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!

20. Chapter 20

Merlin took a deep breath of the crisp, late morning air. He had his face tilted up towards the sky, feeling the heat of the sun warming up his skin nicely. When Arthur said there was a clearing, he had really meant a clearing.

Merlin had been expecting something like a smaller training ground. Just a secondary place that could be used for the knights, but apparently people rarely went out here.

It wasn't like a training ground at all.

He was standing in a large patch of grass that seemed to stretch on a good bit. It made him want to kick off his boots and walk barefoot, to feel the grass in between his toes. The clearing itself was right on the edge of the forest so there were large oak trees nearby. What he would give to sit under one of those trees. To close his eyes and let the shade be his only cover as he drifted off to sleep.

A sudden noise suddenly broke through the peace that Merlin had found, completely shattering it as if it were made from glass. Arthur, who was standing nearby and had done nothing but ignored him since they arrived, had caused it.

Merlin shot a glare over towards his shoulder to the prat but Arthur hadn't noticed. He was to busy watching Morris running out onto the field, an overly large bag slung over his shoulder.

"It is about time!" Arthur snapped as Morris reached then. "We've been waiting forever!"

Merlin rolled his eye's at the blonde's over exaggeration. All of five minutes wasn't exactly forever.

Morris straightened up immediately when Arthur approached him, putting on the best face that he could while grasping for breath.

"I apo-apologize, sire." Morris choked out, letting the bag he had slung over his shoulder slide down his arm. Then he held it out with both hands.

The only reason Morris had been late was because Arthur hadn't bothered telling him he was coming here instead. He'd been waiting at the training grounds for ten minutes before he overheard a couple of knights saying they'd seen Arthur and his consort going this way.

He had to run as fast as he could to get here as fast as he did.

But Morris didn't say any of that.

Arthur snatched the bag out of his hands, already turning away. He unbuckled the latch and peeked inside, seeing the training pads he'd requested. As well as noticed that Morris had taken the liberty of adding a few other things. Like some daggers, a second sword, and a mace.

"I hope everything meets your approval, sire." Morris said, confidently. He knew that Arthur would find no fault with it. He'd triple checked to make sure he had everything they needed for this little...training session.

Morris looked around Arthur and saw Merlin approaching them. The manservant shot a suspicious glance towards him. He bet Merlin was happy that Arthur was showering him with this attention, that the prince was taking time out of his busy day to do something like this.

Morris was disgusted, Merlin was probably pleased with himself. He was probably thinking about all the different kinds of things he could do with this opportunity, something to get Arthur's attention. Like falling on purpose and claiming he had a sprained ankle so that Arthur would have no choice but to carry him to the physician. Or maybe he'll try a more innocent seduction, like asking Arthur to help him hold a sword. The prince would step to his back, wrap his arms around Merlin and show him how to properly hold it. Merlin would lean back against him, enjoying the muscles holding him and ignoring the lessen.

It was exactly what Morris would have done in his place.

It was diabolical and manipulative. And it pissed Morris off that Merlin was in the perfect position to attempt it. A consort would probably have better luck succeeding compared to a manservant.

"Okay, I think we've got everything we're going to need." Arthur finally said, dropping the bag at his feet. He knelt down beside it and started dragging out the training pads. He was relieved when he saw that they were indeed, the smaller set they had. These were what they used for the younger recruits that hadn't started growing into their muscles yet. Merlin, even though he was taller than those young recruits, it would fit better on his scrawnier frame.

"Do we really need all that?" Merlin asked, bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his head. It seemed like a bunch of unnecessary parts to him.

"Of course we do!" Morris said, answering for Arthur as he glared at Merlin. "Prince Arthur requested it himself." He said, as if that should mean something to Merlin.

"Well forgive me for asking questions." Merlin said dryly, rolling his eyes. He turned away from Morris to watch curiously as Arthur pulled another pad out of the bag.

Morris huffed but didn't say anything scathing like he wanted to, although that was only because Arthur was standing right there.

But Morris did know one thing. Merlin was never going to get on Arthur's good side if he kept pestering the prince with his questions.

"Merlin, come here." Arthur called, ignoring their little tiff.

Merlin knelt down beside the prince, "What is all this stuff?" He asked, picking up what looked like a wrist guard. Only it was soft, made out of pads instead of the steel armor that Arthur was covered in.

"This is for you to wear." Arthur said bluntly. Merlin yelped when the prince suddenly shoved the chest piece part of the pad into his face. He had to drop the wrist guard so he could grasp onto the chest piece. "Now go on, put it on over your clothes."

Merlin looked at the many pieces surrounding him. It looked like it would take a little bit of time to assemble it all together. "Is this all really necessary?"

"Well unless you want to be beaten from head to foot." Arthur said dryly, already digging through the bag to pull out the practice sword. He dropped it at Merlin's feet as well.

Merlin shot him a look, "I meant, this training session. You're really going all out for it." This was way more than he'd been expecting. He'd thought Arthur would teach him a move or two, maybe teach him how to actually land a punch on him. But this was something else entirely. It was the next level stuff.

"Oh, don't complain and just get dressed. I don't want to be out here all day. With any luck, we should be done before lunch." Arthur said, standing up.

"Before lunch!" Merlin exclaimed, looking up towards the sun. It was late morning now. Lunch wouldn't be for several more hours yet.

"Don't be such a girl. A little exercise isn't going to hurt you." Arthur said, walking a few steps away.

Merlin was mumbling under his breath as he started tugging the pads on, although the blonde couldn't hear what he was saying. Arthur ignored it and pulled his own sword out of the sheath at his side and started doing a few practice drills while he waited.

Morris sat on the sidelines and got himself busy with sharpening one of the daggers he'd brought with them. He was smiling to himself, looking quite content as he watched Merlin struggling to get the gear on. The training gear may be the smallest one they had, but it was also the most worn out. It was several years old at least but it had never been replaced. There was no reason to since it was only used once in a blue moon. Not many people with Merlin's figure trained to become a knight.

He got some sick amusement out of it. With all of the wealth the Pendragon's had, they hadn't bothered to update the training armor. Or even have a set commissioned for Merlin's personal usage.

Maybe that meant he wouldn't be here long, but Morris didn't want to get his hopes to high.

Merlin mostly had the training gear on. It covered his entire body. There were pads covering his legs and arms, with thick gloves to protect his fingers. And a large cloth covered chest piece that he was struggling with. His fingers fumbled as he tried to get the last buckle on the back of his shoulder blade to snap close. He cursed under his breath, unable to get it at the odd angle that it was in.

His grumbling cursing got just loud enough that it finally caught Arthur's attention. He'd been swinging his sword in a wide arch over his head, doing a particularly difficult maneuver when he glanced over his shoulder to Merlin.

Arthur rolled his eyes when he realized what the problem was, although he was probably the last one that should. That same buckle was the one that he'd been struggling with when he had gotten his own armor on barely an hour earlier.

"Morris!" Arthur's voice cut through the crisp air. He went back to his training drills, turning his back to the two boy's behind him. "Help him get that buckle clasped."

Morris jumped to attention at the sound of his name, only to feel the weight of disappointment when he realized he was being requested for Merlin and not the prince.

"Yes, sire." Morris bit out, standing to his feet. Although he did take his sweet time going over to Merlin.

Merlin looked at Morris with a bit of uncertainty, "Er, it's just this one here. On my back." He said quietly, turning around to show Morris the unlatched buckle.

Morris rolled his eyes at Merlin's back before grabbing the buckle. Merlin grunted when the manservant tightened it, probably a touch tighter than it was supposed to be. It felt suffocatingly snug but not dangerously so.

"Er, thanks." Merlin said awkwardly, rotating his shoulder some. He was trying to get used to this awkward and bulky outfit. How he was supposed to move around in this was a mystery to him. He had trouble just lifting up the shield strapped to his arm.

"Just don't hurt yourself." Morris said brightly. He sounded all sugar sweet, but Merlin scowled when he realized Morris' smile was showing way to much teeth. Like he was trying to add some bite to his words.

"Don't worry, I won't." Merlin said confidently, turning away from Morris to face Arthur.

"I'm just saying, he's not known as a master swordsman for nothing." Morris continued, almost whispering in Merlin's ear, lest his voice carry over to the prince.

The two boys watched as Arthur did another difficult maneuver. Morris smirked while Merlin swallowed hard.

"Do watch yourself with him. He probably won't hold back for you." Morris said with a smirk. Feeling as if he'd unsettled Merlin enough, he returned to his spot on the sidelines. He was going to enjoy the show.

Seeing that they were done, Arthur picked something up off the ground, sliding his sword back into it's sheath at the same time.

"Are you ready?" Arthur asked, stepping up to Merlin.

"It's not going to make a difference if I say no, is it?" Merlin said, trying to hide the shakiness in his voice, looking more apprehensive than he had a moment ago. How was he supposed to do this? He'd never even held a sword before.

