A Marriage that Started a Legend

by IJustShowedUp

Follows canon but with my own arranged marriage spin on it. What happens when Hunith makes a mistake and is forced on the run with her infant son? What happens when Camelot knights find her twenty years later? What happens when Arthur learns he's betrothed to a peasant boy? Will Merlin be able to stand among royalty? Will these two different boys survive each other? Review!

23. Chapter 23

Leon grunted, still trying to fit the new bed through the narrowed doorway. It was very slow going but Leon and the knight on the other side started making some kind of process. It was only as the bed was eased further into the room did Gaius turn back to Merlin. He put his hand on the younger boy's shoulder and guided him out of the way so that the knights had more room to work with.

"So you seriously haven't had a bed all week?" Merlin was asking with an almost painful looking wince at the thought, barely noticing as he was led to the far wall where they wouldn't be in the way.

Merlin was accustomed to sleeping on the floor, all he had in Ealdor had been a few threadbare blankets to curl up with next to the fire pit. If it had been him sleeping on the floor, it wouldn't have bothered him one bit, having done it for pretty much his whole life.

But his uncle was much older, he shouldn't have to make do by trying to find the softest spot of floor that he could.

And the more he thought on it, the more guilty he felt. His uncle never should have lost the use of his bed, if only Merlin hadn't startled him that day they met.

And to think, Merlin had hated his new bed so much when he'd first got here, but had been slowly getting used to it over the past few days. Although he still felt as if the bed was as big as the floor plan of his hut back home. If he'd known though, that his uncle had been going without, he would have offered to let him use the room.

Merlin would have been just as happy to use the room that Gaius had offered him till his uncle's new bed arrived.

But Gaius didn't look disgruntled in the least about his predicament. He just gave Merlin a look, "It wouldn't have taken so long usually. But every time I inquired about it, the knights that are usually regulated to delivery duty are still fighting off hangovers."

Merlin's eyes went so wide, it was a good thing that they were attached to his head. "Still?!" He exclaimed, looking dumbstruck. "But the wedding was over a week ago!"

And these 'delivery knights' weren't the only ones that had been fighting off hangover's. He remembered the day after his wedding, when he come to visit Gaius, their had been a line a mile long at his door. Everybody had been looking for a potion to help with their pounding heads. But that had only lasted a day or two before everyone had gotten over the 'celebrations'.

Merlin remembered very vividly because of how annoyed he'd gotten, he'd refused to call it jealously. He hadn't even been able to take a taste of his own wine at his own wedding dinner, and these people were literally fighting off hangovers because of it.

Arthur had been distracting him, preventing him from getting a taste. And than that witch had shown up, and everything had gone to hell in a hand basket.

"Well," Gaius was saying now. "Most of the people have been having their own celebrations. They've basically have been using it as an endless excuse to get drunk, although I do believe that the excuse is finally dying out."

Merlin scoffed, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms. "At least some people are having fun." He definitely wouldn't have minded getting a little drunk himself at the party. If anybody had deserved a drink that night, it would have been him.

"I wouldn't call it fun." Gaius grumbled, reaching up to squeeze at the bridge of his nose again, looking more and more annoyed by the mere thought of these people. "More like an excuse to behave with tom-foolery."

Merlin snorted, shaking his head with a little grin playing on his lips. Some 'tom-foolery' might have just been the thing needed to lighten things up around here.

Gaius kept talking, moving on with their conversation, "Leon was kind enough to offer his assistance so that I wouldn't have to wait any longer."

"...He was the first one you could find that didn't find an excuse not to do it, wasn't he?" Merlin guessed dryly. He couldn't imagine to many knights would have been thrilled to be 'reduced' to delivery duty. Delivery duty was usually reserved to the newer knights or to those that showed the least amount of promise in moving up much higher in the ranks.

"...You would think that more people would have been willing to help an old man out." Gaius grunted under his breath, looking so much like a grumpy old man that Merlin almost had to laugh at it.

While they'd been talking, Leon had finally seemed to find the right angle that would allow the bed to slide through the doorway. Although it had taken a lot of awkward angling, much grunting, and some twisting and turning before he managed to find that angle.

And it was only then that the bed was able to be pushed through the doorway. Following the bed and holding the other side of it up, a second knight emerged.

Merlin's eyes met with the second knight, and they both frowned at the other for entirely different reasons.

Merlin slumped against the wall in an undignified fashion, remembering the last time he'd seen this particular knight. He had t been impressed when him then, and he definitely wasn't impressed with him now.

The expression the knight in question wore seemed to grow annoyed, his fingers tightening around where he held onto the edge of the bed frame. His lips tightened in an almost aggravated manner, his eyes narrowing in distaste as he saw that Arthur's new 'consort' was there.

"Where did you want it, Gaius?" Leon was asking, unable to see the other knight's expression because of the heavy bed frame in his vision. He had to readjust his grip on the bed frame, his biceps were straining against the weight. He felt as if one wrong move could have him dropping his side of the bed and possibly ruining this one before Gaius even got the change to use it.

"Just over here." Gaius grumbled, pushing away from the wall and leaving Merlin so that he could show Leon and the other knight where they could leave the bed. It was the clearest spot in the entire chambers, but that was only because it was the exact corner his old bed had been pushed in, where it would be out of the way.

Working together, Leon and the knight were able to fit the bed into the corner, where it slid, fitting easily into place. Leon even gave a light kick to one of the bed posts, just to make sure that it wouldn't fall over and collapse when Gaius tried to sleep on it later.

"There you go, all ready for you." Leon said. The knight had been more than happy to help out their physician with his bed problem, although it had taken him pulling rank to get his subordinate to come with. "What happened to your last bed again?"

Gaius felt himself stiffen, even as he tried to stutter his way though a lie. It was something about termites getting into the posts on his last bed and rendering it unable to be slept in. Apparently, being able to come up with a good lie or to do it with a straight face ran in their family.

That was a very dangerous thing, especially considering the secret that they had to hide.

Merlin brought a hand up to rub at the skin between his eyes, that little realization didn't exactly bode well for his future.

Having been distracted by Gaius and Leon's conversation across the room, Merlin didn't notice the second knight who couldn't resist sidling over to him. Not until he struck up a conversation, making Merlin's head jolt up with a startled expression on his face.

"So," Markus started, looking like he was struggling to hold back the sneer that was trying to form on his face. "The courtyard, the marketplace, the throne room, the grand hall, I've heard you've been training, and now your with the physician. Is there any place that you're not?"

Merlin bit his lip, poorly hiding his own annoyance by the knight sm appearance. It wasn't his fault that he found Markus to be just as irritating as Arthur was, although Arthur still firmly held the cup for most annoying. No wonder they were friends.

The last time Merlin had seen Markus had been at his wedding reception. The knight had been referring to him as an idiot and Arthur had done nothing to stop it. And then he'd spent the night encouraging Arthur to do a mock repeat of the fights he'd had with Merlin.

"Well, let me think." Merlin said in a very dry tone, rolling his eyes heavenward to express his annoyance. "When you put it that way, I suppose your right. I know I haven't seen the armory yet, maybe you'll like to give me a tour."

He did absolutely nothing to hide his growing distaste for Markus. He'd had it ever since the day he met the man, when he'd tried to drag him to the dungeons after his first fight with Arthur, and he'd been using much more force than was necessary for one unarmed peasant.

Markus didn't seem to hold a very high opinion of him either, "Consort or not, you don't belong in the armory, you're still a civilian." He said the word with a sneer, as if being an ordinary civilian was supposed to be something offensive. "And besides, the king would probably have my head if you got hurt in there. We wouldn't want you picking up a sword and accidentally standing yourself with it, would we?" He finished off in a particularly tone that sounded as if he were belittling the dark haired boy.

Merlin just raised an eyebrow at him, as if he thought Markus was particularly thick. Then he looked down at himself and then back up at Markus. "Well I know I haven't exactly cleaned myself up yet, but I did just return from a basic training session and look at that, I've somehow managed to do it without gaining any extra holes in my body."

Markus gave Merlin a once over, and for a second, he could have sword that the knight was actually disappointed by the lack of extra holes in his body.

And then he had the nerve to continue talking, "What a pity." Markus said, one side of his lips twitching upwards in what Merlin could only subscribed as being a mockery of a sneer.

Merlin stiffened, his lips thinning as his eyes flashed just the slightest bit. "Was there an actual reason for you being over here?" He demanded, his tone clearly saying he wished that Markus would go away.

"Actually," Markus said, looking strangely serious as he straightened up from where he was slouched against the wall. "There was. Since I've got you here anyway, I thought we should probably talk about something."

And then he went quiet, not saying anything to indicate what this was about.

Merlin had actually been concerned at first, brought to attention by Markus' serious expression. But the longer Markus stayed silent, the less concerned Merlin got. Until finally, Merlin couldn't take it anymore.

