Arthur was sitting with his Father, across from Morgana. They were having a council about the matters of state and Morgana's misbehavior lately, which might or not not include smuggling a child out of Camelot, that may or may not have had magic, but Arthur would know every little about that, as he had nothing to do with it. He gave Morgana a knowing look, as his Father berated her about this very thing, even though it had happened weeks ago at this point, and honestly, all the while, she looked less than concerned.

"You have no idea how dangerous this child might be," scolded Uther. "If it has magic..." Morgana rolled her eyes and Arthur said nothing, as he shouldn't anyway, he had learned long ago to not take sides when it came to arguments between them. "The boys leaders could be plotting against Camelot as we speak."

"I had nothing to do with it, Sire," said Morgana, shortly, her voice was strong but lacked anything else. It was the same voice Arthur used when he spoke to anyone important. Uther, said nothing, but looked ashamed of her. Not that she cared, that look often worked on Arthur, but never her. "And they are Druids, there is not a more peaceful people."

"So you have been told..."

But nothing else could be said about the matter, because suddenly, the doors were jerked open by the guards in the hall, and in walked Gaius, looking rather put upon. He walked quickly, reaching where Morgana sat in a rather long second, as he was wise as he was aged. "Sire, I wish to speak to you," he said, in the same tone Morgana had used, but unlike her, there was something else there, fear. "About Merlin..."

Arthur sat forward a tad, this being noticed by his Father, of course, who gave Arthur a knowing smirk, before nodding at Gaius. But what could Gaius possibly want? Arthur had just seen Merlin but an hour or two ago, before this meeting, he couldn't have possibly gotten into much trouble since then, could he? But of course he could, Arthur sighed, irritated at the idea, as he sat back once more. How he was linked to such a fool? He could have no idea. Did his Father think his own son stupid? A roll of the eyes and Gaius seemed to notice this and looked sternly at him, before continuing.

"This a private matter, I think...Sire," said Gaius, and his eyes darted to Morgana, who frowned at this.

"Quite so..." said Uther, who was smirking now, for some reason. He turned to Morgana and pointed to the door. "Out!"

"But I..." she was saying, as she continued to sit there. "If something is the matter with Merlin, surely I can stay, he is my friend."

"I think not," said Uther, looking tired and a bit bored of Morgana's constant arguing. "I trust Merlin is in good health, Giaus?"

"Perfectly healthy, Sire...just stupid."

Arthur couldn't help it, despite trying not to, a laugh burst out of him, it sounded almost like a horse, and the King looked over at him with a raised eyebrow, as Morgana stare at him and Gaius glared. Arthur took in a breath, covering his mouth with a gloved hand and shrugged. "...he's not wrong!"

Uther turned back to Morgana. "This is a matter between the King and his Physician, not for disobedient Wards," he said and Morgana let out a shriek, of annoyance, and got up, nearly hitting Gaius with the chair as she did, and stormed out. "Children..." Uther sighed and offered Morgana's empty chair to Gaius, who sat in it.

"I feel much the same, Sire, believe me," said Gaius and Arthur wondered what Merlin might have done, to get Gaius feeling this way. They normally got on quite well. "I am here on behalf of Merlin and...what he might have told you. You must know, Sire, he is not all together," Gaius pointed to his forehead, and Arthur swallowed another laugh, because this might involve him soon, and he wasn't very interested in that. Gaius continued. "He is a foolish, quick mouthed boy and I bag you to ignore his idiocy."

"I do, Gaius," said Uther, in good nature, which was surprising for him. "I understand the boy is a bit small minded. What is this pertaining to, exactly?"

"His declaration of his love for your son," said Gaius, and his eyes traveled over to Arthur, and Arthur swore Gaius had a way of judging you worse than even the King did. "I think you misunderstood him..."

"No, I do not think I did, Gaius, he made it quite clear," said Uther, glancing over to Arthur, who frowned now, this conversation was no longer fun. Couldn't they just go back to insulting Merlin? It was much better then. "Besides, Arthur feels the same."

Gaius's eyebrows forwarded and his glare toward Arthur lessened. "He does?"

"Yes, he admitted it to me," said Uther and Arthur opened his mouth to protest, but Gaius cut him off.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," grinned Uther, and Arthur frowned again. This was stupid.

"Father, I never said that I-"

"Never fear, Arthur, we can trust Gaius, besides...he thinks of Merlin as a son, of course he must know the truth."

Arthur growled. "No," he said and Uther gave him a glare. "I mean...Sire...I do not-"

"Never fear, Gaius," Uther was ignoring his son's words now. "I am not angry, I find it...endearing."

"Endearing?!" shouted Arthur, and got four raised eyebrows at this. "We're not children playing games, we're men...DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!"

"I don't think I want to..." trailed off Gaius, and this time Uther laughed. Arthur felt his face turn red and he wanted to die.

"Calm down, Arthur," said Uther and Arthur sighed deeply, feeling the irritation in his very bones. Why did no one believe him that he was not in love with his Manservant? Why was it so hard to understand? Uther turned back to Gaius and smiled, happily. "Did Merlin tell you or did you notice before? I believe there were signs before. After all, Arthur did defy my rule and get that flower to save Merlin's life...I should have known then, only a man in love would do that."

Arthur's face went even redder, if that were possible, and he gasped, at the thought. No, that's not what it meant at all...

