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!

100. The Poisoned Chalice

Hey ya'll, here are a few awesome notes to make about this story, courtesy of Merthur_Rules, who'd brought them to my attention.

1. This story has exceeded expectations because it's now the longest Merthur story that has ever been written. And now, I'm currently gunning for making it the longest story on this entire site ;p. With me luck

2. Did you know this is also the second Merlin story with the most comments? Over 6000 comments have been written about this story? And now I will be definitely going after the First Slot, and get the most Merthur comments ;p. Who can tell me how many more comments I have to get before succeeding? ;p

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Everything was dark and quiet, too quiet. But that was okay. Merlin had grown to like the quietness as if it was a friend. It was peaceful, being alone all of the time, if only a bit lonely. But sometimes, being alone was the only way Merlin was able to protect himself nowadays. Time seemed to have no meaning, and his days would pass each other by mostly the same way. Merlin never seemed to notice the passing of time to an extent. He was vaguely aware of morning, but that was only because the sun would try its best to urge him out of the little cocoon he had made for himself.

It had been one month since everything happened to the city. One month since the sickness tried to take over the kingdom, and destroy it to shambles. One month since Merlin had nearly gotten Gwen killed by his own stupidity when he saved her father. A single month since Merlin had risked it all, screaming truths about himself before the council, only to be turned away. A month since Merlin had found the beast that was causing the sickness in the first place, and it was that month that Merlin had managed to earn back her freedom…Gwen's. It had also been a month since the young consort had seem Arthur, but there wasn't any surprise in that.

Arthur wasn't exactly the type of man who'd come to check on his husband when he hadn't seen him in a while. And Merlin could only assume that meant that the kingdom was quiet. There was no celebration's or events happening at the moment, because the only reason Arthur would decide to come see him, was if he needed him to play his part as consort. But maybe it was a good thing nothing had been going on, since Merlin didn't think he would have it in him to play his part. Hell, just getting out of his bed would've taken every bit of strength he had. Leaving absolutely not a bit of room for Merlin to behave as expected of him.

Merlin could vaguely hear the sound of his door as it opened up, but he didn't react to it. Merlin never did react to anything anymore, just raising his head felt as if it would be too much. Merlin had done the whole self-isolation thing before, but this was different. The first time, Merlin had hidden away in his Royal Suite to hide away from the abuse he'd just been starting to suffer. His room had been the only place he knew he wasn't going to be attacked in. But this was now his second period of self-isolation, and Merlin didn't care about the abuse anymore. He had grown numb to it, in a way. It had become far too easy-almost like an art he had developed himself-to zone out when it all became too much for him to handle.

Like right now.

Merlin could hear the shuffling of feet along his floor, and heard the slight clattering of glass as Gaius was setting down the teacup on his nightstand. That must have meant it was mid-morning-Gaius would always bring him a teacup around that time to try and get a bit of fluid in him-Merlin could think to himself, but he still didn't raise his head to greet the man. He'd long stopped doing that, about two weeks ago, content to burrow in his blankets unseen by the anybody in this dreadful world. Merlin had the blankets tucked along his entire body, not even his head peeking out since he didn't want to see anybody. If he cared to notice they were there at all. Sometimes people would just show up and sit at his bedside, trying to talk to him in quiet, soft, pitying tones.

It was mostly Gwen, who at least three times a week would become a permanent fixture at his bedside. He could only figure this was Gwen's way of trying to get him back out in the world, but he was too numb to be able to understand anything she was saying. It would almost sound like a buzzing sound, as everything she said would go in one ear and out the other, muffled in his eardrums by something other then the blanket he had drawn tight over his head. Ever since Tom swore the loyalty's of him and his family towards Merlin the consort, Gwen seemed to have started going a extra mile. She would leave little notes by his bed: get well cards, we miss you, want to see you up. Those kinds of things. They had started piling up on his bedside table, since Merlin never budged to read even one of them. She would try encouraging him to eat, and that had worked the first few days. Gwen had been forced to feed him broth though, because Merlin hadn't fed himself. He would only open his mouth long enough for her to stick the spoon in. And even then had been a few bites at best, just enough to keep his body on this plain of the living.

It had been three days since Merlin had anything. His body was all but wasting away by this point. And this was a great concern for the people who only wanted to help him. Even Morgana would stop by everyday, and whisper to Gaius, asking if there had been any updates on his situation. They didn't know bits and pieces of their conversation would drift up the stairs before Merlin tuned them out. It would always make him feel like he was a burden. Just hanging around until his body finally gave out of him, and freed the people who only cared for him because they would feel guilty if they had done nothing while he was in this state.

"Merlin, are you going to drink your tea today?" The sound of his uncle talking was like a buzzing inside of his head. And Merlin didn't react. He could've been dead by this point, for what little movement he made underneath his blankets. But Merlin wasn't dead, not yet at least. His body was still living, pumping blood to his organs and forcing Merlin to breathe only from habit, rather than any actual desire to do so. And the consort could only stare blankly at the darkness that was encompassing him underneath the blanket. And his uncle started talking again, though Merlin could only hear bits and pieces edging it's way through the blankness of his mind. "…good for you…just a sip…it won't hurt you…"

Merlin only vaguely understood what Gaius wanted him to do…drinking that stupid tea. It had started up about the first week after Merlin stopped getting out of bed. The first week after Merlin had gotten Gwen out of prison had been the hardest. He couldn't find any escape from his hell whenever he tried to leave these chambers, and Gaius seemed to realize there was something wrong with him. So, he had tried his best to keep him distracted by giving him work. But all of this work usually took him around the kingdom …delivering potions usually made people annoyed he was the one that brought them. And then there were the angry ones who threw their own medication onto the ground, spitting at his feet as they shattered, not wanting anything he handed to him. Gaius often sent him out to get fresh water, but then complained since it took Merlin three hours to get back. He would often wait in line with everybody else only to get tripped by somebody the second he walked away from pumping it. And of course, he would have to wait in line again …and again… Gaius would give Merlin a list of items he wanted him to pick up in the marketplace for their dinner or extra supplies he needed for his potions. It took Merlin a few times before realizing all of the stall owners were seriously overcharging him. Merlin had thought the prices were higher because this was the big city, inflation or whatever it was called. It hadn't been so high that he'd noticed at first, but far higher than what he wanted was worth. Apparently, people were still on that whole 'he's a royal, so he can afford the increase', but that was money Gaius was giving to him. It wasn't his money, it was just coins Gaius had for their livelihood. Merlin had started paying a small portion to a couple of neighborhood kids to pick it up for him, so the shopkeepers wouldn't see him. It was not a perfect solution, since some things were given to him destroyed or missing pieces. Merlin had done the right thing-for himself-and told Gaius he had only tripped, to explain the damages. And that apparently, wasn't an alright lie since Merlin was often shoved a fair few times from behind by somebody. Luckily for him, most of the damage to his person was under his clothes, keeping the questions to a minimum. But his uncle probably thought he was the clumsiest person alive, by this point.

The beginning of the second week have been when Merlin started making excuses for not going out into the marketplace. Or make his deliveries-the people would rather risk their own health then accept it from his hand. Gaius hadn't accepted it at first, because it wasn't healthy for Merlin to stay in the house all the time. But how was Gaius to know it was dangerous to have Merlin leaving the house at all. Even when there were people who came to Gaius for treatment, they'd request he leave the room. And it wasn't uncommon that people wanted to be treated alone, so Gaius had seen no problem with sending Merlin to continue his reading studies in his room with a pile of books he'd been given. Mostly the basic stuff, like how to tell if something was infected or how to bandage it proper. Merlin wouldn't have taken offense to it, if he didn't know the only reason was because it was Him. Gaius had eventually tapered off when Merlin started up an outrageous excuse, one after the other, for why there was no reason he should leave. And Gaius started to give him work around the chambers, like cleaning out the leach tank or teaching him how to crush things to be made into a potion later on.