"Well?" The dark haired boy finally had to say, raising an eyebrow at the knight, as if to indicate that he should just get on with it. "Weren't you going to tell me something?"

Markus actually had the nerve to look as if he'd won some kind of competition between them that Merlin didn't even know they were in. "I just wanted to know if Arthur had talked to you yet?" He asked, bringing a hand up to scratch through his hair, giving Merlin an expected look. As if Merlin should have known exactly what he was talking about.

But Merlin didn't have a clue what this was about, so he had to settle for giving Markus a suspicious look.

"We've talked before, so yes." Merlin finally drawled out slowly, crossing his arms over his chest when it was obvious that Markus wasn't going to be giving him a clearer answer. "But if you're talking about something specific, it might be better to just tell me what Arthur was supposed to talk to me about."

Markus gave Merlin an incredibly frustrated look, as if Merlin was being obtuse on purpose just to annoy him. "About the servants, I meant." And then he was glancing over his shoulder, as if to make sure that Leon and Gaius were still deep in conversation, not noticing their own.

"The servants?" Merlin asked, starting to frown. "What about the servants?" Had something happened to Gwen? Or maybe Mary? But surely he would have heard something by now. Oh god, what if he hadn't heard something and one of his new friends was hurt.

Before Merlin could start panicking and go on a one man mission to find out which one of his serving friends were hurt, Markus started talking again. "Well, at the party, you were talking to the servants."

Merlin stared up at him blankly, not knowing where he was going with this.

Markus rolled his eyes, feeling as if he was having to spell this out. "The party?" He repeated. Merlin still looked at him blankly. "...Where you had your wedding dinner."

Merlin waved an impatient hand, trying to hurry this conversation alone just so Markus would get to the point. "Yeah, yeah, I got that much. What about the party?"

"Didn't Arthur talk to you about conversing with the servants?" Markus finally demanded to know, because he couldn't see Arthur forgoing a conversation like that one. But if he had, then Markus would take it upon himself to inform Merlin that he couldn't be friends with servants.

"Oooh," Merlin drawled out, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. "Yes, I suppose I do vaguely remember Arthur mentioning that." So this was going to be one of those conversations. God, why were people around here so hung up over who Merlin choose to spend his time with.

"...And...?" Markus asked, when Merlin didn't offer any more information.

"And what?" Merlin asked, annoyance evident in his features.

"I just wanted to make sure he talked to you about it." Markus said. "Just so you understand that you're not allowed to talk to people like that for social propriety reasons." He said, making sure to keep his voice low as to not disturb the others in the room. If Arthur had to be married to Merlin for whatever godforsaken reason, he had to make sure that Merlin wouldn't embarrass Arthur.

But all his words did was make Merlin stiffen, feeling his eyes flashing sharply. "People like what?" He demanded harshly, his voice rising in pitch just the slightest bit. "People that are decent, and hard working to own what little they do have?"

It pissed Merlin off, thinking that there would always be people like Markus, like Nobleman Hamilton who wanted to brand his servants, and he was sure there had to be others. Those people who thought those that weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouths were somehow trash and a stain on their society.

The real stain was people like Markus who thought they were better than them all.

"People who aren't worth your notice." Markus said as he narrowed his eyes and spoke firmly, making sure to enunciate each word clearly, as if he somehow thought a clearer understanding would turn Merlin onto his way of thinking.

Merlin clenched his fists at his side, feeling a muscle in his jaw jumping. Who did Markus think he was? Talking like that about people like Gwen and Mary and the dozens of other servants who kept this castle running in a way that a noble could never understand.

Even in the short time he'd been here, he knew that the castle wouldn't be functioning if the servants weren't so good at their job.

"I think I know perfectly well who are and aren't-" Merlin stopped so that he could give Markus an obvious look over. "Worth my notice. Now if you excuse me, I need to be around people who are."

Merlin tried to walk pass Markus, wanting to head across the room to where Gaius and Leon were still conversing, needing to cool off his head.

But Markus stepped in front of him, looming over him. Merlin just looked at him decidedly unimpressed. Somehow, after having Arthur do it, Markus doing it left much to be desired.

"I was just trying to help you." Markus said darkly, hissing under his breath and sounding vaguely pissed.

Earlier, when Merlin had been talking to Morris, he'd seen a certain darkness to his eyes that unsettled him. But there wasn't a cold and empty darkness like that in Markus' eyes. Merlin could see every pissed off emotion reflecting in his dark eyes.

"Well as I'm sure you know, I didn't ask for your help." Merlin said, tilting his chin up a little in defiance. "I'll be friends with whoever I want."

"Even if it embarrasses your husband?" Markus demanded harshly. He couldn't fathom how somebody who was peasant born, would risk his place and new standing in society. And for what? Just because he didn't want to stop talking to a couple of servants.

Merlin let a cheeky smile spread across his face, "Especially if it embarrasses my husband." Arthur was always pissed off by him anyway, he might as well give him a reason to be. And he wasn't going to lose the few friends he managed to make just because some people wanted to nose about in business that wasn't their own.

And anyway, if his friendships embarrasses Arthur, then that was really just more of an incentive to do it than a deterrent.

Markus shook his head baffled. He would probably have to inform Arthur about Merlin's increasingly worrying behavior. It wasn't right for somebody to choose being friends with servants over their noble family.

Maybe Merlin really was more of an idiot that Markus had considered.

"I'm sure that Arthur won't be pleased to hear about that." Markus said, as if that was somehow going to change Merlin's whole attitude.

"He's not happy with me anyway. It won't make a lick of difference." Merlin said, giving a little half-hearted shrug, not looking concerned in the least. "Is there a reason you're so concerned about me and what I'm doing?"

"Oh, I'm not concerned about you." Markus said in a harsh tone, glaring slightly. "I just don't want you thinking you can go around doing whatever you want."

"And you've made it your job to tell me what I can and can't do?" Merlin asked, raising an eyebrow. He was pretty sure that it would be frowned upon if somebody saw Markus cornering him like this.

"Well somebody has to do it." Markus said bluntly. Somebody had to educate Merlin on his place around here, and Markus would be more than happy to guide him. Because whatever Merlin did reflected on Arthur, and that backlashes onto him as Arthur's best friend.

"Well don't worry," Merlin said dryly, reaching out to pat the knight on his armored shoulder. Markus went stiff, scowling down at the offended hand touching him. Merlin kept talking as if he didn't notice, already pulling his hand away as fast as he'd put it there. "Arthur and I already had a talk about all of this at the party." Because you know, a talk about who he decided to associate with was way more important than the witch that had tried to kill Arthur.

That brought Markus up short, making him blink several times confused. "He did?" From the way Merlin had been acting, Markus would have thought this was the first time he was hearing that he wasn't allowed to make friends with simple servants. Order them around, sure. But friends? Not even a chance.

"Yeah," Merlin said, grinning cheekily as he leaned forward. "But between you and me, I like to think he only said that because he wanted my undivided attention on him."

Markus scoffed, "And what? He didn't get enough of you after he brought you to his room?" He asked, with an almost crude smiled. He'd been wondering how that night had fared, how Arthur's first time with a man had gone.

He'd done tried his luck with getting it out of the prince, but he'd been abnormally tight lipped about it. Which was just plain rude in Markus' opinion, because he always shared the news of his latest conquest with Arthur.

Merlin just looked at him with a frown, "What do you mean?" He asked.

Markus rolled his eyes, what was with both Merlin and Arthur not wanting to do a little dirty talking? Was he the only normal one around here? "Was it fun? When Arthur took you to his room? Was it good for you?" He asked, the crude smirk returning to his face.

Merlin stiffened, not liking the way Markus was looking at him in the least. His jaw clenched again as he thought over what Markus was trying to ask him. His eyes drifted over Markus' shoulder and across the room to where Gaius and Leon were still talking.

What had Gaius told him to say if anybody asked about what happened that night?

Turning to look back to Markus, Merlin said stiffly, "Everything went exactly how it was supposed to."

Markus seemed disappointed by this, that he wasn't getting any extra information. "Come on, not even a little det-"

"Markus!" A sharp voice said sharply from behind them. They both flinched, startled by the sudden interruption.

"Leon." Markus said simply, scowling. He had been so close to actually getting some juicy details. All he'd had to do was give a little more of a push and Merlin would have been spilling his guts.

Little did he know, Markus wouldn't have gotten a single word out of Merlin. He was way to stubborn to give in so easily.

"I believe that it's time for us to go." Leon said, giving Markus a stern look. Almost as if he was silently telling him that they would talk about this later.

Markus locked his jaw, looking more annoyed than anybody should, when faced with their superior officer. "Of course, Sir Leon." He said stiffly. And then he was leaving, pushing passed Merlin as he walked towards the door.

"What was that about?" Merlin asked with a scowl, reaching up to rub at his shoulder where Markus had bumped harshly into him.

"Don't mind him to much." Leon said, still staring after Markus' back until he disappeared through the doorway. Only after he was gone did he turn towards Merlin. "Are you alright? He wasn't being to inappropriate, was he?"

