Chapter 1: Taste

Summer and autumn had passed. Winter was here. Every day, Merlin found it more and more difficult to get out of bed. Although working for the prince was now routine, it was a rather demanding routine: working long hard hours every day, coming home to Gaius' welcome company but also his unfortunate cooking. Merlin found himself running perpetually late and being perpetually hungry. This morning was no different. He was late. No wake up call. No Gaius in sight. He rushed past the bowl of tasteless, grey porridge waiting for him on the table, and yanked his jacket over his shoulders as he raced through the doorway and jogged down the steps. In the kitchen, cook scowled at him as he hurriedly loaded Arthur's breakfast plate. Sausages, eggs, cheese and some funny looking bread. He held up a piece, inspecting it closely. It looked strange...like it had dirt swirled through it.

"Oi! That's for his highness! Don't you get any funny ideas!" cook scolded suspiciously.

Merlin grimaced at her slightly, "Are you sure this is okay? It looks dirty."

"Just you get on and take the prince his breakfast! Give him two slices. He'll be right glad to see that cinnamon bread. I only ever make it this time of year and it's not for the likes of you!"

Siminin bread..huh. He dropped another piece on the plate. He hustled up to Arthur's room to go through the tortuous yet amusing daily routine of awakening the prince.

"Good morning, Sire!" He called cheerfully as he yanked open the blinds to allow blazing sunshine to fill the room with nice bright light. The light reflecting off the snow and ice outside added an extra bright glare.

Arthur threw his arm across his face and groaned loudly. "Merlin! Are you trying to blind me?"

"No Sire! I'm trying to awaken you! Just doing my job. The blinding bit is not my fault. You'd have to talk to Mother Nature about that. The snow storm left quite a beautiful mark on Camelot last night. The sun on the icicles is fantastic! It's like an early Yule gift from Mother Nature. Really you should come see this view!"

Ugh. The perkiness! Arthur groaned and pulled the covers over his face. How could that servant get any more annoying?

"Oh, by the way," said servant prattled on, "you might want to say thank you because I let you sleep in a bit longer today. I know you don't enjoy mornings so I just thought I'd do you a favor, you know? But, um, that means that now you really have to get up if you're going to be on time with your father's council meeting in, um, about 15 minutes...actually maybe closer to, um, ten?"

"Merlin! You dolt! Ten minutes?! For heaven's sake what will it take to have you be on time for once?!" The prince vaulted from his bed. "Get my clothes ready! Where's breakfast?"

"On the table. No worries about being on time. You won't want to eat it all. It'll be quick."

"What are you talking about? Why wouldn't I want it?" He stopped and glared at his manservant. "Oh. You dropped it on the floor didn't you."

"No! I didn't! I swear! But you probably won't believe me because it sure looks like someone did. Cook says the bread is supposed to look dirty like that. She says it's simmin bread or some such.."

"Oh! Cinnamon bread! Excellent!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Um, eight minutes, Sire." He wrinkled his nose in disgust as he watched Arthur enthusiastically take a large bite of bread then turned away shaking his head.

"Oh please, you can't tell me your breakfast was better!"

"Better than dirty bread? Oh yes!"

"So what did you have for breakfast then?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing!?"

Merlin sheepishly looked up from dusting off the prince's boots. "I, uh, don't usually get breakfast on the days I let you sleep in, if you take my meaning."

"Merlin, you get me up late almost every day!"

"And that's the way you like it!" He smiled brightly at the prince.

Arthur now shoveled sausage and eggs into his mouth and regarded his skinny servant thoughtfully as he chewed. The boy looked thinner than ever to his eyes. After a couple of minutes, he pushed back from the table. "That'll have to be enough. You can finish the rest.." Merlin's face lit up, "..on one condition...you eat the other slice of cinnamon bread first!"

Merlin's face darkened again. "What?! Maybe I'm not that hungry!" His stomach growled loudly betraying him.

Arthur grinned as he pulled his tunic over his head and ducked behind the screen. "Actually, it's an order idiot. People are getting sick because of the winter cold and you don't have enough fat on you. I don't have time to waste on waiting for you to lie around sick just because you don't eat properly."

"Hey! It's not my fault! I live with Gaius! You've tasted his potions! His cooking doesn't often taste much different. I mean I'm grateful for him taking me in, but, well, sometimes it's really easy to skip meals. Um, two minutes.."

