Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this, but it's not really my main story right now. I'm trying to focus on my other Merlin fic. However, I have gotten a bunch of reviews and alerts and even some favs so I thought it would only be fair to you guys to give you another chapter. So that is what I have done, obviously. Less cheese in this one, (sorry for those of you who like extreme silliness,) but we're getting closer to the heart of the story and I didn't think that it would be right if we're all laughing through it. The whump isn't in this chapter, but it should be coming very soon, so look out for that. Anyway, once again thank you to all of you who have already reviewed and generally liked this story so far, I hope I continue to meet your expectations.

After Claude got off his shift he was invited to a sort of gathering with some of the other guards. Apparently they would all get together when their shifts ended for some gambling, drinking, and a discussion of anything interesting going on in the day. Guards could get very lonely.

Claude made his way to a room that supposedly no one used that was in the dungeon. He only hoped that this wasn't going to turn out to be some sort of hazing.

He entered a dingy room that was lit only by a few torches and had about six or seven guards all sitting at a table playing some sort of game and drinking. Actually only a few of them were drinking, the rest were simply laughing like they were already drunk.

When they saw him the drunken ones cheered while a young man in his thirties gave him a friendly grin and gestured for him to come over.

"So you're the newbie?" he asked in a kind but rather amused voice.

"Yes, my name is Claude." Claude swore to himself that he wouldn't get intimidated by anything, especially not these men.

"My name is Michael, come and sit down, your feet have to be hurting; first day and all." He pointed to a stool next to him.

Claude sat down and eyed the other men. They were no longer drinking or laughing but were simply staring at him as if he was some unfathomable mystery.

"Oh, don't mind them," Michael said, "whenever we get someone new we try to guess why they're here. We get bored very easily. So, how was your first day?"

Claude frowned slightly; that was the problem. He believed that he would've had a very good day if it hadn't been for the thoughts that had plagued him. Normally he would be thought free for most of the day.

"It was good."

Michael chuckled slightly. "Yeah, you sound real convincing. What happened? Did you realize already that it wasn't the dream job you thought it would be? If so then you're fast; it took me nearly three weeks to come to that conclusion." Though he seemed pretty amused it was not in an unkind way. There wasn't a whole lot of it but he did have kindness in his tone.

"No, it's everything that I thought it would be. I just, I dunno, I was distracted." Claude tried to downplay it since he really wasn't sure if he wanted to voice his opinions about that Merlin person to a bunch of people that obviously hadn't done anything about it.

Michael looked thoughtful. "What? Were you missing home? Don't worry, if you were we won't judge you for it, after all, it's hard not to come up with a life that's better than that of a guard's."

Again with the bashing of our job, if they don't like it then why are they here? "Nah, my home isn't anything to miss. I lived on a farm a good distance from Camelot, and definitely far away from anything interesting. I suppose…what bothered me was someone I saw. He wasn't very respectful."

Michael felt a feeling of dread creep up inside of him. He hoped that this new addition to their strange and dysfunctional "family" wasn't talking about him.

"Who was this someone? Just a random person you met on the street or…?" he asked warily.

Unfortunately, he was exactly who Claude was talking about. "I think it was the Prince Regent's manservant, Merlin, I think it was. He was talking back to the prince and everything. He even called him names! I can't believe that the prince just lets him get away with it! The boy just needs to be shown his place."

Michael at first felt enraged, then horrified, then guilty, then understanding and calm. And now he was just glad that the others around the table were too drunk or distracted to have heard what the newbie had said.

"You—" he cleared his throat slightly uncomfortably—"said that you aren't from Camelot?" Claude nodded. "Well, then I take it you don't exactly know what has been going on the past, oh, five years?"

"Well, I know that there have been a lot of magical attacks and that the king is no longer fit to rule." At this he seemed to be afraid that he had said something wrong so he added, "I mean, why else would his son be in charge?"

Michael ignored that and focused the meaning of his lack of knowledge. "So you have no idea who Merlin is, do you?" He shook his head. "Um, okay," Michael leaned forward and looked into Claude's eyes, "there is a rule. An unspoken rule that quite possibly everyone in Camelot knows by now except Uther. And even he isn't entirely clueless to it. Since you haven't lived in Camelot in the past five years it's understandable that you haven't heard of it.

"Well, the rule is that you never, under any circumstances, if you wish to keep your head that is, mess with Merlin."

"What?" Claude asked incredulously. "Why? He's just a servant." That the others heard.

Claude looked around the table at all of the men and suddenly seemed even more out of place. The two really drunk ones were glaring at him as if he had told them they could never drink ale again. The three more sober-looking ones who were of a bit slighter build seemed to be stunned at what he had said. And a man who sat right across from him had deep piercing green eyes and dark black shaggy hair. He also had a beard that was more black than white, he wore dark clothes and was easily the most terrifying man he had ever seen. This man just stared at him with no emotion on his face, but in his eyes, however; there was a menacing look that Claude couldn't quite understand.

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably and looked back at Michael. The man had a look of slight anger, but most of the emotion that could be seen was pity, and Claude couldn't understand why.

Michael turned around and gave his companions a pacifying glance and then went on with his explanation. "You see, saying something like that can get you into a lot of trouble here in Camelot these days. It would quite possibly be better for you if you told everyone you're a sorcerer rather than to threaten Merlin. Because he is not just a servant, he may be many things but he is not just a servant.

"And that hasn't always been the case, well; I suppose Merlin was always more than a servant just nobody realized it. Back when he first came to Camelot a whole bunch of people thought the same as you, myself included." Claude gave him a curious glance but didn't interrupt him.

"One of the first things Merlin did was to stand up to Arthur who was bullying his current servant at the time. Apparently he had no idea that he was the prince and only thought that he was being mean. But even when he found out who he was that didn't deter him from standing up for someone who was too scared to stand up for himself. And the consequences of his courage got him thrown in the dungeons and put in the stocks," he laughed lightly. "Twice!

"Everyone thought that the two strong-willed boys hated each other. But then a sorceress disguised herself as a famous singer and tried to kill Arthur. A chandelier fell on her and she died but not before she managed to throw a knife at Prince Arthur's chest. To this day no one knows how he was able to move so fast, but we're only grateful that he did. Merlin pulled Arthur out of the way just in time to save his life.

"And as a result the king appointed Merlin as his son's new manservant; something that I think both boys hated the idea of at first, but now they wouldn't have it any other way." Michael sighed because he knew he was nearing the part of the tale that to this day he was still ashamed of.

"But despite Merlin's obvious courage and kindness there were some people who thought that they knew better. That for all of his rudeness he deserved to be punished and shown his proper place in the world. Me and some of the other people in this room," Michael gestured at a few of them, "took it upon ourselves to do just that.

"I think it was right after that event with Valiant; the knight who used magic to kill his opponents and probably would've killed Arthur if it hadn't been for Merlin, that we decided to act on our collective foolishness.

"Even though Merlin had done nothing other than shoot a few insults at Arthur and arrive late for his duties we believed that he should be punished, never mind that he had saved the prince's life without even asking to be thanked. And I can tell you," he looked straight into Claude's eyes, all of the kindness and amusement gone; replaced only by a deep-seeded seriousness. "That there has not been a day since that I haven't regretted what we did."

"And what did you do?" Claude asked; totally mesmerized by the truth of the tale.

A look of pain flashed in Michael's, and several others', eyes at this. Michael responded a bit sadly, "We taught him a lesson."

Well, as you may have guessed most of this story is going to take place in the past, even though it begins sometime around season four. I hope you liked this chapter and please continue reviewing, love you all...