A/N- Hello, hello! I meant to update this earlier but then final projects hit me and then I got my wisdom teeth out Monday so it didn't exactly happen the way I planned it in my head. Sorry about that!

Thanks everyone for the kind reviews, I love reading them :D

And thank you, Paralelsky for beta-ing!

o}O{o

Ice blue eyes were reflected in the steel blade, staring up at the holder of the sword. The prince of Camelot drew it in a lazy arc, watching his would be pupil follow the movement. Neither spoke and the silence sat heavily inside the empty corridor. Arthur and Mordred were on the top floor of the castle in a hall that hadn't been traversed for months, save for the servants who gave it an occasional dusting.

"See this?" Arthur asked the boy. "Forget about using it." He then tossed the sword to the ground and it bounced off the stone floor with an echoing clang.

Mordred's eye brows flew upward into his long fringe before drawing together in confusion. The prince carried on before he could protest. "Before you even touch a sword, there are certain things you need to learn. Can you guess one of them?"

The boy licked his lips and remembered the bane of Arthur's existence when he trained the knights. "Footwork," he answered blandly.

"Footwork," Arthur repeated. "Balance. Without it, you can never hope to become a good swordsman. And you must never forget it."

Mordred tried to hide his smile as he nodded, hanging on to Arthur's every word. "Before you touch even a wooden sword you will have to get the basics of footwork. You won't be holding steel until I feel you are ready."

"How long will that take?" Mordred asked a bit unhappily.

Arthur eyed him. "That will depend on you. Most squires, not until they reach sixteen years since we aren't at war. But since you will be going on patrols with me, hopefully sooner."

Mordred's large eyes became larger in incredulity. "But that's... five years from now!"

Arthur's unyielding eyes looked him over. "Yes. You're tall for your age but scrawny. Speed will be more your ally then strength."

Mordred might have gotten defensive once, but by now Arthur had called him scrawny so many times, the effect wore off. He was slightly chilly without his cloak but the sun chasing away the shadows in the corridor warmed him somewhat, which he was grateful for because a shiver would have earned some sort of supposed amusing remark from the prince. His ivory pendent was pale against his thin shirt.

"Alright." Arthur walked over to stand near to him. "We will begin now so pay attention." He turned so he was facing the same way as Mordred. "Copy my stance." Mordred looked and did as asked. He placed his right foot forward and his other behind half a pace so he was standing almost sideways. "Put your left foot at more of an angle. Now look." Arthur sidestepped, bringing his left leg to the front this time and then back to where he started. "Every time I step, I switch which foot is forward. My shoulders change with the direction as well."

He repeated the action then had Mordred do it. It was easy enough to the boy. "Good," Arthur commented and walked away to better view Mordred's movement. He commanded Mordred to practice the paces and then upped the speed when the servant was executing the sidestep correctly.

Arthur then showed Mordred how to move forwards and backwards and then how to step with his back foot first. When he wasn't standing properly, Arthur would push him and say, "Balance." Mordred would then get up off the ground and not glare at the prince.

By the time Arthur ended the session, Mordred had broken a light sweat. "Not bad," Arthur commented and scanned him appraisingly. "I want you to have those steps down perfectly for next time. And if you are sweating just from that, you need to work on your endurance."

The servant nodded. "How do I do that?"

"Basic exercises. Work your way up to doing more of them but be careful not to strain yourself."

"Right," Mordred said but refrained from asking what kinds of exercises since he did not want to look like a fool in front of the prince.

Arthur nodded and then went to pick up the discarded sword. When he stood up and regarded Mordred, he no longer had his mentoring tone. "You'll need to polish this," he stated and handed Mordred the blade. "Then clean my room, scrub the floor, clean my chainmail, wash my clothes, change my bed sheets, there's a dent in my shield that needs working out, and don't forget to walk my dogs."

Mordred blinked but took the sword. "Yes, Sire," he grinned.

Arthur looked at him oddly but left him without another word. Mordred would not let the amount of chores ruin his morning. As the prince left, Mordred's grin grew. He was being trained by the crown prince of Camelot. The boy laughed and then chased after his master.

