Merlin observed the fight between Gwaine and the knight in blue with great attentiveness, flinching and ducking together with Gwaine whenever his friend needed to dodge or make evasive steps. To the bare eye, it seemed like a confrontation between two skillful, matching knights who wanted to earn honor for their respective kingdom, but to Merlin's observant eye, it came across rather unbalanced. Fights with Gwaine were always unbalanced, because the skilled knight always seemed to win effortlessly, but this fight was different; Gwaine was somewhere else with his thoughts. He was distracted and irritated and made mistakes he'd usually never make. Merlin's brow furrowed in confusion under his black bangs. This was very unlike the usual proud and carefree Gwaine. Just as Merlin tried to think about what might've riled the knight up to fight so carelessly, the dull sound of a shield hitting armor reached Merlin's ears. Focusing on the fight and on Gwaine again, Merlin realized with a gasp, that his friend went down and was currently rolling over onto his back with a pain laced expression on his face. The knight from Mercia stood above Gwaine, ready to slam his shield into Gwaine's body and – without a doubt – trying to inflict some real damage. The shield came crashing down, Merlin barely had the time to notice that Gwaine had curled in on himself to protect his abdomen as Merlin's breath hitched in his throat and the world started spinning lightly. He'd do anything in his power to protect his friends and apparently, his magic would do anything as well. Subconsciously, it bubbled up to rush to Gwaine's aid; Merlin's hands tingled to the extend of a nagging, aggressive ache, making his fingers and arms twitch. Whenever Merlin used magic, he rarely had the opportunity to see his eyes glowing. He was told by Gaius that they shine gold, as if the rising sun casts its first gleaming rays of sunlight over the earth. He had seen it when another sorcerer or sorceress had performed magic; He had seen his own reflection in a silver tray while casting a spell. He could feel the glow radiating from his eyes as his magic, while being performed, rushed through his whole being, filling every single pore. And he knew the glow was there when Gwaine, his friend, a knight from Camelot, stared him into the eyes. Brown met gold. Magic met Strength. And it was over in the blink of an eye.

Merlin averted his eyes as quickly as possible, desperately trying to build up the protective wall of magic again, focusing on subduing the rebellious energy. He registered the audience's roar, the cheers from the knights and Arthur's enthusiastic applause. Gwaine won. And Merlin had helped. He felt the magic reverting into his inner core behind the protective barrier, leaving him exhausted again. He was a little wobbly on his feet as Arthur went towards his knights and Merlin followed suit. He saw me. He knows. Merlin's heart was racing as the realization hit him. Gwaine would never dismiss glowing eyes as a trick of light. Instead, he would put one and one together and see the bigger picture, which Merlin painted quite obvious. He could feel the color draining from his face as he neared his friend who was surrounded by the rest of the knights from the round table. How would Gwaine react to the revelation? Merlin cursed inwardly that the two of them were not alone. He would not be able to properly talk to Gwaine in front of all the others, explain himself, maybe even make sure Gwaine would give him enough time to flee from Camelot. He must've spaced out a little, but Arthur's voice brought him back to reality.

"Are you alright?" Arthur asked Gwaine as he looked one of his own over. To Merlin's surprise, Gwaine didn't even blink while answering.

"I'm alright, princess. I can take such a hit with no problem at all." The nickname caused a lecture from their king, but Merlin was too nervous to make anything out. The thoughts in his head drowned him with possible scenarios of his future resulting from this fateful day. He didn't even notice Gwaine was approaching until he suddenly had an arm draped around his shoulder. Surprised he looked up into a kind face with a gentle smile and warm eyes as Gwaine's brown locks slightly fell into his face. That was all Merlin needed to see right then and there. Gwaine would never harm him or push him away. Gwaine would always care for Merlin and be a true friend. He should've never doubted that. The silent conversation between them assured Merlin that Gwaine was and would always be on his side and Merlin tried to signal him that he understood. Suddenly, Elyan pointed out the flower Arthur was still holding onto. Merlin was sure that the only reason Arthur had the bouquet still in one hand was for the sole purpose of teasing Merlin about it. His guess was confirmed as soon as Arthur opened his mouth. Merlin squirmed in Gwaine's grip, trying to get away from them. He even wished for the ground to swallow him whole.

"Why don't you just ask Merlin about the identity?" Arthur said, with an evil grin on his face.

"Merlin…?" The knights addressed him; amusement evident in their voices.

It was a true hustle and bustle in the great hall where festive boards were stacked with food, creative dishes, pastries and other sweets and the most extravagant beverages were on display. Servants came in balancing drinks to refill glasses or trays to exchange them for empty trays on the board. Merlin stood close behind Arthur and Gwen, who were sitting at the head of the table, ready to come to their aid at their command. After the thing at the training field with Gwaine, the young warlock had searched for an opportunity to talk with Gwaine and said knight had wanted to exchange words as well but they couldn't seem to get rid of the other knights. Then, Arthur had ordered him to come along as they were in a hurry to meet the ministers, lords and ladies and a few hours later, the sun was setting and all the guests had gathered in the great dining hall to overrun the well stacked dining board. The air was filled with polite conversations, munching noises and some laughter. Gwaine, Elyan, Percival and Leon sat next to the king and queen of Camelot and Gaius was sitting close by as well. Merlin could feel pairs of eyes resting on him, not only from Gwaine, who made sure to sent him reassuring looks from time to time, and Gaius, who threw worried glances at his ward, but also from a few delegates from the other kingdoms. A lord from Gawant, dressed in brown garments with embroidered elements was looking at him disdainfully, shooting daggers from his eyes. Merlin ignored the glances and rushed to Arthur's side on wobbly legs to refill his cup. His thin arms trembled slightly under the weight of the filled carafe. Next to Gwen, a lady dressed in a yellow dress wrinkled her nose and slid a few paces away from Merlin.

