A knight in shining armour doesn't always have to journey far and wide to save a fair lady from hideous monsters or evil sorcerers.
Sometimes the damsel is in distress right at his doorstep. Or, at least at the stable's doorstep. Leon/OC

Loves me, loves me not

Travelling to Nemeth to deliver Princess Mithian's wedding gift, King Arthur is accompanied by his knights and Merlin. To apologize for not attending the wedding and, hopefully, appease the newly wedded princess the gift is a most generous one, six beautiful horses from Camelot's famous stables. To care for all the horses Iris, one of the stable hands and a friend of Merlin's, is brought along as well.

They had just stopped for the night and Arthur ordered the knights to set up the camp. Fortunately for Iris, the king also told Merlin to help her with the horses. Without help, she figured it would be well into the night before she was finished and she silently blessed Leon for suggesting that someone should help her. It was unfortunate however, that this someone turned out to be Merlin. This meant she found herself alone in his company, the very situation that she had tried to avoid for well over a week now. She knew that as soon as everyone else was too busy to listen he would bring it up again and it was not a conversation that she looked forward to.

As she had expected, Merlin wasted no time once the knights were out of ear-shot.
"You have to tell someone."
"I don't have to do anything" she answered turning her back at him to remove the saddle from Llamrei's back. The horse snorted quietly when she patted his neck and combed her fingers through the long, silky mane. She loved all of her four-legged friends and she did not have favorites as such but it was different with Llamrei, there was just something special about him. Realizing that Merlin still glared at her, she shifted uncomfortably.

"Look, why don't you go get some water for the horses?" Iris suggested in an attempt to avoid the subject and moved to the next horse but Merlin was having none of it.
"You can't continue like this" he said, pretending not to have heard. He followed her as she moved from horse to horse, taking off, saddles, spreading out blankets on the grass to dry and putting the saddle bags to the side for the knights to collect.
"Watch me." She tried to march off but Merlin stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
"If you don't tell then I will." And she knew that he would. Standing in her way, he crossed his arms over his chest and he had that stubborn look on his face that she knew only too well.
"You can't do that Merlin" she said angrily. She side-stepped him and went to get a brush. The ride today had not been particularly hard but the fine layer of road dust needed to be removed, and it also gave her an opportunity to check for any injuries or sore muscles that would need treatment.
"Yes I can." Merlin followed her back to the horses but made no move to help out this time either.
"No!" At the sudden outburst the horses skittered uneasily and she apologetically tried to calm them down and lowered her voice. "You can't do that" she hissed.
"Try me" he challenged her, but before he could actually do anything he was interrupted by Arthur's shouting.
"If you're not helping with the horses anyway, Merlin, you might as well make yourself useful and start cooking us dinner."
"Yes sire" he said curtly and turned to go out in search of firewood. "We're not done discussing this" he snapped at Iris. "You can't expect…"
"And Merlin? Preferably before we all die from starvation" Arthur added pointedly, effectively interrupting Merlin who huffed angrily and stomped out of the clearing.

Having finished with the tents, Leon sat down with the rest of the knights, joking amongst each another. It was mostly Gwaine who found himself put on the spot but it was all in good fun and, despite the seemingly harsh jargon, they all respected each other as brothers. Leon did not say much, content to sit back and listen to the others. His eyes fell, like they had every so often lately, on Iris who was busy tending to the horses. When she and her brother came to Camelot all those years ago she had not stood out at all. She was just one of many, coming to seek the protection of Camelot after their homes had been raided. With so many desperate people who had lost everything, nobody really noticed yet another thin, scared child in dirty clothes.