The third week was when Merlin had stopped getting out of bed completely. Neither of them had realized it was the start of something bigger at the time. It had been a day like any other, until Gaius realized it was after lunch and Merlin still hadn't emerged from the room. Gaius had gone up there, and found Merlin in his bed, still fast asleep. Gaius wasn't one for having idle hands around, and had promptly shaken Merlin awake. Merlin had groaned and grumbled and in his defense, had gone so far as to climb out of bed. But he had looked dead on his feet, like he was about to collapse as he tried tugging on his clothes. The aged physician had promptly decided that Merlin must've been sick, and herded him back into bed. Merlin had not protested before flopping back onto his sheets, and burying his face into his pillow. Gaius figured the boy could use a day or two for rest before returning to a more normal state.

Only, that day never came. Because the only time the consort budged was when he needed to be relieved of his bladder. And even then, the chamber pot kept under his bed was empty sparingly, as if he couldn't be bothered with keeping up with basic cleaning.

It had been the beginning of the fourth week when the tea had started coming into play. It was the family secret tea, the one with all of the nutmeg that Gaius had taught him to make during his first few days in the city. As a 'bonding' experience'. It had tasted a bit different then it had the first time Merlin had drunk it, but he had assumed that was because he had drunk it only the once and was probably misremembering things. Or it could have been because his taste buds were still weird, nothing seemed to taste good to him though the food quality was loads better then what could be found in Ealdor.

And three three days ago, Gaius was walked into the room, still crushing something into the tea. And he'd caught sight of golden petals sticking out before the smushing could be finished properly. Gaius had been stuffing him. Maybe that was a bit more on the over dramatic side, but Merlin had still felt betrayed all the same. It was those stupid John what-you-call-them, flowers. The type of flower Gaius had shown him the day they first went to check out the water supply, the ones Gaius had said treated depression. He'd been introduced to them by his uncle, so that Merlin had the option to medicate himself if thing ever got too bad. Gaius hadn't waited long enough for Merlin to make that decision on his own, and had opted to just slip it into his drinks. Merlin didn't trust anything that the man wanted to give him anymore, didn't even let Gwen spoon feed him in those three days when she would visit.

Besides, Merlin wasn't depressed-though maybe this was just his denial working it's way through the fog of his mind-he was just…lost. And didn't know what he should do with himself. He had tried finding out, but nothing had landed, and now he was…here. At least Merlin now knew why these last few days had been more of a blur then usual. He didn't like the way the herb had made him feel. He'd been a bit more aware of his surroundings, but he'd been numb towards it all. Like somebody had scraped out his insides with a rusted spoon, and left his carcass behind to rot until there was nothing left of him. The only thing that his uncle had succeeded in doing was making sure that Merlin never took that particular herb again.

"Merlin, this has been going on for long enough!" the physician suddenly said, sounding rougher and more mean then he had since he realized something was more wrong with Merlin then a simple case of the flu season. Apparently Gaius had been talking to him the whole time, trying to coax Merlin out of the bed. But Merlin hadn't acknowledged him, as he never would these days. Gaius wasn't special though, Merlin did the same to Gwen and Morgana. Then there was the sudden brisk feeling of cold as Gaius yanked away all of his blankets. Merlin flinched at the cold-probably the most activity he had done all week-but he simply curled himself into a ball, content to allow himself to fall back into sleep. That was all he did nowadays-if he wasn't staring blankly at the wall-was sleep. "That smell has got to go Merlin. You need to get up, make yourself presentable, and get out of this bed."

Merlin apparently wasn't the only one to notice all of the smell that was starting to ripen the room. He had no idea how long it had been since he washed up his sheets, but he was sure he hadn't gotten washed up himself even longer. And considering his window was facing the sun, leaving the sunlight pouring in, since he didn't bother getting up long enough to open his window either to allow some air to circulate the room, it had turned into a sweat box. Merlin himself was the biggest, stickiest mess in the place. A layer of grime from his own sweat coating him, as if he didn't have all the access he wanted to clean water. And it would take him only five minutes to freshen up. Though in a state like his, it was probably best if he took an hour or two. If he could Will himself up…no, he didn't think he wanted too. He was used to the smell anyway, and it really didn't bother him after a while.

Merlin heard Gaius shuffling away from him, and out of the room. He allowed a short exhale to escape his lips relief poured off of him as he relaxed his muscles against his blankets. It wasn't that he didn't want his uncle around, since he had grown to care for the man in the three months Merlin had known him. But he did not want his uncle to see him like this. Or try to drug him into a better mood. Or try to force him out of his bed. His little bed just big enough to hold his body up was all the safety he needed. This room didn't cause him any hurt…then there was the sound of the door opening back up again. It was almost enough for him to want to weep, knowing his uncle had returned. But he didn't, Merlin hadn't cried once during his newest self-isolation stage. He didn't think he had any tears to cry if he wanted too.

Merlin's brief thoughts was cut off completely when he was hit, more liked soaked, from head to toe. The sorcerer threw himself up, the most movement he'd done in who knows how long, choking and sputtering in shock. He coughed and gagged, sure he had just swallowed more water then he had in weeks. His hair was plastered to his forward, and Merlin blinked over and over again to try and see through the water that was streaming into his eyes. But the water was all up in his hair, dripping down across his face, making his sight worse. His dirty nightshirt was clinging against him, sticking to his chest so snugly, his nipples were seen straight through the cloth. His underwear were clinging to his thighs, and he trembled from the pure shock of cold encasing him. Gaius was standing right in front of him, at the end of the bed, looking pleased by the results with a half-empty water bucket held in hand.

Gaius hadn't used the entire bucket of water, and yet Merlin felt as if he had just been drowned against his Will. He looked more like a drowned rat, the anything else. "Come, come. Get up before you catch yourself onto the grim reaper in those clothes." Gaius ushered Merlin to his feet leaving behind the large puddles of water soaking in his sheets. Merlin wanted to say, he would catch his death because Gaius saw fit to have him drowned. But his mouth didn't even twitch, as he felt like there was no fight in him to protest. No fire in his belly that burned, urging him to defend himself in anyway. But Gaius wasn't his enemy, and what fire he had came to Camelot with had seemed to be burned out of him. Long before the icy water had covered his body.

Merlin was unsteady on his feet, and probably would have fallen to his knees if Gaius hadn't grabbed onto his arm. A month of barely eating and barely drinking and not moving outside the bare minimum seemed to have taken it's toll on his body. And Merlin didn't care one bit that his body had been wasting away, it was a fucked up situation for all. And Merlin was the burden that caused all of this. He was sure Gaius was trying to help him because he didn't want to find a corpse in his bed one day. Or maybe it was his duty as court physician that kept Gaius on top of all things that was Merlin.

Gaius, who was leading Merlin over to this short stool he had sitting in the corner of the room. Merlin could only stare at it blankly, recognizing it from downstairs since Gaius used it to help him reach some books on his higher shelves. But Merlin didn't realize the thing had been moved to his room…Gaius must've brought it upstairs when he had went down to get the bucket of water for Merlin's impromptu bath. One Merlin was in front of it, Gaius gave a soft push down on the top of his shoulder, urging him to sit. Merlin followed the motion, and sat down limply on top of the stool. With his hands hanging by his sides, and his gangly legs in his face, the stool too short to accumulate the height he had, probably the one thing his depression hadn't taken from him. Though it probably could if it tried to hard enough.

Merlin still didn't protest when his uncle started to tug off his shirt, being careful not to rip the shirt in half as he eased Merlin's arms through the sleeve. It was so wet, and hadn't been in the best condition to begin with, it probably would have ripped if Gaius did not move so slow. He was probably used to doing the things like this from his patients, being careful of the wounds marring their skin. Unless their was so much damage, the whole thing worked better when it was cut off…Merlin stiffened his face when the shirt was dragged over his head, feeling the increase of water soaking him before Gaius was dropping the shirt on the ground. It hit with a heavy thud, which had only further emphasized how wet he was. Even now, there was rivers of water sliding down his chest and it had started pooling in the waistband of his underwear. He only stared down at it with a bland expression, like he was a child who didn't know what he was seeing.

