A/N: I finished it quicker than I expected. Thankfully Leon started to speak to me again and got over his sulk. Here is the nest chapter. Enjoy.

That was unexpected, Uther and the council had approved his plans for the outlying villages. Leon had thought he need to put up much more of a fight, but everything had gone smoothly, restoration of the villages was going to start in a week.

"Well done, my lad." Gaius joined him, after the meeting was over.

"I would not imagine it would go that smoothly. I expected they were going to put on more of a fight." Leon was flabbergasted.

"You made excellent presentation. You proved to the old guard, that you have more in you than a war and strategical thinking. And all of it proves the trust king Uther as in you. I wish that Arthur and Merlin would have seen this." Gaius proud smile made him happier than he had been in long time.

"Thank you." Then he looked at Gaius. And remembered what his mother had said. "You write to my mother?" Was it a blush he detected on Gaius' face?

"I have known her before your birth, when Sir Bors produced a plan for you to be my apprentice, after your night out, I wrote to her telling everything. She ordered me to make your life miserable. I followed her order, as you like to tell everyone, you were my slave for two months, I was afraid I over did it but thankfully you came back for more, I gave you some of my knowledge and I am glad, that it has helped you and other knights." There was sly smile on Gaius' face.

They stopped, somehow Leon did not know how, they had walked into an empty corridor, how he always managed that, was a mystery. "I do not know if I ever told you, but you have been a second father to me," he looked down sheepishly, "you are one of the people thanks to who I am what I am today."

Gaius was wordless, he had never expected Leon say something like that to him. "Leon, my lad?"

"You do not need to say anything. You are who you are, and you helped and took in a lad who needed a father figure. Even if you did not need to. And then you did same with a girl. I think Merlin feels as I do." Leon placed his hand on older man's shoulder.

"You are making this old man cry." Gaius muttered and then wicked gleam entered is eyes. "Knowing you see, me as a father, then tell me, if there is any hope for your love life?"

Leon huffed in frustration and stomped down the corridor yelling over his shoulder. "Stop writing to my mother!" Gaius' chuckles sent him on his merry way.

Deep blue as the sea,

The eyes that enchant me.

Sweet words,

Make my days worthwhile living.

I wish to see and heard them,

Every day of my life.

Even if it would end tomorrow,

I would have had a precious gift.

Leon looked the words he just wrote down, he was bad at poetry, he could not give this to Merlin.

He rolled the poem up and threw it into the drawer. There was only one thing that he knew could give him peace.

Wham, wham. Two arrows flew into the target, right into the middle.

"I hope, it is not Arthur's head you are aiming at?" Leon turned quickly around; his training made him lower crossbow before he would have shot the one who was approaching.

"Merlin, you are back!"

"Yes, and she brought a guest." Arthur came right behind Merlin.

"I brought a quest. You dollop head, he saved your life. And you brought him here." Merlin shot back.

And then name calling started. Leon sighed business as usual. "Hello, Leon! How are you doing Leon? Nice shot Leon. Teach me how to shoot like that Leon." He muttered pulling the arrows out of the target. He looked at his bickering friends and stepped to them.

He cleared his throat, this time it did not help, the name calling continued. "Why do they even come and find me." Leon rolled his eyes and raised his voice. "Who is the one, who I should give my thanks, for saving my prince?"

"His name is Gwaine. He came and helped us in a bar brawl and got a knife in his thigh." Merlin explained.

"Well, I like to meet him, when he is recovered. I think this Gwaine, would not. appreciate if I go and disturb him know or let us say Gaius would not appreciate my intrusion." Leon placed the arrows into the quiver and crossbow over his shoulder.

"You will like him, Leon, believe me you will like him." Merlin's smile brightened his day.

"Or he won't." Arthur countered.

"Don't be such a sourpuss." The name calling started again, Leon shook his head, he did not know, how those two survived together.

