His Love

Chapter 26

Athur stood in the pair's chamber's looking at his huband. Since the spell, Merlin had needed a lot more sleep and the pair had been up for hours discussing the appropriaty of out of season fruit as a romantic gesture, even though arthur really like peaches it was likely to be noticed by the king, and could insite a contry wide wich hunt. Merlin who still thought the whole thing amusing and Arthur's ire adorable; was exhausted and relaxed on their bed.

Arthur stood near the fireplace, still eying his husband with concern as he undresed himself for the day. Merlin's eyes were thoughtful as he undid his own gimlet with far more difficult than necessary.

"Do you have to get changed all by yourself? Shouldn't you have a manservent?" He asked questioningly.

"I did, but I married him" Arthur said lookint at Merlin with unbrildled effection, his hands still struggling with his clothing.

"Oh that's me!" Merlin giggled.

"I could still help you undress if you want" he said raunchily but ruined the effect by yawning wideley. Artur rolled his eyes.

"I can manage fine by myself Merlin" He finished getting changed and climbed into bed.

"I'm not completely helpless you know." He finished.

"'Mnnnnnmm..." Merlin said cuddling against Athurs broad warm chast and falling almost instantly asleep, Arthur folloiwng soon after.

----

The morning broke through the dark of the night, clouds scurrying away in the bright spring sunshine with the promise of a gloriorus vernal day. Arthur lay still asleep as Merlin sat in bed, casually flicking through a book on magic, but really watching his husband sleep with an expression of adoration across his sharp cheekbones.

The prince strenged languidly across the bed, clam in his sleep.

As he dreamed of Merlin's eyes, he was pulled from his slumber by a gently tugging on the sleeve o f his sleep dublet he batted lightly at the tugger, thinking it was his husband feeling playful and forgetting about the amnesia spell in his sleepiness. The nuzzling tug moved from Arthur's sleeve to his collar and he grinned sleeply.

"Stopit Merlin. We agreed bot until you get you're memories back" he protested weekly. The nuzzling reached his chin and Arthur gave in for a moment to place a gentle kiss on the man nzzuling him. He was met with an unexpectedly wet nose amongst short downy fur.

"Aargh!" screamed Arthur in a fashion most unmanly suddenly awake as he scoted back across the bed and into gis warlock husband's lap. He noticed very quicky how hard said husband was laughing at his panic.

Not feeling particularly funny he glared back at the deer that stood as his bedside with an expectant look on its face as though it was waiting for orders to be given to him.

"Happy birthday DEAR" laughed Mwrlin.

"What the f- um, heck, Merlin. It's not my birthday" responded Aethur slowly. But Merlin laughed some more.

"I magically trained deer for you as in becoming your husband I deprived you of a servent" he explained.

"A deer servant" Questioned Arthur, confused.

"Yes" Clarified Merlin. Arthur tried to calm himself down from his alarm, glad the at least that the deer and its obvious sorcerical origins had not leaved the privacy of their chambers.

"He brang us breakfast already" Merlin gestuted to a platter of fruit meat and cheese on the table at the end of there bed. Arthur took a deep breath and counted to 10.

"Remember what we said about using your magic for romantic gestures? I couldn't stand it if anything happened to you if you got caught.' Arthur spoke gentlt and ran his fingers through Merlin's inky locks. Merlin stared at him with a pout.

"I just wanted to make you happy. I'm sure there's soemthing to reverse it un this book" Merlin said with a sad look and a wave with his hand towards the tome he still held in his hand.

"Until then we could just enjoy it?" Merlin asked hopefully moving towards the tame creature as he did so until Arthur was met with twin imploring looks from two faces angular with wide doe eyes. Merlin look like a deer, Arthur thouht.

"Merlin you can't honestly expect me, the Crown Prince of Camelot, to be dressed, by a deer?" said Arthur incredulously. Merlin guilily tried to hide a smirk which led to a questioning eyebrow rise from the blonde. man.

"No of course not That's what the birds are for." He confessed as he waved his arm at the small flock of bird gathered on the window sill.

Arthur threw himself back into the pillows and let out a frustrated groan at his husbands actions.

----

While being dressed and groomed by a selection of wrens starlings and other local birds was possibly one of the wierdest things Arthur had experienced it his time as Crown prince he had to admit though he would never admit it that they did quite good job at it so much so that he found himself looking at his reflection in any shainy surface he came across in the castle to admire the stylishly ruffled blond locks adorning his princely head like a golden crown and the pale blue tunic that the birds had selected for Arthur although he could swear that he had never lain eyes upon it before. They did a much better job than Merlin ever had, he thought roufully.

Arthur arrived at the council chambers and enetered them to fine th memenbers of the council, including this father, the king, preassembled before him.

"Ah Arthur my boy welcome. Please do a sit" Uther boomed with a smile. Arthur smiled back at him and went to take his seat by his father on his right hand side. As Arthur sat in his seat he felt it be push under him and he started confused. No one there should be pushing his chair in for him, certainly not his father. Nor the man too his right. He looked behind him and was statrtled as saw the big brown eyes of the Deer that Merlin had ensorccelled this very morning its fluffy tail wagging slightly. Arthur blinked at the deer. The deer blinked at him. Arthur slowly turned in his seat to see all the members of the council staring at him, and his father had a slight frowny on his face as he said:

"Arthur explain yourself!"

"This is...my deer." Arthur said slowly with his eyes narrowed at the deer as he tried to work out how to explain this strange occurance.

"I have trained it from birth. To...assist me." He concluded.

"By pushing in your chair." Uther said sternly with an eyebrow raised in a way that Arthur thought would challenge Gais's own eyebrow raise in it's serverity.

"...yes. His name is Faelystre." Arthur finished and looked his father in the eye trying very hard to look innocent and unfazzed. There was a long silence before Uther nodded slowly and the concil meeting began. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief inside and shot the deer - Faelystre - a swift glare before turning back to the table and the topic of grains tores in the out lying villages.