No Man Is Worth Your Tears (Merthur)

Chapter 6

Merlin's POV

I must have fallen asleep on his embrace because when I wake up it's late afternoon. Arthur is still holding me, when I open my eyes he smiles ruffling my hair. My stomach grumbles and Arthur laughs. "I think it's time to eat." He says. I don't want to leave his hug but he's been in that position for hours. I stand up and reach my shoulder bag, there's enough food for a few days. I light the fire on the coals of the previous fire. I leave the stew to boil and go to check Arthur's ankle. The swelling is almost gone but I spread the herbs once more. "Tomorrow we could probably leave, the ankle is almost healed." I say with a smile. "That's good." I remove the stew from the fire. I pour it in two bowls and we start to eat. The stew tastes so good that I pour it again. "You're very hungry." I hear Arthur. "Well usually I eat just a portion since there's not enough food. But since the pot is full it's better finish it." I smile and pour the stew in Arthur's bowl and once more in mine. "And you should eat, too. We can't risk that the prince remains hungry" I giggle. He smiles. 

"You should sleep, Arthur. I'll be guarding since I've been sleeping all day." I say and he nods. I place his head on my legs and he closes his eyes while I caress his hair. I spend the night looking at the dark sky and thinking about Arthur. He's so innocent right now that I could tell him my secret. If he really loves me, would he accept me? I don't know, since he was a kid he was taught to hate sorcery. Could my love overthrow his hate? Maybe this is not the right time, now that Morgana has joined her sister, Arthur will hate sorcery even more when he'll find out about Morgana's powers. I don't want to lose him, I won't tell him about me. We've just started to be lovers.

Arthur's POV

I wake up in the morning and after a brief breakfast I try to stand up helped by Merlin. The pain in the ankle is tolerable, but I have to limp. We walk through the woods slowly and carefully, the bandits might still be near. We reach the place where the bandits attacked us, the place is empty fortunately. We find the road where we first came and we head back. The ankle starts to hurt, but I bite the bullet and keep going on, I've gone through worse wounds. It's noon and we make a pause because Merlin insisted, I sit on a rock and sigh. Suddenly we hear horses getting closer, we hide behind a bush. The horses arrive and I can see the red cloak with the symbol of Camelot. Camelot knights. We approach them. "Sire!" I hear a knight calling me. "Are you alright?" He asks. "Yes, did my father send you?" I ask. "Yes, sire. He was very concerned." He answers. "Then let's go back to Camelot." I say.

"Arthur!" My father hugs me. He never hugs me, just in rare occasions. "Father, I'm alright." I say. "I was so worried that something might happened to you, that Morgause might have ambushed you." He says. "I'm fine. As soon as possible I'll leave for the search." I say. "There's no need. You'll stay here, the other knights will take care of it." He sits on the throne. "But father, I have to join them." I can't stay here doing nothing while Morgana is tortured or who knows what by Morgause. "No you don't. Now go to you chambers." He says firmly. "It's my duty..." I'm interrupted by my father. "No, it's not! I order you to stay in the castle and not join the other knights." He says angrily. "Fine." I say and exit the room angrily. I enter in my chambers and Merlin is there waiting for me. "You'll need to polish my armour and sharpen my sword." I say still angry. "Is something wrong, Arthur?" he says looking at me. "It's none of you business. Now do as you're told!" I say angrily. "Yes, sire." He says and leave the room. I lay down on the bed and I'm immediately caught by the regret, I shouldn't have yelled to Merlin. It's not his fault, he was just trying to be a friend and like always I rejected him.

When it's evening Merlin enters in the room with the dinner. I sit on the chair and speak. "I'm sorry, Merlin. For yelling at you." He puts the plate on the table. "Don't worry, sire. I shouldn't have asked." He says. "No, you were doing the right thing." He smiles. "How's your ankle?" He asks. "It's better now, I went to Gaius before." I eat. "You can go now." I say. "Goodnight." he says. "Goodnight, Merlin."

