Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. Do I wish I did? Yes.

A/N: Just a fun little one-shot idea I had.

Arthur Doesn't Miss

A mug whizzed past Merlin's head, shattering against the wall.

"You missed," he grinned, not caring that he would have to clean up the spilled water later. Arthur muttered something and reached for the apple Merlin had given him for lunch. He held it up with an incredulous look on his face.

"Know why I missed, Merlin? Because after training for hours and hours with little to no rest, the only thing you bring me to eat is a single apple!"

"It's not my fault," Merlin stuttered. It actually was, although he didn't want to admit it. On his way up from the kitchen he'd bumped into Gwaine, who snatched up the meat, Lancelot, who asked politely for the bread, and Percival had looked so longingly at the cheese that Merlin had no choice but to give it to the silent knight. He'd hoped to have a chance to get more food for the prince but Arthur had already been impatient when he'd arrived, resulting in the now broken mug. "Well, maybe a little…"

"Well, then, you'll just have to make it up to me somehow," Arthur said with a grin. Merlin groaned. He really didn't like where this would inevitably lead. Probably mucking out the stables, or polishing all the boots again, or –

"I need a moving target today."

That.

Within an hour, Merlin was holding up a circular block of wood and running for his life on the training field. Arthur was demonstrating to the knights how to properly throw axes at the enemy. Fortunately, the others were using stationary targets until they were comfortable enough to safely throw the weapons at servants like Merlin.

Of course, it was much safer than it appeared. Merlin wistfully remembered how indignant he'd been when he first met Arthur, thinking that he was a prat for throwing knives at a serving boy about his own age. Now, Merlin realized that it was a necessity for properly training the knights. Enemies wouldn't stand still or be made out of straw in battle. The target he held was thicker than any traditional shield, and wide enough that someone would have to miss badly to injure the servant holding it.

There was a heavy thunk as Arthur's axe connected with the target. It was right within the red center. The younger knights politely applauded. Merlin mentally clapped as well, although it was because he now had a brief respite from running in order to return the axe.

Arthur was helping Elyan to aim when Merlin trotted over with the weapon. Lancelot took the axe from him, having already hit his target (a little on the outside green, but still respectable). Gwaine grabbed Merlin by the shoulder and pulled him to the side. Lancelot followed.

"How's it going out there?"

"Having axes constantly thrown at me? It's fine," Merlin joked. "I love feeling like I'm about to be killed."

"At least you're fast. I think you've given the princess a run for his money a few times," Gwaine chuckled. "I'd personally love to see him miss, just once."

"Miss?"

"You know, I've never seen him miss, either. Then again, that's probably why I'm still practicing on dummies and he's not," Lancelot added thoughtfully, looking back at his own target.

"At least you hit yours," Gwaine scoffed. Several axes lay haphazardly around his dummy. "If my enemies can stay out of arm's reach they'll have the advantage. But once they're in my grasp -" he playfully grabbed Merlin "- they'll be dead."

Twisting out of the knight's grip, Merlin chuckled. Arthur waved a hand, indicating that he wanted to throw again. Merlin sighed and headed back onto the field to where he had left the target. As he did, he thought about what Lancelot and Gwaine had said. They'd never seen Arthur miss? In the months they'd been training with the royal prat they hadn't witness something that Merlin saw almost every morning? Arthur had deadly accuracy with knives and axes, but he missed with cups and knickknacks?

At Arthur's signal, Merlin started running. He ran in a familiar pattern, still thinking about what the others had said. Halfway across the field, a thought hit him.

Arthur missed on purpose.

Quite unfortunately, Merlin's epiphany had caused him to abruptly stop in the middle of an otherwise routine training run. Normally, he would have gone a bit farther before Arthur would have thrown. The prince, used to Merlin's running pattern, had thrown without seeing that the servant had stopped. Rather than hitting the shield dead center, the axe hit the far side, still going strong. The force was enough to send Merlin spinning to the ground.

I'm going to be sore later, Merlin idly thought as he stared up at the sky. Arthur's face appeared above him, a flicker of concern present that was quickly replaced with annoyance.

"You stopped running."

"Yes."

The other knights had come over as well. Gwaine was grinning that he had witnessed as near to a miss as Arthur could manage while Lancelot was trying to help Merlin up. The prince looked at them all and quickly put on a more official looking face.

"Good thinking, Merlin. I needed a change to keep me on my toes," Arthur said.

Seeing the Merlin was fine, the knights went back to practice their own throws. The prince stayed behind with his servant.

"You missed," Merlin smiled.

"I never miss," Arthur said. But he was smiling too.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed!