Bow to the King

Arthur and Merlin were at the throne room by themselves when Merlin fell over. Well, this was nothing new but this time it was partly Arthur's fault and Merlin ended up on the floor with a big bleeding cut on his leg. Merlin had been trying to catch up on Arthur, running, with large pile of cleaning equipment in his arms. Arthur didn't realize Merlin was already so close to him and decided to turn around to complain about his servant's slow movements. Arthur had his chainmail on so he barely swayed from the impact but Merlin crashed on the floor and on something sharp-edged.

There was a surprised: "Whoa!" And then Merlin was hissing through gritted teeth while holding his leg carefully. Arthur rolled his eyes and was about to make a sarcastic comment but swallowed his words when he saw all the blood on Merlin. The servant's mouth was pressed in thin line when he removed his hand. The left leg of his trousers was already covered in blood which continued spreading till the first offending red drops hit the cold stone floor. Merlin didn't have time to utter a word before Arthur was crouched next to him and putting his arms under the thin man's legs and back. On the next moment the King was already lifting Merlin up from the middle of all the cleaning equipments as easily as the servant was merely a child and carried him to sit on the closest seat. Arthur knelt on one knee in front of Merlin and started to remove fabric from the cut with careful and hesitant hands. Merlin was surprised by the contact and winced.

"Stay still you idiot!" ordered Arthur without looking up from where his hands were, fingers already covered in blood.

"Don't fuss Arthur, it's just a scratch." mumbled Merlin.

Arthur just ignored him. That's when Leon came in to the room just to freeze on the spot barely inside and hand still on door handle. Arthur glanced over and returned his attention to his servant only seconds later.

"Sir Leon, good! Close the door and wait for a moment, I might need help here after a while." said Arthur loudly enough for the knight to hear him across the room. Now Merlin glanced at the knight too. Leon was standing there his eyes wide and astonishment all over his face. Only now Merlin became very aware of where he was sitting on. Face pale Merlin turned to look at Arthur, at the King, who was still kneeling in front of him.

"Arthur. Arthur! I'm sitting on the throne!" hissed Merlin.

Arthur lifted his head to look at him with a look in his face that told he didn't understand what Merlin's point in stating the obvious was. Arthur answered to Merlin's agitated whisper with normal voice and a frown on his face:

"Yes you are Merlin and you will not leave from there before I say so. I don't like how much this is bleeding; we need to get you to Gaius. Sir Leon! Come over here and help me to carry Merlin to Gaius' chambers!"

-w-w-w-

Leon was in charge of guarding the throne room and was standing right outside the door when he heard a crash and a cry. He hesitated a moment since he couldn't hear anything more but decided to check what had happened. Leon had just stepped over the doorstep when the sight in front of him made him stop. The knight saw the blood and the things scattered all over the place and could just guess what had happened. But neither of those things had affected him. No, it was the scene never before played in all of Camelot's history that froze him.

Merlin was sitting on the throne and Arthur was hunched over on his knees in front of the younger man. Servant was upon the throne and the King was kneeling in front of him. For a moment Leon thought about all the great rulers lost long ago who had used their power from that very throne. He thought how wrong that occurrence in front of him was. But then he watched those two young men in front of him, the taken aback expression on the face of a servant and the concern of the King - and he could think nothing but how true, honest and right that moment was.

He thought about how compassionate King they had got this time and how much of it was thanks to Merlin. That servant had helped Camelot to get the great King of hers but no one knew to thank him. Through that act, the one that made Arthur change and blossom in all his glory, Merlin had had and still had an enormous amount of power. People of Camelot didn't know it but their fate rested on those hands as well as on their King's. Only few of the knights and servants inside the castle walls had seen the change Merlin had made. Everyone saw the change, yes, but only those few saw the real force behind it. It was like the servant had walked straight inside the castle and shoved Arthur out so the at the time ignorant prince could see what the reality was like.

Merlin didn't have a throne, it was just as invisible as his way of using power but now that he rested on Arthur's throne… Leon couldn't believe there would be a day when he saw someone else than Arthur on the throne of Camelot without feeling wronged or disgusted. Only now the older knight understood that Merlin had every right to sit on that place. Leon couldn't help but think that it was an honor to Camelot to have someone so loyal and pure of heart sit on its throne that had been stained with blood and hatred over and over again for generations.

"Leon! Come over here and help me to carry Merlin to Gaius' chambers!"

Those words said by a King kneeling in front of his subject woke the knight from his thoughts. The King's back was facing the knight so he couldn't see him but scared Merlin looked straight at Leon. Leon smiled and did something on the spur of the moment. This once he could show respect to Camelot's crownless King and invisible protector whom you couldn't acknowledge but to who you owed more than you could ever repay.

He bowed.

Note: So, this is my first try to write fanfiction and I would love to hear what you think about it. English is nothing like my first language so I'm sure there are some mistakes. Maybe you could point them out to me with some feedback about the story? :) And I certainly don't own Merlin.