Thanks for the reviews, suggestions are fun to read.

Now that the season's over, my choices are a) discontinue the story until Merlin perhaps gets a new season, possibly forever or b) continue the story, having two AU-stories in my hands. Your choice? That's what I thought. Unfortunately for you guys, AU means anything-can-happen-Thursday!

Chapter 6

"Who is that over there?" Merlin asked Arthur, discreetly motioning towards a sandy-haired man who was next in line to go jousting.

"Him? He's the youngest son of king Eldor from the west."

"He looks a bit scrawny." Merlin said, handing Arthur a cup of water.

"He is not the strongest, true, but he knows how to handle a bow, and he's quite skilled with the sword as well. Give him time." Merlin turned to look at Arthur, surprised. Arthur gave up. "His father begged me to take him, and thanks to Morgause's plot we lost a lot of good knights. I have absolutely no idea if he's any good or not. I have never seen him in action." He grew silent, staring at something only he could imagine. He had decided to put off relocating Merlin until the end of the tournament, if not for his own comfort then to be practical: if he made big changes right before a big event, the knights wouldn't have enough time to train the servants and the tournament wouldn't go as smoothly as it should. The new knights were temporarily being taken care of by his father's servants.

"Uther is still not doing better, is he?" Merlin asked, knowing full well the state of the king, but wanting to give Arthur a chance to talk about it.

"No, but that's okay. I can handle his kingdom while he mourns. This jousting tournament is just for that: to show our enemies that we remain strong, despite recent events." Arthur was starting to sound like King Arthur and less like the spoiled little boy he had been when Merlin had first met him. Sometimes Merlin felt a bit lonely because of that. At least Arthur could publically embrace his destiny.

"Here he goes", he said out loud, stirring them both from their thoughts. "What did you say his name was?"

"I didn't: it's-" Arthur's voice died when he saw the man violently charge his opponent. The lance broke and the opponent fell from his horse, visibly injured. "-Oliver."

Oliver rushed to his opponent's aid. Gaius ran to them. After a moment of uncertainty, Gaius motioned to Arthur that he was going to live. Oliver didn't seem to know what to do, so Arthur started applauding and the audience quickly followed suit.

"Apparently he can use a lance", Merlin offered to a visibly shocked Arthur.

Gwaine came to say hello to them. "He certainly didn't waste any time with that one."

"No, he didn't", Arthur replied, first without turning to look, then, finally meeting his gaze, he asked: "Nervous about your first jousting tournament?"

"Men poking each other with sticks. Women should pay to watch this stuff", Gwaine replied and gave Merlin a friendly bump on the shoulder. Merlin laughed, but Arthur wasn't as pleased. "Try to take this seriously. This is your debut as a knight. Make your kingdom proud." He laid his hand briefly on Gwaine's shoulder to make him see he was serious, then he left to take care of some affairs. Gwaine looked after him. "Becoming king hasn't improved his sense of humor I see."

Merlin tilted his head to his side. "It's hard on him, you know. The whole kingdom on his shoulders, I mean."

"I'm sure it is, but isn't that why he has advisers?"

"I guess he needs to start delegating."

They grew silent and stared at each other's shoes. Gwaine thought he should leave. I hate awkward silences. What's with us?

"So who is your first opponent?" Merlin blurted out, after a quick and desperate attempt to come up with something they could talk about.

"Sir Morris. In fact, I should go now. Otherwise he'll win by default when I show up late."

"Okay. Um. Good luck!" Merlin said, cursing himself mentally. Stupid stupid me.

The day passed rather quickly. Many of the knights were new-comers, such as Gwaine, Lancelot, Percival and Elyon. The rest, such as this Oliver, were being tested to see if they could become knights. Elyon had impressed Arthur, the man had made his way to his fifth fight until he was dropped by Percival, who in turn lost to Oliver in his next round. This time around, Arthur wasn't participating. With no king to take his place, he couldn't afford to get injured, however much he wanted to take his rightful place as tournament champion. In the final round, there was only Gwaine and Oliver left.

Gwaine nodded, and they excited their horses towards each other. When Oliver was almost close enough to strike him, Gwaine noticed that Oliver's lance was shaking. He ducked to avoid being hit by Oliver, making him lose his balance and used his own lance to push him off his horse.

Oliver rolled on the ground a few times, then stopped. Gwaine jumped to the ground and walked up to the man. "Are you alright?" Oliver turned to face him. "I'm mortified." He flashed a bright smile at Gwaine to completely refute his previous statement. Gwaine offered him his hand and Oliver pulled himself up. "Congratulations." "Thanks. You had a good round going there, yourself."

"It's all about the technique. Everyone usually jousts in the same way, so once you master it, it's easy to beat. You, on the other hand..You're different."

