Summary: Merlin enjoys his first Winter Solstice celebrations in Camelot

Many thanks to my wonderful beta, sarajm, for here always-helpful comments and suggestions.

As always reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome.

Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice had finally arrived and all the residents of Camelot were rushing about involved with the final preparations for the celebrations to be held that day. After an afternoon of demonstrations to be presented by the Knights, the King would be hosting a feast for the resident nobles and the knights and it was scheduled to last until sunrise. Uther had even decreed that the special Solstice Wassail would be distributed to all the residents of the Upper and Lower Town, including Camelot's servants!

Needless to say, Merlin had been run off his feet the past days, what with making sure that Arthur's armour and sword were ready for the tournament and that the clothes the Prince had chosen to wear to the feast were clean and in good repair. He had also been helping out generally with cleaning and decorating the Great Hall as well as providing as much assistance to Gaius as he could; the physician was currently dealing with the recent wave of illness that had passed through Camelot. Fortunately, there had been no new cases in the past couple of days, so it seemed like everyone was finally on the mend.

Still, even with all the fetching, carrying, cleaning and everything else that was expected of him, the young warlock was in high spirits and was thoroughly enjoying his first Winter Solstice in Camelot. Yes, he may have been physically exhausted, but he was enthralled by the sheer magnitude of the festivities. In Ealdor, the celebrations were very simple. Here in the castle, however, everything was being done on a grand scale. Everywhere Merlin looked there was greenery being hung and fresh candles being set in all the rooms and all the hallways. New banners had been stitched and put in the Great Hall. Even the huge tapestries had been taken down, cleaned and re-hung. The scents of cedar and pine permeated the castle and although everyone was rushing about in a tizzy, each had a smile on their face and a kind word for whomever they passed.

As he came barrelling around a corner with his arms full of table linens destined for the Great Hall, Merlin ran smack into Arthur and ended up on the floor. Fortunately, Arthur had his wits about him and was able to catch the majority of the linens before they hit the ground.

"Merlin, look where you're going!" said Arthur with a smile, as he chided his manservant who was looking up at him, a little confused as to how he ended up on his backside.

"Arthur! I'm so sorry; I was in a hurry and I didn't see you," responded the lad as he scrambled to his feet. "Thank goodness you saved the linens; I just got them cleaned and folded and I would not want to have to do that again!" and with that he grabbed the cloth out of Arthur's hands and, with a surreptitious rub to his sore backside, he was off down the hall at a run.

"Wait, Merlin!" Arthur called to the receding back of his manservant. "I need to find …," but it was too late. Merlin had already scooted around a corner and was gone from sight. Arthur just smiled, gave his head a small shake and thought to himself, "I'll speak with him later". Arthur was fully aware that this was Merlin's first experience of a Camelot Winter Solstice and was content to let the lad enjoy himself.

It was a chilly day but the sun, pale though it was, was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue. The Knights' demonstrations were well attended and the air was filled with the thunder of hooves, the clang of sword meeting sword and the roar of the crowd.

All were thrilled by the jousting, the one-on-one combat displays and the melee. Even the squires had gotten involved. Sir Leon had been working with them over the past couple of weeks and they were very proud to put on a skills demonstration of their own: a coordinated version of their daily exercises.

Back in Arthur's chambers, Merlin was readying the Prince's bath and was laying out his clothes for the evening. Arthur entered the room, shedding bits and pieces as he came in; his gloves hit the table with a dull thud and his cloak puddled to the ground behind him.

"Merlin, a little help here," he called to his manservant as he tried to extricate himself from his gear.

Merlin had just added the last bucket of water to the steaming bath and was sprinkling a few fresh herbs across the surface when he turned and saw Arthur tangled up in his tabard.

"Hold on a minute, Arthur, you're making it worse," said Merlin as he hurried over to the Prince's side to try and untangle him. "Stop squirming! I can have you out of that mess in no time if you'd just stand still!" said the servant in a rather bold tone.

A chuckle came out of Arthur, though it was well-muffled by the clothing wrapped around his head, as he responded with a brisk "Yes Sir" to his manservant.

In no time, Arthur's head was free and he could breathe again. "Thank you Merlin. Is my bath ready? I'm chilled to the bone and could use a nice long soak."

"Ready and waiting, Your Highness," responded Merlin with a cheeky smile, as the Prince slipped behind the screen and proceeded to disrobe. A quiet "aaahhh" accompanied Arthur's slipping into the warm bath and soon the only sounds in the room were the gentle splashing of water as Arthur relaxed into the heat and the occasional clink and thud as Merlin put away Arthur's clothes and brushed off his boots.

