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!

22. Chapter 22

Merlin didn't seem to hear him. He had finally dragged his eyes away from the dull book and was now falling into a rant. "I saved his life! I pulled him away before that witch could kill him with her dagger! And what happens? I get told that I might actually find my place here! And as nice as that was, it was completely ruined by Uther's great idea for helping me to do that. Doing basic training, with Arthur!"

Gaius sighed heavily, here they go again, Merlin was complaining about Arthur. "You know, Arthur's not such a bad guy..."

Merlin snorted, face turning bitter. "You clearly didn't hear how he spoke to me earlier." If Arthur wasn't a bad guy, then Merlin didn't know what he was. How did Arthur make him both infuriated and disappointed by at the same time? Was it because Merlin was overfilled with idle curiosity, which was making him feel things ten fold, but would ultimately fade over time.

Or maybe...maybe it was because of something else, something that Merlin hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of yet.

"Okay, maybe he's not the first choice that you would have gone with." Gaius said heavily, he could admit that Arthur definitely hadn't left Merlin with the best of impressions. "But maybe it's not so bad. Think of all of the wonderful opportunities you have, now that you're married to Arthur. You wouldn't have them if you weren't."

Gaius was trying to be comforting but all it did was make Merlin go stiff. The color seemed to drain right out of his skin as the memory flooded back to him. Before Gaius knew what had happened, Merlin had wretched himself away from him.

"Opportunities?" Merlin demanded, jolting out of his chair, pushing away from the table. His eyes were damp again, like the way they had been when Arthur had come after him with his cruel words. Only now, it was because of his uncle and he was looking at him akin to some kind of betrayal. "What opportunities?" He demanded again, sounding half hysterical this time.

Gaius straightened up, looking startled by this. "Merlin, what on earth...?" He started, reaching his hand out to grab Merlin by the shoulder. But all that did was make Merlin flinch back.

Gaius jerked his hand away, staring at Merlin, dumbstruck by this reaction.

Merlin just seemed to get more agitated when he realized what he'd done. He started to pace the length of the room, wringing his hands together, unable to stop himself. He had to do something to get rid of all of the unkept energy that was building inside of him. Then he started to rant, getting more and more agitated the longer he went on, "I didn't marry Arthur because of the opportunities I could get! I married him because I had no choice, there was no way to get out of it! I'm not-I'm not, some kind of gold digger! Who only married him because he's rich. He can keep his stupid money! I won't be spending a coin of it!"

It was all Merlin could think about. When Gaius had started talking about the opportunities that Merlin had, now that he was wed to a prince, all he could think was the thoughtless comment Arthur had told him this morning. About how Merlin got to 'reap the benefits' or whatever it was he said, because they were married now.

It had only been a stray comment from Arthur, but what what Gaius had said, it had returned to the full front of his mind. As if he was just now feeling the full impact of being accused as marrying for money.

"Merlin!" Gaius exclaimed, grabbing Merlin roughly by his shoulders, forcing him to stop his pacing while trying to calm him down and looking stunned as he did so, "That is not what I meant at all!" It hadn't been what he'd meant at all. It had never once crossed his mind that Merlin could have agreed to the marriage just to have everything that Prince Arthur had, as was his birthright.

Merlin looked at Gaius, looking confused. It took him a minute to realize what he was saying.

"...Oh..." Merlin said, his voice was sounding very small, and equally as embarrassed. "...Never mind then." Pulling away from his uncle's grasp on his shoulders, Merlin was quick to return to his seat, trying to act as if nothing had happened. And although his eyes were staring down at his book but it was obvious that he wasn't actually reading it.

But Gaius wasn't having it. He walked across the length of the room until he was standing in front of his nephew. He planted one hand firmly on the table right by his book, a loud thud echoing out as the skin of his hand met the wood. And then he was throwing his other hand out in a wild gesture. "Merlin! You need to tell me what on earth happened just now."

He wasn't going to be letting things go until he got to the bottom of things.

Merlin glanced up and averted his eyes, a burn of red brimming high on his cheekbones. "It was nothing!" He lied, he really didn't want to get into the whole Arthur mess. He didn't want to start questioning why it bothered him so much, why did he care about what Arthur's opinion on him was. The blonde obviously found some kind of pleasure in making him miserable.

This was not the conversation that Gaius thought that they would be having but clearly, there were more things they needed to discus than he thought.

Merlin," Gaius said firmly. "You need to tell me why you thought I was calling you a gold digger."

Merlin stared down at his hands, folded together on top of his book, his teeth worrying at his lower lip. "It wasn't anything, really." He said, trying to wave off his uncle's concern.

"Merlin." Gaius said sternly, staring his nephew down.

Merlin winced, because it was obvious that his uncle wasn't going to let it go. Not until he talked about it, but that didn't mean he was going to give in so easily. "What was it that you wanted to talk about, Uncle Gaius?" He said quickly, doing whatever he could to distract his uncle and move their conversation into another direction. "Something about...Arthur."

Okay, now that he was thinking about it, maybe it wasn't the other direction that he'd been going for. After all, it was Arthur that had indicated that he'd only married him for his money. It was Arthur that made him vividly aware of a problem he didn't even know he had. Did everybody think he had only married Arthur for his money?

Did the baker in the marketplace who was always asking him how his day was going think that? Did the girl who sells jewelry's and fabrics think he was only in this for the money.

Did nobody realize that he'd been coerced? That he was only doing this because he had to, for his mother's sake.

That if he had it his way, he'd be back home toiling away in the fields. That he would give up his fancy new rooms and the amazing food, and definitely Arthur, in a heartbeat if he could just go back home.

He had loved seeing the world outside of Ealdor. He was happy to meet his uncle and his new friends, and he wouldn't mind coming back to Camelot for a visit. As long as he got to live full time in Ealdor.

"We can talk about that in a minute but Merlin, you had a serious reaction just now." Gaius said bluntly, doing absolutely nothing to sugar coat it, as he slid into the bench seat across from Merlin. "If there is something going on, then I should know about it." But Merlin still didn't say anything so Gaius tried to make a guess. "Did...something happen? Did someone say something..."

"Yes!" Merlin blurted out before he could stop himself. He winced when Gaius' mouth snapped shut at his sudden exclamation. "I mean, no..." Merlin tried to correct himself, to lie his way out of this. But Gaius just raised an eyebrow, obviously not believing him. "I mean..." Merlin stuttered. "...Someone did...say something." He finished in a weak tone, carefully avoiding Arthur's name.

"Oh." Gaius said shortly, his eyebrows furrowing together. He was floundering, trying to think of something to say to that. Was somebody bullying Merlin? Was that what this was? But who was dumb enough to do something like bully a consort.

"Yeah." Merlin said simply, quietly, going back to his book. But he wasn't actually taking in anything on the page. His eyes were unfocused and for a second, he could have sworn that the words on the pages were swimming around.

"...Maybe we can have an audience with Arthur to make them aware of the problem." Gaius suggested, feeling awkward. "Or maybe Uther." He was probably making this harder than it had to be. It was hard to imagine, that with all of the power Merlin had at his fingertips, both magical and with his newfound status, he was still having teenage problems.

"No!" Merlin said quickly, almost shouting as his head jolted up from his book as he snapped to full attention. "I am not bringing them into this just because...someone...indicated I was a gold digger."

He was careful to avoid Arthur's name again. He could just imagine it now, going to Arthur because of Arthur, he would laugh them out of the room. And he'd probably embarrass his uncle who was just trying to help, not knowing that it was Arthur who had done it in the first place.

But this situation, it irked him, more than he wanted to admit. Because there was an inkling in the deepest and darkest parts of his mind that he didn't want to acknowledge. He didn't want to admit that there might be another reason that he wasn't saying it was Arthur. That as awful the blonde was, Merlin didn't want his sham of a marriage to be a failure.

But he knew that whatever future they were going to have, it was going to depend entirely on Arthur's actions going forth.

"...If you're sure." Gaius said, but he had his eyes narrowed in on Merlin, as if he was trying to figure out exactly what happened just by looking at him.

Even though he didn't look away from Gaius, he had his fingers fidgeting anxiously around the edge of the pages of his book, not actually turning it. "I'm sure." Merlin said firmly.

After a moment of uncertain hesitation, Gaius gave a simple nod. Then there was the sound of scraping as he pushed his bench seat away from the table, clambering to his feet. He started to walk towards his small kitchen area set up against the wall, but stopped before he'd made it more than a few steps.

Gains turned and walked back over to Merlin who watched him nearing with apprehensive eyes. But all Gaius did was put a hand onto his shoulder, giving it a small pat before he said sincerely, "I do hope that you know you're not a gold digger, no matter what anybody said."

