"I can't believe him at all!" Merlin yelled. "First he wants me to clean his clothes and armor, and now the horse stables? Who does he think he is?"
"Merlin, that's just the way it has to be. Now you're his servant, and you should respect that he is going to keep you busy once in awhile," Gaius stated wisely.
"Well it's hard enough having to deal with that prat, and you would think he would give me less work to do after saving his life. Who made that stupid decision that the boy who saves the prince's life would be made his servant boy? If I knew I was going to end up like this, then I would have just let that knife kill him, for all I care. If anything, I would-"
Merlin caught himself when he noticed that Arthur was leaning against the doorframe.
"Merlin, I was going to tell you that the stables were already cleaned, but since you obviously love your job as my servant, then I'll make you do it an extra time through to make sure no spots were missed."
As soon as Arthur left, Gaius said, "See Merlin, this is what happens when you talk out of line."
Merlin hit his head against the table and moaned. There was no way he was going to live through this, and there was no way he was going to clean the stables again.