To know your place

Eyes on Merlin

I don't own the characters used in this fanfic. It's all from BBC's Merlin. I wish I did though.
Anyway, this is my first Merlin fanfic. I hope you like it.
Also, let me know if I made any mistakes. If you have anything to say, message me, make a review,... I'd like to get some feedback!
Thanks and enjoy!
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It would be a good, uneventful day in Camelot, or so Merlin thought when the first rays of sunlight fell through the window. The soft light and sounds of birds woke him well on time, so for the first time this week he would be able to get some breakfast before he had to wake the King. He smiled while pushing himself out of bed and stumbled around his room in order to get dressed. Brown trousers, a blue shirt and a red neckerchief, that would be his outfit for the day. Not that he had much of a choice anyway. Looking down on what he was wearing he thought it would be best to try and safe some money so he would be able to buy an new outfit in the near future. A soft sigh escaped his lips and he shook his head slightly before stepping out of his room. Gaius was still asleep, which was a rare sight indeed. Merlin smiled fondly at the sleeping form of his surrogate father. In the six years he lived with the physician he had grown very attached to the man. Merlin sneaks to the room and tries to make as less sound as he can, placing two bowls on the table and making some porridge for them to eat. But of course, being as clumsy as he is, the young man trips over his own feet on his way to the stove and wakes Gaius with a loud thud and an 'auch'. The old man was up in a second, looking around for the intruder. When he spots his ward, laying flat on the floor, he chuckles and slips out of bed in order to help the younger back on his feet.

"Good morning Merlin." he said with a grin.
"Morning Gaius." was the short answer he got. Merlin rubbed his sore knees for a short moment before he went on with cooking.
"You're up early." the physician noted. The raven haired boy mumbled something in response. The feeling of a 'good day' he had when he got out of bed, had already been gone. They ate their breakfast in silence. Merlin had been eating so slow he still had to run to the kitchens to make it in time to get Arthur's breakfast. He almost tripped twice on his way to the King's chambers but thanks to some miracle was able to spill nothing of the food he was carrying. When he arrived at the large bedroom doors, he took a little time to collect himself, took a deep breath and opened them carefully as to not drop anything. He walked over to the table and placed the tray full of food down. After that he walked to the curtains to pull them open. "Rise and shine!" he shouted happily. Arthur groaned but pushed himself out of bed anyway. He knew better than to stay in bed. His manservant would drag him out like he did the last time the royal had tried to sleep in. While he shuffled towards his screen, he saw the boy looking at him with surprised eyes.

"Don't look at me like that Merlin! I'm perfectly capable to get out of bed myself, you know."
The secret warlock shrugged and grinned at his master.
"I know that. I just thought you were too lazy to do anything yourself." he answered smugly.
The King quickly picked up the goblet that his servant had brought in with his breakfast and threw it at the young man. Merlin, of course, had been expecting this and was able to jump out of the way in time. Arthur growled and all but stormed behind his changing screen. He could hear the idiot laugh which made him growl even more.
"You want to be put in the stocks today?" he asked. The laughing abruptly stopped and the royal saw his clothes being flung over the side of the screen. He grinned to himself while he changed into his clothes for the day and strode over to his table. Merlin was already making his bed and by the time the king had finished his meal, the young man was going through the room, picking up dirty clothes and other misplaced stuff.
"I really don't get how you are able to turn this room into a mess overnight." the servant sighed.
"It doesn't happen overnight. It's because my idiot of a manservant leaves it like that in the evening. Truly, Merlin, it is all your own fault. If you would do your chores like you should, you wouldn't have to do that in the morning."
Merlin rolled his eyes while collecting the dishes. "Will that be all, sire?" he asked, saying that last word with as much sarcasm as he could muster. The King looked at him and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"When you have brought those dishes to the kitchen, you can come back here and help me in my armor. Or did you forget we had training this morning?"
"We?" the boy asked a bit confused.
"Yes Merlin, we. You are going to be our practice dummy for today." the royal said grinning.
Merlin groaned, picked up the dirty dishes and left the room without a bow. "Prat." was the last thing Arthur could hear before his door has completely closed.

Half an hour later they were standing on the training fields. Arthur was talking with his new knights while Merlin stood with the knights of the round table. They were listening to one of Gwaine's famous tavern stories, laughing and rolling their eyes when the tale ended like most of them did, with Gwaine being thrown out of the tavern, head first.
"I swear," the knight said, "it was not my fault this time."
"Somehow I find that hard to believe." Lancelot said, shaking his head.
Gwaine muttered something unintelligible and made a face like a scolded toddler, making them all laugh.
"If you are all quite done!" Arthur shouted over to the group, "I'd like to start practice, today!"
The knights walked into the field while Merlin tried to make himself invisible. Maybe the King would forget about his idea from earlier that day and leave him out of practice. No such luck.
"Merlin, get yourself over here!" the royal shouted. The raven haired boy huffed but did as he was ordered. It was going to be a long morning.

Of course Merlin couldn't help but complainduring practice. He called Arthur a 'prat' and a 'dollop head' more times thanthey could count, made sarcastic comments and ignored direct orders. All muchto the amusement of the five round table knights. Even the King himselfcouldn't help but smile a few times. (He would never admit that he enjoyed theway his idiot of a manservant was behaving though.) None of them noticed howthree of the new recruits were looking at the scene before them with disgustand anger. Everyone had a place in life, and this servant clearly didn't know his.

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First chapter! Yay! I don't know how many chapters I'm going to write for this story. I'll try to update frequently.
Let me know what you think so far!