However, as the years passed this had changed. She was given a place as a kitchen maid to earn her keep but was often found outside sneaking treats to the dogs and or playing with the cats instead of fetching more supplies. Realizing that the young girl had a good hand with animals, cook could not find it in her heart to scold her too much. Not even that time when she was caught nursing an injured squirrel back to health, even if it meant that the castle's supply of hazel nuts mysteriously dwindled. What little free time Iris had was spent in the stables and the old stable master finally took pity on her and allowed, with cook's blessing, her to become his apprentice instead. As he taught her everything worth knowing about horses her confidence grew and the shy girl that only spoke to her brother soon was known amongst townsfolk and castle servants alike. She quickly made friends and once she stumbled across Merlin (quite literally, since he had been sprawled on the floor picking up the fruit he'd dropped and she didn't see him) they discovered that they got along like a house afire. Merlin had rescued her when cook nearly caught her sneaking apples to the stables and she had saved him from being yelled at by Arthur when Merlin overslept and wouldn't have gotten the horses ready on his own. Always friendly and always ready to lend a hand, people certainly noticed her now.

In fact, not only did people notice her, these days she even stood out, and that was not only because of her personality. Long, blonde curls tumbling down her back, skin golden from many hours spent outdoors and a sweet smile that made dimples appear had heads turning as she passed. The number of people who took to checking on their horses in person grew rapidly as it provided an excellent excuse to spend more time in the stables, and the reins and stirrup leathers with broken seams that was previously delivered for mending by servants was now often brought by the owner in person. The fact that Iris was completely oblivious to all the attention only added to her charm. Some of the younger squires went out of their ways to make her notice them, even pretending that their horses were injured to get to spend time with her. Not even the knights were immune. Elyan showed a sudden interest in learning to shoe horses, claiming that it would be a useful skill on patrols and nobody was surprised to hear that Camelot's scallywag of a knight had made a rather lewd suggestion about the two of them and riding lessons.

Of course, Leon would never consider such cheap tricks himself. He was a knight of Camelot, not some love-sick little whelp, and he most certainly was not Gwaine, who would flirt, indecently, indiscreetly and incessantly, with anything wearing a skirt. Leon supposed the term was applicable even though Iris usually wore breeches. He had considered himself one of the few that had not gone mad in their eagerness to catch the eye of the pretty stable hand and internally congratulated himself on his self-control and sense of propriety. But even so, he had to admit to himself that it was always a better day when the reins was handed to him with a quick smile that sent a sparkle to beautiful grey eyes. And if he happened to stumble upon some apples lying around he might as well take them down to the stables himself. And after returning home after a long patrol it was comforting feeling to hand the reins back to her. Leon tried to convince himself that that was because it he knew that his horse would be well taken care of, but try as he might, he couldn't deny that it also had something to do with those grey eyes.

When one of the noblemen visiting Camelot decided to act less than courteously towards Iris after getting drunk off his arse, Leon stepped in without hesitation. Always the one to serve and protect, his action did not surprise anyone but the brute force with which he slammed the man into a wall raised a few eyebrows amongst his fellow knights. His blood boiled and he was dimly aware of the fact that Percival struggled to get him to release the man's throat and take a step back to allow Elyan and Gwaine to haul the culprit down to the dungeons. Alone in his chambers later that night, he tried to understand the sudden urge to kill the man and it finally dawned on him. He was as smitten as the rest.

With that insight came also the realization that he was not out of competition. Leon would never pull rank or use his status to eliminate the competition or gain an advantage in a matter such as this, it was up to Iris to decide. She was friendly enough towards him but then again, Iris was rarely unfriendly, and Leon couldn't help but notice that she seemed to be much more at ease in the company of others. Every time that Gwaine teased her she gave back as good as she got and whenever she and Merlin got together there was a never-ending chattering that had Arthur complaining of getting a headache. She even managed to coax Percival out of his shell and joke with her and that was no minor accomplishment considering the man rarely spoke at all. But every time Leon tried to speak to her she was ever polite, but did not seem to be able to relax and that made Leon nervous to the point where he couldn't figure out anything good to say. Conversations between them were awkward, to say the least, and it made Leon wonder if he had done something to offend her. Or did it have something to do with his person? It couldn't be his knighthood he thought; she got along fine with the others. He wasn't one to be vain but surely he was not entirely unattractive?

