The Green Knight
The legends paint Gwaine as a courageous, virtuous knight, one of valour and strength. Obviously, the legends have no idea what they are talking about.
Disclaimer: Alack-a-day! The rights to Merlin belong not to me. Forsooth, BBC doth owns it. The excerpt is from a Kindle edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It wouldn't tell me publication details, but the original legend was anonymously written by someone dubbed the Pearl Poet.
PROLOGUE
"Of all British kings Arthur was the most valiant, as I have heard tell, therefore will I set forth a wondrous adventure that fell out in his time. And if ye will listen to me, but for a little while, I will tell it even as it stands in story stiff and strong, fixed in the letter, as it hath long been known in the land."
Merlin slipped into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.
"It took you long enough," Arthur said from behind the report he held in front of his face. His feet were propped up on his desk and carefully placed to avoid the precarious stacks of reports in front of him.
"Well excuse me, but I had things to do. Court Sorcerer is a very demanding position," Merlin huffed, plunking himself into the other chair by the desk. He laid his ridiculous official hat on his lap –semi-grateful that Arthur had forgone the feathers and just stuck to making it a stupid shape- and squinted into the sunset streaming in from the window behind Arthur.
The report slid down, revealing two raised eyebrows and sharp, blue eyes. "And King of Camelot isn't?" he asked incredulously.
"If it makes you feel any better, sure."
Arthur's feet thunked down from the desk as he rolled his eyes. "It amazes me just how effortlessly you muck up an easy job. Seriously, how difficult could yours be? Magic's been reintroduced to the land, you don't have to skulk around the castle to work anymore, and no one's tried to kill me for months."
"Exactly."
"What?"
"Exactly. That's all because of me," Merlin preened.
"And I get no credit whatsoever."
"I guess you did a few little things here and there. But it's only to be expected. You make a wonderful tool-"
"I am going to put you in stocks if you don't shut up now." Merlin shut up. While he didn't technically get sent to the stocks anymore, being Court Sorcerer did not mean freedom from retribution if he pushed Arthur too far. "Back to the original point of me summoning you nearly two hours ago-"
"-I was busy-"
"-Just read the report," Arthur said, picking up a piece of paper from one of the outer piles and handing it to Merlin. The parchment felt worn in his hands, crinkled and ripped around the edges. The short, bold strokes of ink suggested Sir Leon's hand. And if Leon was writing the report, it probably meant a problem with the knights… one in particular. Sighing, Merlin set to reading the page.
Arthur turned to look out the window as Merlin read. The courtyard below was bustling with activity as the stalls closed for the day. The stones were dappled with orange light, and laughter and talk echoed freely below, lazily drifting to his ears. It was peaceful. Whenever Arthur had any doubts with the way he was running his kingdom, all he had to do was walk out into the courtyard and let the flow of everyday life wash over him and he would know he must be doing something right.
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud snort from the idiot in front of him. "It may have been funny the first time, but it's not anymore," Arthur frowned.
Merlin's infamous grin spread across his face. "Oh come on, Arthur, tavern brawls are classic Gwaine."
"That's the point. This," Arthur waved vaguely at the report, "cannot continue. Gwaine is a knight of Camelot and as such, any bad behavior on his part is my responsibility, a reflection of me. Should this continue, I could lose the respect I worked hard to regain after my father's reign, and we've both worked far too hard to let all of that go to waste."
"I hardly think that the entire foundation of your reign could be undone by Gwaine's drunken revelries," Merlin said, handing the report back to Arthur. He pushed the report back into Merlin's hands.
"You obviously haven't finished reading it." Merlin gave him a curious glance before taking the report. Arthur simply watched him read, waiting for the explosion of expression that always appeared on Merlin's face when he heard bad news.
And there it was! Merlin flickered between shocked, upset, amused, angry, thoughtful, and confused before settling on resigned.
"What was he thinking?" he murmured, looking back at the words on the parchment. He cleared his throat and looked at Arthur. "Gwaine wouldn't- no, he would if he were drunk. Which he always is…"
Arthur leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I can't have him running around Albion inciting rebellion. I know he hates nobles and hates being noble, but the aristocracy is too integral to change completely, and Gwaine should have gotten past all of those issues years ago anyway. If he starts ranting like a drunken madman about the injustices of noblemen again, I won't be able to fix them because we'll all be deposed from power!"
"He didn't- doesn't mean to," Merlin asserted, picking up his hat and twisting it in his hands.
"I know, Merlin. We're lucky, however, that it was just harmless idiots at the tavern that night. A genuine uprising may not have occurred, but if Gwaine keeps getting drunk and talking about things like this, it's only a matter of time."
Merlin tapped his chin with the tip of his hat. "What are you going to do?"
Arthur looked out the window again. "I don't know, Merlin. I've thought about this long and hard-"
"That's a first," Merlin mumbled. Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it. Continue."
He paused for a moment to make sure Merlin was done with the side commenting. "I've thought about this for a while, but because Gwaine doesn't seem to have the capacity to take anything but swordplay seriously and because I'd rather he have a relatively quiet reprimand, I don't have an answer."
The two sat in silence, wrapped up in their thoughts when suddenly, Arthur felt Merlin's mood lift. "So… are you asking for my help?"
Arthur glared at Merlin. Even now, years since they became friends and many more since they'd first met and insisted they'd never be, Merlin took every chance he could get to poke at Arthur's pride. It rankled every time, but he was so good at the timing that Arthur could never outright object.
"Because I might just have a solution," Merlin grinned.
The silence stretched.
"Well?" Arthur tapped his fingers on his desk impatiently.
"Well what?" Merlin asked with saccharine sweetness.
"Give me your plan."
"'Give me your plan,' what?"
"Just give me your damn plan or I will throw you in a dungeon with Gwaine and that will be the end of all of my problems!"
Merlin tilted his head, considering the merits of the option. "I still think my plan is better," he decided.
"That's it," Arthur said, throwing his hands in the air and standing up.
"Fine, fine! I'll tell you, just sit back down. Your face looks like it's about to explode," Merlin said hastily. As soon as Arthur took a deep breath and the red leeched back out of his face, Merlin started. "It'll be perfect! All we need is a bit of magic…"
A/N: Here's the deal. I've always wanted to do a fanfic of this show based on the legend Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. This is the first part of it. However, I also have a bunch of other fanfics (other fandoms) floating in my mind that I'd rather finish first, so unless this gets a really good response review-wise, I won't be updating this for a while. Anyway, it's not like this is a cliffhanger or even part of the actual story. It's just a prologue! And this will pretty much be following the original legends (of course with some changes; I think they're fairly minor, though) so it's not like you won't see what's coming if you've read the story.
Second, the clips I'm using are not from the best translation by any means, but they work for my purposes. Also, I'm not making this a literary work of art, so I'm probably getting rid of all of those bits of analysis and motif. So sorry if the symbolism of the pentagle is your favorite part, but I am not going to bother with trying to incorporate it.
Third, there was no beta. I'd love a Merlin beta, though. I didn't bother asking my AR fandom beta because she doesn't watch the show (despite enjoying the fandom), and I'd want one that could help me minimize discrepancies between the show and this story.
Fourth, if you're here to read about Gwaine, great! You'll (hopefully) love the rest of the story. If you're here to read about Merlin and Arthur, tough luck. They'll make an appearance or two, but this fanfic is Gwaine-centric, if you haven't already guessed.
With that said, don't forget to leave me all of your ideas, comments, questions, concerns, criticisms, witticisms, and/or limericks!