(arthur's POV)

You are not a fool.

Regardless of what some seem to believe, you do not miss much. You have been trained for this life; you were taught since birth that you must know everything. You must know how to best rule your kingdom.

You must know your people.

Therefore, you are not entirely certain why your knights and your queen would think that you didn't notice them teaching your manservant a variety of tricks and tools that no servant ought to know.

Foolish, brave Merlin. Barely scraping by in most of the situations he gets himself into, following you and your men into battle as if he were fearless.

Servants are not meant to learn things from knights and kings and queens.

But he does.

(Gwaine)

When Gwaine first arrives, he and Merlin have an automatic bond. You try not to hate him for it, you understand that there is something undeniable about Merlin and that Gwaine is simply falling under his spell as so many others have.

But that does not mean there is not some jealousy.

You can never fully pinpoint what causes it. You think that it may be that you want all of Merlin's time to yourself, but it could also be that he laughs with Gwaine in a carefree way that he never does with you. Or it could be that Gwaine may act with him as you may not.

You're walking through the palace on just another day when you hear a familiar laugh.

Merlin.

You automatically switch paths so that you may find him and make up some ridiculous chore for him to do, the price he must pay for sounding so joyful without you.

However, once you arrive at the end of the corridor you're in the Knights' wing of the castle and you see that Gwaine's door is cracked partly open.

Merlin's laughter rings out again, Gwaine's lower chuckle following it as you step closer to the door.

You peer through the open door and nearly gasp at what you see.

Merlin, your Merlin, is holding two blades with practiced ease, darting in and out and around Gwaine who is also armed with two daggers, the two men locked in a dangerous training practice that appears to be more of a dance.

They weave back and forth, so casual that you have absolutely no doubts that this has been happening for weeks, maybe even months.

Merlin misses one step and ends up stumbling slightly, a half second mistake, and Gwaine has slid in, knocking the left knife out of Merlin's hand and locking his right wrist in an unmovable position.

There's laughter in Merlin's voice as he concedes, no bitterness at his loss.

"You're improving, wonderfully though, my dear friend. It comforts me greatly to know that you will be capable of better defending yourself when needed." Gwaine states warmly, letting go of Merlin and gripping his forearm, shaking his hand as the knights do with one another.

"When? Could you not at least say if, Gwaine? Now you've cursed me!" Merlin responds, his smile brighter than anything you've seen from him recently.

You walk away silently, the sounds of Gwaine and Merlin bantering in the background fading the further away you get.

You tell yourself that you're glad Merlin will be able to take care of himself.

You ignore the resentment that burns in your chest at the thought of Gwaine teaching him things that you may not.

(Elyan)

You're walking through the town to go get something from Gaius, because useless Merlin can't seem to retrieve a simple headache tea, when you hear voices from the forge that Guinevere's father worked in.

It's curious because as far as you know, no one had used those since Gwen's father was sentenced to death. Something about the forge being cursed.

You walk closer, one hand on your sword in case it's robbers or even sorcerers.

But, of course, it's only your wayward servant.

You're about to huff and demand answers from Merlin, who has been missing all day, when you notice that he isn't alone. Both Elyan and Gwen are with him, Gwen sitting in the corner and laughing about something Merlin said, judging off the proud grin on his face.

Elyan and Melrin are standing in the middle of the small forge and they're making something.

Merlin, Merlin, is blacksmithing.

You have a very strong desire to laugh.

Instead, you watch as Elyan calmly instructs Merlin through making, well, something. Merlin's skinny frame straining to work the metal, dropping it back into the heat clumsily and causing sparks to fly through the room.

Gwen puts out a small fire with a fond smile and chides Merlin to be more cautious.

Elyan simply grins while Merlin huffs about having to do this at all.

"Merlin," Elyan begins in that long suffering tone he has perfected, "you help out Arthur and the knights on a daily basis with their armor and weapons. When you learn to craft something, you understand it better and will be able to take better care of everything."

Merlin sighs. "The clotpole isn't even worth this, I swear, he could polish his own armor," he grumbles.

But, even as he complains, you notice his movements become smoother and more careful, more focus being given to perfecting what he is doing.

"Don't lie, Merlin, you want to keep him safe as much as I," Gwen reprimands as she moves closer to fix the grasp that Merlin has on the tool he is holding.

Merlin doesn't respond, but he smiles.

(Gwen)

You enter Gwen's chambers, opening your mouth to say something when you hear her voice.

"Merlin! No, you stitch like this," her voice is somehow amused and exasperated all at once and you catch sight of Merlin spluttering and wincing before you back out of the room.

You close the door behind you and shake your head.

You can talk to your queen later.

(Percival)

You're out practicing with the knights when Percival randomly perks up like an excited puppy and jogs off the field. Elyan, whom he was sparring with, comes over to you and tells you that Percival said he had to leave because of a previous appointment.

Percival runs straight to Merlin, clapping him on the shoulders and seeming to not notice that it causes his knees to buckle.

They walk off together and you follow unthinkingly, waving off your nights when they ask what you're doing.

Merlin had asked for the midmorning off because he had to go get some herbs or flowers or some plant type thing for Gaius. You, as a most gracious person, had allowed him to leave directly after taking your breakfast dishes away.

And now he's back, excitedly showing Percival something in his bag, which causes you to suspect that he gathered more than just plants for Gaius.

You begin to fume.

