Summary: This is the story of how Merlin became the Queen, Gwaine courted Gwen and Arthur tried saving his marriage to his manservant.

Or: The one story in which Merlin and Gwen switch bodies.

Rating: T

Pairings: ArthurxGwen, MerlinxGwaine (Also some slight MerlinxArthur and GwainexGwen if you squint)

A.N.: Here's Chapter Two! (Finally!) I know it's taken me quite some time to upload this and honestly? I'm not even going to try to give you some sort of excuse because nothing can really make up for the long wait. I hope that I'll be able to write and upload the next chapters a bit faster, but sorry, I can't promise anything!

Now I'd also like to thank everyone for reading this story. I really hope you like it! And if you don't, please at least tell me why or what I should try to do better in the future.

Also remember: Reviews are cookies and I looove cookies ~

First there was only darkness. Then, slowly, came further awareness. Awareness of pain in various shapes and sizes. Aching muscles, sore skin and a slow rhythmic thumbing in the back of her head. She'd have to ask Gaius to have a look at it later if it hadn't stopped at the end of the day.

Guinevere was seriously contemplating staying in bed – since when was her mattress feeling this hard and scratchy? – but decided against it. They had a noble visitor after all and she had other duties to fulfil, expectations to meet, and so on.

Sometimes she missed her old life. It was much simpler.

But only sometimes.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and got up into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hands, then proceeding to inspect her sore, pale hands, arms and legs.

It took her a second to notice. However then it sank in.

Pale.

Pale?

Her skin was pale?

Why was it pale? Since when?

She took in her surroundings not finding herself in her own chambers. But they were somehow familiar none the less. Actually, they looked quite a lot like Merlin's but that… that couldn't be, right?

Out of reflex she wanted to grab her hair, run her delicate fingers through her brown locks only to find them missing. Her hair was short, frighteningly short.

'Okay Guinevere, no need to freak out' was the mantra she repeated over and over again in her mind as she got up and carefully made her way over to a small desk in the corner of the room. On that desk there was a bowl filled with clear water.

Everything would turn out fine, she was sure.

Or not.

She wasn't so sure anymore when it was indeed Merlin's reflection staring up at her from the clear surface of the liquid and oh she was going to have a panic attack, all of this, this, this, it's surely just a bad dream, or a jo-

"Merlin!"

Gaius?

Yes that did sound like Gaius just now.

He was calling for Merlin. Probably to come for breakfast.

There was now a loud knock on the door. Should she tell him?

Wait. Tell him what? That she was the Queen, caught in Merlin's body, because-

Because….

"Merlin, how are you feeling?"

Gwen wasn't able to meet the old man's eyes just yet.

"Boy, you've been staring out the window for more than a few moments now, standing around in nothing but your undergarments. Are you alright?"

Good question. Was she alright?

She didn't have a true answer but decided to just nod and smile if just so that Gaius would not worry too badly about her- him.

The only reply she got from the old man was a sigh before he turned his back towards her and made his way into his own chambers leaving Guinevere standing around quite a bit lost.

Now, the act of dressing Merlin was a battle in itself. It seemed as if her friend had no clothes that weren't torn, wet, stained or worn through. She didn't even begin to search for something that could pass remotely as warm enough for the season.

Her shoulders slumped as she held Merlin's red shirt close to her – now flat – chest. Had he always worn such…. rags? Gwen hadn't noticed before but… it's not as if she had been paying that much attention to the servant lately.

Silently, she vowed to herself that if- no, when everything turned back to normal again she would pay much more attention to her friend's needs.

After dressing herself – Gwen was proud that she at least remembered to put on one of Merlin's neckerchiefs – she went through the only door in the room into Gaius chambers standing there expectantly but breakfast was nowhere in sight.

She should have been quite the unusual sight for the physician, just standing there looking like a lost little lamb out in the rain. But to Guinevere's shock he showed no kind of sympathy, only raised one eyebrow and then, while shaking his head and muttering under his breath, went back to his work.

She was still standing there a minute later not quite sure what to do or say in this situation.

"Merlin, I know that yesterday must have been hard on you but it has been so on all of us. Now shouldn't you go and get Arthur his breakfast? You're already late though, I fear."

