Thank You

If Arthur didn't shut up for a single second, Merlin would explode.

It had been a tiring few days ever since that troll played itself off as a lady and enchanted the king. (This was what? The fourth, fifth, sixth time a magical being managed to infiltrate the castle? For a kingdom that waged an all-out war on magic for over twenty years, it didn't have much of a defense against it.) Merlin and the rest of the servants have been running themselves ragged trying to fix all of the "touch ups" the troll made to the castle décor. Getting rid of all of the rotten food in the kitchens, shoveling out the piles of manure in the bathes, cleaning the curtains and rugs of all of the stains, spots, and maggots that practically covered the king's personal rooms and main hall. Trolls weren't exactly known to be the cleanest magical creatures, a fact made all too apparent to the warlock as he trudged towards his room, his back and knees sore from days upon days of cleaning.

Oh but the fun didn't end there. Not only did he have to deal with his responsibilities with Gaius, but another sorceress made an attempt on Arthur's life. Arthur had rejected her advances when she propositioned herself to him yesterday, and she didn't take it too well. A situation that was made even more unique when he found out that the sorceress was a servant girl who's been working in the kitchens for the last four years. She had originally taken the job in order to assassinate the king, but fell in love with Arthur and spent most of her time mooning after him, stalking him, and apparently stealing his underwear. It would have been nice to have company in the whole "secret magic user" thing, but the girl just had to be a stalker fangirl. Normally he would have felt guilt for killing the girl, but after spending 24 hours straight protecting Arthur from flying daggers, crashing chandeliers, enchanted horses, and other means of assassination while fervently looking for the person responsible, all the while getting his servant duties competed and not rousing suspicion, he was too irritated and tired to feel sympathy and simply pushed her off the castle tower.

All he wanted was his bed and some sleep for his good efforts, but no. Arthur just had to arrive at that exact moment and yell at him about his manservant duties for an entire hour, him swaying on his feet, half asleep the entire time. Fatigue was replaced with irritation, annoyance, and then faint anger when Arthur started to list a long chain of chores and demands that he had to get done by the end of the day. It was such a bad end to a bad week that the warlock had to actually stop his magic from reacting towards the "threat".

"-and after cleaning my clothes and doing my laundry you-"

Merlin clenched his teeth. His magic was twisting and turning inside him, on the cusp of reacting and blasting the prat out the window.

"-polish my armor and sharpen my sword-"

He clamped down on the churning power that was all but begging to be released. He had lasted two years hiding his magic; he wasn't about to reveal himself now. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. It's not worth-

"- and after all of that I want you to clean out the stables and ready the horse; we're going on a hunting trip-"

Merlin's iron clad control slipped for a brief second. But a second was all his magic needed.

"-hey are you listening to me Mer-"

A huge bird, with a wingspan of eight feet, materialized above the crowned prince's head. Before he could even react, it swooped down, digged its talons into the back of his shirt, and lifted him high into the air, diving out the castle window.

Merlin gaped.

Really, it was all he could do in this type of situation.

He probably would have started at the window for eternity if the yells from outside hadn't snapped him out of his stupor. He leaned out the window and gazed at the sight teen feet above him.

Merlin's jaw dropped.

The huge bird was flying around in circles, whipping the prince around and around. He watched as Arthur reached for his sword, and was about to warn him that stabbing at the thing that was keeping you in the air wasn't smart, when the bird- who, the warlock belatedly realized, was connected to his magic since he created it and knew everything he knew- reacted.

The bird abruptly stopped, jerking his captive forward, and shot up in the air, rising so high they became a dot in the sky, before doing a nose dive. Just when they were about to hit the ground the bird curved upwards, Arthur's boots just scrapping the ground as they rose upward again, the force of the flight causing him to let go of his sword. It sailed through the air and landed just missed a servant boy who managed to dodge out of the way before the sword hit him.

The second the sword left Arthur's hand the bird stopped its upward descent and resumed flying in circles, never once letting go of its captive.

The sight of Arthur, limbs waving erratically in the air as he was whipped around in circles by a huge bird, yelling all the while, was too much for the warlock. He tried to hold it in, really he did. But when one particular sharp turn caused the prince's belt to loosen, and his pants to fall down to the gathering crowd below, he gave in.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The crowd made up of gawking citizens, confused guards, and angry knights were brought from the sight of a pant-less prince when deep, bellied laughter erupted from one of the castle towers. Heads swiveled upward and briefly caught the sight of the dark haired manservant before he collapsed on the ground, disappearing from their sight.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It took six hours before the knights were able to successfully get Prince Arthur free of the mad bird. By that time, the bird disappeared, confirming the fact that magic was behind another one of Camelot's problems. Discussions as to where the bird came from, how a sorcerer got it there, and what it was for ran rampant through the kingdom. Despite the prince's efforts, no one forgot the sight of him being tossed through the air in his underwear, an event that was told in jokes, stories, and ballads for years to come.

No one ever suspected the prince's clumsy manservant who, after being given the memories of the bird once it disappeared and was absorbed in his magic, doubled over in his rooms, his laughter ringing out throughout the castle walls.