References to fanon but not canon torture. Nothing actually happens but Gwaine sees scars.

It had been a week since Arthur had discovered that his manservant was a magic user; and other than a few more harsh goblets thrown at his head Arthur had been surprisingly accepting of the knowledge. That was probably only due to the years of friendship the two shared. But Arthur hadn't talked to Merlin about the fact that he now knew Merlin's secret. No, he had spent an unusual amount of time with his head in old dusty books that probably weighed more than the average armor for a knight. Because while Gwen was working on curbing his anger around Merlin in fear he may regret his decision, Arthur was also at work looking for ways to change Camelot so that Merlin could be himself. That way he would be able to yell at Merlin properly for keeping it a secret for so long. That is why the ancient books were being dusted off; they contained the laws that were in place for magic before it had been outlawed. And that is where Arthur's new anger stemmed; most of the laws that didn't relate to magic were outdated. How was he to know how to update the ones that did pertain to magic? He was seething in anger. If Merlin just told him he had magic, then Arthur could just have Merlin do all the heavy reading.

But Guinevere, not entirely understanding her husband's anger, took steps for Merlin to avoid Arthur for the day. She left before Merlin had arrived with breakfast. Gwen had noticed the ever growing tension in her husband, and knew he was close to breaking. So she marched through the hall hoping to catch Merlin, before he ran into Arthur. Luck was on her as she ran it to Merlin just as he was leaving the kitchens.

"Merlin." Gwen sighed out in relief at finding him rather quickly.

"Morning Gwen. Did you need anything?" Merlin asked, as he looked fearfully at her hair.

"Um yes." She stated, carefully taking the trays Merlin had been balancing." I need a…" Her eyes landed on the small bowl of fruit on the tray. "Bowl. A bowl of…" A young maid passed and she had a flower woven in her hair. "Flowers. A bowl of Flowers, yes that is what I need." She stated before turning on her heel and walking away. Mentally smacking herself, a bowl of flowers? Not a vase of flowers or a bouquet of flowers, but a bowl? Gwen shook her head if it would keep him away from Arthur's anger it was worth Merlin thinking her a little mad.

Merlin stood confused for a second. He had thought that the comb request was odd. And while he realized many people liked flowers, placing them in a bowl seemed rather odd to him.

"Hello mate," Gwaine's voice broke through as he approached Merlin chewing on an apple.

"Gwen just asked me to get her a…" Merlin began before Gwaine interrupted.

"I'll come with you. Going on an errand for her will give me an excuse to not attend training today." Gwaine said, flashing a large smile and a wink at a passing maid.

"She asked for a bowl of flowers." Merlin stated, still confused by why Gwen had chosen a bowl of all things.

"Are you sure you heard her right?" Gwaine asked, focusing back on Merlin.

~M~

"Is this a flower?" Gwaine questioned as he held up a rather spiky plant that had a brightly coloured bud.

"I don't think so, I think that's a weed." Merlin answered as he looked for the green thing in his hand to the coloured thing, throwing his own in his shoulder to join a slowly growing pile. Merlin wasn't stupid. He knew what flowers were, and he knew where a nice field of wildflowers grew that were fairly close to the castle. But their stems were too long to fit in a bowl and they wouldn't survive floating in water. So Merlin and Gwaine had made the trek to a small pond about a half hour's walk away. Merlin was thankful to find that it wasn't Freya's lake; he wouldn't have been able to hide his emotions from Gwaine if he had. He had gotten over the many people that he had lost, but their reminders still caused the ache to reopen inside of him.

But here they were, Merlin and Gwaine with their pants rolled up, wading through the shallows looking for flowers that could survive in the excessive water.

"You're a physician's assistant mate; shouldn't you know this sort of stuff?" Gwaine questioned, flinging mud off his hands.

"Gaius taught me medicinal herbs, not flowers." Merlin griped as his feet slipped along the muddy bottom. "Shouldn't you know flowers; you give them to girls all the time?" Merlin questioned, peering at small purple blossoms floating along the water's surface.

"Not many women require water plants. I'm afraid I'm rather out of my depth here." Gwaine said, as he threw another plant over his shoulder. The plant, its roots still clinging to a clump of muddy earth, landed on top of Merlin's head. The mud sliding down his face, Merlin was willing to forget that and go back to searching for flowers for Gwen. That is, until Gwaine turned around, and spotted his handy work.