Leon snapped out of his thoughts when he realized that with Merlin gone off to collect firewood, Iris was left alone with all the work. He walked over to offer his help.
"Need a hand?" he asked, trying to keep his tone of voice light.
"Oh, thank you, it's too kind, but you don't have too, I mean sir knight, if you want…" Iris silently cursed as she made a fool out of herself, words tumbling from her lips and cheeks blushing. Embarrassed she looked down on the ground and Leon, not knowing whether her reaction was due to the fact that she didn't want any help or didn't want his help, didn't know what to do say roughly assuring her it was no trouble. He then realized that he probably should have said something along the lines of "it would be my pleasure" instead.

Once Merlin had returned, he lit a fire and stared cooking. Iris, already finished with her chores thanks to Leon, assisted by bringing all the pots and pans from their packs. Then, as the might was rather chilly, she scooted closer to the fire and busied herself with mending a head collar. Gwaine, loudly complaining about how hungry he was, got up and went to raffle through their supplies in the hope of finding a pre-meal snack. Iris suddenly realized that he had managed to get his hands on the small woven sack that contained the apples she'd packed.
"Gwaine, give me those. They're for the horses."
"But the horses won't really need all of them, right?" Gwaine's eyes were large and innocent. "One or two wouldn't be missed, surely…"
"Knowing you, we're not talking about one or two apples, more like six or seven, and I nearly had to sell my soul to cook to get them in the first place. Give me that bag" she said firmly.
"She adores you." Gwaine dismissed her argument with a shrug.
"Be that as it may sir knight, the apples are still for the horses."
"But what if I was to be considered a horse, just for this special occasion?" Gwaine attempted, winking at her.
"Certainly got the mane for it anyway" Elyan commented as he passed them and everyone around snickered.
"You are all just jealous of me." Gwaine pouted and flicked his long hair back with an exaggerated gesture.
"You can have one apple, and that's me being much nicer than you deserve, sir knight" Iris said grinning and Gwaine made a show of bowing extravagantly and putting his right hand over his heart to express his gratitude. She smiled and held out an apple for him to take, but as she reached out the sleeve of her tunic slid up to reveal several bruises on her wrist.
"What's that?" Gwaine asked, the playfulness suddenly replaced by worry.
"Nothing, just an accident" she said quickly, snatching her arm away and tugging down the sleeve to cover the bruises.
"Really?" Gwaine prompted.
"I need to check on Llamrei's hooves" was the only thing that she managed to come up with as an excuse before she fled the scene.
Gwaine considered this while munching his apple, and then decided to ask Merlin if he knew what was wrong.

It was soon clear to Gwaine that Merlin knew what was wrong but he was in a very foul mood and Gwaine quickly backed off, deciding that he needed to be in Merlin's good books, at least until after dinner was served anyway. No man, not even Gwaine, could survive on apples alone, and whatever trouble Iris had gotten into she was not in any immediate danger. Meanwhile Leon, who had clearly witnessed the whole apple incident save for the very last part, shot dark looks at Gwaine from where he sat across the fire.