Merlin didn't move an inch as Gaius pulled what was left in the water bucket over to him, settling it down beside them. He didn't move as Gaius picked up one of the many cloths that would lay around the home of a physician, and he didn't blink as his uncle dipped it into the water, soaking the cloth throughly. Merlin did not understand why Gaius was bothering because he was wet enough, but he didn't try to protest when his uncle, sitting behind him, brought the cloth up to rub at his shoulder blades. It felt funny, and Merlin felt his shoulder twitching…soap. It was a tinge of lemon that lingered in the air. Gaius must have mixed soap in the bucket when he wasn't looking. Or maybe he'd been looking, and was just too fucked up to really take that in.

It was only when Gaius was starting to rub the soap along the side of his shoulder and slowly down one of his arms, making sure to get every inch of grime he could off of him, did Merlin speak up, "So, does he need me?" His voice was croaky from disuse, that it almost startled himself. It was the most awareness he'd had in a while, but still, he could only stare down at his knees. He really had lost a lot of weight. Merlin hadn't been heavy before, he was rail thin from living a life where malnourishment was more common then not. But now he looked like a stick. One harsh poke could have broken his leg, it felt like. And his arms had were in no better condition. He wanted to put his shirt back on to hide how concave his ribcage was…it was disgusting to see himself in this state. But he did not do anything to try and fix it either.

Gaius didn't need to ask who the 'he', within Merlin's question was, and for that, Merlin was thankful. Since he didn't want to hear the hoarseness of his voice for a second longer, another reminder of how fall he had fallen in the last few weeks. Merlin could only think of one reason for why Gaius would be bathing him down now, instead of when he first fell into this state. It was quite possible that another Royal function was going to be starting, and the Royal family wouldn't be seen as 'complete' if their esteemed consort was not there to play his part. But whatever was visiting the castle that Uther and Arthur wanted to impress…what was the odds that Merlin had met them? It would've been easier for Arthur to just snatch some guy walking off the street and have him stand in, posing as Merlin. It would be harder to get Merlin prepared, it seemed to be hard enough just getting him clean, as Gaius was starting to rub soap along his wrist bone. So thin and white, a grown man could have wrapped their hands around it twice over.

"No. Not at the moment at least. Though I do believe there is something coming up." Gaius said calmly, as he started rubbing the cloth in between the fingers of Merlin's hand. He had to get all of the grime off, since it was a miracle that Merlin hadn't gotten himself far sicker than he already was, by sitting around among his own filth like some kind of animal. Gaius thought of the different potions he could try to give to Merlin if he managed to convince him to eat something. A few nutrition potions would go a long way in putting some actual meat back onto his bones. But he could not trick the boy into taking them either, or they were going to end up right back where they were. Merlin refusing to eat anything from his hand, and leaving him to grow worse and worse. "You still have time to get yourself better though. It won't be for a few days yet, I believe."

That was one of the many things Uther had started discussing among the council members whenever they had their meetings. The Kingdom of Camelot and the Kingdom of Mercia hadn't exactly been at war for the better part of the decade. But things had been tense between the two kingdoms, and it wasn't odd to find one of the soldiers from either kingdom wound up dead if Camelot's red knights would meet with Marcia's Blue. But apparently King Uther, and the King of Mercia, Bayard, had been writing letters back and forth for the last couple of months. Trying to put an end to the violence whenever their groups would meet. Bayard would be arriving in the city soon enough, as a sign of good faith, so the two kingdom's could sign away a trade agreement. Something that would strength the bond between the two kings, and hopefully end the bloodshed that had been occurring between them. It was all very diplomatic, and it would be something worth celebrating since they would be given access to extra supplies that were hardpressed to get around these parts.

"…Then why…" Merlin croaked out, his voice came out still as raspy as ever. Aching pain, scratchy, but that was the kind of pain Merlin could relish in. Anything to make himself feel as if he was more in control of himself and what was going on. Even if it was a thing like denying himself food, at least Merlin could be the one to decide that. Nobody could make him eat. And nobody could force him to do anything that his body needed to keep going. Even if he was disgusted with what he saw of his body, it couldn't top him being in control. "…why are you doing this…"

As far as Merlin was concerned, this meant he had a few more days before he had to do anything, and this also meant-a few more days before he even needed to move. Three more days in his bed would've been blissful, to the consort. But then again, time would've been an issue. Merlin had no concept of time passing him by these days. He could lay down in his bed, and blink, and Gaius would be there to rouse him out the bed. Three days gone in literally, a blink of the eye as Merlin ended up right where he was now. Sitting onto the stool, unable to clean himself so Gaius would be forced to do it for him. He was such a burden. It took nothing for Merlin to be able to take the cloth in hand and finish himself off, but Merlin's hands may as well have stone cements tied around them. For all of the good trying to move them was.

"Because I care about you." Gaius said simply. Merlin would have usually softened at that, able to show the physician at least a bit of appreciation for all that he'd done for him. But that was back in simpler, and easier times. Merlin didn't find it so easy to show emotions to people anymore. Not when there were people like Arthur who wanted to exploit him, or use whatever he was feeling against him. Which was why Merlin could only blink down at the floor, taking in the rough, and awkwardly angled patterns the wood flooring made underneath his feet. "And I'm going to take care of you, and make you feel better."

Gaius had sounded pained as he said that, as if the physician was hurting because he thought Merlin did not know that. But Merlin was hurting too, and feeling like a burden only seemed to weigh far more heavily on him at Gaius' words. He shouldn't need Gaius to take time out of his busy day just to make sure that Merlin was okay. Merlin would probably never-not in this lifetime-be okay again. So Gaius' efforts would only be going to waste. Not if Merlin couldn't do one thing to fix himself…Merlin felt Gaius moving around him, and started rubbing the washcloth down under his other arm, as he started the other side of his long body.

"…What's wrong with me?" Merlin croaked out in his raspy voice. His head felt so heavy, it was all too easy to let it hang, his dark hair falling into his face. All the soap felt itchy on his skin. Maybe it was just because it felt strange to be clean again, or maybe he just did not feel clean at all. It would take far more then just a cloth of soap to make him feel clean again. Merlin did not want to know what was wrong with him, but all of the twisting in his stomach made him feel ill. It's been a month, but he didn't think he could stomach trying to put on a show for Arthur and his crew. "…I'm not feeling so good…"

Merlin knew exactly what was wrong with him. Knew the dreadful awful word that lingered in the back of his mind. Like a shadow waiting to overtake him, and drag him down to the depths of hell where he would belong. But he didn't want to acknowledge it, didn't want to think that it had taken all of three months for him to get into this state. He'd done everything that was possible to do from his bed to not admit what he was. But it didn't seem to be working anymore. There was that word thumping over and over again inside of his mind, as if somebody was turning back time just to force Merlin into listening to it again. And again.

But Gaius had no such restraints, and knew exactly what Merlin was, just as Merlin did. There had been a reason he kept squishing that yellow John flower into his tea. "You're depressed." He said simply, as if this was nothing more than talking about the weather and its sunny disposition. Gaius reached into the bucket of water and pulled out a small ladle, which he used to wash the soap off of Merlin's back. The elder man didn't seem to care that the rivers of soap ran down the expanse of Merlin's back, and started coating all over the floor underneath them. Gaius only grabbed up his wash cloth again, and started rubbing it along Merlin's throat, starting on the front of his body now. "But it's going to be okay, everything will be fine. We will get you all better, and you'll be causing troubles for everyone around just like the old times."

