(no subject)
Day: 1
Title: Specific Disobedience
Pairing: Uther/Merlin pre-slash
Rating: G
Warnings: Silliness
Disclaimer: Not mine
Summary: “God,” Arthur groaned, “not them.”
AN: beta’d by phantomjam as a favour last night as I left it to the very last minute. She did a wonderful and highly professional job
Merlin burst into the dining hall in a flurry of limbs and hair, almost colliding with himself when he saw Uther unexpectedly standing between Morgana and Arthur where they were eating dinner. Uther looked, but ignored him, focus shifting down at his son and ward instead.
Uther looked over at Arthur with an expression that could almost have been calculated.
“The first feast of the season is tomorrow. Remember we have…special guests arriving, Arthur.”
Arthur choked on a mouthful of wine.
Uther’s gaze widened to include Morgana where she had frozen as realisation dawned horribly.
“I will of course expect both of you there to greet Lord and Lady Carter.”
“Oh, God,” Arthur groaned, “Not them.”
“What was that?” Uther asked.
“Nothing.”
Uther smiled, and maybe it was the hall’s shadows that made it look evil.
“Good.”
+++
Merlin managed to restrain himself from asking what was becoming an ever more pertinent question as Arthur stormed through the castle hallways, cursing violently and shooting death-glares at anything that moved. But even Merlin had his limits, and he’d never been much of one for following any sort of rules.
“Who are Lord and Lady Carter?”
“Two of my father’s oldest…They’re not even friends! They arrive once every year and it’s up to Morgana and I to play nice and keep them company.”
“So? You don’t normally mind.”
“Lady Carter is more interested in me than is proper. Always trying to kiss me.”
Merlin grinned, bright and sudden as a sunburst. “You never normally mind that, either.”
“Both of them are old enough to remember when my father was a young man. And she’s only got three teeth left. It’s like watching a corpse coming towards you saying, ‘How about a kiss, little prince?’” Arthur shuddered in remembrance. “His lordship’s not much better. Morgana always looks like she’s like to gnaw her own arm off when he takes it.”
“Sucks to be you, then,” he said in his most insubordinate tone.
Inspiration seemed to strike the blond. “Merlin.”
He knew that tone. Nothing good would come of it.
“We’re going hunting. Tomorrow morning. Early, Merlin.”
He was right.
+++
Arthur arrived at the stables, dressed for hunting, and looking about for the nearest saddled horse to get the hell out of Camelot for the day.
He took the reins of a decent enough bay out of the stable-boy’s hands, and turned to yell for Merlin before seeing the look of stunned awe and the trail of drool dripping from the boy’s open mouth.
“Morgana,” he started before he even saw her. “What the hell-“
He completed a full circle and saw immediately why half the half the stable hands looked like their eyeballs were trying to fall out. Morgana was a pain, but even Arthur could accept she was fabulously beautiful. Dressed up in her boy clothes, ready to hunt and kick ass, she looked incredible.
“Oh, no way,” he ground out, and the fight went downhill from there.
“You can’t hunt,” Arthur told her. “You’re a girl. Although in those clothes I’m not surprised you can’t remember.”
“I always knew you were unobservant, Arthur,” she smirked at him. “Don’t try and lower the rest of us to your level.”
“You’re not coming; you’d only get in the way!”
“You take Merlin along, and he can barely stay on both feet!”
The ruckus they were leading up to with their argument was cut off by a quiet throat-clearing as all eyes turned to observe the king.
“Is there a problem, Arthur?”
“No, father.” Arthur saw an opportunity to get rid of Morgana, telling Uther, “Morgana wanted to come hunting with me.”
“Hunting? Oh, no. We have guests arriving shortly. I would’ve thought you’d remember that, Morgana. There will be no hunting,”
Arthur started to smile victoriously.
“-for anyone-“
It faded.
“-until they leave,” Uther decreed, before swooping off, cloak billowing out behind him, and Arthur and Morgana glaring daggers at the back of his head.
+++
“This is ridiculous,” Arthur said. Morgana had to agree.
“We could always work together,” she suggested. “Uther couldn’t out-think both of us.” Her tone implied that the reason their first attempt had failed was more to do with the brains of her companion than herself.
