"Shield up!" Arthur's voice barked out, the sound of steel colliding ringing around him as the prince drove towards his servant. "Left! No, Merlin, your other left!" He scolded, his sword striking the boy's as his servant staggered backwards.
"Arthur-"
"Right!" Another strike jarred the boy and caused him to stumble to the side, the helmet he wore rattling while a ragged breath heaved out of him.
"Arthur, can we stop for a minute?"
"There is no stopping in battle, Merlin. Shield up!" Twisting the sword around in his hand, Arthur struck the boy's shield that he held pathetically low.
"But this isn't battle." His friend complained, his movements sluggish as the prince frowned.
"You're right, it's not. If it were you'd be dead already. Now we've been over this, keep your shield up!" Stepping closer and striking, Merlin's sword lifted and blocked the blow. "Right! Come on, Merlin!" His next attack was parried, though the boy's arm quaked from the effort before he was stepping backwards.
"Arthur, please, I don't-"
"It's not that difficult, Merlin." He interrupted him, ignoring the weariness that clung to his words. "Quit playing defense, try and come at me." The faintest whimper echoed from his friend, the reluctance clear in his steps as the boy attacked only to have the prince block the blow and easily disarm him. "We've been at this for nearly an hour, how is it that you've learned nothing?" He snapped, picking up the other's sword and thrusting it towards him.
"If we could just take a break, perhaps I would do better." The servant muttered, taking the sword and adjusting his grip on it.
"I'll tell you what," Arthur began, twisting his sword around again. "If you can manage to land a blow, then you can take a break." Dropping his head with a sigh, Merlin readied himself once more and lifted his shield. "Come on then, attack!"
Striding towards him, Merlin struck towards his left and feinted, turning and attacking towards the right instead. Arthur was almost impressed by the move, though the boy's poor footing and failure to keep his shield raised made it easy to counter the attack and knock him back with his own shield. The force was greater than he'd anticipated though, the blow sending his servant sprawling back into the grass and knocking the helmet half off as the sword fell from his grasp.
"You've done better, although you ought to learn to keep your sword in your hand." The prince commented with a smirk, walking forwards and kicking at the boy's foot with the toe of his boot. The action elicited a groan, Merlin's hand pulling free from beneath his shield and rising to his head, tugging the helmet away weakly.
"You did that on purpose." He mumbled, tossing the helmet to the side and squinting at the sudden flood of sunlight that blinded him.
"I did tell you countless times to keep your shield up." Arthur stated, shaking his head at him as the dark haired boy sat up with a grimace, one hand hiding a portion of his face. "Besides, your head is too thick to have done any damage anyways." He rolled his eyes at him, taking a step closer and pausing at the sight of blood dotting the front of the boy's blue tunic.
"Sure about that?" Merlin mumbled, dropping his hand and looking up to reveal a mess of crimson smeared across his face and dribbling down from his nose. Taking a knee beside the servant, Arthur watched while the boy tilted his head forwards and pinched his fingers over his nose. "I get it," He spoke, his voice taking on a different pitch as blue eyes flickered up to the prince. "This is because I tricked you into eating rat stew, isn't it?"
Narrowing his eyes, Arthur glanced around them before leaning closer and jabbing a finger towards him. "No one is to know about that, Merlin." He snapped, lowering his hand and propping his arm against his knee. "But as a matter of fact, no. You think I want your blood decorating my shield? It's hardly my fault that you seem incapable of retaining any information." He muttered while eyeing the boy. "What happened to you picking up on things quickly?"
"Learning to fight is a bit different, Arthur." He grumbled, his nasally tone almost amusing if not for the blood coating his fingers. "Why don't you train with the knights? I'm sure they would offer a better fight."
"This isn't about training them, Merlin." Arthur spoke sharply, confusion clouding the boy's features before his eyes were flickering to something behind the kneeling man.
"Prince Arthur?" Turning, Sir Edric stood only a few paces away, curiosity and concern alight on his face while dark eyes moved back and forth between the two of them.
"What is it?"
"The men are waiting for you."
Looking past the knight towards a different part of the field where the men he'd been training had gathered, Arthur's gaze shifted back to Merlin who had switched hands in pinching his nose, wiping the bloodied one against the grass beside him.
"Take over their training, Sir Edric. You know the drills as well as I." The blond stated, waving a hand dismissively as the knight lingered, shifting his weight in hesitation.
"Is Merlin alright?" He finally asked, cutting his eyes towards the boy who glanced up and flashed a wide grin, though the streaks of blood that had run down the sides of his mouth made the expression more gruesome than reassuring.
