"Not a fan of hunting?" Mithians' voice rings out down the corridor and Merlin forces himself to stop, rolling his eye and biting his tongue at the Princess. She is a lot nicer than many visiting nobles, but somehow the traits he would usually admire had been grating on his nerves for the past week.
"what sport is it when one side has dogs and spears and crossbows and the other nothing?" The princess looks down to fiddle with her hunting gloves, before forcing her hands still. Merlin hadn't seen Mithian look so, um, uncomfortable, and he can't help but feel a vicious stab of satisfaction at the response his words elicit.
"Not much of a fan of me, either, are you?" Okay, um, not where he expected this conversation to go. Is it too late to say Arthur needs him? Mithian takes a small step forward - as if she can hear his thoughts - and Merlin resigns himself to his fate. Sighing, he adjusts the crossbow on his shoulder and holds Mithians gaze.
"Come on Merlin I'd have to be a fool not to notice."
"I'm sorry if I caused offence." Even to his own ears it sounds fake and hollow, and Mithians disappointed expression sits awkwardly in his chest. He had never been good at being cold to people, and a small part - well, a large part of him - could admit that Mithian was a lovely person. She didn't deserve his resentment, simply for being around Arthur.
"I'm sure you have, erm," she pauses to watch his expression, "good reasons."
Merlin is aware that he makes some sort of face at that, but he's certain that it shouldn't have caused Mithians' mouth to open slightly and her eyes to widen. He sends her a confused look, but by the time he's reacted she has covered her apparent shock and is now looking at him with so much sympathy and sadness in her eyes that it hits him like a physical punch. Shuffling, he goes to ask her what's wrong, when she switches both gloves to one hand and reaches out to pat Merlin pityingly on the arm before brushing past and gliding past.
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" Said something about ' not being able to do that to you', any idea what she's on about?" Arthur pretends not to watch Merlins reaction, but he knows the Prince well enough to position himself so he is facing away from the curious glances. It's clear that he's fishing for the reason to Mithian sudden attitude shift in regards to courting, but he sure won't be hearing it from Merlin.
Something clicks in Merlin's head then, a realisation that makes his stomach do a weird flip and a slight blush rise to his cheeks. He quickly shakes his head no, not trusting his voice, and resolved to be kinder to Princess Mithian the next time he served her.
Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't as bad as he thought.
YOU ARE READING
Concoction (Finished)
RomanceA few Merlin One Shots that have refused to leave me alone. They have various pairings (mainly Merthur) and if you have an idea then I would be more than happy to try and write it! I do not own Merlin. (Duh)
