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!

85. Chapter 85

Nine Hours and Twenty Six Minutes until Execution:

Well…this was embarrassing, Merlin thought with a swirl of irritation going through his veins. He had actually thought he'd put up quite the fight, Merlin knew for sure he'd gotten a few good hits into the round. Had even thrown a heavy duty book off the desk and caught Arthur in the face with it at one point during their fight. Had managed to clamber over the prince's bed when Arthur had chased him across the room, completely ruining the sheets as well as the hangings just to get to that book. And it was disappointing that the only thing to mark his brave attempt at defending himself, was this little barely seen cut above his cheekbone from where the sharp edge had nicked him. Arthur had all but tackled him after that, which was now why he had dozens of silk shirts surrounding him after he had run into the wardrobe. He'd gotten a good hit into the prince's knee by throwing the door open, but it was exactly what led to him being dragged across the floor by his ankles.

To where he was left in a very embarrassing kind of situation that left him wanting to bash his own brains out onto the floor.

"Will you bloody well, get off me!" Merlin shouted as he lifted his head up off the floor. He had been wiggling across this floor for the last ten minutes, trying to get up but Arthur's heavy arse refused to let him. God, Merlin thought as he growled under his breath, glowering at the floor while the nails of his right hand dig deep into the creases between the stones, he was going to castrate Arthur after this one.

"Will you shut up, already! I'm almost done!" said the prince, leaning heavily on top of Merlin as he squished him flat across the floor, only listening to his complaining with half an ear. He could feel the consort try to buck him off for the umpteenth time in the last few minutes, and Arthur grunted before putting more weight on Merlin, barely hearing him groaning underneath him. Arthur was sitting very precariously on the small of Merlin's back, his legs hooked around Merlin's knees to prevent him from getting kicked near his groin again. He'd learned his lesson after Merlin had managed to wedge his knee under him nearly five minutes ago, and had almost sent him rolling off. Arthur's stomach was tight because of how far he had to stretch up the length of Merlin's back, and he had one arm stuck in an arm lock around Merlin's left arm, refusing to allow the consort a minute of breathing room.

"I don't want you to almost be fucking done! I just want you and this damn thing off!" Merlin yelled at him with agitation, glaring with deadly eyes at one of the fallen chairs tipped over onto its side near them. It would have been extremely easy for him to allow the magic to form at his fingertips, to set his eyes aflame with golden eyes, and allow the chair to burn, fire dancing as it burned and ate its way across Arthur's furniture, moving from one to the next. Such a sight would surely get this tub of lard off of him. It would have distracted the prince long enough for Merlin to ditch his ring and make his escape out the door. But he didn't. Instead, he growled under his breath when Arthur was able to finally pry his fingers open, and he had been doing such a good job of keeping it closed tightly into a fist too…Arthur was able to push his ring down his finger, past his knuckle, and where it was meant to rest.

"There," Arthur said, looking satisfied with himself as he angled Merlin's hand so he was able to see the ring standing out starkly against his skin with his own eyes. "That wasn't too bad, was it? You'd think you'll know better. That ring needs to stay on your finger, how else do you expect for people to know who you are when you refuse to dress up in more proper attire." Arthur took his time to admire the ring on Merlin, or to better describe it, he took the time to make sure Merlin wasn't going to take it off and throw it out his window or something the second Arthur let go and he got the chance.

"Yeah…how will they know…" Merlin said, almost going limp as he stared at the ring on his finger in an odd manner, eyes almost glassy. Merlin could have sworn the red dragon carved into the face of it was mocking him, daring him to try running off with Arthur there to stop him from removing that piece of useless metal. He was never going to be free of it, would it? Even if he had somehow been able to get it off and flung the thing away from him long before Arthur had managed to tackle him to the floor, it would have probably found it's way to him. He just had that kind of luck. His heart felt so heavy and drain, like why did he even fight when he knew Arthur was bigger and stronger than he'd ever be…it had been pointless. Just like anything else in this city seemed to be.

"Merlin, now that your little fit has ceased," Arthur started from his position on his back, not moving even after finishing what he had set out to do, and not noticing the way Merlin had gone frighteningly still underneath him. He was just happy he was no longer having to protect himself from flaring limbs trying to get a hit in on him. "Your behavior today has been truly abhorrent. I think we need to have a little talk, just because you're consort does not mean you can allow that kind of power go to your head. Now, I understand you've never had a power like Consort, but that doesn't mean you can abuse it, and it doesn't mean your above listening to the rules. You're new, and is already starting to assert yourself in situations you shouldn't be apart of. I'm gonna have everybody thinking I can't control you, and how long do you think my father will be willing to look away before doing something about it?"

Arthur was hoping mentioning his father would be enough to scare Merlin straight. Arthur had never met a man Uther didn't scare into compliance with just a look. His father was feared and respected, it was a kind of strength Arthur hoped he would be able to bear himself one of these days. Arthur was sure Merlin would be the same, falling completely over himself to get into the king's good graces. As he apparently thought Arthur himself wasn't worth the same honor bestowed upon a king.

Merlin scoffed, the cold stone of the ground was pressing sharply into his cheekbone, "Yeah, your father, the great powerful king with all the power in the world at his fingertips." The bitterness never seemed to leave him, the anger and hurt he felt in Arthur's betrayal of their 'wedding vows'. Yeah, he and his father had all the power in the world. Even the power to make a poor farm boy from the other side of the country into a marriage that would do anything and everything to test his resolve, to test how much longer he could stay standing, test how far he could be pushed before something would finally have to give. But they didn't know the real power in the world, not like Merlin did. They would never be able to watch a man on death's door be able to reunite with his daughter because of the power 'Merlin' had in his fingertips. But that kind of power wasn't anything that could help get him out of this life, it wasn't something meant to be used to change his reality until he found one that was more to his liking. He was stuck here. Arthur could say he had all the power in the world right at his fingertips, the power that came with being the Consort. But he didn't, not really. Merlin lifted his head off the stone floor just high enough, trying to look over his shoulder at the princely figure who'd made his back his new home. "And then there's you, and then there's me. And my power seems to be nothing more than having the ability watch my husband slinking off with some girl. My husband, who throws a hissy fit when a friend gives me a simple flower. And yet, I'm expected to have no emotion for what you're doing."

Arthur could feel his face heating up, and the little scratch marks on his wrist Merlin had left on him after shoving him away during that incident almost seemed to burn under the remember. He had the feeling that Merlin would never allow him to forget the moment he nearly lost his head. At least he had the decency to hide his discrepancy inside the privacy of his own room. Unlike Merlin, who'd worn it proudly right at his collarbone for anybody in the world to see. Arthur felt Merlin when he was starting to shift, clearly another attempt to push him off, but Arthur wasn't ready to get off just yet, and clamped his knees tighter on either side of his consort's waist to prevent tumbling sideways. He didn't trust Merlin to try taking off his ring again if they got up off the floor, and there was plenty he wanted to say to him while he had him here on the floor. A place where he couldn't escape or try his luck at throwing something at him again, the mark on his cheekbone burning at the thought. Besides he-that was when Merlin rolled his hips, Arthur's thoughts freezing abruptly as he managed to get higher up then he had any other time.

"Whoa! Stop that!" Arthur panicked, letting go of Merlin's hands so he could grab Merlin around the waist, his hands easily able to grab either side of the trim flesh covered by his clothing, and pushed Merlin's belly flat against the floor before he could do that damn hip roll again, he barely heard Merlin squawking in indignation underneath him. Arthur could feel his blood pulse warm in his veins, and it was obvious he was still a bit riled up after his visit with Clarissa, or maybe his body wasn't able to tell the difference between a woman's feminine form and a man's bumping into his. It would definitely have just explained the half-hearted twitch of his neither regions as the swell of Merlin's arse came up to rub against him down there, before it died off in response to Arthur's panicking state. Good. Little Arthur was clearly disappointed it wouldn't be seeing any action now that Lady Clarissa was gone, even if it 'was' smarter to send her off on her way, that didn't stop his body from responding to something horrifically inappropriate. The 'only' good thing was how it brought attention to how he was positioned on Merlin. Arthur might be sitting on his back, but if Merlin attempted to do that hip roll thing again to get him off, his own hips were in a prime position to get rubbed against. And with his legs spread on either side of Merlin, he would not have anything to protect himself against the assault on his lower body…he could not allow his body to think he was with Clarissa still.

"I'll stop when you get your fat arse off me!" the consort bellowed, some life returning to him as he tried to shake Arthur off. The color drained out of Arthur's face, unbeknownst to Merlin, who felt an uptick of his heart in a panic as Merlin started his wiggling in full force. Okay, this would be so much more worse than the innocent hip roll, Arthur was thinking in a full blown panic, raising himself up on his hunches so there would be no contact with his lower half and Merlin's. But he couldn't let Merlin up yet, not without him hearing what he had to say about certain things…but Arthur felt stupid, since even trying to hold Merlin in place didn't stop any of his wiggling. Arthur couldn't stop himself if he tried, his eyes dropping low to get a look at Merlin and his round bum wiggling under him…shit. The Prince suddenly felt like he was going to combust at how hot his face warmed, it was no wonder he was reacting. Merlin-this was the first time Arthur was looking-had a very feminine bum, all rounded and stuff.

"We…we still need to talk about something first," the prince croaked out, shooting his eyes up to look at the back of Merlin's head. Somewhere he decided would be a much safer option. At least until Merlin, who now had his hands free since the blond had moved his down to grab Merlin's waist, planted his hands firmly on the floor and tried to raise himself up. Merlin's leg slid from underneath his own, wedging itself underneath him in his next attempt to roll Arthur off of him. Arthur was going to forever deny the very manly hiss that worked its way out of his throat without his permission when he felt he got hit in the face with a sledgehammer. Merlin's arse had hit him in between the legs again and now…Arthur flipped out at the ungodly sight when he realized this new position was very…not something he should be looking for. All he would have to do was thrust forward and it would feel or at least look as if Arthur was…good god, he was not going there! Nope, no way, not in this lifetime of his. Clearly he needed to look at Merlin's face to remind himself that this was MERLIN, the thorn in his side. And not CLARISSA, the cute girl who'd left them alone.

Arthur ignored Merlin's growl of complaint when he grabbed roughly onto Merlin's hips, pulling him up further but not so far he would hit him between the legs again. He comforted himself with the idea of Merlin thanking him if he knew how awkward of a position he had been in, when he flipped Merlin onto his back, ignoring the gruff exhale that flew from Merlin's mouth when he hit the ground. The prince moved quickly before Merlin was able to get his bearings back, pushing Merlin's legs down between his own so he could climb up, sitting on Merlin's stomach and looking down at him with a sense of superiority. There, that was better, Arthur decided when he saw Merlin glaring up at him with beady eyes. Merlin was such a moron, it would've been hard to explain if he'd felt the little twitch his neither region had done against his thigh…and he was just gonna stop talking now before he bashed him head into something to get those odd thought out of mind…

"Like what?" Merlin asked, glaring up at the prince in this new position. When he'd been thrown over onto his back, he'd had a brief opening when he could have shoved Arthur off. But the window had closed before he could even move to execute the plan, Arthur's hands clamping down on his wrists like a vice and pinning each hand to the floor on either side of his head. His fingers twitched with apparent uselessness, Arthur was so heavy on top of him, there was no way he could get him off with his non-existent muscle mass. No, the fastest way to get him off would probably be to hear what the utter drivel coming out of his mouth would be next up. God, he couldn't even kick him in this position and flaring his legs about did nothing but caused the prince to put more of his fatarse on him.