"I'm just inexperienced. This is my first jousting tournament."

"It was the first for many, but your fighting style differs from theirs, too."

"Well, it's nice to hear someone call you special, but I think I have to, you know, own this fight or whatever it is they call the ending." Gwaine raised his arms to greet the audience, who responded enthusiastically clapping their hands. When he turned back to Oliver, he had disappeared.

The banquet was..amazing. Gwaine wasn't used to being the center of the attention in a positive way, so he was taken aback by the lavish celebrations held in his honor. Arthur told the other knights that they ought to strive to be like Gwaine some day (Merlin and Gwaine nearly choked at Arthur's words. Later, Arthur came to tell Gwaine that he needed to strive to be like the other knights, and that felt more familiar to Gwaine). Gwaine saw Merlin and before he could stop himself, he reached out to tap his shoulder. "So, proud of me?" "Yes. Though I have to say I still don't understand these tournaments. A guy almost dies and that's entertainment?" "I find it ironic that here almost getting killed is my responsibility when before it was just a hobby." Gwaine smiled. Merlin smiled too. "This is your moment. Use it well", he said before rushing to Arthur's side. Gwaine saw Oliver stuffing his face with food. He made his way through the crowd and pushed Oliver to the side. "Hey, the world doesn't end tomorrow, there's no need to suffocate over a piece of pie."

"Says you. Have you tasted this?" Oliver asked him, offering the rest of his piece to him. "I'll get one of my own, thanks", Gwaine refused the plate and before he could even start wondering where he could find this pie, a servant was there to offer him a plate with just that pie on it. "Thank you?" The servant bowed and ran off. Oliver looked at Gwaine, who was still trying to figure out what had just happened. "You're really not used to being served, are you?" No, I suppose I'm not." "Well, I find it refreshing. Many here don't consider servants as even people." Oliver got back to eating his pie, which seemed to cause him immense satisfaction. Gwaine tried the pie, but failed to reach the same level of bliss. "I like your way of thinking. Having a title doesn't make anyone better, it's the man's actions that prove his worth." "So true. Speaking of worth, I believe the royal chef should be knighted." "I wouldn't go so far. I think you just like pie." "This is the best pie I've ever tasted."

"Let me go!" Everybody heard Gwen's voice. The crowd saw a tall man holding Gwen's arm, clearly hurting her. Gwaine was about to move when Oliver ran past him to challenge the thug. "Let her go."

"Or what?" The man turned to face Oliver. He reeked of alcohol but unfortunately this wouldn't probably make him any easier to calm down once provoked.

"I'll do this." Oliver punched the man on his jaw, and used the time the thug spent trying to get up to take Gwen and get her to safety, more precisely into the arms of Arthur who by now had joined them. Arthur lead Gwen further away from the man, and most of the crowd backed away, forming a circle around the two. The man got up, and charged Oliver, who moved to the side at the last second, making the man run against a wall. This further antagonized the man, who started swearing and grabbed the young man by his neck. He began to choke Oliver who panicked and kicked him in the groin. The man doubled in pain and released Oliver, who struggled to stand. After a moment to gather himself, Oliver finally stood up and kicked the man, but to no effect. Suddenly, Gwaine grabbed him by the neck from behind and threw him back for his safety. "What do you think you're doing?" Oliver yelped, landing against the crowd, more precisely Merlin and Lancelot, not that he knew them. "I'm helping you. Trust me", he continued while dodging a blow, "you'll thank me later." He dealt one swift blow and thought that was the end of that, turning to smile victoriously to Oliver, whose face suddenly turned white. Oliver charged at him, pushing him aside and colliding with the man. Then Oliver fell to the ground, revealing the knife the man was holding, now turned bloody. The guards had finally arrived, and they escorted the thug to the dungeons. Gwaine turned Oliver around and lifted him gently. Oliver was seemingly fine. His clothes were bloody, but he didn't seem like he was dying. He searched Oliver's body for a puncture wound, and found it right below his ribcage. Fortunately, it wasn't too deep. His thoughts were interrupted when Oliver grabbed his hand and muttered "keep your hands to yourself". The young man was starting to fall asleep, and Gwaine searched desperately for Gaius in the crowd. "Merlin? Gaius?" He shouted. "Here", the two appeared beside him. Gaius briefly examined the wound Gwaine pointed out to him. "Carry him to my chambers so I can treat him", Gaius told Gwaine who practically ran at his suggestion. Oliver was heavier than he looked, but that didn't matter. In Gaius' chambers Gwaine layed him on one of the beds and slapped Oliver's cheeks to keep him awake. "Where am I?" The man in question pondered, more to himself than to them. "The court physician is going to take a look at you. You got stabbed." "Gwaine, strip him so I can clean his wound", Gaius asked as almost an afterthought. "You're not touching me", Oliver pointed his right forefinger at Gwaine, trying to stay awake. "Look, I don't get off on looking at your bare chest, we are trying to help you!" Gwaine laughed and tried to undress the man against his will, which turned out to be a bad idea. "Gwaine, stop. He's losing more blood fighting you than he would on his own. Why don't you and Merlin go get his things here, and send word to his father. I'll examine him alone." Gaius motioned them to leave. "My father is a king, if you send word that I got hurt in Camelot there might be repercussions." "..alright, just gather his things then. You will be staying here for a while."