Thanks to his busy schedule, he did not meet the infamous Gwaine, he only heard off him from Merlin, Gwen and Gaius. The stories made him laugh, but from the back off his mind he knew there would be trouble brewing. But he did not know where it would come.

He sat in front of Arthur's desk a going thru the reports, it had become custom to him and Arthur to work together, when they were both in citadel, so they would get the papers in order quicker. Arthur sat behind his desk one of his leg thrown over the armrest. They worked in comfortable silence, once or twice a question was exchange to conform or follow up on some point in one of the reports.

Suddenly Arthur sat up. "What the hell is this?"

Leon raised his eyes from the document he was readying and then looked back down. "A bill." He tried to concentrate, but Arthur's command. "Leon!" Made him raise his head again. "Who is responsible for this?"

Leon took the bill and his eyebrows rose, why the hell did not that kind of large bill reach him first, he would have paid it and it would have disappeared before Arthur would have seen it. Smaller ones made their way to Arthur, but never this large as princes second in command he had budget to use for the knight's needs, small part of it he used to get knights out from the debts they made in tavern. Leon made all of them to pay him back, so the prince and king would not find out.

Leon had made agreement with the tavern owners to always send so large bills to him. He looked the name on the bill: The Rising sun. He had agreement with them, why had this not come to him first.

It hit him sudden like a lightning bolt, it was not the bill for the knights evening out, it was for someone else's. Only one who he could think to be this bold was Merlin. Gods be damned why had she not come to him. This time he could not do anything. "This one is not for the knights, it had yesterday's date, none of the knights went out yesterday."

Arthur took the bill and leaned back to his chair. "Merlin."

"You cannot be sure." May be he could save something.

"Of course it is her doing. She frequents the tavern."

"Merlin?"

"Yes, I have learn it from a quite reliable source." Leon knew who it was, Gaius, the physician did not have a better excuse.

"If Merlin frequents the tavern then I am the first knight of this realm and I am quite sure you not going to give that position away any time soon."

"We will see." Arthur said placing the bill on the corner of the desk.

This time Leon could not save the girl.

He balanced the tray on his arms when he pushed open the side door to the throne room, his mouth almost fell open when he saw what in it. There was a long line of boots. When Arthur had said all armies boots, he had meant it. Leon knew somewhere in there were his own, he looked the line and found his right in the middle. He took a step into the room and door fell close with a bang.

Gwaine and Merlin rose their eyes. "Sir Leon, what are you doing here? Coming to help us?" Merlin face lit up seeing him.

"No, I'm from a strict order from Arthur, that I should not give you any assistants." He stepped forward and placed the tray onto the steps. "But I figured you will grow hungry from all of the work and brought you some food."

"Thank you, Sir Leon."

"Next time if you find yourself in that kind of trouble again in the city, tell the tavern keeper that there is a deal with Sir Leon, they will know. But do not let it happen frequently, if I start having this type of bills every other day, I will send them to Arthur." He finished sternly.

"Thank you for the information, I promise you this kind of a thing won't happen again." She sent a look to Gwaine who nodded.

"I will leave it to your work and go see that the young knights wouldn't kill each other." When he left the room he heard Gwaine ask. "Who was that?"

"That was Sir Leon, Arthur's second in command." He heard Merlin answer, he stopped and left the door at ajar.

"That was Sir Leon Leodegrance?" There was amazement in the man's voice. "In my imagination he is different."

"How so?"

"The stories I have heard, they tell him to be man of pride. Prim and proper, who never smiles or laughs. He always follows orders and never sways from them. But they say also, that he is one of the best fighters beside the princess that they have ever seen."

"Then he has played his roll well."

"What do you mean?"

"He has his reason to let the world see him like that. Actually he is one of the best men I know, he cares for other, laughs and jokes as much he can. He bends the rules and orders as much it's possible, but there are some he cannot bend, those are the ones he has to follow, to keep his position so he could help those who are in need."

"That is the knight you see?"

"And know."