When Mordred got around to walking the dogs he was practically dead on his feet. As he was leading five large hounds out of the kennels, he made a mental note to remind himself to walk the dogs before the sixteenth hour. He took them outside the castle, walking along a trail bordering the fields. The sun was hanging low in the sky and blinding Mordred with its brilliance. A yawn escaped him as the wolfhounds sped along, tugging his arms and causing him to walk speedily. "Hey, easy, easy!" he growled to the dogs. It was harder to enjoy this chore like he usually did because he knew there were more tasks for him to do after dinner.

One of the wolfhounds looked back impatiently, the blonde one that Arthur called Thunder. It slowed down and the others followed its cue after looking back Mordred. "Don't look at me like that," the boy complained. He walked on lazily, the leads in his hands held loosely. Mordred almost lost the two in his right hand when he tripped but luckily the dogs were content to not to make his life difficult.

He followed the trail around a knoll and it blocked the sun from view and he gratefully stopped squinting his eyes. The dirt road looped back around toward Camelot but the dogs didn't seem to want to go back. Biter, the coal black one started tugging against the leash and soon the other four were joining him. Mordred gave a frustrated grunt before throwing the leads up into the air. At once, all five dogs stampeded backwards, barking and yipping, but Mordred just carried on and shoved his hands in his cloak pockets. When the dogs noticed that he was leaving them, they stopped before hurtling towards him. It was a trick that had never worked for Morris. If the dogs wanted to get away from him, Mordred knew that he would never be able to stop them- standing on all fours, the tallest reached Mordred's sternum. The boy stopped before one of them could bowl him over and he laughed despite himself when Biter caught up to him and head-butted his hand. He crouched a little so he was even with the dog and ran his hands through the scruffy fur. The dog licked his face causing the boy to laugh. Unfortunately all the other dangerous hunting dogs wanted attention too and soon he was surrounded on all sides. He was quick to reclaim all their leashes again and start back to Camelot before one of them could jump into his arms and bowl him over. The last two times he had walked the wolfhounds, Dunsen the energetic grey one had placed his large paws on Mordred's shoulders and had stood up, towering over the boy. The dogs were usually mindful of their size but Dunsen was always a bit unruly.

When he walked the dogs back towards the kennels, he was pleasantly surprised to see that Merlin and Gwen were waiting for him. "Hi, Mordred!" Gwen called when he came into view.

Merlin brightened when he saw the dogs and ran to Mordred at once. The older boy gave the leads a slight pull as Merlin approached so they wouldn't run him over. Morris had told him that the wolfhounds were gentle most of the time but Mordred was not one to take chances. "Hi Merlin," Mordred smiled at him and then looked to Guinivere. "Hello, Gwen."

Gwen hung back, intimidated by the dogs' size but smiled at Mordred. "We heard from Arienne that you were walking the dogs." He assumed that Arienne was one of Gwen's many friends.

Mordred nodded and watched Merlin as the boy hugged Goliath. The white hound started to sniff the boy's hair to Merlin's amusement. He then started patting the other dogs when they cued up. The boy stood even with most of them but Goliath was just a little taller, a fact that seemed to make Gwen nervous. She ventured closer and seemed relieved when the dogs let Merlin out of their circle.

"You're good with them. I remember that Morris used to have a terrible time of it," she said to Morded.

The boy shrugged. "He was always scared of them, he didn't have trouble with the smaller dogs."

Gwen gave a small laugh. "Well they are huge, how do you handle them?" The dogs were panting patiently and Vulcan with the dusty brown fur even curled up on the ground to nap.

Mordred pretended not to notice her assessing gaze. "They're well trained," he answered with a small smile, "they could over power me if they really wanted- Merlin, cut it out."

The boy frowned up at him but did not stop trying to pry a lead from Mordred's fingers. "Merlin," Mordred warned. "You're too small to walk them."

Merlin then took a surreptitious look around but jumped when both Gwen and Mordred snapped at him. "No!"

"Don't even think about it," Mordred said crossly. Merlin drew his hands away as if burnt and crossed them under his arm pits, the very picture of moping. "I hope he was good today," Mordred turned to Gwen.

The maidservant smiled. "Yes, there were no mishaps."

Mordred nodded and then started walking for the kennels again but before he made it three steps, he tripped over air. Merlin took the chance to snatch away a leash and pranced away with Goliath trotting behind. "Merlin!" Mordred growled as he hurried to grab the leads he had dropped.

Merlin turned around and frowned at him, sidestepping to hide behind the massive dog. Goliath sat down and tilted his white head at Mordred. "Goliath, come here," Mordred ordered and pulled the other dogs along.