Arthur blinked at Merlin's question, and it honestly took him a second to remember what he wanted to demand of him. It was hard to think, now that he had Merlin's face in front of him. He thought the changing their positions-where he was sitting on Merlin's chest and nowhere near the lower bits of his body, so the irritating brushing wouldn't be a problem any longer-would have been the better choice. But now he had Merlin glaring at him, and those blue eyes were still defiant even with him on his back and trapped…Arthur felt as if he had just gone brain dead for a second there. He wondered in a purely curiosity experimental way, if the boy would still look so defiant if Arthur had possibly a few dozen ropes or chains stretching him out and keeping him in place for Arthur to do his work on him, teach him the proper manner to behave by a few lashes every time Merlin acted out. Yeah…he would probably finally be able to rid Merlin of his defiance if he…

Arthur snapped himself out of that bubble really quick, before he could fall down the rabbit hole again. He cleared his gruff voice, remembering what he'd almost done the last time he assumed something without thinking it through, and quickly got himself on topic, "Don't act dumb. We need to talk about your behavior, and how you've allowed your new position to go to your head. Taking all of these liberties that you shouldn't, and I'm putting a stop to all of it!"

Arthur had gotten distracted when Clarissa had shown up in his room, trying to get him to bed her in a place he hadn't ever bedded anyone in-she'd been close to being the first in his room. He'd got distracted by Merlin's sudden entrance, and with trying to mediate between the two before things could blow up in all of their faces. He couldn't talk about this with Merlin running around his room like a lunatic-one of these days, Morris would kill him as this must be the third time his room had gotten destroyed in shambles since he'd met Merlin-and needing to catch him with the minimum amount of damage to his person. But now that he had Merlin in his grasp, where he couldn't escape, and now he no longer had to worry about Merlin feeling any odd twitching against his thigh-just a single bodily reaction to Clarissa leaving him high and dry, and nothing to do with the way Merlin 'accidentally' tried to rub him there-he could finally address the bigger issue that Morris had brought right to his attention before any of this other stuff happened.

"…What is that supposed to mean?" Merlin asked, relaxing flat against the floor, to muse over what stupidity Arthur was mad at him about this time, "I don't 'take liberties'-" he wasn't even sure what that portrayed too, and he almost wondered if he had hit Arthur in the head with that book harder then he thought he had. "In case you've forgotten, I've been doing everything under the sun to 'not' take liberties! Hell, I wasn't wanted in your life, so why would I take liberties with anything you have!"

Merlin would have said he was the last person to try and take 'liberties' with anything. Had he not tried his hardest to get a job of his own, so that he would be able to pay for his own way in this hell he called a life? Had he not moved out and found his own accommodations-albeit it was with his uncle, but that was beside the point-so he and the blond could finally get some much needed space away from the other. And yet, Arthur wanted to make an unfounded accusation against…what? What could he have 'possibly done' this time to upset him? Or the even better question, would Arthur finally hit him now that he had him in this very vulnerable position? It was why he had fought so hard when Arthur had been chasing him, throwing stuff just to get him away. He had thought…at first…despite his efforts, the only thing he accomplished would be now laying on his back. But other than keeping him here and irritating him, Arthur had yet to do something to hurt him.

In fact, Merlin had probably hurt him more than he had, the cut on Arthur's cheekbone staring him in the face. He didn't even feel guilty about it.

Arthur seemed to have read his mind, as the blond vividly remembered everything Merlin had done in an attempt to get away from him, which would be one thing about his consort he knew he wouldn't ever be able to understand-who would just up and leave a prince? Nobody in his experience-but the prince in question sneered down at Merlin with his confidence levels back up now that his crotch was nowhere near Merlin's, "Oh, you poor baby. Am I too cuddle you now? And tell you everything will be okay?" He layered his sarcasm on thickly, as a way of telling Merlin it would never happen. If the boy was expecting sympathy because-he-was the only to move out, he wouldn't find it here. Let him go crying to somebody else how absolutely 'awful' his new life full of riches were. And let somebody else shut him down for trying to play victim.

Arthur was the real victim! He'd never had to-not even once-sit on somebody and pin them down to prevent them from leaving, or running off, or even trying to remove a piece of jewelry that served as a mark for what family they belonged to. He'd not once had to wrestle, and get bruised up, and fight to keep somebody under his thumb before they'd ruin everything with their actions alone. So yes, he was the victim dealing with whatever world Merlin thought he was living in.

Merlin whose eyes very much looked to be an odd shade of electric blue in this moment, "I know for a fact that I don't want shit from you, Arthur." The consort lifted his head to bore deeply into the blue eyes of the man on top of him, trying to pull up his hands but all he managed was more of his fingers twitching, unable to break hold of his grip. It was probably for the best, Merlin had a feeling he was about to lunge forward and wrap his hands around Arthur's thick throat. Back when Merlin jumped on him, thinking he was going to kill Gwen, he'd been the one on top. If only Merlin knew how to do that trick Arthur had done to throw him on the bottom before he could do anything real.

Arthur scoffed directly in his face, acting as if the consort had just said the stupidest thing on this planet, "Is this some kind of act you like to put on for people? You'll tell me to my face that you want to refuse everything I had ever offered you-" the prince clenched his hands tighter around Merlin's wrists, feeling the palpable skin moving under his fingertips. "And then you go behind my back and treat my servants in whatever manner you please with? Was this just you trying to impress me with a bunch of lies! Well, the jokes on you because I'm not falling for it. My informant tells me everything you do when you're not around me."

The sad part was, Arthur wanted to believe Merlin when he said he didn't want anything from Arthur. But he should have known that was a lie, a simple thing concocted up to catch Arthur's attention, to draw his eye in a way he otherwise wouldn't have gotten. All of their fighting and their arguing, were those all lies too? They would frustrate Arthur to no ends, often sent his blood pulsing and racing to dangerous levels, made him think dangerous thoughts he shouldn't be…but they had been real. They had been a smart arse boy trying to assert himself, and no matter how much he tried to force the issue, he had almost liked how Merlin never seemed to bend to his will. He would always fight back with everything he had, making Arthur ask himself what exactly would it take to bend him to his will. Even if he never actually did anything to the boy. But that was a lie…and Arthur shouldn't be surprised to discover it was. Everyone wanted something from Arthur, that was just the way the life of a prince went, and it was up to Arthur to be able to figure out the honesty among lies. Merlin only had a more unique way of doing it than any other had.

And it left Arthur disappointed, knowing Merlin was just like everybody else.

"What informant?" Merlin demanded harshly, as he kicked out his legs in a useless attempt to kick Arthur off of him in his panic. Somebody watching him, somebody spying on him, seeing everything he was doing as the walls closed in on him until he felt as if there was nothing left to do but take hard breaths through his mouth. "Is it Gregory? I know he tells you what I'm doing, but I have absolutely no idea what your going on about!" But if Gregory was the 'informant' Arthur was talking about, why had he not just said that instead of trying to be all mysterious and freaking Merlin out. He'd been so careful too, sneaking in and out of his window, but then again…he would often leave for hours during a time. What if Gregory realized this and followed him, what if he knew…the only question remaining was why they were going through all of this. There was no way Arthur knew he was a sorcerer, Arthur would have him in chains already if he knew. This had to be something else, or he at least he hoped it was. Merlin shook his head, knocking bangs out of his eyes before barking defensively at Arthur, "How about you explain things instead of firing off baseless accusations at me! Because I haven't lied about a damn thing!"

Merlin did his best to mask his emotions, sure that Arthur would see the lie all over his face. So he did lie to Arthur, well Arthur had never actually asked him before so did it could as lying? Lying by being omissive? Arthur was one of the 'last' people on the planet he would want to find out he had magic running through his veins, if he didn't know about it. But that was also for his own self-preservation, nobody would fault Merlin for keeping that part of himself under wraps. Even now, he hoped Arthur wasn't able to see the magic behind his eyes, like a peek of his soul trying to peer out and see what was going on with him. But there was something that bothered him, Arthur had said he was…mistreating the servants? That was a riot, Merlin seemed to be the only one around here that was willing to talk too them and not just bark orders at them. Unless Arthur was talking about George, he supposed it was possible George had gone to the prince and complained after Merlin had fired him.

But was firing a servant because you didn't 'want' or need a servant and thought their work would've been better appreciated elsewhere, 'mistreating them'. With how weird and backwards Camelot was compared to home, nothing would surprise him.

"…It's not Gregory." Arthur chewed out, he was almost offended Merlin thought Gregory was the only one around here that would tell him stuff. He had gotten another missive report about an hour ago from Gregory, mixed in with many of his items and papers strewed across the floor. According to Gregory, his consort had been spending an awful lot of time in his room, and was still in there trying to stay safe from the sickness. Although Gaius had apparently left at some point…apparently just one guard wasn't something that would work on Merlin if he was able to slip out so easily without his own guard noticing. Maybe he should just get a set of handcuff's and handcuff the boy's wrist to his, it would be pretty hard to escape them. "But it 'was' Morris."

"…Morris…" Merlin repeated slowly, scowling with deadly intent on the man above him. Correction, he thought, there was one thing that would have been able to surprise him. He'd done had at least three confrontations with Morris over the last few days: one would have been the time at the water pump. Another would have been when Merlin had stopped him from tormenting Gwen. And the last was when Merlin had ran into him in front of those council chamber doors. And any one of them had caused something to be stirred up. Merlin would find he was more or less agitated because the one and only reason Arthur refused to let him up was because of something Morris had done. "I don't know what he's got to do with any of this."

Arthur gritted his teeth, "Morris thought it would be best to inform me that you bossing him around even though he's my servant," his eyes wondered over Merlin's face, looking for any sign of possible deception or movement that indicated he planned to lie straight through his teeth. He saw when the consort's mouth popped open, Arthur's own eyes dropped to the pink flesh before he was quick to interrupt, "He claims you ordered him about when he was doing a favor for your friend Gwen. He was very frank with me, about how you threw around your power in his face, forcing him to listen to you as Consort. 'That' is what I meant by taking your liberties with my servants."

And then Arthur held his breath, deciding it would be best for no more interruptions. As much as he did not want to prove Morris true, as much as he did not want to hear Merlin stumbling through one lie after another, he needed to know the truth of their situation more.

Merlin blinked, recalling very vividly the one and only time he had ever claimed he was consort to make things go with his. When he'd ordered the manservant out of Morgana's chambers because of his abhorrent behavior towards Gwen, she had looked frazzled and freaked by the fighting going on, so he'd done what he had to do to get Gwen away from him. Merlin wouldn't have called that one 'incident' taking liberties. There was only one thought in his mind though, "…he tattled on me?"

Just when Merlin thought Morris couldn't get any more annoying or weird than he already was, he'd gone and tattled on him. Not even to his mother but to someone, Merlin supposed, Morris figured was the one 'in charge' of him. And that, as much as Merlin hated to admit it, was actually very well-played. Morris could get his side of the story out to Arthur while playing victim, leaving Merlin with attempting to scramble and savage his dignity in front of Arthur.

Arthur chewed on his inner cheek, "Morris wasn't tattling, he was informing me of your ill behavior." He enunciated this firmly as he repeated it, acting as if a difference in words changed what had been done. But Arthur refused to use the word 'tattle' in conjunction to what Morris had done. Merlin was a problem child, and clearly in the wrong. The blond was starting to see who Merlin really was-an awful greedy and selfish person who'd play any different role he needed to in front of different people. This liar, a fake, something Arthur should have known was right in front of him. Somebody who had the nerve to rebuffed him and every attempt Arthur had at least 'made' to make Merlin have a more comfortable time here in the castle. Just because he wanted to show to Arthur that he was different from everybody else. But that different seemed to be nothing more than a lie meant to draw him in.

