I am back from my haitus and ready to start posting again! I am so sorry for being gone for over two months but last semester was rather stressful. However, I am finally a second semester college senior, all of my grad school applications are in, and I am almost done working on an original work. So, hopefully I'll have a little more time to devote to writing. Have a great day everyone!

Merlin sat at the top row, swinging his legs and waiting for the other knights to arrive. Percival was asked to help set up. Probably because he was so big. And Gwaine's ribs started hurting, so he had to hobble back down to Gaius for medicine. Merlin had offered to try and heal them again, but everyone yelled at him. He didn't understand why. Magic could be used to heal a lot of things, so why couldn't it heal Gwaine's ribs?

Arthur, Leon, Lancelot, and Elyan were all still at the feast. They wouldn't be here for another ten minutes. Merlin slumped back in his seat. He was so bored. He wanted the play to start already. Maybe he should go down and help Percival. Or maybe he should find George and ask him about polishing techniques. Polishing techniques would be so much more interesting than just sitting here, doing nothing.

He heard a gasp and turned to see a pretty lady standing at the top of the stairs. She was wearing really nice clothes so she was probably royalty like Arthur.

"Is something wrong?" Merlin asked, hopping off the chair and skipping up to her. No one should feel sad or scared. It wasn't fun. Besides, this wasn't a scary place.

"I'm sorry. I just… don't know what came over me." The lady smiled at Merlin. It didn't make her look any happier.

"I'm Merlin, what's your name?" Merlin bowed like Leon had taught him. He still felt silly doing it.

The lady laughed. "You really are a gentleman, aren't you. I'm Marie. I came with the actors."

Merlin blushed at being called a gentleman and stood up straighter. He didn't want the lady, Marie, to think he wasn't a gentleman. "Oh, are they good? I've never been to a play before so I don't really know if they're good or not."

"I think they are wonderful. Tell, Merlin, how old are you?" She kneeled down so she was at eye level.

"I'm eight. How old are you?"

"Merlin!" Gwaine was hobbling back up the stairs. "What have I told you about talking with strangers?"

"Only do it if they're pretty."

Gwaine's face twisted into a funny expression and he groaned. "Okay, forget I said that. Just, don't talk to strangers."
"Then how will I make friends?"

Gwaine groaned again. "Don't question me."

Merlin pouted and stomped back up the stairs. He was only trying to make Marie feel better. She was sad.

Gwaine turned to the lady and tried his best not to glare. "If you need an escort to your seat, you should ask someone who's working. And isn't a child." He continued hobbling towards his seat.

"I just wanted to meet him."

The words were barely spoken above a whisper, but Gwaine heard every one. He turned to see the woman walking down the stairs. Gwaine huffed and plopped down next to Merlin.

"Merlin, you need to be careful. You can't just go talking to people when you feel like it," Gwaine scolded gently.

Merlin pouted. "But she seemed so sad to see me. I wanted to know why. Maybe I could make it better. Except you chased her away."

Gwaine shook his head. That woman wasn't giving him good vibes. Merlin was right, she was sad. But she also seemed very afraid. She didn't have anything to fear. At least, nothing Gwaine could think of. This troupe of actors was welcomed into Camelot with open arms. Had someone done something to upset them?
Those thoughts were quickly pushed from Gwaine's mind. Merlin was more important now.

"I'm sure she's just tired, Merlin. There's nothing to worry about."

Merlin turned back towards the stage, his lower lip still pushed out and his arms still crossed. "I just wanted to help."

"I know, buddy. But next time, wait until an adult you know is with you. You can never be too careful."

The two returned to silence, Merlin steadily getting more intrigued by the stage that was getting set up. It wasn't long before he was asking Gwaine questions about every little thing.

"Gwaine, what are they doing?"

"They're setting up the backdrop."

"Oh, did they paint it?"

"I assume so."

"With magic?"

"Probably not."

"What's it a picture of?

"A field."

"Are there cows in the field?"

"I suppose so."

"I like cows. Do you like cows?"

Gwaine slumped back and continued to answer Merlin's constant stream of questions. This boy never stopped. It just went on and on and on and on and on and on and…

"Gwaine, are you excited?" This was not Merlin, but Percival. He had finally managed to get away from the stage. Though there was saw dust covering him from head to toe.

"Yep. Though why don't you take over answering Merlin's questions for a while? I need a drink."

Percival scowled at him. "Now? Merlin's right here. Maybe you should lay off the booze for just one night. Besides, alcohol's bad for your leg."

Gwaine was about to open up his mouth to argue when Merlin piped up. "What's the play about?"

Percival picked Merlin up and put him on his lap. "Well, it's a story about a princess who's caught by a dragon and has to be saved by a handsome knight."

Merlin's nose scrunched. "Ew, is there going to be kissing? I don't like kissing."

This time it was Gwaine's turn to laugh. "You say that now, Merls, but give it a few years. Kissing's going to be the greatest thing you've ever experienced. Give it a few more years and you'll find out that there's something even better than kissing."

"Gwaine—" This time it was Leon, looking rather haggard and worn.