"Hey, what do you know, you can learn something new after all." Arthur said dryly. Merlin shot him an annoyed glance but all that seemed to do was make Arthur's smirk widened.

And then Merlin's line of sight was cut off. "Hey!" He protested, voice muffled as Arthur dropped a helmet onto his head. There was a moment where Arthur fidgeted with the helmet, and then it dropped lower. Merlin was finally able to see out of the eye holes.

Arthur ignored him, giving him a tap on the top of the helmet to make sure that it was on all the way. "You good?" He asked, finally stepping back.

Merlin gave a loud sniff, "It smells weird in here."

"Probably because it hasn't been cleaned since the last guy wore it a year ago." Morris called over, giving a particularly sharp scrape to the dagger he was sharpening.

"What?!" Merlin's face scrunched up in disgust, unseen since his face was hidden by the helmet. Was he really wearing something that nobody had bothered cleaning? He really hoped he wasn't wearing something still coated in someone's else's sweat.

"You'll be fine." Arthur said dismissively, although he'd never had to worry about that kind of problem before. His armor was tailored made for him. It was cleaned, buffed up, polished, and fixed in every way possible after every time he used it.

"How come you don't have to wear a helmet?" Merlin complained, glaring at the blonde. Although Arthur couldn't see since the helmet didn't really give much room for his eyes. And his voice was muffled, giving it a slightly echoey quality to it.

Arthur snorted at the question, "If you can hit me in the face, I'll start wearing a helmet." He said with complete confidence. He only wore helmets during training sessions, under certain conditions where it was more dangerous to not wear one. And this was obviously, not going to be one of those.

"Now I know what I'm aiming for." Merlin grumbled, not even trying to hide his disdain for this whole situation.

Morris on the sidelines, gave an indignant huff. He just didn't understand why Merlin wasn't ecstatic over what was happening. Not many people outside the other knights could say they went a round with Prince Arthur Pendragon. He gave another loud scrape of his sword sharpener to the dagger in his hand, even rougher than the last one.

Arthur shook his head, breathing out a heavy sigh. He had a feeling that this was going to end badly. "Just pull out your sword." He grumbled, pulling out his own sword. He circled it easily, his wrist twisting with ease at his fluid motion.

"Oh god." Merlin was quick to reach for the sword strapped to his waist. But he fumbled with it, nearly dropping it several times before he was able to get it out. His fingers twitched around the handle, struggling to find a good grip on it.

The shield had been to awkward, the weight heavy and weighing his arm down. He was unaccustomed to the gloves that were way to thick and bulky, making him struggle with holding the sword handle.

He didn't get a good chance to look at his weapons though, which was disappointing since this was the first time he'd ever held a sword. He felt awkward and clumsy with it, feeling more like he did when he was a child and him and Will would play knights with nothing more than a couple of long sticks.

And that was before he put on the thirty pound suit.

Arthur rolled his eyes at Merlin's display of awkwardness, the boy's limbs looking even more gangly than usual. He looked nothing less than ridiculous.

He might as well get this over with.

"Okay, now I want you to use the sword to protect your body." Arthur instructed, already dropping down into a crouch that would help him maneuver more easily.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Merlin exclaimed, voice sounding high pitched as it came from under his helmet.

Arthur didn't answer him, already swinging his sword. Merlin yelped, bringing his arm up as if to protect himself. It was the same arm that was holding his sword and there was a clang of metal as the swords clashed together.

Merlin almost dropped his, his fingers tightening around the handle at the last minute. The sword seemed to vibrate in his hand from the hit, reverberating all the way up his arm.

"Now use the shield." Arthur commanded, already swinging his sword into several circles at his side.

Merlin had barely registered the command before Arthur was upon him again. He brought the heavy shield up, his muscles straining under its weight, to protect himself. Arthur's sword came down again and Merlin felt the vibration of the shield as it was hit.

"Sword!" Arthur instructed, swinging his sword at Merlin's other side. He wasn't nearly as rough or as fast as he would have been with one of his trained knights. He at least gave Merlin a warning before he swung although that was really all he gave.

Merlin took several steps back, the force of the blow as his sword grazed off of Arthur's, knocking him backwards.

"Shield!" Arthur said again, taking another swing.

Merlin stumbled over his own feet, nearly collapsing from the force of the next blow against his shield. Who knew the muscles Arthur had actually had some power in them. It wasn't all just talk and Arthur's over inflated ego, he actually knew what he was doing.

"Head!" was what Arthur called out this time, already bringing his sword over his own head.

"Head? What?" Merlin stopped confused. It was just the hesitation needed for Arthur to drop the sword onto the top of Merlin's head. Arthur allowed it to fall with just the sword's weight, not putting any actual force into it.

"Ow!" Merlin still exclaimed, bending forward at the waist under the pressure of the sword. He nearly fell onto the grass, just barely scrambling to keep on his feet. Maybe Arthur had a point about needing all of this armor.

"Come on, Merlin! You're not even trying!" Arthur called. He circled around the boy who was still trying to catch his footing after the blow to his head. He used the side of the sword to give Merlin a sharp jab to the small of his back.

"Ow!" Merlin complained, the jab forcing him to stand up straight. He still fumbled though as Arthur easily circled back around him. "I am trying!" It wasn't his fault he had no idea what he was doing.

Arthur was a terrible teacher, he thought annoyed. He'd been better when he was lecturing Merlin on his punch, not so much when he had a sword in his hand.

"Let's try this again." Arthur said, falling down into a practiced crouch. As if Merlin really was an enemy that he needed to defend himself from.

Behind his helmet, Merlin's eyes widened in panic when he saw the dangerous gleam in Arthur's eyes. "Oh no."

Arthur paid him no mind, already moving his sword, having it twist in circles around him. His wrist circled as well with the practiced ease of somebody who had been doing exactly this for years.

"To the left." Arthur commanded, swinging his sword. He moved much more swifter, a sudden increase in his speed.

Merlin barely had time to bring his sword up to defend himself. And even then, he literally felt the vibration go up his arm as the metal clang off of each other again.

"To the right!" Arthur called out, spinning himself to get more speed and strength into his hit as he struck against Merlin's shield.

Merlin grunted, feeling the ache in his muscles as he struggled with keeping up.

"Left!" Arthur shouted, swinging his sword in a large arch at Merlin.

Merlin brought his sword back up, having to force himself. And he had almost been to slow this time. His growing aches and pains forcing his reaction time to be much slower the longer this went on.

"Head!"

Merlin had no idea how he was supposed to protect his head, Arthur didn't exactly go over that when he started beating him up. So he was completely unguarded as Arthur knocked the blunt of his sword against the side of his face. Merlin grunted, feeling the ringing in his ears come back, the metal helmet vibrating against the blow.

Arthur finally stopped his relenting blows, giving Merlin a moment to breathe. Grasping for breath, Merlin felt almost claustrophobic, feeling his own breath trapped inside the helmet with him.

"Come on, Merlin! You are giving me absolutely nothing to work with here!" Arthur said, shifting from foot to foot in a crouch, as if he was ready to start back in a moment's notice.

On the sidelines, Morris wasn't even pretending to still be sharpening the dagger. The tools rested in his lap, his smirk growing wider with each humiliating blow that Merlin suffered.

Good, maybe this would remind Merlin of where his place was. He may be a consort, but his new station didn't mean he was better than someone like Morris.

"I'm trying!" Merlin was protesting, trying to move his helmet so that he could see out of the eye holes better. The helmet was a touch to big so it kept sliding down into his eyes.

Arthur shook his head at the display, standing up from his half crouch. "Okay, I can't take this anymore." And than he was tucking his sword back into his sheath.

On the sidelines, Morris' head popped up with excitement, a grin on his lips. He would have thought it'd be longer, but if Arthur was realizing how hopeless Merlin was already, than he wasn't going to complain.

"Well excuse me!" Merlin exclaimed, still fidgeting with his helmet. "Not all of us were trained to become knights before we could walk." As much as he wanted them to stop, he felt the burn of humiliation on his cheeks, knowing that he'd failed at this so completely.

"It wasn't before I could walk. It was more like as soon as I started." Arthur corrected with a smirk, walking around Merlin.

"Oh, and that makes it so much better." Merlin grumbled, Arthur now at his back. Merlin went stiff when he suddenly felt a hand grabbing at the back of his knee in a firm grip. "What are you doing?" He squeaked, feeling a new rush of embarrassment and confusion.

"Spread your legs." Arthur said, already moving Merlin's leg for him.

Merlin's spine was as stiff as it could be and he was suddenly a lot thankful for the helmet, feeling as if one look at his face would give off how anxious he suddenly was. "Why are you touching me?" He demanded, trying to look over his shoulder to where Arthur was now kneeling behind him.

But Arthur grabbed him with firm hands on either side of his waist and twisted sharply, forcing Merlin to stay looking straight ahead.

"Don't flatter yourself." Arthur said dismissively, barely paying the sudden tenseness in Merlin's stance any attention.