Merlin groaned under his breath, once again he pulled at his arms to test the strength of Arthur's grip, but his hands didn't budge. Well, it looked as if he would have to explain himself and get things resolved, "Did he also tell you how disrespectful he was being to Gwen? He was getting all up into her face and yelling at her. He wasn't helping her with anything! So yeah, I stepped in and made him stop. Something I would hope 'you' would've done if you saw what I had!" Merlin had a feeling Morris had left a few key details of their confrontation out when he'd been talking to Arthur. Even Arthur-the guy who got pissed off over every little thing he'd ever done, wouldn't get this mad over a situation like this.

"That's not the story I heard!" Arthur snapped, his face barely a foot away from Merlin's. Spittle could have been flying from his lips if he was even just a little less dignified than a prince ought to be. You know, as dignified as a person could be when they were sitting on someone's chest and holding their hands down, "Morris told me he was helping her with getting caught up on her chores! She needed the help and Morris was pleased to offer whatever expertise he has on the matter of servitude. And I actually do think it's quite honorable for a servant to help another servant who doesn't seem good enough to do her own duties. And then you came out of nowhere, took it the wrong way and flew off the handle at him. That," Arthur stopped to bare at Merlin with his teeth in a threatening manner, like he was planned to rip Merlin's throat out with his own teeth. "Was very, very wrong of you to do."

This whole conversation seemed to be on a moot point considering Gwen was currently residing in a jail cell, so who cared if Merlin and Morris had got in a scuffle over her. But that didn't stop Merlin as he laughed about it, throwing his head back onto the cold stone behind him. And when he saw the way Arthur was staring at him, it only caused him to laugh some more. This hysterical laughter one would do only if they were being painstakingly, slowly driven insane. Merlin legit couldn't help or stop himself, even as his sides ached and he felt it hard to breath. It was as if Arthur didn't even have a brain, or was just content to believe the very first drivel he heard from the wrong person he should be listening to. Because Morris? Merlin thought madly in the depths of his mind. Arthur was going to listen to Morris out of all people. But why was he surprised? It was only expected for Arthur to believe anybody under the sun before he would ever believe Merl-Merlin cut himself off abruptly as his lighter died off into a hiccuping cry.

"Er…" Arthur eased the pressure he was putting on Merlin's wrists, looking around the room with hope that somebody would just show up and help him to figure out what was going on. He'd thought his consort had finally snapped and was now going to fall into insanity, a perfectly legitimate reason for him to be kept locked up and away from all of the decent people in the world. But that was before it looked like there were tears building in the corner of Merlin's eyes. He knew he hadn't hurt him! He hadn't left a mark on the boy, so what the hell was he about to start crying for. Maybe this was all just a part of his little act? Show some fake tears to try and get Arthur's sympathy, as if the prince was a puppet whose strings Merlin could play around to his heart's content. Such a spoiled, spoiled thing, thinking Arthur would fall for such a weak trick like this, especially since Morris had opened his eyes to Merlin's deceiving nature. Merlin had obviously forgotten what his place around here was, acting as if he was born to rule with the same poise and birthright Arthur himself had. Merlin did not carry Arthur's title just because they were married, and it was time he was reminded of that. Arthur made to gentle his tone, speaking softly to the little boy beneath him, "Now, I can understand how all this is still new to you-"

Merlin interrupted him with a scathing laugh, he knew enough to know what to expect. He would not call himself 'new' to these parts anymore, not since he already knew Arthur was about to start in on some crap again. He was actually expecting for the prince to throw him out of his room on his arse at any moment, tired of dealing with the 'antics' of his consort. This was probably the only reason he didn't even try to hide his wet eyelashes-with any way he could considering his arms were still being pinned by his head-because he 'wanted' Arthur to finally see him. To see him in all of his sad glory, to let him know Merlin was Here. And Arthur could be the one to try breaking him down, might even be the one to succeed one of these days, but as of right now, Merlin wasn't going anywhere.

"But I've been nice to you so far." Arthur continued on, sneering in disgust as he disapproved greatly of Merlin's disrespectful behavior. It was clearer to Arthur more than ever, that Merlin had forgotten his place in this city. Had forgotten where it was he belonged. And hint: it wasn't beside Arthur, nor was it in any type of leadership role if Arthur had a say in anything. He saw Merlin when he opened his mouth to scoff again-disrespectful as always-and Arthur reacted before he could.

Merlin hissed in pain when Arthur's loosened grip on his wrists became unbearably tight again, and forcing Merlin to feel every curve or callous as it decorated the prince's fingertips, his bare wrists burning at the contact. This wasn't funny anymore and Merlin wondered rather or not this was what Arthur meant by being 'nice to him'. Because if it was, Arthur had a lot to learn. And Merlin had no patience to teach him tricks of the trade, or what a bit of kindness might get you. If Arthur had shown him 'any' kindness during his two month stay here then maybe their relationship wouldn't be nearly as volatile as it was now.

"You have no idea what I can do to you while your in this position, do you?" Arthur asked before he was able to stop himself, keeping Merlin's eyes on him sorely. He suddenly felt like a man possessed in a way he should never allow himself to be, and all because he had this desperation to keep those eyes on him. Merlin should continue to look at him always, should look to Arthur for the guidance and the strength he would need if he hoped to keep a life in this city. Arthur saw Merlin blink, the clumps of his wet eyelashes drawing it out, and this only caused Arthur to stretch his body. Going achingly slow and watching Merlin's every body movement in a strange reenactment of when Arthur had him pinned to that bloody pillar in the council room, he started sliding Merlin's wrists further up above his head.

"And…what are you planning on doing to me in this position, Arthur?" Merlin asked of him, face going impeccably blank. Arthur didn't like this at all, did not like Merlin showing him just how fake he was, even if the use of his name sent a sudden fire to roaring in his belly, encouraging and egging him on to show Merlin his dominance, to have him be the one to submit to him. He wanted to see Merlin be real with him for once, to be privy to see what hid behind those blue eyes of his. But Arthur also remembered how badly he'd almost screwed up when he thought Merlin wanted him to beat him with his lash, so he watched very carefully for any true signs of discomfort or fear as he lifted up the consort's arms until they were all the way above his head.

Arthur could feel the way Merlin stretched up his body beneath him, arching his back as he tried to accumulate the new positioning. Arthur grinned in wicked intent when he saw Merlin trying to roll his shoulders in discomfort, the arms Arthur would be relentlessly keeping above his head pulling at him as if he was on a the Rack. The Rack was a torture device rarely used nowadays, kept buried down in the dungeons somewhere. It was used to tie down a prisoner's arms and legs before somebody used the crane to stretch them until their limbs literally ripped from their bodies. And while Arthur would never want to see Merlin on such a contraption-he much preferred doing it himself-the discomfort on Merlin showed him this was a good second choice in getting his attention. And he was quite pleased with this as well. Merlin might be showing Arthur a bit of discomfort, but the consort didn't break and didn't start thrashing in an attempt to get him off.

No. Fake or not, Merlin was stronger than that, the prince pleased this strength wasn't apart of an act to get on his good side. It made Arthur even more eager to see how much he could push before that consort of his broke under the careful touch of his fingertips.

Arthur leaned down, pressing his own chest so it was flat against Merlin's so the consort could feel just how much heavier and stronger he was than himself. The prince reveled in the power, seeing it kept Merlin's full attention directly on him. And he leaned down, feeling the way Merlin moved away his head as best as he could, the little tugs he give on his arms to wiggle free-but not trying nearly as hard as Arthur thought he should be-his heart was beating so harshly that Arthur could feel it coming straight out Merlin's chest and into his own. This left Arthur content and cocky, knowing Merlin had no chance of hiding anything from him.

Arthur didn't stop lowering his head until he had his chin brushing Merlin's twitching shoulder, and he purposely blew a breath of hot air onto Merlin's earlobe sticking out. He felt with satisfaction, the way Merlin shivered beneath him. Good, the blond thought to himself. There was some things Merlin hadn't been able to be fake about-now that Arthur had caught him and knew the truth of his horrible deceptions-and his reaction to Arthur was one of them.

"You don't even want to know." Arthur whispered heatedly in Merlin's ear, his voice gruff even to his own ears. Dry. His thumb purposely scraped one of his worse callouses along the wrist bone jutting out of Merlin's hand, and he smirked pleased as he saw Merlin shuddering against him. Not in fear though, he thought pleased. Merlin wouldn't break from a few harsh squeezes. But this did prove to him, maybe Merlin's little crush on him had been real after all. And maybe he wasn't over it like he claimed.

"I thought-" Merlin squeezed his eyes shut and a silent gasp worked it's way out of his mouth as he felt the softer brush of Arthur's lips up against the top of his ear, so soft he couldn't even be sure if he imagined it. And therefore, couldn't tel rather or not it had been done on purpose or was just an accident due to his close proximity. Merlin forced himself to swallow hard, and kicked at his dry lips as he vaguely recognized Arthur's go-to attempt at getting answers from him. Making it hard far too hard for him to think properly. "I thought we were talking about Gwen."

"Oh, we are." Arthur said, but his voice came out dark and sinister, punishing squeezes against his slim wrists sent another shudder racking through Merlin's body. He didn't like where this might be going, the warmth bubbling in his stomach that he was starting to recognize had something to do with Arthur's dark and ever looming presence was apparent again, betraying the anger he stormed in here with. He didn't think the bubbling was fear as he knew what fear was. And this wasn't it. "I have been informed it would be best for me to do my due diligence and give you a proper education on behavior and how things are around here. And our first lesson will involve Gwen, and how you should not get yourself involved in matters that concerns the servants. Not their disputes, not how they get their chores completed. Is that understood?"

Merlin was pretty sure whatever Arthur was told about his lack of education, this wasn't what they meant. He was sure being educated would involve far many more books, and papers, and actually being taught. Not a crushing weight on his chest as Arthur insisted on sitting on him. Merlin felt his face scrunch up, the ache in his shoulder being more apparent the longer he was forced into this position, "And? What would you have preferred I'd done instead after seeing Morris berating Gwen as he was?" He kept Arthur talking, his eyes looking over Arthur's shoulder to where the hangings on his bed were ripped. There was only one corner of it still clinging to the top of the bed, and he kept his eyes focused on the red cloth like a lifeline.

"You are supposed to do nothing." Arthur spoke to him, not surprising Merlin with that response. But what did surprise him was when Arthur moved his face away from Merlin's ear. Merlin felt his mouth involuntarily drop open at the rough scrape of his cheek against his own, and the soft brush of lips-once again so softly he didn't know if it had been deliberate or accidental. Merlin stiffened though, so stiff that he could have passed for a board. He might be willing to play these little games with the prince, might be willing to show a little affection he knew as false wasn't enough to dim him down completely, but an indirect kiss-even only against the furthest side of his face-was going a step too far even for him. Arthur seemed to sense this and retreated back to his ear, not wishing to give their game a rest quite yet, "If your version of events truly happened, all Gwen has to do is talk to the castle steward and make a report-" the guy who gave all the servants in the castle their list of daily chores, was also the guy that would handle any of their personal disputes with the other. "Or if Gwen didn't want to, she could have gone straight to her mistress, and have Morgana take care of it. Hell, she could have came to me if Morris was behaving so abnormal."

