Outlaws in the Wild

 

It was not that they did not like her…It was more that they begrudged and envied her.

 

Merlin was not stupid. She knew how the structure in a castle was supposed to be.

 

She had broken that structure.

 

Women didn’t become personal attendants to a nobleman, much less the King or Prince (never mind both at the same time). They were employed as laundresses to wash clothes, sheets and towels. They were otherwise employed as caregivers to the royal children, and the Lady of the Castle’s personal attendants –and as such, tend to her, help her wash and dress, do her hair, pass the time playing games with her, and generally keep her company.

 

There was no Lady of the Castle.

 

With no Queen, Lady Morgana was a pale substitute, with Gwen as a personal attendant. Though Merlin could have also been attached to her, she had instead been made to serve the Prince and the King.

 

Women were vastly outnumbered by men in serving households, though as King and a royal household (as well as a huge castle needed to be continuously and widespread upkeep) meant there were much more women in Camelot’s castle than was the usual, women simply did not become personal attendants to kings and princes. When it came to royal men, only their most trusted servants, usually of noble birth, were to become personal attendants to them.

 

Merlin was a young girl, a peasant and who had just arrived to Camelot.

 

She had broken the hierarchy of a household, a royal household, even though it was not her fault. But though she had not asked for it, it was plain truth and it drew the ire of the others working with her. She had broken out of the mold, and they weren’t really too forgiving.

 

A peasant girl simply does not become part of the royal household just like that, much less the personal maidservant to the King and Prince.

 

She should not have gotten such a high position –not as a girl (a young girl), not as a peasant, not as a new arrival, not to a position she had no business being in or having, and certainly not to royal men.

 

So if the others gave her the cold shoulder, if the other servants spoke roughly or disparagingly to her, she would ignore it and just do her duty.

 

Merlin went on, trying to not be bothered by how isolated she had become in the small amount of time she’d spent in Camelot. She had been doing just well, getting along fine with others, and now it was all ruined and she had not anyone but Gwen (who was almost similarly ostracized for being the peasant maidservant to Lady Morgana), Lady Morgana herself, Gaius, and Prince Arthur and King Uther. It was a small and rather dismal group, considering two of them were men she served and one was her uncle, who she also occasionally did errands for.

 

She considered herself lucky for at least them.

 

“Perhaps this burgundy?”

 

Merlin looked over the cape and nodded. “Perfect, Sire.”

 

 Arthur looked over to her with a frown. “Are you sure? I don’t want to look boorish.”

 

Merlin let her lips twitch up. “You would be boorish if you forgot your manners, not if you wear a red cape.”

 

Arthur’s own lips twitched and he looked himself back in the mirror, straightening his back and trying to keep an upright posture.

 

“Blue would’ve been nice,” she murmured. “It would’ve brought out your eyes more. But I know red is the color of your family.”

 

“Perhaps next time I’m out on a casual stroll or of the like,” Arthur muttered to himself.

 

Merlin felt herself smile fully, and it seemed to let Arthur smile himself.

 

“I have cleaned up your room and set your laundry out to dry. It’ll be brought in later by Gregory. You’ve been properly washed and dressed –I should think I need to see to your father now, and see if he needs anything before going to visit Gaius and then returning to you,” she informed him.

 

He looked oddly regretful, but nodded to her in assent. “I will see you later then. For lunch, could you see if a tart is available?”

 

She raised an eyebrow slightly and said slyly, “Particularly plum tart?”

 

“Particularly plum tart.”

 

She laughed melodiously as she left, missing the lonely look on Arthur’s face as she disappeared from his sight. Truth was, she didn’t really understand him. She didn’t know or understand the complete turnaround from the prat she’d met to this royal courteous and affable prince, and only knew that it had started immediately after she’d mentioned Gaius and her relation to him. She’d asked Gaius, but her uncle was also baffled and had no answers for her.

 

Her mind had to stop thinking as she arrived at the King’s chambers, and once again her nerves were getting to her. She drew in a deep breath before she knocked, and the familiar commanding voice bid her to come in, like what was becoming usual for the past week.

