Chapter 8: Merlin's First Day

Disclaimer: Merlin and its characters do not belong to me

The morning went by in a flurry of chores and reading as Merlin desperately tried to catch up with the other servants. Fortunately, Julia came looking for him at lunch, showing him where the servants gathered for meals, along with several other key locations, such as the wash-house.

By mid-afternoon, Merlin found himself outside the castle walls, facing Arthur in full armour. Merlin, himself, was only wearing a leather gambeson and hauberk, along with a heavy metal helmet he couldn't see through. Already, he was struggling with the practice sword and shield, much to Arthur's amusement.

"Ready?" the Prince asked, eager to get started.

"Would it make any difference if I said no?" Merlin asked hopefully.

"Not really." Arthur turned to face away from him, swinging his sword to warm up.

Taking the presented opportunity, Merlin hurried to put on his helmet, barely making it as the Prince turned back around, his sword raised. Resigned, Merlin pulled his sword from his belt.

"Body." the Prince sprung at him, Merlin just managing to move his sword in time to deflect the strike.

"Shield." The strikes were hard, and fast, with Merlin stumbling back pretty much the whole time.

"Head."

"Head?" Merlin questioned incredulously just as the sword crashed into him, sending his ears ringing. "Ow!"

"Come on, Merlin, you're not even trying!" Arthur reprimanded, before hitting him from behind with the flat of his blade. "Once more." He announced, before allowing Merlin to ready himself.

"Oh, no," Merlin groaned, trying to ignore the ringing in his ears.

"To the left." Arthur started up again, before getting a hard hit on the helmet.

"Ow!" Merlin stumbled, almost losing his balance – not that it wasn't a common occurrence already.

"Come on, Merlin! I've got a tournament to win!"

"Can we stop now, please?" Merlin asked, struggling to shift his helmet so he could actually see.

Arthur didn't respond, simply spinning his sword in preparation before striking, pivoting on his left foot, and slashing the shield, starting a faster volley that Merlin just couldn't keep up with. It was no surprise that Arthur's volley ended with Merlin on the floor, his helmet rolling down the slight slope mockingly.

"Well, you're better than you look," Arthur grinned. "Most servants collapse after the first blow."

"Is it over?" Merlin asked, squinting at the sudden influx of sunlight.

"That was just a warm-up." Arthur explained. "How's your mace work coming along?" he asked, swinging a mace above his head with an evil grin, promising a world of pain.

Merlin flopped back onto the ground.

It wasn't until well after the sun had set, that Arthur dismissed his new manservant, naturally sending him on his way with a basket full of armour needing a good polish, and sword to be sharpened. Exhausted, the poor manservant stumbled his way down dimly-lit corridors back to the Physician's chambers. He hadn't even had time to change out of his 'practice gear'!

Hearing the door open, Gaius looked up from the cluttered workbench where he'd spent most of the day mixing up various potions.

"So, how was your first day as Arthur's servant?" he chuckled, his eyes shining with mirth.

Merlin stared at him for a moment, before hitting his ear.

"Do you hear clanging?" he asked, half-hoping there was a ringing bell or something nearby.

Gaius frowned at him in concern, putting the bottles down.

"Sit." He motioned towards a stool as he moved round the bench.

After getting Merlin out of his practice gear, and checking his hearing, just in case, Gaius started working on the poor boy's muscles.

"It was...horrible." Merlin struggled to find an adequate description. "Argh, and, I've still got to learn all about tournaments, etiquette, by the morning." he groaned, wondering how he was going to get everything done in time. Freezing as an idea came to him, Merlin straightened as much as he was able to. "Onhríne achtung bregdan." he incanted hopefully, causing the required book to come flying to the table, landing in front of him and opening at the required section.

"Oi!" Gaius slapped the back of his head. "What have I told you about using magic like this?" he scolded.

Merlin frowned.

"If I could actually feel my arms, I'd pick up the book myself." he retorted.

"Never mind your arms, what do I do if you get caught?" Gaius reprimanded him.

Merlin blinked.

"What would you do?" he asked, having never really thought about it.

Gaius sighed.

"Well, you just make sure it doesn't happen, for both our sakes." he huffed, before rotating Merlin's sword arm.

"I save Arthur from being killed, and I end up as a servant, how is that fair?" Merlin asked, struggling to understand.

"I'm not sure fairness comes into it." Gaius replied, once more struggling to hide his mirth. "You never know, it might be fun."

Merlin snorted.

"If you think, mucking out Arthur's horses is going to be fun? You should hear my list of duties!" he added as Gaius moved onto his other arm.

"Well, we all have our duties, even Arthur." Gaius tried to cheer the raven-head up.

"It must be so tough for him," Merlin mused. "With all the…girls...the glory," he shrugged.

Gaius frowned down at him.

"He is the future King, people expect so much of him. He's under a lot of pressure." Gaius pushed Merlin's arm hard enough to force it back properly into position.

"Ow, that makes two of us!" Merlin groaned.

The next morning, while Arthur was in a meeting with his father, Merlin went to take Gwen up on her offer of assistance with the armour. Finding her house was easy, as it turned out her father was the local blacksmith.

Greeting him at the door, Gwen lost no time in herding him into a small room off of the forge, her father watching them in clear amusement.

After getting him into the armour, Gwen started pointing to the various pieces.

"So, you've got voiders on your arms, the hauberk goes over your chest, I guess you know what to do with the helmet." Gwen smiled.

"Uh, yeah. That was the one I'd figured out." Merlin agreed, causing Gwen to burst our laughing. "How come you're so much better at this than me?" he asked curiously.

"I'm the blacksmith's daughter." Gwen reminded him. "I know pretty much everything there is to know about armour. Which is actually, kinda sad."

"No, it's brilliant!" Merlin grinned, trying to cheer her up.

Realising he'd spent pretty much the entire morning with Gwen, learning about the various pieces of armour, Merlin rushed back to the Castle to finish preparing for the afternoon.