Merlin felt a spike of rage go through him at that, a kind that burned him up right from the insides. He thought it was lucky how Arthur had kept his head close to his neck, because it stopped him from the sight of golden eyes, vivid and molted. That cloth Merlin had been staring at so intensely ripped, the hangings falling completely to land with this heavy thump on the bed itself. Arthur didn't seem to act like he heard it at all. And Merlin growled, "Are you so sure Gwen knows she can go to you?" And the consort jerked his arms so harshly, trying to force them out of their tightening bonds, that it almost caused Arthur to fall over.

Arthur caught his balance easily, pulling Merlin's arms more taut as punishment and hearing the hiss between Merlin's teeth when he realized he'd been successful. But Arthur pulled himself up and leaned his weight against his hands wrapped firm on Merlin's wrist, so that he could look down at his consort properly, bringing his knees up under him so that he was kneeling over Merlin instead of just sitting on him, "What are you talking about? Gwen knows full well that she can come to me if she has a problem. If someone, like you claim, had been harassing her, then I would have put a stop to it."

It seemed as if their game had paused for a time being, the heat building between two impossible forces dying off with the conversation, "And how often do you actually talk to Gwen?" Merlin asked the prince furiously, being spurn on by apparent confusion all over the prince's features. Looking as if it had never once occurred to him that one of his subjects felt uncomfortable to broach a topic to him where they were being given harm, "And I mean actually talk 'too' her. Not just 'at' her while you pass in the hallways. Do you even talk to her when you walk by, even a gentle hello? Because I have been here for at least two months, and I do not think I've seen you talking to any servant if it's not to bark orders. So tell me, what would make you think for even on second, that she would ever come to you."

Arthur opened his mouth to explain exactly why he knew Gwen would have came to him. But the words died in his throat before an utter escaped him. He…Arthur was the prince, the keeper of the kingdom, the safeguard between those inside and the ones who stood outside trying to seek a way to destroy them. But…that wasn't the answer he knew Merlin was looking for. A petty squawk that happened between servants seemed like it would be something beneath him. But Merlin had clearly expected him to get involved, if the matter the two were discussing was actually serious…Arthur was able to think with honestly, he couldn't remember the last time he had an actual conversation with Morgana's handmaiden. The last time he'd said a thing to her, was when he had been arresting her for witchcraft. But surely Gwen knew she could've trusted him, but that was only if Merlin's side was true. And he wasn't making this whole thing up to get even with Morris after the few disputes he had witnessed between the two of them.

Merlin laughed, scornful and bitter when he saw that Arthur had no definite answer for him, "That is exactly what I was thinking." He shook his head with bitter disgust, tugging on his arms again as he brought up the fact that Arthur was still caging him in like some kind of prisoner. Arthur didn't let go yet though, having the deepest feeling that he had really disappointed Merlin with his answer. If not moreso than any other fight or dispute the two of them have had themselves. "Gee, you wouldn't be all over me about this if you heard the way your 'manservant' was barking at Gwen. It was verging on 'us' territory. But hey, who knows, maybe you would still figure out someway on making this my fault entirely."

Arthur opened his mouth, wanting to be offended because he and Merlin didn't fight 'that much'. Not enough for Merlin to claim a fight between two of these other people could be leveled out by an 'us' territory. But, that would be a lie. As every single conversation they've ever had seemed to fall into another argument about something else. It was a volatile and dangerous relationship dynamic they had but…it was just what it was. It wouldn't be the worse thing in the world, surely this sickness was worse than their constant fighting…right?

"Besides," Merlin broke in his thoughts, glaring up at him with a harsh and judgement look in his eyes and Arthur suddenly felt really stupid for being on Merlin like this. It suddenly didn't seem all that fun anymore, trying to get underneath Merlin's skin or trying to drag answers out of him by using such an unconventional method. It was why he had moved away when he'd felt Merlin stiffen up the second his lips had accidentally brushed along the boy's cheekbone. Because it wasn't fun if he 'actually' scared Merlin. "If Gwen had magic like everybody is claiming, then wouldn't she have already used it herself to stop Morris from treating her like that?"

Arthur waited a second, letting the sour taste that formed in his mouth before pushing himself up so he was sitting on Merlin, no longer holding down his wrists, "Is that what this is about? You think if you can somehow dis-credit Morris, it's going to make a better case for Gwen? That she still won't be tried for witchcraft just because she 'could' be using her magic if Morris sets her off?" Although it was hard to imagine anybody being able to set off sweet Gwen. But being sentenced to execution for witchcraft could also really change a person. Even cause a person to act irrational on the rare one in a million chance someone was actually proven to be an innocent. Arthur didn't like the idea that his consort might be trying to punish Morris, going so far as to throw him under the carriage just to save Gwen. He'd thought-for even a second deep in the back of his mind-that Merlin was better than that. But if he was willing to throw away one innocent to save another who was his friend, that Merlin had not even the potential to be a half-decent consort of Camelot. Arthur had already thought he would do a horrid job, but this made it clear just how bad their city would be if anything happened to him for the kingdom to pass down to Merlin. Or what kind of shambles it would really be left in if he had lost it due to infidelity.

"Gwen 'doesn't' have magic." Merlin enunciated as he took full advantage of having his arms free. He didn't sit up quite yet, but he did enjoy being able to relax his arms, loose and languidly above him. "And I'm not throwing Morris under a carriage. I'm just poking holes in your assumption of that Gwen is even capable of magic. Besides, your father had so much fun poking holes in everything I tell him, I thought it would be fun doing the same." He could also say with confidence, Gwen probably didn't so much as hold an affinity for magic. Not everybody could, it was a rare gift indeed. And Merlin was on the top of the rarest of magic-users.

Arthur chewed on the inside of his cheek, before he decided he needed to defend his manservant against whatever onslaught Merlin thought he was doing just to defend Gwen who was already within such serious trouble, "You know, Morris didn't act like he wanted to tell me at all. He even seemed to be ashamed of bringing it to my attention, it's not often a servant can rightfully complain about their nobles. But he felt as if I deserved to know, which is something I can appreciate if you are stepping out of line. That's exactly what I need, somebody to be a loyal follower." He looked down his nose at Merlin, as if telling him that was exactly what the prince thought Merlin wasn't, a loyal and devoted follower to the Pendragon family.

"Yeah, I'm sure Morris didn't want to bring me into it at all." Merlin said, with this great roll of his eyes, as he caught Arthur's meaning. Merlin stopped his taking just long enough to pull himself upward, so he was leaning back on his elbows and no longer giving Arthur the opportunity to pin him down if he caught the urge again. "Let me guess, he was the one to bring this up in the first place? That seems to be awfully convenient considering Morris didn't want to talk about it." Merlin wasn't stupid, Arthur might actually be dumb enough to be buying what Morris was selling him, but Merlin knew this would most likely be the manservant's attempt at paying him back for enforcing him to leave.

Arthur opened his mouth to argue back, because Merlin was so obviously wrong. And he didn't get to just insult the integrity of his servants. Merlin, who hadn't even been here that long and wouldn't have any of the trust one would build up between years of servitude. Even if Merlin was right, Morris had been the one to bring it up, that didn't have any bearings on the conversation and didn't mean anything. Morris had literally thrown himself onto his knees, because he feared he had disrespected Arthur by bringing ill matters to attention. And the prince knew this was not the way somebody was going to act just to fool him. It had to be the truth …it had to be.

"Why are you even listening to him anyway?" The consort suddenly questioned, pushing himself up further again, so he could sit up straight, but was still leaned back. Only on his hands instead of his elbows. And Arthur had to scoot backwards, so he wouldn't fall over, sitting awkwardly over Merlin's bended knees. But Merlin watched the prince with a startling intensity in his eyes, needing to know the prince's thought process on this one. Morris was nothing more than a scrawny little rat, who'd do anything he could to land on top-on top of him at the moment, it would seem. Surely even Arthur was able to recognized this undignified quality his manservant seemed to bare with pride.

"Wh-I-" Arthur stuttered through his answer as he went stiff, not even sure why he wasn't getting up with he had Merlin's knee digging straight into his inner thigh, it was the perfect position to have his consort give him another kick to the groin. But he was caught up in the intensity in Merlin's suddenly vivid blue eyes, his brain going dead for a moment before he caught himself and shook his head with franticness to respond, because after all, a Prince did not stutter his way through life. He spoke with concise wording and didn't hesitate with any one of his answers, or at least that was what he'd been taught by his Royal Tutors. He decided to apply that knowledge to this conversation before he felt his brain freeze again, "I'm doing it because of you, obviously."

Why else would Arthur be going so hard to prove Morris' truth other than applying the own lessons that Merlin had taught him. Maybe Arthur actually had gone through his own trauma during the awful Valiant situation. He didn't even want to think over what might have happened if Knight Gregory had not brought Knight Charles to him for confession. If Arthur had believed Merlin back then, he would not have been stressing out on where Merlin was before his final showdown with the knight. Arthur could have handled everything before it grew into a proper fight for the boy's hand in the field. And whose to say something awful wouldn't be on the crusp of happening if he set aside Morris' claims now. Maybe Merlin would grow entitled and learn to make false allegations to play Arthur like he was a puppet, because he knew Arthur would handle it.

"…Say that again?" Merlin asked of him, frowning deeply and not sure at all how to take that. What did he have to do with Arthur's decision to blindly follow along with whatever Morris told him. Since it seemed as if Arthur hadn't even bothered with checking the facts, and decided Morris must have been telling him the gospel truth. He must really hate Merlin though, the consort decided with this twisted scowl forming on his face, since he would rather trust a slime ball rat like Morris instead of Merlin, who felt he had already proven himself to not be a liar. Well, not a liar about things he would not be killed for if discovered.

Arthur let a frustrated breath out his mouth, as if he thought Merlin was being the stupid one for his inability to understand this whack conversation as it formed between them, "Because of everything that happened with Valiant." He realized only after he said it, when he saw Merlin's eyebrows crease together, he should have been a bit more delicate on the matter. Despite the travesty's Merlin would cause him, had been causing him in the last day or so alone, it didn't give Arthur the right to bring up such awful memories. Merlin was quite possibly in arms over accusing Morris over false matters, but a possible sexual assault shouldn't be on the table for discussion. Arthur cleared his tone, carefully speaking in a more delicate tone, "You didn't lie to me then, even if I thought you did. If I had believed you the whole time, then you wouldn't have had to watch me slay him later on. I could have had the situation properly handled in privacy instead."

"You…" Merlin trailed off, acting incomprehensible in this moment. Merlin would have almost said this was sweet, in a strange Arthur kind of way. Merlin hadn't realized Valiant seemed to have this bigger impact on Arthur than he had on Merlin. All Merlin had done was lock all his Valiant memories away in a box somewhere in the back of his mind, very content to leave him there to gather dust. Arthur killing him had been very…gruesome…in nature, but Merlin wasn't exactly scared off by it, people were almost expected to die in such heinous and strenuous fights. But that didn't escape the fact that Arthur was…, "You utter moron!"

Arthur jolted up in surprise, "W-what?" the prince was left stuttering, not understanding what he had done to upset Merlin with this. He thought he was being chivalrous, taking one of the only lessons he learned from Merlin to heart, and showing he was smart enough to recognize when something was wrong and needed to be stopped. Maybe Merlin was a hypocrite as well, and didn't think the rules in life applied to him as well.

"Just because I was right about one instant!" the consort shouted at him, glaring so hard his thick eyebrows came together in the center of his pale forehead. "Doesn't mean you can apply that with everything! You can't just believe the first instant someone comes to you and starts weaving around some random tall tale!" Merlin sneered this out in disgust. Not only was Arthur an abusive arse, but he was a patronizing one as well. None of this was showing Merlin Arthur 'actually' had some kind of sweetness buried in there somewhere. It showed Merlin that Arthur was willing to believe anybody under the sun, other than the one thing Merlin was trying to tell him now.