 

“Your Highness,” she curtseyed, though she wasn’t able to stop herself from sort of bowing also.

 

It probably looked an awkward pose, but she wasn’t very particular right then –she was busy keeping herself balanced, having almost unbalanced herself by moving so.

 

“Be straight,” Uther said quietly and she looked to see him in the middle of tying the laces of his boots. “Has Arthur been set? We leave for Nemeth after lunch.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness. Prince Arthur is ready and is going over the diplomatic agreements,” Merlin replied, trying to make herself as small as possible.

 

“And of yourself? Have you packed well?”

 

At this, Merlin couldn’t help but break out of her submissive role and blink in confusion at him.

 

“I beg your pardon?” she blurted out, though inwardly winced afterwards.

 

But he did not remark on her tone and words towards him (or even the casual attitude she again seemed to take on, even with him).

 

“Were you not informed?” he asked, tone belying nothing. “As personal attendant, you will be required to come with us on travels outside of Camelot. Though I take precedent and will be the one who you must pertain the most attention to, as both Arthur and I will be going, you will definitely be attending as well.”

 

She flushed slightly red. “No, I hadn’t been informed, Your Highness. I apologize. If there is anything else you may need before I go to pack for the trip?”

 

“No, I am fine. Go on then,” he said, though he was putting on his cape and having trouble adjusting it and tying the ties.

 

She hesitated before going over and gently moving his hands away, tying it quickly and then adjusting it to a more proper look. She didn’t look at him the entire time, or even afterwards, but she curtsied and left.

 

Without further prompting, she rushed to Gaius’ and began to pack a bag. She informed him of what she’d just learned, and Gaius nodded in understanding. He also understood that the other servants were giving her a hard time, and that quite a bit of the things she’d needed to learn to be a proper maidservant (much less the personal maidservant to the royal Pendragon men) was quite lost on her and wasn’t thoroughly taught and tutored in many serviceable things.

 

Pack now full with things she thought she might need, she carried it with her as she went to the kitchens to retrieve Arthur’s lunch. She ignored some of the looks she got, and many others who just preferred to ignore her presence. Seeing Uther’s lunch ready to be brought up as well, she balanced the two trays and decided she’d help Merek, the King’s usual manservant (and one of the kinder ones). Merek, she knew, had tons of other things to do for the King, and would no doubt have his hands full already without having to remember to bring up his lunch.

 

Just in case, knowing none of the others would tell Merek and he might end up either panicking about the missing lunch or doubling the King’s, she made a small detour to where he would be to tell him. If she didn’t find him, she’d tell Gwen, who’d help her out at least.

 

Luckily, he was in the middle of readying the King’s and company’s horses, whom Merlin knew the middle-aged man loved dearly.

 

“Merek, I’m off to deliver Arthur’s lunch. I’ve got Uther’s too, so don’t worry, alright?” she told him, only passing by so that the food wouldn’t get cold.

 

He turned from the horses and gave her a gentle smile. “Thank you, dear. And it’s Prince Arthur and King Uther.”

 

Merlin shrugged lightly and gave him a cheeky grin that he laughed at, before she hurried away to deliver lunch to the royals.

 

It seemed like it was no time at all until they were on their way to Nemeth, and she was riding horseback behind the King and Prince, and with Merek beside her. She tried not to show how uncomfortable the ride was, considering she was riding the horse like a man and she had never even really ridden a horse before either.

 

It was awkward, bumpy, and just the slightest bit painful. Did she mention uncomfortable? Because it was, it really, really was.

 

“Shift every so often,” Merek whispered to her. “It’ll help a little. You’ll get used to it soon also.”

 

She couldn’t hide her grimace, but tried his advice. It did help, even if only a little bit.

 

Soon, they had to set up camp and Merlin was cooking fried fish with the fishes some of the knights had managed to catch. Merek was helping to set up camp in the meanwhile, though he’d admitted to her that he wasn’t much use or had any skill in cooking anyway.

