AN.: Next Chapter. I'm sorry for being a bit late ;w;
Special thanks to Moonlover04, phantomgirl21 3, Gingeraffealena and the Guests who left a review on the last chapter. Always makes me happy. This chapter is for you ^^
Merlin shoved the heavy wooden door open and entered Arthur's chambers. The room was in chaos; Discarded clothes were scattered everywhere, a little puddle of water was forming underneath the washstand, a tipped over washstand pitcher above it. As soon as Merlin had entered the room, Arthur was calling out from behind his changing screen.
"Merlin! What took you so long?" He poked his head out from behind the screen and looked at Merlin judgingly. As soon as his blue eyes met Merlin's face, the accusing look softened and he stepped out from behind the screen to step closer to his servant. Merlin averted his eyes, a slight blush appearing on his face as soon as his gaze landed on his King's bare chest. Arthur came to a halt in front of him.
"What happened to your nose?" He put his finger up and wiggled it in front of Merlin's face to indicate the area in question. Merlin's hand flew up to touch the dried blood on his upper lip.
"Nothing. I tripped on my way here…" Arthur rolled his eyes, letting a breath slowly out of his nose and went over to the washstand to grab a wet handkerchief. He handed it to Merlin.
"Here." He handed it to Merlin, who took it hesitantly, and without another word, Arthur turned and went back behind the changing screen while talking to Merlin.
"Don't you dare hurt yourself in front of my guests tonight. I don't want them to think one of my men is cursed with bad luck. It might affect their opinion on the treaties." Merlin could here the faintest smile through Arthur's voice as he wiped the blood off his face with the provided piece of cloth.
"Yes, Sire. I'll try not to break my neck." Merlin said sarcastically and gathered up Arthur's garments for the festivities and hung them over the screen. Then, he continued to rush through the room like a busy bee, trying to get the mess under control again, while Arthur changed into the provided clothes.
"I heard guests from Gawant, Bernicia and Cambia have already arrived. I sent the knights to greet them properly and as many servants as I could offer to see to them." Arthur said while rustling with his clothes. Merlin made an affirmative grunt as he folded and stacked the discarded clothes onto a neat pile.
"Merlin, I don't need to remind you of how important today's event is going to be. Everyone needs to present themselves from their best side." Arthur continued, his voice growing more serious. Merlin turned to the washstand to clean up the puddle of water while he listened to Arthur's words, when suddenly, his magic burst through the barricade, filling his limbs with the warm and tingling sensation of pure energy. The magic exited his body forcefully and washed over the room like a wave. With wide, glowing eyes, Merlin stared in horror at the pitcher, that started to rise and then flew up into the air. The water on the floor started gathering itself up and then one tiny droplet after the other flew up until it formed a little stream of water that went directly back into the still flying pitcher. Merlin made a step towards it when a rustle behind him made him turn and revealed bed sheets and pillows adjusting themselves on their own. A crash to his left offered a sight of lunch plates and cutlery stacking themselves on top of the table. The room was cleaning itself up! Merlin had done it before, in his own room, in Gaius chambers and even sometimes in Arthur's room when the King had been out and about and it was safe for Merlin to do so. Now, Merlin's heart was racing as he realized what was happening only a few paces away from the King of Camelot. He rushed towards the pitcher and snatched it out of the air. It struggled lightly within his grip.
"I know you are still not well, so I arranged for enough servants to attend our guests." Arthur talked on, oblivious to the miracles and drama happening right under his nose.
Merlin ran over to the table, put the pitcher down and caught the cutlery that danced across the polished, wooden surface. He put it on the already stacked plates. They clattered on for a while but after realizing that their task of stacking themselves was done, they stilled and the magic left the inanimate objects.
"Besides, the delegates, lords, ladies and councilors from the other kingdoms all brought their own servants along… What are those sounds? Is everything alright?" Arthur asked, noticing that his servant was making way too much noise, which, considering it was Merlin, was simply impressive.
"Yes, everything is fine here, I'm just cleaning." Merlin gave a hurriedly answer while looking for the next dancing object to get rid of. A noise made Merlin's head snap up to discover a dusting cloth busying itself with cleaning the ceiling happily. Merlin's breath hitched, sweat covering his forehead in beads as he grabbed a chair, stood on it and tried to reach for the cloth. His shaking legs protested.
"Well… What I mean to say: Today, you only need to tend to myself and Gwen. I don't want you to topple over because of exhaustion. What do you say?" Arthur said, sounding satisfied with himself. Merlin's hand had almost reached the wiggling cloth on the ceiling when his shivering legs buckled and made him lose his balance. The chair toppled over and Merlin hit the stony floor, hard. His breath got knocked out of his lungs and he had to stifle a moan. The ruckus lured Arthur to step out from behind the screen. His searching gaze fell on Merlin, who was rolling from his back onto his side, rubbing his stinging lower back in pain.
"What in the world are you doing here?" Arthur asked, his voice higher pitched than usually, taking in the fallen chair and his writhing servant. Arthur groaned as realization hit. "What did I just tell you about not getting hurt?" He asked rhetorically while waving his arms in exasperation. It took Merlin a while to get his bearings back before he was able to answer.
"You asked me not to injure myself in front of your guests." Merlin managed to smile up at Arthur in between short gasps. "Well… I didn't." Arthur looked at his servant's smile before he sighed and reached for Merlin's arm, pulling him back to his feet.
"Well?" Arthur asked while looking at Merlin with raised eyebrows.
"Well what?"
"What happened?" Arthur asked, pointing at the chair accusingly.
