A/N: This is a sequel to a previous story I wrote. You don't necessarily need to have read that to understand this, but just know the context of this fic is it follows on from an AU of 'A Servant of Two Masters' where Merlin's magic is revealed and he's appointed as Court Sorcerer.

CHAPTER 1

The two weeks which followed the reversal of Camelot's ban on magic went by in a blur for Arthur. It began, of course, with Merlin's spectacularly embarrassing investiture as Court Sorcerer. It was one thing to be late, another to be late and hungover, and yet another (as in the case of Merlin himself) to still be drunk. Thank God for Gaius's hangover remedy, disgusting as it was, or else Arthur was likely to have vomited midway through his opening speech. Merlin himself had vomited, though somewhat tactically behind a pillar when no one was looking. No one but George, fortunately, who had been able to clean it up before anyone else saw.

"Go to bed," Arthur hissed out of the corner of his mouth when Merlin returned unsteadily to his side. "I think you've had more than enough excitement for one day."

Merlin, looking decidedly green, hadn't even attempted a defence, but exited hastily with his mother and Gaius in tow. Arthur made excuses for his new Court Sorcerer and the noblemen, Knights and Druids (who looked far too knowing for Arthur's taste) had disbanded swiftly. Since then, it had just been one thing after another, in what Arthur believed he could call the busiest weeks thus far of his reign.

Refuge magic users were flooding back to Camelot in their hundreds to swear their fealty and, in some cases, to petition the King for his pardon. This was not so unpleasant a task, as it mostly involved listening to over-grateful former-subjects of Camelot who now had the chance to return to loved ones, but it was time-consuming. This was particularly irksome given the upcoming Summit between the Five Kingdoms that needed to be planned and prepared for.

It had been a clause Uther had insisted be written into the previous peace treaty that magic be banned in all the Kingdoms and Arthur well knew that several of the Lords on his council disapproved of what they saw as his over-hasty ruling which flouted said-clause. He could see their point, but what was done was done, and now all that was left was to line up his arguments in favour of magic and hope they would succeed in persuading the rulers from Amata [1], Mercia, Deorham and Gawant [2] when they arrived at the end of the week. This Arthur did with the support of his council and of Merlin who, if possible, was even busier than Arthur was.

On top of the same council meetings and petitions of returning magic-users (which Merlin had insisted he be allowed to sit in on), Merlin had also been working closely with the Druids to ensure that any young children gifted with innate magical abilities received the proper schooling in a new camp based in the Darkling Woods. This was where Hunith had gone a few days after Merlin's investiture, citing her experience of raising Merlin as proof that she belonged in this sort of work, and Merlin rode frequently to visit her and to check in on how things progressed. Along the way he would also pick herbs for Gaius, as they still had not found a replacement Physician's Apprentice.

And then there was George. Two weeks ago the King's new manservant would never have spoken ill of a nobleman. After all, he was an experienced servant. He had been spat on, told off, yelled at and all the rest, but faced it all with the utmost level of serenity and decorum. What he had never accounted for, however, was Merlin.

They had just returned from patrol, the first chance Arthur had had to get out of the castle for several days, and the King sent his manservant ahead to prepare his room. By the time he arrived not only was the bath ready, room spotless and clothes laid out, but his dinner was there too along with a freshly written speech for The Guild of Polishers, with whom he had a meeting the following morning. In the middle of it all stood George, near-trembling with rage.

"I cannot continue this way, Sire."

"You weren't responsible for all this then?" Arthur had thought maybe, what with George's love of polishing...

"No!" George bit his lip and clenched his fists as he tried to get a handle on himself. "My apologies, Sire. I do not mean to forget my place. But you must understand this is my job. And Lord Merlin is- is-"

"Being a prat." Arthur nodded sagely. "I'll talk to him George."

And so, although all he wanted to do was curl up and go to bed, he went instead in search of his Court Sorcerer.

He found Merlin on the castle parapets, deep in concentration as he murmured a long litany of what sounded to Arthur like complete gibberish. This was yet another task Merlin had set for himself; instilling some magical defences around the citadel in time for the Summit.

