More of a Hindrance Than a Help [Sir Iwan]

[consultingwarlock]

It was two weeks after the coronation of Queen Guinevère, and things had returned to some semblance of normalcy. Well, as normal as it could get when you were still having to correct yourself for saying 'Gwen' instead of 'My Lady'. Although Gwen herself kept slipping up and calling Arthur 'Sire', which when Merlin had witnessed it the first time, had resulted in him stifling a laugh at Arthur's reaction and having a goblet thrown at his head for the trouble. Not that Gwen wasn't settling into her new found role well enough; she had had her first council session with the public a few days ago, and according to Arthur had resolved their issues and problems as a Queen should.

In celebration of his new wife and Queen, Arthur had decided to host a Knight's tournament open to warriors of all Kingdoms still on good terms with Camelot. It was Arthur's way of trying to extend an olive branch to the Kingdoms that may not be in favour of the Pendragon name, like Essetir, although Merlin failed to see how beating their best knights in a tournament consituted as anything less than showing off. Because he had no doubts Arthur would be the victor, having seen him in training days previous. And if anyone tried anything untoward against the King, as in, cheated using magic, then Merlin would be on hand to stop them.

It was the day before the knights and their parties were due to arrive, which meant Merlin was being rushed off his feet with preperations. Arthur had given him a list of chores twice as long as his usual amount to complete, and was expecting them all to be done before his dinner that evening. Merlin had complained to Arthur about this, pointing out that it would take a group of servants to complete all of this work. Arthur had simply replied 'You'll find a way, Merlin.' meaning 'This is not up for negotiation.'

So, grumbling about how things never changed, Merlin found himself walking along the bustling corridors of Camelot, filled with servants rushing about to complete the preperations before tomorrow. He was finding it incredibly difficut to manoeuvre around people due to the large amount of armour in his hands, and kept having to stop to avoid head on collisions. The armoury door seemed incredibly far away, and Merlin found himself wishing that he had left the polish in his chambers as at least then it would be nearer. And, if Gauis wasn't around, he could have used magic to make the process that little bit quicker...

Too caught up in his musings, he failed to see the other person coming his way until it was too late. With a rather loud crash, Merlin tripped and fell to the floor, the armour clattering around him. Looking up at the person he'd bumped into, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, wincing slightly at the stinging of his palms. "Sorry," he uttered from his position on the floor, "I should have been looking where I was going..."

Setting: Camelot Castle
Time of Day: Morning
Timeline: Two weeks after the end of Series 4
Tag: Sir Iwan[/blockquote]

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Iwan d’Auber was not in an incredibly good mood. There hadn’t been much change in his mood since, well, probably since Morgana took over Camelot again. Of course he was pleased that Arthur had been restored as the rightful king, and of course he was pleased that the kingdom was no longer in any danger but that could not take away from the fact that the king had married a servant. Arthur had made it clear that he cared not for the kingdom’s traditions when he allowed those of lesser rank to become knights but this...this was...well, it was unheard of. He’d already had several internal rants about it, and come to the conclusion that no amount of said internal rants would change anything; they’d just increase his anger. The new queen, like the new knights, was just something Iwan was going to have to accept.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the only thing ruining his mood. During the fighting to reclaim Camelot, Iwan had ended up with a broken arm. It had been two weeks, and he’d had the best care from Gaius, but he was still walking around with his right arm in a sling. He’d been told it wouldn’t heal for at least six weeks, so he had another month to go. What good was he now with only one functioning arm? It was ridiculous. He couldn’t perform the majority of his duties, nor could he take part in the upcoming tournament. So what was he supposed to do? He was just wandering aimlessly at the moment, trying to find something to occupy himself with. It wasn’t a terribly easy task.

He hadn’t noticed anyone coming towards him until there was a sharp pain in his arm and a clatter of metal against stone. Iwan automatically winced, trying to ignore the shooting pain through his arm as his brain registered what had just happened. Ah. Merlin: Arthur’s somewhat hapless servant. He looked apologetic as he spoke, Iwan nodded, lips pressed together. Presumably the king had him polishing his armour, or rather dropping it all over the place. “Yes, you should.” He sighed, he was too tired to chastise the man. “Are you going to the armoury?”

[consultingwarlock]

As Merlin looked up, he recognised the face of Sir Iwan, one of the knights of Camelot. Sir Iwan had been seen in the physician's quarters frequently for the past two weeks, having been needing regular checkups for the broken arm he had received during the efforts to overthrow Morgana. Merlin hadn't had cause to speak to the knight for longer than brief conversations in the past, so didn't know much about him aside from the things he had heard in passing from Arthur and around the castle. The middle of four siblings, Sir Iwan prides himself on his status, not deviating from the knight's code for anyone. Arthur has said in the past how the knight is sometimes reckless, and puts his desire to not be seen as a coward over his life. It was this recklessness that caused the injury to Sir Iwan's arm, one he wouldn't be forgetting in a hurry.

Merlin sympathised with the knight, as although not one himself, he knew how badly his friends would take the news were they hurt enough to be forbidden from taking part in knight activities. Especially being forced to miss out on the first tournament that Arthur as king was hosting. Gwaine would be driving everyone mad were he in that position, and although a lot more reserved than the ale-loving knight, Iwan must be finding it hard to find things to do around the castle to keep himself occupied.

Looking up at the tall knight, he shifted, grabbing the pieces of armour scattered around him before struggling to his feet. "Yes, I am. Arthur is having me polish his armour collection before the tournament tomorrow. As well as a multitude of other chores." He darted a glance at the arm in the sling, before returning his gaze to Iwan's face, "Were you in need of anything from Gaius?" He asked, trying to make up for causing the knight unintentional pain, "I'm sure he is in in his chambers, but if you'd like me to check I can do so after I've dropped Arthur's armour off in the armoury."

[Deleted]

Iwan noticed a tone in Merlin's voice, one that if the man was his servant he certainly wouldn't tolerate. Perhaps he was being a little unfair, hearing tones when there was really none to hear, but he was frustrated and bored and Merlin was here to have all of Iwan's feelings projected onto him. The young knight sighed. He hated this damn arm of his. It was doing nothing but preventing him from performing his duties, and without that, what was there for Iwan to do? As he was quickly discovering, if he wasn't being the perfect knight he wasn't really doing anything. He watched the young servant gathering the pieces of armour, unsurprised that Arthur had waited until today to request that it was all polished. Iwan tilted his head, Merlin would certainly be kept busy. Lucky sod.

"Were you in need of anything from Gaius? I'm sure he is in in his chambers, but if you'd like me to check I can do so after I've dropped Arthur's armour off in the armoury."

"Hmm?" Iwan hadn't really been paying attention to what Merlin had been saying, he'd been too busy being annoyed at him arm. "Oh, no, thank you." Nothing Gaius could do would speed up the healing process, he'd been told as much a rather annoying number of times. It was one of those things, Gaius had said, that would just take him. Well, Iwan didn't want it to take time. He wanted to be able to resume his usual duties. Once again his gaze fell onto the armour in the servant's hand. Polishing that did seem like fun, and yes, Iwan really did mean to say fun. He happened to enjoy menial tasks like that - organisation, presentation; it kept his mind occupied, stopping him thinking too much. "What other chores do you have?" He asked, genuinely curious, Merlin's workload would provide him with something to do.