A/N: Chapters should start getting longer after this.

Chapter 1

Arthur decided he would head to the village of Grey Marsh, since that was the only village where the rider he had sent had not returned. Merlin pointed out to him that there was probably a fairly obvious, if unpleasant, reason for this but the king was adamant Grey Marsh was not so far to the north that it was unreachable. So reluctantly Merlin had packed his master's bag and saddled the appropriate horses for the journey. He also made sure that Arthur's winter clothing was in good order. Thick woollen shirts, warm socks and a heavy cloak lined with fur were the only protection against the biting cold. The servant was a little concerned about the weather since he actually had no proper winter gear but he wore both his shirts and jacket underneath his newer, slightly thicker jacket. He felt a little foolish wearing his ceremonial jacket day-to-day, after all he had not worn it since Arthur and Gwen's wedding, but it was significantly better quality than the rest of his wardrobe so it was the obvious (and only) choice. Gauis gave him a pair of gloves and warned him of the dangers of something called frostbite; it sounded horrific and Merlin resolved to pack another couple of blankets.

When he arrived at Arthur and Gwen's chambers, the queen was already up and out, while the king was sat, wearing his chainmail and plate armour, writing at his desk.

"Everything is packed and ready," Merlin said, pulling out Arthur's thick cloak from the wardrobe. "The knights are waiting for you."

Arthur nodded and stood up, allowing his servant to place the warm cloak over his shoulders and fix it in place. "Good. Hand me my sword will you." Merlin did as bade and ignored the fact that Arthur seemed to be assessing him. "You're not planing on wearing just that are you?" Arthur demanded.

"Er, yes," replied the young servant patronisingly, "these are all the clothes I own, Arthur."

"You do realise you're going to freeze to death don't you, you idiot?" said the king, cuffing his manservant around the head, before walking over to his wardrobe and pulling out his spare winter cloak and throwing it in Merlin's face. "Put that on."

The workmanship and the quality of the fur were obvious and beyond anything that Merlin had ever worn and frankly, he felt a bit out of place with such a well-made object hanging over his shoulders, he was after all, just a servant and it seemed a bit wrong to be wearing his master's things. That said, it was also the warmest thing he'd ever worn and he was not about to look a gift-horse in the mouth. Still, such a rare act of kindness and selflessness from the king was not to be ignored.

"I didn't know you had such a caring side, Sire," he said grinning, ready to duck any flying objects, "did you hit your head when you got up this morning?"

"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur responded, roughly shoving him towards the door, "For some reason, Gwen is fond of you and it really wouldn't do to upset my wife by telling her you were dead because you're too much of an idiot to own any decent clothes."

Bickering and shoving, the king corralled his servant out the room and out to the stables.