Merlin knew that Gaius meant this as a joke, fondly remembering how much chaos Merlin had gotten into in just his first week in the city. It hadn't really been a fun memory at the time, Gaius had been shown how disappointed he was, and upset that Merlin had been putting himself at risk. But in retrospect, it would've been better to see that Merlin, then the one that was dead on his feet. And the second Gaius slid the cloth down the front of his chest, letting Merlin's neck go in the process he allowed his head to flop back down so his chin was nearly brushing his chest. Like a doll that was worn down from years of useless playing in unkept hands. It was probably not a good idea for the physician to be telling Merlin things were going to be okay. That was probably the number one rules that a physician should keep onto it: as Merlin had figured out from reading one of Gaius' books. One shouldn't tell somebody they were going to be okay unless you 'knew' they were going to be okay. A physician could not tell a patient they would live when they had been grievously injured, and there was no telling exactly which way the dice would fall.

And for people who were suffering from depression, it was an even worse thing to say. At least if this was being said to somebody needing extensive care, this wouldn't be a huge jump to make. Most people would want to live, and would fight to the bitter end just for their own survival. But people like Merlin…they didn't have the fight in them necessary. Sometimes people didn't want to die, and sometimes they did. Or they were like Merlin, who didn't give a shit either way and they just left it up to whoever it is that decides what their fate is.

Content to sit around and wait to see whether or not he would get better-without putting any of the work into actually becoming better-or wait around to see what the afterlife was like. And if he really had been destined to burn for all eternity in damnation simply for being born. But as for now, Merlin just sat there and didn't make a grunt as Gaius started rubbing the soap into his hands before splatting it into the dark hair on Merlin's head, washing his hair clean of the grime and dirt that marked it.

And Merlin stared down at his feet, at his left ankle to be precise. It was healed now, but the last time he'd emerged from this home, things had escalated. And Knight Christian had tripped him when he had been walking past. That was nothing new. What was new had been Merlin rolling down an entire flight of ten or so stairs before hitting the landing. Merlin had walked away with a sprained ankle and made another excuse to Gaius about how he had gotten it. It was a miracle Merlin hadn't broken his neck.

X

The Laundry Room inside Camelot Castle was a loud and chaotic place, as it always was. One would need to learn the rhythm, and the hustle and bustle of how such a place operated if they wanted to survive long enough to tell the tail. There were plenty of places a person could get hurt just trying to do the job: from a simple slip across the floor as the running water that occupied the floor more than the buckets caught up to you. Or the less mundane: there was a large stone hotbox off to the side where many long tables stood extended from it. Heated stones were inside, lit up by the fire that burned beneath the grates. These large stones were meant for the laundry goals to rub along the garments after they had dried, to prevent any of them from wrinkling. It wasn't uncommon for some of the girls to walk away sporting burns on their hands, it took a bit of practice to get it done without being injured by it.

And luckily, the laundry room had been built onto the far side of the castle, a large area big enough for the cleaning girl's to get their work done. Because of its location, not many 'important people' wondered onto that side. It meant there was no complains when the girl's-and several boys that had gotten assigned into the area-got too loud when they talk. This was one of the few places servants were able to talk to the other freely, knowing no noble would dare be disgraced by showing their faces down there, among the working class. The room, at anytime of the day, always had at least a hundred different servants there, scrubbing at their clothes as they took this time to gossip about all of the going-on's in the castle, content to know they would not be overheard and reprimanded by those in power. But it often sounded as if there were at least a thousand people in their, each servant having to yell and scream to be heard above their wash neighbor.

The room was large and circular shaped, with these long three feet windows stretching along the top of the walls to allow the sunlight in. Though the washing area was too damp with moisture in the air to bother with hanging the clothes inside, the windows letting in enough sunlight that would have dried the clothes. It was best for them to bring them outside, and they were thankful for there to be an opened archway off to the side that allowed them access out into a clear patch of field. So they didn't have to wonder too far to get the clothing in place to dry.

But the inside of the room had at least twenty large wooden tubs, at least five feet tall in either direction. And each tub was filled with soapy water, bouncing and causing small waves to ripple across the ponds of water in response to the ten servants that would sit around them. Using washboards to scrub away all of the stains that decorated the cloth or linen or even towels they were working on. They were like this well oiled machine, each servant working harder then the last, acting as if it was a second nature to them while they gossiped amongst themselves.

"Okay, are you really going to sit here and tell me that nobody has heard anything?" Julia, one of the many cleaning girls, complained shrilly, as she ducked one of the knight's undershirts into the stretch of water in front of her. She was sitting on a short stool, with her legs spread out on either side of the tub and with her feet wiggling toes against the floor. Nobody bothered to wear shoes when they were in here, they even had a little cubby section right outside the room that was overfilling with shoes. Clothing needed to be washed precisely, and some stains needed a bit more elbow grease to work it out. This often caused the water to slash over the rim of the tub, splattering water along the floor in heavy waves. Julia even had her dress all hiked up past her knees, making sure the ends of her dress wouldn't end up water logged and feel like the thin fabric was trying to drag her down by its weight by the end of the day. "It has been weeks since there has been any news on what Consort Merlin has been up too! And in that time ladies, not anyone of us has heard anything new and juicy in the works?"

The only one that perked up was the sole boy sitting at this particular bucket, and that had only been for him to scowl at her. He hadn't appreciated the whole 'ladies' comment, as if there was only girls there. But it was a common misconception that only the women were assigned to the laundry rooms, just like it was a common misconception that only the boys had been assigned to cooking the meals or working among the farmlands. But he turned his gaze back onto his work without a word, as Julia's exclamation hadn't been a surprise. She was a known gossip, and probably the worse in this group when it came to making her own opinion known. Maybe it was because she knew her opinions would never matter to others that stood up above their station, but Julia was usually the first to hear news about what was going on in the castle, as she saw it as her holy mission. To keep the others in her group informed since nobody saw fit to tell any of the servants what was going on. It wasn't often that Julia didn't know the finer details, so that would be the only remarkable thing about this conversation. To have her coming to them, and asking if any of them had heard something new.

Julia huffed, agitated when nobody answered her in the next breath after she had asked her question. So, it prompted Keira-a pretty blond serving girl that sat next to her, to speak up, "There hasn't been a single new thing, nothing that we haven't already heard of before," Merlin's little fight with the king about that knight Valiant, had finally died down into old news. To the point where nobody was interested in hearing the old story again. And while a few interesting stories had tried to pop up during the sickness, most of the stories had faded since everybody was trying to get their shit in order. They literally didn't have the time to spread petty gossip and rumors. But all things had been returned to normal for quite some time, and the rumor mill was starting to oil it's stuck wheel, and get something new spinning in the works. "I mean, for all we know, Consort Merlin has already moved on. Has anybody seen him in the last few weeks at all?"

Keira took this time to meet eyes with each one of the girl's around this particular tub, and the one boy in the group. The kitchen girl Mary was there, looking at her with a pouting scowl-Morris must've had her doing Arthur's laundry again, as that was one of the only reasons she was usually down there. And Gwen was there as well, but the girl only ducked down her head and continued washing out a grass stain on the bottom of one of Lady Morgana's dresses. That was not a surprise though. Sweet Gwen has been almost frighteningly quiet, ever since her ordeal with nearly being burned at the stake and all. Gwen would often ask if anybody else needed help, and Keira had took advantage of that on more than one occasion, but it was not something Gwen offered nowadays. She was almost like a frightened rabbit, acting as if one little offense-even among the servants-would be enough to send her straight back to the dungeons.

Keira shook her head and turned back to her work, half standing up as she tried to scrub out what was a particularly stubborn stain on one of the noble ladies dresses, nearly losing her grip on the thick skirts that were dyed a brilliant purple, "Alright, nobody rush to speak of anything. We'll just sit here and decide what the wildest stories of what Consort Merlin's been up to are-" she let out a startled shriek. She had bent far over the tub, digging her nails into the skirts, and had been furiously rubbing at the stain, when she had slid and ripped over. Like mentioned before, people had to know the rhythm and flow of their work to avoid all these kinds of incidents.