"I suppose there were always signs, Sire," said Gaius, with a keen smile of his own, as his eyes stayed on Arthur. Arthur wanted to leave, he couldn't sit there any longer and listen to this.

"May I be dismissed?" he asked, and Uther waved him off, leaning on the table, toward Gaius and grinned excited, as if he were pleased he had someone else to talk to about his son's love affairs...not that there were any, because there really, really were not. Especially not with Merlin!

Arthur stopped out of the room, and as he did so, two things happened at once, there was a loud bang outside, as he pulled open the door, and this confused him, but then he was promptly distracted by the two old men behind him laughing like hens. He rolled his eyes and stepped out, not seeing anything there anyway, so he chose to ignore it, and instead, headed outside. He needed fresh air and to not think about his Father's misguided thoughts, Gaius judging him, or Merlin and his stupid face. If there were ever a time he would like to run away from Camelot, it would be now. To live a nice, simple life, away from this nightmare, but there was little chance for that, so Arthur decided not to dwell on it long. Instead, he just walked and walked...all through town, and luckily no one bothered him too much. They stopped and looked at him every so often, there was no denying it it was the Prince, but he spent plenty of time in the Town, so he held little from the imagination.

Arthur was getting a bit cold, there was a nip in the air and he didn't have his jacket, so he turned back to head back to the castle, where, hopefully, his idiot of a servant and that was all he was...just his servant, would have already started the fire and fetched him food.

Arthur was not surprised however, to walk inside his chambers to find them dark, cold and empty. Way to go, Merlin...he rolled his eyes and made his way into his chambers. He lit the fire himself and sat down in one of his chairs, waiting. An hour...it was well dark outside, before Merlin walked in, carrying a broom of all things and a tray of food. Arthur looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Where were you?"

Merlin's eyes widened a little and he put the broom down, maybe he thought the chambers would still be empty when he got there, but no...did Merlin not know how to tell time?

"I was...I was with Gwen," said Merlin, in a mutter, as he walked over to Arthur and placed the food down in front of him, on the table. Arthur did not touch the food, however, and looked up at him, still.

"Oh?" he questioned. "Did she not bother to do her chores either?"

"No...we...er..." Merlin took a breath. "We were picking flowers for Morgana, because she got into an argument with-"

"Picking flowers...?" questioned Arthur and Merlin frowned, clearly giving up. "I suppose maybe my Father is right about you..."

"Just because I'm actually nice to people-"

"And you're saying I'm not?"

"Nice...?" Merlin retorted. "Not really."

Arthur held a hand up to his chest and scoffed, he didn't know why, but he was really, kind of offended by this. He was hard on Merlin, because Merlin didn't seem to care about his job, or his duties, if that made Arthur mean...? So be it. "I am nicer to people who are not you..."

"Maybe...but I've never seen it," retorted Merlin again, and turned away from Arthur. Arthur glared after him. But he had more important matters to discuss with Merlin.

"Why did you tell Gaius?"

Merlin dropped the jar he had been holding, as he cleaned, and it was a good thing he had brought the broom, because it smashed all over the floor. Merlin didn't notice this though, he turned around and stare, wide eyed, at Arthur. "What?"

"Gaius came into our council today...begging for your life, he thought my Father would be angry...little did he know," Arthur rolled his eyes and Merlin gulped. "Why did you tell him?"

Merlin shook his head. "He doesn't think that we're..."

"I beg to differ, Merlin, he seems to think the signs were always there...that's what he told my Father anyway."

Merlin stopped, blinked repeatedly at this and let out a long breath of air. He finally looked up at Arthur and gave a small smile. "I'm sorry...I thought Gaius would help."

"Clearly not," said Arthur and Merlin frowned again. Arthur stood up, and walked nearer to Merlin and pointed a finger in his face. "I know you see Gaius as a father, but if you dare tell another person, Merlin, I will....I will-"

"I'll let my imagination fill in the rest, Arthur, thank you," said Merlin and Arthur glared at him.

"Shut up!"

Merlin grinned and shrugged. "You're not every good at threatening me anymore, is it because you think I'm cute?"

Arthur felt a rage set into the bottom of his stomach and he looked around for something to throw at Merlin, yet found nothing. "No!" he seethed out and pointed, even harder, at Merlin's face. "It's because I can think of so many things I could do to you...I can't possibly pick only one."

"Oh," said Merlin, and for half a second, he looked threatened, but then he grinned again, with too much cheek for any one man to be allowed to have. "Don't let your Father hear you say that..."

Arthur's mouth fell open at these words and he could feel his cheeks burning red and he turned away from Merlin. "Go away..."

"Whatever you say, Sire..." said Merlin, still having a good time, and it made Arthur want to throw something at him even more. "If that will be all...I will retire for the rest of the night," he said, he never just shut up, Arthur rolled his eyes though, because of course he would, did he ever do any work? Merlin was heading toward the door now, Arthur could hear him. "Try not to miss me too much, My Love..."

And Merlin quickly shut the door, as Arthur screamed, literally screamed out loud, as he picked up the plate of food of the table and threw it at the door, where Merlin had been. If he could strangle Merlin, he would, happily, he thought, as he looked at not only the broken jar on the floor, but now his fallen food and sighed...

He needed a new Manservant, that is it.