A/N So, I have one more idea after this, so if you have any ideas, please send them in! Also as I'm writing this I keep imaging Jasper as Joffery from Game of Thrones but Joffery was insane and Jasper kind of is but not Joffery level crazy.
Prompt: A traditional noble family(one that treats their servants badly) visits Camelot and one of them wants Merlin to come back with them. They view Merlin more as a pet than an actual person. Uther is King at the time so Arthur has less power but the Knights of the Round Table are in Camelot by summergirl404
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin
When the Middleton family arrived in Camelot, Uther was waiting outside with Arthur and their personal manservant's standing slightly behind them. Arthur turns back to send a small, reassuring smile at Merlin having already warned him to stay away from the visiting nobles as they didn't treat their servants as well as Arthur did. The Knights of the Round Table, who Uther couldn't really stand because they were commoners, were standing slightly behind the prince and servant while some of Uther's more favored knights stood behind him. Leon stood slightly in the middle but more so towards where Arthur was because he had trained the young prince and he was considered a great friend of the prince. Besides, he had and still does sit at the Round Table with the rest of the knights, Gauis, Gwen, and Merlin, though he sits there secretly. Uther would be livid if he found out a servant sat at Arthur's right hand, Merlin would probably be either banished, which none of the knights or the prince himself would let happen.
"Alden! I'm glad you could make it! I hope you had a good journey." Uther booms and walks forwards, shaking hands with the visiting noble.
"Uther! Thank you for the invite, this is my lovely wife Felicity and our son, Jasper." Alden introduces. Felicity waves with a smile and Jasper just nods with a slight glare at the servant standing behind Arthur. The Middleton's servants stood a bit behind them and had bruises covering them. Merlin steps back a bit upon seeing them and Lancelot rests a hand on his shoulder while Gwaine met Jasper's eyes, giving him a warning look. Jasper returns the look with a fiercer glare and this time Arthur picks up on it, turning back to face his servant and knights with a worried glance.
"Andrew, show them to their chambers will you?" Uther orders his manservant, not picking up on the fact that Arthur was mouthing something to his own servant. Jasper, however, did and was appalled by the fact that the crown prince of Camelot would take the time to talk with such a lowly person. They were nothing more than dirt that deserved to live in a kennel and be ordered around, they were not suppose to be treated as friends which was obviously what was happening between Arthur and Merlin. Andrew motions for them to follow them before, keeping his head down the whole time, turning and disappearing into the castle, Alden and Felicity following. Jasper follows after a second or two and as he passes Merlin, he purposely bangs into the servant causing him to fall to the ground. One of the knights of the Round Table growls and sends a glare at the visiting noble's son before helping the servant up. That night at dinner, Jasper took to watching Merlin more than listening to the political discussions, the servant stayed near the back of the room but while a good servant wouldn't have, he stood in the back talking with a serving girl that Jasper hadn't seen before. The servants that his family had brought stood behind them, only making themselves known whenever they needed a refill of something or other. The servants of Camelot, however, only stepped forwards whenever someone needed a refill of their drink. They seemed to think that to be acceptable while, in reality, servants were suppose to do everything that their master said, much like a dog would. A dog would probably be a better servant than some of the servants of Camelot and Jasper was determined to make at least one of them into a good servant.
"Merlin, refill." Arthur orders, holding up his glass as his servant stumbles forward before tripping over his own feet and spills the wine everywhere. Arthur sighs in exasperation and the maidservant that Merlin had been talking to previously steps up to refill Arthur's glass. A couple of the knights chuckle as Merlin quickly picks up the metal canister that had held the wine and Uther glares at him.
"You useless, bumbling fool! I don't understand how you can complete any of your duties?!" Uther growls, "Go, before you mess anything else up!" Merlin nods, looking down before hurrying out the servant door and Arthur looks over the back of his chair at the servant as he goes. Uther quickly returns to his peace talks with the Middleton family and Jasper picks the servant he wants to take back to his manor to train, well that's what he called it, most people would call it inhumane torture.
"Father, I was wondering if maybe I could get a new servant while we're here in Camelot. I'd be willing to train one if need be but I'd like for him to know how noble households work of course. Maybe I could take Mason, or Merlin, whatever his name is, the one that spilt the wine everywhere. He seems like a pain to you Uther, I'd be more than willing to release you of that pain." Jasper offers with a smile and Arthur turns back to the conversation with a glare towards the visiting noble. The Knights of the Round Table all turn to look at Jasper with slight glares before turning to their prince, all wearing looks that told him to stop this right now.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea Jasper, don't you agree Arthur?" Uther asks, looking pointedly at him as if daring him to argue. Arthur ignores the looks and sends another glare at the visiting noble's kid.
"No father, I don't think it's a good idea. Merlin is my servant and it's my job to train him as I see fit. How can I help it if he's prone to clumsiness? I've tried and tried again to train him for it but it's near impossible. Besides, it's perfectly fine as long as he gets all his chores done." Arthur argues with an angry look.
"Arthur, you always complain about how he is the most lazy servant you've ever had. Jasper here is willing to take him off your hands and we can get you a more competent servant." Uther points out and Gwaine gives the prince an angry look under his hair when the King looks away.
"Merlin is not lazy, he normally gets all his chores done and also works for Gauis. Gauis needs a ward, he's getting older and isn't able to carry out all his duties as well as he use to." Arthur points out and the court physician nods in agreement.
"He also takes extra jobs at the Tavern on nights they need to help along with some work in town when needed." Gwaine adds as he holds his glass for a refill before thanking the one who filled it.
"We'll have a talk about it later Jasper and get back to you as soon as we can." Uther informs him before going back to his meal, "Shall we continue the peace talks?" Alden nods but Felicity excuses herself after yawning slightly, saying she was just too tired to continue.