"Well, if you eat Gaius' objectionable cooking you'll have no problem eating "dirty bread". Finish my breakfast before you do your chores, ..bread first! (Merlin had been reaching for a bit of cheese.) Then muck out the stables, polish my sword, clean and polish my armor, …"

He was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Sire," It was Leon. "the meeting has been cancelled. The king is ill as are several other council members."

"What illness? How bad?"

"It appears to be a very bad cold, Sire. Gaius is seeing to him now."

"I'd better go check on him and see what duties I can help him with." He turned back toward Merlin. "Oh, and Merlin, don't forget to do my laundry today. I'll want the blue tunic tonight…Merlin, what's wrong?"

The young man sat frozen at the table with an arrested look on his face. Staring at his hand holding the remaining bread with a bite missing.

"Merlin?" When there was no reply Arthur dashed in front of him, alarmed. "Oh gods! Was it poisoned? Merlin!"

Merlin's eyes slowly moved up from the bread to meet the prince's. His expression morphed into one of wonder. "It's fine. It's...it tastes like...happiness…" His tone was one of surprise and his eyes were round. "It's soft and sweet and …" And it tastes like magic! He finished silently.

Arthur laughed. "You'd think you'd never had sweetbread before!"

"He probably hasn't." said Leon who'd been watching from the doorway. "Most peasants will go their whole lives without tasting something so fine, my Lord."

They watched as the boy closely examined the bread and pressed it to his nose breathing in the scent of the spice.

Almost to himself Merlin murmured, "Is the dirt enchanted?"

"It's not dirt Merlin. Cook gets rare spices from traders that come through once a year from foreign lands. What you're tasting aside from the sweetness is cinnamon."

"I LIKE simmimin." He took another bite and closed his eyes.

Arthur watched him in fond amusement. His servant had such a childlike way of experiencing the world. It was really quite entertaining to see. Never to have tasted spiced sweetbread! How much did Arthur take for granted? Of course he knew deep down that he was a bit spoiled and had much more than others. He was a prince! But to see it like this… Suddenly Arthur wondered what other things Merlin had never tasted that he might like. He decided then and there to make sure to leave some breakfast untouched whenever a delicacy came along. Just so he could see the transported look on Merlin's face again.

Leon, chuckled. "Well I'd best be getting on." He bowed shortly to the prince and nodded at Merlin who was still chewing slowly with his eyes closed in ecstasy, a priceless look on his young face. He headed back down the corridor. He had a great story for his fellow knights.

After a few moments of silence Arthur decided to bring his servant back to the present. "Merlin, finish the rest of that and then get on those chores. And don't forget about my blue tunic! Merlin! Did you hear me?!"

Merlin opened an eye, "How could I not, Sire! You're yelling at me from five feet away!"

"Alright! Just don't get lazy because I let you stop for breakfast. I'm going to see my father."

…..

Uther's cold was a really nasty one. Fortunately for him he wasn't at all well enough to attend the Yule feast the next evening. He certainly wouldn't have approved of the strange entertainment the prince and his knights were getting out of feeding a gangly servant boy random bits of rich food from their own plates. The entire room seemed to be watching him and laughing. They must have all been drunk.

…*...

Centuries had passed. His King had returned.

Merlin had to prepare him before he unleashed him on the the world and the world on him. Many things about the world could wait. ..and he sincerely hoped they would. He would put them off as long as he could. Other things, however, he'd been waiting excitedly for centuries to share with his friend.

"No Merlin."

"Come on Arthur! Just give it a chance!"

Arthur examined the somewhat soft, dark brown square in his fingers that seemed to be melting, leaving a thick, oily brown smear on his fingertips. "This can't be food. It looks like.."

"I KNOW what it looks like!" Merlin interrupted before Arthur could say it out loud. "Just, quick! Pop it in your mouth before it melts!"

Arthur glanced at him suspiciously then back to the questionable brown substance between his fingers.

"Arthur. Think back to the first year I was your servant. Remember the cinnamon bread at Yule time?"

Arthur grinned softly, remembering. "You thought there was dirt in it."

"This is like that. Trust me." Merlin replied quietly, encouragingly.

Arthur finally, cautiously slipped the chocolate into his mouth. His eyes widened before sliding slowly closed. "Oh."

Merlin allowed him a few silent moments, delightedly watching the wonder and enjoyment crossing his friend's face.

"Ah, Merlin! This tastes like...like.."

Merlin smiled. "It tastes like magic."

…*Das Ende*...

A/N: I like chocolate.