Arthur might be willing to 'believe' Merlin, but the second somebody else told him different, then it's what he would believe. It happened when he had told Arthur about Valiant and his father dismissed his claims. And now it was happening because of his creepy manservant who apparently just loved to stir up drama as much as Clarissa did. He just needed Arthur to grow a brain for once, so he was able to see for himself who he could and who he couldn't trust. To be able to pick apart what one person told him and see the lies buried within the pretty word play.

"And what?" The prince exclaimed, while leaning forward to loom over Merlin in this very awkward balance on his knees, reacting to Merlin's yell in a sharp and vicious manner. "Am I supposed to just trust what only you say!" Clearly, things were far worse than Arthur had thought. Where his consort had gotten so entitled, he thought his opinion and his word was the only thing that should matter to Arthur. This, Arthur figured, was all Gwen's fault in a way. She was the one arrested for witchcraft and she was the main center in this fight happening to Merlin and Morris and himself. He 'knew' allowing Merlin to hang out with Gwen was a bad idea right from the start. And now he was stuck dealing with this matter because he hadn't stuck with his own instincts and enforced Merlin into compliance with staying away from the servants.

"No…" Merlin spoke up, body trembling from what could only be an unspoken rage building up under his skin. "I suppose you shouldn't." Because even he knew, the man that threatened to strike at him, who threatened to hurt him as if he didn't do that on the daily with just his actions alone, wouldn't help him. The man that held his down and tried to do weird things to him, who climbed on top of him and held him down on solid objects just to get any kind of rise out of him…it had been his mistake to come here and try asking for help against the sea creature bathing in their water supply. He saw that now. Something he should have already known far before he'd humiliated himself by coming here.

Arthur seemed to sigh, looking down at his hands sitting on his own thighs as if something seemed to be weighing on him. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he determined rather or not this was something they needed to get into. But ultimately, he decided it would be best to rip off the modern day bandaid and allow Merlin the time he knew he would need to get over this, "I think it might be the time you finally let Gwen go." Because there was literally nothing Arthur could find in his own letters that indicated his knights had found anything that could exonerate Gwen from the crimes she's been charged with. She was also a bad influence on his consort, and would need to be closely monitored if she ever got out. But honestly, Arthur didn't see any scenario in which Gwen got out of this alive to begin with.

"…Excuse me?" Merlin said dumbly, positive that he had to have heard Arthur wrong. There was no way Arthur had just told him to 'give up' on Gwen. Not when he knew he was so close to having an actual answer. They already knew there was that mud monster literally swimming in their supply of water. There was no way Gwen had enough magic to summon such a creature, Merlin doubted he'd be able to do it himself. Well, Arthur didn't know of it, but Merlin found himself less inclined to speak of it to him. If Arthur was basically going to claim him a liar over Morris, then whose to say he would not do the same over the creature? Merlin would just be wasting his time and his breath trying to get Arthur to come with him. He could still feel his ears ringing with a dull hum after hearing his own husband uttering something so stupid…

Arthur sighed again, only much deeper and more exhausted than he had the first time. He expected for Merlin to be upset with him, what Arthur hadn't expected was for Merlin to look as if he'd actually slapped him. And while yes, Arthur would want his consort to shut up for once, this hadn't been how he imagined it happening, "Look," the prince said, as he knew all of this was very regrettable, but it was also something that needed to be done. "I do understand how hard this must be, but you know I have never approved of your growing friendship with Guinevere."

"Get the fuck off me!" Merlin exclaimed, kicking at his feet in response to Arthur's callous attitude to a human life, looking wild and untamed as he was fighting with a ferocity to get the prince off from where he sat on his knees. Arthur grunted when a knee came 'far' too close to his delicate bits, but not so close as to come in direct contact. He also didn't want to risk another incident like that, and clambered quickly to his feet to avoid it. And his husband followed suit, practically throwing him up to his feet.

"Merlin! I think you need to calm down so that we can discuss your involvement in what's left of the handmaiden's life". Arthur spoke calmly, he'd half-expected this was the reaction Merlin would give him. He supposed he could have just pinned the consort down again, tried to distract him with his lingering harsh touches meant to muddle his mind and give him the answers he sought. But this was something that needed to be seriously addressed. Even with Merlin's abhorrent behavior, he truly did deserve to know there was nothing left for Gwen. And they should be spending their energy sorely focused on getting Merlin out of his deal. Besides, with how volatile Merlin was, holding him down as he went through this fit of rage would probably be more dangerous to him than anything else.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down!" Merlin shouted at him, anybody would have know telling him this was a sure fire way to rile him up given the circumstances. "There is no bloody discussion because I'm not discussing my life or my choices with somebody like you! We are not having 'yet' another, fight over who I'm friends with! And yes, I am friends with Gwen! Her name is Gwen, not the 'handmaiden' so stop trying to dehumanize her to make you feel good about yourself! And maybe you should remember, a servant is exactly what I would have been if I hadn't married you!"

Merlin's eyes practically glowed with an inner fire Arthur had never taken stock in before. But maybe he should, because the conviction in those eyes might have resonated with Arthur. If this was not one of these 'I need Merlin to just listen to me for once or he's going to get himself killed' type of conversations.

Merlin continued to yell at him, determined to be heard in a place people thought he shouldn't allow to speak against, "You might be content to leave her to die, but I'm not going too! I'm not going to stop until I'm dead and gone beside her!" There had been so many times Arthur had told him how wrong it was being friends with a servant. Even on their wedding, one of their very first post-wedding talks had been Arthur trying to lay down the law on him. All this crap about how he had status now and couldn't run around with whoever he wanted since it reflected badly on Arthur. That people like them were meant to rule with the crown, and was needed to keep themselves reined in to this awful stifling degree for the people to keep their faith in the Royal family. Or something to that degree, as Merlin refused to believe or follow such drivel and nonsense.

"Do not put words into my mouth." Arthur said to him firmly, before he sighed heavily, looking as if he was in pain from bringing this up. Merlin didn't understand that, what in the world did Arthur have to be 'pained' about. It was Gwen who was going to death's door. It was Merlin that was going to be following her seconds later. Arthur wasn't apart of this if he didn't want to actually help. Merlin would not be interested in some poor half-arsed attempt that would just set them back further rather than actually helping them. "But I have literally found not a shred of evidence that proves you are right about Gwen. I've done exhausted everything I'm able to do. I even tried, because of your insistence when she was first arrested, to try talking with my father. But unless you're able to pull something to fix this, Gwen and yourself are going to die."

Merlin looked startled to hear this, surprised with the knowledge that Arthur tried to talk in Gwen's offense at all. After the council meeting, Merlin just figured Arthur was nothing but a hammer who was content to do what his father wanted without having to think for himself. But speaking with her behalf in mind the one time didn't mean anything to Merlin, as it looked like nothing more than one weak attempt to assuage his guilt after hearing all of their screams as they were burned alive. It was also the perfect moment to tell Arthur what he'd seen in their waters, but…they didn't know what it was or how to kill it. Going down there and facing a volatile creature like that, he would just be going to get them both killed and Gwen would follow on the pyre by morning.

Merlin turned away, glaring at the floor and hoping Arthur wouldn't see the indecision flashing across his face, "Yeah." He said harshly, glaring pointedly with a sharp intake of breath. "I'm sure you've did everything you could have." He interjected all the sarcasm and righteous anger deep into his voice to let Arthur know he wasn't pleased with him in the least. But he'd already made his decision, he wasn't going to be telling Arthur a damn thing in regards to the monster. Besides, all Arthur had was a sword to protect himself with. What good was that going to be against a monster from the lagoon. Merlin had magic, he would probably be better equipped at handling himself anyway. And he could almost bring the creature's head straight to Uther to show him what's been happening with the water.

Merlin didn't need Arthur's help at all. He could go cuddle up with Clarissa or whatever he did when Merlin wasn't around, and Merlin could do the real work to freeing Gwen. He wasn't going to drop his everything like Arthur wanted him too, so his one of the only real friends he had would be left to her fate.

Arthur raised up a hand as if it cut Merlin off long before he could say anything else, "Now, Merlin, I understand how upsetting this can be-" Merlin felt the urge to scoff and roll his eyes in disgust, what did Arthur know about anything. He was content to sit back and watch things happen, instead of standing up, making waves among these stiffed up royals who couldn't care less. Maybe Merlin was at fault here, and should just stop seeing the prince as anything more than one of the dozens of royals who wiped their arses with silken cloths as their innocent citizens sat in a cold pit waiting until they were thought of again. "But you cannot allow your temper to get the best of you. And I think this anger your showing me about Gwen is the cause for you lashing out right now. That is why you are projecting all of your anger onto Morris. All of the stress is causing you to see things that just aren't there. Maybe you believe what you said about him is true, or maybe you are just…"

Arthur trailed off when he realized he might have gone too far by dragging Merlin's possible mental illness into things. And he had started out so good with his speech. He'd even wanted to add in how Merlin should keep that fire burning inside of him, so he'd be better prepared to fight proper during the next situation. Arthur didn't believe Gwen was worthy of Merlin trying to destroy himself when he knew she was already a goner. His father's mind was already set long before Merlin had made that deal. Which was something they 'really' needed to focus on. Merlin still had a shot if they were able to convince his father he'd made a mistake. Gwen was a lost cause. But now Merlin was glaring right at him, and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to convince Merlin to focus on himself this time.

"I will not tell you again, I do not have any sort of mental illness!" Merlin shouted, as loud as he was able to, trying to enforce the message into the dim witted skull that refused to accept that this was just Merlin's normal behavior, enforced by Arthur's abuse. He was practically daring Arthur to hit him with his eyes alone, to show Merlin just one more reason as to why he couldn't trust him. Arthur was probably used to people jumping through hoops to please him, but Merlin would rather set fire to himself than be one of them.

"Okay, okay." Arthur put his hands up as if he was trying to soothe a savage beast, meant only to be the one to placate Merlin rather than believing him as he said this for the umpteenth time. Patronizing was what Arthur was doing, and Merlin looked at him with disbelieving eyes when the prince really thought this was a good idea to reach out and put his hand on Merlin's shoulder. Squeezing it as if he was trying to offer him comfort, but all it did was make Merlin wonder what the fuck was actually wrong with Arthur, and how had he even survived long enough for them to get married if he was this stupid. "I know you don't want to hear this, as we have talked about it before, but I've dismissed it for long enough. It's starting to cause problems now. Your friendship with Gwen is very odd, and I will be left to deal with the consequences if you've gotten yourself burned because of it. The consort of the kingdom friends with a serving girl, so you not hear what a scandal that makes?"

Arthur felt though, as if he was starting to over-estimate how smart Merlin actually was. Because if he understood their customs, he would've never even talked to Gwen. Then they wouldn't be here right now, with Merlin's life dangling right above the flames being prepared. Merlin wouldn't have ever made that deal, and Arthur could live content with the capture of the witch-like his father had appeared to be-instead of scrambling about with finding a way to talk his father out of honoring the deal he'd made.

"A scandal." Merlin repeated, not even sure why he was still here. This was why he and Arthur were so different. Arthur was worrying himself to death over a misconceived, possible scandal that would break out among the dozens of other rumors that circulated the city. While Merlin was busy with the important stuff, like saving lives and protecting those people lost to the system who had nobody to back them up. Like Gwen, left to rot until these nobles considered her worth their time. And here Arthur was, trying to force his agenda-the same agenda Merlin had rebuffed many times already at this point-could the guy just not let this go? Merlin crossed his arms over his chest, glaring down his nose at Arthur, "You mean just like the scandal it was when Camelot's Prince married a peasant boy?"

