AHHHHH! sorry for the long wait! I seriously love you guys for liking this story so here you go!

also, i didn't edit :) i feel so bad that i'm just uploading this and i'll edit later :P

The next morning, Merlin was up early for once. He stretched like a cat under the warm covers; a grin lighting up his face as he thought of Lancelot and Gwen. Unfortunately, Lancelot had to wait for Elyan to return to Camelot from a patrol in two weeks to get his approval, and then Lancelot was going to propose two weeks after that, when the couple celebrated their three years of exclusivity. Merlin stretched one last time and then got out of bed, wincing slightly at the cold floor under his bare feet. He quickly changed his clothes and washed his face and teeth and then headed out to the door, grabbing a sandwich from Gaius.

Merlin hummed as he walked through the slowly waking castle. The morning was slightly cool and the rising sun made everything seem warmer and more magical. Merlin felt at peace.

The manservant walked through the kitchens, making a good breakfast for Arthur, blushing slightly at the thought of the King. Merlin had realized early on in his relationship with Arthur that he felt strongly about the prat, but he only realized last year that his feelings were those of love. Since then, he had gone through many emotional panic attacks – all of which Gwen helped him through – deciding how best to handle his new found emotions for the King. Now he was trying to ignore his feelings and focus on making Arthur the best King and person he could possibly be. No matter how many times Gwen and Lancelot (the only two who knew of his feelings) told him Arthur cared for him too, Merlin didn't see it. Besides, even if Arthur had a preference for men, there was no way he would like Merlin in that way. Merlin was nothing special.

Merlin shook himself slightly, reprimanding himself for thinking negative thoughts on a beautiful day.

When he was done with the meal, Merlin walked through the castle, making his way to Arthur's room.

It would be nice to wake him up with a kiss…

Merlin finally arrived at Arthur's room, and slowly opened the door. He stepped into the room and turned to put the food down while glancing at Arthur's sleeping figure.

The King was peacefully sleeping in his bed and Merlin almost didn't want to wake him up. The manservant went over to the windows and began drawing the curtains.

"Time to wake up Arthur! You've got a long day of training ahead of you!" Merlin said cheerfully while moving around the room.

The King groaned slightly and pulled the covers up higher to cover his eyes from the sunlight.

"Arthur no!" Merlin laughed slightly and grabbed the covers trying to yank them from the King's grasp.

Arthur tugged back slightly, and Merlin gave a harsher tug … and ended up sprawled on the floor.

The manservant sat up slightly, blinking, with the covers still in his hands, to see a very annoyed, and very naked, Arthur sitting up.

"Yes, Merlin, I'm up." The King seemed to have no shame as he slipped off the bed and pulled on a pair of trousers.

Merlin's face was entirely red. "Arthur!"

"What?" The King continued to walk towards his table. "It's nothing you haven't seen before."

Merlin's brow furrowed. Arthur seemed especially annoyed and irritated this morning. Merlin couldn't think of anything recently that would put Arthur in such a mood.

"Arthur, are you okay?" Merlin asked as he got up and began making the bed.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Arthur had sat down and had begun eating.

"You just seem a little troubled about something this morning." Merlin moved away from the bed and went to go sit with Arthur.

"No."

Merlin froze, his hand still gripping the back of the chair to Arthur's right. Arthur's tone had been cold as he ordered Merlin to stop, and Merlin began to think something was seriously angering the King.

"Get started on your chores immediately. We have a long day today. The knights have been lacking in training, and I have to sort that out." Arthur waved his hand and continued to eat.

Merlin slowly moved away from the table "Okay." He left Arthur's chambers in confusion; the knights were not lacking in training, so why had Arthur used that excuse?

"Arthur!"

The King turned at the sound of Geoffrey's voice.

"Yes?"

"Look who I found!" Geoffrey seemed extremely excited, so Arthur glanced at the two figures standing behind the knight. Arthur smiled a little uneasily. The two men used to be Arthur's 'friends' (they were more like thugs who agreed with everything Arthur said). These were the two knights that had been with Arthur when he had first met Merlin.

"Ah, Lucas, Matthew." Arthur nodded his head in greeting.

"They said they hadn't spoken to you in a few years!" Geoffrey moved closer.

"Yes, well I need the best of the best in my inner circle of knights." Arthur stated.

"But we used to be good friends with them!" Geoffrey spoke quieter, as if their conversation was confidential and extremely important. "Why don't you give them another chance to prove themselves? They are extremely loyal to you Arthur and you have to admit you did leave them rather cruelly."

Arthur hesitated. The knights used to be Arthur's 'entourage', but he didn't need that anymore. On the other hand, his old friends did at least deserve a chance to prove themselves.

"Okay, you can train with us today." Arthur agreed.

"Thank you, my King." Matthew smiled. "I have to admit, I look forward to proving myself today."

"Me too!" Lucas agreed. "It's been a while since we've trained with you and we miss our younger years."

