He missed his bed. Hell, he missed a bed, any bed. A nice fluffy one with a comely little tavern wench wrapped around him, and a mug of steaming, spiced mead within easy reach. 'Yes. That would be perfect,' he thought. But for now he would even just enjoy something besides grass, rocks, or stones underneath his bedroll. He also vowed to never again take for granted, the wooden shutters and thick tapestries that would normally block out the sunlight streaming through the window from assaulting his eyelids.

Groaning and trying to stretch out the kinks, he felt his foot touch something solid. Wincing, he cracked his eye open and saw that it was Leon's backside. Gwaine grinned and stretched even further, making sure to yawn loudly, as he pressed his toes into his friend.

Leon shifted and tried to swat the foot away. Rolling over, he found the stinking offender just below his face. He grabbed one of the toes and pinched down hard.

"Yowch!" Gwaine didn't even try to muffle the sound, as he drew his foot back under the blanket.

"C'mon, Gwaine. Shut it already. We're still trying to sleep," Elyan yawned.

The rogue prince bit his lip to keep from cursing. He sat up and grabbed his boots, shoving the foot, with the now aching toe, into it. There was an odd sensation, he quickly pulled the appendage back out and looked down in the boot. He looked at his toe. The pinch shouldn't have caused the weirdness he felt. He stuck his hand into the boot...and found nothing.

Shaking his head, he tried again. As soon as his toes touched the bottom, it felt as if something started crawling on them. Quickly, his foot came back out and he glanced inside again. He stuffed his hand deeper in, to find the culprit and came back out with nothing. "What the…?" He asked to the boot. He felt himself becoming agitated.

He decided he would try the other one instead. He shoved the left foot down and grimaced when something inside crunched slightly. An ooze formed between his toes. He pulled it off and tossed both the boots on the ground. His eyes widened, and he couldn't control the feminine squeal, as a host of insects crawled out of the footwear. "BLOODY FREAKING HELL!"

The knights at this point all jumped up and grabbed for their swords; only to see Gwaine backing away from the outpouring of bugs. All that is, except for Merlin and Arthur.

Merlin laid on his bedroll. His eyes were veiled to hide the back and forth changing, from gold to blue.

"You want me to what?" Merlin had hissed.

The devilish gleam in Arthur's eyes only grew. "Come on Merlin, it's perfect! He wouldn't put his hand inside the latch outside the throne room in the Fisher King's tower to save you, because of it."

"But…ew."

"Exactly." Arthur stated, with a maniacal grin.

"I'm not your servant anymore, remember."

"No...you are my younger cousin...who I can bully around, and make do all my dirty work. It's even better!"

The deadly glare from Merlin illustrated the warlock's lack of enthusiasm.

"Trust me! He'll get the message I want to send. Now, quit being such a girl about it."

Merlin really had no wish to go out bug hunting in the middle of the night. A thought occurred to him, and an impish smirk began to form. "You know, I can do it with magic."

Arthur nodded appraisingly. "That might be quicker...but, would it still have the same effect?"

Merlin winked and grinned wickedly. "Better," he promised.

Arthur surveyed his sleeping knights, as he laid down. He gave Merlin the signal to go ahead with it. Merlin snuck over to Gwaine's boots and muttered a spell.

"Oy! Gwaine, some of us are trying to sleep here. It's just a few bugs, quite being such a princess. Oh wait! That's right...you are a real princess… tsk tsk what would your grandfather think. You know I'll bet he heard that scream all the down in his camp."

Merlin couldn't stop the snicker that caused Gwaine to glare his direction. He grabbed his boots as soon as the bugs disappeared, and chucked them at his so-called friend.

"Hey!" He protested, "I was under orders!"

"Bullocks! I spent the last month or more with ya; traveling and helping you figure out your noble, and I get repaid with bugs in my boots."

"After the singing?" Merlin appeared to seriously think about it for a second before piping up cheekily, "Yes."

"Did you learn how to make that sound from one of your wenches, Gwaine?" Leon asked casually, garnering laughter from the others.

"Oh...you are all going to pay for this!" With that he spread his hands out and began singing loudly. "In Camelot I met a maid, mark well what I do say, In Camelot I met a maid, and she was mistress of her trade." He made a motion of swiveling his hips seductively. "I'll go no more a rovin' with you fair maid."

He kept singing while they donned their gear. Everyone startled, when a new voice joined the song. They all stopped and turned towards the door to see King Lot standing there.

"I gave this miss a parting kiss, above the rest, my money I miss…"

Gwaine joined him for the last line. "And I'll go no more a rovin' with you fair maid."

Lot chuckled. His eyes glazed over, as a memory caught his mind. "Ah, to be young again. It seems you and I are not that different after all. I remember annoying the hell out of Ambrosius, before he was king. We were just princes on the battlefield. Trying to do right and make a name for ourselves. Hmm...my brothers and I would wake him up every morning with a song he particularly despised...one about a missing rooster."

Arthur bit back a smile. "King Lot. Forgive me for not coming to you last night, it was rather late when we arrived, and I did not wish to disturb you."

"Of course, King Arthur. I appreciate that...especially in my old age. I came up to the fort because a rider was sent from Queen Annis. She will join us in a couple of hours."

Arthur nudged Merlin with his elbow. Merlin looked at him, confused. Arthur gave him a tight lipped smile and nodded, indicating King Lot. Merlin finally caught on, and turned to the elderly king.

"My Lord." Merlin bowed and glanced at Arthur for support. "I would like to host treaty negotiations between your three kingdoms...here at Dinas Emrys. Although, I don't seem to have any place for you to sit." He glared at Arthur.

Lot gave a disapproving look at the room. Were not for the fact they could now see some of the same ornery traits he shared with Gwaine, it would have been quite intimidating. "Not a good way to welcome visiting royals to your home, son of Balinor. Well, I suppose I will just need to offer my war tent, as temporary council for the time being." He stated with an exasperated sigh. He turned on his heel and stalked out, leaving Arthur, Merlin, and the knights of Camelot fidgeting like scolded boys.

Once outside, the old man's lips quirked up in a bit of a smile.

AN: A couple more bawdy tavern songs, which I am fond of, were thrown in here.

"A Rovin'" can be found on youtube by the Musical Blades. The one about the rooster is called: "Has anybody seen my cock."