Isn't That Cheating?

Just a silly little one-shot. And, just in case it's not obvious, I don't own Merlin.

oOoOo

Contrary to popular opinion, Arthur Pendragon was not an idiot.

He actually did pay attention to what went on around him, and often noticed things that others missed. His amazing observational skills meant that he had known for quite some time that his manservant (who was also quite possibly his best friend, though Arthur refused to admit it) was, in fact, a sorcerer.

Well, his amazing observational skills plus the fact that Merlin was really quite terrible at sneaking around the castle at night.

Of course, Merlin didn't know that he knew, and for now, Arthur intended to keep it that way. Life was really much simpler when you just let things like that remain secret.

And that was fine, for a while. Merlin went on thinking Arthur was extremely oblivious, and Arthur went on ignoring his servant's not-so-subtle spell-casting.

oOoOo

It was the first day of training for the soon-to-be-knights, and Arthur had left his sword in his chambers.

Yes, I'm sure that made a fantastic first impression, he thought as he jogged back through the castle to his rooms. Hello, I'm Prince Arthur. It seems that I've forgotten my sword, but don't worry; I almost always remember to bring it into battle. The prince sighed as he approached the door to his bedroom. Merlin should be in there, working his way through the extensive list of chores Arthur had given him this morning. He was really not looking forward to the smug grin he knew he'd get from the servant once he realized why the prince had returned so soon.

When he slammed the door open, Arthur noticed two things. First, Merlin was indeed doing the chores Arthur had requested of him. Second, he was doing them using magic.

Merlin froze when the door opened, his eyes widening in horror, and the clothes folding themselves in midair dropped to the stone floor. Arthur surveyed the scene with a raised eyebrow and commented,

"Is this how you do all your chores? Isn't that cheating?"

The prince strode across the room, grabbed his sword from the table it had been left on earlier that morning, and headed back towards the door. As he was leaving, Arthur turned back and glanced at Merlin, who was still sitting on the floor, mouth hanging open.

Arthur sighed and shook his head. "We are definitely paying you too much."