Author's Note

Been dying to write something again, but never came up with a good enough plot, etc. Then when I was sat on the sofa watching the 'Merlin' Season 4 trailer, it just came to me. I'm only posting the first chapter at the moment to find the reactions of reader's to the general idea of the story. If it gets good enough popularity then I'll continue it. If not I'll come up with another story soon enough.

Thanks for everyone for reviewing on 'Reclaiming Camelot'! I seriously never expected that much of a great reaction from all you brilliant readers! :)

Summary

When told, through their usual banter, that Arthur would not survive a week without Merlin, he predictably decides to give Merlin the week off to go visit his mother, in order to prove otherwise. Merlin immediately decides to not look a gift horse in the mouth, and takes advantage of the situation to get some free time. Little does he know that there are surprises in store for them both. With both friends and enemies surrounding him, Merlin will have to tread carefully if he wants to protect both Arthur and his secret.

"Merlin, why is it so hard to go and get a few simple chores done?" came the voice of Camelot's heir to the throne.

"Like…what exactly?" the tall, skinny serving boy asked completely serious.

Arthur looked incredulous. He was surprised that he had actually expected Merlin to remember to do his chores for a change. He had known Merlin far too long to actually expect him to remember without any help, so why was he surprised? This was Merlin he was talking about.

"Oh, I don't know" he began sarcastically. "How about polishing my armour? Or cleaning the stables? Or cleaning-".

"-Your room? In case you haven't noticed, Arthur, that's exactly what I'm doing" Merlin replied, holding up the cleaning cloth and basket full of dirty clothing that were in his hands, giving Arthur a look that clearly said 'Duh!'.

"And the rest?" Arthur commented.

"Polished your armour last night, and cleaned out the stables this morning. That's the reason why I was late - which I did tell you when I arrived. Goes to show how much you actually listen to me" the raven haired boy replied.

"You know me, Merlin. I never listen to you" responded Arthur(1).

"Well, perhaps you should, otherwise you'll miss out on certain pieces of information".

"I think I was probably distracted by the fact that you forgot my breakfast…again".

"Again? That only happened once!" Merlin complained.

"One time too many" Arthur replied. "Since when do you even manage to be up early enough to get stuff done in the morning? You never wake up early" he continued, looking slightly suspicious.

"Probably a fluke. Don't expect it to happen again-".

"I certainly won't" Arthur mumbled. Then he remembered something. "Wait, you polished my armour last night? When? You were with me when I was training the knights, and we didn't finish until dinner. You never left my sight until I went to bed".

Merlin shifted nervously as he continued cleaning. Arthur was unaware that Merlin had used magic to get his chores done when he had returned to his room.

"Are you telling me that you stayed up late in order to get it done, and still managed to wake up early?".

Merlin thought fast, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse.

"You talk as if you've never heard of multi-tasking. Once you were finished with the weapons, I got them sharpened while you continued to train with other ones, considering you weren't going to be using them again. Half the work was done by the time you were finished training. I only had your actual armour to do, and that didn't take very long. I have done this sort of thing before, you know" Merlin finished with a cheeky smile.

"You, multi-task?" Arthur took a moment to think. "Nope, can't imagine it".

"Well, from having to get all these chores done, and always having to save your royal backside, I'd say I've had quite a lot of practise. I should be really good at it by now".

"Yeah, right. Whatever helps you sleep at night, Merlin".

"Arthur, you couldn't last a week without me, and you know it".

"Oh, do I? Well then, I'll just have to prove you otherwise won't I, Merlin?" Arthur replied, placing a hand on Merlin's shoulder. A smirk appeared on his face, letting Merlin know that he was up to something.

Merlin's smile immediately dropped, wondering what he was going to do. This couldn't lead to anything good. 'Surely not another week in the stock's?' Merlin thought.

"You have just been given the week off, Merlin" Arthur explained.

Merlin stood silent, waiting for the catch. None came. This had to be joke. If Arthur expected this to be some sort of punishment he was surely failing.

"What?" Merlin finally managed to say.

"I'm giving you the week off. I want you to leave Camelot, and don't return until after the week has finished. Go visit your mother or something. Just go somewhere".

"This is a trick right?" Merlin started, staring at Arthur waiting for him to say something. "You - Arthur Pendragon, Prince and Royal Prat -" Arthur rolled his eyes, "are giving me a week off?".

"Yes, Merlin, I am. Is that so hard to believe?" he replied, surprising Merlin by actually waiting for an answer.

Without having to think about the answer, Merlin scoffed, "Yes", nodding his head.

"Well, believe it. Now get out of here. I don't want to see you again till next week" Arthur continued, turning away from Merlin and back to the papers that were lying on his desk.

Without another word, Merlin also turned around and quietly walked out the room before Arthur could change his mind. A huge grin lit up his face, he couldn't believe it. Not only had he gotten away with making fun of Arthur - as usual - but he had somehow managed to get an entire week off work! He hadn't been to see his mother in such a long time, he hoped she didn't think that he was ignoring her. But now he could spend near an entire week with her.

When he arrived back at the Court Physicians rooms, he couldn't help but think that there was nothing that could wrong.

So, a new story line and I can't wait to find out what everyone thinks of this. Sorry it took so long for me to get another story, but I honestly couldn't think of another plot line. Plus I've just started uni and it's freaking awesome!

Omg! Merlin on the 1st of October! When I saw the trailer I literally jumped out of my seat. I'm going through some major Merlin withdrawal right now, so I'm glad that it'll be back on soon! :D YES!

(1) - Line from the series, not mine, can't remember which episode its in though. I think it's in a fair few, because I remember it being in both Season 1 and Season 3 at some point - season 1 was 'Labyrinth of Gedref'.