Arthur smiled back, feeling extremely guilty. He could not recall exactly why he had left Matthew and Lucas behind when he had become King, but he knew it had something to do with when he had met Lancelot and decided that was the type of knight he wanted to surround himself with.

Arthur turned away to grab his sword. Lancelot. Obviously, leaving Lucas and Matthew behind for someone like Lancelot was a mistake. He could see that now.

Percival was a very observant person. He was known to be a quieter knight and preferred to watch from afar to make an unbiased judgment of actions. He was very adept at reading facial and body movements and could pick out most lies. And so, Percival was the first person to notice something was wrong between Arthur and Merlin.

Over the past week, Arthur seemed to be drawing farther and farther away from his manservant and closer to the knight Geoffrey. Percival had heard from Leon about Geoffrey and Arthur's childhood, but he had disregarded it because he knew Arthur and he knew that the King would never go back to the way he was. At least not with Merlin around.

But Merlin was not around. At all times of the day, Percival could see Merlin doing chores that didn't require him around the King. Not to mention Geoffrey was constantly with the King, so Merlin and Arthur were never alone. Merlin's absence in Arthur's life was changing Arthur subtlety so far. The King seemed to be colder and more uncaring towards his knights. Percival didn't like it.

But Percival could also see the looks Arthur gave Merlin when he thought no one was looking. There was longing, anger, sadness, betrayal, and, hidden very deep, love. It made Percival very curious to know what was going through the King's mind, because there were rumours going around the younger knights that Merlin had betrayed the King somehow. Percival didn't know the origination of the rumours, but they had traveled fast and there were already quite a few knights and lords who believed that Merlin was out of the King's favour. Already, tension was stirring between the younger and lower ranks of knights and on more than one occasion Percival had caught them openly mocking Merlin and trying to make his job as a servant more difficult. Merlin, on his part, did nothing in retaliation of these attacks. Neither did Arthur.

"What is wrong with you today?" Arthur's annoyed voice rang out amongst the knights in the training field. Gwaine took a step back from where he had been half-heartedly attacking the shield Merlin was holding.

"I just don't think this is proper training is all." Gwaine said calmly. "What does this achieve? Merlin doesn't even have a sword. He doesn't move around like a knight. No where in battle will we face a men standing still holding a shield."

Arthur furrowed his eyebrow, as though he saw Gwaine's point but was trying to find a reason as to why Gwaine was wrong. Suddenly, Geoffrey stepped forward.

"Who are you to question the King in such a matter?" Geoffrey was flanked by two knights Percival recognized as Lucas and Matthew. He knew them to be some of the less honourable and more blood-thirsty knights. "The King has asked us to train and we shall do so. In battle, there are many occasions that the enemy will drop their swords and beg for mercy. The King recognizes that you must not show mercy. In war, you must kill your enemy and move on. It is the only way to win!"

The surrounding knights took up a cheer at the end, but Percival, Gwaine, Lancelot, and Leon stood silent. Percival could see the hesitance and reluctance in Arthur's eyes that was quickly masked.

"Is that what you truly believe?" Merlin's voice rang out suddenly, silencing everyone. Arthur's eyes cut to Merlin's face. "Arthu- My Lord, surely you don't believe that you must kill everyone. There is more than just killing. The war doesn't even need to happen if you talk to your enemies and try to understand-"

"Ah!" Geoffrey laughed suddenly. "The servant thinks he knows better than the knights!" There was mocking laughter amongst the crowd. "He thinks he knows better than the King!"

The grumbling and laughter spread and grew in intensity.

"Hey, wait-" Gwaine moved, but was restrained by Merlin's hand on his arm. Percival saw Merlin give Gwaine a sad smile as he shook his head. Percival immediately understood. Merlin didn't want any of the knights to come to his defense because they would in turn be shunned by Geoffrey and removed from protecting Arthur.

"Matthew, why don't you show Gwaine what the King expects?" Geoffrey stepped back and Matthew came forward, swinging his sword.

The knight immediately attacked the servant's shield, and Merlin nearly buckled from the force. Percival could see Gwaine clenching his fists and Lancelot restraining himself from moving forward.

Suddenly, Merlin cried out as the shield fell from his grip and the manservant fell to the ground, hunched over.

"Merlin!" Lancelot couldn't restrain himself and he moved forward. Merlin uncurled slightly as Lancelot helped him up, and Percival could see that Matthew had managed to cut Merlin along his side. The tunic was already seeped with red.

"He needs Gaius!" Lancelot spoke frantically. "I can take him."

Percival blinked in shock at the blazing rage in Arthur's eyes as he observed Merlin and Lancelot. What surprised Percival even more was that Arthur did nothing to help Merlin. Always, always, when Merlin got hurt, Arthur would check over the servant for any other injuries and take him immediately to help. Arthur stood stiffly and spoke through clenched teeth. "Fine. Go."

The servant and the knights headed towards the castle.

"Oh, and Merlin?" Arthur spoke up.

"Yes?" The manservant turned slightly, wincing from the pain.

"This isn't an excuse to slack off. I expect to see you tonight doing your chores."

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