Merlin felt a new rush of humiliation as Arthur started messing with his other leg, forcing it exactly where he wanted. Swallowing hard and staring ahead, Merlin choked out, "What exactly are you doing down there?"

"I told you, your footwork is terrible. You're completely off balanced like this." Arthur said, forcing Merlin to spread his legs wider or to fall over, giving him a more sturdy stance.

That took Merlin by surprise and he felt the tense muscles in his body relax. His footwork, that was all Arthur was doing. He was correcting his stance. So why did he feel disappointed that this was all Arthur was doing?

Merlin shook it off, confused and he pushed that disappointment to the side. Deciding to move on, he said in a grumbly voice, "You could have just told me that."

Arthur finally let go of his ankle that he had been holding in a firm grip, moving it to where he wanted it. "And where's the fun in that?" Arthur asked, finally standing up and moving to stand in front of Merlin.

On the sidelines, Morris was scowling, watching the scene unfold right in front of him. He bet Merlin was enjoying this, having Arthur touch him. He probably thought it meant something more than it was, but Morris had seen Arthur do the exact same maneuver on the new recruits when they were first starting out. It was nothing more than Arthur training his knights.

Merlin looked awkwardly at Arthur, trying to tilt his helmet back to see better through the eye holes.

Arthur paid him no attention, he was now studying Merlin's form. Seeing the imperfections, Arthur took a large stride to get into Merlin's space.

Merlin went tense again, "Hey!" He exclaimed when Arthur got way to close. It had been bad enough when Arthur had been kneeling behind him, and he was unable to see what the prince was doing. But now that Arthur was in front of him, he suddenly felt a lot more aware than he wanted to be. He had no choice but to stare directly at Arthur's face as he started moving Merlin's arms into their correct positions.

Arthur didn't notice, his full attention was sorely onto getting this right. Holding Merlin by his bicep, slim enough for Arthur to wrap his whole hand around it, he lifted it up higher so that the shield would protect him better. And then he did the same to the other arm, even stopping to fix the grip Merlin had on the blade, moving the hand down some. This way, he was holding it in the middle of the handle instead of pushed against the top just below the blade itself. It would make it easier to twist and circle it, not that Merlin could do those moves with the basic training he'd had since they'd started, but Arthur didn't want any bad habits forming.

Now that the arms were done, Arthur moved onto the head. Merlin grunted when Arthur pushed his helmet back, showing him a better view of Merlin's eyes through the hole. If he could see Merlin's eyes, than that meant he could see clearly.

Merlin quickly averted his eyes, feeling the heat on his face against the cold metal of his helmet. Arthur's hands had been cupping where his cheeks were under the helmet to move it. All Arthur had to do was jerk him forward.

Merlin's eyes dropped to Arthur's lips at the thought. They looked really soft, and Merlin didn't exactly get a good chance to feel them against his own at their wedding.

He almost felt cheated, like he deserved to have a better one. And since Arthur had been the one to give him the first one, it only felt right that he be the one to give him a new one.

A better one, just to make up for the failure their first kiss had been.

But then Arthur was stepping back, breaking the spell that Merlin had fallen into. Merlin almost fell over, having been leaning his weight into Arthur's hands.

Realizing what he had been thinking about, Merlin felt his face start to flush. He was never more thankful that he was actually wearing this helmet.

"There you go." Arthur said, looking Merlin over. He hadn't noticed Merlin's wondering mind. "Now you actually look like a knight." Kind of...if you squinted...and tilted your head a little to the left...and squinted some more.

It took Merlin a minute to remember what they had been doing before he'd gotten lost in his...thoughts. It took even longer to clear his head. And when he finally did, he choked out a weakly sarcastic response, "Exactly what I wanted, my lifelong dream has been realized."

Arthur smirked, only mildly amused as he said the one thing he knew Merlin would hate the most, "Well if that's your lifelong dream, than we have a lot of work to do."

And true enough, Merlin felt himself pale under his helmet. "No, really, I'm sure I can find another lifelong dream..." as if either of them were really serious about this being a dream of his.

"To late." Arthur said, dropping back into his crouch. And then they were off again.

There was a hit to his shield and then another swing nearly knocked his sword out of his hand. Over and over again, swing after swing. And Merlin was being forced back step after step with each attack. It only took the first swing for Merlin to completely forget about Arthur and his soft looking lips, or that he was definitely owed a better kiss.

Merlin actually couldn't think at all, to busy trying to keep up with Arthur's increasing pace. But if he had been able to think, he'd probably be vividly reminded about why he didn't want to kiss Arthur in the first place. And no matter how soft or inviting his lips were, the words he often spoke ruined the effect.

And that was when Arthur hit him in the head again, the clanging of metal making his ears ring at an almost painful level. Merlin cried out, falling backwards. There was no way for him to catch himself this time.

Merlin had the wind knocked out of him as he landed on his back. The helmet even got thrown off his head when his head came flying down.

Merlin groaned squeezing his eyes shut, everything was hurting, he didn't even know he could hurt this much. He had soreness in muscles that he didn't even know existed.

He was able to force his eyes back open, only to squint in the brightness of the sunlight. It only lasted for a moment though, before there was a shadow in the way. It blocked the sunlight from burning his eyes. And all he could see was the glint of sunlight bouncing off of Arthur's blonde hair, a shadow darkening most of his face.

Merlin lifted his head and stared beadily at Arthur. "Is it over?" He croaked out. How were there people out there, people like Arthur, who actually did things like this for a living?

Arthur snorted, looking down at the boy all sprawled out at his feet. "Come on, you can't be tired already. That was just a warm up." He said amused.

Merlin stared blankly at the man above him. Then he groaned loudly and dropped his head back onto the grass. A warm up? This maniac called this a warm up?

Arthur didn't even bother hiding the wicked smirk on his lips, looking far to amused at Merlin's misery. It wasn't often that he got to have fun like this during training.

"I thought you were supposed to be training me." Merlin grumbled, letting his eyes flutter shut. All he wanted to do was lay here and not get up anytime soon. "Not beating me up."

Seeing the exhaustion written all over Merlin, Arthur's features softened up just a little bit. "You learn by practicing and sometimes, that requires getting beat up a little."

"I think I can live without it." Merlin grumbled. His head perked up when he heard the sound of clanging. Arthur was kneeling at his feet, digging through the bag of items that Morris had brought to them. "What are you looking for?" He asked, already dreading the answer.

"I suppose you haven't improved in your mace work since our last fight?" Arthur said, not looking up from his search. He could already guess the answer.

How did their conversations seem to end up back there? "You mean the fight where I almost had you?" Merlin grunted, not budging an inch from where he was sprawled out. He wasn't moving from this spot until Arthur dragged him to his feet.

Arthur finally shot Merlin a smirk over his shoulder as he pulled the mace out. "No, I meant the fight where I won." He said cockily.

Merlin rolled his eyes, relaxing his muscles as he stared blankly at the sky above him, while practically melting into the ground under him. "I think using that broom was cheating. It had to be."

"Not at all," Arthur said, going back to his feet. He kicked the bag to the side and out of the way. "A good soldier always uses his surroundings to his advantage."

"...Definitely cheated." Merlin grumbled, closing his eyes again. All he wanted was to feel the heat of the sun on his skin. And not the blistering heat that he was experiencing with this suit on.

Arthur's eye twitched, now looming over Merlin. Merlin didn't even twitch when the sun was covered again by Arthur's shadow.

Arthur wondered what kind of reaction Merlin would have if the blonde just reached down and started throttling him.

"Tired, are you?" Arthur asked dryly.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Merlin grunted, still refusing to open his eyes.

Arthur rolled his eyes, not believing anyone could be tired after just the warm up. He hadn't even broken a sweat, he'd need an intense training for the next hour before he even felt the beginnings of perspiration on his hairline.

"Well get up, we still have more work to do." Arthur said. Merlin didn't budge. Arthur gave him a small kick to his leg.

"It is not going to kill you to rest for five minutes." Merlin grunted, finally peeking through his eyelashes to look up at Arthur.

"No, but I might kill you, if you don't get up." Arthur said dryly, giving Merlin a little harder kick to his shin.

Merlin finally groaned, clearly he wasn't going to get any rest anytime soon. The dark haired boy pushed himself up into a sitting position, feeling his arms literally shaking from the strain. Fuck, he didn't think he'd ever felt so tired in his life.

Arthur shook his head at the display. He couldn't believe that he was about to do this. And then with a grunt, he dropped himself so that he was sitting beside his consort.

Merlin raised an eyebrow at him, "What are you doing?" He asked confused, leaning forward to wrap his arms loosely around his knees.

"It won't kill me to rest for five minutes." Arthur grumbled. He made it quite obvious that he was avoiding Merlin's eyes.

The corners of Merlin's lips started to twitch up, and he looked far to amused for his own good. Arthur let out a huff of annoyance, "Shut up. It's only right to rest after...a warm up." He looked pained when he said that.

