?" Merlin asked, slightly annoyed at having run into the wooden obstacle.

"We were discussing a new law that may limit the Lord's power and we didn't want any of them to open the door to eavesdrop." Gwen lied with only a few awkward pauses that floated right over Merlin's head. "But I need you to do something for me today Merlin." Gwen continued glancing back at her husband's pacing form. She didn't think Arthur's angry mind would be able to deal with Merlin today.

"Of course, anything beats mucking out the stables." Merlin grinned standing up and brushing himself off.

"Great, I need you to go and get me a comb." Gwen floundered out.

"A comb?" Merlin asked, confused at the request.

"Yes my comb broke this morning, so I need a new one." She said, latching on to the lie her mind had conjured.

"Umm, okay. I'll be back as soon as I've gotten you a comb." Merlin's voice still shrouded in confusion at the odd request. But he hadn't been lying anything beat mucking out the stables.

"Great, one moment." Gwen said, shutting the door. He heard her steps, and a hurriedly whispered conversation, before she was back shoving a small bag of coins into his hands.

"Thank you Merlin, you're a great help." She said before snapping the door shut again.

"No problem." Merlin muttered, before shaking his head and moving away from the door. Where did you buy a comb?

~M~

Merlin had been wandering around looking at stalls for some time looking for a comb that he thought Gwen might like. Did she want something simple like when she had been a servant? But the amount of money she had given Merlin would suggest that she wanted something more elaborate? This was one of the strangest jobs Merlin had ever been given. He had no clue what women looked for in a comb, all the ones he had seen so far had been fairly simple, nothing that looked like a woman would buy it, but that was part of the problem; Merlin didn't know what women looked for in a comb.

He stopped, spotting something that seemed as if it would suit Gwen quite well. He walked over to the small stall. There, lying on a scrap of fabric, was a curved wooden comb. It had a rose with vines engraved in the handle. But the design was lined with a silver metal; the leaves looked to be made of a soft green stone and the rose maybe coloured glass. It seemed like something Gwen would like, so he attracted the attention of the stall owner fairly quickly.

"This one please." He implied pointing to the lovely comb. And handing over an appropriate number of coins for the sale.

"A lovely choice sir. The women you're courting will love this gift." The man said as he folded the cloth to cover the comb. Merlin ears turned a bright red.

"No, my master sent me. This is for Queen Guinevere." Merlin stuttered out, not being comfortable with the insinuation.

The man simply chuckled. "It is still a lovely choice. Return for anything else you need." The man said before Merlin quickly snatched the comb and darted swiftly through the crowd, eager to get away from that stall as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he hadn't been paying enough attention as he should have been and he ended up colliding with the broad chest of another person. And for the second time that day his bottom hit the ground rather hard.

"Merlin?" The person questioned, and Merlin glanced up to see the face of Leon. "What are you doing in the Market?" The knight asked, slightly tilting his head in confusion as to what reason the manservant could have needed in the market.

"Gwen asked me to get her a comb and between that and mucking out the stables, getting a comb seemed easier." Merlin said, accepting the hand Leon offered and pulling himself to his feet.

"Did you find one?" Leon asked as he walked beside Merlin as they returned to the castle.

"I think so. I don't know much about combs, but I think it's great." Merlin said looking at the scrape of green fabric that covered the comb he had recently purchased.

"Well let's go see if she likes it than," He was cut off because as they reached the door to Arthur and Guinevere's chamber a loud crash echoed from inside. Leon's hand immediately went to the sword at his belt and he tried to open the door. It refused to open as it had that morning.

"My lord, are you alright?" Leon yelled as he pushed uselessly against the door.

"We're fine." Gwen's loud voice called. "Bad council meeting is all." She explained as she pulled the door open, again only a small amount. "Merlin?" She stated seemingly shocked to see him, at her declaration her eyes widened and she shot a look behind her.

"I found you a comb." Merlin stated as he anxiously handed the fabric over to his friend, nervous for her approval.

Gwen took the smooth fabric in her fingers and gave Merlin a nervous smile; she had been trying to calm Arthur down since Merlin had left. Arthur was ranting about how Merlin didn't trust him enough to tell him his secret. When Gwen had innocently brought up that maybe he had used magic in Camelot and was afraid of how that would be viewed, Arthur's mind had clicked to the battles Merlin left unscratched and mysteriously broken branches. Realization struck; Merlin must have been using magic to protect him. How had he not noticed? Arthur had lamented.

Gwen unwrapped the comb and her mouth fell open. It was exquisitely beautiful. It was simple, yet it was one of the grandest things she had ever seen. She smiled as soon as she saw it, Merlin knew her so well! She would have to get him a gift as a thank you. Maybe a new neckerchief; his was getting quite worn. Suddenly a clang of a goblet being launched against the wall snapped her back to attention.

