Modern times, just a tad bit AU

"And we're back where we started the tour, but we're not quite finished." The tour guide gestured dramatically around the market square with its busy stalls. "Before you saunter off to buy souvenirs at the stalls that make up our museum store," he said, raising his voice over the excited murmurs of the tour group that had hung on his every word for the past forty-five minutes, "I want you to see one of the more interesting places our beloved Merlin Emrys spent a good portion of his time."

He stepped up to the low platform and put his hand on the reproduction of the stocks and pillory that had been installed when the castle had been renovated fifteen years before. "According to the journals of Geoffrey of Monmouth, when Emrys was a young man serving Prince Arthur he managed to get into quite a bit of trouble and spent many a day hanging out here in the pillory."

"Um, what is that?" a little girl in the front of the group asked.

The guide's cheeks dimpled as he grinned and patted the wooden frame with three holes. "An old punishment device. A person is locked into this, the pillory, standing, with his or her arms and head stuck through the holes until their punishment time is over. The stocks is this one." He pointed to the metal rings placed low on the platform. "The person being punished would have their feet stuck through these holes and have to sit there without being able to go anywhere. They wouldn't be given pee breaks or anything and they could be stuck out here rain or shine, in winter or summer, for hours. Often there would be crowds throwing old fruit and veg, stones, or animal manure at the person in the stocks. Hard to imagine someone of Emrys' stature covered in tomatoes, eh?"

Another voice from the crowd called out, "Yeah, especially since tomatoes weren't even discovered by Europeans until Arthur was long gone."

The guide cringed for a moment before plastering a tight smile on his face. There was always one in every group. "Hehe. Right you are. They would have actually used cabbages and the like. Anyway, that's the tour. You can explore the public areas on your own until the castle closes in four hours. Some areas are roped off or guarded, so no wandering into them. On behalf of the Pendragon family, I thank you for coming on the official tour of Camelot. You adults, don't forget to try the mead at the Rising Sun tavern down the path. It's my favorite, and legend has it, also Sir Gwaine's. You can get it bottled so you don't have to worry about a drink-driving offense."

The group scattered and the guide started walking over to the kiosk where the tours lined up when he noticed a dark-haired young man approach the stocks and pillory. He thought he recognized him as the joker who had snickered throughout the tour and had been the one to comment about the tomatoes. He watched as the man mounted the platform and ran his hand over the wooden fixture, a slight smile on his face. The guide turned around and walked back over to the tourist. "It's pretty amazing, right? That someone as powerful as Emrys was supposed to be could ever have been put into one of these."

The man looked up at him, blue eyes twinkling. "You do realize that they weren't here, right? They were further over in the square." He pointed off to the right a bit as he dismounted the platform. As he met the guide's eyes, his own glowed gold for just a moment before he turned to walk away, winking as he tossed over his shoulder, "And let me tell you, turnips hurt like hell when they hit you just right."

Oh, gods, please don't ask me where this one came from. I have no clue.