In a matter of moments

Chapter 1

For Gaius, it had been a long night of no sleep and hard work. A mysterious illness was sweeping through Camelot and with the visit of Lord Elrond and his daughter upon them, Uther had placed a lot of pressure upon the physician to find a cure. So when his ward came stumbling out of his room at an alarming rate, late once again, Gaius could feel his anger beginning to rise. Merlin flew around the room trying to find one of his neckerchiefs as apparently there were none in his room.
" I am so late!" he murmured to himself as he continued searching, " Arthur wanted to be woken up early to ensure he was ready for their arrival and now I'm late so he will be late and so the king will be furious which means Arthur will be on a warpath."

In his haste, Merlin failed to notice the world around and how close one particular vial was to the edge of the workbench until it shattered on the floor below and the precious liquid inside was absorbed into the old floorboards. That was the last straw for Gaius as all the stress finally caught up with him. 
"You really are stupid aren't you Merlin," he said causing his ward to stop in his tracks and stare in disbelief at his mentor. 
"You can't even notice what is going on around you, too wrapped up in your own little world. Now because of you I need to explain to the king why the only possible cure is now gone. That potion alone took nearly three days to brew and not to mention how rare some of those herbs are extremely rare!"
"Gaius, I'm sorry I didn't mean to." Merlin replied, already trying to think of a way to fix it. 
"You never mean to do you. Wherever you go Merlin you seem to cause nothing but trouble and that's before you've even used your blasted magic. Sometimes I wonder why I even agreed to take you in as every day since has been nothing short of chaos. You're either ruining my work, or putting everyone's lives in mortal danger. '' Gaius spat out. Merlin just stood there and stared, guilt and sadness washing over him like a tidal wave. It really was an accident, he didn't mean to cause his guardian so much trouble. Before he could apologise again, Gaius spoke again, 
" You know what boy, at least I would be able to work in peace and none of it would get destroyed if you weren't here." As he said this it was almost like he broke out of a trance. His last words echoing around the room before they finally came crashing down on the pair. Before Gaius could even think about what to do next, Merlin had already fled from their chambers. 

By the time Merlin reached the prince's chambers the tears had finally stopped but he was extremely late. He knew he caused some trouble but to the extent where Gaius no longer wanted him - now that was a real blow. Maybe he was right though. Maybe everyone would be better off without him, at least that way no one was at risk of breaking the law. Before he could continue with that train of thought, the doors in front flew open to reveal a very angry - though successfully dressed- Prince Arthur. 
"Where the hell have you been?" He demanded as Merlin tried to get his shock in check. 
"I was-" 
"Never mind," Arthur interrupted, "Do you have any Idea how important this visit is? If all goes well Camelot will gain a new ally and it's important that the crowned prince be there. On time!" 

As Arthur ranted Merlin had begun picking up discarded clothes and laying food out on the table. Great. Another person he had let down. Arthur sat down at his table and took in the breakfast before him before glancing towards his servant, who was currently making his bed. The first thing he noticed was the lack of material around Merlin's neck. That was the first indication that something was wrong. Arthur couldn't remember a time when he hadn't seen Merlin without one but that wasn't the only thing. His eyes were slightly red as if he had either rubbed them or been crying and it had to be the latter because it wasn't pollen season yet. Not only this but, Arthur could clearly see the battle Merlin was having with his thoughts. He had the same frown and vacant look in his eyes that he always had when this problem occurred. 

Arthur sighed before he addressed the so obvious matter. 
"Alright Merlin, what's happened? And try to say that it is nothing because I can clearly see that there is something and you're being unusually quiet. I regret saying this but I miss your usual prattle." 
The room was silent before there was a slight murmur. 
" Sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Arthur said, never once looking away from his manservant. 
“ Gaius and I had a fight.” He said once again, this time only a little louder. Arthur sighed once again, sometimes he could swear Merlin had his heart on his sleeve. 
“ Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad. Parents and children fight all the time, I bet it will blow over in no time.” Arthur said, trying his best to be as sympathetic as possible. 
“Thanks, but I don’t think it will just blow over.” Merlin replied not looking up from what he was doing, determined not to make eye contact with the prince. 
“ How come?” Arthur asked. Merlin really didn’t want to reply but he knew that Arthur would keep asking until he got an answer. 
“ He basically said he wished he never took me in.” Merlin replied. Arthur had no response to that. There was nothing that he could say that could make Merlin feel better but he could definitely take Merlin’s mind off it.
“ Well I guess that means you will just have to come and greet the visiting noble with me then. I was going to give you a chore list but we wouldn’t want your normal clumsiness to scare them off. Someone needs to keep an eye on you or who knows what will happen.” Arthur laughed. He looked at his servant again and noticed a small smile  ghosting over his features. 

“Prat”

“ Dollophead” 

It was mid afternoon by the time Lord Elrond and his party arrived in the citadel and at that point the castle was filled with life and sound. The servants were running around making sure everything was perfect and the castle was ready for the banquet later that evening and the next coming days. It was to be a grand event. Every knight and noble man were required to join the King in the throne room to meet the guests. It was to be the same for the visiting group. The whole ordeal reminded Merlin of the time Bayard came; only this time nothing was going to go wrong. He stood to the side of the room, watching as Arthur shifted where he was standing - clearly bored. Gaius stood to the left of the king, trying to make eye contact with his ward, but Merlin refused to look. Uther and Elrond walked to the centre of the room, both of their parties in tow. The king extended his hand and spoke.

“On behalf of everyone here, I welcome you Lord Elrond and Lady Valentina to Camelot. May the events of this visit bring greatness to both our fine lands.”