Several of the girls nearest to her, Julia included, let out large shrieks as they jolted out of their stools as large torrents of water flipped over the rim. But it was not a new thing, the shock the the warm water hitting only for a moment. The room was designed almost in an angle, so most of the water already started to flow to the center of the room where there was this large vent like drain in the middle, forcing the water under the ground. Keira choked and sputtered, looking as if she had just coughed up half the ocean as she found her footing and fell back onto her stool. Her hair was plastered to her face in messy stripes, nearly falling out of her ponytail, and she had lost the dress she'd been washing somewhere in the tub. But that hardly mattered when she felt as if she was trying to cough up a lug.

"I've been-" Keira choked out, roughly pushing all the strands of blond locks out of her face but somehow seemed to only make it worse. "I think I was enjoying the peace while it's lasting." She tried to hide the fire in her cheeks, because nothing was apparently more peaceful then falling headfirst into the water tub. At least she hadn't been the first to do it, a new girl over by the tub next to their's had already done the same thing an hour ago. But Keira wasn't new, she should have known leaning too far was-while not dangerous perse-was embarrassing for someone who had been doing laundry duty for years. "Because we all know it never lasts long when Consort Merlin gets himself in the middle of something."

Which wasn't a lie in the least. Every rumor or every story, even one's that had been fabricated only for all the sheer enjoyment people would get out of it, had involved Merlin in some way. Though the fabricated stories were rare and far between, considering all the real stories had so much more meat out into it. They were entertainment in themselves, though others did find it offense. Considering Merlin had done nothing but make a fool out of their kingdom, it was only from God's good grace that nothing he'd done had left any real big impact on the kingdom as a whole. But it was only a matter of time before Merlin's behavior would go too far, and he offended the wrong noble that was able to ruin Camelot. Most nobles did give Camelot a taste of something-sometime trade, and sometime by offering up their sons to join the ranks of the army as guards and soldiers-and anyone of them was able to weaken the kingdom and its defenses if they took what they offered away. And who would be left with picking up the pieces? The servants, left to scramble as chaos fell around them. Just as it had during the sickness.

"You cannot tell me you are actually enjoying all this quiet, it's so boring!" Julia complained loudly, as if it was wrong for somebody to enjoy the quiet after the last month where they had all been out of work since the sickness took over. But Julia was a girl who lived vicariously through nobility, and loved everything that had to do with the world she would never be apart of in her lifetime. The excitement, the parties, the good looking men…all things she could never enjoy in her current economical status. "Besides, I think it's really suspicious that Consort Merlin has been so quiet. Do you not think? I mean, it's extremely odd. Wasn't he the one that started a brawl with the prince right in the middle of the courtyard the first week he showed up? That right there should tell you something isn't right."

In normal circumstances, she would have been right in her assessment. But her mindset was completely wrong. She assumed, since Merlin was being all quiet at the moment, that he was probably planning a thing that would embarrass the Royal family among all the peers of Camelot. Because there was no way Merlin had just stumbled into everything she had heard him getting involved with, via the rumor mill, by it being a simple accident. No, he probably planned out most of what had happened to him. But how was Julia to know, only the people Merlin counted on as a friend, knew the real reason for his absence from the entire world.

"Come on now, are you even sure that guy was him, it isn't like anybody was paying too much attention that day on 'him.'" Kiera pointed out, as she finally got her hands on the dress she had lost in the tub, dragging out the heavy skirts so she could return to giving it a proper washing that it needed. She flipped her pony tail over her shoulder, and shot Julia a raised brow, "I mean, I think everybody was too caught up with the fact that somebody was standing up to the prince for once. Nobody really seems to remember what it was that 'he' looked like…"

Keira had done some extensive research about it all when the news had first hit the streets, completely over the moon by this new information. But everyone she had talked too that had been in the courtyard on that day, hadn't bothered to pay too much attention to the boy himself-other then what he was doing-as it had been a sure thing he would end up getting the public execution as punishment for disrespecting the prince. But Keira knew there hadn't been any kind of execution that followed, nor had their been in the last several months. Which only stood to reason that the boy had lived. But she had gotten so many different descriptions: some said he had dark black hair, while others were adamant that it looked brown under the sunlight. Others said he had blue eyes, but there was others that insisted they looked more green. The only thing anybody had been able to agree on, was that it was a peasant boy, which was the most noteworthy about the incident. Which Merlin had been during the time, since the incident had occurred before Arthur's marriage. But there was really no way for her to know unless she went and asked the prince himself. Keira knew enough to know that wouldn't be well received, but she doubted it was Merlin. What kind of man just went and tried to punch their husband in the face?

"Rather or not that was him doesn't matter." Spoke up Julia again, in an impatient tone while she worked to squish as much water as she could out of the shirt she was washing, it was ready to be hung up to dry in the sun but she didn't move to do that either. Turning back to Keira, she started off on her tyrant, "There is still plenty of incidents that have happened in the last couple of months that we 'know' Consort Merlin had his hand into. We know he was definitely the one that humiliated the prince in front of the entire council-"

And unlike the incident in the courtyard, this fact had been proven by the dozen or so witnesses that were there to see Consort Merlin throwing accusations on one of the Knights. He had been right about it, but it was hardly the point since he couldn't convince any of the council at the time. By that point though, every person in the city was starting to recognize Merlin on sight. No other peasant boy would've been allowed in front of the king if he wasn't tied into the Royal family in some way. Especially not to make-at the time that incident occurred-unfounded accusations of a noble knight.

"And you don't even want me to get started on what he was doing during the sickness? I mean, have you heard?" Julia continued on with her tyrant, as if there was anybody among them that cared about what she was saying. It wasn't the first time Julia had started up complaining with no end in sight. "Apparently the consort was given a 'special assignment' to assist in the research the physician was doing to find out the cause of the sickness. But you all know that sounds like nothing but an excuse. Consort Merlin was most likely only there because it was the safest spot. He'd have Gaius to watch over him constantly, and be the first to notify the prince if the consort caught it. Must be nice, being watched over in case he happened to drop dead spontaneously."

Everybody around the tub could hear the bitterness and jealousy leaking out of her voice, but that would never be new when it came to Julia. She idolized the ones who had more blue in their veins then red, the blue blooded rich and powerful. And it was obvious how much this was getting under her skin. Because Merlin-a peasant no different than any of them-had gotten special treatment. Had been watched over by a trained healer to make sure he didn't contact any of the disease that had been running amok. While all of them had been fighting off other peasants inside the gutters, trying to protect themselves from the group of peasants that had started raiding homes to find all the food since the marketplace had been shut down.

"You really need to stop being so dramatic." Said the now agitated Keira. Julia had nothing to complain for, as far as Keira was concerned. Julia had gotten lucky with what she had been doing during the sickness, "I know for a fact that you were doing what your always doing. Sitting right here at the wash basin, scrubbing at the clothes of one of the nobles that were forced to seek shelter inside of the castle instead of running off to one of their estates-" the lockdown happened so forcefully and suddenly, that many nobles thought it was better to wait out the storm inside the castle. It would have been too dangerous, trying to make their way back to their villas out in the country. "So do not go acting as if you had it worse then some of us."

Julia whipped around to glare at her, hating the few times her little follower Keira got lippy with her. The cleaning servant angrily threw the bunched up shirt she had into the small basket behind her that held all the clothes she had to wash for this load. Julia didn't give a damn that she hadn't been out there fighting for her life in the streets. She didn't give a damn that Keira had been one of the fifty percent of servants in the castle that had been kicked out, only keeping the bare minimum for basic cleaning and cooking. And it definitely didn't matter to her that the day Keira had returned to the castle after the lockdown, she'd gone and broken down in Bethany's-another serving girl in the mess of servants who had been thrown out-arms about how horrible it had been. Keira may as well had been diminishing the struggles Julia had been going through, just because she hadn't been on the streets didn't mean she didn't have it just as hard. Without all of the cleaning girl's, Julia had worked her fingers to the bone to make up for the lack of hands and all the extra clothes coming in from the nobles that were not there during normal circumstances. She did not care that Keira had her house broken into three times by tweaked out men, raising her cupboards for all of her food, and tied her to a chair so she couldn't try to fight back-not that she would win because Keira was a small girl-until she had been found by a neighbor in her almost dead state.