Gwaine and Merlin hurried towards the tavern where Oliver was staying.

"Difficult one, that was." Gwaine's statement amused Merlin.

"Isn't this almost identical to the time when I met you?"

"How so?"

"You saved Arthur's life and got stabbed, he saved your life and got stabbed. Both brawls began in a tavern or a party. You're both reckless.."

"Yeah, but I wasn't a pain when you guys treated me."

"That's because you weren't conscious during our treatment."

"True."

When they returned with Oliver's things, he appeared to be fast asleep, clutching his pillow like a ..well, a piece of pie. They didn't bear to disturb him so they left him be. Merlin spent the night in Arthur's quarters, while Gwaine tried to get used to having ones in the first place. It wasn't just one room, but several. He didn't even know what to do with all that space. Babysteps, he thought, and spent the night sleeping on the floor. He would ease into sleeping on the bed eventually.

When he awoke in the morning, he had an idea and passed by the royal kitchen on his way to Gaius' chambers. Oliver greeted him sleepily. "What's that you have behind your back?"

"I asked the chef to whip up something special just for you." Gwaine revealed the plate in his hand on top of which was a perfect piece of peach pie. Oliver's face lighted up. "Thank you!" He said and happily accepted the plate. He started eating, savoring every spoonful.

"Well, it seems like a cruddy 'thank you' after you saved my life and all, but it's a start, I guess."

"Save your life?" Oliver asked, blinking a couple of times.

"Your memory's still a little fuzzy from last night, isn't it?" Gwaine stated, giving a small chuckle.

"I remember you won the tournament, there was the banquet and a girl. The girl was being harassed by this guy and I stopped it."

"Actually it went a little more like I stopped it", Gwaine argued and smiled.

"He was going to kill you. With a knife. Now I remember."

"Why did you cut in? You don't know me."

"You gave me pie."

"I gave you that pie right now. That doesn't explain why you would put your life on the line for mine."

"It's not a big deal. I was there and decided to go for it. Why bother obsessing about a decision I made in under a second?"

Gwaine laughed. For once it was he who was obsessing and somebody else was telling him to relax. Funny how life turned out.

"Well, I still owe you my life, and according to Arthur, that's a big deal."

"So, you know Arthur well?" Oliver asked him

"Not really, I'm better friends with his manservant, Merlin. Arthur is alright, once you get to know him. He has a stick up his hiney, but that's just for appearances' sake, I think. The girl you protected is his, well, how to say this, he loves her. So he can't be that bad, after all. In the beginning you'd think he's obsessed with titles like his father, but he's really not that bad. He's not very good to Merlin, but I don't know what's up with that friendship, either." He eyed Oliver, who seemed surprised by the amount of information he'd just received. "Am I boring you?" "No, but I don't know half of these people in your story, so I reserve the right to be a little confused."

"Sorry."

"So, Arthur is not always good to his servants, but he's generally a good guy, right?" Oliver tried to summarize Gwaine's story's highlights.

"What's this about me not being good to my servants?" They jumped as they saw Arthur, Merlin at his side, at the doorsteps.

"I believe he said you treat me badly sometimes", Merlin remarked, with a giddy expression on his face. "Shut up, Merlin."

Oliver tried to bow to Arthur, but winced in pain and Arthur motioned him to stop. "You did a brave thing, yesterday. You defended a lady's honor and saved the life of one of my knights. While I can't knight you simply for your participation in a bar fight, I will say that you most definitely have earned a spot among my knights. You have officially permission to stay in Camelot and train to become a knight." Arthur elbowed Merlin, who handed Oliver a piece of paper containing the royal seal. "Have you anything to say?" Arthur asked him. Oliver held the paper as if it were a soap bubble, ready to break at any minute. The only words he could manage were an earnest "Thank you, sire." Arthur nodded and left, taking Merlin with him. Gwaine glanced at Oliver's face. The boy couldn't speak. "You didn't finish your pie", Gwaine tried. That did the trick: life returned to Oliver's eyes and he resumed eating his pie. Once he had finished, he looked at Gwaine. "More?"