"Why the long face, sir knight?" Gwaine teased as he sat down. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you were jealous of me, and not only because of my good looks that is."
"Hardly," Leon said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, his eyes do look a little green, don't you think?" Gwaine continued his teasing. Merlin took pity on Leon and decided to join in.
"Come on Gwaine, leave him alone." Gwaine held up his hands, feigning innocence and Merlin couldn't help but to quickly add "He's got is bad enough as it is" with a smirk. The look on Leon's face was pure shock.
"Does everyone know?"
"Well, the pining looks and the way you run after her like a love-sick puppy is a bit of a giveaway to be honest with you" Gwaine answered and Leon groaned and put his face in his hands.
"As I said, why the long face? She's into you too" Gwaine nonchalantly said to Leon who looked up hopefully.
"Really?
"Yes, really." Leon was not entirely convinced that Gwaine wouldn't joke about this and turned to Merlin, looking uncertain.
"Yes, really Leon," said Merlin confirmed, "she likes you." At his words Leon started smiling but then his shoulders drooped and he looked gloomy again. "But then why does she laugh and joke with you and all the others and not with me?"
"Because she is not in love with me" Gwaine answered, quickly adding "which is of course unbelievable, seeing how handsome and
charming I am…" Merlin punched him in the shoulder and Gwaine turned serious again.
"I see her as a younger sister Leon, and I tease her and she teases me back, and that is all there is to it. For all of us. It's different with you. She's in love with you and she doesn't know what you feel so it's a bit awkward and she doesn't know what to say and blushes and all that."
Leon still didn't look totally convinced.
"And also, none of the other knights are nobles and I'm a servant" Merlin added. "She didn't grow up at court, maybe she just feels a bit intimidated by the whole nobility thing? You know that she's always nervous when she talks to Arthur as well."
"Yes, maybe," Leon said thoughtfully.
"It was not that long ago that the princess married Gwen either" Gwaine pointed out. "Many people would never have imagined that a servant could marry a noble, let alone a king. Even if this whole nobility thing is rubbish if you're asking me, I mean the idea that an inherited title would…"
"No one did ask you Gwaine." Merlin cut Gwaine off and got promptly cuffed over the head but Leon didn't seem to have heard the last part of the conversation as he stared into the fire, lost in thoughts.
"Maybe I should… maybe I should tell her that I don't care whether she is noble or not?" Leon finally asked, looking at the other two.
Gwaine considered his self-restraint to be of superhuman proportions as he managed not to laugh at Leon's words. Honestly, it was if the man had never met a girl before.
"I think that's a really good idea" he simply answered but before Leon got the chance to do so, Arthur asked him to have a look at the maps and plan for the best route ahead and he went to join the Prince in his tent.

"Who knew that you could be so serious Gwaine?" Merlin teased his friend, as this was a side of his friend that he rarely showed anyone. Deep down, below all the jokes, Gwaine really cared for his friends and wanted nothing else than seeing them happy. Not that that would necessarily rule out a few pokes in the ribs here and there but this was Leon, a man of duty above all. He had gotten himself into a situation that he didn't really know how to handle and if Gwaine would tease him there was a fair chance that Leon would blush crimson red and never have the courage to talk to Iris. That would mean no end to Leon's pining, and a pining Leon was a frustrated Leon, and a frustrated Leon, now that was a downright unpleasant man in Gwaine's opinion. Apparently, the only way of dealing with frustration that Leon knew of was to fill the days with extra practices and other physical activities and Gwaine most certainly did not want that to happen. Plus, it would be rather fun to see the first knight of Camelot hanging his head like a schoolboy when scolded for forgetting to give the horses their good night-apples or something like that.
"I have my moments, my friend, I have my moments."
"Sadly, they´re very few and far between" Merlin grinned, before he suddenly found himself in a headlock and yelped. "Oi! Let me go! Otherwise there won't be dinner tonight!"

Despite Merlin's threat, dinner was eventually served and everyone helped themselves. After the meal the group started to settle down for the night and Arthur laid out the schedule for the watches before retreating to his tent. If anybody noticed that the worst slot, just before dawn, was once again given to Gwaine they didn't comment on it, but apparently the comment about nobles had reached Arthur's ears after all. When Gwaine grumbled about lost beauty sleep, Arthur just replied drily that it was lucky that he was already so handsome then and had everyone howling with laughter at Gwaine's expense again. Merlin went to the nearby stream to wash up the plates and Iris took the opportunity to go check on the horses for the night with no Merlin around to corner her alone. She made sure that all of the horses were tethered securely, that they had fresh water to drink and patted each horse good night. She stayed a while longer with her own horse Aros, an even-tempered bay stallion, talking sweet nonsense to him as she combed her fingers through his mane, smoothing out any tangles.

