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Merlin opened the doors to the prince’s chambers trembling, his hands numb and his hair soaked so that freezing droplets ran occasionally down his back. His clothes were drenched, leaving a trail of rainwater as he walked in.
“You’re late, Merlin”
Arthur didn’t look up from where he sat by the fire, reading a book Morgana had lent him. Merlin tried his hardest to stop shivering as he left the dinner tray on the table.
“Sorry. Many of the servants are ill. I-I had to cover for them.”
God he was tired, he could barely keep his eyes open.
“You weren’t at the tavern, then?” Arthur teased, but Merlin didn’t seem to catch the joke, because he shook his head and said.
“The horses get skittish when it’s this cold, three escaped the stables and I ran after them”
Arthur finally looked up and frowned at Merlin’s soaked and shivering form.
“You mean to tell me you’ve been out, on the worst storm we’ve seen in years, in the middle of winter?”
He was shaking so much his body ached, he couldn’t feel his fingers or toes.
“Someone h-had to d-do it”
Arthur stared at him, incredulous.
“Where’s your jacket?”
Merlin crossed his arms unconsciously.
“I gave it to Claire. She needed it more”
Now Arthur was looking at him with exasperation and disbelief. Merlin shifted, uncomfortable, and pointed a shaking finger at the dinner tray.
“Your food will get cold, s-sire”
Arthur continued to stare at him, eyes widening.
“My-? For fucks sake, Merlin, come here.”
Arthur stood up and walked over to his closet, opening it and rummaging through it. Merlin approached the fire, closing his eyes in bliss when the heat reached him.
It would be so nice to sleep…
“Merlin.”
He opened his eyes to find Arthur in front of him, looking a mixture of concerned and annoyed. He pushed a bundle of clothes into Merlin’s arms.
“Change, you’re going to freeze to death, you idiot.”
“‘M not that cold. Just tired.” Merlin protested. He just wanted to curl up next to the fire and sleep, was that too much to ask?
“You’re not- bloody hell.”
Arthur placed a hand on Merlin’s cheek firmly, and Merlin leaned into the touch. It did not make Arthur’s heart skip a beat.
“How are your hands so warm?” he muttered, his eyes slipping closed once more.
“They’re not, Merlin,” Arthur said, not unkindly, “they’re cold -freezing-, actually”
Oh. Oh.
“You may have a point then.” Merlin muttered. It was getting harder to open his eyes every time he blinked.
Arthur gave him a little push towards the changing screen .
“Change” he ordered.
Merlin took a step... and immediately fell forwards, stumbling like a newborn deer. Arthur grabbed his arm and slung it over his shoulders to keep him upright.
“Bloody idiot.” he grumbled as he manhandled Merlin to sit in the chair next to the fire.
Merlin gave no sign that he had heard him, staring at the carpet with vacant eyes. Blood rushed in his ears, his vision darkening for a few moments. He felt as if he were on a rocking boat, his thoughts were sluggish, like someone had filled his brain with honey.
Arthur crouched in front of him, exasperation leaving his expression to make way for worry. Merlin’s lips were almost purple, his skin so pale it could be described as grey.
“You’re starting to worry me, Merlin,” he said truthfully, “come on, help me out a bit, would you? Arms up.”
Merlin barely registered Arthur helping him out of his wet and freezing tunic and exchanged it for one of his. It was soft, softer than any of Merlin’s, and the heat coming from the fire was more than enough to make Merlin’s eyes close on their own accord. That is, until Arthur slapped him. Not too hard, to be fair, just enough that it stung for a few moments.
“Hey!” He protested weakly through half lidded eyes. Arthur was looking at him sternly.
“Merlin, what happens when someone is hypothermic?”
There was pause as Merlin registered the question.
“Their body starts shutting down,” he replied mechanically, remembering Gaius’ words.
“And what is the most important thing to do when someone is hypothermic?”
“K-Keep them warm and awake.”