"No, he was just being incredibly nosy about things that don't concern him." Merlin finally said, the annoyance seeping into his voice.

"I'll talk to him." Leon said, giving a single and firm nod. And then he was leaving before Merlin could stop him, so that he could insist that he could fight his own battles without the assistant.

"Merlin." Gaius said, having been standing just to the side and slightly behind Leon, before Merlin could follow after Leon.

Merlin's head jolted to the side so that he could look at Gaius, "Uncle Gaius, he was asking me about that night." He said urgently, lowering his voice just in case Leon and Markus were still just outside the door and within hearing distance.

"I know, I know. We heard as we were coming up." Gaius said, reaching out to rub Merlin up and down on his arms. "You did good, that's all that matters."

Merlin gave a jerking nod of his head. He didn't know why he had to keep it a secret, or why it was a bigger deal than he thought when Arthur had kicked him out. But the way Markus had been looking at him, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He had a foreboding feeling building in his gut, something in him telling him that he didn't want to know.

That he wasn't ready to know.

Merlin swallowed hard, feeling his heart pick up the pace in his chest. "I think maybe I should go." He said, backing away from Gaius. "I still need to wash up." He used that as his excuse to escape.

But Gaius frowned at him, "Merlin, we still need to-"

"Bye!" Merlin interrupted, sounding almost panicked as he nearly tripped over his own feet to get around him. Whatever his uncle had been about to tell him had something to do with how Markus had been looking at him. And even though he didn't understand what it was, he had this feeling in his gut that was telling him to get out now.

On his scramble to get to the stairs, Merlin nearly forgot to grab the bucket of wash water waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. And he only remembered because he nearly tripped over it on his scramble to the stairs.

Gaius watched, shaking his head with a growing frown. It looked like he was just going to have to wait until Merlin came back downstairs.

He would have to eventually...right?

Merlin nearly tripped over every step the entire way up during his escape, the water bucket weighing him down. But he did eventually make it up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door shut behind him. As soon as he did, he let the bucket drop onto the floor beside the door, and then he was locking his door with the flimsy little lock that could be forced open with very minimum trying.

Taking a shaky breath, and somehow feeling safer than he had before, Merlin slowly turned away from the door and slumped against it. He let out a very shaky breath of relief, letting his head fall back until it made a thud against the door.

He didn't know what had caused him to panic like he had. It was just some kind of inner gut thing, something telling him to leave now. It had practically screamed it at him until he had no choice but to follow it.

Whatever his uncle wanted to tell him, it wasn't welcomed.

"Sir Merlin."

Merlin nearly jumped out of his own skin, his eyes shooting open as he jolted up against the door. George, it was just George. He'd forgotten that the manservant was still up there. The manservant was standing by his bed, spreading his hands over the blanket in an attempt to get the blanket to be as flat as a military man would require it. But the lumps and bumps in the mattress were making it a little more difficult than it should be.

"I have folding and put away all of your clothes in the wardrobe." George was talking again. "I've fixed your bedding and a few other things here and there. Was there anything else that you required?" He straightened up, folding his hands behind his back.

The only thing that Merlin 'requires' was a spot of privacy. "No, thank you. But uh, I would like to be alone right now." He said, trying to not sound as rude as he felt he was being.

But George just nodded, "Of course, Sir Merlin. I will leave you to your privacy." He said, before giving a very low and deep bow to the consort.

Merlin had to unlock the door to allow George to leave. And even then he hesitated, almost fearful that his uncle would be waiting on the other side of the door to continue their talk. But he wanted his privacy more than he was worried over his uncle's whereabouts.

It was still a relief when he opened the door and saw that his uncle was nowhere to be seen on the stairs. And as soon as George made it across the threshold, Merlin was slamming the door shut again and locking it up.

After a moment of contemplation, Merlin winced because he was pretty sure he clipped George's backside on his way way out.

Groaning, Merlin threw himself down onto his bed, flopping on his back. He brought his arms up to rest folded above his head, closing his eyes in an effort to fight his growing headache.

He didn't mean to be so short with George. He could only imagine having to work for prissy snobs, he didn't want to be the prissy snob he worked for.

And then there was his uncle, probably lying in wait somewhere downstairs just to ambush him. While he laid there, he tried to piece the puzzle together in his head. There was his uncle asking him if he knew how men and women had babies (his face grew hot again at the thought). And then his uncle had been made a poor joke, asking him about how two men got together like a man and a woman. He almost wanted to laugh again, his uncle had been making a funny. If two men were able to do that, than he would know about it. It was almost ridiculously funny, it's not like a man had the same parts a woman did. So how would they even be able to do it? Therefore, there was no way for them to do it. And even if they could, why would they? It's not like two men could have a baby together so what would be the point?

He would have thought that his uncle, being a physician and everything, would have known that.

And he still had the Arthur problem to work out. Like, where did they stand in this weird relationship they'd found themselves in. Merlin started playing with the ring on his finger again. He would have to talk to Arthur the next time he saw him, because he didn't think he could last long with this unknowing air around them.

And then there had been the way Markus had been looking at him, trying to force him to say what had happened that night. And whatever was supposed to happen, clearly wasn't what actually happened.

Fuck, it was killing him not knowing. But at the same time, it was tied in with whatever his uncle had been trying to tell him. And whatever it was, he didn't want to hear it. It was like two feelings pulling him in different directions.

A stray thought struck him out of nowhere, maybe Arthur would like to hear about the joke Gaius had made about two men being together. He might find it as funny as Merlin did, but then again, he didn't even know if Arthur had a sense of humor.

It might be nice to find out though.

Even with all of the thoughts swirling about in his head, Merlin did eventually come to a conclusion. That he couldn't just sit here and hide away in his room forever. He had to get up and get out, but he'd have to make his way past his uncle first. Lest he try to stop him and try making jokes again.

Groaning, Merlin forced himself up to his feet to get started on his wash. He took his time though, taking his clothes off and using a dingy washcloth to carefully clean every inch of his body from the layer of sweat that had dried stickily on him.

And when he was done, Merlin trodden across his wooden floor to his small and rickety wardrobe and threw open the doors. His clothes were all neatly folded on the bottom and strangely enough, they looked as if they'd been pressed as well.

Picking an outfit out of the pile, Merlin mechanically got dressed, feeling very stiff in his movements. Because this entire time, he'd still had the same thoughts circling around in his mind.

Merlin sat on the edge of his bed and jerkily pulled his boots back on. Then he stood up, snatching his jacket off the edge of the bed, and jerking it on over his shoulders. Walking towards the door, Merlin started wrapping his red neckerchief around his neck.

He'd almost gotten to the door, hoping that he could make it out without being stopped by Gaius, when he stopped. Merlin took in a deep breath through his nose, what was that smell?

It took him a minute to realize that the smell was coming from him. Bringing his neckerchief up to his nose, Merlin took another large breath.

Crap, how had George even made his clothes smell good. What kind of laundry soap did he use? And even more importantly, where did he even get any? Because Merlin definitely didn't have any in his room.

If George kept some kind of tiny container on his person at all times, Merlin wasn't sure that he wanted to know where he kept it.

Eventually, he couldn't stall for time any longer. He'd already been up here for almost an hour, just taking his time cleaning up with his thoughts shooting off in every direction under the sun.

Opening his door, Merlin poked his head out, just to make sure that his uncle really wasn't lying in wait. But he couldn't see him so he creeped out. He took the stairs one at a time, an abnormally for him since he usually ran down them. But he had to go slow, especially since the stairs creeped with every step he took.

Ugh, he didn't know what he would do if his uncle caught him. Because he really didn't want to sit back down at that table and hear things that he was certain was just Gaius trying to make some kind of poor joke. Or maybe he just wasn't ready to acknowledge the things that Gaius had been trying to tell him.

He wasn't sure which it was. Just a joke? Or was he just not ready to hear it? He wasn't sure which one he would rather it be.

Merlin made it to the bottom of the stairs, and everything seemed to be going alright. Looking around, he still couldn't see his uncle. Had he left? Why would he leave if he wanted to finish their conversation? It didn't matter, that just meant Merlin's escape would be a lot easier.

"Sir Merlin?"

Merlin nearly tripped over the leg of a bench when he heard his name being said. He grunting, feeling the pain shoot up his leg where he'd slammed his lower leg into the bench itself, he urgently shushed George.

The manservant had made himself comfortable at one of the nearby benches. He'd taken to cleaning up Gaius' books, it looked like he was trying to organize the stack in front of him. Although it didn't look as if he was making much process, with the great abundance of books that decorated this one single tabletop.

And even though Merlin had shushed him right after he said his name, it was already to late.

"Merlin?" Gaius called out, sticking his head around a large stack of books on one of the tables further back.

"...No." Merlin called out to him weakly, doing a very poor imitation of a different accept, as if he was somebody else that had wondered in.

