It very rarely rained in Camelot and for that the castles servants were thankful. The summer season was coming to an end and Arthur woke up shivering, rolling over with a groan he cracked an eye open and glanced at the hearth. Empty stone stared back at him and he groaned even louder. Where in the great gods was Merlin.

As the thought left the Kings mind the wooden door to his chambers slammed open, the sound echoing of the stone walls

"Sire...I'm sorry!"

Merlin stood panting in the doorway, one hand balancing a food tray while Arthur's chainmail was slung over his shoulder and slowly slipping down his back. Arthur watched his useless manservant with narrowed eyes.

"You were at the tavern weren't you?"

It was more of a statement than a question.

"No!"

Merlin's look of shock almost had Arthur fooled but it was quickly gone as his servant rushed around doing all the jobs he should have done an hour earlier. Surprisingly the fire was quick to be lit and the drapes thrown open much to the dismay of the servant and his master. Rain fell lightly on Camelot's courtyard causing puddles amongst the cobble stones, which servants and knights carefully side stepped on their way around the castle. Arthur rolled out of bed and jumped as his bare feet touched the freezing flagstones and Merlin watched as he 'danced' towards his seat at the table. Merlin went back to watching the rain run down the window pane so as not to alert Arthur to his smile.

"Mrln!"

The manservant looked around to Arthur's face stuffed with food.

"Yes...?"

Arthur swallowed quickly.

"Make sure there are no holes in my boots, I don't want soaked feet when I go to training."

Merlin's mouth dropped open slightly.

"Training... in this weather?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow at his spluttering servant, who was glancing between Arthur and the rain outside.

"Yes, Merlin, rain is no excuse for slacking. So I want you down at the training field as quickly as possible. I will be needing your... useful services."

Merlin stared forlornly at his King and looked back at the rain.

Oh what a day this was going to be.

Arthur had already left for the knight's first half of training, leaving Merlin cleaning the Kings chambers. He had collected the plates, empty of food and held a basket of dirty laundry under his arm. With a flash of gold in his eyes the door swung open and then shut again as he walked out and down the corridor. Merlin weaved around knights and nobles, trying to avoid dropping the tray of plates or the basket, and eventually got into the servants corridor away from the hustle and bustle of the castles main rooms.

He had gone only four feet when his foot slid from underneath him, in his haste to regain his balance he had thrown his arms up dropping the basket and launching the metal tray and plates into the air. Merlin's hands and feet fumbled to find an upright position and he slammed into the stone wall next to him, hitting his back and sliding down said wall with a grunt of pain. Not a moment later, something bounced of his forehead, hard, temporarily blinding him with pain. It landed to the floor with a clang and in the haze of pain, Merlin recognised it as the tray. With a gasp of breath, Merlin hadn't realised he'd stopped breathing, he unfurled from his ball he'd on instinct rolled up into. With a tentative sigh he opened his eyes, blinking away the blurred vision. With a shaky hand he reached up to touch his aching forehead and hissed with pain as his fingertips met the sensitive lump the tray had left. With a groan he hoisted himself up, with help from the wall and carefully bent down to pick up the dropped plates and clothing. As he was about to set back off he looked around slowly and spotted the large pool of water that was seeping through a broken window pane and eyed it with distaste before hunching his shoulders in pain and walking towards the kitchens.

The din of the kitchens bounced around inside Merlin's head, causing a headache to form at the front of his head. With every crash of pans from Cook, Merlin hunched over a little bit more hoping to ward off the noise in some way. Cursing the weather he scrubbed harder at the mysterious stains in Arthur's clothing, wishing that Arthur would call off training for once in his life.

An hour later, Merlin stood just inside one of the entrances to the training ground, watching the rain with scorn and not at all looking forward to the next few hours. His head was still throbbing; causing his vision to blur slightly but the cooler air helped him concentrate easier. He was suddenly rocketed forward by a slap in between his shoulder blades and was momentarily propelled into the rain but quickly jumped back under cover and turned around.

Gwaine stood behind him wearing his chainmail and carrying a sword, his hair Merlin noted was completely dry.

"Shouldn't you be out there?" asked Merlin gesturing tiredly with one arm.

Gwaine grinned.

"Mornin' to you to Merlin."

Merlin grimaced, and apologised quickly.

"It's okay Merlin. I... uh may have found myself a bit preoccupied this morning thus missing the first few hours of training!"

Merlin glanced up and the tall knight sceptically.

"Preoccupied with a hangover or a girl?" he asked.

Gwaine glowered slightly, pushing Merlin back into the rain muttering something along the lines of "Bit of both". With a small grin, Merlin jogged after his friend. By the time they both arrived at the centre of the training ground, Gwaine's hair was plastered to his forehead and Merlin's clothes hung from his lanky frame, the rain bouncing of his forehead hurt but he tried to ignore it.

