Arthur loved Gawain like a brother. He really did. And he knew his nephew felt the same about Terence. So when he ordered Terence off on a mission to find Mordred, he didn't blame the knight for being worried.
He did, however, blame his nephew for what he said next.
"One man against an army? Let me go with him - "
Given his worry, he could excuse his nephew for thinking he would send a single man - even if that man was Terence - against an army.
It was the rest of it that bothered him.
One man against an army was rather bad odds, yes.
But what - exactly - had the two of them been getting up to on those quests of theirs that made him think two men against an army was any better?
Terence must have been reading his mind again - and he was only half sure he was joking about that- because he shot him a look. It said, very plainly, "You don't want to know."
Arthur was rather familiar with that look.
Some centuries later, he awoke to his knights and their ladies standing around grinning at him. The world felt odd though, the very air strange on his skin, and even his knights looked a bit different. Why did Sir Griflet look so comfortable with that sword? Since when did Lynet have a granddaughter that she could carry in her arms?
And why on earth was Gawain's armor pink?
Terence, dressed rather formally, come to think of it, shot him the look.
Arthur smiled as the world settled into a more familiar shape again.
. . . . .
A/N: Gawain lost a bet, if anyone was wondering. Gawain's line is more or less from The Legend of the King. I'm pretty sure it's paraphrased, but I was mostly just too lazy to look it up.