"...Merlin." Gaius said firmly, stepping around the bench and giving him a stern look. "We still have things to discu-"

Before Gaius could finish, Merlin felt the panic burst through his veins again. "Gotta go! Very busy, I've got things to do." He said urgently, almost tripping over his feet for his mad scramble to the door.

"Merlin!" Gaius yelled after him, but Merlin was already disappearing out of the door, making his grand escape.

Gaius huffed, staring at the door as he watched it slam close behind him. Whatever was he going to do with that boy? He would just have to corner the boy the next time and force him to have this talk with him.

He could only hope that Merlin wouldn't say anything incriminating while he was out there. He could only hope that he had impressed the seriousness of not saying anything about what happened that night. Even if he hadn't gotten to the reason why or what was supposed to happen.

"Master Gaius." George said from his spot at the table, making Gaius flinch just as Merlin had moments before. "If you don't mind, I need to follow my master."

Gaius cleared his throat, "Of course, go ahead." Maybe if George was there, hopefully Merlin would be more hesitant to discuss what happened that night, if it even came up to begin with.

Gaius watched George leave, following after Merlin. The physician gave a heavy sigh, who was he kidding. The next time he saw Merlin, he was sure that the boy would have found himself in some kind of trouble. Probably with Arthur as well.

But he couldn't stand here worrying all day that Merlin might say the wrong thing. In an effort to distract himself, he got back to work on bottling his potion.

XXXXXXXXXX

Arthur grunted under his breath, shoving his sword down into the sword stand. He did it much more harshly than he usually would have.

"I think you did very good, sire." Morris said, following after him to the far end of the training field, where they would get a semi-bit of privacy away from the others training.

Arthur scoffed, not bothering to dignify that with a response, tossing his helmet roughly to the side. He had been absolutely awful, much more clumsier than he usually was. He had still won, of course, but it had taken him longer than it usually did.

After Arthur had left Merlin behind this morning, he'd retreated into himself by going to the training grounds. He'd spent this entire time doing some intensive training, trying to work through his frustrations. Training always helped him get his thoughts together when everything seemed like it was to much, it was the one thing he was completely confident that he could do.

But right now, he wasn't entirely sure if that was true with how awful he'd just been. And of all times for him to be having these kind of troubles, with the tournament coming up and everything.

Arthur ran a frustrated hand through his shaggy blonde locks. Merlin, it was all Merlin. It had to be, because why else would he not be on the top of his game? Just like everything, it was always Merlin's fault.

But no, that wasn't true. At least not when it came to this situation. Everything else that's happened since before they'd even met, it was definitely Merlin's fault.

Them getting married was all Merlin's fault.

Arthur having to lie to his father about Merlin's virginity status was all Merlin's fault.

Arthur being forced to train Merlin in the basics, which was what had ultimately led them to their fight was all Merlin's fault.

Hell, he was even sure that witch trying to kill him at their wedding dinner was somehow Merlin's fault.

He just had to figure out how...

"Sire, if I may begin helping you." Morris said, sidling up to Arthur, already reaching for the buckles on his shoulder blade, keeping his shoulder plates into place.

"Of course, Morris." Arthur murmured, barely paying him into attention as Morris got much closer than he usually did to help him out of his armor.

He'd had time to think during his training, getting pumped up and prepared for the tournament starting soon. And even though he was covered in a layer of sweat, it had ironically, cold his head off.

This morning, when he'd snapped at Merlin, he'd probably over reacted. As much as he hated to admit it, even he could see how an outsider would find it funny.

And this was where he was now. All he could see was Merlin's look of surprise mixed with hurt just before Arthur had stormed away, shamefully admitting to himself, that he had behaved like a child.

The bigger question he had though, was why did he care? He had said so much worse to so many people and hadn't even batted an eye, had practically forgotten as soon as he'd stepped away. He didn't have a care in the world towards those people.

And he still didn't care, not about Merlin at least. He did care about other things though. Like what his father would say if word somehow got back around to him about what had happened. Merlin would probably go to his father, just to try and get him in trouble.

Tattling on him like some kind of childish brat. Although really, that wasn't far off from the mark.

"Are you alright, sire?" Morris asked, bringing Arthur's attention back to another problem that had been brought to the forefront of his mind, simply by Morris' presence. But should he bother getting into all of that?

Arthur cleared his throat, "I'm fine." He grunted, lifting his arms so that Morris could pull the shoulder piece over his head, leaving his chest covered with only his chainmail.

"You can tell me, sire, if there is something bothering you." Morris said quietly. This was a test for Morris, a way to see how much work he would have to put into Arthur. It would be a good thing, a promising sign, if Arthur felt as if he could tell him things.

"Actually, yes, there is." Arthur said bluntly, before he could change his mind. It had been on his mind, ever since the night he'd kicked Merlin out of his room. He hadn't bothered to bring it up until now, thinking that he didn't need to, that there was no reason to be concerned with it. But now that his father was asking questions about if he and Merlin had consummated, there were some things he needed to know. Like what exactly had Morris told Merlin, because it was obvious that night that he still didn't know a damn thing.

And Arthur really didn't want to have that discussion with Merlin. Not if either of their lives depended on it, would he be having that type of discussion with Merlin bloody, fuck, Pendragon! He thought his own last name with a hint of disgust, knowing that it was now attached to that brat.

"Anything sire, you need only ask." Morris said, setting the chest plate onto the grass behind them. He would have the armor buffed up, polished, and ready for Arthur's first match later on. With his back to Arthur, he started to smirk, pleased that Arthur was opening up to him. Then he made his face go neutral before he turned back to Arthur and started unbuckling the buckles that kept his wrist guards in place.

Arthur spoke more cautiously than he usually would have with his manservant, recognizing the delicacy of this situation. Morris had just started on his belt that held up his sword when Arthur asked his question. "The day I sent you to inform Merlin of our consummation-"

Morris stiffened at those words, positive that Arthur had found out what he did. That he'd never actually told Merlin what to expect. That the only information he actually gave the new consort was to just lay back and take it.

As much as Morris knew that Arthur didn't care for his consort, he knew without a doubt in his mind that Arthur would probably kill him if he knew what he'd done.

Morris knew that Arthur wouldn't tolerate something that big.

Clearing his throat, Morris got back to work on the belt, acting as if everything was normal as he set it to the side. "What about it, sire?" He asked, his tone weaker than he would have liked as he reached to help get off the shin guards.

"How did your conversation go exactly?" Arthur asked, looking straight ahead. Because if he wasn't looking at Morris, than maybe he really wasn't a conversation with somebody else that included sex and Merlin in it.

Morris set one of the shin guards to the side before starting on the next one, thinking over his next words very carefully. He was extremely aware of the very dangerous game that he was playing. All of these years of working to gain Arthur's favor would have been for nothing if he gave away what had actually happened.

"It went as should be expected, sire." Morris said quietly, not looking up as he undid the latches that held Arthur's shin guard in place.

"Really?" Arthur asked, his eyebrows furrowing together. "Because I talked to Merlin...beforehand-" he added last minute, trying to give off the illusion that he and Merlin had actually gone through with it. He wouldn't be trusting his manservant with that kind of information. "And I'm not...entirely sure he understood what he was supposed to do."

Morris was tense as he set the last of Arthur's armor to the side, sure that Arthur knew the truth. That the only reason he was still here, operating as Arthur's manservant, was because the prince wanted to use Morris for one last target practice before the inevitable.

Like having Morris hanged for getting into the affairs of the royal family.

"What exactly, did he tell you, sire?" Morris asked, already thinking of several different lies to talk his way out of this. But really, whatever he said next had to align with what Merlin had said that night. To make it believable.

Arthur finally let his gaze turn to his manservant as the boy was rising from the grass, "Nothing." The blonde said gruffly, looking exasperated by this. "Just that you confused him more than before you got there."

Morris felt himself relax some. That...now that was actually something that he could work with. In fact, he had the perfect way to get out of this. Morris still made sure to speak carefully, twisting his words as if he were playing some kind of word game that only he knew they were playing.

"I told him exactly what to do, sire." It wasn't Morris' fault if Merlin couldn't follow simple directions. "But," Morris smiled, as if he was telling some kind of inside joke between him and Arthur. "I don't believe that he was paying me much attention.

Arthur nodded, his lips thinning, "That does sound like him." He said quietly, sounding distracted. Maybe that was all there was to it, Merlin just hadn't been paying attention while Morris had painstakingly tried to talk him through it.

Merlin did seem like the kind of guy that had the attention spend of a gnat.

While they were on this topic of discussion, Morris did see an opportunity strike, and he had to act quick, because there probably wouldn't be another chance for him to find this out.

"So, sire," Morris started, bringing Arthur's attention back to him. "How did he do?" He gave his prince an almost teasing grin, acting more as if they were friends than master and servant. "I mean, with all of these questions, did he not please you?"