It was ludicrous to think he was. After seeing the way Merlin had reacted on his wedding day, how panicked he was when Gaius had seen him just before he went out, nobody would have considered Merlin was in it for the money if they'd seen it as well.

Merlin's apprehensive expression softened and the small smile he now wore seemed to shift his entire expression. "Yeah, I know." He agreed.

Merlin turned away, flipping to the next page in his book as if he were about to start reading again. Gaius wondered if he should add something else to his statement, but decided that he'd probably said enough already.

Deciding that they were done with this discussion, and before they could move onto the next, Gaius turned away to walk to his kitchen area. Maybe he could make them a cup of hot tea while Merlin studied, then they could have the discussion Gaius wanted them to have. But he hadn't gotten that far away when he heard Merlin mutter half under his breath, "It wasn't a real big deal anyway."

Okay, so they weren't as done as Gaius had thought they were.

Gaius looked over his shoulder with narrowed eyes but didn't approach him again. Staring at his nephew's sullen expression as he stared down at his book, Gaius got struck with a sudden inspiration. Maybe there was something he could do with the tea, other than just drinking it...

While Gaius went to making his tea and thinking his plan over in his head, Merlin just gave a desolate sigh and leaned his chin into the palm of his hand again. He stared down at the new page he'd just flipped through but didn't bother actually reading any of it. He just stared at it blankly, his mind was way to occupied to really take in anything else.

He disappeared into his mind, thinking over his contemplative thoughts.

He shouldn't have reacted so strongly to Uncle Gaius. Just because he had some new opportunities in life, didn't mean that he had to use them. It didn't mean that he was a gold digger just because these new 'opportunities'-whatever they were-were now available to him.

Even if Arthur thought he was one.

He wasn't a gold digger just because he agreed to this, so that whatever repercussions his refusal would cause wouldn't fall back onto his mother. He knew he wasn't, and the people who mattered-like his uncle-knew that as well.

But in a way, Arthur mattered as well. Maybe not in the strictest sense, because the next time he saw Arthur would be far too soon, but still...

They were tied together for life, and Merlin didn't want to spend his entire lifetime fighting with Arthur, he refused to do that. If this week was a preview of what the rest of their lives would look like, than Merlin didn't want it.

But maybe if things changed, if Merlin could just force Arthur to behave himself, than maybe things wouldn't have to be so awful. And it might be easier said than done, but all he had to do was change Arthur's opinion on him, force him to see Merlin in a different light.

How hard could it be?

The question though, was how to do it. Merlin had a feeling that Arthur was probably as stubborn as he was, if not more so. And what kind of light did Merlin want to show Arthur?

Just a truce where all they did was interact with each other when they had to? Maybe just an awkward friendship where they met for dinner once a week? Or maybe an actual relationship could be on the table.

Call him an optimist, but Merlin wanted that real relationship. The kind where there were cuddles, and hand holding, and kisses, (lots of kisses). He wanted the flowers, and the late night talks, and to be courted and to court in return. To have that special connection, that bond, where he knew he belonged entirely to somebody else and them to him. To know all of their secrets and have them know his as well.

And to know that they weren't afraid of him.

But was Arthur that man? Probably not, he wasn't exactly the man Merlin had thought he'd end up with. Looks wise, well, Arthur wasn't entirely awful. But there had to be something done about his personality.

And if Merlin did decide that he was going to attempt for them to have a real relationship, how would he even go about it? He'd have to make his intentions abundantly clear for sure, Arthur didn't seem bright enough to get it if Merlin just hinted.

And Merlin wasn't willing to settle for less than exactly what he wanted, even if he had to have it with Arthur Bloody Pendragon.

But what would he even do to get his intentions across...

Merlin was jolted out of his thoughts when there was a clatter as a cup of warm tea was suddenly set down in front of him.

"I thought you could use something to cheer you up." Gaius said, taking a seat on the bench across from Merlin.

Frowning, Merlin leaned forward so that he could see inside the cup at the brown liquid inside. "Tea is supposed to cheer me up?" He asked confused.

"Well you haven't tasted it yet." Gaius said, encouraging him to do so, giving the cup a little push towards him.

"It can't be that good." Merlin said, picking up the cup anyway. Looking down at the pale brown liquid swishing inside, Merlin brought the cup up to his lips and gave it a long sip. Gaius was watching him until Merlin finally brought the cup down. There was a moment of silence where Merlin licked the remaining liquid clinging to his top lip. "...I stand corrected, it can be that good."

Gaius smiled, "It's a family recipe." He looked down at his own cup of tea, remembering when his father had taught it to him when he was a small child. It was one of the few childhood memories he had that included his father in it.

He wasn't around that often to make more memories.

When he hadn't been with Gaius and his mother, he'd been with Hunith and hers. And when he wasn't there, he was off in a bar somewhere trying to make a third family.

There was a reason that Gaius didn't make this particular blend often.

"Really?" Merlin asked amazed, glancing up at Gaius. And then he looked back at his empty cup curiously. This blend of tea was created by his family. All these years, it had always only been his mother and him. It was amazing to think of all the other relatives that came before him, people he didn't know and had never heard of.

Gaius nodded, bringing his own cup up to his lips. "It's been passed through the generations, from parent to child. My father, your grandfather, taught it to me when I was a boy."

"Could you teach it to me?" Merlin asked excitedly, his previous mood forgotten with their conversation.

Gaius looked startled by this, bringing his cup down from his lips. As he had no children of his own, he'd never considered passing it down before. The recipe would have died with him, which would have been a shame. But Merlin was a member of his family, the son of his little half-sister that shared the same father as him. He was the next generation of their family, the sole member since Gaius had no intention of ever having children himself.

Gaius' lips twitched upwards, "I'm sure we can do that." And then he brought his cup up and took a long sip of his drink until it was empty. "Come, you can prepare the next batch."

Merlin had been looking down at his empty cup, pouting because it had been really good tea. But now he looked up surprised, "Now?" He hadn't expected Gaius to be ready to make some more so soon.

"Unless you want to return to your studies." Gaius said amused. He wasn't the least bit surprised when Merlin pushed himself away from the table, practically stumbling over his own feet to get away from the book.

"So what's the first step?" Merlin asked brightly after he'd stumbled his way over to the table.

The two worked together for the next several minutes, with Gaius giving Merlin the directions or correcting him if something were wrong. It was surprisingly simple to make, it was even more surprising that more people weren't able to discover it themselves.

It was mostly just a lot of nutmeg, and one or two different herbs tossed in. Then a swig of honey swirled in on top. It was surprisingly simple, but also surprisingly delicious.

And when Gaius was done showing Merlin how to make it, the two took their second cups of tea to the table. Merlin took great pleasure in shoving his book to the side to generate more space for the two of them to relax.

Gaius took a large and generous sip of his tea before he set the cup down on the table. "Merlin," he started.

"Hmmm?" Merlin asked, not looking up as he was to busy taking his own generous swig of tea.

"I would like to tell you a story." Gaius said, his fingertips tapping against the shell of his cup.

Merlin nearly dropped his cup at that, straightening up in his chair with alarming speed. His eyes widened as a brief wave of panic overwhelmed him. "No, no, no!" He said urgently. "No more stories!"

Gaius looked at him startled, surprised by this overreaction. "Merlin! What on earth are you shouting for? I hardly thought a story was the end of the world."

Merlin felt himself freeze, the swell of panic he'd been feeling popping as if it were a bubble. "...Oh, right." Merlin winced sheepishly. He had both of his hands wrapped around his tea cup that was sitting on the table, and he looked down at it now with a surprisingly serious expression. "It's just...the last time I sat down for a story, it was for my mother. And that was so she could tell me how she ended up signing me away into marriage with Arthur."

Gaius shook his head, bringing his eyes up heavenward as if to ask, why him? Then he brought his eyes back to his nephew and said, "Don't be so concerned. It's not nearly as life changing as I'm sure that story was."

"It was definitely the worst bedtime story I've ever been told." Merlin grumbled, half to himself as he brought his cup up to his lips to sip gingerly at his tea.

Gaius ran his thumb over the handle of his cup, feeling the cracks in the side that had formed over time. "I just thought you might have appreciated a little history lesson on the family. I thought you'd be interested in learning what your great-grandmother was thinking when she made this tea."

"Uh..." Merlin said slowly, starting to ease himself sideways as if he were preparing to escape. "I do believe I hear George calling me." He lied, starting to stand up. He cast a glimpse over his shoulder towards the stairs where his room was. He was almost willing George to start yelling for him but of course, he didn't.