 

Merlin hummed to herself as she cooked, though she became aware that it was becoming quiet in the camp. She quieted down too, sure that they were supposed to be quiet or something. Suddenly, startling her, Merek appeared in front of her and was smiling widely.

 

“Merlin, why don’t you sing louder? It’s a bit of a bore and I’m sure the others would love the entertainment,” he whispered.

 

Her face tinted red and she looked at him unsurely, but he gave her an encouraging smile. So, though shaky and soft at first, she started to sing a small little folklore song that her mother used to sing to her when she was a child.

 

“Far over the Misty Mountain’s cold, to dungeons deep and caverns old. We must away ere break of day, to find our long, forgotten gold. The pines were roaring on the height. The winds were mourning in the night. The fire was red, it flaming spread. The trees like torches, blazed with light~”

 

She trailed off and opened her eyes, having not realized she’d closed them. She knew she’d sung the abbreviated version, but thought it would be better, considering the rest of the song talked about dwarves and elves and dragons…never mind that the song was about dwarves in the first place. And with the company she kept, she thought it was the wiser choice.

 

She heard applause and cheers and felt the tips of her ears turn red in embarrassment, grinning shyly at the men around her.

 

Trying to cut the attention off of her, she whirled around and loudly announced that the food was ready. While the cheers grew louder at that, she caught sight of both Arthur and Uther sitting behind her, with the Prince still looking at her in awe and admiration, and the King was uncomfortably staring intensely at her, though his face held a look of curiosity.

 

She hadn’t even known the two of them had sat behind her, or else she probably would have been even more nervous through cooking and then singing.

 

“Let us eat,” Uther said, and another round of cheers sounded and everyone was getting their share of the food before they dug in.

 

Merlin sat quietly next to Merek, a little away from the others in the group. They ate their own share of the cooked fish, though a smaller portion as they were servants.

 

“Nervous?” Merek questioned.

 

Merlin smiled slightly. “Very. I hope it’s not too obvious, but it probably is. And there is that I just became Uther and Arthur’s maidservant, and I haven’t even been trained properly. How should I even act in another kingdom?”

 

Merek nodded, as if expecting her worries. “Just be cautious. Be even more demure and dutiful to everyone there, even the servants. You are in their territory. Meek is even better. Try to be as obedient as you can, and be compliant to everyone there. Try not to stick out and just focus on serving His Highness and Prince Arthur. And for goodness’ sakes, use everyone’s titles,” he gave her a knowing look.

 

“Okay,” she turned a bit sheepish. “Thank you, Merek, for everything. For like, teaching me how to make up a bed for royalty correctly, how to set their baths and clothes, and do the laundry more efficiently. It means a lot.”

 

He gave her another of his gentle smiles. “It’s fine. I hope you’re still not having trouble with the other servants, are you?” At her abashed look, he sighed. “I suppose Sybyll’s the worst of them, isn’t she? She’s always had a chip on her shoulder…You should tell Prince Arthur, or even go to His Highness himself.”

 

“I can’t do that,” she shook her head. “They’ll just talk more and treat me worse.”

 

Merek snorted. “I doubt that. They can’t talk or even be near you, when they’ll probably be fired. His Highness is very strict, and he would definitely not tolerate his personal servant being mistreated, especially from those below her station. You do realize, that as personal maidservant to His Highness and Prince Arthur, you hold your own station and are higher than ordinary servants? As personal attendant to the King and Prince, a position usually held by lower-ranked nobles, you would be entitled to at least the title of Lady.”

 

Merlin blinked at him. “…Huh?”

 

He chuckled lightly. “I see court politics and etiquette are still rather unfamiliar to you, aren’t they?”

 

Merlin was still lost, but she just gave him a shrug. “Does that mean Gwen’s a Lady too?”

 

“Not quite,” Merek shook his head. “Lady Morgana’s station is not high enough to make Guinevere ennobled, though you aren’t close to Lady Morgana’s station either. However, you are above Guinevere as well.”

