Chapter 5

"Rise and shine!"

Merlin pulled the curtain back to allow the first rays of sun to fall on the sleeping King. Arthur rolled over, groaning. Grinning, Merlin pulled the sheets of the bed. Merlin didn't really like mornings, he'd just gotten used to them over the years. Besides, his positivity annoyed Arthur no end.

"Noooooo…" Arthur moaned a bit. He was too tired to listen to Merlin's incessant chatter. It was too early for him to deal with this. After all, he was the King, shouldn't he get to decide when he got up. Why was he even getting up now? The sun wasn't even up yet! There was only some pink on the horizon and the smallest rays of light.

Some of Merlin's babble cut through the haze. "I hope Emrys will be here soon, it would be so exciting to meet such an important visitor. And maybe this one won't be as boring as your last "honoured guest". What was his name again? Lord Caronhall? I swear that man could give George a run for his money."

Arthur rubbed his eyes. Druids! Of Course! He had to meet with them. Smirking, Arthur realised that he had a chance to annoy Merlin and that was an opportunity that he could never turn down.

Jumping out of bed Arthur snatched the shirt that Merlin had just pulled out of the wardrobe. Concealing his grin, he turned around to Merlin.

"Merlin! The Druids will be here soon and you're only waking me up now? And look at the state of my boots! They're nowhere near clean enough to go meet such an important visitor! Go clean them at once! Honestly Merlin, what do you even do? Well apart from stomping around my room during the middle of the night."

Merlin inwardly cringed. He'd hoped that Arthur would chalk that one up as a weird dream. But then, he supposed, the proof was in the pile of clothes lying haphazardly by the table. Still, he hid his discomfort under a grin and a comeback.

"Ah but if I'm so useless, why don't you get yourself another servant? I'm sure George would absolutely love to clean your boats. I bet if you ask nicely he'll even tell you one of his delightful brass jokes."

Arthur glared at Merlin. The man knew full well that Arthur wouldn't hire another manservant. He would get too bored of all the bootlicking.

"Merlin."

"Yes, sire?"

"Shut up."

"I could but you would get terribly bored sire."

This time, Merlin got no reply, just another golden goblet lobbed at his head. Being too preoccupied with Arthur's clothes, he got hit on the back of the head. "OWW"

The manservant rubbed the back of his head and winced.

"You know Arthur it's a miracle I haven't got any brain damage yet since you've been throwing stuff at me for 6 years now."

Arthur smirked from where he had been choosing a pair of trousers.

"Well, Merlin I wouldn't be entirely sure that you're brain's not addled. Sometimes I do wonder…"

Indignant, but unable to think of a proper comeback, Merlin huffed.

Spluttering he said, "Well my brain may be addled but at least I'm not a… clotpole!"

"Really Merlin? Clotpole? After all these years you still can't think of a new word to use. Or even a real word."

Merlin kept up the banter as he stuffed piles of Arthur's clothes haphazardly into his wardrobe.

"Well, why would I need a new word? Clotpole suits you perfectly. If you prefer, I could also use prat, dollophead…"

Changing track, he tried decided to try and make Merlin squirm.

"Why are you so excited to see Emrys? Last night you fled from the mere mention of him. While I admit it was hilarious, are you seriously that frightened of magic? Because if things go wrong you're welcome to hide behind the knights like a girl. That is what you usually do isn't it?"

Merlin quickly turned around, but not before Arthur got a glimpse of something akin to terror on his manservant's face.

"M-me scared of magic? Of course not! N-n-not that magic isn't bad or anything. It is bad. Definitely."

"Calm down Merlin, I was only joking. Now hurry up. I actually have somewhere to be this morning. Chop chop." Arthur clapped his hands. Partly for emphasis and partly to annoy Merlin.

Tensing, Merlin turned to face his king. All his earlier amusement drained from his face. For it was amusement that Arthur had seen on his face. Not terror. However Arthur's lack of perception suited Merlin just fine.

In a flash, he threw Arthur's jacket in his face and began babbling in a slightly over the top voice. "Ah yes. Important things to do. Things to be cleaned and polished. You know, I just remembered they need my help in the kitchen. Yep, the kitchen. Sorry Sire got to run!"

And for the third time in 12 hours, Merlin ran out of Arthur's chambers, leaving the king annoyed and confused.

Merlin hurried back to his chambers, but not as quickly as before. No, Merlin had long since mastered the act of looking like he was in a hurry but not suspiciously so. Although his motives were usually suspicious and generally would cause him to arrested if it came to light.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Merlin yanked his precious book unceremoniously out of its hiding place and onto the table next to his bed. He frantically flicked through the pages until he finally found the spell again.

He read through the instructions again. Just to make sure there weren't any horrible side effects. Satisfied, he fixed the image of the form he wanted to take in his mind and whispered the spell.

áwendednes mec æt álibbend ic béon ne. bælignis mec sé álibbend ic onlícnes. álíefan nan æt wálá mín rihtcynn andwlita

Unlike the ageing spell, this transformation was accompanied by a flash of golden light. He also had to stifle a wince as he felt himself shorten and his facial bones rearrange. It wasn't a pleasant experience. When he finally felt the spell stop, Merlin scrambled for the small dirty mirror on his desk. He quickly wiped the mirror with the sleeve of his shirt, which was now too big for him.

A stranger stared back at him. Yet at the same time, he recognised the young man. It had been many years and the boy had grown up, but the face was unmistakable. Merlin stared into the mirror and the face of Mordred stared back.

A/N Surprise! I'm back! Did you miss me? I've had sooo many assignments and a lot of writers block so I gave myself a few weeks to gather my thoughts. I've returned with a lot of ideas for a lot of stories.

I cannot apologise enough leaving you guys like that, though. I decided to see how his story was going and when I say that 84 people wanted me to finish, I realised I probably should. All of your support means so much to me and I probably would have abandoned this without you all. So thank you heaps!

As for the next chapter, I'm going on holiday for a week on Saturday so I won't have wifi for a bit. However, I have downloaded an app that reminds me to write a little bit everyday so you won't be left for too long.

See you soon!
Indigo