"I-" Merlin tried to think of an explanation when something fluttering above Arthur's head caught his attention. The cloth had lowered itself and was dancing through the air like a butterfly right behind Arthur's back. Merlin's heart sank into the pit of his stomach.
"I…?" Arthur provided helpfully, a frown on his face.
"I saw a spider on the ceiling and wanted to get rid of it." Merlin answered, his blood running cold as he observed the cloth winding itself, obviously looking for something else to clean. Arthur's eyes widened a little in realization and his eyes snapped up to search the ceiling immediately. Just as he was about to look behind him, Merlin grabbed his attention again.
"I got it!" He exclaimed suddenly, startling Arthur, who faced Merlin again. "I got rid of it, no need to worry." Merlin laughed nervously, his eyes wandering to the cloth that was currently cleaning the mirror next to the washstand.
"Good for you…" Arthur said hesitantly, slowly turning towards the cloth's direction. Merlin was ready to hyperventilate when Arthur stopped mid-turn to face Merlin again. He put a heavy hand on Merlin's bony shoulder and looked deep into his servant's eyes, a little smile playing around his lips.
"It was very heroic of you to face such a dangerous beast," Arthur said, closing his eyes while slowly nodding. "But the threat was not worth your brave sacrifice, young warrior." Arthur chuckled softly and gave Merlin's shoulder one last squeeze before he turned to the washstand to regard his attire in the -now very clean- mirror. Merlin let out a breath of relief when he spotted the lifeless cloth lying on the washstand. As the last spark of magic left the room, Merlin felt the same sense of exhaustion again. The magic he apparently used in his current condition -whether he wanted to or not- was feeding off Merlin's physical strength as well. He let a shaky hand run through his sweaty hair and stood still, staring at an invisible point in front of him while being in thought. How was he supposed to let his magic recover from the flu when it simply started acting on its own all the time? How was he supposed to hide his magic if it actively acted against him? How was he supposed to survive this day? This week…? Oh god… This month?
"Merlin." Arthur had turned to his friend once again and was now snapping his fingers in front of Merlin's face to get his attention.
"Let's go. I want to meet up with the knights to see if everything is going smoothly." Arthur left his room and Merlin followed him.
"I arranged for the knights to provide entertainment for our guests. We built up seating areas close to the practice field; I heard, that eager knights from the other kingdoms have already challenged my knights to test their skills in swordplay. They held a few friendly duels so far and many lords and ladies are enjoying their skillful display." Arthur had a proud smile on his face. "Of course, no one managed to beat Camelot so far.
"Where is Gwen?" Merlin asked while he tried to keep up with Arthur's pace.
"She received most of our female guests and made it her task to show them around. I don't know if she wanted to do it or if she simply wanted to relieve me of that burden." Arthur mused, a fond smile on his lips.
They were passing through a hallway which had several remarkable pieces of pottery displayed on stone pedestals. Merlin's breath came in short gasps and he fell slightly behind Arthur. His flu was still taking a toll on his body; His nose itched and he wrinkled it, trying to suppress the sneeze that was announcing its arrival. Not being able to hold it in, Merlin sneezed into his sleeve. The pressure that had built up behind his eyes was released and with it came a strong blast of magic, appearing out of nowhere, overwhelming Merlin's senses and then it transformed a beautifully crafted vase, which was located on a pedestal right next to Merlin, into a magnificent bouquet. Merlin stared at the flowers sitting innocently on the pedestal in shock and with wide eyes. His gaze snapped back to the direction where Arthur had just disappeared around the corner. He had walked on without realizing that Merlin had stopped. He quickly grabbed the bouquet and turned on the spot frantically, searching for a spot to hide the flowers, when he heard Arthur calling his name. Before he could get rid of the flowers, footsteps announced Arthur's return and Merlin was forced to hide the flowers behind his back when Arthur's head popped up around the corner.
"Merlin! What is keeping you?" He walked towards the warlock, his arms crossed and a suspicious expression on his face. "You are behaving weird today. I mean you are always weird, but today…" Arthur tilted his head, catching sight of Merlin's arms hiding something behind his back.
"What do you have there?" Arthur asked sternly. Merlin didn't want to appear even more suspicious than he already was and revealed the beautiful bouquet of flowers he was holding. Arthur's eyebrows climbed up his forehead in surprise.
"Oh? And for whom are those flowers?" Arthur asked, curiosity glinting in his eyes. Merlin's mind went blank at the expectant eyes of his King and he started stammering.
"Ah, eh, those are… Well, I just got them… Well these are for you." Merlin finished lamely while shoving the flowers into Arthur's arms who slightly flinched back in surprise. Great! Stupid Merlin! He could've said Gwen… Or simply for one of the female guests. Now he looked at Arthur who hesitantly took the flowers from out of Merlin's hands.
"Okay…?" Arthur said while turning the bouquet in his hands to regard it. "Well, thank you Merlin. These are quite beautiful." Arthur glanced awkwardly at Merlin's face before he turned and continued to walk, the Bouquet still in one hand. Merlin felt exhausted… What more was to come? How long would he be able to hide his magic, like the bouquet, behind his back? Or behind Arthur's back for that matter. He needed to stay in the shadows for today, needed to stay out of sight and he needed to avoid attention at all cost. Merlin gulped down the lump in his throat and tried to shake off the sense of dread, which was clawing at his heart before he scurried after his friend.
AN.: I had a lot of trouble with this one and I had to work it over a few times. I'm currently busy with a long term paper for university which basically keeps me up at night... The deadline is next week, so I might disappear for a while, but I'm keen to write the next chapter. I have so many ideas for what could happen next. Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter :)