Chapter 2

ARTHUR POV.

Merlin looked at me one last time, I watched him as he shut the door to my chambers. Why did I have to be so stupid? Why did Merlin have to be so stupid? He knows that he can't stay the entire night. In my bed, of all places. I can't imagine what would have happened if a guard or servant had walked in and seen us together. The whole of Camelot would be in outrage. My father would disown me. Just the thought makes me cringe.

I moved back to my bed and onto his side, still feeling the warmth of his body from a few moments ago. My eyes closed. Memories of last night surfaced in my mind.

"I'm all done, Arthur" said Merlin, "Shall I leave now?"

"No" I said, looking from around my dresser, "please stay a little longer" Merlin looked reluctant. I could tell that he didn't really know what to do. "Please. I order you to stay just a little bit longer." The flirtatious tone of my voice persuaded him sit down.

"You really do take your 'prince' title seriously, don't you Arthur?"

"I certainly do!" I raised my voice, but softened it just as quickly, "Especially when my servants need to know their place." I advanced towards him slowly, raising my eyebrows as I spoke

"Your servants?" he asked teasingly, putting emphasis on the plural.

"Alright, my servant. My one and only," my voice at almost a whisper now, "My very own." Merlin smiled nervously. GOD! He was so adorable when he did that.

"And what would this servant's name be then, Arthur?" he leaned towards me in his chair. I was right opposite him now, close enough to hear his shallow breathing. I tilted my head past him and whispered in his ear,

"Merlin." Silence as he looked up at me, his eyes open wide. My lips found his and, like many times before, we were kissing. Adrenaline rushed through me; we could be caught at any second. None of that seemed to matter in those few seconds. My father, Camelot; none of it seemed real. The only thing that seemed real was the connection Merlin and I were sharing at that very moment. He pulled away first.

"Arthur!"

"Arthur!" I could hear a voice, the same as in my memory however the tone was slightly different. There were knocks at the door. "Arthur, wake up!"

It was Merlin.

"Y-yes" I stuttered on my words- very unlike me. "Come in."

The thing with being a prince, is that you have to act prince-like around everyone you know. I can never be just plain old 'Arthur Pendragon' who is handy with a sword and easy on the eyes. All I am to the people is 'Prince Arthur of Camelot'. If I do not act princely then people start to doubt me, they dismiss me. By people- I mean my father: 'Uther Pendragon, King of Camelot.' I would rather have to pretend to be arrogant, pompous and worthy than have my father virtually pretend that I don't exist.

However, I can let my guard down just a little bit when I'm with Merlin. Alone with Merlin, for that matter. When it is just me and him in my chambers I feel free to talk as I wish, without having to think before speaking. I may call Merlin an idiot, but he's my idiot.

"You feeling well this morning, sire?" Asked Merlin, out of character for him in the morning.

"Why are you calling me sire? You only ever call me sire..." when there are other people in the room. Blast! A guard was standing just inside my door, still as a rock. Obviously Merlin had seen this and tried to hint to me that we weren't alone.

"I only ever call you sire in the morning, which it is, my lord!" Merlin was obviously trying to cover up where I trailed off. "Wakey wakey rise and shine." I laughed, 'Thank you' I mouthed to him as I walked to the door of my chambers towards the sneaky guard.

"I will not be requiring you right now, thank you goodbye now" My right hand tried to shuffle him out of the room,

"But the King said-"

"Never mind what my father said! I am awake now and he is fully aware that I can take care of myself" I tried to look as intimidating as I could. There was that prince-act again. "Besides, I've got Merlin here now," I put my other arm, the one that wasn't pushing the guard out of the door, around Merlin, "Not very brave, but he keeps me out of trouble. Don't you now Merlin?"

"Always, everyday. No trouble here." Merlin's voice was also convincing, it was his 'no nonsense' voice that he uses with me some of the time. The guard- who I think was named Bredych- took a suspicious look at us and then he made his way down the corridors.

Merlin and I waited for him to disappear completely, waving at him as he turned the corner and shuffled down the stairs.

Merlin and I gave eachother a look that said 'got away with that one'. Then we started to laugh. Quietly, of course, but laughing none-the-less.

"Would you like some breakfast, sire?" Merlin mocked the few seconds before, "Would you like me to fold your socks, sire?"

"Would you like me to chop your head off, Merlin?" I mocked my princely attitude. Merlin looked at me funny, almost startled that I'd said such a thing. "I was joking, Merlin." Merlin sighed in understanding. Maybe I wasn't as good as mockery as he was. My sense of humour was probably a bit off.

As usual, Merlin had brought my breakfast up from the Camelot kitchen. Today it was porridge, bread and fruit. Delicious. Sitting down, I started to serve myself up. Merlin was watching me from behind.

"Do I have to do this every time?" I turned around,

"Do what?"

"Ask you to come and sit with me?" Merlin looked flushed, embarrassed almost. Weird.

"Okay" he sat down opposite me with his back to the door, "helloo!" He was doing his cute 'hello' voice. It was slightly higher pitch than when he normally spoke and when he said it, his smile. Oh, his smile had the ability to melt butter, for it certainly melts my heart.

"Merlin," I smiled back at him, "How many times do you think I say your name in a day?"

"Quite a few, I'm guessing"

"Yes, if I say it so much during the day, imagine how much I say it during the night"

"When you are..."

"Asleep, yes"

"Well I'd imagine a few times then, as well, since I'm permenantly stuck in your head." Merlin winked at me as I laughed. It was obviously true and we both knew it.

"I was wondering if Gaius has some sort of remedy to cure sleep talking?" I wouldn't want people to get suspicious over me yelling Merlin's name at night.

"He probably does, I need some of it too..."

"What, you yell your own name at night?" I teased,

"Ha. Ha." said Merlin "No, your name, stupid!"

"Prat"

"Clotpole"

"Idiot"

"Dollophead." We both snickered. Whoever said insults were the best form of flattery? My gaze turned to the village waking up outside, I needed to get ready for my training session today.

"Right, so my armour is...?" I looked around the room, mouth still full of porridge.

"There-" he pointed behind my dressing screen, "I put them there earlier"

"Err, no you didn't" there was nothing there, just the freshly polished wooden floor. My eyes searched the room. One glint of silver. "Ahh!" I walked over to my chair near the window, "Here it is!" I picked up my armour, it was what I lived in. What I lived to do. "I hope you've cleaned this very well Merlin.." I inspected the metalwork. He was laughing behind me, the whole master/servant dynamic had gone out of the window long, long ago. His hands were placed lightly on my shoulders.

Before I put the armour down, I noticed a tiny bit of paper attached to my chain mail. It was handwritten, I had to squint and hold it up to the light to work out what it said.

"Two know now, three know later, one of them is a hidden traitor"