Gwen was staring in surprise at Merlin and did not move from where she stood. Only when the white wolfhound whined in confusion did the child start walking. There was a large pout on his face but he caught up to Mordred despite his dragging feet.

Mordred looked at the dog that could see over Merlin's head and didn't take the lead that Merlin held in his hands. Goliath followed Mordred and Merlin seemed happy that he was still in control. The servant exchanged a glance with Gwen and had to hide his smile- it looked like the dog was walking Merlin instead of the other way around.

When they put the five dogs in the kennels, Mordred had a hard time of getting Merlin to leave without crying. It was only when Gwen came in and said that he would make the dogs sad if he cried, that Merlin allowed himself to be led out, not shedding a single tear.

"We'll see them later, Merlin," Mordred told him when they had left. Merlin nodded but was still sighing all the way to Gaius' chambers. There would be a light breeze every time the child expelled breath, even in the corridors which made both Gwen and Mordred terribly nervous.

On the way, Mordred had to restrain himself from telling Gwen about Arthur training him since he wasn't sure the prince would appreciate it. It was harder than he expected and he even told Gwen that she didn't have to see them to the chambers so he wouldn't be tempted.

Guinevere laughed at him. "Oh, I know. But Morgana will need her potion for the night."

Mordred frowned at the news. "Her nightmares aren't getting better then?" Merlin looked between them with a concerned air.

"No," Gwen sighed, "they seem to be getting worse, I'm afraid. Hopefully Gaius can give her something a little stronger this time."

"I'll make sure he does," Mordred informed her solemnly.

He did indeed. As Gaius rummaged through his stores when updated of the problem, Mordred hovered beside him earning a very highly raised eyebrow. The physician dropped the vial into Mordred's fingers with the same dry expression and watched the boy bounce over to Gwen.

"Thank you," Gwen said to them both. "Do you want me to watch Merlin tomorrow?"

"No that's alright, Gwen. He can come with me," Mordred answered.

She smiled and then waved to Merlin. "Well then I'll see you later, Merlin. Bye Gaius, thank you for the potion.

"Of course," Gaius nodded to her.

Merlin turned away from following Gaius to hurry and give Gwen a hug. He grinned brightly at her when she laughed.

She gave them all a final smile before leaving the room. When the door was closed Merlin travelled around the chambers, looking for the few toys he had misplaced.

Mordred glanced at him before hurrying after the maidservant. "Gwen!" The door clicked shut behind him and she turned around with her eyebrows slightly raised.

Mordred hesitated. "Just, erm. Thank you. For looking after him. I know you are a bit nervous with... you know."

Gwen smiled at him. "It was no trouble. And I'm getting used to it now, I think. He's careful anyway."

Mordred nodded. "Still, I wanted to thank you."

The maidservant walked up to him and ducked so they were standing eye to eye. "Well you can stop," she told him lightly. Gwen pinched his nose and retreated laughing.

Mordred looked after her oddly, trying to hide his embarrassed but affectionate smile. It was still there though when he went back inside.

Gaius looked up at his re-entrance and Mordred found that he was setting dinner on the table. The smell of baked pheasant had filled the messy chambers and his stomach growled. Merlin drifted to the table when the physician motioned to him and placed his toy knight on the bench beside him.

"Come, you will have to eat quickly if you want to be on time with Arthur's dinner," Gaius informed Mordred.

The boy looked to the candle burning in the center of the table to find that he had a little over half a candle mark to get the prince his dinner. He huffed and picked up his pace. When Gaius sat down, both Mordred and Merlin started shovelling the food into their mouths.

"I suppose I shall ask you how your day was later," Gaius noted before tucking into his own plate at a much more sedate pace.

The physician filled in the silence by telling Mordred of the uses of St. John's Wort. Since Mordred was too busy eating, he could not even pretend to be interested. As Gaius took a sip of his lemon water, he glanced over at Merlin across from him. And nearly choked. The boy was playing with the toy Gwen's father had made him but his plate was completely empty. Save for the turnips but there was no possible way that the boy could have eaten everything else so fast.

"Merlin," Gaius began reproachfully, "I have told you time and again. No magic!" Merlin gave him a wide eyed stare, trying to look innocent. "Trying to finish your food is no reason to slow down time."

Merlin's nose twitched but he tried to offer Gaius a smile. The physician only cocked his eyebrow. "That may work with Mordred, but not with me."

