A/N: In the semi-immortal words of Bradley James "Just reached 100,000 followers. That's about 99,999 more than my tweeting prowess deserves."
Just replace the numbers with '2' and you'll have my new twitter account :) Yeah, I'm basically 'talking' to myself every time I tweet.

*Stares at review count* 400?! I'll try my best to live up to such great support :)

Irene: Haha... well, it's hardly the same sort of tea, but I can totally see it

Nance: Yes, it will be very... exciting :D

Randomperson & TRC: Wait no more! (Thanks for the reviews ^_^)

If I missed replying to anyone's reviews I apologize, but know I love you anyway!

Tentative plan set in his mind, Merlin went to find Arthur, who was still in conversation with their hosts.

He cleared his throat to gain attention and suddenly felt a bit timid, looking down at his new boots as he made his request.
"Ah, Arthur, could we... talk a bit?"

Confused at his friend's sudden shyness, the royal agreed and excused himself.

Once they were out of earshot, Arthur grabbed the warlock's elbow and spun him around so they were face-to-face.

"What's this about, Merlin?"

"Ah, um... well, first off I wanted to ask you what happened in your challenge today."

They both knew he was stalling, but it was something that needed telling regardless.

The prince listed the various things he had been forced to eat, leaving out just how close he was to throwing up simply talking about it.
Merlin snorted when he got to the rat stew, trying to hold in his amusement- though his twinkling eyes gave it away.

"Well now I know why you look even bigger than usual. Good thing they gave you a new belt- I don't think your old one had enough leather left for more holes."

He smirked and the blond cuffed him before continuing his report.

"When they brought out that rat stew it... ah, I noticed how far behind a lot of the other competitors were and realized they wouldn't be able to defeat the griffin without help so I valiantly abstained from finishing."

Truthfully, it had simply been the last straw. There was no way he was ever eating rat stew again.

"A griffin?" The warlock grabbed Arthur's shoulders and studied him worriedly.
"You weren't wounded?" He remembered how close the prince had come to dying the last time a griffin was involved.

The blond looked at him askance.
"I was... another contestant was supposed to distract the beast while I stabbed it, but he ran off and I caught a stray swipe, broke a few ribs... but Merlin, you already healed those- don't you remember?"

His forehead crinkled in confusion.
"When?"

"On the way back from the arena. You were pretty out of it, but surely you must have known what you were doing?"

The warlock shook his head.
"No, but then it wouldn't be the first time my magic helped you out with myself none the wiser; that's a tale for another time, however."

It was clear he wouldn't be saying any more on the matter so the royal concluded his own narration.
"Right. So after that the beast reared up and I chucked my sword at it- went right through its heart. Now, what happened to leave you in such a state?"

Merlin shuffled his feet and gave a short explanation of the riddles, glossing over the details of the poisons and their effects.

Arthur watched him carefully.
"You knew that something was going to happen."

"I think it's safe to assume that 'something' is going to happen in all of these rounds, Arthur."

"No, you had one of your 'funny feelings' again, didn't you?"

The warlock considered lying, but decided it was pointless.
"Yes, I did."

The prince looked away from him then, exasperated and more than a bit angry.
"You've got to stop doing that Merlin- just taking all the danger onto yourself."

A dark eyebrow arched. Time for some deflection.
"And how do you think you would have survived that, Arthur? I didn't make any mistakes and still I needed my magic to recover in time. Though, frankly, I doubt you would have made it that far."

The blond scoffed.
"Please, how hard could it have been? I'm not an idiot, you know."

"Alright, tell me: if there are three apples and you take away two, how many do you have?"

"Merlin, I'm the prince, all of the apples in Camelot are mine."

Blue eyes rolled.
"Congratulations, Sire, only the first riddle and you've already failed."

"That was a riddle? Wait... well, it's simple arithmetic- there are three, take away two and clearly I have one. See? Easy."

"You're still wrong Arthur."

"What? But..."

"Nevermind that for now. I called you out because, ah... I wanted... I- well, I'm worried..."
The servant trailed off and was avoiding Arthur's eyes again.

"About what?"

"What if they split us up again? What if you have to face magic and I'm not there to protect you?"

"Come now, Merlin, I've fought magic on my own plenty of times before."

The warlock gave him a wry grin.
"No, you haven't."

"And what is that supposed to- oh. Really, Merlin? Can I not have pride in any of my achievements- or should I just call them your achievements?"

"Not at all, Sire. I didn't do all of the work, after all."
Not every time, at least...

Arthur threw up his hands in surrender.
"Right, fine. So, I assume you have some idea of what to do about this?"

"Yes, I thought... I thought maybe I could... train you?"
Merlin bit his lip and seemed to shrink away slightly as if expecting Arthur to throw something at him.

The knight stared at him for a moment, then his eyes narrowed and he nodded.
"That might be a good idea- but don't let it go to your head."

The warlock let out the breath he had been holding and visibly relaxed, a grin spreading across his face.
"Don't worry, Sire. Your girth will always dwarf my ego."