Silently stalking the two of them from a distance makes it so you can't hear what they're saying, but Percival is grinning madly and Merlin is gesturing wildly and it's all making you so curious that you don't even feel the slightest bit shameful when you have to duck into a stranger's doorway to hide from Percy when he turns around.

Eventually they stop in front of a random house and you continue creeping towards them silently until you're close enough to hear what they're saying.

Percy is knocking on the door and a child answers, her voice shouting happily and two more children joining her, the three of them swarming your knight.

"Percy!" they shriek, "hi! Why are you here? Who is that? We haven't seen you in so long!"

Percival is laughing while he answers all their questions and Merlin kneels to introduce himself to the children. You suddenly remember a story that Elyan told you about Percival nearly being caught by a wraith because he had saved three lost children instead. You're assuming that these are those children.

Merlin reaches into his bag and pulls out a bunch of white flowers with pale green stems and light yellow centers.

The children and Merlin all seem to be very confused as to what the flowers are, but Percy smiles brightly.

"Now, kids, Merlin found these flowers for me. I knew that he was going out today and I asked him to grab some if he saw them because I haven't had any since I was as small as you!" he says.

Merlin snorts and responds, "I don't think you've ever been that small, Percy."

The children all giggle and Percy chuckles, clasping Merlin's shoulder again. "As I was saying," he mock glares, "these are honeysuckle flowers!"

Percival frowns when no one seems to share in his excitement.

"Um, what are those?" one of the children ventures.

Percy's face clears when he realizes that it's not a lack of excitement but simple confusion. "Why, you suck on the stems!" he declares and then proceeds to demonstrate.

The children and Merlin all hesitate but follow along, faces brightening.

"The flavor is like honey!" Merlin exclaims, the children thanking Percy along with him.

You creep back to your knights, feeling surprisingly downtrodden about the fact that Merlin willingly runs errands for Percival.

You tell your men to run laps in their full armor to work on endurance.

(Leon)

"Merlin, you hold a sword that size with two hands!"

"I didn't mean to drop it, Sir Leon, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Is your foot alright? Can I do something? Can I help?"

"Hold a broadsword with two hands, Merlin!"

"I wil-" he cuts off with a yelp and you hear the sound of flesh on flesh.

You decide to walk down a different hallway to get to the courtyard.

(Lancelot)

You're in the forest with your knights and your servant on yet another journey to find yet another magical creature that is terrorizing yet another small village.

Elyan and Percival are learning card tricks from a mischievous Gwaine, Leon is sharpening his blade, and Lancelot is sitting next to Merlin who is preparing dinner for everyone.

They're speaking quietly about Gaius and something that he did a couple nights ago, laughing companionably with one another.

You watch from the other side of the fire and pretend that it isn't bothering you to see Merlin so close with someone else.

"No, no," Lancelot suddenly laughs, leaning forward to stop Merlin from adding something to the stew. "That will make it too bitter. Add this instead."

Merlin takes Lancelot's direction and then the two of them cook the rest of the meal together, the men all exclaiming about how good it is that night.

Merlin smiles at Lancelot in thanks and he winks in return.

You don't finish your dinner.

(Arthur)

You've been king for six years.

Camelot is in a Golden Age, Guinevere is a queen and your most beloved wife. Your knights are strong and brave and noble and Camelot is the greatest place to live.

There are still things that you would change though.

Merlin is still your servant, even though he is still an awful one. He's been a manservant for nearly his entire time in Camelot and he is one of your most faithful friends and trusted advisors, regardless of his terrible manservant ways.

But you do not always feel that Merlin leans on you as you do on him.

He has secrets that you are not privy to even though he knows nearly all of yours. There are parts of your friend that you do not know, and it bothers you enough to keep you from sleep some nights.

You've seen how he interacts with others, how they share with him and teach him things and he gives back pieces of himself in return.

You've always been greedy; you were the prince and therefore entitled to what you wanted. And you want all of Merlin, the way that he has all of you.

"Merlin," you begin one morning as he shuffles around you putting away laundry and you eat breakfast.

"Yes, Sire?" he prods when you don't continue.

You wait until he has turned to look at you and then meet his gaze. "Have you ever learned anything from me?"

His expression shifts, starting out with amusement before landing somewhere between confusion and concern. "I don't quite understand what you mean," he says as he walks closer, his voice questioning.

"You've learned skills and been given lessons by all your other friends, why not I?" you mean for it to come out kingly and strong, but the question sounds petulant, like you had just been denied your favorite desert.

Merlin chuckles disbelievingly. "Sire, Arthur, I-I learn from you every day," he states, his voice strong and sure even though he stutters.

"How so?"

His eyes meet yours unflinchingly. "You teach me how to be a good man. An honorable one. One worthy of his throne."

You smile in thanks and go back to your breakfast as Merlin leaves with the laundry.

Teaching a man strength of character is much more important than teaching him what a flower is for or how to sew.

Your grin widens into a satisfied smirk.

If you can't be the only important person in life, you'll settle for being the most important one.

AN: So, yeah, this is my first Merlin fic ever. I just recently began the show and I'm somewhere in the fourth season and I started writing this and I decided to post it. I haven't written anything in a while so I'm rather rusty and this probably is far from my best work, but I hope that anyone who reads it enjoys it anyways.

I would love if you could leave a review but if not, thanks for reading anyways!