"I've just made my debut as his next punching bag." He declared, his joke widening the smile he wore as Arthur rolled his eyes.
"Obviously you've damaged more than your nose if you found that amusing." He stated dryly while Edric lowered his head, the faintest trace of a smile fighting to appear.
"I'll start the men on their drills." The man spoke, casting a final look between the two before he turned and made his way back across the field.
"Why aren't you training them?" Merlin asked once the knight was beyond earshot.
"Sir Edric is more than capable of taking over their training."
"I know that, but there's not a tournament about to happen is there? Normally you only put me through this when you need to train by yourself."
"I don't need to explain my actions to you, Merlin." Arthur snapped as the boy's eyes widened in surprise before falling away in silence. Staring at the servant in irritation that was directed more towards himself than the other, the prince ground his teeth. "You need to learn to defend yourself." He finally huffed, confusion infiltrating bright blue eyes that lifted to meet his again.
"I already know how to fight."
"Really?" The blond scoffed. "You nearly took my head off on our way to Ealdor."
"You were sneaking around our camp in the middle of the night; I thought you were a bandit." He grumbled quietly while the prince glared.
"And if I were you would've been dead in seconds, which is exactly why you need to learn to at least use a sword and shield to defend yourself." When no response countered his, Arthur sighed and rubbed at his eyes. Why didn't he seem to get it? Did he care so little for his own wellbeing or did he honestly just not think about protecting himself?
He wasn't always going to be around to keep him out of trouble, yet the boy constantly placed himself there. Arthur dreaded to even think what might have happened had he not followed behind them when he'd gone off to fight for his village. Though that wasn't the only situation he'd managed to get himself into.
Between the Afanc and that poison he'd intercepted, not to mention the way he'd blatantly ignored him and gone through the labyrinth, the boy was bound to get himself killed if he kept it up. He was incredibly loyal while also being incredibly stupid. He'd never met someone with such a lack of self-preservation before. Nor had he met someone so willing to risk everything in an effort to aid him.
Blinking away the thoughts, Arthur opened his mouth to speak when Merlin leaned over, blood spitting out of his mouth and into the grass in distaste as the prince sighed again. He was a lost cause wasn't he?
"What exactly do I need to protect myself from?" Merlin's voice sounded as he sat back up and drew his hand away from his nose, though his voice still sounded as though it were clogged. "I don't expect any more bandits to threaten my village. Not for a while at least."
"You can't predict what will happen, Merlin. Especially when you never listen to anyone."
"What are you talking about?" He asked, furrowing his brows while wiping his fingers beneath his nose to clean some of the blood.
"You don't even think about things before you do them, do you?" The man scoffed as his fingers clenched into a fist over his knee.
"Is this.. is this about the labyrinth?" The boy questioned slowly, his sleeve catching the blood that had dripped down his chin. "Because, if it is, remember that we were both meant to be there for you to pass."
"Even though I specifically told you to stay put?" Arthur demanded, irritation rising as he stared hard at the servant beside him. "You put yourself in danger for no reason, and you never did tell me why exactly you followed me out there while disobeying me."
"I didn't want you to face whatever it was alone." Merlin stated simply, his own gaze firm on the prince.
"You know Merlin, I'm beginning to believe that you have some sort of ridiculous death wish."
"Well, if it gets me out of being bludgeoned during training." He retorted, his lips quirking upwards into another small grin.
"Next time do as I say and keep your shield up." The blond muttered, pushing himself up and stretching a hand down towards the boy. "You're still bleeding, Gaius should look it over."
With his usual controlled mask falling into place and the boy's smile fading, Merlin took his hand and let the man tug him up. As he stood, a fresh streak of crimson trickled down from the servant's nose and Merlin quickly pinched the skin once more.
A piece of the prince considered returning to the field and leaving the boy to find his own way back to the physician's chambers, but as Merlin started trekking his way there Arthur found himself following. With their gear abandoned and the servant walking in silence beside him with blood staining his hands and chin, the man wondered if he'd taken things too far.
He'd appreciated the fact that Merlin had followed him, that he'd been there when he'd thought he was going to die, and he'd been amazed at the fact that Merlin was planning to trade his life for the prince's without more than a second thought. He'd never had a servant so willing to do such a thing, let alone someone he might call a friend. But it had also shown him just how reckless the boy was.