 

“Perhaps I should have just stayed in Ealdor,” Merlin massaged her temples. “This is all so complicated and confusing. I think I’m still ruing the day I ever involved myself with the royal family. I should have just kept quiet and to myself.”

 

“Then life in Camelot would have stayed boring,” Merek said cheerfully.

 

She huffed at him.

 

Suddenly, there was a commotion and everyone jumped up, pulling out swords at the ready as bandits attacked. Merlin sucked in a deep breath and her eyes widened, and she wasn’t sure what to do. One of the bandits came towards her and Merek, probably believing them to be easy targets (honestly, she thought so too), but Merek pulled out the sword by his side and blocked the bandit’s, swords clashing with a loud clanging.

 

Though she’d thought it was only for show, Merek seemed quite capable with the sword and looked like he’d had some training with it. Still feeling out of her depth, Merlin looked around in a panic and saw that almost everyone was engaged in a fight. Fortunately, it seemed Camelot’s knights were winning and showed they were the better trained group than these uncouth outlaws.

 

She saw the King and Prince fighting back to back, though they were focused on their own battles. Arthur was getting quite into it, looking like he hadn’t minded the attack, so long as he was able to whip out his sword and dealt some damage. The King on the other hand, was much more serious about the fight. She looked more closely and saw he seemed to be favoring a side, and Merlin remembered that his left shoulder sustained the effects of an old injury that never healed all the way.

 

Despite that, he still seemed to be doing well. Even with advanced age and old injuries, he seemed to be keeping up well with Arthur, barring looking rusty in fighting and some odd footwork that showed that Uther had not been in a fight for a long time.

 

However, both royals seemed to have missed another bandit coming up near their blind spot, ready to swing his sword in an arc and attack both of them. Without thinking, she ran forward, without thought to look around her for danger that could be aimed at her (thankfully, everyone was kept busy). She reached the two urgently, right when the bandit was about to attack, and had accidentally startled and almost interrupted Uther and Arthur’s individual battles.

 

But she ignored that and instinctively grabbed the frying pan still there and hot, and jerked it towards the bandit, causing hot oil to hit the man’s face and make him howl. She followed up the searing distraction by swinging the pan, and smashing it across the man’s head, knocking him unconscious.

 

By the time she’d finished all that, everything was quiet around her and she realized that the battle was finished and everyone was looking at her. She turned red.

 

“A frying pan?” Arthur smirked.

 

She hugged the handle close to her, and her red blush deepened.

 

“Well…it’s my weapon,” she pouted and scrunched up her nose rather adorably. “…Besides, it’s the only thing I know how to use…” she mumbled.

 

The tip of her ears turned red again as laughter surrounded her.

 

~*~*~

 

“Just swing it upright. Yes, yes –that’s it. No –not towards me! I don’t want you cutting my ear off, Merlin!”

 

Merlin couldn’t get rid of the red staining her face, no matter what she tried to do.

 

After the debacle, to her embarrassment and consternation, the King actually suggested in a teasing manner that perhaps one of the knights should teach her how to handle a sword “just in case.” And, to the utter amusement and the rest of the night’s entertainment before bedtime, Merlin was being subjected to the humiliating honor of being taught how to properly wield a sword, tutored by the kindly Sir Brom (who’d actually volunteered).

 

“Merlin, I think the enemy would be frighten to approach you just by the way you’re swinging that thing,” Arthur mocked good-naturedly.

 

Merlin hugged the sword’s hilt. “Do you see this thing?! It’s heavy, it is! I don’t know how the whole lot of you can do it!”

 

Yes, she was acting out of decorum for a servant in front of a group of nobles, but these were knights and they were rowdy and in good cheer and having fun –and neither Uther or Arthur were saying anything. Merek merely shook his head at her, though he wore an amused smile as he watched her.

 

Merlin grunted, heaving the thing up again and trying to hold it properly, before she thrust it forward like she was next instructed.

