Pairing: MerlinxArthur

Rating: PG

Word Count: 1,259

Disclaimer: I own nothing in connection with BBC's Merlin, nor do I make any money through writing this fanfiction.

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Tangled

The night passes slowly and Arthur watches from where he lays on his side between the sheets of his own bed as it drags past his window. With each minute which lingers on and then melts into the next he knows the fever within his father increases. As each second goes by, his life shortens. Although he tries so hard not to think of them, the words King Uther gasped to him remain in Arthur's mind, screaming so clearly around his ears in the silent dark. They both know that as his life leaves him Arthur comes closer to taking the throne.

Being king sounded so simple all those years when Arthur had been a child. It had seemed like a world where he had an entire kingdom at his feet. Where he could do whatever he wanted and give orders to have them instantly obeyed.

But he was older now and knew what being king actually meant. It would mean having to make choices which would effect the entire kingdom. Just one wrong word or one stroke of the pen could mean disaster, revolt and loss of life. What made it worse was knowing some of those choices would be very difficult to make. Arthur knew he would be responsible for keeping the people of Camelot happy and ensuring they were safe. He would have to decide upon action within a split second in times of attack and put to death those who broke his laws.

To make sure that Camelot and his family lived on, Arthur also knew he would have to produce an heir. That would first mean having to find a queen.

It had to be done.

No matter how much he tried to get himself used to those thoughts, make them his duty and his norm, all they did was cause Arthur feel him even more. He feels Merlin's breath ghosting up against his shoulder blades, still warm and moist as his lips are so close. Arthur only needs to lean backwards a little to have them pressing against his skin. There is a light tickling which stirs the nerves of his shoulders as they are brushed by the ends of Merlin's hair.

Outside, the moon was round and full and Arthur wonders about what Camelot may be like the next time it rises like that. There will be a new king, perhaps, and mourning of the old. Maybe there will be preparations for the ceremony he must go through to have a queen to rule at his side.

Or maybe he will be shown the son his father would have wanted from him. Another life to be pulled into the tangled web which is spun around him.

Arthur can barely stand the thought of it.

The bedsprings beneath him sigh as he strikes out, turning and forcing Merlin away from where he lays almost pressed against him. There is nowhere for Merlin to go but back against the wall and his arm strikes it with a dull thud as it flails. He lets out a short cry of surprise and pain as he is torn from sleep. Merlin scrabbles at the sheets as he sits up, his eyes wide and confused for a moment.

Arthur can feel his eyes practically smouldering as he glares at him.

As Merlin starts to wake up and realise the situation, his eyebrows dip down and the look in his eyes changes. They are still confused but tinted with resentment.

"What?"

It is a simple demand but it makes Arthur's upper lip curl and he feels his glare harden.

"Leave." He growls.

"What?" Merlin's eyebrows dip down even lower, drawing closer together, and he sounds insulted. "No."

"Leave!" Arthur can feel his teeth clench as he finishes repeating himself. He clutches the sheets tightly in his fingers as he curls them into his palm. It's all he can do to keep himself from striking out again.

"No."

"Don't disobey me!" Arthur can hear his heart hammering in his ears and wonders if he's shouting. But he hears no distant rumble of footsteps and no screech of hinges as the door opens.

Merlin shakes his head. "I'm not leaving." His gaze remains firm and there's regret in his eyes which Arthur can see in the gloom. But it's not the same regret he can see in every face which turns to watch him as he passes through the hallways on his way to and from his father's deathbed. It's a regret which knows something he doesn't and it's a regret which is apologising for failure.

What it knows and what it apologises for Arthur can't think of for the life of him.

"This can't continue anymore," he says and he finds his voice heavy with his own regrets. He's suddenly feeling the weight of what is being slowly lowered upon his back and his eyelids feel tender where they have been rubbed as a result of not sleeping. "Things are changing too much."

"But I'll still be here."

"You'll disobey me?"

Merlin looks him hard in the eye. "I'll obey when I know you mean it."

There's something Merlin is very aware of and so is Arthur. They both know he will have nobody but Merlin beside him. Arthur shakes his head and turns his gaze down to the sheets, looking at how it rises and moulds around his thighs.

Merlin moves from where he ended up after being shoved away, back towards him. Arthur feels his lips upon his collarbone and his chest rises. His teeth bare again as he feels Merlin's fingers upon his stomach. Every breath his father takes could be his last and as they shudder between his lips. And here is the sick king's son, spreading his legs and sharing his bed with his manservant.

It seems so morbid.

For a split second his anger rises and Arthur considers shouting, summoning the guards. But to have them find what? Prince Arthur Pendragon with his chin tilted back and his neck bared, leaving it exposed and open to Merlin's lips. Their chests pressed together, heaving with gasps as their hips roll and their knees hook around each other's legs.

What could he possibly come up with to explain his own naked state and not expose everything he has coordinated so carefully to hide?

Merlin kisses his neck and Arthur feels his teeth press against his skin. The tension and weight he feels upon his shoulders finally pulls him down and he falls back onto the pillow and sheets. Merlin leans over him and their lips meet. The kiss is imperfect, just as they always are and Arthur lifts his head up into it. Things are on the verge of changing so much. Too much. He needs to keep at least that one part of normality.

Their bodies press together and their legs tangle but that's as far as their closeness goes. They're both aware of what is going on past the closed door of Arthur's chamber and it still leaks through, lingering in the room and over their heads. Merlin kisses the skin of his face, neck and shoulders as his fingers stroke Arthur's hair and gently trace the flesh behind his ears. Arthur lays, almost lifeless aside the odd moan or sign, allowing it. Hating it but needing it.

His gaze returns again to the window and he watches as the sky begins to become light with the dawn of a new day. Arthur finds that he fears the uncertainty of what may happen.

END