Hearing that Leon let the door close behind him quietly, he needed to see to the new knights and then ride to the closest village to see how his plans worked out. But Merlin words made him warm inside.

He found his way to one of the highest towers of Camelot, it looked to the training grounds and at the main gate. The second as high rose next to it, once it was called Sorceress tower, once up on a time court sorcerer had resided there. But know both of them were used only when the city was under attack, so it was one of the quietest place in Camelot and one of the most beautiful, you could see miles, as far eyes could reach, it was peaceful up there. It was just what he needed. He filled his goblet and placed the wine pitcher beside him on the floor.

Today was one of the times he wanted sway from his duty, he had to arrest Gwaine, the man had broken the knights code. Leon believed him when Gwaine said Sir Oswald had attacked Merlin, but he could not do anything, Sir Ethan and Sir Oswald were higher up in hierarch than him. Even if he was Arthur's second in command, in the birth rights of the nobles he was the third son when Sirs Ethan and Oswald where the first sons, of noblemen who were still alive, his father was not. Uther would have dismissed his concerns.

Thankfully Arthur had stepped in and execution was turned to banishment. Gods be damned how he wished that times would changes, the laws. But it was wishful thinking. He may never see those times.

He took a sip from his goblet, he needed to keep his drinking to minimum, in the morning he was going to leave on ta patrol. Arthur had tried to convince him otherwise. Saying that he needed his best knight at the tournament, but Leon did not have a need to prove himself in front of the audience, so he had put himself on a list of a patrol. To be as far away as he could.

A week long patrol, when he had done that, he had not known how much he needed to get away from the citadel.

"Sir Leon, what are you doing here up, all alone?" Leon had heard the footsteps but hoped they would turn around.

"I wanted little peace, no one comes here and the sight up here is magnificent. What are you doing up here, Merlin?"

"Well the maids were talking that one solemn Sir Leon was coming up here with a wine pitcher and a goblet, I thought to come and see what is troubling you."

Leon shook only his head at that and took another drink from his goblet.

"Talk to me Leon what is it?"

A sigh escaped from deep from his chest. "I could have stopped it, if I would have spoken up, if I would have not done my duty. I could have saved Gwaine from banishment."

"And then what would have happened, your words against two higher born knights, you may be Arthur's second in command, you may be on of Uther's favourite knights, but you would have been dismissed. Thrown into the dungeon, you would have your knighthood, but lost you position. And for whom it would done any good. Arthur needs you beside him." Merlin took the goblet from him and drank. First Leon looked with a surprise at her and then laughed.

"I already figured that out. I just wanted to swallow in my self-pity for a little longer." He took the goblet back from her.

They sat in silence for a little more longer, looking at the sunset and sharing wine from one goblet.

"Sir Leon, I may be not you greatest friend, but something is troubling you. And for a long time already, if you need to speaks to someone, I am here."

Leon looked at her, then did something he himself did not expect. He kissed her, putting all his longing and love in it. Merlin was surprised and bulled back. "Sir Leon, what..."

"I am sorry, Merlin. I should not have." He took another sip from his wine. Then he looked earnestly into her eyes. "I wanted do that for a long time. I have been in love with you from the first time I saw you. When you ran into me that afternoon in front of Gaius' door. Your eyes haunt me every night in my sleep. Every day my love grows for you. I just could not keep it to myself any longer." He rose and leaned at the against the balustrade. "I would do anything for you. The Law of Nobility be..." He did not finish it as Merlin placed her finger to his lips.

"Do not say it, it would be treason." As quick as she placed the finger she threw it back, the intimacy of the touch became known to her.

"I do not know what to say to what you just relived to me. I need time, time to think."

"You will have all the time in the world. I won't go anywhere." Merlin nodded and turn to leave. Leon sigh looking at her departing back.

Next morning Leon left for the patrol. When he returned he learned about the tournament and Gwaine saving Arthur's life. Leon knew he was forever in debt to the man. But Merlin kept her distance. Leon did not hope otherwise. He promised her time and he would give that to her.