"Don't start with me, Keira. You're alive, aren't you! I think you need to stop acting as if you're trauma was any worse then mine." Julia sneered, snatching more clothes from her basket and throwing them all in the wash with her agitation. Because what about Julia! It was her that needed to have a bit of sympathy for all the things she went through! Sure, she hadn't been afraid for her life, afraid she would never get to see the sun again, and would die in her own filth, but she had been tired! Her muscles had ached for days and she had all but celebrated when she saw most of the girls were returning. Sure, some of the tubs now had an empty spot here and there because someone had died during the sickness-a good thirty girls from the laundry circuit by her count-but Julia was still alive. It was her that needed the attention. Not some random girls she'd been forced to stand and have a moment of silence for once work returned to normal.

Keira opened her mouth, wanting to say something to Julia that was that was particularly scathing. She was usually the doormat type, and had this constant trouble with asserting herself among all of the other servants. But she had lived through a peasant war, it might as well had been. She lived alone, and was on her own as she scavenged for food among all of the houses that had been either abandoned or the folks had already passed on. Something had shifted inside of her after spending a week crying her eyes out with every night of the nightmare passing her by, she had thought she was about to get sexually assaulted from men twice her age at least twice, because they were wanting someone fresh before they died. Luckily she had gotten out of those situations before more then a hand had been shoved up her dress, but living with that, living with three of those days tied to a chair…it changed a person. She was trying to make herself be more assertive, instead of being the dormouse she'd been before. And Julia apparently hated that she was not hanging onto her every word like she had been in her previous sense of self.

"Both of you just need to chill out and shut up before you end of like Chloe and Dominique." Another girl at the tub snapped loudly. Julia and Keira both scowled but knew exactly what she was talking about. Chloe and Dominique were two other cleaning girls that sat at a different tub then theirs. They were 'together' in the couple sense, but had violent outbursts. Nobody thought they were good for each other, but hell was going to rein on them if anybody told the two girls to their faces. Just before the sickness had started, one of the girls had tried to drown the other girl in the tub of water, and had walked away with multiple scratch marks up and down her arms. A day later, the two of them had been seen nearly fornicating on one of the many folding tables that edged the room. There was not one person that wanted to be compared to those carriage wrecks. "Besides, there is a rumor that I've heard you might be interested in."

Unlike the other girl's around the tub, this particular serving girl-Merida-didn't care for things like going around passing gossip and rumors. She was planning on not saying a word about what she had at all, since she knew Julia had a way about distorting what she heard to make it more juicy and noteworthy. But had she said nothing to distract them, the two girls were likely to end up in a fight. Not that she cared, Merida enjoyed the chaos of people stepping out of the line they were forced into. It was probably why she didn't hate Merlin as much as some of the other girl's, she actually found him funny. Different. It was about time somebody shook things up around here. But if Keira and Julia started fighting, they would probably end up reassigned to a different area. And while Merida did not particularly care for either girl, they were the ones she hung out with the most often. And whoever took their place could very well be worse then even Julia was.

Julia whipped her head around, looking more excited as the brewing fight between her and Keira had been forgotten in the height of her excitement, "You have been holding out on us?" Julia demanded, as if she thought Merida had betrayed her by not coming right to her the second she heard this new rumor. "Do not just sit there, come on out with it! It's about Consort Merlin, isn't it? Oh, who am I kidding," Julia brought a hand up to slap at her forehead, forgetting her hands were soaked in soap and water, splattering it in every which way. "It's always about the Consort, isn't it?"

Merida rolled her eyes because she knew better then anybody else that Julia wouldn't be interested in any stories unless it involved the consort in some way or the other. Julia had gotten what some would say was an unhealthy fascination towards the consort, and all he was involved in. Anybody would be interested with stories of the peasant boy who could be married into the Royal family. But Julia was almost fanatical about the subject, and often went out of her way to dissect even the most obscure rumor being spread about the boy at any given moment. If Merida didn't tell Julia all about the latest rumor now, then she would just find out later on from one of the many sources around the kingdom that she got her updates from.

"There are some people that are saying the consort was actually instrumental to getting the sickness to end at all." Merida said bluntly, ignoring the eyes of disbelief landing on her. It was hard to imagine that the known troublemaker could have done anything other then well, causing trouble. But Merida did quite like the idea that there was a former peasant getting a bit of notice, peasants usually weren't noticed even if they gave their masters-or with the consort's case, his husband-information they sorely needed to fix all their problems. "Even if the consort did end up with the physician for a majority of the time, this doesn't sound as if he was doing nothing more then sitting on his butt, waiting for treatment for something he didn't even have."

Merida could feel the stares of everybody on her as they tried to decide rather or not she was telling the truth, which she was. She really had heard the spark of rumor spreading, though some people were trying to understand 'exactly' what Merlin had done in their quest that could have been considered 'instrumental' to their winnings. It wasn't as if Merlin had the best track record going on…Merida ignored them all while she squeezed the water out of a handwoven corset belonging to a noble girl. She then flipped her head around to throw her hair over her shoulder. Her curls were as red and as wild as her own spirit was, and it was near impossible to keep them tamed. Most girls kept their hair pulled back as they worked, wanting to keep it out of the water. But not Merida, her hair was already damp and clinging to her but she didn't care one bit. She hated having her hair tied up, and much liked the way it would poof out in every direction, like it had a mind of its own. This was her own version of a rebellion against a system that wanted her to bow down to it. She might be constrained by life, but not a soul could tell her what to do about her hair.

Julia was the first one to speak up and her loud snort brought her the attention she craved as everyone but Merida, turned to look in her direction, "That sounds like nothing more then something somebody would make up just to hear something new. It was probably made by somebody with far too much time on their hands." She knew very well that Merlin'd been seen very briefly during all of the chaos, and nobody was able to attest to seeing him for more than a minute here or there. She wasn't lying about how involved she was with the rumor mill, and the first thing she'd done when the lockdown ended was try to find out what had been going on among the Royal family. And the one thing everyone was able to agree on was that the consort had apparently done something inside of a council meeting…but nobody had anything more on what had actually gone on inside. Stupid nobles and their closed meetings, keeping everything away from the public's right to know the truth. Julia huffed and shook her head sadly, tutting as her brown ponytail bobbed behind her head, "You know, you shouldn't go believing every rumor that you hear. Some things often get twisted up, the story changing every time it's told again to somebody new. It's become nearly impossible to tell what's true or not without finding all the seeds all the stories have in common."

This was spoken like a true wise woman, passing off sage advice to those much younger than herself was. Spoken like somebody who would have decades of experience underneath their belt, and knew more of life then a young woman would. But unfortunately for Julia, she had a touch of snootiness in her tone that ruined the whole effect. And this had caused Merida to roll her green eyes so hard, they almost looked as if they could have fallen out of her head. Julia didn't seem to notice, or maybe she didn't care, as she had already moved onto the next thing.

"Besides, I would think it was pretty unanimous. I've talked to other people who were trapped on this side of the gate with me-" Julia started, this unintentional bragging that she had been on the safe side caused Keira to glare, but Julia kept talking, unaware it was causing a new enemy at her side. "And from what we managed to overhear from the nobles-" because not one noble would actually ever tell them anything. The servants had to get their news by listening in on all of the conversations going on around them-the working class was notorious for going unnoticed-as they did their duties. "It seems like the prince happened to be the key enforcer in the crisis. I know it's been like this whole month, but people are still taking of how brave and strong Arthur was, storming into the caves single handed and slaying the beast! Now, that's what I will call a true hero!"