"Nice try." Gaius said bluntly, calmly bringing his cup back up to sip at his tea. He gave his nephew a decidedly unamused look.

Seeing that he'd been caught before he even had the chance to escape, Merlin sulkily sat down. Not that he didn't want to learn more about the family he'd never known about, but a history lesson on tea just sounded dreadful. No matter how good the tea itself was.

"Uncle Gaius," Merlin tried again anyway, his hand itching towards his book. "I really do believe I should get to my studies. I'm not entirely sure how much time I have before I actually need to use what I've learned."

"Well when we finish, you are more than welcomed to start studying again." Gaius said, clearly leaving no way out of this for Merlin.

They both knew that Merlin wasn't interested in one bit of studying Tournament Etiquette.

Merlin let out a heavy breath, before leaning forward to set his chin into the palm of his hand. "Okay," he finally agreed. "Let's hear this story about tea."

"It's not just a story about tea." Gaius pointed out. "It's a story about your great-grandmother when she was no older than you."

Merlin perked up a little more at that. Somehow, it was more interesting to hear it when he knew his great-grandmother had been his age. He'd been picturing some old and creaky woman with long silver hair stirring perfect tea into completion.

"The first thing you need to know about her is that she absolutely hated tea. So much that it was a well known fact among her neighbors to never offer her any."

Merlin straightened up, raising at eyebrow and looking confused. "Wait, you're telling me that she hated tea?" He pointed at his now empty cup sitting in front of him. "The same person that made this?" How was it even possible that someone who hated something could invent something so amazingly delicious.

Gaius nodded, looking decidedly amused. That had always been his favorite part of the story as well, when he'd first been told it as a young child. "Yes, well, her family was so fanatic about it, she grew a distaste for it from an early age."

Merlin leaned forward on his elbows, actually paying more attention to the story than he'd thought he would. "Okay, if she hated tea so much, then how did she make this?"

"Because her little sister died." Gaius said bluntly, as if he hadn't just dropped some kind of shocking twist to the story. He casually took a long sip of his tea, as if he hadn't noticed Merlin's slacked jaw.

Merlin blinked blankly for several minutes, trying to get that to make sense in his head. But nope, that little tidbit had just came out of nowhere. "...Run that by me again."

Gaius took his time, drinking his tea, before he set his cup down. "Unlike her sister, your great-grandmother's little sister enjoyed tea more than anything. She drunk it constantly, wanting nothing more than to consume herself with it. She was only a few years younger than you when she decided that she was going to make the best tea this side of Camelot had ever seen."

"You mean like this?" Merlin asked, waving a hand towards his empty cup.

Gaius nodded, staring down at his cup. This was the first time he'd ever recited this story to anyone before, he wanted to make sure he got it right. Especially if Merlin may pass it down someday, if he ever had children himself.

"She never did get to make the tea herself." Gaius explained. "She had her recipe all written out on a piece of parchment she kept on her always. The tea she was creating, this tea, was almost complete. And although nobody would complain about what she had so far, she felt as if it were just missing something."

"The load of nutmeg we heaped into it?" Merlin asked dryly. It really had been a generous amount of nutmeg. But it blended well with the other herbs that had been mixed into it.

"The load of nutmeg," Gaius agreed. He took his time, taking another large sip of his quickly emptying cup before he continued. "Everyday, she would try something new but nothing felt...right, to her. But she kept trying, even when your great-grandmother would tell her it was a stupid quest that only a moronic blubber brain would bother to do."

Merlin snorted, a grin spreading across his face. "A moronic blubber brain?" He asked, amused. Maybe he should try that one out of Arthur, it would definitely fit for sure.

Gaius shook his head, his own lips twitching into a grin. Well, he should have expected Merlin to have caught that. "Apparently, your love of insulting people comes from your mother's side of the family."

"I don't love insulting people!" Merlin protested greatly, nearly falling out of his chair when he stood. Gaius just gave him a look that practically had Merlin deflating right in front of his eyes. Merlin slumped back down into his chair, huffing as he did so. "I only do it when they deserve it," Merlin grumbled, as if he was trying to keep the last part to himself. "Especially if they are blonde haired prat's whose head is to big for their crown to fit."

"At least we know the insulting gene has matured since your great-grandmother's time." Gaius said dryly. "...Somewhat."

Merlin smiled sheepishly. Alright, he could admit it, maybe he liked insulting Arthur. But really, who could blame him? It was amusing seeing the shock on the blonde's face. And maybe he teased him a little just to get him riled up.

But his teasing definitely shouldn't have resulted in Arthur's cruel words this morning. Merlin practically deflated again at the reminder of what had happened.

What was he been thinking? Was he really going to attempt some kind of mockery of a real relationship with Arthur? Arthur, who was a straight man, none the less.

He was doomed to an existence of loneliness and self-anguish, wasn't he? What, with his 'destiny' and his 'marriage', that tied him to Arthur. If you could even call what they had a marriage.

As much as he hated to admit it, he would have to talk to Arthur again soon, very soon. If only so he could find out what kind of future they were looking at. Just so he would know if he should bother attempting something with Arthur or if they were just going to spend the rest of their lives avoiding each other as much as they could.

Merlin shook those depressing thoughts out of his head. No, he wasn't going to waste any more time thinking about Arthur. It wasn't like his thought process was really going anywhere, not without some kind of input from the blonde prat himself.

Should he try making nice with Arthur? Just to see if there was something there. Would it be worth it if he did?

Nah, he didn't think he could stomach 'being nice' to Arthur.

And Arthur would probably laugh in his face anyway, at least he would know where he stood and he could put all of this behind him.

Before he could fall into the rabbit hole of thoughts about Arthur again, Merlin shifted his focus back to his uncle and his story. "So, what happened to her next?"

"Well, she went into the forest to find a new herb that she hadn't tried yet." Gaius started up the story again at Merlin's prompting. "It was something that she did every day so nobody was really concerned about it. Not until the next morning, when they realized she'd never came home during the night."

"What happened to her?" Merlin asked, his undeniably streak of curiosity easily showing.

"Your great-grandmother was the one to find her." Gaius explained. "From what she could see, her little sister fell down a short hill that sat near a small lake near their home during those time period's. Somewhere along her fall, she banged her head pretty hard and lost consciousness. And then when she stopped rolling, she landed in a puddle. And that was where she drowned."

"...You mean the lake." Merlin said, sounding awkward. His eyebrows were creasing together in his confusion.

Gaius stared back at him blankly, not understanding why Merlin thought he meant the lake. "No, she drowned in a puddle. It had rained the day before and there were several puddles along the edge of the lake that day."

"...You mean huge ones, right? The kind that's at least a foot or two deep after it almost floods." Merlin said hopefully.

"No." Gaius said bluntly, looking annoyed by this point. "It was a puddle. It was only a few inches deep."

"...Never tell Arthur that story." Merlin said, dropping his head so that it would hang in his misery. "He already thinks I'm stupid. Now he'll say something like it's hereditary."

"I'm sure Arthur doesn't think you're stupid." Gaius protested. Merlin snorted, giving his uncle a look that not even Gaius could argue with.

Well, Gaius supposed that he couldn't blame Arthur. After all, how many times has Merlin been in a fight with the prince in the week and a half or so that they've known each other by this point.

Even Gaius had to wonder about Merlin's mental faculties sometimes.

"Anyway," Gaius cleared his throat, returning to the story he'd been telling. "After her sister's death, your great-grandmother decided that she would take over what her sister tried to do, and make the best tea imaginable."

"And she did." Merlin said, waving a hand at his empty tea cup. There was just a droplet left inside, a little brown ring that remained from what had been in it.

"And she did." Gaius agreed, "Because as much as she hated the drink itself, and despite all of their fights, she loved her sister more than anything."

"...All of their fights..." Merlin repeated slowly, feeling himself pale a little. "Please tell me this story wasn't some kind of metaphor that I should love Arthur, no matter how massive of a jerk he is." He practically pleaded, leaning across the table to get closer to his uncle. His hands clenched around the edge of the table.

Gaius snorted at that ridiculous notion because no, that hadn't been what he'd been going for at all. He took his time answering though, taking the last swallow of his drink as Merlin watched him worriedly.

"I admit it," Gaius said, setting his now empty cup down, his fingers wrapped loosely around the swell of the cup. "This story is a metaphor, but it's got nothing to do with loving Arthur."

Merlin felt his shoulders slumping, his muscles easing up as he let out a big breath of relief. Good, he didn't think he could have taken his uncle trying to tell him in his own way that he should love Arthur.

