AN: Hi! Here's the first chapter. If you like it, let me know, if not, you can vent about it as well :) This chapter was beta'ed by bedshaped3 who did a wonderful job! The remaining mistakes are all mine.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

Chapter 1: The Quiet Morning Hours

"Arthur, why am I carrying these through the bushes?" Merlin complained loudly. He was hurrying along a steep hill a few paces behind Arthur and he was not happy. Not at all. He knew perfectly well why he had this task to do. He just wasn't thrilled about the route.

"It's a shortcut, Merlin."

"A shortcut to nowhere…" Merlin mumbled under his breath, but loud enough to be heard. Of course Arthur chose to ignore him, the prat.

This morning was going great, just great. Not only did he have to get out of bed hours before dawn because Arthur felt romantic, no, Arthur then went on to choose the most inefficient way EVER to climb a hill. This would be rather tiring under normal circumstances, but Arthur went a step further and had Merlin carry several cushions of different size and form, three thick blankets, at least six different delicious smelling dishes, as many silver plates, wine, water, a couple of iron goblets and a bouquet of flowers packed in several baskets.

And no, Arthur couldn't be bothered to carry anything. Apparently, he needed to have his hands free so he could cut a pathway through the bushed slope. Of all the uses for such a spectacular sword, Merlin could admit that cutting hedges was a very imaginative one.

Bloody tree roots, Merlin cursed silently. He was absolutely certain this was some new form of torture. Arthur even snickered a few times when he almost lost his balance. Merlin knew Arthur was probably waiting until they got to the top to make snide remarks about that. Did he know how hard it was not to lose your equilibrium while carrying so much? No, he didn't, so he could shut up. Yes, that would make a very fine argument.

"How long before we reach the top?" Merlin asked after what felt like hours.

"I don't know, start counting." Arthur answered and continued to hum in a cheerful tune.

"You know, I'm beginning to feel like a pack animal here."

"It suits you."

"At least I never had the ears of one."

Merlin grinned at the memory, fun times…

"Shut up, Merlin."

"Why can't you take Gwen to the other picnic spot? You know, the one not on top of a hill?"

"Oh, you mean the place where my father and Morgana found us, which resulted in Guinevere being accused of sorcery and almost got her executed?"

"…"

Yes, that would be a very good reason, Merlin thought to himself.

"How are you going to get Gwen up there?" He wondered out loud.

"I'll carry her," Arthur replied

"You sure? It's quite heavy with all these stuff and…"

"Are you saying Guinevere is heavy?" Arthur asked sharply and stopped to turn around for the first time during their conversation.

"No, no, no, I'm just worried you might trip or something. Oops, I'll get that later…" Because of course at that exact moment one of the cushions fell of the stack, tumbled down the hill and disappeared out of sight.

"If I were half as clumsy as you, I wouldn't make it to my chambers alive. Thinking about it, do you know how lucky you are? All those times you accompanied me into dangerous situations? How did you survive?" Arthur sighed, not even trying to hide his amusement.

"Don't sell yourself short, Arthur, your company isn't that bad."

"Shut up, Merlin."

"We're here."

Thank God for that. A minute longer and Merlin would have given in to the temptation to fling a goblet at the back of Arthur's head and call it a day.

"Look at that Merlin, isn't it a glorious sight? Guinevere will be absolutely delighted." Arthur said proudly, stretching his arms wide as if he was the king of the hill. Which he was.

Merlin had to give it to him, it was a beautiful place. The steep ridge on the other side made it impossible for trees to grow, so they had a full panoramic view of the countryside. Merlin could see the woods slowly turning colour. A few twining brooks shimmered gently in the morning light. To the left the hillside curved, revealing majestic rock formations and peaceful meadows. Behind them through the tree tops, the distant watchtower of Camelot was just visible.

"So set up everything while I get Guinevere and then make yourself scarce. And make sure nobody bothers us." Arthur said, interrupting Merlin's gazing.

"Who would?"

"Bandits or so." Arthur replied casually as he walked downhill.

"And what would you want me to do about them! Talk them to death?" he shouted towards Arthur's retreating back.

"If anyone can do that…" Arthur muttered with a smile and started to whistle.

That prat, the nerve of him, to assume he could do something against bandits! Okay, Merlin wasn't exactly defenceless, but Arthur didn't know that. Without a sword-swinging buffoon to distract them, miraculous falling branches had of way of getting noticed.