"Well? Are you going to tell or am I going to have to?" Iris jumped at the sound of Merlin's voice. Clearly she had stayed longer than she thought because she had meant to be in her tent, pretending to be asleep, before he returned. With a sigh she put her arm over Aros' neck for support and decided that she was not above begging.
"Please Merlin, you don't understand, no one can know about this."
"Why?" he insisted.
"You don't know the whole story, telling someone will only make it worse. Please don't say anything." Iris clenched her hands so to the point where her nails dug into the skin of the palms and threatened to draw blood.
"Then explain to me" Merlin pleaded.
"That wouldn't change anything so what would be the point?"
"It won't get better if you don't do anything about it" Merlin said, "I do this because I care, not because I want to get you in trouble. Why can't you understand that I'm trying to help?"
"Because it won't be helping!" Iris snapped angrily at Merlin, who stood his ground and glared back. Without noticing they had gone from a conversational tone of voice to something that was very close to shouting and the knights had approached them to see what was happening.

"What's going on?" The sound of Leon's voice caused both of them to jump with surprise and swiftly turn around, only to notice that what was a private quarrel moments ago, had now become a rather public affair. Not only Leon had approached them but also Percival, Gwaine and Elyan.
Nothing" Iris said which had Merlin shaking his head vigorously. Leon looked in disbelief from one to the other.
"Nothing?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "You shout at each other, look like you're about to start throwing punches and you've been avoiding each other for days now. That's hardly nothing, is it?"
"It really is, just a misunderstanding" Iris insisted at the same time as Merlin next to her shouted impatiently "go on, tell him already!"

"Tell who what?" The sound of Arthur's voice allowed Leon, visibly relieved, to take a step back and let the king handle the matter instead.
"Well?" he prompted, looking none too pleased with having to leave the comfort of his tent to break up a quarrel between two of his servants. Iris, mortified to say the least, fixed her eyes on the ground and looked like she wanted to disappear. Merlin just stared at her.
"You both seemed to have plenty to say only moments ago" Arthur said annoyed. Realizing that Iris was not going to tell anyone anything unless forced to do so Merlin began explaining:
"Sire, the stable…" but he was cut short by Iris trying to lunge herself at Merlin to shut him up, causing him to stumble backwards and fall over a branch on the ground. That was when Arthur's thinly worn patience finally snapped.
"Enough!" He flung an arm around Iris' waist and dragged her back towards the fire while Percival stepped forward and helped Merlin get back on
his feet.
"Right. You sit here, there we go" Arthur said, whilst pushing Iris to the ground rather unceremoniously. "Merlin, on the other side." he added pointing. Merlin glared a bit but didn't comment as he sank to the ground as well.
"If we were back in Camelot you both would be in the stocks right now" Arthur muttered as he sat down, as did the knights, careful to place themselves as buffers between the two servants.

"Right, so" Arthur said. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"
"It won't happen again, I'm so sorry sire," came quietly from Iris, eyes downcast.
"Well sire, I'm not" Merlin spat out. "She's…" Iris tried get to Merlin again to but Leon managed to catch the collar of her tunic and yanked her back on the ground.
"By the gods, I feel like the bloody keeper of two squabbling children" Arthur groaned, passing a hand over his forehead. "Yes Merlin, you were saying?" As Iris struggled against Leon's grip Merlin quickly said "The stable master's mistreating his servants." At his words Iris slumped where she sat and Leon reluctantly deemed it safe to let go of her.
"What do you mean?" Arthur said, frowning, "Gwilym is a respected man; he was given the warmest recommendations and I have only ever heard praise on his work."
"Ask her" Merlin said, gesturing towards Iris who tried to make herself as small as possible as everyone's eyes turned to her.
"Iris?" Leon gently prompted, but she just shook her head, still not looking up.
"Does this have anything to do with those bruises?" Gwaine asked a moment later, after he was done putting two and two together.
Iris' head snapped up.
"That was an accident" she said quickly.
"What bruises?" Leon asked sharply before anyone had the time to.
"On her wrist" Gwaine answered at the same time as Elyan said "On her neck".
Everyone looked around in confusion at each other until Arthur decided that he had quite enough of quarrels, half-explanations and mysteriously bruised servants for one night. Really, was it too much to ask for a good night's sleep?