Merlin was somewhat opened to figuring things out between him and Arthur, even if he used the term 'open', very loosely. But he was somehow doubtful that love was in the cards for him and Arthur. Hell, he doubted Arthur would even be content with agreeing to a truce, just so there wasn't be this whole uncertain state between them.

"Okay, I give." Merlin said, straightening back up in his chair. "If it isn't a metaphor about my love life, than what is it for?"

"Your great-grandmother," Gaius started to explain. "She worked endlessly, for hours upon hours, trying to find the key ingredient to make her little sister's recipe complete.

"The nutmeg." Merlin said.

"The nutmeg." His uncle agreed simply. "Your great-grandmother didn't want her little sister's death to be in vain, or so pointlessly. She nearly worked herself to the ground, almost killing herself with pure exhaustion alone. And the entire time, her family was telling her to just give up, that it didn't matter if the tea remained unfinished."

Merlin frowned, "But why did they do that? Didn't they want her to finish it?"

"Sure, they would have loved that." Gaius said. "But a member of their family was dead, and your great-grandmother wasn't the only one that was affected. They were all hurting, in their own ways. But she was hurting all of them as well, refusing to let things go. She was constantly bringing up her little sister, and trying to figure out what she would have done whenever she came across a problem in the recipe."

"...Ok," Merlin said slowly, his eyebrows furrowing together in his growing confusion. "So where's the metaphor?"

"The metaphor is this." Gaius said simply. "The entire time until the day she finally got it right, her entire family was trying convince her that it was okay to let it go. That it wasn't a big deal if it went unfinished."

"...The metaphor is it's not a big deal?" Merlin asked, looking blank. He was still so baffled, trying to understand but failing so utterly.

Gaius rolled his eyes, as if it was paining him to know that he'd practically have to spell it out for his young nephew. "It wasn't a big deal to her family if the recipe went incomplete. It was just tea, it was practically nothing in the long run. But to your great-grandmother, it was a very big deal."

Merlin was still looking at him confused.

Gaius shook his head, before putting it in more clearly words. "It doesn't matter if something doesn't seem like a big deal. If it's something that you think nobody else would care about. If it matters to you, than it is a very big deal."

Merlin had his epiphany than, the almost startling realization of what Gaius was talking about.

"It wasn't a real big deal anyway."

That was what he'd said earlier when Gaius had been trying to figure out who had called him something as crude as a gold digger. He hadn't realized that he'd talked loud enough for his uncle to hear him.

"...This is a real story, right?" Merlin asked, now suddenly a lot more unsure than he had been moments before. "You didn't just make it up so that you could tell me my problem matters."

Gaius scoffed at that, shaking his head. "I couldn't have made it up even if I tried. Your great-grandmother, she was a very stubborn woman indeed."

"And you couldn't just tell me the point that you were getting at?" Merlin asked slowly. "I had to sit here through the whole story just so you could tell me that."

Gaius looked curious by this, as if that thought had never occurred to him. "I suppose I could have just done that."

Merlin let his head fall so that it banged roughly on the wooden table beneath him.

Gaius calmly stood up, picking up his cup and Merlin's so that he could set them aside to be washed later. "It didn't hurt you to learn some things about your family history."

Merlin raised his head, rubbing at his reddening forehead as he watched Gaius lumber away with their cups. "I suppose not. He grudgingly agreed. But maybe his uncle had a point, his problem was a big deal.

His own husband had basically called him a gold digger, accusing him of marrying up in the world just so he could have Arthur's 'Royal benefits' or whatever it was he called them.

He didn't know if anything was ever going to happen between them, rather it be a simple truce or something more, that remained to be seen. But Merlin did know that he wasn't going to stand for being accused as only marrying Arthur for what he could get out of it.

Not even if the accusation was made by Arthur himself.

At this realization, Merlin jolted to his feet fast enough that he nearly shoved the table several feet away so that he could get up. Gaius flinched, startled by the sudden noise as he dropped their cups into the wash basket.

"Merlin, where on earth do you think you're going?" Gaius asked, turning back around to give his nephew a stern look.

Merlin froze in mid-step halfway to the door, as if just now remembering that Gaius was still there. "I was just...going to have a little talk...with Arthur." Would this be the moment? The moment where Gaius realized that it had been Arthur who had basically accused him of being a gold digger?

But Gaius didn't seem to realize that at all. He just raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Looking like that?"

Merlin didn't understand at first, and had to look down at himself before he understood. His clothes were a mess, as were the rest of his body. He still had sweat stains everywhere and he was coated in a layer of dirt everywhere else. His skin and hair were just as bad, if not worse.

"Err, maybe I should wash first." Merlin admitted, wincing uncomfortably.

"That is what I would do." Gaius said, looking pleased. "And I'm happy that you seem to agree about going to Arthur for your problem."

"Wait, what?" Merlin had been walking across the length of the room, heading towards the bucket of water leaned up against the wall. He had been planning on taking the bucket upstairs so that he could get himself and his clothes cleaned up.

He just had to stop George from whatever he was doing up there for so long and kick him out so he could bathe in peace. And hopefully he could do that before his new 'manservant' offered to do something as ridiculous as bathe him next. Trying to dress him had been bad enough.

Now it was Gaius' turn to look confused and uncertain, "You were going to tell Arthur about your problem...weren't you? To get him to fix it?"

Merlin couldn't have stopped the snort from escaping if he tried. Yeah, he was going to go talk to Arthur, but it wasn't to have a casual chat about how horrible it was to be accused as a gold digger. He'd actually planned on marching straight up to Arthur and demand he be treated right. It probably would have ended up in another fight, now that he was thinking about it. Maybe it was a good thing his uncle had stopped him before he could go running off half-cocked.

As much as he would love to go another round with Arthur, he was still recovering from their last fight.

Gaius narrowed his eyes, staring his nephew down. He had a sinking suspicion, a sudden thought of clarity for why Merlin might not want to go to Arthur. "Merlin..." he said slowly. "Did Arthur-"

"No!" Merlin said quickly, almost before he could stop himself. Gaius flinched, startled by Merlin's sudden exclamation.

Merlin felt himself pale, wincing since his uncle was now looking at him with full on suspicion. Merlin would never understand why he didn't just tell Gaius the truth right then and there, why he hadn't just come out and say that it had been Arthur who'd done it.

Merlin probably just didn't want to get into all of that, he probably just wanted to let the matter rest right now. He just didn't want to go into details, that had to be it.

Or maybe it was for a different reason.

Maybe he just didn't want his uncle to hate Arthur. If things worked out between them, and that was a very big if, he didn't want his uncle to hate the blonde.

Merlin cleared his throat, before trying again, "As much as your story helped me see things more clearer, it really isn't Arthur's place to get involved in my problems." He said awkwardly.

Hell, Arthur would probably do it a lot more if he knew it bugged Merlin so much, but who wouldn't be when they were called a gold digger.

Gaius raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "He's your husband, I think it would be the only place he should be."

Merlin scoffed, "If we were in love, maybe. But my problems are a little bigger than what normal people find in their marriage."

"Like what?" Gaius asked, encouraging Merlin to open up.

And that was when the floodgates seemed to open. Before Merlin knew what he was doing, he was pacing across the length of the floor and his uncle was almost regretting asking the longer Merlin's spiral went on.

"Like being called a gold digger may be my most recent problem but it's still probably the least problem I've faced since I've got here. I have George following me everywhere, practically breathing down my neck. He'd probably report me straight to Uther if he saw what I could do. I am constantly going head to head against Arthur and I swear, even when he was avoiding me, he was finding ways to make me miserable. I'm pretty sure Uther secretly hates me and that's why he sicked his son and this 'training session' on me. Not to mention the pressure that's on me, like what my role is in all of this! Like when Arthur is king, what am I supposed to do as consort. How am I supposed to help him if he doesn't even want to talk to me. Hell, how am I suppose to help at all? And I swear, everybody is watching me, just waiting to see what I'll do next. All of them are just waiting to see what I bring to the table, trying to find out what makes me so bloody special that Prince Arthur Bloody Pendragon agreed to marry me because nobody knows about the damn contract that forced us to marry. And because of that alone, I am constantly on guard way more than I ever was in Ealdor because I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing here. One wrong mistake and I'll be on the pyre before I know it." Merlin finished his rant by throwing himself back down on the bench seat. He put his forehead into his hands, moaning in his apparent misery. "I just...I have no idea where I stand around here."

Not like he did back in Ealdor. At least he knew exactly what he was doing back there. Camelot, and all of these people and his problems, it was almost to much for one person to bare. And if this was his life after only a week, then he truly feared what the next lifetime would bring.

