Set in Season 5

"Merlin, I swear you are going to be in the stocks for an entire day."

"I don't know why you're blaming me for this. I didn't do anything wrong."

"Well, who else can I blame, cabbagehead?"

"Oh, let me think. Yourself? I told you something was wrong up ahead, but you wouldn't listen to me."

Elyan tested his bonds even as he smirked. The bandits had them tied up tightly. He turned his head as he heard a snort and the whisper coming from beside him.

"We're captured and the head bandit is monologuing about ransoming us all back to Gwen and there they are bickering." Gwaine shook his head fondly at the two idiots the knights followed.

"Sometimes I wonder if Arthur married the wrong person." Elyan whispered it back to his friend.

Leon shrugged as much as he could with his hands tied behind his back. "They sound like my father and uncle used to, actually. Mother and Aunt Jessamyn would just laugh at them."

Percival didn't bother opening his eyes from his sitting position against a tree. "Give them a few more minutes to get it out of their systems, then Leon can goad the king into action."

"Why me?"

"Because he likes you best, Sir Leon the Perfect First Knight." Gwaine grinned wickedly at the oldest of them. "If I did it, then the Princess would just unleash his ire on me and we still wouldn't get anywhere."

Leon deflated. Percival and Gwaine were right. Gwaine tended to rub the king the wrong way even as he amused him. The four men sat back and listened to their king and his manservant ignore everyone else and bicker quietly for another few minutes.

"-the stables. What other manservant has to clean the stables? That's what you have stableboys for, dollophead."

"Oh, please. You should be happy I trust you around my horses."

"Of course. And all those speeches I write for you."

Leon guessed it had gone on long enough since the topics of stocks, dungeons, and Merlin's supposed idiocy had ended and they'd moved on to Merlin's more random responsibilities. He cleared his throat.

"You should be happy I think you're smart enough to write my speeches. Of course, I always have to heavily edit them-"

"You prat. I have to listen to those same speeches and you don't change anything."

"Well-"

Leon gave up on subtle and whispered as loudly as he could, "Sire!"

Arthur ignored him and kept talking over Merlin, who kept trying to talk over the king. Leon grimaced at Elyan, who just shrugged and grinned wickedly, tilting his head at the duo as if to say good luck with them and get on with it. Sometimes Leon wondered what he'd done so badly in a former life because his life in Camelot was certainly not a peaceful, soothing one. He looked down at the dirt under his boots and decided he just didn't care. It was time for the two infants across from him to stop acting like the children they really were and pretend to be adults. He kicked his foot and a light layer of dirt and rock covered the king's leg.

"What? Leon?" Arthur looked over at the knight across from him. "Did you just kick dirt on me?"

Merlin's snickers joined Gwaine's and Leon narrowed his eyes at the manservant. "Yes, I did, Sire." His foot kicked out again and dirt hit Merlin's pants, killing the young man's laughter. "You're both acting like children and we need a plan to get out of here. So help us figure something out or so help me, when we get back to Camelot I will put both of you in the stocks, king, servant, whatever."

Arthur's face turned a funny shade of red and he and Merlin both glared at Leon for a few moments before they looked at each other and seemed to have one of those mental conversations they excelled at. They both sighed at the same time and nodded. "You've been taking lessons from Guinevere, haven't you, Leon?"

Leon snorted. "Her mother was my mother's maid. We both learned from the two best, Sire."

"Right. Well, then, gentlemen and Gwaine. Let's get out of here and go home."

That evening when the small band camped for the night on their way home to Camelot, Leon sat by the tiny fire quietly. Somehow Merlin had coaxed it out of wetter wood than Leon would have thought possible. The bandits were dead, so they weren't too concerned about being found by more of them. Arthur sat next to him, neither speaking as they stared into the flames. Behind them, Gwaine snored, Elyan and Percival spoke quietly about something while they kept watch, and Merlin hummed to himself as he mended something.

"You know I value your counsel and advice, Leon." Arthur's voice was soft, not carrying past them.

Leon nodded, "I do, Sire, and I'm flattered when I think on that."

"I know I'm a young king. I won't fool myself into thinking I know everything. I need good people around me." Arthur glanced back at the others. "My Council is still full of father's people, as is the Round Table, but you and the others here, and some of the others at court, I trust to tell me what I need to know."

"I would say that knowing when to seek advice is the hallmark of a wise person, Sire. My parents taught me that."

"I don't want to disappoint anyone, Leon." Arthur's face had a fey look on it. "I want the people in my kingdom to be happy and healthy."

"Arthur," Leon put his hand on the king's arm, "the only people that I know of with complaints about how you're running the kingdom are the old farts that are left over from your father's time." Arthur snorted. "The rest of us are fine. We know you aren't your father and are still finding your path as king."

"And acting like a child, apparently."

Leon grinned. "Only with Merlin, Gwen, and the rest of us. We've come to expect you and Merlin acting like two brothers; bickering or sniping at each other until the moment you have to defend each other from someone else. If you didn't act like that, we'd wonder what was wrong with you." He shrugged. "Truth to tell, it's usually amusing. He helps keep your ego in check."

Arthur turned to look at Leon with a smirk. "Are you saying I have an ego, First Knight?"

"One the size of Camelot itself, Your Majesty." Leon smirked right back.

Arthur's smirk turned into a rueful grin, "Fair point. Guinevere punctures it regularly enough." Arthur turned back toward Merlin, who was in his own little world as he sewed. "How the hell did I manage to find more than one of you people to do that? Guinevere, Merlin, Gaius?" He shook his head, "Gwaine? You?"

"I guess you were just lucky." Leon threw another small branch on the fire. "I'll be honest, being a few years older than you, I know we had little to do with each other outside training as you were growing up, but I couldn't stand your friends. Those hangers-on were just nasty idiots. I like your friends much better now, Sire."

"I consider you one of them, Leon."

Leon felt his face flush and knew it wasn't just the fire. "Thank you, Sire. I'm honored, and I feel the same."

Neither spoke after that, letting the warmth of the fire and camaraderie wash over them until they were finally drowsy enough to seek their bedrolls.

I am so late. I simply have been too tired to write thanks to *shudder* adulting. What time I have been able to write I've been working on a story for submission to an actual publication. It's not going well. I think I may be passing up on this one. Anyway, that's why this is late. I am sorry.

As for the stocks, I'm still dying to figure out a way to get Arthur in them one of these days. No luck so far. I think this may be the closest I get. Hmm. Two Leon stories in a row. I'll need to pick on someone else for Friday's story, because I think Leon is just done with these boys and needs a vacation. Although, this was supposed to be an Elyan story and Leon just swanned in and took over.