Forbidden - A Merthur fic

Chapter 1

To put it simply, Arthur Pendragon was annoyed. Not to say that he wasn't usually annoyed for one reason or another, but today he was especially ticked off.

He'd just come back from training his Knights, only to be reminded by his father that there was a banquet tonight in which he would be expected to deliver a speech. This frustrated Arthur greatly; he would have very much appreciated a larger head's up, but he kept his cool until he reached his chambers.

He stepped inside, took one look around and clenched his jaw to keep from throwing something. "Mer-LIN!!" He hollers, striding into his chambers. He unstraps his gauntlets, tossing them unceremoniously on the table.

At the sound of running footsteps, he turns and stares at the figure in the doorway. "Ah, Merlin. So nice of you to turn up."

Merlin glances around the room, groaning inwardly. He was supposed to have cleaned it this morning, but, distracted by running errands for Gaius, he'd completely forgotten about it. He looks around the messy, clothes-strewn room and shifts uneasily.

"What the hell is this??" Arthur's tone is angry as he gestures to the unkempt room. "You were supposed to have everything cleaned by this morning. Now, it may be hard for a lazy servant like you to keep track of the time, but usually," he strides forward, gripping the collar of Merlin's shirt and dragging him across the floor to the window. "When the sun is up there in the sky," he points with a finger, speaking as though he's addressing a very simple minded child. "That means it's no longer morning." He releases Merlin, crossing his arms.

"Right..." Merlin scratches the back of his head. "I wasn't being idle, Arthur, I swear, I was running errands for Gaius all morning, and-"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Merlin," he says, his tone sarcastic and suggesting that he was anything but sorry. "I must have missed the announcement that made delivering bottles for the court physician more important than serving your prince!" He turns from Merlin, tugging off his chainmail shirt and dumping it on the table on top of his gauntlets.

"So now, in addition to making this room sparkling clean, you're going to polish my armour, wash my clothes for this evening, and write me a nice speech that I can read to our guests tonight at the feast." Arthur smiles at the look on Merlin's face.

Merlin sighs, biting his lip to stifle the retort that leapt to his lips. "Yes sire." He walks forward, picking up the hamper of dirty clothes in the corner of the room and starting out of the door.

"Oh, and Merlin?" Arthur calls before his servant exits. He slides his belt off and tosses it at him. "The stables could use a good cleaning."

Merlin sighs in frustration, turning sharply on his heel and striding out of Arthur's chambers. Perhaps, had he been more aware of his surroundings, and less focused on cursing Arthur in his head, he might have noticed the figure in the shadows that follows him silently as he walks down the hall. But he noticed no such thing, and the future of Camelot, as a result, would never be the same.