Gaius sighed, a heavy and heart aching one. Merlin was far to young to have so many troubles resting on his shoulders, it was more troubles than most people had. And the worse part? Nobody, not even Gaius, could understand what he was going through. With the things that Merlin could do, it was like he was on his own in this world.

But just because Gaius could never experience the things that Merlin could do, being born as he was, that didn't mean he couldn't help his nephew with the burden that he was carrying. Sometimes, sometimes people just needed to know that they had someone in their corner, even if they themselves would never experience the same things.

Gaius took a seat across from Merlin. He waited until Merlin finally lifted his head to look at him. "Then you need to find it."

"...Find it?" Merlin asked blankly, as if it hadn't occurred to him to do something about it.

Gaius nodded, "You're still pretty new around here, so you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Give it some time, get used to things around here, make this life your new normal. You'll find your footing sooner or later."

"You really think so?" Merlin asked softly, lowering his hands from his face to rest on the table. He started playing with his fingers, staring down at his pale hands.

Merlin wasn't entirely convinced he'd ever find his footing. But maybe his uncle was right, maybe he just needed to give it time. This place had to start feeling like home sooner or later...right?

Gaius reached out, giving his hand a firm pat, "I'm sure of it." Gaius stood, as if marking the end of their conversation.

Merlin let out a heavy breath, watching as his uncle made his way back to the wash basket. He made it sound so easy, but it'll probably be much harder than it should have to be.

Gaius picked up a stained and old rag, tugging one of the cups out of the water so that he could get started on these dishes.

Seeing this, Merlin started to stand from his seat. Getting things cleaned up seemed like a good idea, Merlin was definitely feeling disgusting himself, with the dry sweat coating ever inch of his body, and he could practically smell himself at this point.

Merlin had barely taken two steps away when Gaius started speaking again, "It's probably a good thing that you're not going to be telling Arthur about your problem anyway."

Merlin froze in his step, and turned to look at Gaius. The older man had his back to him, not looking up from where he was cleaning their cups. "And why is that?" He asked.

"Because," Gaius said simply, rubbing the rag over the curve of the cup. "Arthur probably wouldn't have involved himself and would just tell you to deal with it yourself."

Merlin stiffened, his lips tugging downward into a frown. "So, that's it?" He asked, looking and sounding almost bitter. "Arthur would just leave me to flounder about on my own? Even if someone was hurting me?"

He supposed he shouldn't be so surprised. It's not as if Arthur gave him any indication that he would actually defend him, not unless it affected him in some way. Like with Nobleman Hamilton, the only reason Arthur had pulled him away from that vile man was because he didn't want Merlin embarrassing him in front of somebody 'important'. Not because the man had acted as if he were prepared to hit him in full view of the entire court at their own wedding dinner.

"Oh, I'm sure he would." Gaius said, still not looking up from his dishes. "If you were in mortal peril. I'm sure he wouldn't leave you if your actual life was in danger. As a new member of his kingdom, he's honor bound to protect you if he can."

'But not because he's my husband'. Merlin thought bitterly to himself. Arthur would only help him if he thought that Merlin was going to die, but only because he was a prince and was what prince's was supposed to do. Not because he was a husband, trying to defend his spouse.

Well screw him, Merlin didn't want or need his 'protection', or anything like that. He could protect himself just fine. Like Gaius had said earlier, his mother had given him all of the tools he needed to survive. He just needed to put them into use.

But Merlin didn't say any of thoughts things. These kind of thoughts were just for him, safely stored away within the privacy of his own mind. But he did say, "And if my life wasn't in danger? If people, other people, were saying things that were untrue?"

If Arthur was saying things that were untrue, was what he wanted to say. But still, he didn't mention Arthur's involvement in the situation itself.

"He'd have you deal with it yourself." Gaius repeated himself. Feeling miserable, Merlin slumped against the counter that his uncle was cleaning at. He supposed he'd probably have to get used to this, being constantly disappointed by Arthur. And to think, he'd actually been entertaining the idea of trying to force something between them.

"And it's not for the reason you think." Gaius continued talking, as if he knew Merlin was miserable without even looking at him, and was trying to fix it.

Merlin dragged his eyes away from the floor to look at his uncle, a quizzical frown on his face. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well," Gaius started to explain. "You're a consort, there are some things that you'll just supposed to handle on your own. Consort's need to have a certain...decorum, about them."

Merlin snorted at that immediately, "Decorum?" He asked, spluttering and laughing at the thought. He could barely walk in a straight line half the time, how exactly was he going to go around showing 'decorum'.

Gaius seemed to realize that as well, from the twitch of his lips turning upwards into the mimicry of a grin. "Okay, okay, maybe not decorum in your case. But a certain...leadership, won't go amiss."

"Leadership?" Merlin asked, his smile dimming. He didn't find that word nearly as funny as decorum had been. It was a lot more serious, and had a certain air of solemnity to it. There was a certain heaviness and weight that seemed to cling to it.

"Leadership." Gaius reaffirmed, looking decidedly less amused than he had moments before. "And as hurtful as I'm sure it was, being called something that you're not, Arthur's not going to defend you if you can't defend yourself."

Merlin felt himself flush an almost blistering red, "I can defend myself just fine!" He exclaimed, almost offended.

"Oh, I know you can." Gaius said, looking amused by this as he finally turned to look at his nephew, setting the wet cups onto the counter to dry. "You proved that when you fought against Arthur in the courtyard. And again in the marketplace."

Merlin felt his flush receding, "I lost that fight." He grumbled, hunching his shoulders. "Both of them."

"Maybe so," Gaius agreed, picking up another rag to dry his hands. "But you have to admit, it did show a certain, well I don't want to say leadership, but it did show the people something about you."

"And what's that?" Merlin asked, raising an eyebrow. The doubt was obvious in his features. The people probably thought he was a fool, thinking he could have actually won those fights. Without being able to use his magic, he should have known from the beginning that he didn't stand a chance.

Gaius gave him an obvious look, as if he was wondering how Merlin didn't know, "You showed them that you weren't afraid to stand up to Arthur." He said, like it was supposed to mean something important. "And the people need someone like that, strong enough to stand up to Arthur when he's doing wrong."

Merlin felt almost uncomfortable, the back of his neck was brimming with heat. Well, Gaius wasn't wrong, he was definitely not afraid of Arthur.

"And if what I've heard was true, that first fight started because you were standing up for his manservant. The people saw that, those that were there, your willingness to stand up for a simple manservant, when you yourself are a consort. Not many consort's would have."

Merlin shifted uncomfortably on his feet, looking away. Because right now, he wasn't entirely sure if he'd made the right choice. There was just something...off...about Morris. You'd think Morris would have been a little more grateful for Merlin stepping in, but no. Merlin was actually pretty sure that Morris hated him because he'd stepped in.

"Even if some people don't agree, like whoever called you a gold digger." Gaius kept talking. "I think Camelot will be a better place, if it's consort is willing to go the extra mile when dealing with someone as hard headed as Arthur can be."

Merlin looked away, biting down lightly on his lower lip. The faith that Gaius seemed to have in him, he wasn't entirely sure that it was deserved. As if he could do something like make Camelot a better place, he was just one person after all. And really? What could one person do in the scheme of things?

"And even after all that trouble you and Arthur got into with each other." Gaius finished up. "You still saved his life that night of the party. He owes you his life, even if he won't admit it."

Merlin sighed, letting his head hang back so that he could stare blankly up at the ceiling. In a soft tone, he said, "Well Arthur can keep his life, and everything that comes with it."

Gaius shook his head, his features solemn. "You don't understand." Merlin turned his head to look at him, frowning confused. Gaius elaborated, "Saving his life was more than just 'saving his life'. It would have been far to easy to just let it happen, nobody would have known that you could have stopped it."

"I would have known!" Merlin interrupted, exclaiming loudly as he did it. As horrible as Arthur could be, he didn't think he'd be able to live with himself knowing that he'd allowed him to die, knowing that he could have done something to stop it.

"And-" Gaius continued, giving Merlin a stern look for his interruption. "It showed the people that not only were you able to stand up for manservants, you were willing to protect someone that gave you grief."

Merlin scoffed, shaking his head, "You're exaggerating. I'm sure not everyone was thinking that."

"Maybe not." Gaius admitted. It would have been strange, and abnormal for everyone to have seen what Gaius had seen. "But I'm sure that some people saw that, even if you don't see it yourself."

Merlin looked away, shifting his eyes uncomfortably to his feet.

Gaius sighed, bringing a hand up to put it on Merlin's shoulder. The younger boy looked up at him. "I know this is hard Merlin," Gaius said softly. "You're not a peasant anymore. Now, you're a consort. And everything is changing, everything is going to be different. And everything that's happening now, it's only just the beginning."