Arthur went as stiff as a board, the question floating around in his mind. Please him? Did Merlin please him? That boy hadn't pleased him since the day Arthur first heard he was coming. He most certainly didn't please him on their wedding night!

As if Arthur would touch him, especially with his lack of knowledge on what to expect.

"That is entirely inappropriate." Arthur said harshly, almost making Morris flinch by how harsh and hard his tone had suddenly gotten.

But when Arthur didn't say anything else, Morris started to relax, "I do so apologize greatly for my misconduct, sire." He purred out the last word, a slow smirk spreading across his lips, unseen by Arthur who had turned away.

It had to mean something if Arthur wasn't answering him. That maybe that meant that Merlin had been terrible. Absolutely so awful that Arthur was somehow traumatized by the experience.

Perfect.

It would be way easier for him to seduce an unsatisfied husband away from his marriage bed. Far easier than if Merlin had actually somehow been able to impress the prince with what little he could figure out.

"Morris," Arthur called to him, his voice still hard but not as harsh as it had been moments before. "You'll need to see to my armor. I expect it to be ready by my first match."

"Of course, sire." Morris said with a calming smile that was a little to slimy to be genuine.

But Arthur didn't notice. He'd already turned away, intent on heading back to his room. He needed to wash and prepare before the tournament commenced. He couldn't very well go and meet his challengers, looking as filthy as he did now. He needed to make a strong first impression, which he couldn't very well do when he was covered in sweat and dirt stains.

He didn't get very far though. He'd only taken a few strides away, Morris still standing somewhere behind him trying to gather his armor, when an increasingly familiar boy stepped in his way. It was so sudden that Arthur was forced to stop short, lest he run straight over the boy.

Arthur straightened up, already feeling the muscle in his jaw start twitching at just the sight, "Merlin." He said simply, eyes going just the slightest bit harder at his husband's appearance. It seemed like Merlin had taken their time apart to clean up, no longer looking worst for wear than he had been when Arthur had left him behind earlier.

And let's not forget, that little one inch where Merlin was just the slightest bit taller, was irritating Arthur more than it should have been.

"Arthur." Merlin said, just as simply. But his face was surprisingly serious, looking like he'd only come over here in the first place to say something specific.

XXXXXXXXXX

Merlin had taken his escape from Gaius', relieved that he'd managed to get passed the front door without being forced back. At first, he'd just been walking, trying to ignore whatever his uncle had been trying to discuss with him, trying to forget about the weird expressions that Markus had been making at him when trying to talk about what Arthur and he did that night.

But unsurprisingly, he wasn't able to. It always came back to the forefront of his mind. He hadn't even realized he'd been passing the training ground until he saw Arthur preparing to leave. He hadn't even realized what he'd been doing until Arthur had said his name.

His feet had taken him straight to the prince before he'd even registered that it was happening. Merlin hadn't even been able to really take in the training ground, this being his first time seeing it. He'd been to focused on catching up to Arthur before he could leave.

And now here they were, staring each other down as was becoming an increasing habit of theirs.

Seeing that Arthur wasn't going to say anything more than his name, Merlin took it upon himself to continue. "I believe we need to talk." He said, his tone surprisingly firm compared to how he usually spoke.

Arthur's scowl deepened, and that muscle in his jaw seemed to jump again when he clenched his teeth down harder. "I believe we do." He agreed, his tone going a touch harsher.

George stood just behind Merlin, having been following him this whole time. He now stood there like a silent participator in wherever this conversation was heading.

It would either end very good, or very bad. And it all depended on Arthur's response to the many questions that Merlin had swirling around in his head.

Morris though, wasn't so silent. As soon as he heard Arthur say Merlin's name, his head popped up. He'd been gathering Arthur's armor together, but now he left it behind in his scurry to reach Arthur's side.

He didn't act as a silent participator like George did. He had far much more to lose than George did, if this conversation went better than expected.

"Merlin, what are you doing here?" Morris hissed, sounding far more demanding than any simple manservant had any right to be. Especially when conversing with his master's consort.

Merlin stopped just long enough to gift Morris with a glance before he was looking away. "I need to talk to Arthur." He said simply, giving Arthur a questioning look. "We can do this right here, or would you like somewhere more private?"

Arthur didn't know exactly where this conversation was going to go, or what exactly it was regarding, but he knew whatever they needed to hash out couldn't be done where just anybody could see them. And knowing what little he did about Merlin, he didn't think he would want anyone overhearing.

"Private would be best." Arthur said, sounding stiff. Almost as if he expected Merlin to argue with him, despite it being his own suggestion.

Merlin nodded, looking just as stiff as he did. And then he turned, preparing to walk back through the training grounds, all without really taking anything in.

He only got a few strides away though, before Arthur gave a sharp whistle, forcing Merlin to look back over his shoulder. Arthur gave a sharp jerk of his head, indicating that Merlin should follow him in the other direction.

Merlin didn't question it, he figured Arthur probably knew area's about the castle that he hadn't discovered yet. He started walking in the direction that Arthur had nodded to, heading towards the far corner of the castle walls, where nobody would be.

Arthur started to follow as well, already feeling his fingers start to curl inward at the sight of Merlin walking just ahead of him. He only stopped when he realized that Morris had been trying to follow as well.

"Morris, wait here." Arthur snapped, shooting a glare towards his increasingly unruly manservant. He hadn't failed to notice that his servant's tongue had gotten looser in the last few days, talking to other's in way that a manservant never should.

God, if his father heard his manservant questioning Merlin like he had, well let's just say that Arthur would be looking for a new servant. And he didn't want to waste time doing that, especially when he should be focusing on the tournament starting up.

Merlin might be just a peasant to Arthur, something to be discarded when the prince had no need for him. But to the people, he was Arthur's consort, and should be treated with at least some degree of respect from the common folk.

It wasn't like Arthur was going to be giving him any.

Morris opened his mouth, almost as if he was going to dare argue. But one sharp look from Arthur made his mouth clink shut with a sudden clang as his teeth banged against each other. As if remembering himself, Morris forced out a low, "Yes, sire."

Morris was forced to stand there with George, unable to follow as Arthur left with Merlin, disappearing around the corner to duck into an alcove in the castle wall, where nobody could see them or think to interrupt their conversation.

Unbeknownst to George standing by his side, Morris' eyes narrowed just the slightest bit, looking vaguely disturbing if anybody in that moment, had caught sight of the expression on his face.

What was Merlin doing? He'd thought he and Merlin had a very reasonable conversation that morning. When Morris had made sure that Merlin had no misunderstandings about his relationship with Arthur.

And yet, the boy had dragged Arthur away to do God's know what. Maybe Morris needed to have a more in-depth conversation, just to make it clearer to Merlin.

So the consort would know, without a doubt, that Arthur Pendragon would never form an actual attachment to him.

Arthur was far to caught up in his own lifestyle to ever look twice at some random peasant that had come out of nowhere.

XXXXXXXXXX

Merlin crossed his arms, shifting from foot to foot as he tapped his fingers impatiently against his arm. He was scowling up at Arthur as if he were being particularly demented.

"What do you want me to say?" Arthur demanded, glaring slightly up at the boy, once again cursing the fact that Merlin was just that slightest bit taller. It was surprisingly frustrating, and just about anything at this moment was going to set him off.

"Anything would be nice." Merlin said back, starting to tap his foot, which was just irritating Arthur with the slight 'tap, tap, tap,' it made against the grass.

Merlin and Arthur had been standing in this alcove for an embarrassingly long amount of time. And during that time, they'd done nothing but glare at each other while waiting for the other to start this conversation.

Merlin didn't seem to notice the time passing, but Arthur was vividly aware of it. He knew that sometimes, people would duck away together in an alcove just like this for some 'alone time'. He'd never actually done that in one of these himself, but he was acutely aware of what it would look like if anybody caught them there.

Not that it would matter in the long run considering he and Merlin were married. It was almost to be expected, considering they were still newly weds, and what else were nearly weds supposed to do other than steal hidden moments together.

Arthur fought to suppress the coil of disgust forming in his stomach. If they were caught here of all places, then Arthur had no doubt that he would get the same feeling he would if say, he got caught with his pants around his ankles.

Newly weds or not, Arthur didn't want to know what his people would be thinking if word got out that he was caught 'fraternizing' with Merlin in such a public space. It was bad enough that people thought they'd actually been together the night of their wedding. He didn't want anyone thinking he'd enjoyed it so much that he just had to duck away somewhere in an effort to get more.

To get more, with Merlin, who was most definitely a man and therefore, the complete opposite of what Arthur actually wanted in his bedroom, or his life, or anywhere near him actually.

"How was your book?" Arthur spat out the first thing he'd thought of, still focusing on the 'tap, tap, tap' that Merlin's foot was making as it seemed to go a mile a minute.

Did he ever stop moving? Ever?

Merlin seemed startled with the remark that Arthur had chosen to go with, his foot pausing for only a moment before he started up again. And now Arthur was internally cursing himself, thinking he probably could have said something better to start them off with.

