“So are you going to get spooked tonight?”

Wrenching his eyes open, Arthur sat up straighter in his chair, flexing his fingers out in order to stop them completely stiffening around the quill in his hand. Slightly alarmed, he let his eyes roam his chambers before they eventually fell on Merlin, sitting at the foot of the prince’s bed, rag in one hand, boots lined up next to him. Luckily, his mind half being on the task for once, it meant he had not noticed that instead of trawling his way through the report like he was supposed to be, Arthur had dozed off. It wasn’t his fault, the warning bell had sounded in the middle of the night last night, leading to a wild goose chase around half of Camelot, only to find the man on watch had been at the ale. The prince, as was to be expected, was not best pleased.

“What?” He snapped somewhat bluntly at his servant, having missed half of whatever it was Merlin had been rambling on about (the boy had not stopped talking for the last hour, Arthur had stopped listening a while back), but not wanting to admit he had drifted off. Whilst Merlin may only be his servant, it wouldn’t stop him from ridiculing the prince for as long as he thought he could get away with it.

“Tonight.” Merlin repeated, finally glancing up from his task to observe his master in something that could resemble amusement. Unlike the prince, Merlin was not nearly as unobservant, he had indeed noticed the evening out of his breathing, he knew Arthur had fallen asleep. After letting him rest awhile, he had thought it would be a good idea to wake him up again, not knowing who could walk through the door at any moment. It would do Arthur no good if the King was to walk in, and instead of finding the Crown Prince attending his duties, found him having a nap. Merlin knew he had once again saved Arthur, and once again, the prince wouldn’t even realise.

“What about tonight?”

“Are you going to get spooked?”

“Merlin, what are you talking about? Why on earth would I be getting spooked?”

“Hallows Eve. Oh come on, you must know about that?”

“Merlin, I’ll say it one more time, what are you talking about?”

“Do you not have it here?”

“Merlin!” Meeting Arthur’s gaze with an exasperated sigh, Merlin could tell by the look on the prince’s face that he really didn’t have a clue what his servant was going on about. That in itself surprised Merlin, he thought that everyone joined in the fun of Halloween, but maybe Camelot didn’t. Last year had been different, it had fallen at the same time as Arthur managing to curse the city, any festive had been put aside due to the worry of starvation. Meaning this was Merlin’s first Halloween in Camelot, and it could well be he was on his own with this one. Sitting up straighter, Merlin put the rag down, knowing he was going to need his ducking skills on this one, Arthur tended to throw things when Merlin explained customs he found strange.

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Chapter 1

When Gaius returned nearly an hour later, he found the two boys deep in conversation, barely noticing his arrival. With an all knowing smile, the physician set about making dinner, automatically making enough for Arthur as well. How many times had the prince had dinner in the physician’s chambers when he had once again been rejected by his father? Not that he would have ever admitted it to the prince, but Gaius had enjoyed his company. Now Merlin was here, the feeling of loneliness the physician didn’t even realise he was feeling had vanished, making him feel years younger. It would be good to have both of them here.

The two were so wrapped up in their conversation, they didn’t notice the time fly until Gaius placed the bowls of steaming stew in front of them. Thanking him, the boys continued talking whilst absentmindedly eating at the same time, causing a raising of an eyebrow from Gaius. However, he wasn’t going to stop them, he knew they needed this chat more than they needed to focus on their food. Hopefully the incident, whilst painful for the young warlock in his charge, would bring them closer together, make Arthur realise what he had been missing all of these years. Merlin hadn’t even noticed he had stopped complaining about the prince every day he got home from work, he had just grown used to Arthur’s peculiar habits.

Lighting the candles around them, Gaius’ yawn went unnoticed by the youths sitting at his work bench.

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“Merlin, are you coming or not?” A slightly irritated Arthur Pendragon stood at the bottom of the stone steps, arms folded impressively across his chest as his foot tapped impatiently. He was sure he had been waiting here for ages for his servant to finally catch up with him, and sure enough, Merlin choose that moment to come panting into view. Pausing at the top of the steps, the servant groaned when he realised he would have to navigate his way down them despite being laden with a load of things he didn’t even know what they were for. The target hung precariously on his back as his arms were full of swords, maces and throwing knives, a shield hanging from the other arm. Quite how much training the prince wanted to do, the warlock had no idea.

“It would help if you took something, you know.” Merlin called down, slowly placing one foot on the steps before peering over the top of the bundle to guide his other foot onto the one below. Everyone in the castle already knew what a clumsy person Merlin was, only he was lucky it was met with humour rather than annoyance. All apart from Arthur, that was, but since the whole poisoning incident, the prince had treated his servant with a new found respect. If it was honest, Merlin was glad. It was the second time he had saved the prat’s life, it was quite nice to get a small amount of recognition, even if it didn’t get as far as a thank you crossing Arthur’s lips.

“What? And miss watching you struggle? Where would be the fun in that?” Despite his teasing, Arthur was watching Merlin carefully as he navigated his way down the stairs. If he was honest, it was less to do with concern for what the servant might do, but more to do with him dropping everything. Not only would it make a spectacular noise, Arthur had only just got the shield mended after Merlin had dropped it down four flights of stairs. He hadn’t meant for the idiot to actually carry it up to the top of the turrets with them, only Merlin seemed to have slightly misunderstood the prince’s instructions. He had been forced to take it to the blacksmith’s to see if they could get the dent out, neither he nor Merlin had been able to shift it.

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