Author's note: Hello! =D
I have been suffering from writer's block.
Apologies for the long wait.
All of the reviews were highly appreciated.
We skip an hour or two in this chapter.
Umbrage: offense; resentment
Chapter Three: Umbrage
"You have a daughter,"Arthur incredulously asked him.
"Are you feeling particularly slow today? I just told you that Irena is my daughter," Merlin replied.
"And your daughter is three years old, Merlin?"
For a moment, Merlin ignored Arthur.
"Irena," he softly asked her, "Are you three years old?"
Irena nervously looked up at Arthur before holding three fingers up.
"She is three years old," Merlin mockingly confirmed to Arthur before he softly patted her back.
"I know that, Merlin! You have already divulged that piece of information," Arthur angrily growled.
"Thus I had mockingly replied," Merlin retorted as he looked down at Irena with concern.
Irena was tightly clutching his long leg and her eyes were wide with fright.
"It's fine, Irena," He softly murmured to her.
She stared at Arthur with eyes filled with terror.
"Will you please calm down, Arthur? You're scaring her," Merlin complained.
"I'm not the only one yelling," Arthur hissed in anger.
Merlin blinked in astonishment before absentmindedly replying, "Fair enough."
"Why didn't you tell me that you have a daughter," Arthur tried to quietly complain.
"But I did tell you," Merlin innocently told him.
"Why didn't you tell me three years ago," Arthur corrected, "in fact, were you even married to her mother?"
"We…were married," Merlin reluctantly confided.
"Another secret that you kept from me," Arthur muttered.
"Listen Arthur," Merlin ordered, "I have several good reasons that explain why I haven't told you anything."
"Are you implying that there is more that I don't know about you? I thought that you trusted me!"
"I do- but…" Merlin trailed off.
"But what," Arthur hissed at him.
"I…well…"
"You didn't trust me!"
"I didn't," Merlin reluctantly agreed.
"You actually agree with me," Arthur incredulously declared.
"I didn't trust anyone," Merlin wryly commented.
"Enough, Merlin," Arthur quietly told him, "enough. I need you to clean my room, muck the stables out, and repair my armor."
Merlin resignedly nodded.
"Is Irena going to be around often," Arthur inquired.
"She will be," Merlin admitted to him.
Arthur's gaze softened as he looked down at the small girl.
"Irena, I apologize for… my anger? Your Father can attest to the fact that I'm practically a prat early in the morning."
Irena gaped at him before reluctantly nodding.
"One day, perhaps you will spare me a kind word," Arthur almost bitterly joked.
Again, Irena just nodded.
After a soft chuckle, Arthur spun around and left the room.
"Sorry Irena. I had no idea that he'd be up so early,"Merlin apologetically told her.
"It's okay, Daddy."
"Irena, will you help me pick the dirty clothes up," Merlin quietly asked her.
"I will."
"Thank you, Irena."
Irena smiled at him as she carefully picked a pile of dirty clothes up.
Merlin absentmindedly straightened up the room as he thought about Arthur's reaction.
"I hadn't thought that he'd react so badly," Merlin muttered under his breath.
"What, Daddy," Irena innocently asked him.
"Nothing of much importance," Merlin confidently told her.
"Are you thinking about, Arthur," Irena seriously asked him.
"Not really," Merlin told her with a tiny grin, "I'm just wishing that he'd reacted better."
"Me too," Irena said with a giggle.
It took ten minutes for the room to be cleaned. As they cleaned, silence reigned. Merlin had an adequate amount of time to remember Arthur's reaction to Irena. He also had enough time to remember ever mocking word that had fallen from his own mouth.
Author's note: What do you think? I tried a new writing style with this chapter. Apologies for the short chapter. I had a lot of trouble as I tried extending it.
Reviews are appreciated. Does anyone want to volunteer to beta this fanfic for me? The help would be much appreciated. I think that a few grammar mistakes slipped past my careful eye. ;) I do edit but I'm ot perfect.
Here is an... incentive to review. ;)
We all have a favorite Merlin character, right? Well, as you leave a comment of some kind, don't forget to mention your favorite character from Merlin. That character will make a major appearance in the next chapter. The only rule is that you can't mention your favorite dead character from Merlin unless that character is Lancelot or Ygraine. I have half the mind to ignore Lancelot's death.
You also get to mention the exact word length that you want for the next chapter. No higher than 6,000.
Next chapter will hopefully be longer. :)