Merlin lifted his head as the bells sounded. That usually meant he was late. He jerked awake in shock, looking around and taking a minute to orientate himself. He wasn't where he normally was, in his own room in Gaius' chambers. Instead he was still in Arthur's, he was still in Arthur's bed, and the spoilt brat was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, for heavens sake! Where the hell is…? What?"

Merlin yanked at the door again and decided he was not hallucinating. It was locked. Merlin rattled at it, and kicked the door. It wasn't like it could hold him, he could easily open a lock, but he had to be careful. He crouched down and peered through the gap. Merlin could just about see a sliver of red material, which meant someone was on the other side. Merlin hammered his hand flat against the door three times and yelled.

"Hey!"

"What?" a voice from the other side asked.

"Let me out!"

"I can't, Prince Arthur has the key."

"What?" Merlin yelled, he felt ready to explode at the unbelievable situation, Arthur had locked him in. Really, seriously, had locked him in.

"He locked the door when he left, and took the key with him," the guard announced. His voice seemed vaguely familiar to Merlin, but he couldn't place who it belonged to. Merlin glowered at the door as if he expected it to explain Arthur's actions.

"Did he say why?"

There was a pause, Merlin leant forward and put his ear to the door, and then he turned and looked around. The room was in complete chaos, Arthur had washed and dressed, and eaten, and Merlin had been oblivious to the whole lot. He was a deep sleeper but that was ridiculous, and why had Arthur let him over sleep in the first place. It was one thing that he complained about most of the time, Merlin sleeping in.

"Didn't he tell you?" the voice asked. Merlin paused and bit down on his lip.

"Yeah, like he tells me anything."

On the opposite side of the door the guard blinked in surprise. He couldn't understand why Merlin didn't know, or why Arthur hadn't told him. The prince and his servant were as thick as thieves most of the time. In the end the guard shrugged, what harm could it do to tell Merlin what was going on, he'd find out eventually. Gossip was rift in the castle at the best of times, and more so when there was something worth talking about.

"Two of the Mercian knights were found badly beaten. Security has been increased, the king has asked Arthur to investigate."

"Oh, are they all right?" Merlin couldn't help but ask, one hand trailing down to his backside. It still felt a little sore, but according to Arthur, who had inflicted Merlin to a brief, and rather embarrassing, examination, had said there was no serious damage and proceeded to dampen a cloth with cold water and insert it between Merlin's cheeks, ordering him to leave it there for a little while.

"They're both a bit of a mess, but still alive. One got his jaw broke though."

Merlin blinked, his mildly addled mind remembering the damage that Arthur had inflicted on the two men. The one who had physically assaulted him Arthur had seemed determined to kill. A broken jaw seemed light in comparison.

"Oh," Merlin said. "Did Arthur say when he'd be back, he's due at the tournament, and he needs his armour."

"No, we were just told to keep this area secure," the guard said.

"Fair enough," Merlin said. Unless he started using magic to get out there didn't seem to be much he could do about the situation. There was, however, some amusing irony in Arthur investigating the situation. Merlin rubbed his backside again and looked around at the mess Arthur had made of the room. He didn't have much else to do, so Merlin started on dealing with Arthur's mess.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Arthur had almost laughed when his father ordered him to investigate the situation. Flexing his hands in his gloves calmed him. Fortunately, since he was half dressed for the tournament, wearing the padded shirt that fitted under his chainmail, no one questioned the presence of his leather gloves. He had upped security in the castle, making sure the guest chambers, barracks and his own chambers were protected. Most of the security measures he implemented made two guards by his own chamber door mild. But that meant no one could get to Merlin while Arthur cleared up his mess, and since the two battered knights had been taken to Gaius' chambers Arthur didn't want Merlin wandering. And if the Mercian who could talk had already spoken to his fellow knights then his servant would be even more vulnerable.

He opened the door to Gaius' chambers. The old man was pottering about the room, mixing potions. In front of him the table was cluttered with pots and jars. The room was just as cluttered with two cots beds that were now accommodating the two injured knights. Neither of them looked good, both had battered faces. The one with the broken jaw widened his eyes as he saw Arthur, and the prince felt more than satisfied as he registered the flicker of panic. It nothing less than what they deserved for attacking Merlin.

Gaius looked up as he realised Arthur had entered. There were also two guards on Gaius' door, but they were not going to prevent the Prince of Camelot from walking around. He was above reproach. He gave Gaius a curt nod and the physician wandered over to him.

"Are they all right?"

"Battered, but they will be fine," Gaius said.

"Have they given any information?"

"Obviously one of them can't talk. And Sir Ronald has only just regained consciousness."

"Is he up to being questioned?"

"I would presume so Sire, I need to get him something to eat, I would only be a few minutes. Merlin's not here, I don't know where he is…"

"He's been with me," Arthur said, sounding apologetic enough. "I'll be here for the next few minutes, if you haven't returned by the time I'm finished I can get one of the guards to come in and watch them."

Gaius nodded, glancing at his patients for a moment before shuffling out. Both men watched with widening eyes as Gaius left, closing the door behind him, leaving them alone with Arthur. Arthur slowly pulled his gloves off, revealing the bruising on his knuckles, a testament to the force he had used.

"I've been asked to investigate the incident last night," Arthur said calmly, looking at his hand as he flexed his fingers. "I presume you didn't get a good look at who attacked you, it was obviously dark."

Sir Ronald nodded vigorously, glancing at his companion. The other knight could hardly move his head. Arthur looked at him steadily, meeting the gaze of the man who had been inside Merlin. Who had somehow thought that it was perfectly acceptable to assault him. Although he didn't nod he saw the acceptance in the knight's eyes. This interview had become nothing more than Arthur telling them exactly what their story needed to be.

"I suppose there were two of them, and the only thing that can be assumed from it is they thought to take out some of the competition. Of course, security will be increased, just to make sure we don't get a repeat of this utterly un-honourable act." Arthur gave a very humourless smile, making his hint perfectly clear. He wasn't letting anyone else get anywhere near Merlin. Sir Ronald just nodded again, only finding his voice when Arthur turned his back to leave the room, and he didn't have to look at the prince's cold blue eyes.

"But he's just a servant."

Arthur paused, shoulders tensing, and he turned again. His eyes had turned even colder, Arthur looked as murderous as he did last night. Sir Ronald pressed himself back into the pillows.

"I clearly didn't explain that properly. Merlin is mine."