"May I be excused father?" Arthur asks forcefully and at Uther's sharp nod, he stands and motions for his Knights to follow him. As soon as they are out of the dining hall, they go out to try and find Merlin. Turns out he was currently in the tavern, washing up dishes for the tavern master.
"Merlin! There you are!" Arthur shouts as he walks back behind the bar.
"Mate, what're you doing washing dishes? You're usually serving from the times I've been here." Gwaine comments confused and Merlin laughs slightly.
"You're here every night Gwaine." Percival laughs and shakes his head.
"You didn't tell them why you're washing dishes Merlin? Don't you think you deserve a bit of a thank you?" The tavern master, Cason asks as he walks into the bar area. Merlin shakes his head before returning to the dishes.
"You're lucky to have such a good friend Sir Gwaine." Cason warns, "Be careful not to lose that."
"I know that." Gwaine replies with a smile, "Why are you washing dishes Merlin and why do I get a feeling it has something to do with me?" Merlin keeps his head down and quickly finishes washing out the tankards.
"He's washing dishes to pay off your tab Sir Gwaine." Cason tells them and Gwaine feels the smile slide off his face.
"Mate, you didn't need to do that. I would've paid it off, I just wanted to get the Yule festivals over before I did, so I could make sure I had enough for gifts and all that." Gwaine sighs in shame and Cason smiles before turning to face the servant.
"Merlin, take the night off. Gwaine are you going to pay the bill soon?" Cason asks and at Gwaine's nod, he turns back to Merlin, "You'll start working your normal shift tomorrow. No more washing dishes for you." Merlin smiles before thanking him and then leaving, followed closely by the Knights.
"Merlin, Uther is debating sending you back with the Middleton's, he won't listen to reason!" Arthur rants silently and Gwaine glares at the ground.
"As in, me being Jasper's servant?" Merlin asks quietly, his voice trembling barely at the thought of being a servant for that monster.
"Don't worry Merlin, if you leave Camelot then who will protect Arthur?" Lancelot asks and Arthur murmurs about how he can take care of himself perfectly fine. All the Knights laugh at this, knowing full well that Merlin had saved Arthur's life at least twice. Lancelot knew it was way more than that but Merlin had lost count so he didn't know the actual number either.
"We're not going to let them take you anyway!" Gwaine promises and Merlin hopes he's right because he knows he has friends here, he knows that people care about him here, but at Middleton Manor the servants revived beatings for one minor mistake. The rest of the Knights agree quickly and that gets a small smile from Merlin, he knows they won't let anything happen. Later that night, after Merlin had been dismissed, Uther walks into the prince's chambers.
"Arthur, I honestly think it'd be best to have that servant of yours go off with Jasper. He needs to be trained! Besides we can always hire someone to help Gauis!" Uther tries to make his son see his own reason but obviously Arthur was closer to the manservant than he previously thought.
"No father! I am not sending my manservant to somewhere where they beat servants on a daily basis! Please father, Merlin is my manservant and it is my job to do with him as I see fit!" Arthur retorts angrily and Uther glares at his son.
"Arthur, can you not see how the peasant has blinded you!? You're siding with him rather than your own father!" Uther groans when his son shakes his head defiantly.
"Merlin works hard and is a good servant, pardon the fact that he is clumsy at times. He will be staying in Camelot and continue to serve me until I see it fit to get a new one! Now please father, leave me." Arthur orders and can't help but feel a bit shocked with himself, he had never ordered his father around before and it scared him that he could do it with such ease over a servant. But Merlin wasn't just a servant, he was a friend and a trusted advisor, though he barely wanted to admit it to himself, let alone his father!
"I think it is time for you to move on from this Merlin!" Uther shouts and moves forward on his son, who backs up slightly.
"Father, he is staying here in Camelot! Please!" Arthur begs and he hadn't thought that he would ever beg but he couldn't lose his best friend.
"Fine but you're the one to tell Jasper that!" Uther growls, finally giving in, knowing he won't get anywhere with arguing about it. As soon as he left, Sir Gwaine walks in and takes a seat across from Arthur.
"He's staying right? Because so help me if you said he could go." Gwaine warns and Arthur looks a bit frightened, Gwaine wasn't the only one that could probably hurt him but most of the ones that could are great friends with Merlin.
"He's staying but I have to tell Jasper that he can't take my servant, or any of Camelot's servants." Arthur replies and Gwaine smiles.
"We'll help but he is staying." Gwaine promises and Arthur nods before rising.
"We should now, they leave tomorrow morning." Arthur reminds Gwaine and the two of them go to find the other Knights, who were still on the training grounds with Jasper, some of his Knights, and Merlin.
"So servant, you ready to come home with your new master?" Jasper growls and Merlin doesn't reply, "Answer when spoken to!" Jasper shoves Merlin back and in his true self, Merlin trips over his own feet, sending him to the ground. Before either Gwaine or Arthur could do something, Lancelot had ran over and helped Merlin back up. Jasper tries to grab ahold of Merlin but the rest of Round Table Knights step forward, holding their swords out protectively.
"Afternoon," Arthur nods to his Knights as he walks onto the field, "Jasper, we're sorry to say that you can't take Merlin back with you. He's too important to the physician and to most of the towns people." Jasper glares at all of them before turning and walking away while muttering something about how Camelot was a disgraceful place. Arthur glares at his back as Jasper's Knights walk off, following him.
"Thank you." Merlin mutters from where he's standing next to Lancelot and all of them still have their swords out. Arthur smiles as he looks at the scene, he guesses that Merlin had made more friends than he originally thought.
A/N Annnnndddd done :) ugh I had my EOIs today ;-;