Like a nice and firm, 'We have nothing to discuss and you'll regret it if you approach me again for anything less than the most dire of emergencies'.

Simple and to the point, surely even that could be drilled into Merlin's abnormally thick headed skull.

"It was unbelievably dull," Merlin shot back easily enough, once he'd gotten his bearings back together. "But you already knew that."

Arthur did, he knew that very well. But he couldn't even enjoy it, knowing that Merlin had been trying to trudge through it in misery. That 'tap, tap, tap' of Merlin's foot was starting to drive him to near insanity.

Arthur felt an itch forming under his skin the longer they stood there, sure that at any moment, somebody would stumble upon them and the rumor mill would start spinning as it tended to do.

And then something in him just popped, "Will you just stop with that bloody foot already!" The blonde haired boy snapped, glaring daggers at the offending foot, as if it had somehow insulted him by the mere offense of just existing.

Merlin froze, his foot just about to come back down on the ground, startled by the sudden exclamation on Arthur's part. Scowling, Merlin lowered his booted foot so that it rested on the ground without making that irritating 'tap' sound.

Arthur felt the muscles in his shoulders, under his chainmail start relaxing. He took in a large breath of warm air, feeling something inside him loosening up. Now that the constant sound was gone, it felt strangely silent between them.

But Arthur welcomed the silence, able to think more clearly than he had been able to before.

"The book wasn't exactly what I came here for." Merlin said bluntly, his voice alone sounded to Arthur's ears, almost like a more modern day record would if it was breaking.

Arthur forced himself to take in a shuddering breath, feeling a tightening in his already frayed nerves, just so he didn't start full on yelling at Merlin for interrupting the short amount of relief that he managed to find. Although he didn't know why he bothered, Merlin deserved it and so much more just for coming into his life.

"I bet I know exactly why you came here." Arthur said, his voice going harsh again.

Merlin mainly ignored the harshness, getting uncomfortable familiar with being spoken to like that. It was just Arthur being Arthur...again. And if he was already in this mood, it didn't bode well for their upcoming conversation.

But still, Merlin raised an eyebrow, looking almost uncertain. "You do?" He asked, because Arthur didn't exactly strike him as particularly bright enough to figure it out.

"Yeah," Arthur said, nodding his head in a jerky fashion. He knew exactly what this was about, and he didn't like it one bit. Arthur felt his jaw clench again, "About this morning..." he started, pausing as he was trying to force more words out.

That was what all of this had to be boiling down to. It was the only reason he could think of for Merlin approaching him now. The fucking brat was looking for what, an apology? It filled Arthur with a deep feeling of contempt, a scornful expression briefly appearing on his face.

Merlin was really going to make him do this.

And as much as it pained him to do it, Arthur had to play nice with his new consort, at least with this particular situation. Merlin could go running off to his father at any minute, if he hadn't already, just to let Uther know how cruel Arthur had been to him. Tattling to his father like the little brat that he was.

Uther wouldn't take it seriously, not if it was just between Merlin and him. How Arthur interacted with his husband outside of their shared duties was nobody's business but his own.

But Uther would still make sure Arthur knew to only talk to Merlin like that in privacy, where gossiping manservants weren't around to overhear the loathing that coated every word Arthur had spoken.

It wouldn't do for the people to start becoming uncertain and start questioning the royal family if they learned just how unhappy Arthur was with his arrangement.

He was so certain in his deduction for why Merlin had sought him out, that it actively surprised him when Merlin waved a hand at him. Almost as if he was dismissing what he had said, almost as if he'd forgotten all about it.

That was confirmed when Merlin said a hurried and almost impatient fashion, "Forget about it."

And even though he said that, Merlin knew he wouldn't be forgetting their encounter that morning, how Arthur had spoken to him just after he'd stopped teaching Merlin the basics. And god, had it really been just that morning? It felt as if it had been so much longer, but that was the least of his problems right now.

He had more important things to discuss, although there were a few key matters about their encounter that morning that Merlin would definitely be bringing up at some point.

But it would have to wait until he got the more important matters out of the way first.

"Why did you send me away that night?" He asked, his tone just as hurried and impatient as it had been moments before.

The question was so surprising, that Arthur physically veered back, gazing at Merlin with startled eyes. He was sure that he had misheard, that Merlin had really asked something else of him and he'd just imagined that question instead. But no, Merlin was still looking at him with that questioning expression on his face, seeking answers that Arthur didn't want to give.

Arthur felt himself pale somewhat, this was not the conversation he'd thought would come back to bite him in the arse via Merlin. Clearing his throat, Arthur brought a hand to his neck, pulling his collar away in an effort to breathe better.

"W-what do you mean?" Arthur asked, winching when his voice cracked at the beginning.

Merlin's brows furrowed together, "Why do you always avoid the question?" He asked, knowing that he was missing something here.

That night, Merlin had been banging on his door trying to be let in after Arthur had thrown him out. He had been trying to demand answers, to find out what kind of ritual or whatever it was that they were apparently supposed to do in private within Arthur's bedchambers. But just like now, Arthur had refused to answer his question.

He thought he'd mainly put it behind him, dismissing it as one of of Arthur's mood swings and him just being weird. But then Gaius had started asking questions, asking what they'd really done that night. And he'd been so worried, forcing Merlin to promise that he would never tell anybody what really happened.

Merlin was uncomfortable, discussing anything with Gaius. Call it intuition or whatever you wanted, but Merlin had a gut feeling that he didn't want to know the truth. Which was why he'd left so quickly.

But at the same time, he had an unquestionable curiosity driving him to find out more. And since his uncle was definitely out of the question, he went to the source of all of his problems, the one person that had actually been there.

Arthur.

Arthur seemed to stiffen even more at Merlin's inquisition, "I don't always avoid the question!" Arthur protested, way more vehemently than Merlin thought it was warranted.

Merlin's eyes flashed, knowing that Arthur was trying to hide something from him. "Yes you do! You refused to tell me anything that night, just like you are right now!" He shouted, his voice getting louder with every word that he spoke.

That seemed to set Arthur off because he stormed forward in the small space the alcove allowed between them, nearly getting on top of the other boy, "Keep your voice down." The prince hissed, positive that somebody would hear Merlin yelling and come running.

Merlin didn't move to take a step back, even when there wasn't any space left now between Arthur and him. He raised his hands to plant them on his hips, giving Arthur a death glare. "I'll lower my voice when you start answering my questions." He said, even as he did lower his voice so that he, at least to Arthur's relief, was no long screaming.

Arthur was cursing his luck, wondering how he got himself into situations like this, how Merlin practically dragged him into situations like this. Keeping his voice low as to not attract the attention of anyone that might be passing by, he said, "Why are you asking me these things now?"

Surely Merlin would have tracked him down and tried to demand answers from him earlier if he had been that concerned about it this entire time. Not that Arthur would give him any, but this was now becoming Arthur's concern.

If Merlin was going to start demanding answers, who knows who he might ask in an effort to find them. Especially if Arthur didn't give him anything that would satisfy him enough to just let this go.

If Merlin went around asking questions to the wrong people, then it wouldn't be long before word started to spread about Arthur's incompetence, being unable to take his virgin consort.

Merlin licked at his lower lip, just a quick swipe of his pink tongue that Arthur just vaguely noticed, "Well Markus-" he tried to start explaining, he had to start somewhere. And the crude way Markus had been looking at him was still firmly planted in his mind.

But Arthur interrupted, having been brought up short by the name of his only real friend, "Markus?" He demanded, voice going harsh. "What does Markus have to do with any of this?"

Merlin rolled his eyes in an almost impatient manner and it took everything Arthur had to not knock him upside the head for his impertinence.

"I ran into Markus," Merlin tried again, giving Arthur a side lined look, almost as if he was expecting to be interrupted again. But when Arthur said nothing, he kept talking. "He started asking me weird questions about what we did that night. Asking things like 'was it fun' or 'was it good for me?'"

Arthur felt himself pale a little with every word that Merlin spoke. Fuck, Markus, he should have known. The man might be his best friend, but Arthur knew the knight was obsessed with either getting laid or someone else's sex life. Markus knew better than to question Arthur like that, who usually preferred to keep things between him and his partner when he could. It only made sense that Markus would turn to Merlin for his questions.

But what had Merlin told him? Had he admitted the truth, not knowing that he wasn't supposed to? Had he said something and now Markus was running around with knowledge that Arthur wanted no one outside of him and Merlin to have. And he only allowed Merlin because there was no hiding that night from him.

Swallowing hard, he was sure that any minute now, his father would come storming up and demand to know what he'd been thinking by not doing his husbandly duty. If Markus knew the truth, it was only a matter of time before others knew the truth as well.

"What did you tell him?" Arthur forced out through his clenched jaw, practically snarling out the words.

Merlin stiffened at the time, scowling back at him. "Nothing," he snapped. "I didn't say anything and I don't know why I shouldn't be able to."

