Reunited (Merlin)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Warning/s: None that I can think of.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

A/N: I am back with another chapter! I'm sorry that I'm not updating really regularly but both me and my beta are very busy! I hope you are still enjoying the story regardless and aren't too mad about the sort of slow updates *hides behind dog to avoid the angry mob before realising my dog is a pug and is pretty useless as a guard dog though very good at everything else*

He didn't really mind that Arthur was staring at him; he could ignore it easily enough, and it resulted in the king being so distracted that he really wasn't as good as usual and suffered several easy defeats, which was amusing and marginally made up for the incident that morning. What Merlin did mind was the fact that Arthur's continuous staring was causing the other knights to look at him curiously, wondering where Arthur's obsession had come from. Several of them had wandered over to him, standing by the weapons' table, to ask what had happened to cause Arthur to stare. Although he knew very well what it was, he refused to tell anyone else and said merely, "I don't know. You know what Arthur's like." He was glad that he was just staring, though, and not actually questioning Merlin.

That seemed to satisfy most of them, but Gwaine (of course it was Gwaine) persisted, insisting that Merlin must know why Arthur was acting so oddly. Finally, Merlin snapped and muttered to him, "If I tell you, you must keep it to yourself." Everyone knew what a big-mouth Gwaine had.

The knight nodded eagerly and leant in to hear Merlin. "Is it something scandalous?" he asked eagerly. He had been trying to get Merlin drunk with him for an age now, but had always failed.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "You know that new serving girl, Freya, who joined recently?" He checked on where Arthur was; he was instructing Elyan on how to carry out a new move.

"Of course I know her. She's a new girl in Camelot."

"Well, you could say that we are...courting...and Arthur forgot to knock on my door this morning before the clot-pole came charging in and...you can probably guess what we were doing." Merlin stared at the shield he was repairing resolutely, not willing to meet the knight's eyes.

Gwaine stared at Merlin with his mouth open for a few seconds. Then he let out a loud whoop that drew everyone's attention to them, despite Merlin trying to shush him and hiding his face in embarrassment. "I was about to give up on you, mate!" he exclaimed. "How long have you and this Freya been courting for then?"

His voice was too loud for Merlin's liking, though fortunately nobody seemed to have heard his words. "About three years," Merlin muttered. "She only just moved to Camelot." He hit the shield a little harder than he needed to and nearly pushed the new nail through to the other side of the wood.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gwaine said dramatically, making it sound as if Merlin was dying from a terminal illness.

"Because it's my private life," Merlin hissed, "and I don't want everyone knowing."

"I won't tell a soul," Gwaine promised, though the gleam in his eyes said otherwise.

"Won't tell a soul what?" Leon inquired, making both of the men jump. They hadn't heard him approach. Merlin glanced up to see that he was accompanied by Elyan and Percival, and upon seeing the small gathering, Arthur made his way over as well.

"Something to do with me," Merlin said hastily, before Gwaine succumbed to gossip. "Nothing important." He shot a glare at Gwaine.

"It must be, if it's something he's been sworn to secrecy over," Percival pointed out.

"Is it to do with Freya?" Arthur asked quickly, setting his helmet down.

"Freya?"

"Who's Freya?"

"Merlin, what's going on?"

Gwaine couldn't help himself. He looked at Merlin apologetically. "Arthur walked in on Merlin and Freya this morning," he blurted.

Merlin hid his face in his hands as he blushed a bright red. "Thanks, Gwaine," he said sheepishly.

"And they've been courting for three years," the knight added, clearly enjoying being the centre of attention.

"I knew it!" Arthur exclaimed loudly. "No wonder you were so eager for her to be Gwen's maidservant."

"What's she like?" Leon asked.

"When did she arrive?" Percival followed up. Merlin groaned and buried his face in his hands.

Merlin wondered wearily whether it was worth revealing his magic just to shut them all up, or maybe he could pretend a wyvern was attacking across the field and flee. He looked over the group of the knights to see whether it was feasible, but caught sight of two familiar figures.

"Look, she's there," he said wearily. As luck would have it, Freya was taking a short walk with Gwen. Doubtless Gwen was taking her on a promised tour of the castle and its grounds.

"Freya!" Gwaine hollered. Both of the women turned their heads in confusion as the knight waved them over, and, after exchanging a few words, Gwen led the way over to the group of men.

"I hate you all," Merlin grumbled, glaring at Gwaine and crossing his arms.

"We just want to meet her," Gwaine protested. "It's only polite."

Merlin murmured something not so polite under his breath but smiled as Freya approached. She was intimidated by the large group of men and quickly made her way to Merlin's side, sliding her hand into his for comfort, trembling slightly and nodding her head in respect. She looked inquisitively curious about what was going on.

"Merlin says you two are courting," Elyan said, taking note of their hands.

Freya nodded nervously, glancing up at Merlin. He mouthed 'don't worry' at her and looked at Gwen meaningfully.

Luckily, the queen understood the stare and said, "Did you just want to meet her or were there other things you had planned? I was showing Freya the castle."

"No, of course," Leon said, bowing his head. Arthur looked disappointed but let her go, shooting Merlin a look.

As soon as the two were out of earshot, the group turned on Merlin. He was pelted with questions from all of them, until he finally told them all to shut up and said, "Her name is Freya. We've been courting for three years and she moved to Camelot last week. Yes, I am planning to marry her one day, no, Gwaine, she's not pregnant, and she's very shy so please don't harass her." The knights had the good grace to look ashamed at least.

"Thank you," Merlin said as they all murmured their apologies. "Are you going to get back to training now? You have got a city to defend." He pointedly turned back to the armour he was taking care of and waited for the knights to clear off and leave him alone.

A/N: I just realised that this story doesn't have any plot. Like none whatsoever. It's just fluff. Pure, disgusting, fluff. It's like porn without plot but without the porn.