How many times had Merlin been told how much of a scandal it was for their 'love match' to go through? How many times did people stare down their noses at him, or dismissed him outside as if he was nothing more than a nuisance. How Arthur and him were 'radical' to be married, how new or how different it was. How it made history for such a profile marriage to be blessed by Camelot's very own king. Arthur had fits because he didn't want Merlin to be talking to the nobles, how much had he tried to pull him away from the council as he'd been trying to do his work? And he didn't want to hear of him making friends among the servants. It was like he was trying to isolate him, acting as if it was Merlin's fault if he was ostracized by a thing like this.

Merlin wasn't going to be the one forced to soothe his fragile male ego. He had more important shit to do than cater to a man who refused to cater to him just the same. But then again, Merlin wouldn't ask Arthur to stop talking to everybody under the sun just because it 'upset him' to be made out to be a spectacle. As if Merlin wasn't living with that spotlight focused directly on himself.

"There you go again," Arthur said, his face going pinched as if Merlin was the real problem with all of this. "Making mountains out of mole hills when I am 'trying' to have an actual discussion and have you listen to my point of view-" because it was all about him, Merlin thought with an inwardly done eye roll. Arthur wanted Merlin to listen to him so badly, but Arthur never once attempted to listen to Merlin's side of things. There was a reason Merlin hadn't bothered telling him whenever the knights got physical with him. "Even my father, a king who has much on his plate, has noticed how odd it is to have a serving girl as a friend…"

This would prove to be the exact wrong thing to say, and Arthur would eventually realize actually mentioning his father in Merlin's vicinity would be the wrong call, because he watched Merlin's face went so red, it was almost concerning, "I really do not give a damn what your father thinks of me!" he bellowed at the prince, feeling his heart pounding so hard with his anger, the rush of blood roaring in his ears as Arthur's ignorance to think Merlin was going to care two wits about somebody like Uther Pendragon. "You can call me 'mentally challenged' all you like, but I'm not allowing my 'emotions' or whatever you think get the best of me! And I sure as hell was not 'imagining things', when your little Morris was threatening my life!"

Merlin vividly remembered that day, when he and Morris and Gwen had all been inside of Morgana's chambers, having their little 'chat'. And the way he had whispered into Merlin's ear just before he had left, of his desire to watch him burned. It was why Merlin had told Morris if he was lucky, he'd get to be the one to throw the torch onto Merlin's very own pyre. Merlin clenched his hands down at his sides, remembering how sick he had been during that moment at the thought. Even now, it left him with harsh breaths escaping from his mouth as he tried to contain his magic from lashing out as the power flowing inside of him reacted to his anger as if he was in present danger. He was so focused on keeping it locked down inside of him, he didn't realize a certain stillness had overcame the air.

"…He did what?" Arthur finally spoke. The prince had been motionless for a long minute, watching his consort as he struggled to breath. Merlin had his head snapping up in a hot minute, looking right at Arthur in surprise. The prince's voice had been deadly, sounding just shy of sharp. It was exactly how Arthur had sounded that very first time Merlin had told him what Valiant had done to him inside of the armory. Just moments before Arthur took this time to wrestle his head under his arm, before dousing him in wine as some weird way of getting Valiant's touch off of him.

"Errr…he didn't tell you that part, did he?" Merlin asked dryly, already figuring out Morris would've honestly skipped over the little details that would show him in a bad light. One thing was for sure, he was not going to tell Arthur how Morris had forced a hug on him in order to hiss the threat directly in his ear. He had a feeling, Arthur would actually try to pry his shirt over his head and burn it instead of just having it washed. A shirt probably wasn't easy to clean like the face was, it would be easier to put it onto the fire pit and watch it turn to smoldering ash than scrubbing the phantom touch away. After Arthur's little threat towards him only a couple of hours ago, after seeing the way Clarissa clung to Arthur like she was a silk coat, after Arthur going so far as to climb on top of him to keep him still for him. After Arthur accused him of lying about his manservant, he was not in the mood for any touching.

"No, he didn't." Arthur spoke. He seemed to know Merlin didn't want to be touched-and for once he didn't manhandle him into place-because Arthur didn't step forward. Or maybe he remembered the way Merlin had been kicking at him to get off, and had no desire to reenact Merlin's knee to his groin area. Arthur did cross his arms over his chest, and allowed his eyes to wonder over Merlin's form as if it look for phantom injuries he wouldn't find. Now, the manservant may have threatened him, but he hadn't actually left a mark on him. Maybe it would have been better if he did, Arthur wouldn't be able to deny such tangible proof. "But why don't you fill me in."

Merlin wasn't one to ignore an opportunity when it was being presented in front of him, and took this as Arthur was finally ready to listen to what he had to say, because enough was enough when it came to him listening to every other word Merlin said as he cherry picked whichever one he liked, "The day I stopped him from tormenting Gwen, Morris was not happy I was involving myself and stopping him from it." He spit out in a rush, not scared but more anxious that he wouldn't be able to get it all out in time. Fully aware Arthur could cut him off at any moment and refuse to listen to him further. "He told me he couldn't wait until the day he got to see you throwing the torch only my pyre the day you got sick of me." Merlin rolled his eyes and muttered underneath his breath. "If only he knew that day has already long since past." Merlin rose his voice again to finish up with Arthur, "I know he doesn't like me, but wishing death on a person is not normal! And then he comes up with his lie for what happened!"

Arthur's frown deepened, and he looked down at the floor contemplative, "No, that's not normal at all." He agreed slowly. He found himself wanting to believe Merlin, because he hadn't believed him as long as he should have with Valiant. But the knight had also been a stranger, welcomed within their city but already on Arthur's bad side. Morris was somebody he knew, somebody he never had any problem with before Merlin had shown up. Was it really the same thing? Morris was the best servant he'd ever had, before him, Arthur had a revolving door of never ending servants who would quit on him, unable to take the stress of working for their prince.

But Arthur wasn't stupid, and he knew Morris had gotten out of hand since Merlin's arrival. His only reason for allowing it to go on for as long as it had was because Arthur considered it a good method when they were out in public. Arthur could easily pretend to be otherwise busy, and not paying any attention to the conversation between his irritating consort and annoying manservant. He figured the method would do a good job of keeping Merlin on a more humble level, not allowing him to think his relationship with Arthur made him anything more than the peasant he was. But he could see now, it was probably a mistake as he didn't calculate his manservant growing bolder. He knew the servant had a tendency to say things that would have got him flogged if Merlin was a noble by birthright and not just marriage. Threats though, or wishing that bodily harm be done…it was borderline treason. It was something not even Arthur could abide by or ignore.

That is…if Merlin was telling him the truth. And the whole thing wasn't some charade to get sympathy from Arthur. Like he said, Morris wasn't a stranger and he hadn't anticipated such a drastic change in the servant. Looking down his nose at someone is one thing, but this was another entirely…

"And that's not the only thing he's done." Merlin was quick to blurt out, before he lost Arthur's brief attention onto the next big thing. Maybe if Merlin was able to do this, convince the prince about his servant's growing possibly treacherous nature, he might be able to convince him to come with him to see his proof of the monster's existence. "There is something seriously wrong with Morris, I've been noticing it for a while now, and I've talked to a few people but other than that, nobody seems to have noticed or put any stock into it. I don't know what is going on, but I'm half convinced Morris is up to something." He said quickly, his mouth seemed to be moving faster than his brain. Anything to finally let somebody hear him and hopefully, tell him that he wasn't crazy. And Morris wasn't something he needed to brush under the rug like everybody else had done. "One of the serving girls came to me a few weeks ago, well I went to her. Kind of-"

Merlin remembered how he had came across the kitchen servant Mary during the tournament. Back when he'd been heading into the stadium to find his seat, and found her in one of the many, many deserted halls. Crying her eyes out in the folds of her skirt. It was Mary that had brought to him just how off Morris was, the one who had his attention right from the get-go. Merlin had been observing Morris when he could and each interaction proved that Morris was weird. But he still didn't know if he was just a creep who somehow walked around as if he had more pride in himself than most nobles he'd met. Or if he was dangerous, and after what Gwen had told him in Morgana's room about the manservant, Merlin was leaning more towards the dangerous side of things. With a slice of highly anticipated obsession towards Arthur, probably in a tamed state as of now since Morris was always in close proximity to the prince. But what would happen if Morris got fired…would that obsession turn dangerous? But, Merlin could already see he was starting to lose Arthur by the dangerous glint in his eye starting to fade as he rambled, and was quick to get back on track.

"She told me he poisoned one of your noblemen visiting. And then when he got away with it, I feel like guessing there wasn't a proper investigation done. But he managed to put the blame onto one of the other serving girls. A girl who is now dead because of the witch that attacked us on the day of our wedding!" And then Merlin held his breath as he waited for Arthur's reaction. Trying hard not to think of the girl Mary had been crying about. A serving girl Merlin never got to meet but seemed to be spoken of highly by Mary.

Arthur snorted rather loudly and unattractively as he found sudden amusement in this situation, "Is that rumor still going around, I would have thought it would have died out by now." Arthur still laughed himself silly whenever he thought of it, even if the incident in questioned had happened two years or so ago. Whatever 'problem' Merlin apparently got into with Morris, didn't seem like such a big deal anymore. His sudden spike to demand Morris be returned to his room by armed guards so he could demand answers himself-with a blade to his throat just as Arthur had done to the Knight who thought he could allow Valiant onto the floor to torment his consort-seemed to vanish just as quickly as it had came. Obviously, Arthur decided, if there was any altercation-and that was a big IF-then Merlin was having one of his fits he claimed weren't a mental illness, and blowing everything out of proportion. It was almost enough for Arthur to doubt anything had happened to begin with. The prince shook his head and looked at Merlin with the disappointmen of a king-sorrowful and worried, "This is exactly what I was talking about. You need to stop all that time spending among the servants. Not only have they been filling your heads with gossips and half truths and rumors long since past, but you'll get yourself into serious trouble if you continue with sprouting out these lies and accusations."

Merlin stared at him, his eyes large and rounded and disgusted. Yeah, he should have figured that would be the response, nobody was ever ready to believe Merlin until they literally had the truth as it spit them across the face. Merlin ducked his head so that his bangs covered his eyes, "Yeah, you did not believe me about Valiant either, and look what happened there." Arthur might have believed him at first, but things had taken a sour turn the very second his father had turned up in the picture. So, his 'husband' had left him to sink on his own just as quickly as he had believed him the first time. It had caused Arthur to fall into a literal snake pit for his disbelief. And their relationship had only grown so much more volatile-angry and bitten, unsure of how to proceed with a life of this constant burning hatred for the other-than it had been back then.

It made Arthur stupider, in Merlin's very humble opinion, to not believe him. He only hoped Morris didn't go the same route Valiant did, and try luring the prince into his own version of a snake pit to do away with him…he did still want that, right? At this point, he might be willing to help Morris out on the front.

"Tha-this is completely different," the prince said as he put his hands on his hips and wildly shook his head at the consort. But giving Merlin no real reason as to why it was different. Valiant had been a threat, Morris was a threat. Valiant had lied his way into the tourney, not bothering to mention in his registration that he had a magic shield as one of his approved weapons-well, it wouldn't exactly have been approved if people had known, but this was beside the point. Morris, Merlin was sure, had lied as well. Even if the only lie was whatever he'd said to make people think he was innocent, it had still allowed the servant to keep in close contact in the prince's household. One might have been this 'esteemed knight' and another was nothing more than a 'personal manservant to the prince himself' but they were no different in Merlin's eyes.

