Ten Goblets of Wine

                “A toast to the great king of Camelot!” cried King Balor, raising his goblet high in Uther’s direction. The party guests echoed him and drank deeply. “To the king!”

Merlin looked out on the merrymaking from where he stood in the corner, holding the pitcher of wine. This night celebrated signing a peace treaty with the kingdom of Seyfrond, and ending the bitterness between them. King Balor and some of his nobles and knights had come with him to Camelot. The treaty had been signed earlier that day.

The walls of the grand hall had been draped in ceremonial flags, and all the guests were in their finery. King Uther sat at the head of the table. To his left was Arthur, and to his right was King Balor. All three were deep in conversation. Merlin laughed as he saw Arthur finish off his third goblet of wine of the evening.

“Merlin!” he called, motioning him over.

“Are you sure you need more wine, sire?” Merlin asked, trying to wipe the smile off his face. Arthur was already slightly red in the face, and Merlin did not want to have to carry him up to his room at the end of the night. Arthur raised his eyebrows and motioned at the cup. Resignedly, Merlin poured him some more wine.

---

                “I warned you,” panted Merlin as he helped the prince up the stairs. Arthur was having so much trouble walking by himself, Merlin had had to put his arm around his own shoulder and was almost walking for him at this point. “I told you after your sixth goblet of wine, Arthur, I said, ‘Sire, maybe you should stop drinking now,’ but no, you laughed and drank three more cups of wine and now I have to carry you up the stairs and--” he stopped talking. “Are you even still conscious?”

                Arthur mumbled something incoherent.

           “Yes, yes, you’re going to your bed.” Merlin said. “But you need to move your own feet because there is no way I can drag you all the way there.” Arthur seemed to cooperate a little more after that.

                It took Merlin about fifteen minutes to get to Arthur’s bedroom, a walk that would normally take less than one. He tried to get Arthur into his pajamas, but eventually settled for just taking off his shirt and shoes.

                “Yes, sire, just lift your arms up please,” Merlin said. He felt ridiculous, talking to the prince like he was a baby, but he figured that there was no way Arthur would remember any of this, going by the state he was in right now.

                Arthur obediently lifted his arms and Merlin took the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Inadvertently, he felt his cheeks go red. Shut up, he scolded himself silently. He tried to look anywhere but Arthur’s naked chest as he bent down to take off his shoes but his eyes kept drifting up. Arthur muttered incoherently again and Merlin looked away as fast as he could. It’s not as if you haven’t seen Arthur shirtless before, he told himself. Get yourself together! What’s wrong with you? He contented himself with the fact that it was the glass of wine he’d had at the party and shifted Arthur from the side of the bed into the middle of it. The prince struggled a little. “No, Merlin,” he mumbled. “’M not tired.”

                “Yes you are, Your Highness,” grunted Merlin, still struggling to move Arthur. He wasn’t strong enough to move him quickly. Not like Arthur. Arthur was strong, and very muscled from all the sword fighting he’d done. Merlin immediately slapped himself. SHUT UP!

                “C’mere Merlin,” Arthur slurred. Warily, he approached his bed. There was no way of explaining why he’d just slapped himself in the face without explaining the fact that it was because he’d been thinking about Arthur.

                Arthur forced himself to sit upright and almost fell out of the bed. He looked Merlin dead in the eye, then pitched himself forward, making their lips meet.

                Merlin almost had a heart attack. His eyes widened and his breathing hitched. Arthur’s mouth tasted like wine, and it was surprisingly soft. He felt Arthur’s hands clasp around his neck, his fingers moving in his hair. But surprisingly, it felt… right. Merlin closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss. He felt Arthur smile against his mouth and felt his heart jump. What was happening? Whatever it was, he didn’t want it to stop.

                They pulled away gently, and Merlin was sure that his cheeks were just as red as Arthur’s. Both of them were breathing heavily. Merlin’s eyes landed on Arthur’s lips, and he could see that they were swollen. He started to give a small smile, then stopped sharp when Arthur started to giggle. Oh no, Merlin immediately thought. He thinks it was a joke, he thinks I’m a joke, oh no oh no. He needed to get out of there. Arthur wouldn’t remember what had happened, and Merlin would never think about it again. Flushed and horrified at what had happened, he got Arthur back into bed as quickly as possible. Merlin was halfway out the door when he heard Arthur.

                “Merlin?” he mumbled.

                “Yeah?”

                “Can you stay? Just for tonight?”

                Merlin looked out the door, then back into the room. His better judgment said to go, but he wanted to stay. He inwardly cursed himself for what he was about to do.

                “Sure.” He made to sit on one of the chairs by the table, but Arthur gave him such a pathetic expression that his willpower completely crumbled. He turned redder with every step closer to the bed that he took and crawled under the covers next to the prince. It was already warm, but Merlin felt like he was going to explode from heat when Arthur curled up right next to him, their bodies pressing together. It was surprisingly comfortable.

                Merlin was just drifting off to sleep when Arthur started speaking, his voice still slightly slurred.

                “Merlin?”

“Mmm?”

“Think I’m kinda in love with you.”

Merlin pressed a light kiss to the back of Arthur’s neck.

“You know…” he responded, “I think I’m kind of in love with you too.”

The young warlock smiled into the prince’s hair, unaware that the other man was doing the same thing just in front of him, and unaware that tomorrow would come all too soon.