Merlin knew it was time to wake up, but in that moment listening to the birds singing, the rattling of rumbling carts, and the hum of voices coming from the streets below gave him comfort that he was still safe in his bed, with the gentle snores of Gaius coming through the room next door.
He sighed as he rubbed his eyes and yawned widely, he'd had an unsettled night, again. As he sat up in bed the flashes of his dream ebbed away as he tried to remember what caused his magic to stir. He'd been cold, so cold, there'd been other people in the room, but the darkness had taken away their features, apart from the blinding red light, what was that?
Merlin got out of bed and did his best to push aside his gut feeling screaming at him to go back to bed, he could feel his magic bubbling through his blood. Merlin started getting dressed, into his usual attire. Ignoring the feelings of dread, Merlin choice to focus on what promised to be a very busy day.
Today just happened to be the day where Prince Arthur and his Knights went on their monthly hunting trip. It was a good excuse that the men used to relax and release tension from their otherwise busy schedule. It had been a particularly eventful two weeks, there'd been a string of pillages in the further villages by an unknown group of bandits. They had left a bloody pile of bodies causing grief and panic in their path. However, Arthur had dispatched a number of Knights to patrol the villages and ensure that order was kept. The attacks had since decreased and so the planned hunting trip had not been cancelled.
Merlin quickened his pace of shovelling porridge down his throat, he could tell by the streams of sunlight coming through castle windows that he was already behind schedule. 'Oh well', he thought ruefully, 'Arthur should be used to it by now'. Merlin put his red neckerchief on and with a final glance at his mentor left the room; he hoped the bowl of porridge would still be warm by the time Gauis woke up.
Merlin's first objective was to pick up Arthur's breakfast tray, 'I wonder how late I need to be for Arthur to just get up and get it himself', not willing to find out today, he hurried down the passageways, jumping nimbly out the way, when servants were already racing away from the kitchen with their masters or mistresses breakfast tray.
As Merlin entered the kitchen he was greeted with smells of cinnamon bread and crispy bacon, he thought glumly of his own plain porridge he'd had, 'how the other half live', he shook his head and could not help the smile that cracked on his face when he saw the cooks children hiding under the table taking a basket of bread. He laughed when the cook caught sight of a little wandering hand that had come up from under the table tapping the surface looking for a plate of butter, when the cook pushed a raw onion into the hand. Laughter from some of the other cooks could be heard, and the children came out from their hiding spot, grinning widely. They caught sight of Merlin and a smile burst upon their face. The main cook looked up and with a matching warm smile waved Merlin over to her.
'Morning Merlin, I've got the Prince's tray prepared already for you, I've kept it warm by the oven. You're cutting it fine today, what with the hunt happening.' Martha chatted merrily away ' I hope you're going to wear something warmer than that! You'll catch a cold out in the woods if you're not careful'.
Merlin smiled fondly, 'Thank you Martha, I'll be alright, I'm tougher than I look, I better get going, I'm don't want to give Arthur another excuse for me to muck out the stables, again'. As Merlin went to pick up the tray, Martha slipped a bacon sandwich wrapped in cloth into Merlin's pocket and winked, 'something for the journey dear, now get going, shoo'. Martha jokedly flapped Merlin away with a towel before her two children distracted her, they had managed to sneak some of the butter off the table, she couldn't help but laugh, it was refreshing to have something to break the tension that had filtered through the castle as of late; nobody was saying it but those raids had put everyone on edge.
By the time Merlin had climbed the stairs and barged into Arthur's room, he was panting slightly 'sorry I'm late sire'. Merlin made his way towards Arthur's bed placing the tray next to the Prince himself, who was currently sat up with his arm folded with a frown on his face, ' Don't worry, I'm getting used to it', he replied flatly. Before Merlin could respond with a witty response, he missed his footing on the carpet and felt in slow motion, the jug of water he had just picked up splash all over Arthur. Silence fell. Merlin had a brief moment to wish he'd just stayed in bed before Arthur jumped out of bed soaking wet holding a soggy bun. 'Merlin! What the hell are doing', Arthur stormed. 'Whoops, slip of the hand, at least you can skip on having a wash this morning, my Lord' Merlin innocently replied, 'I'll just leave you to enjoy your breakfast then, no rush, I'll go make sure your horse is prepared and umm, I'll make sure you've got some dry clothes to change into', Melrin quickly stumbled out of the door leaving behind a red faced Prince. Melrin sighed and quickly hurried away to complete his other chores, leaving Arthur to calm down. He hadn't meant to freshen the Prince up with the water jug, it was an accident, he had felt a sudden jolt in his body, a twitch he'd not been able to stop quick enough. For the second time that morning he'd had to gain control over his magic that he'd felt suddenly rise up. Merlin could still feel the adrenaline rushing through him, as he made his way to the stables he wandered why the thought of going out of this hunting trip made filled his stomach with dread. It made no difference he was the manservant to Prince Arthur, it was his destiny to be by his side, to protect him and be his guide through thick and thin.