"My manservant has a bone to pick with you."

Merlin didn't acknowledge the interruption, finishing his spell with burning golden eyes. It was too dark now to see, but Arthur knew from watching the process before that the stones of the citadel walls were glimmering with the unearthly blue light he had swiftly come to associate with Merlin's magic. It was strange really, how fast he had become accustomed to it; but Merlin never looked more Merlin than when he was spell-casting.

"That's the Citadel done." He spoke casually, as if he had just finished mopping Arthur's floor. "I can move onto the Lower Town tomorrow."

Arthur came to stand beside him. "When did you last get a full night's sleep?"

"When did you?" Merlin wore the blue cloak gifted when Arthur made him Court Sorcerer, the fine material at odds with the rest of his outfit. Another thing that had been overlooked in the hectic rush of the last couple of weeks; Arthur made a mental note to enlist their tailor's services. "It has to be done, Arthur. When Alined was last here he tried to start a war. And I can't work from the shadows to stop him like I did before."

"The defences are one thing," Arthur conceded, repressing a shudder as he thought of the love spell cast on him the last time there had been a Summit between the Five Kingdoms. "But I don't think the good of the Kingdom rests quite so heavily on my speech for the Guild of Polishers."

"Harness Polishers," Merlin corrected with a wry grin. "And that you can't differentiate the two Guilds only adds to my impression that you never could have written that speech yourself."

"And my bath? My dinner? My room? I mean really Merlin, you weren't this competent when you were actually my servant! And besides which-" Arthur couldn't stop his lip from quirking a little. "-I think George is just about ready to assassinate you."

"I was just saving him a job. I thought he'd be thrilled."

"Thrilled? He was devastated! You know how much he loves polishing!"

The two friends chuckled into the evening air.

"Alright, fine, I'll stop doing George's chores for him," Merlin eventually agreed, but his smile soon faded as he asked, "Do you think Morgana knows yet?"

It was something Arthur had thought on himself, in the rare free moments snatched between his day-to-day duties.

"There's been no move to rescue Agravaine." Arthur's traitorous uncle had been left to languish in the dungeons for now. Once the Summit was over Arthur would consider a more permanent manner of dealing with him, but for now he was happy to let him stew. "I suppose he's lost his use now we know him to be a traitor. But the knights are ready, you've set up the defences you can... there is little else we can do, but focus on the Summit."

Merlin gazed out into the night, almost as though he might spy Morgana through the darkness. The moonlight threw strange shadows across his weary profile, accentuating the dark smudges under his eyes. "I have a funny feeling..."

"Get some sleep, Merlin." There was a time Arthur might have mocked him for his 'funny feeling', but the recent revelation of Merlin's magic had changed things. "And tomorrow you must find someone to replace you as Gaius's apprentice. Your new room is going to waste."

"But everyone who's applied is just so..." Merlin waved his arms vaguely. "You know?"

"Very eloquent Merlin. You've hit the nail on the head. They really are all so-" Arthur mimicked the motion of Merlin's arms and was almost upended by a gust of wind for his teasing. "Hey! That's hardly becoming for a Court Sorcerer."

Merlin shrugged innocently. "Might have been a coincidence."

"I saw your eyes glowing! Now come on, you've been up here long enough. Gaius will be worried."

They walked together to Gaius's, and the old man soundly berated his ward for missing dinner only to have Merlin reheat the cold stew with a smug flash of his eyes.

"Merlin!"

"It's legal now Gaius, I can use it as I please!"

Arthur departed with a grin and, as chance would have it, bumped into Guinevere on the way to his chambers. The couple embraced happily and Arthur gestured her into his room with a quick glance to be sure no one saw. His intentions were chaste enough, but it was late and there was enough to deal with without the Camelot gossip mill.

They sat at Arthur's table and talked, Guinevere of her preparations in the kitchen for the coming Summit and Arthur of his difficult council meetings.

"How do you think the other Kingdoms will feel?"

