"The time has drawn nigh, yet again, the time for our game to begin. The last dare was created by Morgana and served by Merlin and consisted of Merlin hiding Arthur's clothes. Now it falls to Merlin to fabricate a truth or dare for the person of his choosing, consisting of anything his mind can conceive," Gwen intoned, resisting the urge to smile at the reference to said dare.
Merlin grinned and, after sharing a gleeful look with Arthur, addressed her.
"Truth or dare?" he asked, eyes sparkling. Gwen, noting the glance shared between the two, decided to throw them a curve, not wanting to be the recipient of a dare that Arthur helped come up with.
"Truth" Gwen answered, watching Arthur's expression change form that of complete confidence to one of utter confusion. Merlin, barely missing a beat, pulled on as serious of a face as he could muster and began to speak.
"Gwen," he began.
"Merlin, what are you doing?" Arthur asked, interrupting him.
"What should I be doing," asked Merlin in response, unsure what Arthur thought he should be doing.
"She hasn't sworn to only tell the whole truth, Merlin." Arthur explained, rolling his eyes. Sighing at his servant's incompetence he leaned across the circle until his nose was nearly touching Gwen's and made himself seem as sombre as possible.
"Guinevere," he began, a smile already beginning to tease his lips. Gwen's playfully tolerant expression was less than helpful. "Do you solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and the whole truth solely?"
"Yes, Arthur, I swear" she answered, slightly exasperated.
"Okay then. Merlin," he said, dropping his sombre facade and sitting back up. He turned to look at his servant and paused, hoping for a dramatic effect. Once Morgana's annoyed expression turned to one of true irritation, he finished his statement in a low, deep, foreboding voice. "Continue with the interrogation."
"Finally" breathed Morgana, eager for Merlin to spring the question on her.
Merlin, equally eager to ask the question, turned his attention to Gwen.
"Gwen, who is your current love interest?" he asked innocently. Gwen's eyebrows shot up and her cheeks turned crimson. Morgana, carefully controlling her expression, let her jaw go slack in 'surprise'. Arthur rolled his eyes, thinking that Merlin liked her and wanted to know if the feelings were mutual.
"Arthur," Gwen squeaked, looking down at her hands and biting her lip.
"What?" asked Arthur, not realizing that was her answer. Looking up, Gwen met his gaze.
"That was my answer to Merlin's question" she said, trying to keep herself calm. She'd imagined this moment in so many ways, but never like this.
"Guinevere, you know you could potentially lose your position in the castle because of this," said Arthur, making himself sound deadly serious while he tried to control the eruption of his buried emotions. Gwen nodded, panic rising in her chest and showing plainly on her face.
"Even better," said Arthur, opening the gate and letting his previously buried affections for her show on his face and shine through his eyes. Reaching across, he took her hand and kissed it gently. "The feeling is mutual."
While Gwen was helping Morgana prepare for bed later that night, she and Morgana discussed the events of that night's game of truth or dare. "Merlin knew Arthur liked you," said Morgana excitedly. "he just needed confirmation from you before he made those feelings known!" Upon hearing this comment from Morgana, Gwen began putting the piece together in her head. "Morgana?" she asked casually, not wanting her to become aware of her realization. "Yes?" Morgana responded, completely unawares "Did you happen to have anything to do with helping Merlin formulate that question prior to this nights game?" she asked, carefully watching Morgana's facial expression. Morgana, surprised that Gwen might discover she had been involved, took a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking, inadvertently giving Gwen her answer. "Why ever would you think that?" Morgana asked, not being able to bring herself to lie to her closest friend. "Morgana," said Gwen teasingly. "I don't think you normally tale such long pauses before you answer me...unless you're keeping something from me.". She gave her a sarcastic accusatory glance, letting her know she knew. Morgana Smiled, as she got ubto bed, Thankful that Gwen wasn't upset with her. "Thank you" Gwen whispered as she blew out the candle and left the room. She and Arthur had alot to talk about.