Breaking The Rules

Chapter 1: The New Knight

Merlin spreads the blinds wide open, light flooding the large room. "Rise and Shine!" He hears a few mumbled curses and groaning. Turning around, he sees a very upset Arthur stirring about in his bed. "Why do you always have to wake me up like that? The same thing every morning, 'Rise and Shine!' Can't you just—I don't know...gently tap my shoulder and softly say 'wake up, Arthur!'" Merlin laughs quietly and shakes his head. "No. The light is refreshing, it's a good way for you to wake up." Arthur scoffs. "It's a rude way for me to wake up." His voice is muffled as he throws a pillow at Merlin. He just chuckles. throwing it back at Arthur with a little too much force.

"I brought you your breakfast, sire." Merlin nods over to the table where a plate of assorted cheese and meat lay, and Arthur smiles. "Good," he stumbles out of his bed and sits at the table, grabbing a piece of cheese as Merlin makes his bed. "Any important plans for today?" Merlin shrugs. "Just the usual. Council Meeting, Knight training, then open time for hunting and checking on the people." He finishes making Arthur's bed and walks over to him. "So...where's the pile of armor you're going to make me clean?" Arthur laughs loudly.

"They're over there." He points to his wardrobe. Merlin smirks and shakes his head. "I saw that." Merlin ignores his comment as he heads towards the wardrobe, grabbing all his armor. After Arthur finishes his breakfast, Merlin helps him get dressed. They work together in complete silence, which almost never happens. Suddenly, the door opens, and Sir Leon is standing in the doorway. "Sire, The King requests your presence in the Lord's hall." Arthur nods sternly and the both of them walk to the hall to find Uther in his chair, grinning ear to ear with Morgana by his side.

"Arthur, there you are." Arthur steps forward and bows his head. "What is it, my lord?" Uther nods and gets up from his chair. "King Rodor of Nemeth will be visiting us soon, along with his Ward Alice. We need to get the guest rooms prepared for them." Arthur nods and glances towards Merlin with a laughing sneer. Merlin just chuckles to himself, turning around and heading towards the guest rooms. He organizes the rooms neatly and as soon as he's done, he heads back to Arthur's chambers, knowing he'll be in knight training. While he's in training, Merlin cleans his room, that way Arthur doesn't have to watch him do it and then complain about how terrible he did.

As Merlin finishes wiping down the windows, he hears the door slam open and shut. He turns around to find Arthur holding his arm tightly, wincing in pain. "Merlin!" He shouts out and Merlin immediately rushes to his aid. "What the hell happened?" Merlin helps him sit down on his bed as he removes his tightly clenched hand to reveal a large puncture in his arm, blood starting to spilling out. "The new knight, Caridoc. He is...good. I mean—it was a complete accident. I made the wrong move, and he stabbed me." Merlin helps him remove his chainmail to get a better look at the wound. Blood continues pouring out his arm as Arthur grunts in pain. Merlin rips a strip of cloth off of his shirt, tying it around the wound. "That'll help slow the bleeding while I go get Gaius." Arthur looks up at him with a look in his eyes that he's never seen before. Gratefulness. Merlin simply nods with no words, leaving quickly and running to Gaius' chambers.

Merlin opens the door to find him working on a potion. "Gaius!" Merlin breathes out while making his way towards him. "What is it, Merlin?" Merlin pauses as he catches his breath from running to his chambers. "It's Arthur. He's injured. It's a stab wound, but it's pretty deep and I don't know how to mend it." Gaius nods understandingly, grabbing a few medical materials as the both of them make their way back to Arthur's chambers. They walk in to find Arthur laying on his bed, holding his arm where the wound is. Merlin stays behind while Gaius tends to Arthur's wound. After a few minutes, Gaius gets up and walks towards Merlin with a stern frown. "He'll make a full recovery, but he cannot fight for the next few days. Do not let him." Merlin nods and Gaius heads back to his chambers.

Arthur gets up slowly, trudging towards the door. "No, no, no, no, no. You have to stay here and rest." Arthur shakes his head, furrowing his brows grimly. "No, today's hunting day. I'm going to hunt whether you like it or not." Merlin rolls his eyes, placing his hands on his hips. "How can you go hunting if you can't even hold a crossbow?" Arthur scoffs and looks at Arthur with his signature goofy grin. "Excuse me?! I'm incredibly strong—I'm Prince Arthur for Christ's sake. Of course, I can carry a crossbow." "Ah," Merlin mutters sarcastically as Arthur laughs in disbelief, pairing it with a challenging smirk. "Are you seriously saying that I'm too weak to lift a crossbow?!" Merlin snickers, nodding with a sly smile. "That's exactly what I'm saying." "How dare you speak of me that way!"

Merlin strolls to the end of his chambers where all his weapons are, grabbing his bow and putting it next to him on his bed. "Pick it up and hold it." Arthur sighs humorously. "No problem." He grabs the bow and holds it into position as if to shoot it. A few seconds later, his face scrunches up with pain and he gulps nervously. Merlin glares at him with one eyebrow raised, not breaking his eye contact with Arthur as he watches him struggle to keep a straight face.

After a few more seconds, Arthur finally huffs and drops the bow, shaking his head. He raises his finger up, staring at Merlin with his brows raised. "If you say-" "I told you so?" They both laugh and Merlin joins him on the bed. "Arthur, you are not going hunting." He shakes his head, frowning profusely. "No. I love hunting. I'm still going." "Arthur! We've already established that you can't hold a crossbow. How do you think you're supposed to go hunting?" Arthur looks around, thinking for a couple of moments. "I'll have you make the moves. You'll shoot my crossbow." Merlin furrows his brows, grinning with perplexity. "What? You always complain about how I suck at hunting." He nods slowly. "Yeah, but...I guess I'll just have to show you how to really hunt. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be an expert." Merlin nods with an understanding grin.

They stare at each other for a few moments, neither of them saying anything. Within moments, they both realize what they're doing, and Arthur immediately clears his throat. They laugh awkwardly, and Arthur playfully hits Merlin's knee. "Alright," Merlin finally says, getting up and heading towards the door, "you go tell the king that you're going hunting, and I'll go get the Knights." "No, no, no, no. Don't get the Knights." Merlin freezes, slowly turning around to face him. "We always bring the knights. It's kind of mandatory." Arthur chuckles lightly, waving his hand in dismissal. "Nah. I'm sure it's fine." He gets up and rests a firm hand on Merlin's shoulder. "Get the horses ready with equipment. I'll go tell the king." Merlin smiles, scurrying out of his chambers and heading to the stables.