Loyalty was something he admired, and while it was common for a life to be traded for royalty something about that practice sat unwell with him, even more so when it regarded his manservant. Had he really expected to be able to teach Merlin, though?
He'd seen him use a sword, and he certainly knew how uncoordinated the boy was. Frankly he was lucky that he hadn't cut his own hand off during their practice. But it irritated him nonetheless knowing that even the simplest form of protecting himself was lost on the idiot.
Climbing the stairwell towards Gaius' chambers, Merlin shoved open the door and glanced around. "Gaius?" He called, the same nasally voice echoing throughout an empty room as the boy sighed. "So much for that idea."
"Here." Swiping a folded towel off a stack of linens, Arthur threw it towards the servant who fumbled in catching it, only reinforcing the frustration the prince felt towards his obvious lack of skills.
Sitting down at one of the work tables and using the edge of the fabric to clean his free hand, Merlin leaned his head forwards and propped his elbow against his knee. "You know I'm not going to get the hang of that whole thing, don't you?" He questioned, keeping a firm gaze on the floor while the prince leaned back against a wall and folded his arms across his chest.
"If you put in some effort you might." The blond uttered, staring down at the dark haired boy as he shifted awkwardly where he sat.
"Is it necessary that I do?" Blue hues lifted to stare up at him and Arthur's jaw locked, anger surging through him.
"You're hopeless." He muttered, pushing away from the wall suddenly and striding for the door. If Merlin didn't want to bother then why should he? If he was idiotic enough to go with him when he wasn't needed than his own safety was in his own hands.
Yanking open the door Arthur nearly stumbled into Gaius, the elder lifting his head from his bag and staring at the prince in shock.
"Arthur."
"Gaius." He nodded, keeping a hand on the door and backing away to allow the man to enter.
"Are you alright? What are you doing here?" He questioned, looking the man up and down in worry as Arthur frowned, nodding his head in the direction of his servant who had developed a rather sheepish expression.
"What have you gone and done now?" Gaius sighed heavily, setting his bag down and walking closer as the prince lingered near the opened door.
"Training accident." The boy explained as the physician lowered his hand and winced in sympathy at the bloody mess.
"Training accident?" He repeated, casting a look towards the blond whose own gaze shifted away. This wasn't the first time he'd caused someone to end up in the elder's care, the prince was known for his heavy hand in fighting, but it was the first time he'd done so to the man's ward.
"I wasn't meant for battle." Merlin commented with a strained smile, his eyes flickering briefly towards Arthur before back to his guardian while the physician carefully probed the injured area.
"Nothing is broken, you're lucky. Keep a firm hand there until I say." He instructed, patting the boy's arm and moving away to rummage about in his vials.
Turning to leave once more, the boy behind him spoke and caused the prince to pause. "I'll return to the field when this is under control." He stated, and as blue eyes met blue, there was a determined look set in Merlin's. He would return to the training, so long as that was what the prince wanted. And oh, if that wasn't so Merlin.
Releasing a slow breath as his irritation faded, Arthur nodded. "Good. You need to clean your blood from my shield." The boy grimaced at that, only to have the prince continue. "And you'll need to polish my armor and clean my weapons as well." The determination shifted to confusion before settling onto understanding as the smallest smile pulled at one side of the servant's lips.
Turning his back to him, Arthur stepped through the doorway. There was no point in forcing the boy to continue practicing, not when it was so painfully clear he wasn't learning anything and it seemed to be causing more harm than good.
"Of course, Sire." Merlin called after him, the nasally voice finally drawing out a smile that no one could claim he actually wore as the blond pulled the door shut behind him. If Merlin was so determined to tag along on quests or put himself recklessly in danger for the sake of being by his side, Arthur would just have to make sure that the idiot stayed out of harm's way.
A/N
After watching the Labyrinth of Gedref I wanted to play around with Arthur's admittance of Merlin being his friend and the fact that the boy has literally ZERO skills with fighting yet tags along with him everywhere. Like Arthur has to wonder about that sometimes. But hey I'm in a fluff mood I suppose so what can I say.
Also, fun author fact, when I was nine I made a girl's nose bleed while playing a game called steal the bacon. People heralded me as a badass for weeks, but all I remember is all the blood running down that poor girl's face like Merlin's.
Anyways, thanks for reading! I would love a comment or review, my inbox always eagerly awaits them! The next story may be a bit delayed as I'm moving my grandmother this week so I won't have as much time to write with all the packing. But I hope you guys enjoyed! If you have any thoughts or ideas about what you'd like to see in the coming stories just let me know!