"The beginning of what though?" Merlin asked quietly, his voice soft and his throat dry. Gaius had sounded vaguely ominous when he'd said that, giving Merlin chills down his spine that greatly unsettled him. Was this just the beginning of a horror story that ended with him tied to a stake as a fire burned all around him? Or could he even allow himself to imagine a different future, where he didn't end up burned because he'd been born different than others had been.

"We'll just have to wait and find out." Gaius said quietly, because as wise as he may have seemed to be to Merlin, not even he could see the future.

Merlin moaned, softly to himself as he brought his hand up to run roughly through his hair. If only it would be that easy, for someone to just be able to tell him what was going to happen. Then he wouldn't be here, stressing himself out over what might lay in wait ahead, wondering if everything was going to be okay.

"I know, it's going to be hard." Gaius said, finally stepping away from the counter. "You're not the consort of just anybody, you're the consort to the prince." As if Merlin needed that reminder. "And that means you'll have all kinds of duties and responsibility that you have to do."

"Like reading painfully dull books about tournament etiquette." Merlin said dryly, casting a disgruntled look towards the book left behind at the table.

"Like reading painfully dull books." Gaius agreed in an equally dry tone. "But that's just one part of it. There's so much more that you haven't even realized yet."

Great, just wanted he wanted with his already stressful life, "No pressure or anything, right?" Merlin said sarcastically.

"I just want you to be warned, to be as prepared as you can be." Gaius said, looking concerned now. "Arthur's a future king, and as the consort of a future king, there will be a lot of pressure among you both."

Merlin snorted, "Yeah, I can definitely see Arthur bending under all the pressure." He said sarcastically. "What, with the people who don't avoid him out of fear for him turning on them, then there's the people that are worshipping him just because he has a crown." He stopped to scoff. "Big deal."

Gaius shook his head, "Well, if maybe the two of you got along, you'll be able to split the burden of the crown between the two of you."

Merlin rolled his eyes, "That's easier said than done." He grumbled to himself. If only things could be that easy between him and Arthur.

Absolutely done by this point, Merlin pushed himself away from the counter, looking like he was sulking. He was done with this conversation. He was done talking about consorts and the crown and most especially, about Arthur. All he wanted was to get cleaned up, to get out of these clothes, and climb into bed so that could sleep for an eternity.

Hell, what he wanted was to soak in a tub, like he had before he had been married off. But he didn't have that luxury, all he had was a wash bucket. And like hell he'd go and get a tub ready for himself. It just felt to much like 'reaping the benefits of being a consort'. Or whatever.

He'd keep just the wash bucket before he did anything that proved Arthur right.

"If we're done here," Merlin said, clearing his throat. "I really should get cleaned up."

"Oh, right, of course." Gaius agreed, sounding distracted as he returned to the potion he'd been working on before Merlin and George had arrived.

Merlin picked up a second wash bucket that was leaning against the wall, this bucket being designated for washing the body and clothing instead of washing dishes and the like. Grunting as he lifted up the water filled bucket, Merlin started his walk towards the stairs.

He had almost made it to the first one when Gaius seemed to remember something. The physician's head popped up from where he was trying to ladle a bit of the lavender colored potion into a vial.

"Wait, Merlin!" The older man called quickly, dropping his tools so quick that they clattered harshly against the table. The ladle with the potion landed with a heavy thump back into his cauldron.

Merlin nearly let go of his hold on the bucket and had to tighten his hands around the metal handle before it could slip through his fingers and spill everywhere.

Gaius stepped away from his potion table and waved Merlin back. "There was something that I needed to talk to you about, but we kind of got off track there."

Merlin hung his head, having to fight back a groan. He really hoped that this wasn't going to somehow have Arthur tied into it, but somehow, it probably would. Merlin sat the bucket back down on the ground, right next to the stairs for him to use, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Merlin settled himself back down at the table where he found himself facing his book. Screwing his face up disgruntled, he pushed it aside. He would need to read more, because any little bit he could learn may be the one thing he needed to keep suspicion off of him, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Gaius sat down across from him and said nothing. He just stared at Merlin for the longest time. So long that Merlin started to feel uncomfortable. He even started to rap his fingers against the table, just so he could hear the steady thump, thump, thump.

And when he couldn't take the quiet anymore barely minutes later, Merlin started to push himself away from the table. "Well," he said awkwardly, half standing up now. "This has been fun, we really must do this again sometim-"

"How are you?" Gaius blurted out, cutting Merlin off mid-sentence.

Frowning, Merlin slowly eased himself back down into his chair. "I'm...fine." He said uncertain, looking baffled. "No different than what I was a few minutes ago."

"No, no." Gaius said, shaking his head. "I just meant-" he stopped to clear his throat, feeling as if his face was growing a shade hotter. "How are you?" He spoke more clearer, talking in a much more firm tone and giving his nephew a meaningful look, as if Merlin should know what he meant now. But all that did was make Merlin look at him even more confused. "After your wedding night." He practically had to spell out.

Merlin's face soured at the reminder of that night. That was the night he and Arthur had gone up to the blonde's room, right after the witch had tried to kill him. The night that Arthur had practically dragged him out and threw him into the hallway.

He never did find out what they were supposed to do that night.

"What about my wedding night?" Merlin asked, his tone a little harsher than he meant it to be. It wasn't his uncle that he was frustrated with, it was Arthur, it was always Arthur.

"Well," Gaius started again. "...Was he to rough with you?" He let his eyes roam over Merlin's body, trying to pick out any injuries that hadn't been caused by the training session. But he'd been doing that all week, trying to see if he was hurt in some way. But he hadn't seen anything. Merlin wasn't limping, he hadn't acted any different.

Gaius had seen trauma cases before. It came with being a physician, he saw all kinds of things that humans were capable of doing. But he hadn't seen any of those signs on Merlin, so at least that meant he hadn't been traumatized.

Merlin stared at him blankly, having no idea what he was talking about. "...My neck kind of hurt afterwards." He said uncertain. Arthur had thrown him out of his room by a harsh hand on the back of his neck. Although really, it didn't actually hurt that much, it just pissed him off mainly.

Now it was Gaius' turn to look uncertain, "Your neck?" He repeated slowly.

"Yeah." Merlin said, bringing his hand up to rub at the back of it. In that moment, he could have sworn that he felt the phantom ache of Arthur's hot hand pushing him forward. "He used my neck to throw me out."

"...Throw you out..." Gaius repeated, trying to wrap his mind around what he was hearing. "He threw you out after he was done with you?" He demanded harshly. He hadn't realized that Arthur would have been so crass as to just consummate the marriage and then throw Merlin out on his backside.

No wonder Merlin had been complaining so much about Arthur.

Merlin raised an eyebrow, "Done with me?" He asked, looking baffled. "Done with doing what with me?"

Gaius frowned, his eyebrows creasing together with his growing confusion. Why was Merlin being so difficult about this? Had Arthur actually traumatized him and Gaius just wasn't seeing it. Had Merlin blocked out the memory because it was so horribly awful?

"...Are you sure Arthur didn't hurt you?" Gaius asked. Maybe Merlin was just embarrassed and that was why he was avoiding the question.

Merlin threw his hands up into the air, his frustration growing. "No! Arthur didn't actually hurt me!"

Gaius frowned, "Good, good." He said slowly, sounding distracted as he started to stand up. If Arthur didn't hurt Merlin during their consummation, if Merlin didn't need an ointment or something to ease the ache, then there was really no point to this conversation. What two married people did in the privacy of the bedroom were their own business.

But he was only half standing up before he stopped himself, because as relieving as it was to know that Merlin hadn't suffered any kind of pain, something about this wasn't right. Merlin should have been feeling some kind of discomfort at least, especially right after it had happened. But even the very next day when he'd come to Gaius' chambers, he'd been acting as if everything was fine.

Unless Merlin was just so experience that he didn't experience the discomfort that somebody would feel the first few times. But one look at Merlin, he scratched that idea. Merlin should have been feeling something, no matter how well Arthur had prepared him before they'd done it.

He was missing something, some important piece to the puzzle.

Unless...a thought flittered through his mind and the puzzle pieces started to fit together in his head. But there were still a few pieces missing, and he wasn't going to rest easy until he knew what they were.

"Merlin," Gaius said slowly, taking his seat back down on the bench. "What exactly did you do that night?"

Merlin scowled, looking his uncle dead in the eye. "Nothing!" He exclaimed, both looking and sounding frustrated. "That night, we went up to his room. We were supposed to do something. But all he did was yell at me, and then he threw me out. I was going to come back here, but it was so late that I just went to my room and went to bed."