Merlin threw his head back and started to laugh, a full body laugh. Arthur scowled, shooting Merlin a glare, feeling as if he was being laughed at. Arthur huffed, feeling a humiliated burn start to stain his cheeks, and starting to push himself up off the ground. This is what happens when he actually gives in to someone's complaining.

"No, no." Merlin choked out, still grinning widely. And then he had his hand hooked in the crook of Arthur's arm and jerked him back down.

Startled, Arthur jerked his arm out of his grasp as fast as it had happened. Merlin didn't pay it any mind, he just shook his head and wrapped his arms back around his knees. Ignoring Arthur, Merlin leaned his head back some to feel the heat of the sun on his face.

Arthur had barely been sitting for twenty seconds before his knee started bouncing. This 'resting bit' wasn't usually part of his regular training regimen.

"I can feel you from here." Merlin said dryly. He hadn't even looked at Arthur and despite there being several inches between them, Merlin could still tell Arthur was getting more and more restless.

Arthur couldn't handle it anymore, just sitting here. He jolted to his feet, "Alright, break time is over."

Merlin groaned, slumping over his knees. "You really don't get the concept of break time, do you?" He never got to rest back home, there was to much work to do. He wasn't above taking what little break he could.

"Get your arse up, we've got some more work to do." Arthur commanded, bending down and picking something up off the ground that he'd had sitting beside him.

Merlin rolled his eyes but dragged himself to his feet. He was very acutely aware of the aches and pain all over his body screaming in protest at the movement.

"Alright, now lift your shield a little higher." Arthur instructed, swinging the mace in a large arch over his head.

"This is going to hurt, isn't it?" Merlin asked, already feeling himself pale at what was about to happen. Then he was bringing the shield up, protecting himself as best as he could. And was it him or did this thing weigh twice as much as it did before?

"Probably." Arthur grunted, but he had no problem with that. It wasn't him that was going to be hit with a mace. Besides, he kind of liked the aches and pains in his body, knowing he'd trained, pushing himself to his limits. And he wasn't even close to that breaking point right now.

Arthur swung his mace and Merlin grunted as he felt it bang against his shield. It almost felt as if it was banging directly against his arm instead of the metal barrier.

"When do I get to swing the mace at you?" Merlin finally asked after several minutes of being pelted on. He was amazed that he was still on his feet and had yet to collapse. Although he did feel as if one stiff breeze would be enough to knock him back on his arse.

Arthur snorted at the question, "Seriously? You can't even hold the mace right." He swung the mace in a slow circle at his side.

When Arthur didn't attack him again, Merlin cautiously lowered the shield just far enough for his eyes to peek out. And seeing Arthur just standing there, he lowered it some more. His eyes caught onto the mace in Arthur's hand.

"How hard can it be?" he asked the prince. It was just a handle with a metal ball attached by a chain.

"You were holding it backwards." Arthur said bluntly, reminding Merlin of the one and only time he'd held a mace. Merlin felt himself flush, having not realized that. And as if to add salt to the wound, Arthur continued, "And upside down."

Merlin looked away with a scowl, ignoring the building heat on the top of his cheekbones, "You are a terrible teacher." He said bluntly.

Arthur let out a bark of surprised laughter. In all the time he'd trained his knights, not once had anybody ever criticized his methods. "Maybe it's not my teaching style that's the problem, maybe it's my student." The blonde suggested dryly.

Merlin shot him a look, "So it's not just me you beat up?" His bruises probably had bruises. And it was almost relieving that Arthur did this kind of thing to everyone. That this wasn't just some kind of way for Arthur to get his sick revenge on Merlin for daring to become his consort.

"Of course you are." Arthur said bluntly.

Merlin stared at him blankly, feeling his arm with the shield drop completely, letting it hang at his side. "W-what?!" He demanded, voice croaky. He wasn't entirely sure if he felt hurt or pissed, it was some kind of weird mixture of the two.

"Well the men I train with at least know what they're doing." Arthur said. "They're able to put up an actual fight. I don't have to start at the basics like I do for you."

"You call this basic?" Merlin asked harshly. He would have thought the basics were the beginning steps, more about making sure he knew what he was doing. Not just him trying to keep up as his much more advanced husband came down on top of him.

Arthur shrugged, a playful smirk teasing at the edges of his lips, "Think of it as the advanced basics."

"Advanced basics, my arse." Merlin grunted, doing absolutely nothing to hide his irritation. He tightened the grip he had on the handheld of the shield. All Arthur's grin did was make him want to wipe it off. To actually be good at this and to prove that he could do this. Wouldn't that be a sight to see?

But all he felt was as if he was a clumsy fool, unable to do anything more than a weak attempt at protecting himself with a shield.

Arthur's smirk widened just the tiniest bit.

He could practically feel the doubt coming off of Merlin. He knew it well, it was something he felt all the time when he'd first started training and couldn't do anything right.

But he'd be better for it in the long run. That doubt was what had pushed Arthur to become better than all the rest. It would do the same for Merlin.

"You're not doing as bad as you think." Arthur said, deciding to throw Merlin a bone.

Merlin perked up, giving Arthur an almost suspicious look. "Really?" He asked, uncertain. His eyes were narrowed, and he was just waiting for the punchline.

But Arthur wasn't joking at all. The blonde gave a subtle shrug, "Well most of the new recruits will collapse after the first blow." Arthur wasn't going to say this, but he actually was impressed that Merlin was still on his feet. Even if he had tried taking a break in the middle there. Merlin still standing after them doing this for over an hour, already put him above the new recruits who dreaded going against him. They barely lasted half an hour against him before they yielded.

Merlin was a lot more stubborn than he'd thought.

Arthur suddenly felt very awkward when Merlin started to grin. "Was that a compliment?" Merlin asked. He had forgotten to put his helmet back on when they started again, so the sun was hitting him directly in the face. It made a weird twinkle appear in his eyes.

Arthur cleared his throat, feeling himself stiffen as he purposely looked away from those eyes. "You wish." He said gruffly, scowling at the ground. He felt strange, something unwelcome flowing through his veins. He didn't like it one bit. He didn't like Merlin grinning at him like that, and he really didn't like that look in his eyes.

Merlin's smile dropped into a scowl of disdain. And right when he started to think Arthur actually had a heart, he had to do something to ruin it.

"Don't hurt yourself." Merlin shot back. "Trying to compliment someone other than your own ego." His hand, hidden behind his shield, curled into a fist.

Arthur finally turned to give him a glare. That strange feeling was still in his veins and even though he didn't know what it was, he did know that he wanted it gone. So he lashed out at the person causing it, "I don't have an ego!" He snarled, taking an almost threatening step forward.

Merlin felt his hackles rise at the tone immediately, "Clearly, you need a moment to have some self-reflection. There's obviously not enough space around here for me, you, and your ego." He snapped, turning his back to Arthur.

He started stomping off, intent on leaving. He should have never came in the first place. He should have known this 'training session' or whatever you wanted to call it, was going to end badly.

Arthur rolled his eyes at the sight of Merlin leaving and took a few steps towards him, "Don't walk away from me!" He called out after him, his fingers flexing around the handle of the mace he was still holding.

Merlin stopped short but only because he wasn't leaving without the last word. "Why not?" He demanded harshly, bringing up one hand to rest on his hip. "I have better things to do than get snapped at."

Arthur rolled his eyes again, "Don't be so sensitive." He couldn't believe the one he was married to acted like such a girl. He would have thought that was the only good thing about being married to a boy was that he wouldn't have to deal with things like this.

"Oh, you would know all about that." Merlin said. "You have the worst mood swings out of anybody that I have ever met."

"I do not have mood swings!" Arthur exclaimed, in disbelief. If Merlin had been anybody else, he would have just ducked his head, uttered his apologies and hurried off. But he wasn't anybody else, as Arthur was quickly finding out.

Merlin snorted, "Please, I'm surprised it took you this long to have one since we've got here."

Arthur scoffed, he didn't have mood swings! He wasn't some weepy woman, that spot was sorely for Merlin in this relationship. "If you are going to waste my time with this argument," Arthur said slowly. "Than the least we can do is hash this out during training." He spun the mace around in his hand.

Merlin rolled his eyes, "See, mood swings. One minute you want to yell at me, and the next, you want to start training again."

Arthur scowled, "Just lift your shield up." He snapped, the mace at his side swinging harder as he picked up the pace.

"No!" Merlin protested. As if he was going to entertain Arthur for another moment longer. He was going to stick with his original plan and go to his uncle's. It was where he should have been this entire time.

"Come on!" Arthur insisted. The spinning of the mace went a little faster. "It'll be an important lesson for you!"

"And I'm sure you'll be more than happy to teach it to me." Merlin huffed, his cheeks puffing out a little.

"Of course I will be." Arthur said, sounding way to cocky for Merlin's taste. "Now are you going to lift your shield or am I attacking an unarmed man?"

