Merlin was scary when he glared. His brow was furrowed slightly, but that was the only expression on his face. The scary part was his gaze; his normally expressive eyes were glacial as he stared at the unfortunate pair before him. Gwaine almost felt bad for them. Almost.

But then again, they'd brought it on themselves, and Gwaine was not inclined to show mercy to idiotic, snobbish nobles who looked down on those less fortunate than themselves. Both knights appeared torn between fear and outrage. They knew that Merlin had the king's ear, that he would never back down, but they chafed at having to listen to a servant.

"Are you alright, Bevin?" he asked, turning away from the knights dismissively. Gwaine watched in delight as they flushed with rage, hands clenching on their sword hilts uselessly. He loved Merlin.

The frightened man he was addressing darted a quick glance toward the knights before he nodded and replied, "I'm just fine, Merlin, thank you. There's no need to be going to so much trouble over me."

Merlin's expression clearly said he disagreed but all he did was incline his head to diffuse the situation. He knew he would not be the one targeted if the knights were to retaliate. Not to mention, there was a curious crowd forming around them as the townspeople strained to see what was happening.

It was like this: Merlin had dragged Gwaine out for a walk to gossip- discuss, Merlin corrected, but Gwaine still thought it was gossip- about the recent goings-on in the city. It seemed like everything in Camelot was changing all at once, but Gwaine wasn't complaining; seeing so many joyous reunions in the lower town as the released prisoners returned home was worth actually completing all of the exhausting tasks the Princess set them to do. It did mean, however, that he had very little free time these days, which was why Merlin had grabbed Gwaine the minute he'd learned that he'd gotten some time off. They'd walked aimlessly as they talked- Gwaine wondered how he'd gotten by without friends for all those years- until their path took them past Bevin's house. The scene they'd come across there made Gwaine's blood boil.

Gwaine did not know who Bevin was or what he'd done to get arrested, although he thought Merlin probably did. So did the knights escorting him, apparently, as they seemed to think whatever it was he'd done was a good enough reason to shove the man to the ground and kick him while he was down. Bevin was by no means a small man, but he clearly knew what Sirs Anders and Bedivere would do to him should he try to resist. The two of them also clearly knew they could kill this commoner and get away with it if he were foolish enough to fight back; it was self-defense, they'd say, and their noble families would support them. Gwaine liked to think Arthur would at least try to punish them, but what could he really do without evidence? It was his duty to put the good of Camelot first, and one did not do that by angering powerful nobles.

Unfortunately for Anders and Bedivere, they had witnesses now, and neither Gwaine nor Merlin were limited by such responsibilities as the king was, he thought darkly. Gwaine did not know what his expression looked like, but the two knights seemed almost as wary of him as they were of Merlin. He took that as a compliment.

Gwaine kept his eyes on the pair as Merlin helped Bevin up and led him inside his house. It only took him a few moments return, shutting the door behind him quietly before he turned to face the knights.

"The king ordered us to escort the criminals back to their homes," Sir Bedivere blurted as soon as his gaze met Merlin's. His accomplice shot him a disgusted glare for his cowardice but remained silent.

"Criminals, are they?" Merlin asked with a deceptively soft tone. "Do you think you know better than the king?"

Sir Bedivere shook his head rapidly. "No, of course not!" he denied. "We respect the king's decisions completely."

Gwaine noted that, next to him, Sir Anders' expression said otherwise. They weren't the only ones to disapprove of the Princess' orders, but most of the other knights were too devoted to Arthur, or fearful of being discovered, to so blatantly mistreat their charges. Then again, Anders had always been an arrogant pig, he knew, while Bedivere was a spineless idiot, willing to go along with anything the more powerful knights and nobles told him to do. The two of them probably thought that Anders' wealth and station would protect them from the king's wrath.

Gwaine gave Anders and Bedivere a wide, friendly smile that showed nothing of how he wanted to strangle them both. "Of course you do," he agreed placidly. "And since you've done absolutely nothing wrong, you won't mind me mentioning this little incident to the king, right?"

Anders' lip curled as Bedivere paled dramatically beside him. "Go ahead," he said disdainfully. They both knew that for a noble from a powerful family such as his, there would be little Arthur could do. Bedivere, however, had no such immunity, so at least someone would pay. Anders turned to his cowardly friend and beckoned sharply. "Come, Bedivere. Let's not waste any more time on common trash."

