Unfortunately, Bertilak wore the sash to luncheon.
"Maybe I can snag it—get it to fall off," Anna suggested. Luncheon—for the contenders, anyway—was being held in the Great Hall. Anna and Gaius were eating down near the foot, the two kings at the head, and Merlin was helping to serve. It was near the end of the meal, and everyone would soon be heading back to the lists.
"I think he'll notice," Merlin argued. "It's better if we get him to take it off himself."
"But how?"
Merlin hefted his flagon of wine. "Leave it to me," he said with a wink.
Anna quickly looked away so as not to draw attention to him, and a moment later she heard sounds of consternation at the top of the Hall. When she looked back, Bertilak was on his feet, wringing wine out of his sash and tunic, and Merlin was apologizing profusely.
"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed in annoyance.
"Here, let me take that down to the laundry," Merlin said, reaching for the sash.
Bertilak snatched it back. "No. It was given to me by a lady, and it is very delicate. I will clean it myself."
"Wine is hard to get out—"
"He said he'd clean it himself," Arthur growled, and Merlin stepped back. Bertilak, after giving Merlin a darkling look, bowed to the two kings and excused himself, heading back toward the lists. "A bowl of water and some salt to Sir Bertilak's tent, Merlin," Arthur ordered pointedly.
000
Bertilak wasn't wearing the sash when the contenders assembled on the field to begin the second half of the tournament. When Anna walked back into Gaius's tent, she found Merlin in the corner behind a privacy screen, examining the sash.
"He left it in his tent to dry," Merlin explained.
"How are you going to disenchant it?" Anna whispered, sitting down next to him.
"Depends on how it was enchanted in the first place…" Merlin turned the sash over, examining the stitching. "What's this?..." he muttered, feeling the very middle of the sash. "Pass me that scalpel." He used it to pick open some of the stitching. When he pulled away the cloth, Anna could see something glinting inside.
"What is it?"
Merlin pulled out a metal disk with symbols carved on it. "A protective amulet," he said, turning it over in his hands. "This—I've seen something like this before. The necklace that killed the King, the necklace that Morgana enchanted. It felt like this."
"You think she gave it to Bertilak?"
"I think she hired him to kill Arthur," Merlin said grimly.
There was a trumpet blast from the lists. "The contenders are returning to their tents!" Anna said urgently. "Bertilak will notice the sash is missing!"
Merlin grabbed a needle and some silk thread Gaius had on hand to stitch up wounds. "I'll just close this up…"
"What if he notices the difference in the weight?"
Merlin glanced around. "Do you have a penny?"
Anna dug one out of her pocket. "Isn't it too small?" she asked as Merlin sewed it into the sash where he had removed the amulet.
"A little bit." He frowned. "I hope he doesn't look at it too carefully. Now I've got to sneak it back into his tent—"
He opened the flap on Gaius's tent to stare directly into Arthur's face—and the King didn't look pleased. "Where have you been?" he said in exasperation as Merlin quickly stuck the sash behind his back. "I had to get somebody else to buckle up my armor. I need you in my tent."
"Just a minute, as soon as I—"
"NOW."
Merlin felt Anna take the sash from his hands. "I'll take care of your chores here," she said, hiding the sash in the folds of her skirt. "Go ahead."
Merlin gave her a quick smile, and followed Arthur.
000
By the time Anna got to Bertilak's tent, he was already back. She could hear him clanking around inside, cursing. Taking a deep breath, she pulled back the flap and stepped inside.
Bertilak barely looked up. "If you're drunk again, I can tell you you're in the wrong tent," he said shortly. He was moving frantically around the tent, pushing aside armor, rooting through clothing.
"Are you missing something?" Anna asked.
"My sash. I though I hung it up over there to dry," he said, pointing briefly to a sword rack, "but I can't find it anywhere. Someone must have stolen it." Anna crouched down next to the rack as he threw the last pile of clothes aside, his face a mask of rage. "That servant of Arthur's. He was so insistent about taking it to the laundry…"
"Do you mean this sash?" Anna said, straightening up and shaking it out.
Bertilak stepped forward. "Where did you find it?"
"Right here," she said, pointing to the ground behind the sword rack. "It must have fallen off."
He looked relieved; then his eyes narrowed. "What are you doing in my tent?"
000
Gwaine stepped out of his tent, carrying his helmet, and glanced around for Anna. He hadn't seen her since the beginning of luncheon, and she had seemed distracted then, glancing often at Merlin and Bertilak. He wanted to get one final kiss for luck from her before the challenges began. He finally caught sight of her—slipping into Sir Bertilak's tent. Gwaine frowned, and walked over to it.
"What are you doing in my tent?" Sir Bertilak was saying as he approached. Gwaine could hear him through the thick fabric, and he quickly slipped around the back, where he was hidden from others' sight by the wooden side of the stands. There was a small gap in the tent flaps there, and he peered inside.
"I just wanted to wish you luck," Anna was saying, with a flirtatious smile on her face.
"Mm. You could have done that outside my tent." Bertilak stepped closer to her, and Gwaine felt his ire rise. "First you come on to me in the armory last night, and then I find you in my tent… What am I to read into that?" Anna was blushing, but still smiling. "And this time you don't even have the excuse of being drunk."
Bertilak reached for the sash, but Anna playfully pulled it back. "May I?" she said. Bertilak raised his arms, and Anna threw the sash around him, wrapping her arms around his waist to pull it straight. She looked up at him under her lashes as she tied it. "Good luck," she said in a low voice, and moved to pull away.
He grabbed her hips and pulled her back. "Seal it with a kiss," he said, and suited his actions to his words.
The trumpet sounded and Bertilak looked up. Anna skipped out of his grasp and dashed out of the tent, throwing one last flirtatious smile at him over her shoulder.
Gwaine drew back from the tent flap and realized he had his hand on his sword hilt, gripping it so hard that his knuckles had turned white. He slowly let go, took a deep breath, then walked back around Bertilak's tent. He paused at the front flap, considering, then stalked onto the field. The challenges were going to be interesting.
TBC
AN: And the proverbial hitteth the fan.