"Sheesh, were you dragged behind a wagon?" Gwaine was glad he wasn't the one asked to set this all up. Leon looked absolutely terrible. His hair didn't look like it had been washed in a few weeks, his clothes were unkempt and his posture scream 'I would rather be doing anything else'.

Leon collapsed in the chair next to Gwaine. "Sadly, I think getting dragged behind a wagon would be more pleasant. I just want this whole thing to be over."

Everyone continued to talk as the theater filled in. Merlin kept jumping in whenever he had something useful to say, or whenever he thought of something even more interesting than what the grownups were talking about. Percival did a good job holding the squirming child in his lap. The others finally joined them.

"Gwen you look so pretty!" Merlin cried. Gwen smiled at him.

"Why thank you Merlin. You look handsome as well."

"Where's Morgana? Does she look pretty too?"

Gwaine noticed Gwen's smile drop. But Merlin seemed oblivious. "Merlin, Merlin, Merlin." Gwaine decided to save Gwen from answering that. "The thing about women is, they take so much more time to get ready because you've got the jewels, the make-up, the hair, the clothes. It's like a giant puzzle. What matches with what and so forth. Morgana, being the lovely lady she is, wants to make sure her suitor is most impressed with how she looks. Isn't that right, Leon?" Gwaine elbowed said knight.

Leon choked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Merlin cocked his head to the side. "Yeah, neither do I. Oh there she is!" Percival restrained Merlin from hopping off him and running to Morgana. Even if everyone in Camelot knew how much Morgana spoiled little Merlin, it still wouldn't do for a servant to be running up to the princess and talking with her as if they were equals.

"Merlin, stay in your seat. Or on Percival. Just be quiet," Arthur said as he led Morgana up the stairs. Valiant followed them, looking rather murderous. Gwaine smirked. The winner of the tournament got to escort the Lady Morgana to these plays. Sure, Arthur and Morgana didn't look very happy about it. It was a slightly incestuous situation. But Gwaine would have left the kingdom had Valiant won. He also didn't miss the way Merlin shrunk back against Percival as soon as he saw Valiant. The boy's cheerful disposition vanishing, being replaced with fear. Gwaine fought down the bought of anger that rose within him. Fighting a potential knight of Camelot before the show started probably wasn't a good idea, especially since Uther was only a few seats away and made it no secret how much he loved Valiant and hated Gwaine.

"How's your leg doing?" Valiant asked.

Gwaine glared at him. "Well, it's been better," he spat. Though, he noticed Valiant starting to look worn down as well. And the way his eyes darted about, it was as if he were expecting something to jump out and eat him.

Everyone took their seat and the lights dimmed.

A man walked out on stage. "Hello, Camelot!" The crowd cheered. "My name is Daniel, and you can call me, Daniel." The crowd laughed. "We were invited to Camelot to share a special tradition amongst our people, the Festival of the Three Plays! Now, I know you all probably want to see the show, but I will explain to you a little of what happens. There will be three plays, a romance, a comedy, and a mystery genre. The mystery genre is chosen out of several plays the day of, so not even the actors know what it will be. This is a way to allow our citizens to experience culture, share stories, and get together with friends and family and share in the wonder that is life!" The crowd began cheering once more.

"He looks sad too," Merlin said softly. Gwaine reached over and ruffled Merlin's hair.

"I'm sure they're fine. Just enjoy the play."

The lights dimmed once more before a woman stepped out. Soon, Gwaine was lost in the story. Leon had passed out almost as soon as the lights dimmed; his mouth open and his body slouched in the chair. Gwaine laughed as Morgana continued to look longingly over at the man. They could make it a little less obvious. Merlin, predictably, covered his eyes whenever there was anything romantic going on. So he covered his eyes a lot. Arthur and Elyan seemed bored out of their mind while Gwen looked longingly at the romantic gestures perpetrated by the actors. If Gwaine were Arthur, he'd be taking notes right now since he was about as romantic as a wheelbarrow filled with horse dung. Percival also seemed very interested in the romance, smiling softly at the tale. As the play died down, Merlin fell asleep, slumped against Percival's shoulder. The lights dimmed once more and the crowd cheered. Leon jolted awake.

"What'd I miss?" he asked, whipping the drool off his face.

"The entire play," Gwaine said smugly. Leon nodded.

"Oh good, nothing important." And with that, he stumbled to his feet and stumbled to his chambers.

Percival stood up and carried Merlin to Arthur's chambers. Elyan and Lancelot had helped Gwaine up and were allowing him to hobble back to his room.

"Anything interesting happening?" Gwaine asked. Valiant had bolted out of the room almost as soon as the play had finished, caring less and less about Morgana. The entire room seemed to be acting suspicious.

Lancelot shook his head. "Why? Did something happen?"

Gwaine saw the woman Merlin was talking to, staring at the stage, looking as if she were in a trance. "Maybe. We may need to keep an eye out on these actors. Something isn't right here."

Thank you to everyone who pointed out the weird formatting issue. I really don't know what happened since I literally copy and pasted from a word document and have never had any problems before. I hope this one comes out correctly.