Two Sides of The Same Coin (Merthur)(Discontinued)

Lost in A Maze of Sorts

Arthur's POV:

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" I groggily opened my eyes, half expecting to be in the castle with Merlin being an annoying clotpole and waking me up when I really only wanted to sleep for another ten minutes. I did not have the amazing power to turn back time, though, and I found myself instead in a tent, Gwaine prodding my side until I opened my eyes.

"There we are! Porridge outside, then we ride again, Sire," A small annoyed grunt, and I was up, stretching my arms above my head as I sat cross-legged on the cot I traveled with, slightly scared that it would fold in on me, but not worrying too much about that. 

Yawning, I laced up my own boots, and had Rowan help me put the rest on. After all, Merlin did constantly express how idiotic I looked whenever I tried to dress myself, and I had to be looking smart when Merlin saw me next, didn't I? Fortunately, I was already wearing my pants on shirt, all I needed was to straighten everything out a tiny bit. 

Porridge was honestly the grossest breakfast i had ever eaten. Tasteless, and disgustingly not made by my personal man-servant. It was honestly infuriating. How was I supposed to eat something that had not been prepared by Merlin? It tasted so much better when it came from him, somehow. 

Instead, this meal was made by some Caerleon knight. It was bad. There was no personality in the food whatsoever. I couldn't taste any innocent happiness, or care, or anything that had to do with Merlin. So I didn't eat more than a couple bites, going under the pretext that I didn't want to eat before a long ride. The idiots believed me too, Merlin would never have bought it. 

"Sire, would you mind if I were to ride with you? Or, next to you, I mean."  I looked away from my work, which happened to be packing up my tent in this moment, to see a young face, still retaining baby fat. The blonde had become a slightly familiar face since the return trip. It was as if he were trying to make his presence known, and strangely, it wasn't as infuriating as seeing the others. 

"Rowan? Of course you can. Why wouldn't I let you?" I frowned at the younger boy, putting my folded tent into a horse's saddlebag. 

"W-Well, you see, Sire. I kinda wanted to talk to you about Merlin..." A sheepish grin appeared on his face. What did he think was so bad about mentioning Merlin in a conversation?

"Sure. Let the others know we're setting out in ten minutes." Rowan ran to obey my commands, and sure enough, by the time ten minutes had flown by, it looked as if we had never been here. I waited until Rowan was besides me, and the others were aligned behind to start my horse. Then we were moving again, at a speed we could easily keep but that wasn't too slow.

After about a half hour, Rowan spoke, "Sire, I overheard what you said about Merlin and yourself, and how you feel about him...." 

"What do you mean?" What had I said about Merlin?

"I mean, what you said to Eric..." 

He head heard? No. No. No. No. And No. If this got out what would happen to me? What would happen to my kingdom? If the people under my rule and protection were to think me so queer and leave, what would I have to do? Was Rowan blackmailing me? 

"I won't tell anyone, you don't have to worry!" He interjected, "I actually wanted to ask about...." The rest of Rowan's question was inaudible behind the pounding hooves that made the trail. Besides, Rowan was mumbling far to quietly to hear.

"What was that?" Rowan's eyes were focused on a knot in his horse's mane when he spoke again.

"How do I know if I love someone?" Arthur's eyes shot up, suddenly surprised at what the boy had asked. He was only a child. Children shouldn't be asking these questions. I had been told when I was at a young age, though, so I supposed I should pass on the knowledge.