Arthur felt himself relax a great deal, the sudden weight on his shoulders lifting. Markus didn't know, he had been worrying for nothing because Merlin was at least smart enough to know not to go around sprouting off what they had done that night.

But it had been a close call, to close. What was stopping Merlin from talking to the next person, telling them what had happened that night. And that person would probably be worse than telling Markus, for all Arthur knew.

"Arthur," Merlin was talking again, making Arthur stiffen at the sound of his name. "You need to tell me what's going on."

Arthur returned his eye's to meet Merlin's, a shadow being cast among both of their faces because of the alcove shielding them from most of the sun. The only thing Arthur could really see was where there was a gap in the shade, a burst of sunlight shining directly over Merlin's eyes like a slash across the middle of his face.

"Nothing." Arthur said stiffly, intending for their conversation to be done. "There's nothing going on." Because even with everything that was happening, his father wanting to make sure Merlin was no longer a virgin and Markus asking inappropriate questions about what had occurred between Merlin and him, he still couldn't bring himself to tell Merlin the truth.

Mainly to protect himself more than Merlin. Arthur had been traumatized enough with how his life had changed so suddenly, he wasn't going to be making it worse.

But Merlin wasn't as dumb as he thought, and refused to accept, 'nothing'. As an answer. "Don't lie to me." Merlin said in a stern tone, almost sounding as if he was trying to reprimand Arthur. "You and I both know that somethings going on!" His voice started to rise again. If Arthur was a lesser man, he probably would have stepped back in fear at Merlin's growing ire.

But Arthur wasn't a lesser man.

Instead of stepping back in fear, Arthur hissed at Merlin's growing voice, "I thought we agreed that you would be quiet." He was pushing back, trying to buy himself some time to get out of this mess. It shouldn't be to hard to distract Merlin with something else and hopefully, he'll forget all about this encounter.

"No." Merlin said firmly, refusing to budge an inch on this matter. "You told me to be quiet, and I ignored you."

Arthur felt the insatiable need to throttle the boy in front of him. But since he couldn't do that, he opted to make his escape, "I believe it's time for me to go." He said stiffly, trying to leave the little alcove that had afforded them this brief moment of privacy, away from the public's eye.

But Merlin wasn't done just yet. "You can't just leave without telling me anything!" He exclaimed, thrusting out his arms to stop Arthur from leaving.

But all Merlin's protest did was make Arthur's aggravation grow. The prince straightened up, trying to look bigger than he was as he stepped into Merlin's space again, intent on pushing the pushy brat out of his way. Leaning forward to breathe into Merlin's face, he said, "I can do whatever I want."

Merlin had leaned his back backwards some when Arthur had loomed over him, but his feet hadn't left the spot where he was standing. The dark haired sorcerer narrowed his eyes, the slightest of sneers forming on his face. "No, you can't." He said, speaking just as firmly as Arthur had.

It took Arthur by surprise, almost making himself step back. But he stopped himself at the last minute, looking at Merlin confused. But just as quickly the expression formed on his face, it was gone and replaced with a look of intense rage. "Who do you think you are, you littl-"

"I think," Merlin interrupted, making Arthur's jaw snap shut with a startled clank of teeth against teeth. "That I'm the only one who doesn't seem to know what's going on. And I know that you know what's happening."

Maybe Merlin should have just stayed with Gaius. Yeah, whatever his uncle had been trying to tell him had been making him feel uncomfortable, and he'd felt the intense need to escape, but at least he'd been telling him something. If Merlin had stuck it out, he wouldn't be here arguing with Arthur, again.

Really, being with Uncle Gaius was probably the better option.

Arthur was scowling furiously, not that Merlin paid it any mind. That permanent expression of annoyance towards him seemed to be permanently engraved on the blonde's features.

Arthur was stubborn, and Merlin wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or a good thing. But either way, it was obvious that Arthur wasn't going to tell him anything without some more prompting.

Merlin took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down some just so they could have a somewhat reasonable conversation. "Arthur." He tried again, his tone just a tad more forceful than he was going for.

Arthur looked back at Merlin at the sound of his name, his lips thinning. He should just leave right now, he knew he should. But he didn't, simply because he wasn't sure if Merlin could be trusted with their shared secret. He couldn't leave without making sure that Merlin wasn't going to say anything to anyone like he almost had with Markus. But how was he supposed to do that without explaining to Merlin what he didn't know?

Merlin started talking again, forcing himself to go ahead at Arthur's silence, "I know we're not friends-" Arthur scoffed here and Merlin narrowed his eyes. He started again, his tone even more forceful than it had been before. "But I do think that I have some right to know. If I'm not allowed to talk about that night, than I think I should know why."

Merlin knew all about keeping secrets. It was the one thing he'd done all of his life, but he knew exactly why he had to keep it a secret. In Camelot, his own father-in-law would have him burned, and set before the flames of hell if he even suspected that Merlin did have magic. Back home, he would have been forcibly taken from his mother and forced to work for his kingdom's king, Cenred. He would have been forced to use his magic for whatever Cenred wished of him, even if it hurt people.

What was one more secret, when compared to the magnitude of secrets that he was already forced to keep for his own safety.

Arthur looked away, he was literally on the verge of leaving, the consequences be damn. But he couldn't, no matter how much he wanted to. Not until he knew that Merlin would keep this to himself. With a muscle jumping in his jaw, Arthur said, "All you need to know is that you don't need to talk about it. Nobody needs to know what happened that night, do you think that you can do that?" He asked, speaking in an almost patronizing tone.

Merlin scowled but didn't mention it. He had more important things to worry about. "But Arthur, I was just with the Court Physician and when I told him what happened-"

Merlin was cut off by Arthur suddenly grabbing the front of his shirt, jerking him closer. "You told Gaius?" Arthur demanded harshly, his face almost right up against Merlin's, sounding almost mad as he felt the color leave his face. "First Markus, and now him? Who else did you tell?"

How had Arthur not seen this oversight. Of course it wasn't just Markus, he'd told Gaius as well. Who else had he told? Was it just Markus and Gaius? Or had there been more? Was Merlin running all over the city running his damn trap?

"I didn't tell anyone! It just happened!" Merlin exclaimed, bringing his hands up to grasp around Arthur's wrists bunched up in his shirt.

And just as fast was Arthur dropping him and jerking away. The prince had allowed his anger to get the best of him, which was why he'd grabbed Merlin so harshly. It was Merlin's sudden touch that had brought his attention to it.

He was supposed to be playing nice so that Merlin would keep his trap shut. Fuck, if he thought he could get away with it, he would have just had Merlin tossed in the dungeons. Nobody would bother to listen to him down there, even if he did start talking to whoever was allowed access to his cell.

Arthur took a deep breath as if to calm himself down, "What did you tell Gaius exactly?" He said forcibly. Maybe this was just like Markus and Merlin hadn't actually said anything substantial to Gaius. It was just some kind of misunderstanding, god, he hoped it was just some kind of misunderstanding.

Arthur hadn't even been able to approach Gaius yet, to tell him about the crisis he had found himself in with his father wanting Merlin's virginity checked by that barbaric practice. If Merlin had told him the truth before Arthur could talk to him, was Gaius at this very minute, on his way to inform the king that Arthur hadn't honored their marriage?

"Everything." Merlin said bluntly, doing absolutely nothing to sugar coat it, or to hide the truth.

Arthur's eye started to twitch and he felt his fingers twitching at his side. Him and Merlin were all alone in the alcove, would anyone really notice if he just started to throttle him? And surely nobody would believe him, not when worded against the prince himself.

But that was when Merlin kept talking, "That was why I didn't tell Markus what happened. He warned me to keep it quiet. Markus interrupted us before he could tell me why." Merlin didn't elaborate on anything more than that. He didn't admit that he'd practically ran away because Gaius was starting to be weird and talk about confusing topics that Merlin didn't want to hear. He didn't want to sound like a coward, least of all in front of Arthur Bloody Pendragon, of all people.

Arthur felt his tensed up muscles ease. "H-he told you to do that?" He asked, his mind already running wild as Merlin nodded. Why had Gaius warned Merlin not to speak of it? Was he going to tell the king, or for some weird reason, was he going to keep it to himself?

"Arthur," Merlin said softly, a touch of hesitance in his voice. The soft voice was what pulled Arthur's attention away from his own growing problems.

Already dreading this, Arthur turned away from Merlin in the small space that the alcove allowed. "Oh, good lord, what now?" Arthur had already come to realize that Merlin never said anything good.

Merlin huffed, annoyed enough that his cheeks puffed out just the slightest bit. "Well, if you don't want to hear about what I've heard..."

Arthur finally turned back to Merlin, already knowing this was going to be something that he wouldn't like. "Just tell me what it is, so then we can get this over with. Then I'm leaving and you're going to do whatever you do when you're not in my way."

