His elongated fingers concealed a tiny blue bottle, he sighs as he gives it to her, a sign of sympathy because of her condition, or was he merely sick of the repetition, this thought slightly dampened her spirits. The slight merriment she had when he appeared to her was now ebbing away. She took it from him as she always did, and he modestly bowed his head and made a move to the door.

"Merlin." This stalled him, and she gave herself a moment to take him in, the sight of him from the back before he turned towards her.

His mouth turned into a frown when he noticed her look. He dithered, shifting from foot to foot, before asking, "Yes my lady...is there anything else you want?"

Morgana's lips went dry, it was almost as if all her thoughts of him during the day had collected, and it had ended at that moment...a pinnacle moment in her day where this servant would unintentionally have her at his mercy, even though it was supposed to be the other way round.

He says it like he wasn't just obligated to do what she asked, but wanted to, almost needy and submissive, it sends a shiver of glee up her spine. Servants had the habit to ask her what she needs. But Merlin seemed to go the distance, he would give her fall on eye contact and almost sift through her as if guessing what she wanted.

She sighed and reluctantly broke contact with him. "You must get sick of the way things are, doing the same thing everyday...never getting credit or reward, just being a servant to such a demanding family."

He seemed content to answer her. "It's their royal right to be demanding, and everybody has a routine to maintain sanity." She reframed from gaping at him – it was these little moments of wise which made him special, and had her reeling. He continued, but this time in his ordinary boyish manner. "I like to think my services are almost helping the kingdom...kind of like I'm running it- b..but not actually ruling it, what I mean is...in some...form." His eyes closed briefly to recover from tripping over his words.

"I think you are Merlin, you would make an exceptional king." She replied giving him a mock look of regency, which made him crack a smile, that always made her melt."-Just don't tell Arthur."

"-Oh no I wouldn't dream of it."

Morgana regarded him affectionately. "You could take over the kingdom, supreme ruler." She added mockingly while circling him. This made him release a nervous chuckle, he didn't follow her with his gaze but remained stationery allowing her to navigate around him. "What would you do differently?" After what seemed like a minute, she grinned at his earnest approach to the question.

Unsure to where she was headed, he tried – "Well if I was, which I'm not, because Arthur was born to be king...I would, eliminate the death penalty." Merlin kept his voice low as if worried someone would overhear and think he was planning an uprising. "Erm servants would get weekends off...I wouldn't require a manservant."

"-See not so hard."Morgana brought herself closer to his back, her face nearly pressing into his shoulder, she had to compose herself for a moment when she caught a whiff of his aroma. "So King Merlin, you're in your castle, your servants adore you, is there a woman in this fantasy, a queen?"

Morgana had an image in her head of Merlin and a faceless brunette watching over Camelot. She returned her attention to Arthur's manservant, he seemed to be rubbing his brow as if working out a sensible thing to say. "Uther doesn't have a queen."

"I suppose that's the curse of Camelot, they have a short life expectancy." She was hoping he would give a better structured answer, but knowing Merlin, the wonderfully awkward boy he is, he would rather avoid the question all together if it were a question of women. She wondered if this meant he was as normal as the others, their discretion was because they had someone in mind. "Do you prefer working alone Merlin?"

Merlin's head seemed to tilt side ways to observe her like a dog hearing a strange noise. "I don't prefer anything, I don't plan on marrying or crowning myself at present, is it wrong to not dream of such things?" He was being sly, and it drew her in, not wanting to let him off easy she waded into risky waters.

"Are you scared of women?"

"No." He replied simply, hmm believable . "No" He said less firmly and in more of a humoured tone. "My experience with women is limited..." Merlin finished before he began, as if feeling he was revealing too much, he glanced at the tonic in her hands. "Well don't let me keep you from your sleep." Morgana noticed his eye line, and even more so his hesitance to leave, and was hopeful. "Sleep well my lady."

Morgana had her own needs which she couldn't starve off, and felt selfishly compelled to keep Merlin here at all costs. She wasn't aware she had begun speaking until she realised Merlin had turned in the door frame as if intent on listening. "Why should there be a taboo on such natural things, I mean as long as they're done at the side, why should people complain?"

"My lady I don't-". The atmosphere was humid.

"-Please... let me finish." She avoided his gaze. "My whole life I've been kept behind walls, visitors and suitors come and go, I had a proposal once, which Uther thankfully would not allow. That was my first taste of womanhood and it slipped by without question, I suppose I didn't really understand, I was 13. I mean... who knows when my next chance will be, and by then I would have wasted my youth, for I have not yet tried the..."

She looked up from her monologue at him, he stared right back with curiosity. His blue orbs bore into hers with their usual intensity, stripping away her decorum. "...Err...the forbidden fruits...maybe that's something else we have in common that we should venture together." Her voice by the end was but a whisper and had the desired effect on the servant, he had to lean in to hear her, and he seemed to straighten rather quickly, aghast by what she had said. She cleared her throat, and observed him through tentative eyes. "What do you say?"

His perfectly formed mouth quivered. "My Lady, I...I..."

Panic. Morgana tried to keep her face as neutral as possible, embarrassment was not something she wanted to convey but by Merlin's shocked stance and reluctance to answer...and coherently, she felt like running out the room and locking him in so he could tell no one of this.

Before he could say 'I' for the fifth time she interjected.

"-Oh my...you think I'm being serious, sorry about that I just got a little... bored, and wanted to break our little routine with a joke, don't worry you can return to Gaius with laughter in your heart. Oh Merlin you're too easy." She had fixed on her delighted teaze face, and was watching Merlin's expression change from shocked; to even more shocked, then to embarrassed merriment. Morgana had to applaud her quick recovery, though Merlin wasn't so quick...another quality that made her heart ache.

"Oh." His hand was over his heart, and his breathy smile stretched to the full width of his face. "Oh my lady...you had me. To imagine; You propositioning a humble servant like me." Merlin awkwardly manoeuvred to the door. "It would have certainly broke the routine if I had said yes." He cleared his throat and squeezed through the gap he had made for himself in the frame before disappearing into the dark.

She called. "Goodnight!" Making sure the door was closed before resting against it. "Please say he believes it, oh by the power of the goddess."

Merlin sauntered into the physician's quarters. The old man looked at him through his self-made spectacles. "I will get you your dinner."

"That's okay I'm not hungry."

Gaius gave him his studious stare. "O?" His ward having a rather hectic life would hardly miss a meal. "Did you take Arthur's leftovers?"

Merlin frowned, did his guardian really think that of him. "No, just had a funny day that's all. You know those days where something spectacularly weird happens, and you're left replaying it over and over again in your head-"

"Define weird." Gaius was of course right, within an age of powerful magic and mystical creatures, and having a destiny entwined with this, what wasn't weird? "I take it you've done your chores?"

"Yep everything...even the tonics you left out were delivered."

Gaius still had his single expression. "You're becoming too good, we'll make a physician's apprentice of you yet."

"Ha."

Settling down in the seat opposite Gaius, he contemplated what had took place in Morgana's chambers; she had been her usual casual self, but he had been slightly more aware she had invaded his personal space, not necessarily a bad thing. The princess had an easy-going manner with her status, which made her more approachable, which he adored ...adored?

In minutes of being in her chambers, she had made him King, hinted for him to take a wife, and last but not least...propositioned him. Though it was only a joke, he wasn't sure whether to believe it or not, or be thoroughly offended, it border lined mocking, either the woman in question believed him to be too idiotic to get intimate with anything, or he couldn't handle a royal life without a woman. Indeed if he could get one. Merlin shook his head fervently getting his interesting thought trail out of his head.