A/N: Aw geez, I was trying to finish this one faster, then I look up and it's been long again. Sorry : ( Hope you like!
Considering the look on Uther's face, Merlin had been expecting to be kept in the stocks all morning, probably late into the afternoon. So he was surprised - and a little apprehensive - when Arthur came by after only a few hours, bringing the key to the stocks with him.
"You're coming to release me?" he asked, incredulous, as Arthur skillfully dodged a couple of poorly thrown tomatoes in attempt to reach the lock.
"What does it look like?" he said, opening the lock and lifting the upper half of the contraption off Merlin's neck and wrists. "I need you for something."
Merlin stood up, glancing at Arthur suspiciously as the children gathered around with the stocks yelled at him in disappointment. "For what?"
"Training. If I don't keep to my normal schedule, my father will be suspicious."
"Wouldn't you usually train later?" Merlin asked.
"Regrettably, I'm busy this afternoon," said Arthur, smirking in a way Merlin knew meant trouble. "I wouldn't want to miss another day of practice. Since, apparently, I could really use some." He started walking back up the street towards the palace training grounds, obviously expecting Arthur to follow him.
Oh, no, Merlin thought to himself. "Didn't Gaius tell you to not train for a few days or something? You know, just to be safe?" he asked desperately, hurrying to catch up with the king's son and leave his disappointed "fans" behind.
"Gaius worries too much," Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, not looking suspicious in front of my father is more important. Don't you agree?"
"Do you really need me to help you with this?" Merlin tried as a last resort.
"Would you rather stay in the stocks, Merlin?" Arthur demanded, turning to look at him.
Merlin swallowed hard. Actually, I think maybe I would.
***
"I don't really want to do this," Merlin pleaded. He could guess exactly what Arthur was thinking, and it really didn't bode well for him. The near ton of armor Arthur had them put on for training didn't make him feel any safer at all; if anything, it made him even more uncomfortable.
"It doesn't matter what you want, Merlin," said Arthur, lowering his visor and raising his practice sword. "Besides, you know you can beat me now. So I want you to show me exactly what you did to knock me out, and I'll show you exactly what I should have done to stop you."
Merlin stumbled a few steps backward automatically, so that Arthur couldn't jump on him without warning. Being splattered with rotten tomato was looking like paradise at this point. "Actually, I just sort of snuck up on you," he invented.
"You, sneak up on me?" Arthur asked sarcastically.
Merlin nodded desperately. "You were sort of distracted...you know...with Sophia and everything."
"Really." Arthur swung his sword in a fancy arc - for the sole purpose, Merlin was convinced, of making him even more nervous - and put it back in its sheath in one smooth moment. "Very well then. Sneak up on me."
"How am I supposed to sneak up on you if you know I'm there?" Merlin asked desperately.
"I wouldn't worry about that. Considering the way you usually try to sneak, I probably knew you were there last time, too." Arthur was, admittedly, enjoying making Merlin twitch. It was good for him once in a while. But still, he really wanted to beat Merlin just one more time, just to be certain he still could.
Merlin really, really wanted to back down, but he couldn't. This wasn't just about trying to prove himself against Arthur in physical battle - they both knew that in almost any kind of fight, Arthur had the supreme advantage. But it was vitally important this time for Merlin to at least hold his own for a little while. If Arthur figured out how truly impossible it was for Merlin to overpower him under any circumstances, he might begin to doubt Merlin and Gaius's cover story and demand the truth. That would be very bad. He had to at least beggar belief here.
"All right," he said uneasily. He moved in a circle so that he was behind Arthur. Wielding his sword like a long branch for the sake of realism, he tried to run up to Arthur and awkwardly bash him on the head with it.
It was a very, very bad plan, but it was the only thing Merlin could come up with on short notice.
The end result was pretty much what both would have expected. Before he was even within a foot of Arthur, the prince spun to face Merlin, drawing his sword in one lightning-fast movement, and knocked the sword/club from Merlin's hand with a single easy blow. Following through with the movement, Arthur sidestepped and allowed Merlin's awkward momentum, exacerbated by his armor, to carry him right past Arthur. The he rapped Merlin smartly on the back of his helmet, just enough to make it clang loudly. Arthur grinned widely - he hadn't had an excuse to do that since he'd been training Merlin to guard his head while fighting.
Merlin tried to turn to face Arthur again, probably expecting some sort of follow-up attack, but he tripped over his own two feet and fell spectacularly, his helmet striking the ground awkwardly as he landed spread-eagled on the grass of the training field.
"That," said Arthur, "is what should have happened when you 'snuck up' on me. I admit, I'm amazed you managed to knock me out at all. I'm actually even a little impressed. Come on, then. Maybe you'll do better with a second go."
Merlin didn't answer. "Come on, Merlin," Arthur taunted. "At least pretend you have any chance at all. I only have your word that you've ever defeated me. Keep this up and I'll be forced to believe it's never happened." He walked over to Merlin and grudgingly offered the manservant his hand. He could be gracious in his victory, after all, even though he expected Merlin to ignore his offer of help.
Instead, Merlin still didn't move. Arthur couldn't see his expression - his helmet had been knocked askew, so all he could see was the side of his face. Impatiently, he reached down and tugged Merlin's helmet off. He lay on the ground, eyes closed, unresponsive.
Arthur stared. There was no way he had knocked Merlin unconscious. After so many years of training, he knew his own strength, and he knew there was no way he had hit his manservant that hard. Merlin had endured dozens of blows like that when Arthur had been trying to train him to use a blade. Maybe he had hit his head in the fall, but even Merlin couldn't be that clumsy. Could he?
Arthur shook his manservant's shoulder, hard. "Merlin!" he demanded.
"They demand a sacrifice," Merlin muttered incomprehensibly.
"What?" Arthur rolled his eyes. "Merlin, stop being an idiot and wake up."
Merlin opened his eyes and stared at Arthur, frowning as though trying to put him into focus. More than anything, he looked extremely annoyed. "Not again," he complained to the world at large. "This is completely unfair."