Arthur woke to an empty bed.
It was still dark outside. The first rays of sun hadn't yet fought their way above the horizon, and the birds were sound asleep.
But he knew he was alone.
He could feel the cold breeze in the space beside him and, in the flickering light of half-spent candles, he could see his own empty hand, still outstretched across the douvet. It was as if, even in sleep, he'd been searching for something — for someone — to hold on to.
Arthur sighed, retracted his arm, and rolled over so he could no longer see the empty space beside him. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting. Of course Merlin hadn't stayed. Why would he? He had his own bed, he didn't need Arthur's. He'd probably fallen asleep by accident and left as soon as he woke. If anything, Merlin's absence was a relief. It had saved them the embarrassment of waking up together.
Arthur closed his eyes and tried to ignore the strange knot that seemed to tug at his chest.
Last night hadn't meant anything. It was a mistake. That was all there was to it. It was just a mistake.
It hadn't meant anything at all.
~~~
Merlin stared blankly at the ceiling. It was the same ceiling he saw every night he went to sleep, and every morning he woke up. It was bare and dirtied and slightly burnt in the far corner from a spell that had gone wrong. It was not remotely interesting. And yet, Merlin had been staring at it for hours: watching as it gradually brightened with the first weak rays of the rising sun.
He hadn't slept much.
Every time he closed his eyes, all he could think about was the way Arthur had fallen asleep, holding his hand, his soft snores accompanied by the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. He'd looked almost ethereal in the candle light. He'd looked peaceful. Merlin had never seen Arthur look so vulnerable in such an utter surrender to sleep.
It was a shame he'd had to leave.
Merlin wasn't sure when he'd left. He only knew that he had. He'd been too comfortable, too close to falling asleep — the very thing Arthur had specifically told him not to do — and too close, had he waited for the morning, to being caught by the guards on his way out. Or worse. To being caught by the guards still in Arthur's chambers: Prince and servant, sleeping side by side. There would've been no way to explain that.
So, slowly, Merlin had slipped his hand from Arthur's grip and crept out of the room and into the dark, empty hallway. It had been a lonely affair. His footsteps had echoed at each pace, down each corridor and around each turn. The sound had mocked him. Its low, soft echo had become the beat of an inescapable drum, and Merlin had walked round and round, trapped in a solitary dance.
Somehow, he'd found himself in a familiar hidden passage. And then, without really thinking, he'd lit a torch and descended the steps into the great cavern that lay beneath the castle.
Kilgarrah seemed to have been expecting him.
"You seem restless, young Warlock." That's what he'd said. And then, without giving Merlin a chance to reply, he'd said something else: "it wouldn't be anything to do with Morgana, would it?"
Merlin had simply started at him. It was unlike him to be so far off the mark. In fact, the Great Dragon had always taken great pride in two things: being cryptic and being right.
"Regretting your decision to tell her of your magic? I warned you that she could be dangerous."
"Well, you were wrong," Merlin had gathered himself enough to reply, "she's not dangerous, she's lonely. She needs someone to guide her."
"And that will be you, will it?"
Merlin couldn't remember if he'd even replied to that. The next thing he knew, he'd been back in his bed, exhausted, but utterly unable to sleep.
He hadn't moved since.
And yet, with the sun still rising, he knew he'd have to drag himself out of bed soon. The day was only just beginning, and he had duties to tend to.
~~~
Arthur ducked as Percival took another swing at his head. They'd been training for over an hour, and it had been the Prince's own suggestion that they take it in turns to fight each other. So far, he hadn't been doing anywhere near as well as he'd hoped.
"Are you alright, Sire?"
Arthur steadied himself and nodded. "Go again."
Percival lunged forward in one clean, swift motion, aiming his sword at Arthur's side.
The Prince blocked it and forced him backwards.
The Knight was ready for him; he took the weight of Arthur's sword against his own and then stepped back, causing the Prince to lose his balance long enough to be knocked off his feet.
"Ohhhh," Elyan sucked in a breath, "that's got to be embarrassing."
Arthur glared at him from the floor.
Percival offered him a hand up. "You seem distracted."
Gwaine laughed. "Are you surprised? He's spent half his time making puppy-eyes at Merlin."
All five of the knights turned to look at the edge of the training field. Merlin sat cross-legged on the grass, surrounded by pieces of armour he was supposed to be polishing. What he'd actually done was divide his time between watching Arthur and trying to fight the urge to curl up into a ball and sleep.
"I have not," Arthur hissed, "been doing anything of the sort."
"I don't know," Lancelot mused, "for once, Gwaine might have a point."
"What do you mean 'for once'? I always have a point."
Leon snorted.
"Right," Arthur cleared his throat, "if everyone could stop mucking about and staring at Merlin, we can back to training."
There was a brief silence.
"Fine," Gwaine threw up his hands, "we'll stop staring—"
"Thank you."
"—since it's clearly making you jealous."
Arthur punched him in the arm. This did not, however, stop Gwaine from looking incredibly pleased with himself and, after another half an hour, Arthur was forced to cancel training. The knights quickly disbanded, and it was only when he'd finished replacing the weapons did Arthur notice that Merlin still hadn't moved.
There was a very simple explanation for this: Merlin had fallen asleep. He'd hidden it well though, or relatively so, as anyone on the training field could easily mistake his slumped posture for someone hard at work, as though he was bending down to polish the armour that lay on his lap.
Now, stood in front of him, Arthur could see that this wasn't the case. "Merlin?" He said, softly.
Merlin remained fast asleep.
The Prince paused for a moment and then, very gently, leant down and lifted the piece of armour from Merlin's lap, casting it on the grass beside them. "Hey," he soothed, moving to place a tentative hand on the brunet's shoulder, "Merlin?"
The Warlock jumped awake, snapping his eyes open at the same time as Arthur pulled back his hand. He relaxed as soon as he saw who was in front of him.
"Sleeping on the job?"
"I—"
"Really, Merlin," Arthur sighed, already getting up, "you truly are the worst manservant I've ever had."
"Get a new one then," Merlin retorted, trying to ignore the colour he felt rising in his cheeks. He suddenly felt intensely awkward. There was something strangely intimate about seeing someone asleep. He'd learnt that last night.
Arthur frowned. "Are you feeling alright? You've gone a bit red."
"I'm fine." Merlin gestured to the mess of unpolished armour, "I'll just get this cleared up and then—"
"No, I'll have someone else do that. You should get some rest."
"I'm sorry? I'm not sure I heard you right."
"What I meant," Arthur coughed, "is that you look ill. Unsightly, even. So I'm giving you the rest of the afternoon off before you make anyone else sick."
It was a little hard not to be insulted, but Merlin had a secret feeling that this was another of Arthur's backward ways of being kind. He suppressed a smile. "Arthur?"
"What?"
"Thank you."
The Prince watched him go without a word. He was half-convinced that Merlin was just being lazy — and incredibly strange — but maybe Merlin really was sick. And maybe, if that was the case, it would explain the strange fluttery feeling growing in Arthur's stomach.
Maybe they were both coming down with something.
A/N
How the hell do you spell the Great Dragon's name, because I've seen about three different spellings so far and at this point I have no idea what the truth is
Also I decided not to count Arthur as a knight seeing as he's already a prince
~ Kat