Merlin narrowed his eyes at the prince, and for a minute, everything was completely silent. They could barely hear the wind as it rustled through the trees. Arthur was stubborn, Merlin could give him that. But Merlin was even more so.

He'd be damned if he let Arthur think he'd chased him away. He'd be damned if he allowed himself to leave, making Arthur think he couldn't handle something as simple as training. Even if it was incredibly grueling.

No matter how easy Arthur made it look.

"You're a real Prince Charming, aren't you?" Merlin finally grumbled, half to himself, even as he lifted his shield up in an effort to protect himself.

Arthur didn't hear him, or just ignored him, Merlin didn't know. Once Merlin had lifted the shield, they were at it again. They worked for another hour, with the sun beating down on them. They both had sweat dripping down the back of their neck's within minutes.

This 'training' as Arthur called it, was mainly just the blonde practicing fancy maneuvers with his mace and Merlin struggling to keep on his feet.

Until one particularly strong hit was enough to throw Merlin onto his back again. This was a very familiar position, Merlin thought, as he stared up at the sun. It was the exact sprawled out position that he had ended up in earlier.

He really hoped that this wasn't going to become a habit.

Arthur's feet appeared next to his head, looking down at him. Merlin tried picking up his head but gave up within seconds, letting it drop back to the grass beneath him.

"Can we stop now?" Merlin croaked out. He might have been stubborn enough to keep going, but that didn't mean he wouldn't take every opportunity he could to complain about it.

Everything was hurting him, even his throat was causing him pain, although for the life of him, he didn't know why. It was just one more thing on the list of things on him that was causing an agonizing aching sensation.

Arthur took his sweet time in answering Merlin. It was like payback for their earlier argument, as if the intense training he just forced him through wasn't enough.

"I suppose," Arthur finally said, as if he were thinking about it and hadn't already decided. "That you've done enough training for today. I think I've done all I can to help you today."

Arthur could actually feel the beads of sweat sliding down his neck, his bangs were starting to stick to his forehead. His heart was racing in his chest from the workout they've done together. Arthur would never admit this but Merlin had actually given him a run for his money.

Not from his skills, definitely not from his skill level. But his endurance was what Arthur was stuck on.

He had expected the boy to collapse right after they started again. It was surprisingly impressive that he had managed their second round for as long as he had. Even more impressive considering his peasant upbringing. Not many peasant's could stand for so long against a trained knight.

Merlin was stubborn, he give him that. Arthur wasn't sure yet if that was a good thing or not.

The prince than gave Merlin a once over, briefly wondering if he had gone overboard. He always took his training seriously, fighting as if his life depended on it. Had he gone overboard against Merlin? His untrained consort.

But then Merlin let out a sigh of relief and Arthur pushed those thoughts aside, "Thank go-" Merlin started, but then cut himself off when he'd registered the last of Arthur's sentence. "Hey!" He exclaimed. "How exactly did you help me at all? All I did was get beat up!" Since Arthur was using the mace their second round, Merlin hadn't even been able to use the sword he'd had earlier. It was still over there, laying abandoned in the grass somewhere.

Ignoring the screaming in his muscles, Merlin pushed himself up onto his elbows, his face irritated as he stared up at Arthur. He felt as if this was some kind of ploy, a trick. Maybe the king hadn't said anything at all, and Arthur had just used that as an excuse to get Merlin out here. And then the prince had his fun, making Merlin think all of this was just some kind of training.

After all, it would be pretty easy to trick Merlin. What did he know about how training was supposed to go?

It was entirely possible that it could be something like that. After all, Merlin didn't really know Arthur. He already knew he was an arse, but was he really that kind of arse?

Arthur didn't answer for the longest time, to busy putting his equipment back into the bag for Morris to take up to the castle. But when he did finally talk, it was to give Merlin a surprising answer.

Arthur had his back to Merlin, buckling up the bag as he said, "All of this is helping both of us. I can practice using my mace more effectively, not that I'm not already the best but still, I don't want to get rusty."

It was at that point that Merlin rolled his eyes. Trust Arthur to throw something in there about how much better he was than everybody else.

But then Arthur continued. "And for you, you're practicing your footwork."

Merlin frowned, having sat up completely and now had his arms loosely wrapped around his legs, looked down at his feet. He was confused, not understanding what his footwork had to do with anything.

As if sensing Merlin's confusion, Arthur kept talking. "Your footwork is the most basic of all things, the first thing you learn during the knights training regimen. If you can't stay on your feet, you won't make a good soldier. Now, you obviously won't be becoming a soldier, especially with your skill-"

Arthur ignored the loud, "Hey!" Merlin shouted at him, obviously insulted.

Arthur kept talking, "You haven't even noticed that you have gotten more sturdy during this last hour. You're not stumbling as much as when we started. You're learning how to adapt, learning how to stay on your feet. And staying on your feet is a good first step to staying alive if you're ever in a real fight."

Merlin was startled by this. He was suddenly hyper focused on his own feet. And on the growing redness resurfacing on his cheekbones that had absolutely nothing to do with the heat of the sun.

Arthur had been watching him the whole time. He hadn't just been taking some kind of sick pleasure in watching Merlin suffer, although he did suspect that it was a little bit of that. But it was also more than just that.

Knowing that Arthur was watching him that closely. It was weird, unsettling, and something he'd never felt before.

Why did it send a shiver down his spine? And had his heart picked up the pace since he'd been sitting there? That couldn't be right. Why would his heart beat faster, now that he was just sitting down?

He wasn't entirely sure if he liked this feeling or not, but he was open to the possibility of finding out.

Merlin was dragged out of his thoughts rather abruptly when something hard and metal dropped over his head. "Hey!" Merlin protested, voice muffled as he brought his hands up to grasp onto the metal helmet that had been pushed back onto his head.

Arthur rapped his knuckles rather harshly on the forehead of it, enjoying the knocking on metal sound. He had a rather mocking grin on his face, although if Merlin didn't know any better, he'd say it had the barest hint of teasing to it.

"And rule number one of training is to never. Practice. Without. Your. Helmet." Arthur forcibly enunciated each word he spoke with a rap of his knuckles, practically trying to drill that into Merlin's head.

"I get it, I get it!" Merlin exclaimed, tugging the helmet off. He tossed the aged metal onto the ground beside him. He wanted to run his hands through his hair, shake loose the sweat clinging to his scalp. But he didn't think he could move his arms high enough.

Arthur went back to ignoring him, swinging the bag over his shoulder. Merlin had to duck, the bag nearly taking off his head in the process.

With a pained groan, Merlin was forced to drag himself to his feet. He picked up his helmet, letting it just barely hang off of his fingertips. Was it a bad thing that even his fingertips were causing him intense pain? Even his thick gloves did absolutely nothing to protect him. He was even walking kind of bow legged, with a much more awkward stride than he usually did.

As Merlin follow behind Arthur across the grass, neither boy noticed the look on Morris' face. The intense seething look, with his eyes on fire, having watched the entire scene with neither boy none the wiser. His knuckles were clenched so tightly around his sharpening tools that he had indentions forming into the groove of his palms.

Had Merlin and Arthur actually been what, bonding? Right in front of his very eyes. And then they had been arguing, and now they weren't? He had thought they hated each other to much to have a decent conversation.

He hadn't liked what he'd seen at all. Merlin and Arthur didn't like each other that much, that was clear, but Morris had seen one or two moments that had concerned him. There was something there, between the two of them, just simmering under the surface. Something that hadn't burst open yet.

Had he just imagined it? Seen something that wasn't actually there? No, he didn't think he had, and he wasn't going to take the risk that he was wrong.

Morris had to do something, anything, to stop it.

He had to do something about this, before whatever it was broke open. He had to make Merlin want to leave Camelot. That would do it, but how? Who would leave a prince?

He had some planning to do.

"Morris, bring this to the armory and have it cleaned and ready for its next use." Arthur suddenly said, forcing Morris out of his thoughts. His tools were knocked out of his hands when the bag was thrown into his lap.

Merlin had almost forgotten that Morris was there, just sitting on the sidelines. He'd been so caught up in Arthur, and the training, to remember Morris. Had he been sitting there the whole time?

Morris forced his budding plans to the back of his mind. He could think of what to do about Merlin when he had time after he'd returned to his room tonight. But right now, he had a duty to his prince.

Arthur would thank him later, when Morris succeeded in getting rid of Merlin. And make no mistake, Morris would get rid of Merlin. He just needed time to think of the perfect way to do it.

Morris stood, holding his sharpening tools in one hand and dragging the bag over his shoulder. "Of course, sire." He said, purposely ignoring Merlin.

He wasn't worth his time to interact with. Not unless it was part of whatever plan he came up with later.

The three were prepared to leave and go their separate ways. Morris was going to the armory, Arthur was going to do whatever it was prince's did in their spare time, and Merlin was going to his uncle's.

