Merlin walked through the Lower Town, taking in the sights, sound, and sun. Despite the heatwave that has brought most of Camelot's people to their knees, Merlin was unaffected by it. He was used to heatwaves such as this one, because they were common in Ealdor.

Usually during this time of the day, the secret warlock would in the armoury polishing Prince Prat's armour. But for some unexplainable reason Arthur had given him the day off. Merlin didn't bother to question why, he just took it as a oppurtunity to learn the streets Camelot better.

Merlin stopped in front of a produce stand and picked up an apple. After making it wasn't bruised, the manservant gave the man running the stand a silver coin and began to walk away.

He didn't get very far before bumping into a knight. The knight turned and looked down at him. Merlin knew right away that he was dealing with one Uther's men, not his master's.

"I'm sorry," Merlin quickly apologized. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"You think that just because you're the prince's manservant you can get away with whatever you want," the knight sneered.

"I truly am sorry," Merlin said as he tried to look a quick escape.

"Not as sorry as you're going to be," the knight threatened as he balled his hands into fists.

Merlin stood still and swallowed thickly as the apple fell from his hand. He was by all means scared. The other servants had warned him not to do anything to get on a knight's bad side. Especially o of Uther's men, but despite the warnings he still managed to mess up.

As the warlock felt the bigger man's fist connect with his jaw he fell backwards on to the hard cobblestone ground.

Merlin made a move to get up, taking it as a chance to flee, but the brutal man quickly pinned him to the ground and began punching Merlin in the chest, and face, while his knee was wedged into his shoulder. All the while, those brave enough to be outside in the heat, just stood by and watched. Not one person made a move to help him.

Merlin begged for help and pleaded for the man to stop. He wanted to use his magic so badly, but he could not risk revealing himself to the knight or anyone else.

After what seemed like forever, Merlin felt the knight being pulled off him. He went breathe a sigh of relief that the beating had stopped, but all that came out was strangled gasp followed by a pained groan. Despite Gaius' claims about the warlock being a horrible physician, Merlin knew in that second that the knight had broken a few of his ribs. Now all he wanted to do was curl up in ball and die, but he knew that it wouldn't happen.

Merlin slowly moved to get up, only to end up sitting, unsteadily, on his knees. He looked at the knight who had been beating him. He was being lead away by a few guards while another knight watch with a disapproving look.

Once the brutal knight was gone, the other knight walked over to Merlin and knelt down in front of him. Instinctively, Merlin flinched away, for fear of another beating.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the knight said as he slowly placed his hand on Merlin's shoulder.

The warlock hissed in pain at the sudden touch. The nice knight quickly moved his hand away and studied Merlin's pained expression.

"We need to get you to the Court Physician," the knight stated. "Can you walk?"

"I think so," Merlin replied with quiet voice.

The knight helped Merlin to his feet and walked him back towards the castle.

"What's your name?" the knight asked.

"Merlin," the manservant answered quietly.

"You're Prince Arthur's personal sevrant, correct?" the knight questioned.

Merlin only nodded.

"I'm Sir Leon," the knight stated naming himself. "I'm one of his new knights."

Merlin said nothing. He was in too much pain and he wanted to passed out where he was, but he was determined to get back to Gaius' on his own two feet even if it was with the help of a newly knighted man.

When Merlin and Sir Leon entered the physician's chamber, Gaius was not there.

"Where is he?" Sir Leon asked.

"Probably in the throne room with the king and Arthur," Merlin guessed as he pulled himself away from nobleman and sat down at the table where he and Gaius had supper.

Sir Leon watched Merlin with great interest. The young man looked and acted as if he sat at the table many times. Then it dawned on him. Not only was the injured man the prince's servant, but he also lived with the physician.

The nobleman looked around the chambers for a brief moment, before he laid eyes on the room just above the small set of stairs. Even though the door wasn't open all the way, he could see that it was the room Merlin slept in.

"Instead of having you sit at the table, let's get you to your bed," Sir Leon suggested.

Merlin muttered his agreement as he allowed the knight to assist him to his room.

Sir Leon stood the main room of the physician's chambers, awaiting the man's return. He was not going to leave Merlin by himself.

It wasn't long before Gaius walked in and asked. "What are you doing in here Sir-?" the elder man paused to get his name.

"Leon," the nobleman replied. "I here because Merlin was brutally attacked by one of Uther's knights. I assisted in getting back here."

"Where is Merlin now?" Gaius asked.

"In his room. He is currently unconscious," Sir Leon answered.

The wizened old man moved towards the upper room, faster that what should have been impossible at his age. The knight figured that the young man most mean an awful lot to the physician for him to move so quickly.

A few days later Merlin woke with splitting headache and his entire chest bursting with pain. Making the smart decision to remain lying down, he looked around what parts of the room he could see. His eyes landed on familiar figure sitting at the small table under the window.

"Afternoon," the familiar face said with smile.

It took Merlin a minute to place the man's face, but when he went to talk, no sound came out. He realized that his mouth and throat were dry. That meant he'd been unconscious for at least two or three days. Merlin then noticed the cup that was on the nightstand next to his bed. The warlock began to try to sit up, but failed when his entire torso flared in pain.

It was obvious that the man took notice of this and got up to help. Slowly, he helped Merlin sit up, then handed him the cup of water.

Merlin firmly gripped the cup and drank as much of the water he could before having to tilt his head back, which was something he didn't want to do. He handed the cup back to the knight before speaking. "You're the knight that saved me. Sir Leon, correct?"

Sir Leon nodded. "That knight was acting unjust. He was hurting you when you had done nothing wrong."

Merlin looked down at his blanket and whispered. "I apologized."

"You didn't do anything though," Sir Leon insisted.

"I wasn't looking where I was going and ran into him. I apologized twice, but he wouldn't let it go," Merlin explained.

"You didn't deserve to be beat up though. Accidents happen. Knights don't seem to get that concept. They think everything that is an accident is done on purpose," Sir Leon said.

Merlin looked up at the man to see if there was truth in his words. Sure enough there was. Despite how much it hurt, Merlin smiled at the knight.

"I won't keep you up for much longer. Gaius say that you need to get a lot of rest," Sir Leon stated, before helping the younger man lay back down.

Years later when Leon came to apologize for how he treated Merlin while under the Lamia's influenced. The secret warlock was more than forgiving. The younger man told him that his actions were far less terrifying and brutal than that of certain knight they shared an equal hatred for.

If anyone had told them they'd become close friends the day before they met, neither would have belived it.