Chapter One

It was strange. It was strange not having Arthur ordering him round, telling him to go do some mindless chore that he had already completed around five times that day. But it was pleasant, just them sitting peacefully and silently together, getting on with their work in harmony. Merlin had been absently polishing the same piece of armour for about ten minutes, pondering this thought. He quickly moved on to another piece of metal and started buffing the already gleaming surface (from the time he had already polished it only a few hours before) into an even more shining silver. Arthur was sat across the room at his desk with his head leaning on his propped up arm with a dismal expression on his face. He was holding a collection of papers with tiny writing scribbled across them. With the newfound responsibility of ruling the Kingdom as King, came a great and tedious amount of paperwork. So there Merlin was, sat on the ground beside Arthur's bed, polishing armour, while Arthur was behind his desk sorting through endless piles of mind-numbing documents. But Merlin would be there for him all the way. Merlin knew he could do it. It was only natural for a young and untrained King to be a little bemused at first. But he would get through it, Merlin knew he would. And Merlin would be right there ready to serve, advise and protect him for the whole of his reign, no matter what happened. Merlin would always be there for him.

Suddenly, the harmony was broken by a hasty and urgent knock at the door. Arthur's head jerked up from staring absently down at the text and looked around for the source of the noise. The person who had knocked evidently didn't have the time or patience to wait for admittance as the door swung open before Arthur had had a chance to open his mouth. Sir Leon poked his head around the door and, checking that he wasn't interrupting anything important, stepped into the room.

"Sire, there is a visitor in the courtyard waiting for you. He says his father was a good friend of Uther and so has come to share his sympathy," Leon informed.

Arthur stood up immediately, discarding the papers on his desk. Seemingly thankful for anything else to do rather than sit there for any longer, he strode across the room to Leon.

"What did he say his name was?" Arthur asked.

"He didn't. He just said he wanted to speak to you," Leon answered.

Arthur frowned but followed Leon out of the room all the same. Merlin rolled his eyes and got up from his chore. He deposited his work in a corner of the room and hurriedly followed Arthur out of the room, jogging to catch him up along the corridor.