Although really, Merlin was wondering if he'd even be able to make it to his uncle's. He was in so much pain, he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to make it off the clearing, yet along across the castle.

Before any of them could leave though, there was the sudden sound of rushing feet. "Sir Merlin! Sir Merlin!" George called out, grasping for breath. He still hadn't caught his breath, even as he put on his professional look. On the outside, he was every bit of a professional a manservant was supposed to be. On the inside though, his heart was nearly beating out of his chest. He'd been all over this castle, looking for his master. It was just by coincidence that he'd looked out of a window on the far side of the castle, and was able to see the clearing.

George had the book that his prince had requested of him tucked under his arm. And in his hand, he held a silver goblet filled with juice. He'd made sure not to spill a single drop.

"I've brought you the juice that you requested." George announced with a flourish, as if he had the great honor as to announce Merlin's arrival to an important party or something. Instead of something as simple as bringing his a beverage.

Seeing the goblet, Merlin was uncomfortably aware of how dry his throat was. He couldn't even swallow, because he had nothing to swallow, he was that dry. "Thank God." Merlin croaked out, taking off his gloves with shaking hands. God, had his fingers always been this stiff?

Merlin took the stem of the goblet and brought it to his lips. He'd completely forgotten that he'd sent George to get this for him, just to get rid of him. Now he kind of felt bad. He had never been more thankful for George in that moment.

He drunk the entire goblet in one large gulp. He drained the juice within seconds, and he was almost disappointed when he realized that it was gone.

Merlin lowered the goblet from his lips, licking at the juice clinging to the top of his lip. "Thanks George, I really needed this." He grasped out, sighing in relief.

Morris scowled, glaring at George. What was he doing here? And why was he bringing Merlin juice? George was making Morris look bad, doing things like this in front of Arthur.

Morris should have thought to bring some juice for his prince, if only be to acknowledged as the superior manservant. George was just another person on the long list of people that Morris didn't particularly like. Morris had a theory that George was after his job.

Back before Morris had been assigned as Arthur's manservant, the position for the job had been between him and George.

Ultimately, Morris had received the gig. And Morris was more than happy to bring up his victory to George every time they ran across each other.

Which was exactly what he wanted to do right now. "George," Morris started with a slight sneer to his words. "I'm sure 'my master' would have liked a juice as well."

George just smiled in his professional way, "Then you best hurry off and grab him one. I'm only here to see to my own master's comforts." Of course, George would be more than pleased to serve his prince. But as Morris was here, there was no reason for Arthur to need George at all.

"Yo-" Morris started, staring blankly? Master? What was he talking about. The only master here was Arthur and he was Morris' master. Well, Arthur and...oh, hell no!

"You know him?" Arthur suddenly said, sounding confused, interrupting Morris' thought process. Not that it mattered, since Morris had already made the connection.

And Morris was doing everything he could to stop himself from freaking out in front of his prince. If George was now Merlin's manservant, than that meant that Morris would have to work alongside him. And that was far more time than Morris wanted to spend in George's vicinity.

Merlin cleared his throat, looking awkward as he waved a hand towards George. "This is uh...George."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at him because clearly, Merlin had just spoken the obvious. Sure, Arthur may not have known George by name, but he did recognize him as the servant he'd talked to just that morning.

Had Merlin made friends with another servant? It was bad enough that Merlin was friendly with Gwen. Couldn't Merlin just stop making friends with servants?

Clearing his throat again, Merlin elaborated even though he really didn't want to finish his sentence. "My..." he trailed off, trying to get the word out. He cleared his throat again and tried one more time. "My...manservant." The word twisted oddly on his tongue, and it tasted sour in his mouth.

Arthur went stiff, trying to comprehend that. George was Merlin's...manservant? Fuck. Sure, it had been a week since their marriage, but wasn't it to soon? Having a manservant...it meant that Merlin was staying.

Of course Merlin was staying, he was his consort. But a manservant? It meant that Merlin was making himself at home, becoming a permanent fixture in Camelot.

Arthur swallowed hard, the growing unease forming in his chest. He didn't like this, he didn't like this one bit. And so, he did what he always did when he didn't like something. He lashed out.

"So," Arthur hissed, his voice sounding both snide and bitter, glaring at Merlin with ice forming in his eyes. "You're already getting used to my royal benefits?"

It was far to easy for Arthur to believe this. That Merlin was just one of the many people that wanted to marry him because of his wealth. Only Merlin had actually managed to do it, unlike so many others who'd failed. That Merlin had absolutely no problem with exploiting everything that came with being a royal.

And to think, he actually hadn't minded being with Merlin so much mere moments before. He regretted that now, this harsh reminder of just what Merlin had done to his life, completely turning it upside down.

At his side, Merlin had immediately stiffened. His eyes narrowed into slits and his face was growing red again. Only this time, it was from the unimaginable, growing rage forming in his chest. He was so mad, that his sore fingers didn't even hurt when he clenched them into fists at his sides.

"Excuse me?" Merlin demanded, sounding so quiet, it almost sounded deadly.

"You heard me." Arthur snapped, turning his growing ire on the boy in front of him. "It must be nice, going from a peasant to a royal. You'll never have to work a day in your life!"

Merlin and Arthur's eyes were laser focused on the other. It was like lightning seemed to sizzle between them from just their eye contact alone.

"Well you can keep your 'Royal benefits!'. I don't need any of it!" Merlin snarled, voice sounding dark. "Besides, you'll need all the help your 'Royal benefits' can give you more than I do!"

Arthur scoffed, "I'm a prince! I was at least born to have these benefits. I didn't have to marry up to get them."

Merlin felt a muscle in his jaw jump. Had Arthur just insinuated that Merlin was, what? Some kind of gold digger.

Merlin just barely held onto his composer.

He crossed his arms, giving Arthur a look of pure contempt. "You're a prince?" He asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I had absolutely no idea. What, with the castle, and the crown, and a manservant of your own."

"I need all those things." Arthur said, with a note of superiority in his voice. "Especially a manservant to get things done. I fail to note why 'you' would need one."

He was clearly indicating that Merlin wasn't important enough to have need for one. But that had the opposite effect on Merlin than Arthur thought. He would have thought Merlin would get all offended on him. But no, Merlin actually agreed with him on this one.

"I don't need one!" Merlin exclaimed. "I didn't ask for this, any of this! Unlike some people-" he gave an obvious look to Arthur. "I am more than capable of taking care of my own things."

Arthur let out a bark of laughter, not believing that Merlin was once again insulting him. He took a step so that him and Merlin were toe to toe. "You will find," he said slowly, staring at Merlin's face. "That I am capable of more than you think."

Merlin glanced down, looking at Arthur through his eyelashes. Then he tilted his chin up, now cowering in the least at the man standing in his space. "Is that right?" He asked, his voice in a soft mutter.

There was the suddenly a sound, a loud crash, that permeated through the fog they had fallen into.

Both Arthur and Merlin's head snapped away from each other to look beside there. George was just patiently watching. Morris though, had the bag of tools at his feet. The bag was open and all of the tools were thrown across the grass.

"So sorry, sire." Morris said with a forceful smile. "The clasp must be defected." Then he knelt down and slowly started pushing things back into the bag.

Merlin watched Morris was a confused expression. Arthur though, suddenly seemed to realize that he was standing way to close to Merlin. The blonde practically fell over his own feet, scrambling backwards.

That certainly got Merlin's attention. He turned back to Arthur, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What is wrong with you?"

Arthur looked at him in disbelief, his eye twitching. Was Merlin for real? Had he not noticed that Arthur had practically been right on top of him? That they were two guys who had been standing way to close for his comfort.

Arthur was flustered but Merlin clearly, was not.

Did Merlin seriously not realize that it wasn't right for two men to stand so close together? That it wasn't right for him to stand so close to Merlin? What had he been thinking? Just walking up to him like that, and making himself at home in Merlin's space.

But Merlin was still looking at him confused. It pretty much made Arthur realize that no, Merlin didn't know any of this.

Arthur would have to be sure to keep plenty of space between them. Merlin clearly wasn't going to do it.

"Pardon me." George said, getting everyone's attention. "I got that book you requested, sire." George held out the book to his prince.

Arthur, still annoyed with himself for being anywhere in Merlin's vicinity, practically snatched the book out of George's hand. He looked down at the cover, as if to make sure that this was the right book. And then he held it out to Merlin, making sure to hold out his arm as far as it would go.

If only to keep some distance between them.

Merlin stepped forward, looking down at the cover of the book in Arthur's hand. "What's this?" He asked, taking the book in hand. And he hadn't even spared Arthur a glimpse.

Arthur felt his eye twitching again, and his jaw clenched. How was Merlin so calm? Had he really not realized that Arthur had been so close to him just minutes before? He sure was acting as if nothing had happened.

"It's everything that you need to know." Arthur bit out, his annoyance coating every word. Most everyone Arthur knew would be in a tizzy if he even looked at them, yet along had gotten so close to them.