“Do you see where I’m going with this?”
Merlin frowned up at him after a moment.
“But I’m not hypothermic.”
“Think again, Merlin.”
Realization hit the young warlock.
“Oh.”
“Yes, oh. ” Arthur sounded irritated. “Now stay awake, or I swear I’ll put you in the stocks for a month”
Merlin grinned lazily at that, watching as Arthur took off his socks to replace them with dry ones. A part of his mind laughed at the irony of a prince dressing a servant.
“I haven’t been on the stocks for ages”
“Would you like to visit?”
Merlin laughed at that. He watched Arthur in silence for a moment.
“Thank you, Arthur,” he said truthfully. Arthur muttered something that sounded like ‘ ridiculous man.’
“Yeah well,” Arthur moved to stand behind Merlin and run a towel through his drenched locks, “Gaius would kill me if I let you die from a cold.”
Silence stretched for a few seconds again.
“You need a haircut by the way,” Arthur added, ruffling his hair one last time before walking away to hang the towel to dry, “it’s getting too long.”
“Maybe I like it long,” Merlin said, because he lived to annoy Arthur and it was getting hard to stay awake again. “Maybe I’ll grow it out.”
Arthur snorted at that. He grabbed a blanket and draped it over Merlin’s shoulders. Merlin clutched at it with shaking hands.
“Right-“
He was interrupted by a quick knock on the door.
“Come in” he called, praying it was not his father. Uther wouldn’t take kindly to Merlin slacking off. He quickly realized that his father wouldn’t have knocked, but the fear was still there.
To his relief, it was a maid. She looked a few years younger than Merlin, with short brown hair and big brown eyes, wide open, looking scared. Her petite form trembled from cold, lips colorless and pale. She was wearing Merlin’s jacket, which engulfed her frame.
“Sorry to bother you, my lord” she could barely get the words out, she was shaking so much. “But your servant, Merlin, he-“
“You must be Claire” he interrupted. She looked astounded that he knew her name.
“Y-yes, sire”
“Come in”
She did so timidly, hands clasped in front of her and posture rigid, trying to stop herself from shivering.
Arthur sighed, “Go sit by the fire” she hesitated before approaching it. She eyed Merlin worryingly.
“Is Merlin alright?”
Arthur looked over at Merlin, whose eyes had slipped closed. With a roll of his eyes, he slapped his servant upside the head. Merlin woke up with a start.
“What-“
“Don’t fall asleep” Merlin grinned sleepily at him.
“Sorry”
Claire’s lip twitched, but she quickly turned serious again when she saw Arthur watching. It was then when Merlin seemed to realize the third person in the room. His eyes lit up.
“Claire! When you’d get here?” His words were still slurred, but at least he looked more aware.
Claire giggled, her cheeks flushing pink.
“I came to return your jacket” she took it off and handed it to him. He took it with a smile. She studied him for a moment with worry. “What happened to you?”
Merlin waved her worries off with a smile “Allison accidentally let a few horses out, I ran after them”
Arthur watched the two servants and scoffed at Merlin’s answer. Of course it hadn’t been his job to run after the horses, of course he’d taken the blunt for another servant’s mistakes. He must have made more noise than he intended, because Claire’s head whipped around with a shocked expression.
She immediately curtsied and kept her head low as she said,
“I’m sorry, my lord” Arthur hurried to stop her.
“It’s alright, Claire.” he watched Merlin from the corner, he seemed amused by Claire’s respect. Cheeky fucker.
“Tell me, don’t you have a common room for servants? Why aren’t you all down there?”
Arthur knew full well there was a common room for servants that led to the rooms of those who lived in the castle. He’d only been there once in his life, when he had hid there from one of his tutors when he was seven. If he remembered correctly, there was a long table where the servants ate and a two chimneys, each one in a different side of the room.
Claire seemed to hesitate.