By this point, news about what had happened to stop the sickness had spread like wildfire. And everybody knew they had Arthur to thank for it. Merlin would get a brief mention every now and then, but more like he was a footnote. And people didn't mention Morgana at all, so she might as well have never even been with them at all. Merida could only scoff, squeezing some more water out of the corset before dropping it off to the side to be brought out into the sun for later. She could literally see the hearts shining in Julia's eyes as she talked about Arthur. It was no secret Julia had a crush on the prince, but most people did anyway, for his good looks and high status. Merida had always thought his bad attitude ruined any appeal she may have had for him. But Merida rarely found herself to be attracted to men anyway. She was more of a free spirit, and didn't feel like having any man-a prince or another servant-tying her down.

"You can call it brave all you want, but I call it being stupid." Merida stated boldly, when she realized that Julia wasn't going to say anything more. But a quiet Julia was never a good thing, it meant she was taking time to think and nothing good would come from her mouth. Julia was always the one trying to take over the lead in the conversation, as if she was the leader or something, and it always got under Merida a skin, which was probably why she usually formed her own much different opinion from whatever Julia's was. "I think it's a valid concern to be worried when a prince is running off and doing things on his own. He could have died! Then where would our kingdom be? It was bad enough for the peasants to be fighting down in the streets during the sickness, but can you imagine how bad it would be if it was the nobles? Fighting to decide what's going to happen to the kingdom if they decide to kick Consort Merlin out of the throne?"

A civil war among the nobles, all vying to get into the throne themselves, was a real fear of hers. She would get caught in the crosshairs, along with all the other servants. Merida obviously didn't know what Uther's plans were regarding this, but surely he had come up with something since his heir was married to another man. It meant the two couldn't have a child, and this would cause a debate over what would be done after Arthur had his rein and was ready to step down. But if he died, worries that she shouldn't have for a good forty or so years would come to fruition, would most likely happen tomorrow. Or the next day…Merida just supposed the king might have an idea in mind about it though, he would probably name an heir apparent if his natural heir died prematurely. It was something nobles did if they couldn't have children, giving the name of the one that would take over all the worldly possessions they had, even a kingdom. But this was also considered a disgrace, like saying the man was impotent and couldn't provide natural heirs. This was an unflattering picture for most nobles, and could be a reason for knocking them down the totem pole that showed how successful a family was. Not being able to carry one's very own noble bloodline into the next generation…most nobles went insane if they failed to complete such a simple duty.

"Are you serious right now, why would you worry all about that?" Keira blurted out, staring over Julia to look at her with an arched eyebrow. The anger she'd had brimming in her body had shimmered down to a barely noticeable flame in her chest, now that Julia was no longer getting into her face, and acting as if Keira had only been on a vacation instead of acting in a war zone. "I really think the odds of something like that happening is really low? And why would they go and throw the Consort off the throne anyway. Legally, the kingdom would be Merlin's if Prince Arthur died during the fight…"

Merida glared fiercely at Keira for not seeing the big picture here, but Keira was hardly phased. One didn't live through her hell only to be effected by a simple glare, though it did sting a little. Keira didn't exactly have the best education, no servant did, and she was not even able to read. She could only assume things were not so different between the peasants and the nobles. If a peasant man died, what little assets he'd had would have gone to his wife until the first male child was old enough to take over.

"That's exactly how it should go, but you know all of us peasants get the short end of the stick around all these nobles. Whose to say the consort won't end up getting shorted what's rightfully his if the prince had died." Merida grumbled, agitated as she dropped one more garment for her to wash into the tub. Grabbing at the thick blanket, she brought it to her washboard and started to scrub at it as she continued talking, "I mean, Uther doesn't exactly show how generous he is to us mere peasants. And Arthur is always trying to be a carbon copy of him…I don't care if Arthur loves the consort so much he would marry him despite his background, I wouldn't be surprised if there was this stipulation written down somewhere that says Merlin gets nothing in the even of his death. If Arthur loves him like the king claims he does, he wouldn't put his husband at risk by running off. He might have saved us, but he could have easily doomed all of us just the same!"

Merida knew very much how the minds of the richer people worked, she hadn't survived twenty years as a serving wrench without knowing these things. Just like every servant in the beginning, she had felt all of the hope when they learned their consort was also a peasant like they were. But for Arthur to nearly go to his death…she could only assume it had been quite a dangerous situation from what little she had heard on the subject herself. She thought it was very selfish of Arthur to nearly leave his new husband a widow king before they had reached half a year of marriage. The consort would be left to defend himself against all of the wolves that made up Camelot nobility…

"Hey, don't talk about the prince like that! All of that only makes him even more admirable." Julia shouted back at her, as her attention returned to the talks in front of her. She had been content during these last few minutes to wallow in her daydreams, where she'd been a prisoner in the caves, and Arthur had shown up just to rescue her. He would have taken her in his bit, strong arms, with his sword in the other hand and cut their way too safety. She could have swooned all over the floor from just the daydream alone, but then she had heard Arthur's name. And like hell would she allow these nosy bitches to talk about the prince as if he wasn't the bravest warrior around, who had most definitely not deserved to get saddle with a consort like Merlin. "But hey, if you want to go ahead and talk about somebody, I think that somebody should only be Merlin. Because at least we 'know' he's probably off doing wrong again."

Merida shook her head, shoving the blanket she had been washing deeper into the water. Julia had a habit of sounding in love with Arthur. Or perhaps not actual love, since Merida didn't think Julia had ever talked in Arthur's vicinity, let alone had an actual conversation with him. But she obviously deeply admired what was an unattainable man. Merida had no doubt inside her mind though, that Julia-along with most every girl in this room-would probably jump at the chance should Arthur had given them a second glance before he'd been married. But only fool's played around with an idea like love, and not to be mean but…Julia wasn't much of a looker. A prince-not specifically Arthur, but any prince-would never look at a servant for anything more than the gratification of pleasure for an hour or two if they were desperate. Merlin had just been that once in a lifetime winner, though Merida could hardly think of marriage as winning. But she'd always been against marriage anyway. Her parents had wanted to marry her off once, and now she was a servant, and knew she was far better off then whatever husband she would have been landed with.

"Didn't we go over this already? Just because there hasn't been anything new doesn't mean the consort is out causing trouble." Keira cut in, before Julia had the chance to jump off the deep end. Julia was often irrational at the best of times, and jumped from one thing to another to get fixated on. But the Arthur and Merlin love story was one angle she had been stuck on since they first heard of it. And Keira was going to stop Julia before she could start up whatever theory or conspiracy idea she had landed on this time. "He's probably getting himself together. We all had a rough time of it, some more then others-" Keira gave Julia a glare as a reminder that she hadn't forgotten the way Julia always dismissed what she had gone through in the lower town, "But we have to work. Merlin has the luxury of not needing too. I know I wouldn't leave my house at all if I didn't have to feed myself."

Or maybe she wouldn't have gone back to her little house at all if she didn't need the occasional change of fresh clothing. If she had gotten married to a man who had his own home, she would probably not ever returned to the little hut. To be honest, she had been staying in the servant's quarters these days, sleeping on one of the dozens and dozens of small cots they'd squeezed into the one room. Her home happened to have these awful memories attached to it now, and it was quite possible for it to endure a panic attack. It was like she kept expecting to be attacked whenever she went down there, even if everybody had calmed down to their normal states. Instead of allowing their baser instincts to roam free in a mad rush to survive it all.

"That's just it, don't you see!" Julia exclaimed, with an almost wild look in her eyes as she reached into the water to pull one of the clothing items she had thrown in closer to her. "We don't know anything that he's been doing! He could be plotting to kill Arthur for all we know! Because nobody really knows what he's all about." Every girl, and the one boy, that was sitting at the tub gave her an unimpressed look. That was taking things a bit too far, but Julia either hadn't seen the looks or was ignoring them completely, "We might want to put some kind of watch on us. Nobody is going to notice a bunch of servants hanging out in his vicinity. Even less if we take shifts in between our duties, and keep switching it up so it isn't the same group of girls. And whoever catches the consort as he's doing something particularly weird or something that could be embarrassing a shine a bad light onto the prince, can just report back to me. I'll be happy to inform the prince about it myself, so he can handle it himself."

