Of Chores and Crowns (A Merlin Fanfiction) ✔

Chapter Twenty-six

As Merlin told the story of how he came to be in Camelot, I was entranced. I was in complete disbelief that half of this stuff had happened. I had to pause him multiple times in order to make comments, or I was laughing so hard he had to stop.

I completely lost it when Merlin told me Uther had married a troll.

And I the more I heard about him, the more I grew fond of Arthur, even if he was, as Merlin put it, a "clotpole." I even went so far as to become jealous when Merlin talked about the period where Gwen and Arthur had been involved.

By the time he was done telling me everything, I had gone through all of Faye's clothes and bedsheets, and was just starting on my own.

"You have lived enough adventures to satisfy a hundred men, Merlin." I sighed, smiling gently.

Merlin returned the smile, folding his hands. He had long since finished his laundry. I guess Princes did not required as much clothing as Princesses. I, on the other hand, still had a few dresses to go and my hands were already bright red and pruney.

I hummed softly into the silence of the room, moving to hang up another dress to dry. I could feel Merlin watching me, his gaze thoughtful.

"What?" I finally asked, returning to the basin once more.

"What about you?" He finally asked, leaning forward eagerly, "What's your story?"

I laughed out loud, the sound echoing slightly in the empty room. I poured some more soap into the water and said, "I can already tell you it's not half so intriguing as yours."

"Nonsense." He scoffed, leaning back.

"I come from a small village right outside of Deira. Everybody knew everybody there, and you didn't take a step outside without the whole village somehow knowing." I laughed, remembering my old home, "It was just my mom, my brother, and I growing up. I never learned what happened to my dad."

Merlin watched me carefully, and I purposefully kept my eyes adverted, scrubbing hard at the dress.

"Then a sickness hit the village and I lost both my mom and my brother." I sighed, "I, somehow, managed to escape the disease, but as soon as the crisis was over, I knew I couldn't stay in that little townhouse. So, I sold it and moved to Deira."

"That's where you met Faye?" Merlin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not for a long while." I laughed, remembering that day. "I became a barmaid to get by, and one day a rich girl draped in a cloak walked in."

Merlin leaned forward, eagerly.

"It was so obvious that she didn't belong; that she was just a rich girl slumming it, because she found her plush life at home 'unfair.' Long story short, it wasn't the most respectable bar and some folks tried to take advantage of her. I helped her out, and took her home. Imagine my surprise when she led me to the castle!"

Merlin grinned at me, obviously picturing it. I sighed, pausing in my work to think back at that day.

"To repay me, the king offered me a job as the princess's personal servent!" I continued, "I accepted and I've been with her ever since. That must have been, what, three years ago? It feels like it's been forever."

Merlin was quiet for a couple moments and I quickly took advantage of that time to finish up the dress I was working on. I signed in relief when I saw that it had been the last one. I slowly began to fold everything that had time to dry while I worked on the rest.

"So you were a barmaid?" He finally asked, "That must have been even a little bit exciting."

"Are you kidding? I was groped by random strangers every night, forced to sing racy pub songs because I had the best voice, and barely made enough to earn a living." I scoffed.

Merlin seemed taken aback, but quickly recovered. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but I quickly interrupted him.

"I need to go. Faye has a couple more chores for me to get done before I can relax." I said, gathering up the basket of clean laundry.

"What about the rest of your clothes?" He asked, motioning to the still-drying items.

"All of those are mine and I'll be able to get them once I have settled Faye in for the night." I told him.

He looked as if he wanted to find another reason to keep me in the room, but I quickly said my goodbyes and left. I swung by Gaius's on the way to pick up some bath salts, and then to the kitchens where I asked for a plate of food and a tub of hot water to be sent to Faye's room.

Finally I made it to the room, relieved to find it empty. I didn't completely feel like facing Faye quite yet, considering the day I've had.

I hurried to make her bed and put away the laundry, making sure to lay out a nightgown for tonight. By then the food and tub had arrived, so I quickly set those up. I figured I had just enough time to run back down for my own laundry, so I did that, and when I came back, Fayelinn was at the table, eating.

"Good evening, my lady." I greeted, nodding my head slightly in acknowledgement.

She let out an unladylike grunt to show that she heard me. I suppressed a smile and tucked the laundry into the trunk at the foot of my cot in the corner.

When I had first arrived, there had been no rooms readily available in the castle for me, so Faye and I just shared. Even after there had been a room made up, we just kept sharing. I think it was because, despite everything, we felt comforted by each other's presence.

I quickly prepared Fayelinn for the night. After her bath, I pleated her hair and braided it back. She smiled at me through the mirror, and I knew we had forgiven each other.

Once she was tucked in bed, I blew out the candles and started dragging the used tub of water out of the room. I shut the door tightly behind me, making sure to muffle the sound.

With all my strength, I dragged that tub through the castle until I reached the kitchen and dumped it out the back. I was panting slightly, and couldn't help but move farther out into the night.

The cool breeze felt good and I could smell the summer air. I sighed deeply, remembering how summer in Deira always smelled like flowers.

That's when I caught sight of a figure at the top of the wall surrounding the courtyard. I flinched away, immediately shrinking into the shadows, until I saw the glow of the Pendragon cape in the moon.

I relaxed and started making my way over. I climbed the steps cautiously. This didn't feel like a knight just out on patrol. Finally I reached the top of the wall.

There, standing in the moonlight, was Arthur.

"Your highness!" I gasped, reflexively.

Arthur whirled around, clearly astonished at my sudden appearance.

"Dawn!" He exclaimed in return.

He cleared his throat and turned away, looking down over the city. I hesitantly moved up next to him.

"What are you doing up here in the middle of the night?" I finally asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I should ask you the same." He sighed, sounding as if he were mostly talking to himself.

"Should?" I repeated, a clear question in my voice.

He turned slightly to look me in the eye. I shivered under the intensity of his gaze, but I couldn't seem to look away...not that I wanted to.

"I find it to be the last think I would like to do right now, up here, with you. How does that saying go? Don't question a blessing."