And something in him started to crack, seeing the way Arthur was so eager to disprove anything he said and dismiss his claims without even a second notice because Merlin had been the one that told him. Without pausing to think about his movement the consort snapped his head up, eyes starting to blaze with an unkept anger as he strode forward to the prince. Arthur didn't even have the chance to back up before Merlin was grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking at him. "Wake up, Arthur!" the consort practically bellowed in his ear.

Arthur didn't 'wake up' as his consort told him to do. But he did stare down at the hands stationed on his shoulders, shaking him roughly as if he was a plaything and not a Royal prince that needed to be treated with dignity and a bit of decorum is one wanted to address him properly. Arthur knew he'd gotten much too free with his touches on Merlin's personal body-how many times had he held him down and gotten up close and personal in his wild attempt to use Merlin's pseudo crush against him-and how many times had that backfired in some way or another-but he somehow hadn't once even considered Merlin might do the same. Albeit, this was a completely different scenario, and the boy wasn't doing anything inappropriate the way the prince had treated him, but it was unwelcomed all the same. A prince should be above everybody in the kingdom, even above his own consort, and he should not allow himself to be treated as if he was anybody else. Touched with a casualness only one who was peasant born would give too another one of the same level.

His father would have found the movement to be highly disrespectful. Arthur didn't stop him, trying to work his mind around the casual touch burning through his jacket and to the skin resting under his shirt.

"If Morris did poison that guy," Merlin continued on in his usual rough manner, seeming to not have realized Arthur was more focused on the hands on him rather than the conversation as a whole. "Just how long do you think it will take before the little psycho starts to snap, and he tries to poison you as well?"

Merlin could see only how easy something like this would be for somebody like Morris. As a 'personal' manservant to the prince, Morris literally had hand in everything, access to whatever the prince had need of right at his fingertips. Arthur needed his clothing washed? All Morris had to do was wash the prince's underwear in some solution, and the prince could have acid burns eating away through his skin. The prince was ready for bed? Morris just needed to feed Arthur a bit too much wine with his dinner, enough to knock him out cold and unable to defend himself as the manservant slapped one of his many pillows over his face to smother him in his sleep. Or Morris could just stick to the classics as he had done that nobleman, and slip something into the prince's food before dinner. Arthur would be dead before real help could arrive.

But Merlin seemed to have taken things too far by acting as if Morris had already been judged and trialed, and he was now ready to behave as their executioner, because Arthur was shoving at him to get him away from him, "You really need to calm yourself down!" The prince barked roughly at his consort, refusing to allow anymore contact to be between them.

Arthur was perfectly happen when he was the one doing the touching, the one situated on top of the other boy. In his mind, he was the one in charge of what happened whenever he decided it was okay to get up close and personal with his consort, for one reason or the other. Arthur was able to decide what happened, was able to decide how far he'd be able to push Merlin, able to contemplate what his next move was and how far he was even willing to go. There was a reason Arthur hadn't allowed his fingertips to trail past Merlin's neckerchief on his neck when he'd been pinning him to the pillar during the council meeting, able to respect it as a pseudo boundary line in place, his own marker for how far he was able to go before withdrawing. But things took a different tone as Merlin had grabbed at him, because suddenly it wasn't Arthur who sat in control. Even if Merlin hadn't done anything that was inappropriate-only disrespectful in his rough handling of the prince's person-it was enough for the prince to decide he didn't like it.

Didn't like that Merlin felt as free to touch him as the prince did himself. And that was one of the far too many behaviors Arthur would need to get to correcting at some point, since his usual methods didn't work at all. There was only so many times he could yell before realizing everything he said went in one ear and out the other. And there was only so much Arthur was willing to touch before he decided Merlin wasn't responding as he liked to the false affections.

Arthur gnawed on the inside of his mouth, before spitting out, "And as touching as your apparent care of what you think will happen to me-" if that was what Arthur was willing to call it. It sounded more like Merlin trying to get himself off the hook, even if Merlin had never once lied to him when he was under the prince's ire. It still made a strange, twisted sense in his head.

"Oh, I don't care about you." Merlin interrupted him before Arthur was able to finish what he was about to say. Merlin felt the urge to make that fact abundantly clear to the prince, lest he start up his weird ideas that Merlin still liked him. And thank all his lucky stars, Merlin decided, that the crush was washed from his system, never to be seen again for as long as he lived.

Arthur allowed the low growl to build up in the depths of his throat, "You are acting like you're the psycho." He went with, deciding to forgo the urge to demand the proper treatment of his own person, in which Merlin was not allowed to do the touching. Only Arthur could pull at Merlin, only the prince was allowed to twists the malleable limbs in any order he wanted them to be in, use his body weight to enforce matters until he was good and ready to allow Merlin space. There was no 'other' way around in their relationship. But the prince felt as if he and Merlin would truly be there forever, as that would just start up another argument on top of the one they were already having. No, it would be best to just allow sleeping dogs to lie still. Or at least until Merlin decided to get hands with him again, and then all bets were off, "For one, what you are talking about happened long before you even arrived, it's been dealt with and finished so it has no bearings on what's happening today. And for the record and your own peace of mind, these rumors only started up because Morris was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Something you'd think you yourself would understand."

Arthur stared down his nose at his consort, while he brought his attention to Merlin's own behavior in the past. How many times had Merlin been in a place he wasn't supposed to be, or how many of these times had resulted in Arthur needing to step in and directly interfere with whatever was going on. One would think Merlin would be just a smidge more sympathetic towards Morris' own plight, the only one servant brave enough to bring whatever actual concerns he had about Merlin straight to his attention. Rather then letting it shimmer and wait in the wings until the problem had became so colossal, there would be no containing it. Until the prince was forced to put Merlin down like as if he was the rabid dog he was portraying.

"I haven't had a single problem with him in all of his years of servitude." Arthur couldn't help but add in, smearing meaningful at Merlin. To silently tell the consort he himself had only been here for two months, but had done nothing but cause the prince issue after issue ever since his arrival those months ago. Morris, on the other hand, had been in his service for over three years now. And there had been very few incidents over the years, only a brief minor mistake or two made be someone who was just staring out as a personal manservant. To be frank though, half of those mistakes had only been remarked on because Arthur was in this bad mood and looking to yell at somebody for any little thing. Morris was often the convenient target for his rages, before Merlin had came into the picture and ruined everything else for him. Arthur waved his hand flippantly at the consort, as if pointing to him how stupid all of this was, "Besides, if any of this was even true, then by your logic, he could've poisoned me years ago. He's had ample chances over the years."

Merlin had to admit, this was a good point. Morris had all the chances in the world to do away with the prince and disappear before anybody realized what had happened, if he timed it right. He turned away from the prince, eyebrows coming together as he tried to think of the bigger picture, "It might be that you haven't pushed him far enough yet…"

Merlin was talking more to himself, musing over the different ideas of why Morris hadn't attacked the prince yet. It really would be the easiest thing in the world considering Morris' trusted position in the household. But this idea seemed very weak to him before it really settled and took room. Merlin didn't know how anybody could stand to be within spitting distance of Arthur for any length of time without wanting to kill him. And this suggested the manservant might have something bigger planned up his sleeve, if he really was planning something to begin with. But if he was-this meant Morris had the patience of a saint, and the willingness to wait out long periods of time considering he resisted the instant gratification killing Arthur would give to him.

Merlin ignored Arthur standing behind him, lost in working through other possible ideas for why the manservant did anything that he did, "Now, I don't know why he poisoned that nobleman, but maybe it's possible he did something wrong…" Merlin did not want to say Morris was anything like himself. A man forced to protect a prince who didn't want his protection if it was offered to him. Only, Merlin had his magic and was able to do things a bit different. Like summoning snakes from a shield so that the prince could end them. Morris didn't any magic as he did, so he could have resorted to the poison to stop the nobleman from doing something harmful to Arthur? It would definitely explain how the other boy hadn't killed Arthur yet, if the prince wasn't an actual target…?

"Nobleman Chalice did nothing wrong." The blond said, automatically on the defensive as he tried to draw Merlin's attention right back to himself. He'd thought 'he' was part of this poor discussion. The prince wasn't just a sounding board for Merlin to go bouncing his ideas off of until one of them was able to stick. "He's a good friend of my father and visits every few years. But he's older now and will rarely leave his estate out in the countryside."

Merlin continued to ignore him, or the flustering look Arthur was giving him when Merlin didn't talk to him, "Maybe Morris had only done it for fun, like something he wanted to see what would happen?" He suggested to himself, deciding he didn't like his original thoughts. The idea of Morris using the poison only as a means to an end, to protect the prince, was too far fetched for his taste. Merlin felt he was able to attest to the Royal family and their blind nature when it came to other nobles, it made sense none of them would know what was going on in the background. But if Morris had found out the nobleman meant to hurt Arthur…it sounded far too much as if Merlin was making Morris out to be a hero. Now, Merlin wouldn't call himself a hero of any kind, so Morris being one…no. Morris was too odd for something like that, but Merlin knew that whatever was going on with the manservant, this was all centered around Arthur.

…did this mean Merlin was comparing himself as some kind of hero? Because Merlin was so far off from being a hero, saving Arthur's hide here and there hardly seemed like hero material, that it was unreal to him.

"Merlin, enough!" Arthur finally shouted louder to get his attention. It worked, because Merlin found himself whipping his head around to look at him in startled surprise. But Arthur was already bitter for the lack of attention give to him over the brief and only moment Merlin's attention had drifted away from him. It was too late, even if the consort was man enough to get on bended knee and beg for his forgiveness. "Your claim is outrageous." Said the prince, storming past the boy and making his way for the door, clearly in a mood.

"But Arthur!" Merlin protested, throwing his hands out and not realizing where Arthur was going. "It's possible that Morris wants something from you. It hasn't been given to him, so what if he plans to be binding his time until it's in his grasp. And since its obvious you don't know what it is, it could literally be anything!"

That was his last and final theory on the situation at hand, and the one that made the most sense to him, after he nixed the idea of Morris being some kind of hidden hero. Besides, like Arthur had said earlier, Morris would have already poisoned him if that was his endgame. Maybe Merlin was thinking about this too much-but the way those creepy ass eyes followed his every moment, not even Arthur watching him made an unsettled chill shoot down his spine like that-but it could be that Morris was just on some kind of power trip. All those times he tried to assert himself on Merlin, the way he'd had the nerve to speak to Gwen, even now with all the lies he casted about him. Morris didn't like Merlin, this much was obvious, so maybe he was trying to flex his power over people he might be able to get away with it for-like Gwen. The servant didn't have any titles or power of his own, so he took pleasure out of forcing it when he could…

"You can leave now, and return to whatever it was you were doing before you interrupted me." Arthur said coldly, bringing his hand down to the handle on his door. He had work to get back to, and there was no way he was going to allow Merlin stop him from completing it. Once he managed to save that brat, Arthur could spend the next several months forcing Merlin to make all of this up to him. Maybe he can force the boy to wear a collar with Arthur's name branded on it, to remind Merlin to never go up against him again…no, too inconspicuous…

"…You still don't believe me, do you?" Merlin said softly, bringing Arthur's attention right back to him before he could get the door opened. Merlin was staring at him with large solemn eyes, frowning in a pensive manner, "You are still thinking I 'flexed my power' over him or whatever it is he's told you, don't you?"