Merlin smiled thinly at that, and Gwaine decided then and there that he would make that prick regret his words. He may not be able to truly punish him, but he could make his life hell on the training grounds, and Arthur would even help when he told him what had happened. It had been a long time since Gwaine had truly considered himself a noble, but he knew that the insults and derogatory comments nobles like Anders used would never affect him the way they did Merlin or the other commoners among the knights. He hated seeing his friends humiliated like that. Sir Anders would not leave the training grounds without being bruised blue and black, until he learned to keep his mouth shut, Gwaine vowed. And he would enlist the other knights' help just to make certain the man couldn't simply avoid him.

His pleasant daydreams of locking Anders and Percival in a room together for a few hours were sadly interrupted as Merlin turned away from the two knights walking off. "This is not what I envisioned doing when I told you to go on a walk with me," he sighed regretfully. Gwaine frowned; his friend was everything that was good and bright and happy. He should never be forced to look so defeated. "I'm sorry this happened during your break; I know you don't get much time off these days."

Gwaine waved off the ridiculous apology. "It's not your fault when other people are pricks," he replied airily. "Will you do the tattling or shall I?"

That drew a laugh from his friend, and Gwaine finally relaxed a bit. "I'll do it," Merlin volunteered with a grin. "I was going to deliver Arthur's laundry now anyway; I might as well tell him about his wayward knights while I'm there."

"Good. He'll be more likely to listen if it's coming from you."

Merlin frowned at that. He'd never liked the tension between Gwaine and Arthur; perhaps he knew how much it had to do with him. "He would listen to you as well," he insisted, and Gwaine nodded agreeably, even though he thought otherwise. Merlin narrowed his eyes knowingly but said nothing further on the matter. "I should go now, then, to make sure I speak to him before those two idiots."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Gwaine said reassuringly. "They wouldn't dare; the only way they come out of this looking good is if they try to make you look bad, and no one's stupid enough to try that in front of the Princess anymore."

"That's not- wait, anymore?" Merlin exclaimed, completely taken aback, as though he didn't notice the countless nobles who disapproved of him. Gwaine took that to mean that he and his fellow knights had done their job well. "I know a lot of people here don't like me, but they've actually tried to make me look bad in front of Arthur?"

Gwaine did not wish for Merlin to find out what they'd said about him; that was the whole point of going to so much effort to shut those nobles up. For once, he and the Princess had been completely on the same page. "Ah, it doesn't matter now," he tried. "They haven't done that in so long."

"Who's they?" Merlin asked persistently. "And what did they say?"

"You don't need to worry about it anymore, trust me," Gwaine replied with an uncharacteristically cold smile. "No one will be trying it again anytime soon; we've made sure of that."

His enigmatic response had Merlin eyeing him uncertainly for a few moments before he finally let go of the matter with a sigh. "Fine, I won't ask anymore," he conceded grouchily. "Keep your secrets, Sir Gwaine; I'll bully one of the other knights into telling me eventually."

Doubtful. "You're welcome to try."

"I will. And you're horribly mean, so I'm leaving now." With that, Merlin stomped off to the castle, his nose in the air, and Gwaine's laughter following him.

Gwaine only fooled around the lower town for a bit after Merlin left, before he thought he should probably head back to prepare for his shift. The incident with Anders and Bedivere had him keeping a sharp eye out as he made his way back to the castle, now suspicious of every knight he saw, but all seemed well. He'd been briefly alarmed to see one of the lower town's butchers being herded by a group of knights he knew to be… problematic (Merlin just hated them because they were Agravaine's cronies, and his deep hatred for the Princess' uncle still amused Gwaine endlessly) but the man had soon emerged unscathed, and Gwaine returned to his chambers with no further incidents.

Still, he would speak with Arthur. He knew Merlin was telling him about what Anders and Bedivere had done, but it was not one isolated incident, and Gwaine was closer to the other knights, and even some of the nobles, than Merlin was. He knew what they did behind closed doors, when they thought no one was watching. Merlin likely also knew- every commoner did, but most would hesitate to speak out against a member of the upper class. Even if they did, how likely was it that anyone but Arthur would listen? As a knight, however, Gwaine's word carried more weight, even if they all thought him a commoner. That was in no way a new development, and one he'd always hated, but with so much change happening in Camelot… Now Gwaine thought he could finally take advantage of it; he could use his power for good. The King was admitting his mistakes and releasing all of the unjustly arrested prisoners, druids were being welcomed back into the city, and a servant was set to become Queen. Perhaps it was time for the status of commoners to change too. Gwaine would make sure of it; his vows as a knight demanded it. He would speak for those who could not speak for themselves.