Arthur ignored the unsaid parts of Morgana’s conversation with the ease of long years of practise, and nodded decisively.
“Right then. We need a plan.”
Their eyes met, blue on blue, and the same thought flickered through each of their minds.
Their first step: Ambush Merlin.
+++
Merlin was doing his rounds for Gaius. He’d delivered everything now, and was just coming down a spiral staircase, juggling an empty vial between his hands, when he was grabbed from a darkened doorway by various hands which yanked him forcibly into the closest room.
It turned out to be Arthur and Morgana, and for a change both of them wanted his help doing something silly.
From what Merlin gathered from the comments the despairing nobles kept making, none of their previous attempts had gone well.
“You only have to keep him busy for a bit, distract him while we slip out,” Morgana opened with.
“We’d try it without you, but it didn’t go according to plan.”
“Every time we tried he was always standing at the exit, asking us ‘where we thought we were going’. Didn’t matter which entrances we used, he was always standing there. The man can teleport, I’m sure of it.” Morgana stated.
It was the first time Merlin had heard someone accuse the king of sorcery, almost making it worth his time for the amusement, but still…
“I’m not going to do it!” Merlin insisted. “The last time I lied to the king he had me put in the stocks. Twice. It’s not worth it.”
The others exchanged a glance, and Morgana turned back with a pout and batted eyelashes.
“Where would you even go?” Merlin asked, still trying to maintain his position of non-involvement despite the smirk that indicated Arthur knew just who’d won here.
“Gwen’s,” said Morgana crisply, and Merlin didn’t pursue it further on the pain of pain hovering in her raised eyebrow that dared him to make a comment. He swallowed and turned to Arthur.
Arthur shot him a ‘why are you still so stupid, Merlin’ look, saying, “Bedevere’s,” condescendingly.
“Alright. Fine. But you owe me.”
“Shut up, Merlin,” Arthur told him as they swept from the room.
+++
Merlin had been feeling quite good about the whole lying thing. It went better than last time. Uther simply looked hard at him for a few moments before accepting his story about having put Arthur’s sword down somewhere and had the king seen it?
Arthur and Morgana had both vanished by the time he’d got back, and now it looked like he had a free day to do whatever he wanted.
The messenger summoning him back to the throne room wiped all traces of well-being out of him.
Uther tilted his head to look at Merlin, and Merlin couldn’t quite hide the way his instincts went into run away overdrive. He gulped, and Uther smiled, tapping his gloved fingers against his lips.
“You helped them.”
“I-“
“You lied to me, and helped my son cause offence to two of the oldest members of my court. What sort of punishment would be fitting for this heinous crime?”
Merlin watched the fingers gliding back and forth over pale pink lips, and waited for them to come to judgement on his fate.
The hand moved down, revealing in its place a terrifying sight: a wicked little grin.
“I believe I have the perfect punishment…”
+++
Merlin stood in the great hall, watching the feast, dressed in his best Camelot livery, though not in the hat, thank god.
The Carters seemed to be even worse than Arthur had described them; he was sure their skin was turning yellow, like old parchment, and Lady Carter appeared to have a bald spot on the back of her head. Their fallen faces when Uther explained that neither the prince nor the Lady Morgana were in attendance at the feast, made Merlin heartily glad he’d helped. The punishment hadn’t been so bad.
He’d spent most of the evening trying to melt into the walls, and avoid any contact with anyone if he could help it. It seemed the king had noticed this strategy however, and was making his way through the crowds of milling courtiers. He carried two goblets.
“Here.” A goblet was pressed into his hand. “Drink. I’d hate to think you weren’t enjoying yourself.” The voice was so like Arthur’s when he was teasing that Merlin snorted, smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Drink,” Uther said again.
Merlin tried to protest. “Oh, I don’t-“ Uther raised an eyebrow and Merlin suddenly remembered exactly who he was talking to. He raised the goblet to his mouth.
“Thanks.” The king’s stare got a little unnerving, so Merlin took a sip. Uther’s eyes seemed to gleam in the torchlight.
A call from the newly arrived Lady Carter caused him to walk away, with one last penetrating look deep into Merlin’s eyes.
Merlin was left with the strangest sensation that he’d managed to miraculously escape with something important intact.
The End.