"Thank you Merlin. Really thank you, but I require a… umm… yellow comb, yes yellow. With, uh, feathers? Yes I require a yellow comb with feathers please." She stated before snapping the door shut again.

"Where am I going to find a comb with feathers?" Merlin muttered out loud. He had happened across the first comb purely because of luck.

"Did she… a yellow comb with feathers?" Leon asked and the normally stoic knight was speechless in confusion.

"Umm Leon, where does one go to buy a comb?" Merlin asked, thinking that the high class man might have more knowledge of where to purchase such items.

"I'm sorry Merlin but I don't know. I'll help you look though." Leon assured the obviously clueless man before him.

"Thank you." Merlin said, both continued to stare at the closed door for a few seconds before then turned to exit the castle again.

"We should try the high town this time. They seem to have more trinkets." The knight supplied, but even he didn't seem sure of his choice. But Merlin decided to listen, he had gone to the lower town, and it didn't have anything that fit Gwen's description.

"Do combs usually have feathers?" Merlin asked curiously, about what knowledge the other man might have on high class life.

"I don't remember my mother having anything with feathers on it. But she died when I was rather young." The knight confided in the slight servant.

"I'm sorry." Merlin muttered, feeling bad for the older man. He couldn't imagine life without his own mother.

"It was long ago." Leon countered as he approached a stall and looked over the collection of smoothed stones, unclear on the purpose they possessed.

"I never knew my father." Merlin supplied thinking back to how he had in fact briefly met his father before he had died for him. "He left before I was born; it isn't easy growing up a bastard." Merlin said as he looked uncomfortably around the finery that these stalls sold. Leon shot him a sharp look.

"Do not call yourself that. You are braver than most." The knight stated, a hard look on his face. Fry "There are some who look down on you because you are a servant. Do not add yourself to their numbers." The knight said, not breaking eye contact until Merlin nodded. "Now where does one find feathers in this place?" Leon mused and Merlin shook his head at the rapid change in conversation. It was easier to move between the stalls here. There were fewer people here and the stalls, while larger, were further apart. But none seemed to have a yellow comb, let alone one with feathers.

"What of this one?" Merlin's voice asked. His eyes were on some brightly coloured feathers, the hope in his eyes extreme.

"I think that's a hair pin." Leon commented after viewing the size, and even he felt disappointed at their continued search.

"Is there a difference?" Merlin asked, looking desperately at the bright object.

"I'm afraid so." Leon said laying his hand on Merlin shoulder in a show of support

"Do you think she meant gold?" Merlin asked, as they left yet another stall of combs.

"I think we can assume that, but that doesn't solve the feathers problem." Leon sighed running his hand through his curly hair, his hand getting stuck in some of the tangles.

"You need feathers?" A female voice called and both men turned toward it, hope in their eyes.

"I can carve one if you need it. Won't take a moment?" The girl offered and Merlin began nodding his head frantically, hoping that Gwen would accept a carved feather because at this point finding a real one looked hopeless.

"Pick a comb." The woman instructed seeing the hopeful looks on the clueless men's faces. She had seen them on many men that escorted women through these streets. They really only needed a little help to appreciate the beauty of the items sold.

"Umm this one?" The darker haired man guessed. He was pointing to a piece carved from bone that had gold filigree laid into it, but the feather's they needed could easily be carved into the sides so as to not disturb the already laid gold.

"Excellent choice," she applauded. "Just give me a moment." She said as she took the piece requested and moved into the workshop behind the stall.

~M~

"What if she doesn't like this one?" Merlin fretted. He didn't want to go on another comb fetching job. He would gladly muck out the stables to escape any more awkward comb shopping trips. A shudder ran down his spine as his mind flashed through the mass of combs he had seen that day.

"Then we run before she can send us to find another one." Leon suggested with a shrug and a smile. Their joined laughter rang loudly through the hallway.

And it was the laughter that calmed the raging of the king. "I need to go to training. Just give Merlin the rest of the day off, as long as he doesn't go to the tavern… was he ever in the tavern or was that a cover?" Arthur asked before he shook his head, threw his hands in the air and stormed from the chambers. Gwen sighed and smoothed a hand over her skirt. Today had been a mess, but hopefully Arthur would calm down after a few hours of beating up some poor knight. At least he was more mad at himself then at Merlin now. A knock at the door interrupted her calming thoughts and she jumped.

"Come in." She called, not wanting to deal with anything else but understanding the importance.

It was Merlin that entered; he cautiously approached and handed over a purple wrapped comb this time. Gwen smiled, she felt bad for sending him on such a ridiculous task but she didn't want Arthur to make a decision in anger and regret his choice. And at that time Merlin would have been the focus.

Gwen unwrapped the fabric and was surprised to see the carving of a feather on the side of a comb. He had managed to find something?

"Thank you, Merlin. This is lovely; you can have the rest of the day off." No sooner had the words left her mouth then Merlin was sprinting from the room desperate to get away from anymore comb shopping.