"Hey, Princess, are we really going to train today?"

Arthur glanced at Gwaine.

"Would you not go to war because of rain?"

"No but..."

"Well then what's the harm in al little training eh!"

Arthur grinned as Gwaine turned away muttering to himself about princess', girls and ale. The king turned back to address his knights.

"Right for the next part of training you will pair up, one of you will attack as hard as you dare, the other will defend! Merlin grab a sword and join Percival, we have an odd number today!"

Merlin sighed as he walked towards the stand filled with weapons, grabbing a sword he wandered back to Percival, who had an apologetic smile.

"Sorry Merlin, I'll try not to go all out."

Merlin nodded and raised the sword struggling to grip the pommel because of the rain and his lack of gloves. His fingers tightened and he nodded at Percival again. The burly knight lunged forward clashing his sword against Merlin's causing it to almost fly from the servants hands. Tightening his grip once more, Merlin raised his sword. This time the sword did fly from his hands, burying itself in the wet grass beside them.

"Uh, sorry Percival." Merlin mumbled as he attempted to pull the sword from the ground. As it came free, the world seemed to sway in front of Merlin and he saw double. A hand landed on his shoulder keeping him upright and he looked up to see Percival's concerned face.

"Are you okay Merlin, was that too rough?"

Merlin smiled warmly, hiding his pain.

"Nah, just forgot how strong you were!" he laughed shakily. Wiping rain out of his eyes he stepped back a few paces trying to ignore Arthur's shouts at other knights.

"Ready?" he asked Percival who still looked unsure about Merlin's answer. The knight inclined his head and fell back into a stance, he raised his sword and swung it as Merlin's vision once again dipped and swayed. Put off by the sudden movement in his eye sight he lowered his sword slightly and caught Percival's sword. The sudden force combined with Merlin's dubious vision sent the manservant sprawling backwards and for the second time that day he slammed his back into a solid surface. Pain erupted down his spine and his head throbbed brutally. Somewhere in the back of his brain he heard Percival swear and his name was yelled by someone else. But all Merlin could feel was the heat of pain down his back and across his head. He whimpered in pain as someone placed a hand on his shoulders and was instantly released. Slowly his senses returned to him and he became aware of voices around him.

"What happened?!"

"I don't know, he just went down!"

"Did you hit him?"

"No... just the sword!"

Another hand placed itself on his forehead and he shuddered in pain. The hand brushed his soaked bangs from his forehead and he heard a gasp.

"Where in God's name did he get that!?"

Merlin distinctly recognised the angry voice as Gwaine's. With a gasp of air, Merlin lifted his eyelids which had become heavy all of a sudden. Blurred shapes moved above him, blocking any rain that was falling. Blinking slowly, the shapes came into focus and he saw Arthur kneeling over him along with Gwaine and Percival. Leon and Elyan stood further back watching with pale faces.

"Merlin? Can you hear me?" Arthurs hand waved across his face and he followed it slowly.

"Cours' I cn...clotpole." mumbled Merlin.

Arthur half smiled but it dropped when his servant moaned in pain again.

"Merlin, where did you get the lump on your head? Merlin!"

The warlock dragged his eyes open again.

"Fell over..."

Arthur sighed and dragged his hand over his face looking weary.

"Right of course you did, does anything hurt?"

Merlin nodded but winced as the pain returned with a vengeance.

"My back and head." He gasped through the pain.

Arthur glanced at Gwaine and a look passed between them.

"Leon, I need you to run to Gaius, tell him what's happened and that we'll be bringing Merlin up. Elyan, go get Gwen, she'll want to help."

The two knights raced of through the rain, disappearing quickly. Merlin shivered fervently as he became aware of things around him, like the wet grass seeping through his already saturated jacket and shirt. A large piece of cloth was quickly draped over him.

"Merlin? We're going to move but it's probably going to hurt a lot so don't worry about yelling or anything... okay?" Arthur looked into his manservant's eyes firmly. Merlin blinked in understanding before sliding his eyelids closed. He felt hands work their way under his body carefully and he hissed through his teeth as their hand brushed his spine. In one swift movement he was lifted and Merlin tensed as everything erupted in bright light, a scream tore itself through his clenched teeth and was abruptly cut off as his world faded around him.

I have not written fanfiction in over 2/3 years but I really want to get back into it. Merlin is such a wonderful series! I'm so sad that it's going but Merlin shall live on in fanfiction always! I have read through this but I have a feeling there will still be mistakes so sorry for that, dear reader. Please do leave a review as there will be a second chapter! ^_^