Kink Me! #5
Kink Me! #5 Closed to new prompts Welcome to Kink Me! Merlin #5!
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After being so thoroughly ordered out of the Prince’s room, Merlin made his way to the kitchens. The scullery boy Erik wouldn’t begin working until after the King’s feast, when dishes needed washing and the midnight process of cleaning the giant kitchens began, but Merlin was sure there was someone who would require his help - and indeed there was.
He was roped into serving one of the visiting nobleman; the Lord Torryn, who’s lands stretched beside a very strategic part of the border between Camelot and Mercia. A member of Torryn’s retinue had fallen ill (a most beloved sister, the gossips said) and so he’d left his own servants to attend the fallen relative.
It also allowed Uther to take credit for Merlin’s presence, because once Torryn saw that he was being served by the Prince’s manservant himself, he’d made a point to tell the King (and all the other nobles present) that he must be very fortunate indeed. The King had smiled graciously at the nobleman, but given Merlin so sharp a glance that, had he been in a different, former frame of mind, he might have tripped over his own boots.
As it were, the servant served Lord Torryn perfectly. He didn’t make a single mistake, and for that he was grateful - he didn’t know what he’d do if he had. Uther wouldn’t need to punish him, once Merlin was done beating himself up for messing up something so important.
Eventually the feast ended, however, and Merlin was sent back to the kitchens along with all the dishes and trash. He cleaned plates and goblets and scoured pots and when asked, went back to scrub the floors of the banquet hall. By the early hours of the morning he couldn’t feel his hands, or anything below his knees. Yet he kept moving, working purely by rote, until the last of it was done and he could stumble back to Gaius’.
“Merlin, my boy, where have you been?” Gaius demanded the moment he walked in the door. It was almost sunrise, and Gaius always woke early. “You didn’t return last night, and- goodness, what happened to you? You look like you’ve been brawling all night!”
Merlin looked down at himself, and most certainly he did look worse for wear. He was pale from exhaustion, which made the bruises on his knuckles all the more livid. His clothes seemed like they’d had years worn into them - threadbare at the knees, torn at the sleeves. He was covered in dirt and soot and was swaying on his feet.
“I was helping in the kitchens,” he said.
“Whatever for?” Gaius asked, as if Merlin’s response hadn’t been the answer to everything.
“I needed to help in the kitchens,” he repeated. It was about all he had strength for.
“And what did Arthur have to say about this? No doubt he’s expecting you to attend to him in a few hours, and you’re in no shape-”
“I will be,” Merlin said firmly, despite the fogginess in his mind. “I’ll just clean up, ‘m fine, I know a… somethin’, damnit,” he shook his head, muttering under his breath before continuing to the physician, “I’m fine, Gaius. I’ve gone without a night’s sleep before. I’ll be fine.”
“No need to get angry, Merlin. I’m just concerned.” And concerned he sounded; the eyebrow of disapproval was there (and god, how he hated it, he couldn’t stand the sight of it) but the tone of Gaius’ voice was saturated with worry. “You shouldn’t tax yourself like this.”
“I have to do this, Gaius. I can’t help it.”
That earned him a strange look. “I think you’ll find you can. I don’t want to see you risking your health over something so trivial. I need your help, and Arthur needs-”
Merlin shook his head, ignoring how it made him feel even dizzier. “No, Gaius, you don’t understand. I’m doing this for Arthur.”
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