"You", he said, pointing straight at Iris, "will tell me what all this is about. Now."
"Sire, I can't" she said, voice barely audible.
"And why is that exactly? " Arthur snapped impatiently.
"He will know who told, and then what? Then my brother will starve, that's what." Iris snapped out, now on the verge of tears, too upset to care about using proper titles.
"Sire, Iris can't lose her job" Merlin suddenly realized. "Her brother doesn't have a job and I think she provides for both of them. Right?"
He looked at Iris who nodded in confirmation.
"If he did use the money that you give him to actually buy food rather than going to the tavern, I would understand." Merlin's eyes were full of compassion. "But he wastes the money and is too drunk to keep down a job. Why do you do so much for him, when he gives nothing in return?"
Iris refused to answer and as Arthur didn't really want to force his servant to talk it seemed that they had hit impasse. That was until Leon spoke up.

"The stables of my father's household are nowhere near as impressive as Camelot's, but they are well kept and my father is a kind master. I give you my word that there will be a place for you there, and your brother if he so wishes, if you just tell us all about this matter." Iris looked up at him like she didn't know what to believe. Then, an incoherent stream of words broke loose.
"It's not that I didn't want to, tell I mean, but I couldn't risk, for my brother, because he is powerful, and it's not only me, everyone of us has someone, you understand, don't you?" She looked at Leon, pleading that he would understand.
"If you tell us, you will not have to go back there unless you want to. You have my word" he simply said. "And I don't imagine that Arthur would let the others suffer any consequences for bringing any irregularities to light" He looked at Arthur who nodded.
"Of course not."
Iris looked first at Merlin, as if needing a confirmation, and after he'd nodded, she turned to Leon.
"Would you, would you really? For me?"
"Yes. You have my word." Blue eyes looked straight into hesitant grey ones, and then Iris nodded.

She started her story from the very beginning, about how the old stable master had retired and Uther had chosen to appoint Gwilym as the new stable master. How he seemed to be a good man, willing to listen and take their routines into consideration while adding ideas of his own. Then how things changed as the time went on. How he had saved money by cutting down on the wages, about how the horses were given less to eat and how he bought grains of lesser quality. How ill horses had to go untreated because he refused to pay for treatment and medications. How his bad temper got worse when he was drunk and how he would hit the horses when he was in a foul mood and, if anyone protested against this, how he would turn on them instead. How they were too few to run the stables, how they had to work longer hours and sometimes didn't have time to eat. How those who protested were threatened, or let off. How none of them could risk that because they had families to support.

The whole time while she spoke the others listened, fearing that asking questions would interrupt her now that she finally dared to speak freely. Arthur sat in stony silence as did the others for the most part, but Merlin couldn't stop hissing angrily when Iris revealed details that he had not known previously, and when she came to the part about how her wrists got bruised, Leon balled his hands into fists and looked ready to kill someone. When she'd finished, all that was heard was the wind rustling the leaves and the crackling of the fire, and the occasional snort from one of the horses. The silence dragged out while everyone considered what they'd just heard and Iris shifted uncomfortably.