Julia seemed to think she was the one making rules for all of them, because any one of them could go to the prince themselves if they saw the consort doing something wrong. But Julia would clearly be using it as an excuse to talk to Arthur, even if it was to tattle for the most minor of things Merlin could have done in public. But Julia didn't seem to see that they were servants, and they had no right to interfere in those of Royal blood-or through marriage, it made no big difference to them. Julia did seem to think that they had every right to infringe on Merlin's privacy, since as far as she was concerned, Merlin's privacy ended the day he had married Arthur.

Julia jolted back in surprise when flecks of water hit her in the face, "We are not doing that." Merida told her simply, shaking her hand clean. She'd dipped her fingers into the tub just enough to get them wet, and had flicked them into Julia's face. The horn-dog Julia was being for Arthur meant Julia needed some cold water doused on her, and Merida was happy to being the one to oblige with what little she could get hands on. "Besides, if you haven't noticed, we all have too much work to do. Work that doesn't involve trying to make more for ourselves by following the consort all around the castle like a bunch of unhinged stalkers."

Merida didn't know what Julia's schedule looked like, but she figured it was quite similar to her own. Which meant she wouldn't have a single break until time for lunch, and Merida wasn't skipping her lunch to chase around the consort. She enjoyed her free time, being able to explore the marketplace and the surrounding woods, far too much to ruin it by watching whatever it was Merlin was doing. As long as nobody found out Merlin was some kind of mass murderer, being brutal as he killed his way throughout the city, Merida didn't really care what he was doing. Unlike Julia, she didn't have it in her to care more than what she should.

Julia glared harshly at her, knowing her idea was just rejected even though Merida was the one that voiced it, and brought her hands up to her hips-ignoring the water soaking into her peasant dress from her hands, "Nobody here better argue with me," she announced as she turned her glare onto each and every person sitting around the tub, to meet eyes with them all as she got started. "But if nobody wants to follow me as I-it wasn't stalking the consort, it was about seeing a bit more information on the situation, then you can just go ahead and explain to me why Arthur would've wanted to marry that boy at all. That's what I want to know. How did Merlin trick Arthur into agreeing with a union like this, how did they convince the king to go with it? Because if Arthur was going through a phase or something, and wanted a peasant so badly, there is a good dozen ladies right here to choose from. He didn't have to pick a peasant boy who isn't even from around here."

Julia even made a show about pushing her breasts-or what little nonexistent things on her chest that she had the nerve to call breasts-out, as if to indicate the prince would be interested in her at all. But of course, if Arthur had chosen Merlin, then it would have stood to reason that Arthur was more interested in what the consort had underneath his pants, then whatever the serving girl had to offer. A man that liked touching or playing with sorely another's man junk, didn't exactly start going after the first pair of breasts that he saw being flashed in his general direction. Especially, as the prince literally had his pick of the litter, so it was reasonable to assume that he would have gone for the best. Which was most definitely not Julia.

Merida opened her mouth, ready to argue against all that Julia said, one way or the other, when all of them around the tub went quiet as the sound of scraping met their ears. Mary, who had been sitting there with her eyes lowered quietly on her work, had just stood up. And her body was literally trembling, tears born not out of sadness but out of frustration was glowing bright in her eyes. She looked at the two arguing girls in disgust, which was actually a surprising expression from the petite girl. She usually didn't involve herself in the squabbles of others.

"That is enough! There is absolutely no evidence that indicates Consort Merlin did anything to trick Arthur into marrying him! You are all just trying to make up a few petty rumors and gossip because you don't have anything else going on in your lives!" Mary snapped at the girl's involved in the fight. The girl's who could only stare at her in disbelief, Mary had always been a more quiet girl among her peers. Others had more of a vibrant personality but Mary…she would usually try to stick to herself, not wanting to cause anything that would lead to a wave among the servants. "They are an absolutely great match! They have to be quite in love to go to the king and ask his blessing to have a marriage between them. Brave and sure enough that their love could weather any storm, when everybody knows Uther has been fending off marriage proposal after marriage proposal from eligible young ladies all over the kingdom for years. Uther himself must have seen something that was there, since he agreed!"

Princesses had been flocking to the castle in waves at a time since the prince turned eighteen, though it had died off over the years. But it wasn't uncommon for a Princess to use the opportunity she had if she'd been visiting the castle for one reason or the other to try and leave a memorable impression on Arthur. But everyone knew it was Uther who would be the one to make the final decision. Mary even remembered how some of the girl's-when she had been serving all the dinner parties they would have-had flocked to Uther. One would have thought they were trying to marry up to the king, instead of the eligible bachelor that sat in front of them. It was disgusting how they would make their sweet comments to the king, in hopes that he'd allow them marriage to the prince. While doing not a thing to get to know the prince himself.

"Have you been watching the same thing we have?" Keira questioned, flipping her blond ponytail over her shoulder as she turned her ire for Julia onto the other girl. She looked Mary up and down and scrunched up her nose, looking unimpressed by Mary butting into a conversation between herself, Julia, and Merida. "I'd like to point out that I've seen a few things personally that they've done. I'm not just listening to rumors but I have seen the way they behave. And let me tell you, they do not act like newlyweds. Hell, they don't even act as if like each other. And you expect us to believe there's a love story in there somewhere?"

Because Keira could vividly remember the very first time she had seen Arthur and Merlin together. She'd been in the marketplace, standing at the fruit stand to buy something to take home and put into her little meager dinner. When she had heard the screaming and the crashing behind her, Keira had shrieked and dove to the side just as a dark haired boy rolled over the fruit, smashing them into pieces. It would end up being a few weeks-when she saw the consort for the first time after the wedding-that she recognized that same boy as the new consort. She hadn't realized it was him at the time, but she had definitely known the boy chasing Merlin with a mace swinging over along the top of his head was Arthur. People in love didn't go and try to kill each other with maces, and if Keira was remembering right, Merlin was almost taken off by the guards before Arthur had stopped them. The fight had definitely looked as if there was no lost love between them, but what did she knew? Maybe Arthur had stopped the knights because he loved him. But it wasn't the theory Keira wanted to go with.

"Of course I have seen the way they behave, just as most of the city has by this point!" Mary exclaimed to them, her cheeks flushing in response to her growing rage, but her blond hair and blue eyes the effect only made her look like a cherub. "And unlike most of you-" she eyed them all, pretty confident that the servant Gwen, sitting at her side and quietly scrubbing at her linens, was the only one that she had ever seen been near the consort. "I have actually talked to our most esteemed consort. So tell me, what has he done that has offended all of you so much? I know there's been a bit of tension among the nobles, we've had to walk on eggshells as we serve them when these tensions have gotten too high, but that is to be expected. We can hardly put that fault on Consort Merlin's door, as he has done nothing to earn the ire of the servants. Everything that has happened has been tied in to the nobles, not us."

Mary made sure to meet eyes with everyone for the umpteenth time, trying to see if anybody would see her side of things. But none of the girls seemed to be agreeing, even Gwen was starting to scrub with more harshness at her linens, probably causing damage all over her hands as she did so. Mary had tried so hard not to speak before, but now she couldn't stop since she had started. None of these girls-except maybe Gwen-knew a damn thing about their consort. They didn't know how kind he was, thanking her whenever their paths cross, not mentioning to anyone how he'd once found her in a close being improper with one of the knights, which would have sullied her reputation even among the lowest of servants. They didn't see how he listened to her without judgment, like how'd he sat there and allowed her to cry on his shoulder in the hallway of the tourney stadium. Listening to her talk about a servant he had never met, because that witch had killed her before the consort had married his prince.

But Mary would make them see. Somehow…she had to get them to see that talking this way about Merlin was wrong.