"Gawant has always been a strong ally." Arthur had had this conversation only the day before with Merlin, in this exact same spot. "Lord Godwyn and my father were close, but Gaius says that many magic-users fled overseas to his Kingdom during the Purge. Alined will do whatever serves him best which, last time, was war. As for Bayard and Olaf, they could go either way..."

"You're worried." Gwen took his hand in hers. "You shouldn't be Arthur. I have every faith in you. You and Merlin."

"It's Merlin that's the problem."

"Merlin? Why?"

Arthur hesitated. These were worries he had voiced aloud to no one - especially not Merlin.

"Perhaps I was too quick to name him as Court Sorcerer. He deserves it," he added hastily at Guinevere's scandalised expression. "Of course he does. He advised me all the time when he was a servant. But it's different to advise me in private. When he addresses the Council there are other things to consider. Many of the Lords disapprove of his background and I'm worried the other Kingdoms will notice and think we're weak. If we want to persuade them of the innocence of magic-users, we must show a united front."

"Arthur..." Gwen began tentatively. "There has been talk among the servants. Talk about Merlin."

"Oh?"

"It's silly, obviously, but some are saying that he's enchanted you." She shrugged apologetically. "I just thought you should know. Because if there's talk among the servants, there may well be talk among the nobility as well."

"Don't tell Merlin," Arthur said immediately, but then saw Gwen's look of sympathy. "Oh. He already knows?"

"He knows they've been treating him differently. It was the same for me when- well, after we saved Camelot from Morgana's undead army."

Arthur bristled. "What?! You mean they treat you differently because you and I- because we're-"

"Really, Arthur, it's fine." She squeezed his hand reassuringly. "They don't treat me badly. There's just a sort of... distance there. It isn't so bad now people are used to the idea of us, but if we were ever to marry- Oh." She dropped his hand, realising what she had just said. "Not that- I didn't mean to say we would marry, just that uh- if we did, for whatever reason, then that would generate gossip as well." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "If you think the noblemen are judgemental, the serving staff are even more so."

Arthur ignored the comment about marriage - that was definitely a conversation for another day. "But why? They can't judge him for his background, surely!"

"Sometimes it's easier to be resentful than happy for someone. And Merlin has always had such a specific relationship with you. I think the other servants have always been jealous, ever since he got the job as your servant on Uther's whim."

Arthur felt suddenly deflated. He had thought he was doing Merlin a favour by promoting him, finally given him the recognition he deserved.

"It will just take time," comforted Guinevere as she saw his anguish. "People will see Merlin for who he really is."

"He has to move into proper chambers," Arthur said decisively. At the very least Merlin could act the part of a nobleman, even if he wasn't quite there yet. "And he needs new clothes. No one will think he's a noble if he keeps dressing like a peasant!"

Guinevere was unconvinced. "I know you want to fix this, but I don't think it will be that simple..."

But Arthur was already caught up in the idea and stood to usher her out, eyes distant as he made plans. "Thank you Guinevere, you've been of immense help."

[1] The Merlin creators were notoriously bad at mapping out a proper geography, so I've taken some free reign with a few of the kingdoms. When Arthur meets the Sarrum of Amata in S5, we've never heard of him before; so I'm headcanoning that he conquered Amata and took it from King Olaf at some point (we never actually hear the name of Olaf's Kingdom in the S2 episode Sweet Dreams.)

[2] Similarly, we never see Lord Godwyn in S2 Sweet Dreams, but given that Gawant is important enough to seek an alliance through marriage in S3 The Changeling, I don't think it's such a stretch to imagine that Gawant is one of the 5 major kingdoms.

In my mind, then, the 5 Kingdoms that are referred to as such in the series, are the largest kingdoms in Albion. I imagine Amata furthest North, Deorham below, Mercia taking the majority of the South East, Camelot taking what is Wales now and the majority of the South West, and Gawant taking what is Ireland now. Smaller kingdoms (Nemeth, Carleon, Essetir, etc) occupy much smaller areas between them, and keep the peace with the larger kingdoms due to treaties etc.