 

Well, it went well initially.

 

The momentum had her thrusting it forward but too much, and she was following after it. The move had her dropping the sword and then stumbling in the direction it went from the force of the thrust she did.

 

Brom hurriedly caught her and steadied her.

 

“The sword may not be your weapon of choice,” he said wryly.

 

Merlin said back sarcastically, “You think?”

 

Her words had the knights guffawing, though she snuck glances at Uther and Arthur. But both actually looked quite amused and were still not saying anything about her improper behavior.

 

“Alright, time for bed,” Uther called out, becoming serious. “We break early and then head out as soon as the sun dawns tomorrow.”

 

Brom was assigned first watch with another knight, and the rest took to bed. She followed Merek to where they were sleeping slightly apart from the others. Merlin, exhausted from everything, fell asleep practically as soon as her head touched the ground.

 

Like as always, she woke early and saw she was the first awake, aside from the last two knights on watch (both of whom looked dreary and were yawning every few seconds. Even Merek was still sleeping close by to her, and she took extra care in getting up from her spot so as to not wake him. Deciding to get an early start on breakfast, she looked around and decided that maybe a few berries wouldn’t go amiss, as part of the loaves of bread they had brought along.

 

She quietly walked over to the knights on watch, who saw her waking up and then coming towards them after. After informing them what she was planning on, they advised her not to go too far away from camp and then she was off.

 

It didn’t take her long to find many good berries that she could take back, and after checking if any of the species were poisonous, she started piling them into a pouch she’d brought along for that purpose. She refrained from the urge to create golden lights of figures in the air, like she used to do in Ealdor when she went off into the forest to do this very same task. And it was a good thing too, as when she was almost done, she was approached by the King.

 

“I see you’ve found a good batch already,” he said suddenly, startling her.

 

She whirled around in surprise, holding the rather large sized pouch to her chest in her shock, feeling her heart beating rapidly. It started calming down as soon as she saw exactly who her intruder was, and she clumsily moved into a bow, before realizing she should’ve curtseyed instead. She tried to rectify her mistake, despite having already done it.

 

“At ease,” he ordered and she awkwardly tried to do so, fidgeting under his gaze. “The knights on guard told me where you’d gone off to, and as I was the only other awake, I wanted to see if you needed any help.”

 

“N-no, Your Highness. I think that I’ve managed to gather a good amount for everyone,” she chanced a look into his eyes.

 

He seemed amused for some reason.

 

“These are grown men, with appetites as big as you, Merlin. I highly doubt that one single pouch will be enough to fill that group,” he gave her a small smile, and she was at once caught off guard by the gesture and the fact that he’d once again used her name.

 

“Uh, yes, I suppose you’re right,” Merlin mumbled, turning away to hide her cheeks.

 

“Perhaps you should lead the way to where you’d found the berries then?” he held up several more pouches around the size of hers.

 

She cleared her throat awkwardly and gave an abrupt nod. “Y-yes, this way, Your Highness.”

 

She didn’t know how she felt about having to spend an unknown amount of time alone with the King, picking berries of all things. However, it wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought it would be, afterwards when she thought back to it.

 

It was actually…kind of nice.

 

It had been quiet for the most part, but there wasn’t the expected awkward tension she thought she’d feel being in the presence of the King (her usual reaction) or even a hint of being uncomfortable or self-conscious at all. In fact, he’d even politely inquired to how she was liking Camelot and her new life in it so far, as well as a few questions about herself and how it was living in Gaius’ little abode.

 

Perhaps she was getting a bit better being near him.

 

As they were headed back, she was surprised again when she heard the King’s next request of her.

 

“Would you sing that song from yesterday again?” and that he’d actually asked her, instead of ordering like he was entitled to, took her aback and strangely pleased her as well.

 

She nodded shyly and began the words, singing softly and starting out much more confidently than she had yesterday.

 

“Far over the Misty Mountain’s cold, to dungeons deep and caverns old…”