"Queen Guinevere, your servant looks sick. I don't want to catch whatever he has. He is probably spreading his illness everywhere in the room. I do not wish to be served next to him." Her shrill voice caught the attention from a few people close by and all eyes landed on Merlin who tried to, despite the lack of energy and… well, health – appear as a capable and decent servant. The Lord from Gawant spoke up now as well.

"I noticed that a while ago. I didn't know I came here under the risk of catching an illness." His eyes jumped from Merlin to Arthur, who had set his cup down and was staring at his plate, his lips pressed into a thin line. A minister dressed in a bluish attire raised his voice, a little slur evident as he spoke.

"He looks like death. King Arthur, what are you doing to your poor servants?" The man, who had clearly had enough to drink roared with laughter. Merlin felt more than just uncomfortable with the sudden interest in his person from their guests. He glanced around nervously, catching the worried glances from Gaius and Gwaine. Elyan and Percival were looking at him with something akin to pity and from the other side, he was stabbed with disgusted looks from the ladies from the other kingdoms. In front of him, Gwen had turned in her chair and was looking at Merlin closely, her eyebrows raised, before she turned back to Arthur to talk to him in a hushed voice. Arthur then turned slightly towards Merlin and signaled him to come closer before he spoke to him with a low volume.

"Merlin, don't you think you should let Gaius have another look at you? I have to agree with the guests; You don't look good at all."

"No Sire! I'm perfectly fine." Merlin answered, not ready to leave Arthur's side for the night yet. His voice had been a little bit to loud, though, because a lord from Cambia, dressed in high quality garments, chuckled loudly.

"If so, why don't you perform something for our entertainment? I'm sure, as the king's fool, you have some skills. Perhaps in Juggling…?" The guests cheered in agreement, wanting to see a performance. Merlin started sweating. The crowds cheers grew louder and louder. Arthur looked at Merlin with an apologetic smile as his manservant hesitantly went towards the middle. Bernicia had brought their own court jester along, who now – because of an order from a laughing lord from his court – walked up to Merlin and handed him his juggling balls. As his ward stepped into the center of all attention, Gaius was so tensed up, he almost left claw marks in the surface of the table. Merlin's head was empty. He had no skills to show; the only thing he could offer was embarrassment for Camelot. If only he could use some magic to help him guide the balls, but he wouldn't risk it in front of all those people to perform magic, especially with his situation. Taking two balls in one hand and one ball in the other hand, Merlin straightened his back and tried to juggle.

One ball went flying and Merlin caught it with the other hand. That was one ball successfully thrown without landing on the ground. Merlin sighed. The crowd wasn't that impressed though. Okay, two balls. The soft ball flew up and Merlin threw the second one up as well, just as the first one reached the highest point. He remembered jugglers doing it like this and hoped that juggling was a skill that he simply had not discovered yet. He managed to catch both balls safely, earning him a few nods of approval from the guests. He was catching their interest now after having not embarrassed himself after the first few throws. The weight of the third ball suddenly sat heavy in his palm as his heart rate picked up. He wasn't going to get this right, he was certain. Some of the guests moaned in impatience, forcing Merlin to go on. He threw the first ball, added the second and then his heart stopped a beat as he had to catch the first one while throwing the third one. He couldn't concentrate on doing both and missed the ball which fell to the floor. For a short moment, it could've only lasted a second or so, Merlin whished with all his might to catch the ball, hand outstretched towards it. Inside of him, something moved. Slowly, barely noticeable for the warlock at first, but then it exploded, overwhelming all of Merlin's senses. There was a shockwave of magic originating from Merlin which rolled over the room in a wave. The air sizzled with magic, things and people went crashing to the floor, screams of surprise and sheer panic arose from the guests. The knights, especially those from Camelot were on their feet, their hands on the hilt of their swords as their armor clattered because of the sudden movement. It was such a strong blast of magic, that the chandelier hanging from the ceiling swung and the curtains draped around the windows fluttered. Food trays and wine carafes littered the floor, people were on their knees, backs and behinds. Some knights stood protectively in front of their respective lord or lady. The knights of the round table had all but one rushed towards Arthur and Gwen; One knight remained in his spot, his eyes glued to a person kneeling in the center of the room, mouth agape. Gwaine was staring at Merlin whose eyes had rolled back into his head, his pale flesh covered in a sheen of sweat. Merlin's body tilted and dropped to the floor like a sack of flour; the young manservant was unconscious. Arthur had risen from his chair and stared at Merlin in shock. His eyes scanned his surroundings immediately before they wandered back to his unconscious friend lying in a heap on the floor. Suddenly there were voices, filling the air with their screams.

"Magic!"

AN.: I hope you don't hate me haha...

Let me know what you think so far and maybe I can get a few guesses of what is going to happen next :)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading.