Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, and I am not making any money off of this.

Merlin entered Arthur's rooms stiffly, looking anywhere but at Arthur. He didn't know what to tell Arthur, and he didn't want to lie more then he already had which was why he had been avoiding him. "You wanted to see me?" He asked, trying his best to sound normal –and failing miserably.

Arthur just raised an eyebrow at him. "Nice of you to finally grace me with your presence Merlin. Finally finished gallivanting around with that friend of yours?" Arthur was scowling now, well not scowling per say but he had that 'I am not pleased with you Merlin, but I'm trying not to show it so that I can lure you into a false sense of security' face on.

"I've not been gallivanting!" Merlin replied, somewhat indignantly (and rather hoping to distract Arthur, however futile that was). "Besides, what's it to you? I've got all my chores done so what difference does it make?"

"What difference does it make? Did it not occur to you Merlin, that it might be nice to actually see my manservant once in a while?"

"Well, as you've said before I'm such a lousy manservant anyways so I'd think you'd be happy not to have to put up with me—" Merlin said, angry all of a sudden. The stress of knowing that everyone would be arriving tomorrow and dealing with everything that would happen was starting to wear on him.

"Which is a real wonder in and of itself considering that you apparently have experience with being someone's servant." Arthur was definitely scowling now, he knew he was but he couldn't stop himself. He was both annoyed and slightly hurt that he hadn't known this about Merlin. He had thought that they were closer than that, that there were no secrets between them. After all, Merlin knew all of Arthur's secrets, had lived through most of them with him actually.

"Ah. That." Of course, Merlin had known that Arthur had overheard part of his and Frayne's conversation the other day. He just hadn't known how much, and he had hoped that Arthur hadn't heard that particular detail. Merlin fiddled with the hem of his sleeve, avoiding Arthur's gaze.

"Yes, that. I also happened to hear something about a Lord Rion and Julian wanting to kill you. You can imagine my concern when after hearing that you start avoiding me."

Merlin winced visibly. Arthur had heard a lot more then Merlin had thought he had. How was he going to explain this? Arthur was genuinely concerned, he was trying to mask it but Merlin could tell. And although Merlin had been able to keep his magic a secret, he really was an awful liar. And really what could he say? He couldn't think of a lie that would be believable. He was sick of lying to Arthur. Maybe he could tell him some of it. Maybe it would help them regain some of their closeness. Merlin craved that relationship, he wanted it back.

But he had taken too long to reply, and Arthur had seen Merlin wince. Arthur grew more concerned, clearly whatever was going on was more serious then Arthur had thought it was. Arthur stood, and crossed the room to stand in front of Merlin. "Merlin?" Arthur asked quietly, placing a hand on Merlin's shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.

Merlin glanced up, before looking away. What was he supposed to say? He needed more time! "You know you can talk to me Merlin." Arthur said, somewhat awkwardly. "You know that I consider you my closest…" Friend, Merlin knew that's what Arthur was trying to say. "I want to help you." And I'm worried; Merlin knew that that's what Arthur wanted to say –was trying to say- in his own way.

"It's a long story Arthur."

"I have time."

"I'm not sure it's one you'll want to hear."

Arthur just stared at him. "Just spit it out Merlin, clearly I want to know or I wouldn't be asking!" Merlin winced again. Arthur sighed, "Let's sit down." He gestured to the seats by the fire. Once they were sitting, Merlin quite awkwardly having never actually sat here before. Usually he was working when they talked, not sitting with Arthur in his rooms. It left Merlin feeling decidedly unbalanced, and he wondered if that was perhaps Arthur's intention.

"Well, to start with I was Kanen's servant for around eleven years –right up until I came here at eighteen. My mother she- well we needed the money. And Kanen, he wasn't quite as hard on Ealdor whenever he had one of us. He never needed the food; he only took it to show he could. To show he had the power to do it, and whenever he had someone from the village working for him he could show his…" Merlin hesitated, looking for the right word. "dominance that way."

Arthur stared into the fire as he listened to Merlin speak. It wasn't uncommon for nobility to behave that way; they did it to keep the commoners as downtrodden as possible so as to ensure that they stayed under their control. He hadn't liked the way Merlin had said dominance. Arthur had noticed Merlin's hesitation, obvious Kanen hadn't been a nice master. Not that Arthur had expected it. "So, you worked for him, to help your mother and the village." Merlin nodded, and Arthur couldn't help his next question. "For eleven years? Then why on earth are you still so –so horrible at it?"

Merlin looked rather indignant. "I wouldn't say I'm horrible—"

"Just keep telling yourself that Merlin." Arthur said dryly.

The conversation degenerated from there into their usual banter, and it wasn't until Merlin had left that Arthur realized that he hadn't really got any of his questions answered.

The next morning found Arthur meeting with the lords from Essetir. Introductions had been made, and there were eight Lords in all that had come. Although the eight that were present represented a larger group of nobility. Arthur had recognized Kanen immediately; the man hadn't changed at all. From the obvious sneer Kanen wore Arthur knew that Kanen also recognized him.

Arthur hadn't had a chance to talk to Merlin again, so before the Lords had arrived he had instructed Gwaine, Lancelot, Leon, Elyan, and Percival to be on the lookout (and to keep a close eye) on Kanen as well as the Lords Rion and Julian. Not that he would have needed to; his knights were obviously just as concerned as Arthur himself was. When Lord Julian was introduced Arthur had immediately disliked the man. Julian had given off an oily vibe, as if he could slither his way out of any given situation. Arthur had also disliked Lord Rion, he had look hard and unforgivable.

After the introductions had been made Arthur had the lords shown to their rooms so that they could settle in before the feast that night. Of course, it was then that Kanen had noticed Merlin. Arthur couldn't pinpoint the exact moment that Kanen had seen Merlin, but he had noticed Kanen's change in stance. Gone was the slight sneer, and Kanen had practically dripped with false sincerity as he inquired after Merlin. Arthur exchanged glances with Gwaine as he watched Merlin dip gracefully into a respectful bow and murmur a "Pleased as always to see you Mi'Lord" in a flawless imitation of a perfect servant. Really, it was quite startling to see.

Arthur could see Gwaine frowning in Kanen's direction, and Lancelot looking rather concernedly at Merlin. "I am quite glad to see you Merlin." Kanen continued, his voice oozing. "It is rather hard to find good help these days; I've been through several personal servants since you left my service." Inexplicably Merlin winced slightly at this, although Arthur had no idea why. "In fact" Kanen continued, "I am in between servants at the moment."

Arthur took this opportunity to jump in. "I'll have one of the palace servants assigned to you Lord Kanen." His voice firm and decisive. He knew that Kanen was angling to use Merlin; it was not unheard of for visiting Lords to use either his or his father's servants during their stay. Usually it was a sign of trust and hospitality, to show that the Camelot wanted whatever arrangement that was being made to work out and thus gave the guest either the prince or king's servant to use in order to show that they were receiving the best possible care. Strictly speaking, Arthur should be assigning Merlin to one of these men, or risk insulting them. And Kanen was situating himself to be the one Merlin was assigned to, the thought made Arthur uneasy.

"Of course, I had been hoping that perhaps Merlin could assist me for the duration of our stay as he already is accustomed to the way I like things done… But I appreciate your generosity all the same." Arthur hadn't been expecting Kanen to be that direct, most lords wouldn't have risked it as it was borderline rude. Arthur would have little choice now but to assign Merlin to Kanen, or he would risk insulting all of the Lords. The political ramifications would not be good, Arthur had no choice now.

He gave a polite answer back, and had assigned Merlin to Kanen. He felt awful about it, and had a sick twist in his stomach. But Merlin would be fine. After all, he had worked for Kanen for eleven years. Merlin would have said something, if there was a reason for Arthur to worry.

At least, that's what Arthur kept telling himself.

Thanks everyone that has reviewed so far, I really appreciate it! The next chapter should be out in a couple days, and I'll be longer then this one :) Leave me a review and tell me what you think!

Also: I know which direction I'm going in this story, but I'd like to get a sense of what you guys are thinking. So in your review let me know if you want this to be Arthur/Merlin slash or for it to stay strictly Bromance.