"Nothing." Gaius repeated, sounding faint. "You did absolutely nothing..."

"Absolutely nothing." Merlin confirmed, shaking his head with a steady nod.

Gaius mind was running wild. Arthur had thrown Merlin out of his chambers, Merlin had gone back to his own room alone and slept in his own bed. Arthur and Merlin, they hadn't consummated their marriage? Then that meant...the marriage wasn't legally binding, the contract hadn't been honored. Even though they were technically married, it could easily be annulled, considered null and void.

But if the contract wasn't honored, what would happen to Merlin? If Merlin didn't honor his part of the contract, than he would lose everything. He'd be banished from Camelot, cast aside and practically thrown out into the gutter. And his poor mother, Gaius' little sister.

If the king wanted, even if Hunith was in another kingdom, he could easily have her delivered to Camelot because of these circumstances. Hunith's life would be forfeit before she was even picked up by the knights.

This, what kind of game was Arthur playing? The prince knew full well what the consequences would be for the both of them if word of this ever got out.

This was a very dangerous game they were all playing, and Gaius wasn't even sure if Merlin knew what the game was.

"Hey," Merlin suddenly said, jolting Gaius out of his thoughts. "You don't happen to know what we were supposed to do that night, do you?"

It took Gaius a moment to realize that Merlin was talking to him, and what he was saying. His thoughts had still been wrapped around the consequences that Merlin could suffer if this was found out. "Excuse me?" He asked.

"What was supposed to happen." Merlin clarified. "I swear, everybody kept saying Arthur and I had to do something after we married. Then I find out we had to do it in Arthur's bedroom. He refused to tell me what we were doing. He just got mad and threw me out."

Gaius had a sinking suspicion that he wasn't going to like where this conversation was heading. "Merlin," he said slowly, feeling a growing dread emerging in the pit of his gut. "What exactly do you know about what married people get up to after their wedding?"

Frustrated, Merlin stood to his feet and slapped his hands onto the table. "I don't know!" He exclaimed loudly. "Nobody will tell me anything!"

Gaius stared up at Merlin, slack jawed and with growing sense of horror. Did Merlin truly not realize what was supposed to happen? Had that been the true reason that Arthur threw him out? Had the prince realized Merlin's naivety and decided not to go through with it.

Maybe Arthur wasn't playing a game at all. Maybe Arthur just wasn't willing to take the virginity of a boy who didn't know what was going to happen.

"Merlin." Gaius said, having to clear his throat to get his voice to start working again. "Did your mother...what did she tell you about the topic?"

Had Hunith never told her son about the birds and the bees? Had it been some kind of massively large oversight, or had she done it on purpose. But surely she hadn't sent her son off to be married without informing him of the finer details that married couples were involved in.

Merlin sighed, pushing away from the table. "She didn't tell me much." He admitted, starting to pace the short distance in front of the table. "Whenever people got married back home, I know that they stayed in their huts for about a week. And nobody would get mad at them when we didn't have the extra hands to help with the upcoming harvest."

"Okay," Gaius said, pushing himself up to his feet as well. "And do you know what these couples did inside their hut?"

Merlin just shrugged, looking almost helpless in his oversized shirt. "Mother would always tell me that they were having their own private celebration and that I wasn't to disturb them."

Gaius felt the uncontrollable need to just lock his nephew away in the room he had for him. To keep him away from men who would be more than happy to wreck a young boy's innocence. How was it even possible for Merlin to reach the age he was now and not know about these things?

"Merlin, how exactly do you think babies are made?" Gaius said bluntly.

Merlin froze, feeling his heart stutter in his chest. Then his face erupted into flames, and he was looking a lot more awkward than he usually did. "W-what exactly does that have to do with anything?" He stuttered, obviously avoiding Gaius' eyes.

"Just answer the question." Gaius said firmly. There were just some things that were just unavoidable, like this.

Stuttering, Merlin said in a weakened tone, "Well, when a man and a woman love each other very much, they get married. And then the man takes the woman to his bed and they...touch each other, a lot. And then they get a baby."

Merlin had been traumatized after that little talk with his mother when he was barely ten and he caught sight of two sixteen year old's getting hot and heavy in a barn. Curious as he was, he had asked her when the two had married because there would have been some kind of celebration among the villagers to mark the occasion. There wasn't much to celebrate back home, so events like that were definitely brought to attention, even if it was just something small.

Hunith had been quick to correct him, saying that he shouldn't worry about things like that. That he was way to young to think those things. That he should only do things like that when he was in love, and if he was in love, than he would be willing to marry the girl.

That was how he would know it was true.

That was long before he was old enough to realize that some things just didn't work out. Before he realized that he didn't have the choice in who he married. It would be a few years after that conversation that it would hit him like a sledgehammer than he was more interested in the neighborhood boy's biceps than the girl next door's breasts.

"Okay." Gaius said relieved, at least Merlin knew that much. At least he wouldn't have to explain to him everything. This was a starting point at least. "And now tell me, what do you know about how two men get together like that."

Merlin stared at him blankly, the redness in his face fading to make way for confusion, "But...two guys can't do something like that." And when Gaius just stared at him, Merlin started to ramble, his tongue working faster than his mind. "It's not possible for two men to get together, a man doesn't have the same...parts, that a woman does? Where would the other man even put...himself, in? And the only reason that men and women do that at all is so they could have a baby. Mother said it was really uncomfortable for the woman for the first time, so she must really want a baby to do it, right? And since two men can't have a baby, and we have different body parts from a girl, they wouldn't be able to do things like that together." Merlin finished off, looking pleased with himself.

"Oh, Merlin." Gaius sighed heavily, hanging his head.

"What?" Merlin frowned. Did Gaius not know these things? He thought they were obvious, just facts of life that nobody really bothered discussing.

Gaius shook his head helplessly. Just moments before, he had been so angry at Arthur, to know that he was risking all their futures and lives by not making the marriage binding. But if Merlin had mentioned what he'd just said, or even something similar, than Arthur had done the right thing by sending him away.

With how little Merlin seemed to understand about men being with other men in that way, Gaius would be having questions about just how much consent had been given if Arthur had gone through with it.

But he hadn't, because for as cruel as Arthur could be, he wasn't a rapist.

"Merlin," Gaius said, reaching out to place a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. He started leading him back to the table. "I believe it is time that you and I have a talk."

This shouldn't be so bad, Gaius had talks like this before a handful of times over the years. But usually, they were much younger and the parents were to embarrassed to do it themselves so they thought a trained physician would be able to explain it better. But somehow, this was different. This was his nephew that he'd just met, and he was practically a man himself, almost fully grown. He wasn't a boy just entering his teens and starting to learn these things about the world.

"About what?" Merlin asked, practically throwing himself back into his seat. He was frowning, looking at Gaius with curiosity. Honestly, none of this was making sense to him. Why had Gaius suddenly start questioning him about babies, and then men being in that way with other men?

How would something like that even work? He almost wanted to laugh, trying to imagine something like that. Sure, men could kiss each other, but that was pretty much the most of what they could do together physically.

Gaius sat down across from Merlin, staring him down. He was quiet for a few minutes, trying to figure out how he was going to do this. Because he needed Merlin to understand how important something was before they got down to business.

But he took to long to say anything, and Merlin was starting to get worried. "Uncle Gaius," he started, leaning forward across the table. "Will you just tell me what all of this is about?"

Gaius glanced around, as if to make sure that they were still alone. He didn't want to run the risk of anyone hearing them, even within the privacy of his own chambers.

And George was still upstairs and the walls inside his chambers were thin. For all Gaius knew, George would have no problem running to the king with this kind of information if he overheard.

The king wouldn't take to kindly to this if he found out the marriage wasn't binding.

Gaius cleared his throat and leaned over the table as well so that he and Merlin were closer together. Frowning, Merlin leaned closer as well. The longer Gaius hesitated, the more anxious he was getting.

"Merlin, there is something you need to be aware of before we get into all of that." Gaius started, sounding more serious than Merlin could recall hearing him. If he hadn't had Merlin's full attention before, he definitely did now.

"Uncle Gaius, what is it?" Merlin asked, speaking just as quietly. There was something about this situation that made Merlin tense up, knowing that there was something wrong here but not understanding what.

"Merlin," Gaius hesitated for a minute before reaching out to rest his hand on top of Merlin's. He needed Merlin to understand how serious this could be if word got out. "You need to promise me something."

"Anything." Merlin said in less than the time it took for a single heart beat.

"If somebody asks you what happened that night in Arthur's chamber, then you're going to have to lie."

Merlin stiffened, straightening up in his seat. "Lie? About what?" He asked, already dreading the answer. He was a horrible liar, he always had been and probably always would be.