While Merlin was helping Arthur with the last of his finery, the Castle bells sounded. The Feast was beginning!

As they headed out of the chambers towards the Great Hall, Arthur looked over at his manservant. Merlin's eyes were bright and he had a huge grin on his face; the lad was very obviously excited and looking forward to enjoying the Solstice celebrations. Arthur could remember his own excitement as a young child when the Winter Solstice came around and he was eager that Merlin enjoy the whole experience as well.

Just before they entered the Great Hall, Arthur pulled Merlin to the side and said "Merlin, I realize that this is your first Winter Solstice celebration here in Camelot and I want you to have some time to enjoy it. So, once the dinner is over and your serving duties have been completed, you have my permission to head into the Town and have some fun."

Merlin was so surprised at this pronouncement, that his jaw hit his chest. "Really, Arthur? I can go to the celebrations? Thank you so much!"

"It's my pleasure, Merlin. But remember, you have duties to fulfil before you can leave," responded the Prince with a grin of his own.

"Don't worry, Arthur. I'll be the best servant in the room tonight!"

And he was. Merlin was right there every time to fill a flagon, rescue a dropped napkin, replace a spoon…it was almost as if there were three Merlins instead of the usual cheeky one! Even the King commented to Arthur on the care and attention with which Merlin was conducting his duties. Arthur just smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

Once the dinner was done and the evening's entertainments were about to start, Arthur signalled to Merlin. As he leaned in towards his Prince ready to fill his flagon, Arthur simply said to him "Go, and have fun!"

Merlin's face split with a huge grin and with a whispered 'thank you', he headed slowly and sedately out the door. However, once he couldn't be seen, he handed off his wine flagon to another servant and raced down the corridor towards the castle's main doors as if the Hounds of Hell were after him!

The Market Square was bustling: The majority of the stalls were open and all sorts of foodstuffs were for sale. There were meat pies, stews, warm jacket potatoes; there was even a stand with some oranges from Spain! It seem everyone in the Town was there, either examining the wares for sale, standing near one of the several fires to warm up or waiting patiently near the kegs manned by a rotating squad of castle servants to get a mug of the Solstice Wassail. Everyone was smiling and enjoying themselves.

The children seemed to be having the best time of all – they were running around, shrieking to each other as they ducked under tables and around barrels. Each child that Merlin encountered had sticky hands and faces from the peppermint candy that was traditional at this time of year. One little one, the daughter of one of the kitchen servants, spotted Merlin and ran over calling "Merlin, Merlin!"

Hearing his name, he looked down to see Lyra standing there with a gap-toothed smile. "I lost a tooth!" she said, pointing towards her mouth. "And I got candy! Here, you can have some," and she proceeded to push a piece of peppermint stick into Merlin's hand.

"Thank you so much Lyra. It's very kind of you to share your candy with me," responded Merlin as he broke off a piece and popped it in his mouth.

Suddenly a little boy slightly older than Lyra ran by, tapped her on the shoulder and yelled "Catch me" as he continued barrelling across the square. Lyra squealed and ran off after the boy, with a "Bye Merlin" floating on the air behind her.

Merlin smiled at the retreating gaggle of children, popped another piece of peppermint into his mouth and wandered around the market, his eyes wide as he took in all the excitement around him. Suddenly, he found a mug being thrust into his hands and the cry of "Wael Hail" in his ears. Looking up, he saw Franklin, another of the castle servants, with his own mug in his hands.

"Drink up, Merlin. There's plenty more, courtesy of the King," he said as he took a large sip from his mug.

Merlin cautiously lifted his mug to his lips and took a small sip. The fiery liquid hit the back of his throat and burned all the way down to his stomach, where it seemed to light a small fire. The dark-haired servant coughed and spluttered a bit, took another sip, then croaked to Franklin, "That's really strong!"

"Ah, that's right. This is your first Winter Solstice here, isn't it?" asked Franklin. "Well, let me tell you, Camelot is well known for its Solstice Wassail. The brewers have been working on it for weeks and, in my opinion, this is the best batch ever!" said Franklin as he proceeded to drain his mug and look at Merlin keenly.

Knowing what was expected of him, Merlin squared his shoulders and downed the rest of the contents of his mug in one go.

"Good one, Merlin! We'll make a real Camelot-er of you yet!" crowed Franklin as he threw his arm around the lad's shoulders and dragged him off towards the nearest vat of liquid refreshment.

The next couple of hours flew by in a blur. Merlin felt like he had spoken to every single resident of Camelot, had played several games of "catch me" with the children and had consumed numerous mugs of wassail. Needless to say, he was thoroughly enjoying himself and feeling no pain!