Merlin's POV

It's been three months since Morgana's departure. The summer is coming, I walk through the hallways of the castle with Arthur's breakfast in my hands. I enter in the room, put the plate on the table an open the curtains. "Rise and shine! It's a beautiful day outside." I say. "Go away!" Arthur complains. "Come on. It's time to get up." I say grabbing his clothes from the floor. "Where's my morning kiss?" He says. I grumble and reach him to kiss him. "Here." I kiss him quickly. "And what was that? I said a kiss." I kiss him again, more passionately. A few months ago I started to wake him up by kissing him since nothing would wake him up and since then he wants the morning kiss. "Happy now?" I say. "Indeed." He smiles. "Hurry up, you've got a training with the knights." He eats his breakfast. "Will you be there?" He says. "If you don't give any chores..." I say and he laughs. "Then after the training you can polish my armour, clean the room and do laundry." He says.

We're heading to the training camp where the knights are all waiting. I sit on a bench while Arthur explains the training. They begin to fight in pairs and then in groups of four. After that they practice with the crossbow, with lances and maces. Sometimes I catch Arthur looking at me and smiling and I immediately blush. The training lasts till noon, Arthur approaches me. "How was I?" He asks. "A completely dollophead." I giggle. He laughs and we walk toward his chambers. I help him to take off his armour and chainmail. "Can I now get back to my chores? Your armour is all ruined, I guess you weren't that good as I thought." I tease him. "You thought I was very good?" He asks getting closer. "Maybe or maybe not." I kiss him, then I kiss his cheek going down, I bite his neck when suddenly the doors open. I step back and turn to see Uther. I freeze. "Father..." Arthur says. "Arthur what were you two doing?" I hear his voice getting angry. "I... I hurt myself during the training on the neck and Merlin was checking for any wounds since he lives with Gaius he has learnt a lot from the physician." He says. "And there's any wound?" He says and I notice he's calm, probably he believed Arthur. "N... No, fortunately the chainmail has soften the hit." I say. "Good. I came here to talk to you, alone." He looks at me. "With your permission sire I would go." I say to Arthur. "Sure, we'll continue the conversation later." He says and I bow and exit the room. I sigh, he was almost about to catch us.

Arthur's POV

"Arthur, Tomorrow King Bayard is coming to Camelot to strengthen our alliance. I would also expect you to court his daughter, Lady Ariana. She might be a pretender, we would unite two great kingdoms." My father says, after Morgana disappearance he seems more distant, colder. "But father..." I stop. "There's no but, this is a great opportunity." He says firmly. There's no discussing here. I must court her, I only hope Merlin will not get angry. My father exits the room and Merlin enters. I snort. "What's wrong?" He asks. "King Bayard is coming to Camelot and my father asked me to court her daughter, for the kingdom." I say irritated. "Oh..." Merlin says. I lock the door and approach him. "Don't be jealous." I tease him placing my hands on his waist. He blushes. "I am... I am not." I giggle and get closer. "Where were we? Oh I remember know." I kiss him. Our lips move together. I keep kissing him first gently then more passionately. I feel his arm stretching on my back, I kiss him more roughly, our tongues reach themselves. I walk toward the bed still kissing him. When we reach it, I push him down and bend over him, on top of him. I kiss him, he's seems tense. I place my hands on his face then going down, reaching his waist. I pull down his neckerchief and kiss his neck, he moans. I put my hands under his shirt, feeling the soft and cold skin. He shivers and starts. "Arthur..." he says softly. "What?" I bite and suck his neck. "I... I can't..." I stop and look at him. "I'm not ready and I don't want to rush the things." He says embarrassed. I stand and help him to get up. "I understand, don't worry. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or obligated." I say smiling. The last thing I want is to hurt him. "We should get ready for tomorrow." I say and unlock the doors. "Try not to being poisoned." I remember the last time Bayard was here, Merlin was poisoned and he almost died. He laughs. "You're saying I don't have to save your life?" He says. "Precisely." He grabs the clothes for the feast from the wardrobe. "Then I should wash these." He says smelling them and making a disgusted face. I laugh. "Then go, and don't forget the other chores." I remain there looking at him exiting the room.