"Merlin, you got a little..." Gwaine laughed and gestured to Merlin's face. "Here let me." He offered, and swept a cupped hand in the water. But instead of water as Merlin suspected, it was a large handful of mud, and Merlin wasn't quick enough to dodge as the mud hit him in the face. The force offset Merlin's balance and he fell backward landing in water up to his shoulders.

Merlin's hands clenched in the mud, and he swung them up releasing the two lumps of mud toward the knight's laughing face. Gwaine easily dodged both of them, and thus began the mud battle. It was a vicious battle, and both were covered in mud and utterly soaked when Gwaine's voice called out, "Wait!" He quickly slipped through the water, toward a bush that was hanging over the bank slightly. He brushed aside the leaves, "I found a flower." He announced happily, a single water lily floating in the ripples Gwaine's body made.

As the two began the walk back to Camelot, Merlin removed his jacket which was caked in mud and starting to harden. Gwaine on the other hand was shirtless, smirking as Merlin tried to clean his jacket as much as he could, while also trying to swipe the mud off of his blue shirt as well.

"Just take it off, and dunk it in the stream over there." Gwaine said, pointing to a stream behind the line of trees.

"You stay here." Merlin demanded after a moment's hesitation. Gwaine chuckled at Merlin's shyness. He never went shirtless around the knights, and Gwaine couldn't really fault him; the knights (especially Percival) dwarfed him in muscle mass. Who could blame him for feeling embarrassed by that. Gwaine lent back against a tree and was perfectly happy to remain waiting until he looked down to notice. That his shins were coated in the thick mud and it had started to harden, tugging uncomfortably on his leg hair. Merlin would have to accept being shy for a bit, because he was not walking all the way back to Camelot like this. He swung his damp shirt over his shoulder, and walked past the trees to join Merlin by the stream.

He stopped short; there was Merlin shirtless and bent over the stream. His back was covered in scars, some looking years old and others fresher. They looked so much worse because Merlin's skin was stretched tight over his bones. How many meals had he missed? And how had those scars occurred? A few Gwaine could identify, the scattered circles of a mace swung so hard it pierced armor, the thin line of a sword, and the thicker ones of a whip. Who had whipped his best friend? Gwaine fumed, but he was too angry to alert Merlin to his presence. And the largest scar that took up the majority of his back was one he had only seen on corpses, the round puncture of a serket. Merlin had been stung by a serket and he was still alive? Gwaine backed away, what was a little pain of pulled leg hair, when Merlin had to go through that. Gwaine began to run through the reasons for the marks on his friend's back. The mace and sword marks could be from bandits, or a training accident. But the puncture and the whip marks, those were another matter. The only reason that immediately jumped to Gwaine's mind was Merlin's magic. He wasn't stupid, flying plates were hard to miss. And Gwaine watched Merlin; he didn't use magic in Camelot, even Merlin wasn't that foolish so why did he have those marks. He may have survived the serket because of the magic he practiced but the whip marks? Gwaine mulled over that, until his mind roared to a stop. If Arthur had found out about Merlin's magic and used a whip to punish the younger man, Gwaine was going to commit treason. He pushed the dark thoughts from his head; they were Merlin and the princess. He had never seen two closer friends, as loath as he was to admit it. Arthur would sooner hurt himself, then whip Merlin, but he had sworn to himself that if the king ever did discover his best friend's secret he would side with Merlin; even if that side was against the king he had sworn to serve.

"Oi mate, ready to go yet?" Gwaine raised his voice calling to Merlin, thankful his voice held strong.

~M~

When Gwen entered her chambers later she was shocked by what she saw. There, sitting in the center of the table, was a beautiful glass bowl holding a single water lily floating atop the water. She had expected wild flowers, or weeds that could be confused for flowers, she had never expected Merlin to be able to find something so beautiful. She really had to do something nice for him. After all, she was sending him on these ridiculous jobs, and Arthur wasn't aware of today so she couldn't even give him the rest of the day off. He was definitely getting some new neckerchiefs, maybe a new blanket. She knew there wasn't a fireplace in Merlin's room, and as the temperature dropped she didn't want Merlin to catch cold. Yes, those were simple things she could do that would thank Merlin for all his hard work. Now she just needed to figure out why Arthur was so angry. It had something to do with the large books he had been reading recently, and as Queen of Camelot she was going to help him.