Merlin continued his mental rant for a few minutes, but the tranquil woods around him slowly worked their magic. Two curious squirrels ran through the branches above his head. A couple of birds flew overhead, sailing in the warm wind. It was going to be a beautiful day. Okay, he could see now why Arthur wanted to take his wife for a picnic, Merlin thought as he unfolded the blankets and arranged the cushions. Gwen really deserved to be pampered. She and Arthur fitted together quite well, Merlin smiled to himself. Gwen certainly lived up to the challenge of being Queen and of being married to Arthur.

Since their wedding many changes had occurred. During the first week, Merlin had certainly learnt how to knock. One morning he was already halfway in Arthur's room, deep in thought, when an indignant 'Merlin!' stopped him in his tracks. He remembered looking up confused, then startled, before running towards the door with his hands over his eyes. Unfortunately Merlin already closed the door behind him earlier, which led to a pretty painful encounter, more of Gwen's giggling and ended with Arthur throwing a pillow.

Newlyweds, seriously…

Since Gwen and Arthur now lived in the same quarters, Merlin shared his serving position with Lauren, maid to the Queen. This was settled in a rather awkward conversation which still confused Merlin to this day.

"Merlin, stand still for a moment, will you? I mean, please." Arthur started very seriously and glanced repeatedly at Gwen. "All right, Guinevere, I mean, we have something to say…" Arthur paused, unable to stop himself from fidgeting.

"We'vehiredanotherservant.", Arthur blurted out.

"Come again?"

"Merlin, I requested a maid to attend to me, so you'll have to share your duties." Gwen explained hesitantly, translating Arthur's rambling.

"Oh, okay, no problem," he answered simply, leaving the two monarchs with shocked expressions.

"Are you alright?" Merlin had asked, a little worried.

"Us? Are you feeling alright? Since when do you have no problems whatsoever with this?" Arthur exclaimed.

"Um, there's two of you now, one of which I can't really serve appropriately on numerous occasions. So, yes, I think it's a great idea." Merlin concluded with a happy grin.

They nodded nervously, both convinced he was ready to snap at them any moment.

He really couldn't imagine why they would have thought this would be a issue. He really couldn't see the problem, he saw only two words during this entire conversation: free time. Lauren was a perfectly nice girl and they had soon settled into a comfortable routine which suited everybody. Plus, Gwen was a dream to serve, being a servant herself most of her life, so she didn't have any unnecessary requests. Merlin even witnessed a small argument between the newlyweds. Which went something like this:

"It wouldn't kill you to pick up your own shirt, Arthur," Merlin had heard Gwen say as he was about to enter their chambers. He decided to hang back in the hall and see how this played out.

"But it saves my energy and you wouldn't want me to run out of energy now, would you..?" Arthur answered playfully.

"Arthur Pendragon, keep that for the bedroom."

"We are in the bedroom…" Merlin could hear Arthur wrapping his arms around her.

"Yes, what…mm what I meant is that the door is open, anyone could walk in. And please pick up your shirt. For me? Then I'll…"

The next words, thankfully for Merlin, were whispered, but the shirt promptly disappeared from the floor and the door was slammed shut.

Overall , Merlin's job was a lot easier than it used to be. Or it appeared to be.

Laughter interrupted his reminiscing. They had arrived. Early.

Merlin quickly put the flowers in a vase. Yes, he carried that here as well. Everything was ready, but Merlin couldn't help feeling something was missing. What was it?

"What till you see it Guinevere, it's the second most beautiful sight in Camelot," he heard Arthur say really loudly.

It's true, love makes you say the tackiest things…

Hold on, Arthur had said it really loudly - of course! Merlin slapped his hand against his forehead as Arthur words came back to him. He was supposed to be gone.

There was no way he could descend the hill without them noticing. His only option was the ridge, which couldn't be that hard could it? Merlin made his way to the edge, carefully leaning forward in the hope of finding some protruding rocks to make his descent easier. He didn't see them, what he did see were…stairs.

A metre below him primitively hacked into the rock were stairs. Ancient and abandoned, but stairs nonetheless. Typical, Merlin grumbled as he made his way down. Of course Arthur hadn't taken this route. Why choose the easy way, when the hard way is much more amusing? Especially if your manservant was carrying everything.

Nearing the base, the bushes became almost impenetrable again. Okay maybe Arthur hadn't bypassed the stairs on purpose. The things that man missed right in front of him! It was something that continued to baffle Merlin to no extent as he realised he wasn't thinking about the path anymore.

When he finally reached the bottom, he looked around warily. Where to next? Merlin was free for the moment, but he still had to stay close by until Arthur and Gwen decided to go home. Which would probably only happen around dusk.

