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It was the evening before Yuletide in Camelot, which meant two things: Arthur was busy celebrating with his knights, and Merlin couldn’t find the time to take an extra breath.
As he sped by the King’s dining hall with an armful of linens, he heard Arthur’s voice call,
“Merlin! ”
“Now now, Your Majesty!” he called out behind him, quick stepping his way to the maids in the royal laundry room. They would filet him if he was even a minute late, no matter what his excuse was. Everyone in the castle was on a tight schedule tonight.
He passed the dining hall a second time, balancing crates of decorations going to the throne room.
“Merlin!! ” Arthur yelled a second time.
“Not now, Your Majesty! I’m a little busy!” he yelled back.
The third time was the same. Merlin practically sprinted past, carrying a tonic from Gaius meant for the royal designer (God knew he needed it after that day of interior decorating).
“Merlin!!! ” Arthur boomed, and out of the corner of his eye, Merlin could see Arthur standing at the head of the table, his knights staring at him.
Merlin took a moment to stop this time, struggling to find air.
“You can do without me for one night Your Highness! Can’t you? Can’t you see I’m busy ?!”
And before he could hear the answer, he dashed away again.
After dropping off the tonic, Merlin was ordered to head to the stables and groom the horses. Normally, he and the horses didn’t get along too well, as he generally resented them for their abundance of excrement. But after a long week of being paraded about in Yuletide finery, the horses didn’t have any fire left in them. Neither did Merlin.
As he brought a hard brush down the coat of one of the majestic creatures, he felt the adrenaline from the evening slip off him like water.
The brush blurred in front of his eyes as they closed almost languidly. Any energy that might have been used to keep himself awake had already been spent, so Merlin didn’t fight against the closure of his eyes. As he felt himself drift away into sleep, his only thought was, ‘ Arthur better not wake me up for more chores’.
When Merlin opened his eyes, he was not in a pile of hay on the floor of the stable–he was back in his room attached to Gaius’ quarters.
Sunlight streamed in through his solitary window, telling him it was way past the time when Arthur would normally be screaming at him to do various chores, most of which could and should be handled by other servants.
He bolted up in bed, taking little to no time grabbing clothes and rushing out of the door.
“Gaius, has Arthur called for me yet?!” He cried to his mentor.
“Uh, Merlin–”
“Yeah yeah,” he yanked his boot on with so much force his back slammed against the wall. “I’m irresponsible, I get it, I’m on my way to his quarters right now!”
“But Merlin–”
“Merry Yuletide Gaius!” he yelled as he slammed the door shut behind him.
In a repeat of the previous day, Merlin raced through the halls, making a beeline for Arthur’s quarters.
When he reached them, he burst through the doors, expecting Arthur to either be sound asleep or furiously pacing, waiting to chew him out. Merlin’s mind had already conjured up a thousand punishments he could receive, none of them easy, and was anxious to see what Arthur had in store for him.
Instead, however, Arthur sat at his desk, fully clothed (a true success for the man, without Merlin). When Merlin blew in, he simply smiled.
“Uhhh, good morning…Your Majesty,” he said hesitantly. He wasn’t quite sure what to do. Was Arthur simply waiting to dump a whole load of guilt with the necessary punishment attached, like he often did? Or was he genuinely in a good mood?
“Ah, Merlin! Come in, sit!” and Arthur patted a chair that was almost right beside his own. The smile he gave Merlin was indeed a completely genuine one, and Merlin sighed with relief as he took the chair. He wasn’t sure what angel had smiled upon him to grant him an escape from punishment, but he wasn’t about to take it for granted.
“You’re in a good mood this morning, Your Majesty,” he said.
“It’s Yuletide Merlin, of course, I’m in a good mood,” he sighed contentedly. “And, while we’re discussing Yule, I actually have a gift for you.”
Merlin’s heart dropped. He’d meant to get Arthur one and had been saving up for it for the past few months but with all the preparations…
Wait. Arthur had a gift…for him?
Arthur stood up and retrieved a wrapped parcel from his bedside chest of drawers.
“I-I’m sorry Arthur, I didn’t get you anything, I–”
Arthur held up a hand and stopped his protests.
“I get it Merlin, don’t you fret. I see how our kingdom has been working you to the bone as of late…but I think I can make it all worth it,” he smiled, blue eyes gleaming in the sunlight streaming through his windows. In a corner of his mind, Merlin’s only thought was ‘With those eyes, you already have’ , but he quickly snapped out of it. “Open it.”
He tossed the parcel to Merlin.
It was light, suspiciously so. For a second, Merlin thought that Arthur was pranking him, and had somehow convinced another servant to wrap thin air. But when he opened it…
“Arthur…”
He lifted a ring into the light. It was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen, made all the more beautiful by the fact that it was a gift from Arthur. Sliding it onto his finger absentmindedly, he found that it fit him perfectly.
“It was my mother’s,” Arthur said reverently. “Her signet ring. It was of no use sitting around gathering dust in the treasury, so I reasoned...that you’d enjoy it. It looks good on you. Your fingers are pretty slender, so I didn't even have to get it resized, though I would in a heartbeat if it had been a problem.”
“Arthur…do you even realize–” Merlin couldn’t finish his sentence, he was too short of breath.
“Yes, I do,” Arthur rested a hand on the back of his neck.
They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them breaking eye contact, until Arthur abruptly cleared his throat.
“I also figured I’d let you know you’re no longer a castle servant,” he said,
“ What?! ”
“You, Merlin, will be my new chief advisor.”
It was almost too much for Merlin, the ring, and the new title. He felt a tad bit faint.
“That means you will answer to me and me alone. No more running useless errands for people of lesser importance–”
“The exception being Gaius,” Merlin butted in.
“If you consider him of lesser importance,” Arthur teased. “However, you will no longer stay in your apprentice quarters, or should I say storage closet. Instead, you will room in the main part of the castle, in much nicer quarters I won’t have to take stairs to reach.”
Merlin felt a grin spread across his face.
“Essentially, you will be spending a great deal more time with me,” Arthur finished. The godforsaken twat didn’t even have the decency to blush after all he’d just said, but Merlin certainly was.
“Oh dear, more time with your ungrateful hide? I’m afraid I’ll have to decline,” he said haughtily, but they both knew what he really meant.
I look forward to it. All of it.