Arthur shook his head, "Of course I don't. There is no reason for me to believe my very own, trusted manservant would distort the truth so much when there was no reason too. I didn't even know about the incident in question before he mentioned it to me." And Merlin could just go suck an egg if he thought Arthur believed any of this. Even the part where he claimed Morris had threatened him was far fetched now. Clearly taken out of context if he had said anything similar to that manner at all. So Morris got carried away sometime with keeping a humble Merlin, there was some lines Arthur was sure he knew not to cross.

"And you have every reason to believe that I would lie to you." Merlin noted, nodding his head in what was a sage manner. Because the guy who'd done nothing but save Arthur's worthless hide, and the same guy that was running himself ragged trying to save the kingdom at this very moment…was the liar. So much for 'to trust and honor' or whatever shit they'd vowed to do the day they were wed. It was all a lie, nothing more than another way for a noble to feel good about themselves as they were forced into unwanted matches.

Arthur narrows his eyes at Merlin, feeling as if he might have gone too far. But he didn't feel sorry enough to apologize, Merlin had gotten enough of these apologies out of him. Merlin deserved his one apology after Arthur had failed to protect him from Valiant. But this was a completely different circumstance that didn't warrant the same kind of treatment. Arthur turned away from Merlin and he opened the door, sticking his head out so that he could look down either side of the hallway, hoping miraculously for Merlin's guard to start walking his way down the hall. But of course, he wasn't going to be that lucky, and the hall stood deserted.

"How did you slip by your guard, anyway. Does he know yet that you aren't where you are supposed to be?" Arthur barked at Merlin over his shoulder, irritated because of the lack of guard presence to be coming. What exactly was he paying Gregory for if he was unable to keep eye contact on Merlin directly. Or maybe it wasn't Gregory's fault at all, Merlin was a sneaky fella. Arthur never knew when or where he was going to turn up next. It might be prudent for him to have a platoon of knights at the ready, stationed outside Gaius' residence to give his consort complete around the clock protection detail. It couldn't be safe for this moron to wonder around unguarded. "Maybe I should flag down one of the other knights to walk you back." He mused over to himself, not trusting Merlin to walk straight back to his chambers on his own. Not without him finding some kind of new trouble to get himself in.

"That won't be necessary." Merlin interrupted, his tone sharp and unyielding, before Arthur was able to decide he himself would be the best option to walk him back. While he'd been standing here and watching Arthur fiddle outside the room, he came to a realization of sorts. Morris and him…they had their obvious differences, but there was a subtle difference Merlin had realized was there until just now. Morris really had been right when he'd told Merlin he didn't have any power, just a figurehead was what he'd said, wasn't it? To make the prince look good for taking the peasant in off the street and making him his consort. Merlin had the title of consort, but that meant nothing. While Morris had no title, but clearly held more power than he even thought he had, if Arthur was willing to dismiss his claims as nothing more than Merlin having an over active imagination. "I only came here for…but I can see nothing will happen."

There was only so much Merlin could do, and only so much he was willing to put himself out with his attempts to get through to Arthur. If Arthur wasn't able to contemplate the idea that somebody close like Morris might mean him harm, then he wasn't going to waste his time trying to convince Arthur of Gwen's innocence. Maybe if he hurried back to his uncle's he could see rather or not Gaius came up with something actually substantial yet.

Arthur glared over at Merlin from over his shoulder in annoyance, "Let me guess, for Gwen again? You need to get over it." He reacted roughly to Merlin's tone. Arthur had already tried being gentle about it for Merlin's sake, but there was only so much he could take. And if Merlin still thought for one little second that Arthur was going to waste any of his precious resources and time for a fool's errand, he had another thing coming. It was time for Arthur to get far rougher to force it into Merlin's foolish head. "In the time you've been here, you've done nothing to convince me this is worth me putting my neck on the line."

"Well, I'm your husband." Merlin said bluntly, since most people in relationships usually held some bit of trust for the other. He wanted to be able to tell Arthur something, and the prince not forcing him to jump through a million hoops before opening his mind to the possibility of believing him. Merlin played with the ring on his finger, but didn't dare remove it after seeing the way Arthur was eyeing it up. "But that's also never been a reason for you to trust me."

Merlin walked across the length of the room as he saw the door wide open, with Arthur to the side as he did nothing to block his access. He figured this was his only chance to leave while he still could, it was his chance to stop the monster on his own as a show of proof. Arthur should have given him his trust, and he was going to make the prince regret not doing so. The sound of crinkling as he walked on something caught his attention, and Merlin was shooting his eyes downward and lifting his foot up to get a glance of what was underneath.

Merlin blinked, and lifted his head up to look his husband in the eye, "I see. What? Do you think I'm going to hinder you being the big hero and finding proof of Gwen's innocence? Why else would you have these around?" He nodded his head down to the slew of papers on the floor, ripped from off the prince's desk during their earlier struggle. Maps of dozens and dozens of different areas around the city. Places Merlin hadn't even seen yet, or heard about during his stay in the city. Large blotted X's covering across the surface. Merlin couldn't begin to imagine they were anything but Arthur's version of 'find the freak'. If only he knew what Merlin had discovered, then he would be wasting his time on these maps.

Arthur could feel the heat creeping up the back of his neck after he realized what Merlin was talking about. Another rule of prince-hood rang straight throughout his mind without his permission: Royal blood shouldn't show something as common like emotions, a Royal should never show mercy to a criminal. "…I'm just checking off all my boxes!" the prince barked at Merlin, hardening his face. Arthur knew Merlin would know something was wrong if he gave into the urge to snatch his papers off the floor. It was bad enough Merlin thought he would be doing all of this extra work for 'Gwen.' But even that was better than Merlin resizing the truth.

Better than Merlin realizing he was doing all of this for him. To get him out of his deal before the great bell struck in nine hours time.

Arthur cleared his throat, turning his head away and waving his hand as if it was no big deal, "It's quite obvious that Gwen did her spell casting as a secondary location. Like you brought up during the council meeting, we didn't find any of Gwen's books or tools to indicate she practices magic on a more frequent basis. We need to track down her supplies and have then brought it as evidence for her treason. Then we can have them burn along with her, before anybody else has the chance to find them and causes more harm than good."

Merlin's face hardened, impeccably to the naked eye, but there none the less. He knew Arthur was never going to find anything more than the stupid poultice Merlin had naively left behind in the wake of his first healing spell. But to hear Arthur talk as if Gwen was nothing more than a hardened, cold, criminal mastermind who planned for something more to happen to this city than what was already happening…it made something burn inside of his chest, renewing his determination to shove Arthur's head into his victory as he carried in the head of the beast.

Merlin bent down, knowing Arthur had just wasted his chance to get in on his future victory, showing his father as a united front against tyranny, and he picked up one of Arthur's half-finished map. With his head duck down, he was able to feel the very familiar burning of Arthur's eyes resting on him, as soon as he'd straightened up though, Arthur was already looking away. As if he thought Merlin was not going to realize he was being stared. Consort Merlin scowled, lifting his chin a bit higher at how absurd and childlike the prince could be. He really was an over-grown man child, unable to bring himself to look Merlin in the eye.

"You can believe the worse of me all you like." The consort said firmly, stopping as he walked beside the prince. Merlin would have to accept how little the prince thought of him. He doubted saving his life more directly would even be enough for Arthur to see him as anything more than the thing he'd been saddled with. But whatever, Merlin was over it. Over this. Over him…Merlin reached down and grabbed Arthur's hand. Before the prince was able to jerk away from him, behaving as if he thought it was Merlin who had the sickness. Or cooties. The consort dropped placed the map in Arthur's hand, voice curt and to the point, "I think it was good of me to come here today. I've finally realized exactly where I stand with you. Don't worry, I won't make the mistake of coming here ever again."

There was a reason, Merlin considered as he was dropping Arthur's hand-now loosely clutching the map in his palm, he hadn't bothered telling Arthur about certain things. Like the mark his supposed best friend had the nerve to leave on him in a fit or anger, lashing out at the wrong person. Arthur did not trust him; Merlin had known this, but he had at least thought Arthur would believe him when he'd said somebody was dangerous. If Arthur's servant ranked above Merlin in the prince's eyes, he had no evidence to suggest the same wouldn't hold on his best friend. Merlin would remember that.

Only now…Merlin held no trust in the prince doing the right thing. For Gwen. For himself. Even for the kingdom itself as a whole.

Merlin wasn't surprised, when he strode out of the room, to know Arthur didn't look up from staring at the map in his head. Arthur didn't even try one thing to stop him from leaving, as something felt like it was solidifying into place. As if there was a wall-shimmering and flicking into place between the two of them all this time-had finally became whole. Solid and thick, with dozens and dozens of bricks preventing them from being able to see on the other side. Preventing either of them from the urge to climb the wall, and get a peek at what may truly lie on the other side for them. But really, what did Merlin expect? Had he really thought he could come here, share his news about the monster with Arthur…

And then what?

Were they going to rush after it, before Merlin had even known what it was or what could be done to stop it? Had he thought Arthur and him would take their pleasure in working towards a common goal for once in their entire relationship, and defeat the monster once and for all. Saving the day as all the townsfolk started to heal, saving the girl as Gwen was released from the cells. And saving the other from a lifetime of misery and aching pain as they finally learned how to work together. It sounded as if it was nothing more than a demanded fairytale he was forced to take center role for. When Merlin only wanted to be a side character, content to live his life in the dredges as long as he had just a few good friends at his side.

"Oh," Merlin said, as he stopped right outside the prince's door, putting his hand up to rest against the door frame. He had remembered something he wanted Arthur to know before he left, never to return to this wretched room for as long as he was going to live. The room Arthur had tried to take in Lady Clarissa as his new lover…Merlin turned his head slightly to the side, just enough for Arthur to see the side of his face but not much else, "There is a reason for you to put your next out on the line for Gwen. Because it's the right thing to do for an innocent. And I'm going to prove it,"

Merlin strode out, feeling as if he didn't need to say anything more. He felt stronger than he had when he arrived, ready to harden his heart and put all of Arthur and his shit behind him. Just like he should have done from their first punch. He didn't even acknowledge Knight Derrick as he passed him by further down the hall. Knight Derrick who looked after him with his eyebrows furrowing in confusion from the brisk pace Merlin was walking away in.

X

Derrick knocked on the doorframe of Arthur's door when he arrived, "Sire, there is-" the knight started to say, only to stop before he could finish his sentence. He blinked dumbly at the wreck that was Arthur's room. Nothing had been spared from being turned over or ripped down, it was a miracle the table itself seemed to be spared as it stood on all of its four legs. Derrick went to ask the prince what on earth happened to his space, but he saw the way Merlin had been walking away…it may be for the best if he didn't ask at all.

For his own mental sanity and peace of mind.

"Sire, your father has requested your presence in the throne room." Derrick announced, bowing his head down while he steadfastly ignored the mess all around them. "He wishes to be given a status report for the latest going-on's about The Sick-" as everybody had taken to calling it. There was a moment of silence where Derrick wondered if the prince had heard him, and wonder rather or not he needed to try again.

But then Arthur closed his hand sharply around the map he held, the crinkling of the frail paper as it tore in places heard throughout the room, "I'm coming." Arthur said, voice strong but also so soft that Derrick could barely hear it. The prince had his back to him, but Derrick still felt as if he'd just walked into something he probably shouldn't have.

Arthur didn't say a word to Derrick, as he slipped the crumbled map into one of the inner pockets of his coat. He turned sharply on his heel and walked out of the room, ignoring Derrick who would trot behind him. He also ignored the niggling doubt in his chest that told him-everything he had said to Merlin during their latest fight-was wrong.