Author's note: Thanks for the feedback, again, and, to answer TheDragonRider's question, I do ship Freylin.

You're going to hate me for the cliffhanger.

Disclaimer: Merlin and all its characters do not belong to me.

Arthur jolted awake as his curtains were ripped open with the familiar call of, "Rise and shine!" The prince rolled over onto his stomach, shielding his eyes and groaning. The previous night had been mostly occupied by his plans, with sleep as an afterthought. He was sure that Merlin was still hiding something, and he planned to find out what it was. Tomorrow was the day of the hunt, and he planned to get a confession out of Merlin then, and he had a feeling that his manservant wasn't going to let him off easy.

Well, no time like the present, Arthur thought, and he sat up and got out of bed, startling Merlin and causing the warlock to drop the pillow he had been about to throw. His manservant's eyes were wide.

"Arthur? You're actually getting up?" Merlin asked, flabbergasted, then whooped. "It's a miracle!"

"I have an early council meeting, remember?" Arthur said, frowning as Merlin did a little happy dance.

The warlock stopped his dance, "That's never stopped you before, sire," he said, and Arthur sighed, lowering his head so that Merlin didn't see the grin that flashed across the prince's face when an idea came to his mind.

"Well, I got a good night's sleep, knowing that you've finally been honest with me," he said, and the look of guilt that flashed across his manservant's face was quickly replaced with a knowing smile. Arthur gulped as he realized that he'd given his game away once again.

"Arthur," Merlin said as Arthur continued to sit on his bed, "I know getting up this early is unusual for you, but do you mind moving?"

Arthur frowned, and stood up, Merlin helping him into his clothes. The prince sat down to eat breakfast, thinking through his plan, which involved Merlin being swamped with chores, and Arthur wearing him out during training, leaving an exhausted, more vulnerable to suggestion Merlin for Arthur to extract the truth from, or at least guilt a bit. He had it all planned out. And it all started with his next sentence:

"Merlin, I need you to polish my armor, sharpen my sword, wash my clothes, and clean my room," he would add more chores on later.

Merlin nodded, the list familiar to him, though his usual frown appeared on his face. "Yes, sire."

Arthur was amazed at how his manservant could fill such a respectful title with so much sarcasm, an ability he didn't envy. Much.

He shook these thoughts from his head and headed to the council meeting, thinking through his plan. Merlin went to follow him, but the prince did a rare thing and excused him.

"But, Arthur-"

"Oh, George has been wanting to do this for ages!" Arthur said, though the main reason was he needed Merlin to be working the entire time, so he was more exhausted, "You just get started on your chores," he said, Merlin raising an eyebrow but staying silent. He would puzzle out the prince later.

"Yes, sire."

"And I want that armor spotless, you hear?" Arthur said, shutting the door behind him, but not quick enough to not hear Merlin mutter:

"Yes, prat."

…

It was against Merlin's better judgment, but from the way Arthur excused him from the council meeting, he assumed that the prince had a lot more chores in mind for his manservant. He could tell anymore when Arthur was using his I'm-going-to-get-that-secret-out-of-you-yet tone. The prince wasn't as good at hiding his emotions as he would like to believe, and Merlin suspected that he was thinking of more chores to wear Merlin out right this moment.

So, he used magic. No shame in a little bit of magic when your master was planning on swamping you, was there?

Little did he know, the council meeting had ended early and Arthur was on his way back to his room.

The prince was stifling a smirk the entire council meeting, and he was glad when one of the members passed out from what Gaius said was dehydration. It was pretty warm that day, and the council had agreed to put off the meeting until he had awoken and was feeling up to coming. So, it would be continued that afternoon. Arthur finally gave up the battle and smirked to himself as he walked down the hall, startling a servant that walked past him, giving the prince a double take before he was sure that the expression wasn't intended for him.

But, that smirk was quickly wiped off the prince's face when he heard the great clamor coming from his room.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at the constant noise, which sounded like Merlin was doing all his chores at once. He was about to burst into the room and demand what was going on, but thought better of it and looked around, making sure that nobody was coming. It wouldn't do for anybody to see the Prince Regent spying on his own quarters. But, what he saw when he looked through the keyhole to his room pushed any thoughts of embarrassment from his mind. He jolted back from the door, stifling a gasp that would most definitely have given him away.

Merlin had magic.