Merlin looked at the prince with a shocked disbelief.
"You want me to what?"
The prince looked at him with that infuriating roguish grin.
"I've got a tournament to win, Merlin."
"And you couldn't have practiced with your knights because...?" Merlin asked eying the prince's sword warily.
"Because Merlin," the prince said rolling his eyes. "They're competing in the tournament too! I can't give my moves away!"
Merlin looked at him incredulously. "And you think beating me into a bloody pulp will help you win?"
"Exactly." The prince said grabbing his helmet from a nearby log. Merlin gulped.
"Are you still mad about the whole punching-you-in-the-face-publicly incident?"
The prince paused. "I had forgotten about that actually."
Arthur snapped his lid closed twirling his blade. "Are you ready?"
"Would it make a difference if I said no?" Merlin asked miserably as he covered his own head, dreading what was going to be a horrible day.
"No, I suppose it wouldn't."
Arthur lunged at him throwing a parry that Merlin could just only block with his own sword. Merlin grit his teeth as the vibrations shook his bones painfully. But the prince wouldn't let up.
"Body!" Another slash to the side.
"Shield!" A busing bash to the flimsy shield to his left.
"Body!" More vibrations.
"Shield!" Merlin grit his teeth.
"Head!"
What the?
BOOM
He tottered backwards as sparks erupted behind his eyes. His helmet clanged as the toll of a church bell his eyes ringing. He saw the blurred face of the smug prince through his helmet before he clinched his eyes in pain.
"C'mon Merlin." The voice came taunting and vile. "You're not even trying!"
Merlin bit back a nasty retort in favor of trying to keep in his vomit.
"C'mon, again!"
Merlin shuffled his feet, trying to ready himself. He wasn't completely helpless dammit!
"Left!" Their swords came together sending ripples of pain through Merlin's arms.
"Right." His shield clanged noisily from his side.
"Head!"
Merlin ducked the swing, thrusting his shield up to intercept the blow coming towards his side. The grass was wet beneath his feet, and his breath came in gasps.
"Lef-!" But Merlin threw himself towards the prince knocking him off balance. they both grunted as they landed on the ground, Arthur taking the brunt of the fall.
When they could get their breathing under control, Arthur pushed Merlin off of him and tore of his helmet.
"Are you insane!"
Merlin winced as the yell pierced his already bleeding ears. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to sit up before taking off his own helmet. Arthur's anger blurred into view and Merlin grimaced.
"No, sire." He spat the title out. That would be you.
Arthur picked himself up, grimacing at the muddy mess that was his armor. He sneered down at his manservant.
"We're done for the day." Merlin sagged in relief.
"But before you go, the stables need sweeping out, run my bath, and shine my sword." The manservant grimaced before nodding grimly. Arthur turned on his heel, before stopping in his tracks.
"And Merlin?"
The said sorcerer bit his tongue violently. "Yes sire?"
"Clean my armor of the mess you made."
Merlin, hot, dirty, and still in his armor, tottered into pharmacy late that afternoon. Gaius was at his chemist table and seemed to be in deep concentration. Merlin grimaced before dropping his helmet to the floor, announcing his arrival. But instead of being startled, the man just looked up at him with amusement, stirring his concoction without missing a beat.
"So..." Gaius said, laughter coloring his voice. "How was your first day of servant hood?"
Merlin knocked his head a few times. "Do you hear clanging?"
Gaius chuckled and told him to get washed up. Merlin slunk over to the bathroom and emerged a good hour later. Now clean and aching horribly Merlin shuffled over to the table to which Gaius had beckoned him.
Merlin twisted his mouth in distaste at the medicine Gaius had given him for his headache. Smacking his lips, he stretched his arms out in front of him ignoring the burn in his muscles.
"I hate him." He told Gaius as the physician rubbed his shoulders. A thought occurred to him and he groaned miserably. "And I've still got to learn about tournament etiquette or some rubbish by morning."
Spying the book the prince had given him on the subject, he focused.
