Gwaine woke up with a pounding headache. His mouth was dry and he didn't want to sit up. He pulled the sheets over his head and buried down into the bed.

"Arthur," the Irish voice called from the corner of his room, "he's awake."

The door opened and Arthur walked in, loudly. Gwaine moaned and wrenched his eyes open, crawling out of bed. He realised he was just wearing his boxers. Same ones from yesterday, deep blue.

"What the hell happened?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Arthur said, his voice sharp and cold. He was frustrated with Gwaine, and Gwaine had definitely given him enough reasons to be. "You run out of the mess hall, get drunk in the tavern, take a swim in the lake. And," Arthur paused, "Percy is missing."

"Perce?" Gwaine looked up, his eyes surrounded by dark bags. "Missing?"

"He was looking for you, at the lake." Arthur shook his head. He shooed Merlin out of the room and paced by the door. His hands swung loosely by his side, and his blonde hair was messy. "He's the only reason we found you. We were looking for him. We still are looking for him."

"Oh." Gwaine remembered something; he remembered walking into the lake but nothing after that. He was with someone, a woman... She was so pretty. But he couldn't remember her face, or her name, or what she actually looked like.

"Are you okay Gwaine?" Arthur asked, placing a hand on Gwaine's lean shoulder. His voice was full of genuine concern, and he sat next to his friend. "Don't blame yourself."

"How did you-?"

"You're an open book sometimes." Arthur smiled, standing up. "Come on, get dressed. We'll eat together."

He left the room. As he walked out the door, Gwaine caught sight of Merlin stood across the hall. The boy's face brightened considerably when the prince exited alone. No wonder there were rumours, Gwaine smiled to himself, Merlin could barely contain their... Love? It was more than lust, that Gwaine knew.

He looked around himself, the room he was in was probably the one he'd been assigned. Gwaine wandered to the wardrobe and pulled it open. Inside was a selection of different black and red garments. Each was emblazoned by the fiery dragon of the Pendragons.

Gwaine grabbed a low cut shirt that showed off a lot of his chest and a pair of moderately baggy trousers. He clambered into them before looking around for his shoes. He couldn't find them, no matter where he looked. Gwaine pushed open the door to his room and-

Arthur had Merlin pushed against a wall, his wrists held above his head. Their lips were meeting again and again, Merlin moaned as Arthur's free hand massaged his bulging groin. Arthur lowered his lips to Merlin's neck and nipped gently at the skin, butterfly kisses trailing down his neck, across his collar bones and back up on the other side.

"Arthur," Merlin moaned into Arthur's mouth, "please..."

Gwaine didn't even bother to break them up, he turned around and walked straight back into his room. Searching through his draws one last time, Gwaine looked for his shoes. He didn't find them, he did find his sword though. The black blade gave him some confidence. The handle was familiar in his hand, it was like an old lover. It had been returned to him some time last night, presumably.

He strapped his sword to his side and picked up his hunting knife. He slid it into a strap around his left thigh, keeping it there in case his sword wasn't enough. He picked up a small gun, a Beretta m9, and tucked it into his pocket. Now he was pretty much ready, he turned to the window.

Gwaine never really liked to break up couples that were clearly enjoying their time together, so had decided that climbing out of the window was the best option. He flung the shutters open and effectively threw himself out if it.

...

Elyan ran through the corridors, desperately searching for his sister. He was sprinting, and that meant he was skidding to a halt any time someone got in his way. It was the most infuriating thing.

He saw his sister walking through the halls, dressed far too well in a green silk top and black pants. Her slim figure was only exaggerated by being encased in the beautiful clothes that Morgana had gotten her. Elyan had ignored the rumours, but now a few things stood out. Her hair was slightly messy and she looked flushed, her lips moist. He shook his head and cleared the thought from his mind.

"Gwen! Gwen!" He gasped desperately as he barrelled into the wall beside her. "Fucks sake, Gwen. You're hard to find."

"Hello Elyan." Gwen said with a sly smirk. "What's going on?"

"Perce is missing. Arthur's with Gwaine. Merlin fixed me up. I- uh... I need your help."

Gwen's face had gone from blissful, to mother hen in an instant. She was ruffling her feathers, preparing to help, "Anything you need."

...

Percy rolled over, his mouth tasting like gravel and blood. He blinked twice against the dim light and sat up. He was in a cave, the dim light filtering down through the cracks was enough to illuminate the small area he was lying in but nothing more.

"Finally," a voice came from the darkness of the cave. "For a while there, I wasn't sure you'd wake up. She can be so careless."

Percy turned around, his eyes straining to see the body that his ears could tell should be standing right there. He couldn't see anyone. "What do you want with me?"

"Nothing." The voice said, rather harshly. It stirred a memory in Percy's head, a recent one, but his head was too fuzzy to bring it to the forefront of his mind. "You're not the one I asked for."

"Asked... For?" Percy stumbled to his feet. He was chained to the wall, shackles around both ankles. He rubbed his wrists, aware that they must have been chained too, the fiery telltale marks were on them. There was a ring of small cuts around his wrist. Like someone had taken a light blade to it.

The small man walked into the light, his blonde hair untied and floating around his shoulders. He scowled, "You're not Gwaine. I asked her to give me Gwaine."

Percy blinked. He knew that face, from... "Catigern?"

Catigern smiled, a one sided smirk that threw the shadows on his face into disarray. "You remember my name."

Percy nodded, his brows coming together. "What do you have against Gwaine?"

Catigern's face took on a decent mask of shock, but truly Percy knew he didn't feel it. He faux gasped and raised a delicate hand to his mouth. "Oh dearie me, you've got me all wrong!" He snickered, "I've got nothing against Gwaine... It's just, I didn't take too kindly to being dumped so unceremoniously."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Were you expecting flowers and a choir?"

Catigern's face turned stony, deep in his eyes something flared up. Anger. Which was not quelled by the blue of his eyes, but enhanced. "I was his lover, his first. I taught him everything."

Percy's eyebrows shot up, "You're the one that took his innocence?"

"His virginity? Yes. His innocence? He'd had that knocked out of him long before I arrived. His father was a harsh man, fond of placing blows onto those that couldn't withstand them."

Percy nodded, swallowed the dry taste in his mouth and prepared to ask his next question. Before he could though, a rather large whip was brought from behind Catigern's back.