Midnight found the young warlock sitting on a barrel, with a meat pie in one hand, a mug of wassail in the other, and a dopey expression on his face. Gwen happened by at this point and when she saw Merlin, she stopped in front of him.

"Merlin, I was wondering when I'd see you," she said with a smile.

"Gwen. Gwen. Gwweeennn! I'm so happy to see you! How are you? I'm having the most wunnerful time!"

"Really?" responded Gwen with a knowing smile. "Merlin, how much have you had to drink?"

"Not much, only a mug or two or three or four or ….." Merlin's voice trailed off as he leaned in towards Gwen. In a whisper, he said "Act'lly, I think I'm drunk!" and he started giggling.

"Okay Merlin. I think it's time to get you home," said Gwen as she gently pried the mug from Merlin's hand and placed it on the ground. "Let me help you."

"I'm fine. I'm fine," retorted Merlin as he tried to hop off the barrel. Well, the getting off part went well, but the staying upright part was a lost cause. Thank goodness Gwen had good reflexes because she managed to grasp the poor boy about his waist as his knees gave way and he started to sink to the ground.

"Hold on there, Merlin. Here, put your arm over my shoulders and I'll help you back to the castle," said Gwen as she got a firmer grip on the lad and tried to keep him on his feet.

"Gwen, have I ever told you what a wonnerful person you are?" asked Merlin as he took a tight grip on Gwen's shoulder and tried to get his feet moving in the right direction.

"Just glad to help, Merlin."

It was a long, slow journey back to the castle and poor Gwen kept looking around to see if anyone could help her with Merlin, but no luck. It wasn't until she was starting across the courtyard, with Merlin singing some slightly bawdy drinking song very loudly in her ear, that a rescuer appeared.

"Gwen, what's happened?" called Arthur as he stepped off the last stair and rushed across the open space towards the two servants.

Gwen just smiled up at Arthur as he approached and said "Well, Merlin certainly enjoyed himself at the festivities!"

By now, Merlin had stopped singing and was looking at both Arthur and Gwen, slightly cross-eyed. "Ssssshhhhh," he tried to whisper, "be quiet."

"Why? What's going on Merlin?" asked Arthur, trying desperately not to laugh at his drunken manservant.

"I'm drunk and Arthur can't know, so we have to be quiet."

"Ooohhh, I see," said Arthur in a slow and slightly condescending manner. "Why don't you come with me; I'll get you to your room and I promise no one will know what happened."

"Really? You'd do that for me? And I don't even know you! But you have to promise you won't tell Arthur!" said the lad as Arthur released Gwen from Merlin's grip and transferred the manservant's arm to lie across his own shoulders.

Gwen stretched out her back, looked at the two men before her and gave a small laugh. "You're not going to let him ever forget this, are you?" she said to Arthur.

"Now, Gwen, what you must think of me! Actually, I think I'm really going to enjoy tomorrow morning!" responded Arthur with a grin of his own.

"You're a bad man, Arthur Pendragon. Good night and good luck with him." As she turned away to head back to her own cottage, Gwen called "Good night Merlin". All she got back was a listless wave of a hand. Chuckling to herself, Gwen headed back to her home and good night's rest.

Meanwhile, Arthur manhandled his drunken servant up the steps to the castle, down several corridors and eventually made it to Gaius' chambers. A swift kick to the door brought the physician, who opened the door, took one look at the two of them and started chuckling.

"Oh ho. It appears someone had a good Winter Solstice," said Gaius with a twinkle in his eyes. By this time, poor Merlin was almost asleep and couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge what was going on around him. He did manage to crack open his eyes slightly, gave Gaius a beatific smile, said "I'm drunk", and then dropped his chin to his chest and pretty much passed out.

Arthur and Gaius simply exchanged a look at the poor boy's expense and then Arthur proceeding to lug him up the steps and dump him on his bed. He did, however, take the time to remove Merlin's boots and pull a blanket up over him. As he was turning to leave, Merlin awoke slightly, smacked his lips and said "Thank you", before rolling onto his side and falling asleep.

Arthur grinned at his now-snoring manservant, said 'you're welcome' and headed back towards the main chamber.

"Well, Gaius, I've got to head back to the feast, but would you do me a small favour?"

"Certainly Sire, whatever you need you've only to ask," responded Gaius. "What can I do for you?"

"Let me be the one to wake Merlin the morning," answered the Prince, with a wicked gleam in his eyes and a smirk on his face.

Gaius laughed out loud and said "Your wish, Arthur, is my command!"