"Unheran achtung bragdan"
The book flew open in front of him. Merlin smiled faintly at the pleasurable rush his magic gave at being used, before he grimaced at the smack he received from Gaius.
"What have I told you about using magic like that?"
Merlin colored. "Well if I could feel my bloody arms-"
"Your arms? Forget about your arms and think of what will happen to your head if you get caught!"
"I won't get caught!"
"Keep up with such a brash attitude, and they'll have your head by the end of the week! I don't know what I'd do were you to get-"
"What would you do." Merlin said quietly, yet the words halted Gaius in his thoughts. "What would you do if I got caught?"
Gaius stared hard at him for a moment. "Let us hope it never comes to that, Merlin. For both our sakes."
He resumed his work on Merlin's arms and the sorcerer grit his teeth. At a particularly horrible knot, Merlin barked out.
"It isn't fair!" A spark of angered magic rose up within him. "I save the useless prince's life, and am made a servant? Where's the fairness in that?"
"I'm not sure if fairness comes into it." Gaius said cracking Merlin's wrist. "You never know, it might be fun."
Merlin laughed bitterly. "You think mucking out Arthur's horses, serving as his living punching bag, and shining his goddamn shoes is fun?"
"Language, Merlin." Gaius admonished softly. "We all have our duties. Even Arthur."
"It must be so tough for him." Merlin bit back. "Between the girls, the fame, the glory..."
"He is a future king." Gaius said going to get some sort of serum. "People expect so much of him. He's under a lot of pressure."
Merlin stared resentfully at the table. Pressure. Merlin scoffed. What does that pompous, arrogant, bone-headed prat know of pressure.
He clenched his fist. I know true pressure. Pressure is stealing, raiding, killing just so that your mother can eat another day. Pressure is lying to her flu-sickened face about where her sustenance is coming from. Pressure is taking care of a village that hates you only so your mother and friend have a roof over their heads. Pressure is having to mur-
"Merlin?"
He jolted at the shake to his shoulders. Merlin looked up at Gaius, who smiled down at him warily. Merlin tried to give him a reassuring smile, but at the look on the physician's face, he knew he didn't succeed.
"Get some rest, Merlin. You've got a big day tomorrow." The sorcerer blinked up at his mentor unseeingly for a moment, before nodding his head. Merlin drew himself up from the table, lost in memories past, and turned to his bedroom.
"Goodnight, Gaius." He murmured through his haze, before disappearing behind the curtain.
Gaius looked after the sorcerer for awhile before shaking his head carefully. He turned back to his latest serum and stirred at it absently. There was something behind Merlin's eyes that come out tonight. It was a darkened look, one that Gaius hadn't seen in years. Gaius remembered Hunith's letter, and wondered what had happened to his nephew back in his own village. There was something hinted in the letter, Gaius vowed to reread it, and perhaps get some insight into just how his young charge was feeling.
Because he had seen that look before. And he shuddered for what it could mean for his nephew.
Hello all, yes, I know I have not touched this story, or others for an obnoxious amount of time. Well, I apologize. As a writer, and a person, I didn't recognize that once you release a story to the people, you have made a contract to finish such fiction. And so, I will do so. With everything. Not only this story, but everything else I have already posted and torn down.
Now, pertaining to this story:
As far as updates go, you will get 2 chapters every week, typically on Mondays and Fridays, but to be fair this week I'll post another on Christmas as well.
Usually when I read an author's fiction and have no clue what the pairing is, I generally read (skim) their other works to find out the general gist of things. If you have done this also, you see that I write hard core smut. Yaoi. Slash. Whatever. But, seeing as I am a strictly straight female I am not generally adverse the the MC ending up with the opposite sex (lmao) So as an author to her readers, I ask you:
Would you mind if this became:
1. Explicit
2. Het
3. Slash/Yaoi/MaleonMale
Keep in mind, that when the pairing is not explicitly stated, I reserve the right to mix and match as much as I want to. Meaning if I have Merlin hook up with Morgana, but they broke it off and then have him over Gwen three chapters later, that's what I'll do.
Best Reguards,
Lemony