Merlin hadn't wanted to hear whatever it was they were hiding from him from Gaius, the awkwardness of their past conversation concerning him. But he wasn't concerned enough about what Arthur thought, now if only he could get the blonde to tell him.

All of this was interlocked somehow. There was this whole big secrecy concerning what had happened between Arthur and him that night, nobody wanting him to talk about it. Then there was Uncle Gaius asking him out of seemingly nowhere how men and women had babies together. And then there was Markus' strange questions and Arthur evading answering anything substantial.

Merlin wanted to know why he should be happy that Arthur hadn't done whatever that night. He wanted to understand. But at the same time, there was this foreboding feeling that made him question if he wanted to know.

He was missing something here, his mind not being able to connect the dots that would put all of the puzzle pieces together. If Arthur wasn't going to answer him, then he'd just have to return to his uncle with his 'tail between his legs'.

He'd just have to ignore the awkwardness he was feeling to find out the truth.

"What can two men do together?" Merlin blurted out, the sentence sounding odd on his tongue. He almost wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of his question.

Everything seemed to go silent around them. There was nothing but the feel of the wind on their skin as they stared at each other, maybe the sound of a leaf crinkling in the breeze or whatnot.

Merlin was staring at Arthur, looking an odd mixture of baffleness and amusement, as if he didn't know which emotion he should choose. Arthur was staring back, his jaw popped opened just a little. His skin had gone even paler than it had before, whatever little color he had remaining in his face completely draining away.

It took forever and a day before Arthur managed to get his voice working again. "...Excuse me?" Arthur asked, in a tone that was so calm, it almost unsettled Merlin. The tone had an air of deadliness to it that had Merlin regretting his question instantly.

But he swallowed hard and forced himself to answer. "It's just, when I was there...he started saying some weird things. I'm pretty sure he was insinuating that men were able to...do things with other men. Like how a man and a woman can..." Merlin was so regretting this conversation more and more. "But that's just silly talk, I'm sure he was just trying to have a laugh with me..." He could already feel the flush building on his skin. Shit, it was less awkward just having his uncle talking to him. What was he thinking? Thinking it'd be less weird with Arthur simply because he didn't care much for him. "You know what, never mind. I'll just go back and he can tell me." Merlin said quickly, his voice rushed and panicked.

This was the last time he was going to approach Arthur. He'd never be able to talk to the man again after this. It looked like Arthur had won whatever weird fight the two had going on between them since the day they'd met.

Merlin tried to walk away, he really did, intent on heading out of the alcove as fast as he could. He'd only just made it passed Arthur when the prat grabbed his wrist, not allowing him to leave the privacy their little alcove was providing them.

Merlin's head spun around so fast to meet eye's with Arthur, that he felt as if his neck cracked. And despite the dull ache that lasted for only mere moments, Merlin paid it no mind.

"Merlin," Arthur said slowly, his eyes looking dark and almost dangerous. Merlin felt a shiver go down his spine and to be honest, he wasn't entirely sure what he was feeling but it definitely wasn't fear. It was kind of like a weird warmth he never felt before bubbling in the pit of his gut.

The sound of his name...the look in Arthur's eyes...it was strangely unsettling.

Merlin didn't move when Arthur stepped forward so that they were toe to toe, staring at each other.

But then Arthur continued talking, "I need you to never ask me that again." He said, his voice still eerily calm and deadly sounding.

And just like that, Merlin felt as if he'd been doused in cold water. His face was already flaming, but it seemed to go hotter and he practically wretched his wrist out of Arthur's grasp. Scowling, he said, "Well if somebody would just tell me, than maybe I wouldn't be asking!"

"I thought you were with Gaius!" Arthur barked back, feeling as if he felt a vein in his temple ready to burst. "Didn't he tell you anything!"

Merlin felt his face flushing hotter, "I left, okay!" He snapped back. "He was being weird so I left! And then I found you..."

"And what?" Arthur demanded with a sneer to his words, "You thought you'd just ask me all about it instead." Arthur supposed to should be thankful that Merlin had come to him. It could have been anyone and considering Arthur was trying to keep this as hushed as possible, anyone could be very dangerous.

He was still peeved that Merlin had basically told Gaius what had happened before Arthur had the chance to talk to him about it.

Merlin turned his head away, purposely looking away from Arthur. The blonde scowled, wondering if anyone would notice if the dark haired boy just so happened to 'disappear'.

"Well," Merlin said, face tilted away from Arthur. "I just figured that you would tell me straight up what I'm missing without it being weird. But maybe this was a mistake. I'll just go back and let him tell me."

As awkward as it would be, Merlin's curiosity was the biggest trait he had, almost bigger than him having magic. He just never could leave well enough alone. And since everybody seemed to know what was happening except for him, he had this insatiable desire to figure it out.

Even if he had to stop long enough to hear Uncle Gaius joking about weird things before he got to the point.

Merlin was preparing to leave again, stepping away so that he and Arthur had some space between them again. Or at least as much space as the small alcove would allow.

Fuck, he'd just humiliated himself and still didn't have any answers. He probably should have never left his uncle's. He should have just let him tell his weird jokes before he would tell Merlin what he and Arthur were supposed to do that night.

"Wait, wait." Arthur said quickly, before he could leave again. At least this time, he hadn't grabbed Merlin in an effort to make him stay.

"What!" Merlin snapped, whirling around to glare at the blonde. His humiliation was clear and it made him harsher than he usually would be. Or maybe it was just Arthur's mere presence, the blonde always did seem to irritate him more than any other had.

Arthur rolled his eyes, he didn't have time for this. "Don't go to Gaius, go do something else and leave the poor man alone." He said, each word more forceful than the last. Arthur needed to talk to Gaius and explain some things to him, do some damage control, which he couldn't if Merlin was in his way.

But Merlin just shook his head, "I can't." He said quietly. "You're clearly not going to tell me. At least he was telling me something!"

It was Arthur's turn to shake his head, "Why can't you just let this go?" And he sounded tired, so tired that it actually caught Merlin's attention.

"...Arthur..." Merlin said, sounding uncertain. His voice was soft, much softer than it had been during their entire conversation.

Before Merlin was able to say anything more, Arthur reached out and grasped him by one of his shoulder's. Earlier, Arthur had grabbed him so harshly. But now, it wasn't nearly as harsh.

Just a gentle pressure against the top of his shoulder. He could barely feel it actually, and yet he was acutely aware of it anyway.

"I'll tell you." Arthur said, looking more world weary than Merlin could remember ever seeing him.

Merlin's brow's furrowed together, "Y-you will?" He asked, uncertain. Was this some kind of trick? Because Arthur sure hadn't seemed thrilled to be discussing it earlier.

"I will." Arthur agreed, already internally cursing himself and his inner struggle. "I'll tell you all about it...someday. Just...wait a little while, can you do that?"

If he could just get to Gaius before Merlin could, he could figure this whole thing out without Merlin somehow mucking it up. He could get a game plan together, figure out what he was going to do next. With his father's inquiries, and with Merlin questioning everything...nothing was going right.

Even if he had to tell Merlin himself exactly what two men could do together, it would at least allow Arthur to talk to Gaius before he could. And who knows, all Arthur really needed to do was buy some time to get everything figured out. And maybe by that point, Merlin would have forgotten all about it and that would be one less problem on Arthur's plate.

Merlin didn't know what it was that possessed him to agree. Because he wanted to know now, and he was regretting just not letting Gaius fill him in on whatever it was, but he had and now he was here with Arthur telling him to wait a little longer.

Maybe it was the gentle pressure on his shoulder, or the soft way that Arthur was speaking to him, or maybe it was the strangely vulnerable look in his eye's. Maybe it was just a strange combination of the three.

Whatever it was, that didn't mean that Merlin had to make it easy for Arthur.

"I will hold you to that, you do know that." Merlin said firmly. "You will tell me everything that I want to know." Even if he had to tie Arthur down someday and force the truth out of him, he would.

Arthur rolled his eyes, "I know you will." He grunted. In the short time they've known each other, Arthur had no doubt that Merlin would come after him demanding answers. And probably in a very public way that would make Arthur want to strangle him just as publicly.

Arthur could only hope that Merlin was as dumb as he looked, and would forget the longer Arthur pushed it back.

Arthur only thought that Merlin would let things go, that he would just forget and they could go back to ignoring each other. But Merlin wouldn't, not by a long shot. He would remember this moment, and he would make Arthur tell him someday, even if it was the last thing he did.

"And what exactly am I supposed to do in the mean time?" Merlin asked, clearing his throat, marginally relaxing against Arthur's hand on his shoulder.

"Just-" but Arthur seemed to realize that his hand was still on Merlin. Clearing his throat, he jerked his hand away, taking the warmth with it and leaving Merlin's shoulder feeling strangely cold. "Just follow Gaius' advice. Just keep what happened that night between the three of us."

"...Alright." Merlin supposed he could be content with this...maybe. He did know all about keeping secrets, after all. What was just one more?

Let Arthur keep his own secrets...for now.