"Hey," Mordred spoke up before gulping down his milk. "Alright! Thanks, Gaius." He stood up and Merlin was quick to follow his lead.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gaius' voice rang out in the chambers.

Mordred looked to him in surprise before realizing that Gaius was talking to Merlin. The boy's eyes widened and his lips were turning down. Mordred watched as the physician spoke.

"Since you decided to use magic, you will have to go without seeing Arthur for the night. You will stay here and finish your turnips."

Merlin gasped and shook his head, looking to Mordred for help when Gaius did not budge. Mordred shrugged. "He's right, Merlin. Next time don't use magic." With that, he left before Merlin's devastated expression could get him to cave.

He almost felt bad for leaving Gaius behind to deal with an unhappy Merlin.

o}O{o

"Is there anything else, Sire?" asked Mordred. After serving Arthur dinner and tidying the chambers a little, the boy stood patiently beside the prince's wardrobe. Arthur was absorbed in reading document and looked up in surprise.

He turned his head to inspect the chambers and seemed satisfied upon turning back to his servant. "Actually, we are going on patrol at dawn tomorrow. Make sure to get yourself ready as well."

Mordred beamed with excitement. "I'm going too?"

"Yes," Arthur said while turning back to his note. "There's very little chance of coming across bandits and we won't be going far."

"Yes, Sire."

Arthur turned back around at his tone and raised a golden eyebrow. "You sound almost disappointed."

Mordred shook his head. "I am just a bit tired."

The prince saw through Mordred's evasion and an amused light entered his eyes. "You can't defend yourself with footwork," Arthur smirked. Mordred had the grace to smile at him. "And on that note, remember to practice. I'm expecting perfection next week."

"You'll get it, Sire," the guardian stated assuredly.

Arthur nodded approvingly. "Well off with you then. And don't be late tomorrow."

"Yes, Sire. Goodnight." Mordred inclined his head in a small bow and departed the chambers. When the door clicked shut, Arthur turned back to the piece of paper in front of him. He reached for the candle holder and set it closer to the page. The fire emitted the light that Arthur needed since the sky outside was purple in the night.

The prince let out a cross between a grunt and a sigh when his eyes ran over the document again. In two weeks time, King Bayard would be coming to sign a treaty with Camelot, and Arthur's father was making sure that he was involved. Hence the document which was one page of many outlining the treaty- information that Arthur had to know. But he had two weeks to learn and he was dreadfully bored of reading.

Decided, Arthur sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, content to think about something else. As Arthur looked up at the stone, he found himself planning sword lessons for his servant, lessons that he remembered himself learning. He had never trained someone individually before, and never squires or pages under the age of sixteen, so he was eager to shape the young boy into a capable warrior. The prince just had to make sure no one found out. If it was revealed that Arthur was giving the honour of taking a squire, no one would be happy to find out it was a peasant. Not that Mordred would ever become his squire…

Arthur then laughed at himself and shook his head, knowing that he was getting a bit carried away. The prince tried to curb his ideas, telling himself that Mordred was a servant and such skill would not do him much use.

But he has talent. That one thought kept creeping through his reservations and withering them away. Arthur could practically see what Mordred could become. The boy learned fast and was exceptionally light on his feet, both fast and quiet. Arthur knew that he was much too scrawny but with training Mordred could gain weight. He was not the first skinny boy to become lean with muscle. And from the boy's barbed comments that he had been letting Arthur hear as of late, the prince knew he was clever.

But he wasn't a squire. He wasn't a noble. He wouldn't become a knight like he wanted to- the very idea was ridiculous. Arthur looked around unhappily at his undeserving chambers. But he has talent.

Talent that Arthur felt was wasted by only teaching him the basics. "There's no harm in it," Arthur spoke softly to himself. So what if he taught Mordred how to use a sword? The boy was capable and full of potential. Arthur might even be able to make him the caliber of a knight. If he had the skill, all the better for both of them really. When Mordred wasn't being prickly he practically idolized Arthur though he tried to hide it, and why wouldn't he? He would look up to Arthur the way Arthur looked up to his former teacher.

The prince smiled, pleased with his decision.

o}O{o

Sooo what'd you think? I'll try to get the next chapter out for Christamas day, but I shall see how the internet reception is. Should be fine though. So until then, Happy Holidays everyone, I wish you all the best :)

Oh and please leave a review, they make me oh so happy!