"Nobody will probably ask you about it, not about such a private moment." Gaius said, half talking to himself now, trying to convince himself that Merlin wouldn't accidentally say something that could destroy the very weak foundation Merlin didn't even know he was standing on.

Nobody probably would, right? It would be incredibly crass to ask Merlin how Arthur had taken him on their wedding night. And if anybody did, Merlin would have had no idea what they were talking about if Gaius hadn't realized his lack of knowledge on the subject.

"Uncle Gaius!" Merlin exclaimed loudly, jolting his uncle back to attention.

Gaius reacted before his mind could, shushing at Merlin urgently. Merlin went quiet in an instant, his jaw snapping shut. Gaius cast a concerned look towards the stairs, worried that George may have heard. But there wasn't a sound, not even a creek to indicate that he was even in there.

Gaius dragged his eyes away from Merlin's bedroom door and back to Merlin. "This is very important." He said urgently, trying to stress the situation. "If anybody asks about that night, all you need to do is say 'that everything went exactly how it was supposed to.'"

That would be good enough, right? Surely nobody would press the matter or try to get any more detail. Gaius could only hope that Merlin didn't come across somebody crass enough to do that. But still, Gaius could think of a handful of people that would probably try to get all of the dirty details.

But surely they wouldn't press matters with a consort, right? But would Merlin's status be enough to protect him in this very new and precarious situation they'd found themselves in.

Frowning, Merlin lowered his voice, "Uncle Gaius? What is that supposed to mean? How was it supposed to go?" He asked, urgency in his voice. He didn't understand at all, and he was getting more and more anxious the longer this conversation went on.

Gaius sighed, because this was nearing into dangerous territory. It wouldn't be long now before he started telling Merlin all about what he and Arthur were supposed to do that night.

"What you need to understand, Merlin," Gaius said. "Is that Arthur did the right thing when he sent you away that night." If Arthur had gone through with it and traumatized Merlin who didn't even have an idea about what was going on, Gaius wouldn't have been able to hold himself accountable for what he would have done to the blonde haired prince.

And hopefully, Merlin wasn't as naive as Gaius thought he was. It was just that nobody had bothered or thought to fill the boy in on the finer details of something he should have been fully aware of years ago.

"But, he threw me out." Merlin said, his eyebrows furrowing together as he looked as his uncle baffled. What was he talking about? How had Arthur done the right thing?

"Which was a good thing." Gaius admitted firmly. "If he'd gone through with what he was supposed to that night, then we would be having a very different conversation right now."

They probably would have already had this conversation right after it happened. He could just imagine what their conversation would have involved then. Merlin would have probably been crying, shifting because it hurt to sit, and having absolutely no idea what was had just happened.

Gaius had never felt more thankful for Arthur's choice than he had in that very moment.

Merlin swallowed hard, feeling a jittery and nervous energy thrumming through his body. "Uncle Gaius, you're worrying me. Tell me what all of this is about. What was Arthur supposed to do? And why didn't he do it."

Merlin tried to move his hand away from the table, but Gaius tightened his hand on it, not allowing him to move away. "I'm going to get to that, I promise you that." Gaius said firmly. He couldn't allow Merlin to leave without knowing the details, just on the off chance that Merlin mentioned something that could cause suspicion about what had happened that night.

"Just promise me," Gaius said, stern and almost frantic in his approach. "Don't tell anybody that Arthur threw you out that night."

"I promise, Uncle Gaius, I promise." Merlin agreed, his voice sounding just as urgent as his uncle was.

Gaius felt his muscles relaxing, almost slumping in relief. He could only trust now that Merlin would keep his word. And he would, after Gaius explained to him what was supposed to happen that night. After he told Merlin that yes, men could definitely do more things than just kissing. That it had actually been expected for him and Arthur to do all of the things that Merlin didn't even know about.

"Good, good." Gaius said quietly, sounding almost distracted as he was talking more to himself than Merlin in that moment. That was one thing that had been handled, and now they were going to have to get into the real important stuff. And then Merlin would realize just how much Arthur had done for him by sending him away that night.

If Merlin didn't know what to expect, than their was no way that he would have been ready for such a huge step.

"Uncle Gaius," Merlin was practically begging now, leaning further across the table. "Please, tell me what this is about."

"Of course," Gaius agreed, sighing heavily. Using the hand that wasn't holding Merlin's, he reached up to squeeze the bridge of his nose under his glasses. Now they were getting into the other important bits.

Merlin seemed to lean even closer, as if getting closer would make Gaius explain things to him faster. But Gaius couldn't just rush through this, they would need to take their time so that Merlin understood what he was talking about.

He couldn't let Merlin just go out without this kind of knowledge.

"Alright," Gaius finally cleared his throat as he leaned away. "The first thing you should know is that it is very possible for two men to-" before Gaius could say, 'together like a man and a woman can, and that people often did it for pleasure and not to just have a baby', there was a sudden knock on the door.

Both Gaius and Merlin's head jolted up at the sudden sound that broke through their carefully crafted air of hushed voices.

"Shoot." Gaius hissed under his breath. He was half tempted to let the knocker leave on their own so that he and Merlin could finish their little talk. But what if it was an actual emergency? He was a physician, he needed to be ready at a moment's notice for any medical situation.

They couldn't have come at a worst time, though.

When the knock came again mere seconds later, sounding more impatient than the first knock had been, Gaius stood. Merlin watched with a frown as he took a few steps away. But then Gaius turned around, looking urgent again, "Merlin, remember what I said. If anyone asks-"

"Everything went exactly how it was supposed to." Merlin repeated, a strangely serious look on his face. He may not understand what was going on, but he could see that his uncle was scared about something. And that made him just as worried.

Watching Gaius cross the room to the door, Merlin's leg started bouncing under the table, he had to get his anxiousness out somehow. He started playing with his hands, trying to piece together what his uncle was trying to tell him.

It was possible for two men to do...what? To do...swords fighting? Baking? ...explore the forest together...he thought of several more things that men could do together while Gaius talked to whoever was at the door. But each idea he could come up with sounded more ridiculous than the last.

What could two men do together, that was the big question that he didn't know the answer to. Did Arthur know what the answer was? He had to, right? That was why Gaius had brought Arthur into this conversation.

Merlin started rapping his fingers against the table. What could two men do together...what could two men to together? He was missing something here, some part of the puzzle, the important part that would have let him connect the dots.

There was a clatter by the door, forcing Merlin to put his question to the side as he looked up. Gaius was standing to the side of the door, pulling it open as wide as he could.

"Leon!" Merlin exclaimed, standing up to his feet as he saw the knight walking in backwards.

"Ah, Merlin, wonderful to see you again." Leon grunted, not looking at him as he was busy trying to ease something large, heavy, and awkward through the doorway.

Merlin walked across the length of the room to stand at his uncle's side, watching Leon struggling to get through the door. Seeing that Leon was having to many issues to talk, Merlin turned to Gaius, "What are they doing?"

Whatever it was, it was large and stretched out of the doorway. There was no doubt somebody on the other side, holding up the other end to help get it through the door.

"They're delivering my new bed." Gaius grunted, looking annoyed by this interruption. As much as he'd been anxiously waiting for the arrival of his new bed, it could have waited another hour or two. Just for Gaius to get some leeway into Merlin's missing education.

"You have a new bed?" Merlin asked confused, raising a hand to scratch at his hair. He watched as Leon grunted again, trying to turn the bed at a more awkward angle to get it into the room, the bed frame scraping against the doorway as it moved in a few more inches.

"Yes," Gaius said, giving Merlin a raised eyebrow and a very pointed look. "If you care to remember, my last one got destroyed." He cast a look behind Merlin's head, bringing Merlin's attention to what he was looking at. At the top of the second staircase that led to Gaius' other bookshelves, was the broken railing. The one that Gaius had fallen through when Merlin had startled him the very first day they met.

Merlin looked sheepish at the still broken rail. The wood was split directly in half, jolting out sharply in different directions, thrown apart by Gaius' fall.

"Wait," a thought struck Merlin as he turned back to look at his uncle. "Where have you been sleeping then?" Merlin had used Gaius' own bed as a way to catch him when he'd fallen through the railing. The bed had completely shattered underneath him, the bed posts popping out of place as he'd fallen on top of it.

"...Never you mind." Gaius' grunted, even as his eye twitched and he turned away, not wanting to get into that one. It had been a very long and tiring week without a place to rest at night. He hadn't dared taken Merlin's bed, just on the off chance that the boy had shown up one night, not wanting to sleep in the much larger bed he had up in the castle.