Why hadn't Merlin? Why hadn't Merlin even noticed? Why was he so annoyed? He should be happy! Thrilled, even, if Merlin hadn't noticed his lapse in judgement.

That would have just been one more problem he had to deal with.

But now Merlin was giving him a look. Why was he giving him that look? As if Arthur were a dumbarse? Why did it not piss Arthur off as much as it should have?

"Everything I need to know?" Merlin drawled out, cocking his hip to the side. "Do you care to elaborate on that?"

Arthur cleared his throat, feeling as if it were even more dry than when it had been during training. He opened his mouth to answer but no words came out. What was wrong with him? He shouldn't be this thrown off! All he'd done was step close to Merlin!

It wasn't even that big of a deal! It wasn't like he was caught...trying to make a move on him, or something.

Not like that would ever happen but still, it had disgusted and pissed him off when he'd done anything in the first place. What would people say if they knew their prince had been so close to his male consort? That he'd done it without even a second thought.

And now he was annoyed, because Merlin was focused on his new book instead of on Arthur. Why was he over here panicking when Merlin was acting as if this was just any other day?

A thought occurred to him, maybe this was an everyday occurrence to Merlin. He was obviously a virgin but he must have done some things, right? Maybe he was used to men being in his space?

Was Merlin even into guys? Was Merlin like him? A man who liked women but was forced into these circumstances? Maybe Merlin hadn't thought nothing of it because it never occurred to him that Arthur was anything more than just that person he was married to.

Why did all of these conflicting thoughts give him a killer headache?

"It's everything you need to know about tournament etiquette." George answered for him, when Arthur didn't say anything for the longest time.

And now Arthur was pissed at George. He was getting to that! He had just been...taking his sweet time answering Merlin. Making the boy wait on him for once instead of Arthur always having to waste his time looking for him.

"Etiquette?" Merlin repeated, confused. "What do I need to know etiquette for?" He didn't look at Arthur, trying to ignore his strange behavior, more confused than ever why the prince was now glaring at his manservant. But he brushed it off, it was just Arthur having one of his weird mood swings again.

Merlin started flipping through the book, looking down at the aged paper. It was literally turning yellow, and covered in a thin layer of dust. Flipping through the papers, he caught several chapter titles.

How to Greet your Tournament Contestants:

How to Congratulate your Contestant Winner:

How to Use your Words as to Not Offend your Contestants:

Merlin raised an eyebrow, looking baffled. Was this book serious? Did someone actually sit down and right this stuff down? Because he didn't see the point in any of this stuff? How was saying 'We are' instead of we're, less offensive? Something about how contractions were seen as less professional.

He didn't get it at all, and quickly passed that section up.

Arthur took this opportunity to answer before George had the chance to. "Because of what's happening this week. Now," he reached out to give the opened book a firm tap, right on the chapter that said 'What Dinner Conversation is Acceptable for your Contestants'. "I expect you to memorize everything in it." Merlin's eyes widened because this book had to be a good two hundred pages long. "This book is going to teach you everything you need to know to fix your behavior."

Then Arthur was shooting a smug smirk at George before he realized what he was doing. Going stiff, Arthur quickly adjusted his features into a more neutral expression. He supposed it didn't really matter if George answered Merlin's questions. Arthur hated answering Merlin anyway.

Merlin's mouth popped open into an 'o' shape. "My behavior!" He exclaimed, his face looking nothing less than offended. "There's nothing wrong with my behavior."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at him, not sure if he should laugh or not. "Must I seriously point out your flaws?" He asked. "Because the last time you were left on your own, you told a nobleman that he sucked." Arthur knew better now, not to leave Merlin to his own devices.

It was only because of his intense professional demeanor that George didn't let loose his scandalized gasp. Morris had no problem with hiding his horror.

"You did what!" Morris exclaimed, eyes so wide they looked like they were going to pop. This was exactly what he'd been worried about. Merlin wasn't ready for any kind of role that had power, definitely not the kind of power a consort had at his disposal.

Morris knew he would have been the better choice! He would have never disgraced Arthur like that!

"He deserved it!" Merlin defended himself, closing his book with a snap. He brought up a single finger to point at Arthur. "Which you damn well know!"

Arthur scoffed. As much as Nobleman Hamilton probably had deserved it, it wasn't something that should be said to his face. Especially not during what was essentially, Merlin's debut into society.

Arthur opened his mouth to say exactly that, when Merlin cut him off. Arthur's jaw snapped shut with a startled look, when was the last time somebody had dared to interrupt him?

Merlin paid Arthur no mind though, already rambling away, "And don't even get me started on your flaws! I'm seriously thinking about writing a list from worst to least. What do you think should be at the top? How your always picking on someone, or how big your head is?"

Arthur completely ignored the first part of Merlin's insult. He didn't go around picking on people! Not anybody who didn't deserve it anyway.

You'd think Arthur would be used to Merlin mouthing off to him. But still, he felt the shock and surprise and disbelief that anybody, let alone someone peasant born, would mouth off to him. He had felt these emotions more times since he'd met Merlin than he'd had his entire life.

It was the second part that caught his attention the most.

"There is nothing wrong with my head!" Arthur exclaimed in protest, planting his hands on his hips. What was up with Merlin always insulting him?

"I'm surprised your head fits through the door." Was Merlin's response to him, already turning away to look at the worn out cover of his book. And then Merlin had the actual nerve to wave a dismissive hand at him, as if Arthur wasn't worth his time.

Arthur felt that bubble of disbelieving laughter wanted to burst free, but he vehemently pushed it down. As if he would give Merlin the satisfaction of knowing his insult had made Arthur feel knocked off his feet.

As a prince, Arthur was used to people throwing themselves at him. They always wanted something from him. They wanted favors that came with being looked upon favorably by their prince.

So why wasn't Merlin? It didn't make any sense to him at all. As peasant born, Arthur would have thought that Merlin would be one of the worst ones. Especially since he had an actual claim in Arthur's kingdom.

It was some kind of trick, wasn't it? That had to be it. Arthur always looked at new people with some kind of suspicion. Merlin probably thought up this whole new approach before they met.

If sucking up to Arthur wouldn't work, then what was the opposite?

Merlin probably thought this new approach would get him somewhere with Arthur.

Well Arthur wasn't going to let it. He'd show Merlin that this wasn't going to work. And then when he realized it, Merlin's true colors would come out.

And then Arthur would know without a doubt that he was right and that Merlin was just like every other person he'd ever met.

"So why do I need this?" Merlin suddenly asked, forcing Arthur out of his thoughts. He was looking at the book again, as if it were some puzzle that he couldn't figure out.

Arthur scowled, narrowing his eyes. He was positive that there was something about Merlin that he just couldn't put his finger on. Some kind of trick that Merlin was trying to pull by acting as if Arthur was just any other person on the street.

Arthur opened his mouth, only to be cut off by Merlin who didn't even look up from the front of the book, running his fingers over the decorative, faded cover. "And don't tell me it's because I need to adjust my behavior!"

Arthur's jaw snapped closed. Yeah, this had to be some kind of ploy of Merlin's. Nobody had the nerve to snap at a prince!

Or maybe it wasn't a trick at all and Merlin was just that stupid.

Arthur wasn't sure which was worse. But he did know, he was surprisingly curious to know which one it was. It was like an itch, some kind of sensation crawling just under his skin, practically begging for him to find out the truth.

George was the one to answer Merlin, and Arthur didn't mind so much this time. He was to busy trying to contemplate why he had this itch under his skin, driving him to find answers about Merlin.

"Every year, Camelot hosts a tournament for the knights. This year's tournament happens to be happening this week." George patiently explained.

Merlin's eyes widened and an excited grin spread across his lips. "A tournament?" He asked eagerly, doing absolutely nothing to hide his excitement.

He'd always wanted to see an actual tournament. Ealdor was way to far from even the nearest village. Forget about traveling to a place large enough to actually host one.

Arthur was stumped. He didn't think he'd seen Merlin look so excited. Usually he just looked annoyed with him, or making light hearted jokes at his expense.

Merlin turned to Arthur, his eyes looking even bluer than normal, lightening up with the excitement gleaming in them. "Are you going to compete in it?"

Arthur straightened up, almost offended that Merlin even had to ask. "Of course!" He exclaimed, doing an over exaggerated pompous attitude, making Merlin's lips twitch upward in an amused fashion. "Who else is going to represent the inner city of Camelot? I'm needed to represent the crown."

"Of course," Merlin said dryly, looking far to amused for his own good. "Whatever was I thinking?"

"Yes, well, do try not to think to often." Arthur said dryly. "We don't want you to hurt yourself."

Merlin raised an eyebrow at him, making Arthur shift on his feet uncomfortably. "Well," he drawled out. "I suppose we don't want that, lest you have to take care of me."

"T-take care of you?" Arthur spluttered, his face scrunching up in disgust. He'd never taken care of a sick person before a day in his life! That wasn't his job, that was the court Physician's job. He usually tended to avoid the sick, not wanting to catch anything that could be spread to him.

