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Noblesse Oblige

It was unfortunate that Arthur's very bad mood coincided with his manservant's need to request a favor. The dark-haired young man rarely asked for anything from the prince so he figured he was due. His optimism proved premature.

"Rise and shine, Sire," Merlin said in his usual chipper manner as he pulled back the curtains from around Arthur's bed. The prince grumbled something under his breath. He did not want to get up. His day ahead was to consist of long council meetings alongside his father. Yuk. When he finally crawled out of bed, his body felt stiff and achy from training some new recruits the previous day. One young man in particular, son of an impoverished noble, had connected several times with Arthur's body. What the young man lacked in finesse, he made up for in brute strength. Arthur looked at his ribs. There was some multicolor bruising. Some purple, blue, green, yellow. In addition, his wrist hurt. He thought he remembered falling on it. Arthur was in a sour frame of mind. He had had a crappy day yesterday and an equally crappy day to look forward to today.

"If you could do without me for a few days, Arthur, I would like to visit my mother in Ealdor."

Being reminded that his manservant had a mother whom he could visit and who loved him, and that he, Arthur, a royal prince who lived in a castle, did not, was pretty much the last straw.

"No, you may not leave, Merlin. And yes, I do require your presence and your assistance as woefully inadequate as they may be."

"It would just be for a few days."

"I don't care. No!" Arthur was actually yelling to Merlin's annoyance.

"When do I ever ask you for anything? Why can't you let me have this one small request?" Merlin's good mood had evaporated. It was with difficulty that he resisted the urge to dump wine all over the prince's head.

"You are merely a servant, Merlin. I don't owe you any explanation," Arthur said in a haughty tone.

"You are such a prat."

"Careful, Merlin, or you'll spend the rest of the day in the stocks."

Merlin shut his mouth, fuming. He finished the rest of his chores in dead silence.

"Will that be all, Sire?" Merlin asked, stiffly.

"Yes." Arthur did in fact have a long list of additional chores for Merlin, but he was too busy mentally kicking himself to vocalize them. Despite appearances, Arthur cared what his servant thought about him, and he was honest enough with himself to realize he'd been unfair. It was true that Merlin rarely asked him for personal favors. He watched the young man walk to the door and leave. Well, that tore it. One more thing in his life that wasn't working right.

Arthur needed to think of an excuse to follow Merlin and casually reverse his decision on his servant's request. What reason could he have to follow the young man and visit Gaius' quarters? His ribs were bruised but not much one could do for bruises. They faded with time. His wrist hurt, but he knew it wasn't broken. Wait. It was sprained. And it looked a little swollen. He could play it up a bit. It would have to do.

Merlin was sitting at the table sulking and half listening as Gaius was flipping through a book on herbal remedies and reading a few sentences here and there. "Sage was used by the ancient Egyptians to cleanse wounds and stop bleeding."

Arthur entered the room quietly and stood watching them before the two became aware of his presence. Gaius noticed the sudden tension between Merlin and the prince.

"Good morning, Sire," Gaius said. "What can we do for you?"

"He's thought of a long list of chores for me," Merlin said, grumpily.

"I came to see Gaius," Arthur said, coldly.

"Certainly, Arthur. Here, sit down." The physician cleared a few things off a bench.

Arthur was cradling his right wrist in his other hand. "I hurt my wrist yesterday." Here Arthur allowed himself a small grimace. "I don't think it's broken."

"You said nothing this morning about - ," Merlin began.

"Merlin." Gaius gave him a look. "Bring me a pan of cold water and a clean cloth."

The elderly physician gently prodded Arthur's wrist. Arthur thought a small moan would be appropriate. Oops, he may have overplayed it. Both Gaius and Merlin were starting to give him odd looks.

The physician and the warlock had seen the intrepid prince at death's door more times than they cared to remember. The bite from the Questing Beast had nearly killed him. And now he was being all dramatic over a mildly sprained wrist? It was deuced odd was what it was.

Gaius rolled Arthur's sleeve up further. He studied the prince as he did so. Arthur disliked being fussed over and yet he sat there patiently. The physician plucked the cloth from the pan of cold water and wrung out some of the excess water. He wrapped it around the young man's injured wrist as a cold compress. Ordinarily he would have assigned that task to Merlin but since the two seemed to be at daggers drawn, he chose to do it himself.

Arthur cleared his throat. "Thank you, Gaius. It feels much better." He busied himself plucking at the damp cloth. "Uh, Merlin, how long did you say your visit to Hunith would be?'

Merlin was caught by surprise and did not immediately answer. Arthur looked up at him and waited.

"A few days. Just a few days."

"I will have someone assigned to cover your duties until you return." Arthur got up to leave.

"Thank you." Merlin was looking less sulky by the minute.

Gaius waited until the prince had departed before he commented. "Well, that would explain that little scene," he said with a laugh.