Merlin could still hear their laughter, so he decided to move a little further. As he walked he found himself becoming increasingly downcast. He was a little shocked his mood hadn't changed for the better considering his surroundings, but did have a lot on his mind. It wasn't that he had a lot to do, in fact quite the opposite in recent months. Honestly the last five months were one of the most peaceful ones Merlin had since he came to Camelot. Nobody inside the city was plotting against the throne and none of the outside threats had crossed the borders.

The lands beyond the borders of Camelot were a different case entirely. It was stirring with chaos and conflict. A half a dozen warlords had been scavenging what remained of Cenred's kingdom for some time now, fighting for the right to become the next king. The lucky few who escaped the violence fled into the safety of Camelot's reach. Reports came back of entire villages being plundered and burned to the ground. One of the first things Arthur did was sending a large group of knights towards the Ealdor, making the village thus part of his kingdom. Nobody dared challenge that claim and for this Merlin was eternally grateful. In addition to the warlords, Arthur had it on good authority that King Odin was planning for war. Mercenaries and lowlifes were flocking towards his lands. As if this wasn't enough, Morgana still roamed somewhere in the wilderness. This worried Merlin the most. Morgana had already failed twice, who knew what desperate act she was planning next?

Suddenly a string of unfamiliar voices made him stop. This day was just getting better and better. Of course there had to be bandits, lovely…

It was all Arthur's fault really, he hexed it.

Merlin glanced through the foliage and spotted three filthy looking fellows huddled around a pitiful fire. Merlin carefully moved forward, crouching down as he went until he was within earshot.

"…certain you saw him, Gruff?" the toughest looking man of the trio asked.

"Not really, he wasn't wearing his crown. Maybe it was his brother."

"The king doesn't have a brother, Gruff."

"Maybe we could ask him when we capture them, boss."

"Did you come up with that by yourself?"

Okay, they weren't exactly the greatest lights in the woods, Merlin thought to himself, but there were still three of them. One of them hadn't spoken yet, but he was obsessively sharpening a long knife. The man was so preoccupied and oblivious of his surroundings that Merlin concluded this was more likely force of habit than a necessary task.

Gruff and the 'boss' were still discussing the impending kidnapping, with plans that ranged from utter ridiculousness to almost foolproof. It was time to intervene…

Merlin shook his head in disbelief as he walked towards the bandits. He couldn't believe he was going to follow Arthur's advice on this.

"Good morning," his voice cheerfully rang across the small clearing.

The three men jumped up. Merlin was prop casually against a tree, as he crossed his arms and smiled.

"I happened to overhear your daring plans to capture the King and Queen of Camelot. Really well thought through, I'll give you that, but I'm afraid I'll have to point out the flaw in this valiant scheme. You see the King explicitly ordered me to make sure nobody bothers them and a second disastrous picnic would truly put a damper on the romantic mood, which would end in my untimely death. So I'll have to stop you; it's nothing personal, just self-preservation."

The bandits just stared at him, which Merlin took as a sign to continue monologuing.

"You're probably all thinking 'let's run this scrawny fellow through and be done with it', but think about it for a second. I seem rather confident, don't I? Maybe there's a reason…maybe I have some trick up my sleeve."

"Watch his sleeves, boss," the bandit called Gruff said with utmost seriousness.

"Now you're thinking 'is he bluffing or not?' am I right?" Merlin continued.

"Boss, he can read my mind!" Gruff sounded panicked now.

"So this leaves you with the ultimate dilemma. 'What do we do now? Take a chance or run towards the woods?'" Merlin weighed his hands dramatically, waiting…

For a few seconds nobody moved. Merlin felt a slight tingle in the tips of his fingers; the usual build up of magic, just in case the bandits did something…well predictable.

But the moment passed. Without a second's thought, the three men grabbed their gear and leaped towards the tree line on the other side. They were nearly screaming as they went.

I can't believe that actually worked! Merlin thought as watched the ever-decreasing figures in disbelief. Feeling very satisfied with himself, Merlin resumed his wandering. After a few more minutes he found himself at the edge of a meadow where summer still ruled. Close by there was a gigantic rock, which had obviously fallen down the ridge ages ago and over time had been sanded by the rain and coloured by the sun. It was the size of a small house, one that was tipped over, making the sides steep but not that high. Merlin pulled himself up with ease to get on top of it. The day was definitely improving, he reflected, after rolling up his jacket for a makeshift pillow. Merlin stretched out his legs and lay back, completely relaxed. Maybe this picnic thing wasn't such a bad idea after all. He could definitely get used to these days.

Thank you for the review, Clairepenndragon! I'm glad you're intrigued!