“Well, my lord, the storage room where we stash the wood for the common room started having leaks not long after the summer started. The wood is too humid to light for more than a few seconds.”
“Grab some from another storage room then”
“We’re not allowed, sire. The other ones are reserved for the royal family’s chambers”
She wouldn’t look at him in the eye. Arthur turned to Merlin, he was staring right at him, seeming almost curious at how he would react.
Arthur was silent for a moment.
“Could you do something for me, Claire?” He asked finally. Claire’s eyes widened.
“It’d be an honor, sire.”
He walked over to his desk and brought out a piece of parchment, scribbling something on it.
“I need you,” he said, sealing the letter with the royal seal. “To give this to your superior.”
At Claire’s confused frown he explained.
“It’s permission to take wood from the royal stash”
“But sire- the king-“ Arthur cut her off
“I won’t have you all freeze to death. If the king has a problem with this, he will take it up with me tomorrow morning.” He said firmly as he pressed the letter into her hand. He wasn’t looking, but he could tell Merlin was beaming. God, tomorrow he was going to be yelled at because of this, wasn’t he?
“Thank you so much, sire.” Her eyes were shining, which kind of made it worth it. He allowed himself to smile back at her.
With another courtsy she left, giving a small wave at Merlin.
When the door closed he turned to his servant, his expression surly.
“My father’s going to kill me tomorrow.”
Merlin beamed at him, pride in his eyes. Arthur looked at Merlin with annoyance, ignoring the warmth in his chest at Merlin’s smile.
“Will you stop looking at me like that?”
“You broke a rule.” He said it with such pride, such awe, a huff of laughter escaped from Arthur. “You are going to be a great king.”
The smile slipped from his lips.
“Because I broke a rule?”
“Because you care.”
Arthur walked over to the bed and threw himself down on it.
“I suppose I have you to blame for that.” he muttered, ignoring the way Merlin’s head whipped around at his words. Neither said anything more.
They stayed like that for a while. If Arthur saw Merlin’s eyes flash as golden as the flames that lit the room, he didn’t say anything.
It was some time later after that Merlin got up and stretched, shivering reflexively when the blanket fell from his shoulders. He was still pale, but his lips had regained their usual pink color (not that Arthur had noticed) and he looked a little more alert.
“Well, if that’s all for tonight…” he said as he gathered his clothes into his arms. Arthur sat up, his drowsiness disappearing.
“Leaving so soon?”
“I promised Gaius I’d be home for supper. When the weather’s like this he likes me to be home sooner, he worries that if not I’ll do something stupid.” he snorted like it was a stupid thought. Arthur stood up, facing his servant. His mood had suddenly soured, and I was not because Merlin was leaving.
“And you’re laughing because arriving here a hair short from hypothermic because you decided to play in the rain isn’t something stupid?”
Merlin pouted “I wasn’t playing.”
“Doing a job that isn’t yours then.”
“Allison’s new, she didn’t know-“
“And giving Claire your jacket wasn’t stupid neither?”
“She looked like she needed more than I did-“
“You’re hopeless.”
“And you’re a prat.”
They stared at each other, they had walked over to meet each other unconsciously, leaving them almost nose to nose.
Arthur studied Merlin’s annoyed expression, how his hair curled because of the humidity, how his cheeks, along with his ears, were flushed pink.
With a huff, Arthur grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around, then pushed him towards the door.
“Good night, Merlin” Merlin turned his head to the dinner tray once before saying,
“Your dinner, sire”
Arthur waited for the door to close to fall back onto the bed again, cursing at how his ears burnt red. Damn Merlin with his stupid eyes and his stupid pouty lips and his stupid adorable ears. Damn him.
He got up and walked over to the table, where the dinner that had been left abandoned and forgotten was somehow still warm, as if it had just been cooked.
Arthur ran a hand down his face. First healing himself and now warming his dinner.
If Merlin wanted to keep his magic “a secret” he really needed to stop being so obvious.