Oh right, she was a servant again, and servants had duties. She would've really liked to talk this out with Gaius but maybe this was her chance to finally find Merlin.

Since she was in Merlin's body, did that automatically mean that he was now caught in hers?

Well, there's only one way to find out.

Since Gaius... didn't seem to be in the best of moods this morning Gwen decided not to tell the physician about her predicament. For now that is.

Hurrying through the hallways and down the stairs towards the castle's kitchens her mind anywhere but not in her or Merlin's body, she had no real chance to notice the other person coming around the corner until their bodies collided full force and Gwen was almost sent flying onto Merlin's backside. Thankfully Sir Leon, whom she had bumped into she noticed with a slight blush forming on her cheeks, had managed to grab her by the arm however, before she fell down the stairs she'd just come up.

"Merlin," he said in greeting, "good to see you up and about again. You had some of us quite worried yesterday."

Gwen would've marvelled at the warm voice and the smile the knight gave her- Merlin, if it weren't for the worry slowly forming inside of her.

Yesterday? What exactly did happen yesterday? Her memories seemed foggy and her head began to throb again. Wonderful.

"Oh, and you might want to be slightly more careful with the King today, he's… well, he's not in the best of moods, which is totally understandable after everything that happened," he whispered as if he was sharing a huge secret with Merlin.

What exactly happened?

She was about to ask Sir Leon but said knight was already hurrying off in another direction after waving a quick goodbye to her.

However, dear Guinevere should not be alone for a great amount of time.

As she was elegantly stumbling down the stairs that led to the kitchens to fetch Arthur's breakfast, she of course had to run – quite literally, as Destiny would have it - into Merlin on her way.

Merlin.

Merlin who looked exactly like her, the queen, so she could only really guess that it was her husband's manservant. But judging by the look on he- his face it just had to be him.

He appeared to be very uneasy, his eyes widening in a rather comical way upon seeing his own body standing in front of him.

"G-gwen," his voice was but a whisper, unusually high, feminine and somehow unsure, fear and panic shining through.

"Yes it's um – it's me, uuhhh… Merlin?"

"Mhhhm."

And then there was only silence between the two of them, awkward silence since neither really knew what to do or say in such a peculiar situation. Also, this was obviously not the best place to discuss such matters.

"Maybe we should… discuss this somewhere more… private?"

"Yeah, uhhh, sounds good," was Merlin's oh so eloquent answer.

It felt as if they first had to make their way through half of the castle until Merlin, who had led the way, finally stopped in front of an old-looking door and slowly opened it, knowing that no one used these rooms anymore. And of course he locked the doors after Gwen, who was now somehow in his body. They were in Camelot after all, so even if these rooms weren't officially used anymore, once Merlin needed them someone was practically guaranteed to walk in on them.

The only sound that could be heard was the rather soft 'click' of the lock and then nothing.

Silence.

Again.

Awkwardness.

Again.

What was wrong with them? Has it always been like this? Merlin did not have an answer. But he could not stand this bloody silence for any longer because this? This was starting to become seriously absurd!

"So, uhm... it seems that- I mean we kind of… well, swopped bodies I guess…"

"Yes Merlin, I hadn't noticed before," Gwen mumbled, appearing to be lost in her own thoughts.

"But… Do you remember anything? Like, have you met anyone suspicious or done anything unusual, or…?" Merlin trailed off, uneasiness settling deep inside his body because he hadn't found anything so far and it was starting to seriously worry him.

Guinevere was mentally going through the previous day – or at least what she remembered of it – but found nothing strange, suspicious, worrisome or unusual, except for…

"Yesterday, after we ran into each other, I accompanied Lord Farrington back to the throne room and … I don't know. My memories become kind of fuzzy after that and I, I think I might've fainted? And there was this, thispain. Some sort of-"

"Burning? Yeah, I think I know what you mean…"

This was not good. This was definitely anything but good. It was quite the opposite of good, actually.

If Guinevere was right, then they would be in deep, deep trouble because there was only one explanation that she could think of for Merlin's and her current situation.

Magic. Witchcraft. Sorcery.