"Merlin knew about all this?" Arthur broke the silence at last.
"Only that Gwilym wouldn't pay for medications, not the rest of it. One of the horses, Lyra, got kicked and had a nasty cut. I went to him for supplies to treat it. We could have gotten it from the market if we'd had the money to pay for it but…" She shrugged her shoulders and the rest of the sentence faded away.
"He's lucky that I didn't know more" Merlin spat out. "Why didn't you tell me Iris?"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Arthur asked Merlin.
"Because I asked him not to, sire" Iris said hurriedly. "It's not his fault so don't punish him because it was my fault and if anyone is in trouble…"
Arthur held up a hand to stop her.
"I'm not seeking to punish anyone but I wish that you would feel safe enough to take matters such as these to me."
"Oh," Iris said surprised. "It's not that we don't trust you, sire, it's just that he said it was such a small matter that the king would never look into it and if you did you would ask why we didn't tell anyone sooner and it would be our fault for not telling sooner and he would make it look like it was us that stole the money and..."
"Iris?" Merlin interrupted.
"Yes?"
"Breathe."
"Oh, right" she said embarrassed.

The night had fallen as they spoke and the air was chilly. Merlin didn't seem too bothered, but he sat pretty close to the fire, and Iris wished that she too had had a cape like the knights as she tried to discreetly rub her hands together to warm them. The small movement didn't escape Leon who swiftly undid his cloak and put it around her shoulders. She felt like she should protest, it was his cloak after all and why should he be cold because of her, but the material was so lovely and soft, still warm from his body, and she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead she just smiled shyly and thanked him. Elyan and Percival both grinned widely and Gwaine didn't miss the opportunity to wolf whistle, earning himself an elbow to the ribs and a stern look from Merlin. Arthur just raised an eyebrow at their antics and decided it was time to bring the conversation back on track.

"Well, I definitely see why you didn't dare tell anyone, and I don't blame you for that" he said. "What I don't understand is that nobody else was suspicious. The vendors should have reacted."
"Also sire, the stable master is required to keep books" Leon pointed out. "The he treasurer should have reacted if he found anything out of the ordinary."
"Have you seen anything out of order with the books?" Arthur asked. Iris blushed and mumbled something.
"Sorry?"
"I don't know because I can't read" she repeated louder, "but I do know that he has two books that look the same, one in his office is the one that he takes to the treasurer and then there is another one that he hides in a cupboard."
"Right. As soon as we return to Camelot, I promise you that I will look into this."
"Thank you, sire."
And with that they all, finally, went to their tents, except Percival who stayed to take the first watch.

"Do they think so little of me? Don't they trust me?" Arthur was visibly disturbed as he retreated to his tent with Merlin in tow.
"They think that you are like your father, sire" Merlin answered.
"But I am not!"
"I know that, sire, but he is the only king that they have known and you'll have to give them time to realize that you are different from him."

Upon the return to Camelot no time was wasted and when the treasurer confirmed that he had indeed had his suspicions but that he hadn't managed to find anything out of the ordinary, Arthur ordered Gwilym to be brought before him to explain himself. It was soon clear that large sums of money had disappeared, and after Arthur had ensured them that no one would be let off or reprimanded, the other stable hands stepped forward and confirmed Iris' story. When Arthur pronounced Gwilym's sentence Iris, who was standing next to Merlin, smiled relievedly and gratefully, however her eyes were not on her king but on the man standing to his right.

"So" Gwaine said, his eyes sparkling with mirth, "this is where I demand to know if your intentions towards the lovely Iris are honourable, isn't it?"
At this, Iris just laughed and gave Gwaine a shove to the shoulder but Leon was less amused.
"What part of the sentence spending the afternoon alone did you not understand Gwaine?" he growled out through gritted teeth and Merlin decided he'd best interfere before bloodshed was inevitable.
"That's hilarious Gwaine, coming from the man who doesn't even know the meaning of the word honourable" he chipped in, swiftly dragging Gwaine away from the couple.
They would probably prefer to discuss their intentions, among other things, in privacy.

Author's note
This was originally meant to be a one-shot and end like this, but after I posted it I got an idea for a small accompanying piece. I decided to start writing and see where it would take me, and then I decided to post it as a second chapter.
Aaaaaand then, I got a new little idea so I think that I'll just go with it for now and add a couple of more short chapters and we'll just see what happens :-)