Merlin brought one hand up to his hip, jutting it out. "What, would it be to complicated for you to do?"

Arthur stiffened, "Complicated? How hard could it be? Just throw you in your room and tell you to come out when you get better!"

That was how it went...right? It couldn't be to hard to care for someone who was sick, people did it all the time! Right? Not anybody that Arthur knew of his status, but others, right? Besides, he wouldn't take care of Merlin at all. He'll just tell a servant to do it, keep his hands clean of all the dirty work.

Merlin shook his head in an overly exaggerated way, "Oh lord, I'm going to die if I'm under your care, aren't I?"

Arthur huffed, "I can take care of you just fine!" He said defensively, feeling as if he had something to prove to Merlin. "Sending Gaius to you would be more than adequate." It seemed like a pretty straight forward solution to him.

But Merlin didn't look all that impressed, making Arthur feel as if he had just failed some kind of test that he didn't even know he was taking. Arthur scowled, he wasn't going to make fake promises that he knew he wasn't going to keep.

Merlin should know from the beginning that he wasn't going to waste his time 'taking care of him'. Or have anything to do with him, for that matter, when he had no reason to be.

Like now, Arthur was only with Merlin because his father instructed him to. And after this, he wouldn't be approaching Merlin. He could keep his distance and in his mind, Merlin wouldn't even exist to him.

Merlin sighed heavily at Arthur's previous response, "Well then, I guess I'll live to see another day; knowing that I'm under the care of the Court Physician."

Merlin wasn't surprised in the least that Arthur would send someone in to take care of his ailing consort instead of doing it himself. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that Arthur wouldn't lift a finger to help him. The prat probably would have poisoned him by accident if left to his own devices-or on purpose-for all Merlin knew about Arthur's character.

At least he'd have his uncle to make sure he got back on his feet from this metaphorical sickness.

Merlin turned back to the book at hand, ignoring Arthur again. He'd probably have to do that a lot, to get through a lifetime with Arthur. Merlin brought a finger up and traced along the pages where it was heavily singed, as if somebody had taken a torch to it at some point.

"So anybody know what happened to it?" He asked. Merlin knew very well how important books are. Growing up, he didn't exactly have access to many of them.

Arthur felt himself flush at the question, vividly remembering the incident that had happened in his childhood. He hadn't spoken of it since the day it happened all those years ago.

George and Morris shared an uncertain look towards the other. It had been no secret what Arthur had done, rumors had spread when it had first happened. But should they really say anything with Arthur right there?

Morris cleared his throat, "Well I don't see how it's any of your concern. It's just a book, things happen to books all the time."

Merlin looked at him, "Yes," he said quietly, half to himself. "I supposed they do." He was almost offended on the book's behalf because of Morris' callous attitude towards it. But he can't expect someone like Morris to know anything, he had probably grown up with access to all kinds of books.

Unlike Merlin.

Morris seemed to realize that Merlin was disapproving of him in some way, even though he didn't know why. Morris bristled at the thought of somebody like Merlin, disapproving of anything that he did.

"Is there something that you would like to say to me?" Morris demanded, feeling the insult as if Merlin had spit in his face.

Merlin looked up from the book startled, having not even noticed Morris' offense. "No...should I?"

Morris bristled some more, feeling his face flush in rage. Was Merlin mocking him and his intelligence? Was that it? This absolute moron! If he had something to say about Morris, than he should say it to his face! Not act as if he was so innocent and hadn't meant to be degrading Morris. But Merlin probably didn't want his precious Arthur to hear him being rude to his beloved manservant.

Acutely aware that his prince was in the vicinity and that he wasn't going to let all these years of working go to waste, Morris put on the most neutral face that he could.

"Of course not, Sir Merlin." Morris forced out through his gritted teeth. The title tasted like ash as they came from his lips. "I was just trying to explain that the book's damage came from a long time ago. It's hardly the most important thing you need to worry about nowadays."

"Worry?" Merlin asked, looking and sounding baffled. "What should I be worried about?"

"Well," Morris started, his voice sounding far to silky to be natural. "For starters, making a good impression on the visiting knights. As consort, there are certain duties and rules that you must abide by. We wouldn't want you to embarrass the crown, would we?"

Merlin looked as if he thought that was ridiculous. "Embarrass the crown?" he repeated, looking as though he wanted to laugh. "I fail to see how anything I do, will affect the crown."

Arthur let out a scoff. His consort, ladies and gentlemen. How did Merlin not understand that he wasn't a peasant anymore, he was a consort. Everything he did reflected on Arthur himself.

Hearing his scoff, Merlin turned his head to look at the prince. "What?" He demanded, lips tugging downward into a frown.

"Sir Merlin." George said, forcing Merlin to drag his eyes away from Arthur's stiff form at his side. "You're a consort, the rules for you are entirely different than they were before."

"Which means you can't get away with things like you could as a peasant." Morris interrupted, his voice just on the verge of sounding far to snappish to be talking to somebody technically above him.

"As consort," George took up again. "Everybody's eyes will be on you. They will watch your every step, your every move, trying to find out everything they can about you."

Each word he spoke made the color drain from Merlin's face as he took in the implications of what that meant. Merlin hadn't really thought about the specifics of what would happen after he married. He had thought that things would pretty much go on as normal. Only he'd be living in a castle with a fancy ring on his finger.

He hadn't realized that everybody would be so curious to know anything about him.

If people got to curious, if they were watching him so closely, the wrong person might see something he didn't want them to see.

They might see his magic. He could feel it now, humming under his skin, as if it just wanted to break out. As if it could sense his growing distress and was trying to lash out in an effort to protect him.

And that was a very dangerous thing that could happen, being where he was now. And with these people, none of them were people he could trust, he seemed to realize.

He'd just met George, he probably wouldn't help him.

Morris seemed like the kind of person that would throw the match onto his pyre himself.

And Arthur...the man he was married to. A marriage meant two people who loved and cared for each other, but that wasn't them in the least. Arthur was the prince, he had to uphold the laws of his kingdom. And with the way their relationship was, Arthur would probably turn him over in a heartbeat.

Arthur couldn't be trusted, he was probably the least trustworthy out of all of them.

"That's why you have the book." Morris said, gruffly. He cast an almost disappointed look at Arthur, not that the prince noticed. "It's to help you know how to interact with those closer to your rank." His face soured in disgust. That should be him who had Merlin's new rank. If it was up to him, Morris wouldn't have even bothered with getting Merlin a book. It would have been so much more fun to watch him flounder around in court life.

"Right, the book." Merlin said weakly, looking down at the aged text that he was clutching to his chest. He had his fingers tight around the edges, as if trying to protect himself in any way that he could. It was practically a life preserver, something tangible for him to hold onto.

Something small that helped him force his magic down below the surface, forced it to not be seen among those who would have him killed in a moment's notice.

He was like a deer among the lions. If anyone of them caught wind of him and what he was, it would all be over. There would be no second chances, no making up for it.

His life would be forfeit.

"That book will tell you exactly how to behave." George said helpfully, as if he hadn't noticed Merlin's growing agitation.

But Merlin had a very good reason to panic. He'd never been good at doing what he was told. He always failed in one way or the other.

But strangely enough, it was Arthur that noticed. For some reason, Merlin's growing agitation stuck out to the prince. It was the paling skin, the way that he was biting his lip raw, the tight fingers on his book.

It looked different, wrong, not at all the Merlin he recognized. He didn't even think Merlin looked so freaked out even on their wedding, not like he was now.

Arthur remembered when he was thirteen. That had been the year he'd finally been introduced to the court in a more official capacity.

Merlin swallowed hard, trying to calm his frantic heartbeat. "Great," he said weakly. "I'm sure this book will be...a lot of help."

It wouldn't be, probably not at all. Merlin actually doubted he'd be able to succeed in anything this book told him to do. He never could hold his tongue and he wasn't intending to start now.

But still...maybe there was something in this book that could help him. Something that he could connect with, if only as an anchor to make sure he gave away nothing that revealed himself.

But then he remembered one of the many chapter titles he saw, 'Dinner Conversations to Avoid with your Contestants'.

Never mind, he was doomed. There was probably a competitor arriving who'd be able to tell who he was immediately. He'd heard of people who claimed that they could tell who was a sorcerer with just a look.

He'd never actually met someone who claimed they could and he doubted that it was true. But he didn't want to risk finding out a skill like that actually existed.

"Just keep your head down." Morris suddenly said bluntly. "They'll lose interest." That was a lie, Morris thought amused. The more Merlin tried to hide, the more the people would notice him. The more people would question if Merlin was right to be so close to the throne.

"...I'll be sure to do that." Merlin said with an edge of sarcasm. He was doomed, he was going to die. With everyone watching him, somebody would be bound to notice that he was different.

And to think, he'd been so excited about this tournament mere minutes before.