Arthur headed up from the dungeon, he supposed he had better go and tell Merlin that he had let Morgana in to see her father. As he reached the upper floor he turned, walking out into the courtyard taking a deep breath. The night air was cool, but the smell of smoke lingered in the air, where the town beyond the citadel still smouldered. After the small skirmish the land still belonged to them, but the people who had built the small houses and huts now had no homes. They had all taken it as an acceptable loss. Arthur remembered that was why they had come here in the first place, when their original homes and villages had been destroyed. Merlin had not wanted them to be without somewhere to go, and so he had brought them to the old castle, giving them a place to stay. Beyond the wall, now trodden down by the enemy force, lay the farmlands where the people had grown food to survive, and had shared what came from that equally.

It was a place where there had been no fighting, people from every kingdom now lived in the castle, the divisions meaning nothing to them. They had all suffered equally, sharing the pain and lessening it by simply working together to build something that stayed separate from the petty squabbles of the kings and nobles.

Arthur gave a light laugh. "It's almost a ready made kingdom. If we can hang onto it."

He settled back against a stone gargoyle and took another deep breath. For the moment he was alone, something he had often craved. Just to have no one around him. During those moments he could pretend that he wasn't what he was. He had done it often as a child. When he had got older he had just accepted the order of things, he knew no different, and the brutality he received just became so normal that he worried something was wrong if there was any respite. There had been times, and people, who had allowed Arthur to feel almost safe, but it never lasted.

Exhaling Arthur settled back, resting his head on the gargoyle and he closed his eyes. Only for a moment, as a loud shout caused him to lift his head, tensing slightly as he wondered what was going on.

He heard the tone of voice and knew. It was Gwaine; Gwaine drunk. Violently and aggressively drunk. Several of the men from Merlin's army were trying to contain him, but badly. Launching up Arthur ran over as two of them pulled their swords. He went in holding his hands up standing in front of Gwaine and fending the men off.

"Leave him, leave him! I can deal with him!"

"Can you now?"

Or at least that was what everyone thought Gwaine had slurred. He staggered, trying to get onto his feet, holding a wine skin in one hand while the other reached out to try and steady himself. Arthur backed up waving away the help. They had probably tried to help Gwaine up, which would not have helped in the slightest.

"I'ndelwiu," Gwaine announced. Arthur turned.

"I'm sure you can, now enough."

Gwaine slowly looked up. He shuffled forward a little, staying hunkered down, but as he came closer to Arthur, Arthur plucked the wineskin out of his hand, backing up a step. Gwaine snarled, following him but he pitched down onto his hands and knees.

"Gimetat!" Gwaine slurred.

"No, when you stand up you can have it back. Get up Gwaine, I know you can, you are never that drunk."

"E'um!"

Arthur glanced to one side and lifted the hand holding the wineskin to stop the men still lingering around. Gwaine glowered at them, and Arthur backed up shaking the wineskin. It caught Gwaine's attention and he lifted his arm, his hand clenching and unclenching.

"Stand up," Arthur said. He stayed where he was and offered the wineskin out. He tensed slightly as Gwaine pulled the knife from his boot.

"Iasicebeore," Gwaine snarled, his words merging into one.

"Gwaine, don't, please," Arthur said and held the wineskin out, but Gwaine had to get up to get it.

Gwaine dropped the knife and snatched the wineskin, standing up as he did so. Gwaine took a hefty mouthful and Arthur took the opportunity to pick up Gwaine's knife and tuck it into his own belt.

"Tatsine," Gwaine said, his voice lowering. The group of men who had been trying to contain him shifted uncomfortably. As much as they appeared happy for Arthur to deal with Gwaine, they also knew that Merlin would not take kindly to something happening to Arthur. All of his men, and the people in the castle, had noticed Merlin's protectiveness towards him.

"You can have it back when you are a little more sensible, okay. Now I think we need to get you inside."

Arthur put his hand up again to ward the group off while he shuffled forward, reaching out to Gwaine, to get an arm round him. Gwaine flopped forward, crashing against Arthur and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Gwaine gave a hiccup, mumbling incoherent rubbish into Arthur's ear. Arthur put his arms around Gwaine's waist to keep him steady and prayed that Gwaine didn't plan on throwing up. Resting his head on Arthur's shoulder Gwaine reached his arm up to take another swig of wine, dribbling onto Arthur as he did so.

"Come on," Arthur said. "I think you need to get some rest."

Gwaine mumbled something again, resting his weight on Arthur, who staggered.

"Gwaine!" Arthur said in warning, bracing himself to take Gwaine's weight. "You're capable of walking."

After a couple of steps and Arthur loosening his hold, preparing to drop Gwaine in an unceremonious heap on the stairs leading up into the castle, Gwaine shifted his weight, balancing himself better, and he let Arthur gently help him up the stairs.

They slowly worked their way up to the floor above and then Arthur paused. His own room was a minute or so away, down the corridor that led off to the left. And at that moment he didn't know which room Gwaine was in. The drunk man stayed on his own two feet, but he rested against Arthur, his head hanging and everything he said ran as a completely unintelligible stream of gibberish. There was no point in asking Gwaine which way to go, even if he could give Arthur an answer there was no guarantee that Gwaine would make any sense.

Turning Gwaine slowly Arthur walked him down towards his own room. Arthur knew Merlin was not in residency in his room opposite. He was busy dealing with the aftermath of the battle. Arthur felt a twinge of guilt at having so easily left it to him, but if he was honest, Arthur wasn't sure what would be expected. He didn't know about rotations of guards on the battlements and weapons inventories. If the situation went on he supposed he would pick it up eventually. Most of the time when he was on one side of a situation like this his main job involved acting as recreation for the soldiers. Arthur clenched his jaw and shuffled the last short distance to his door. Gwaine hung against him limply, head down, his hair trailing over his face, the wineskin held loosely in his free hand.

"I don't want to be king," he announced, his words, this time, coherent enough to be understood. As he fumbled with the door Arthur said.

"You're not going to be, Gaheris is fine, he will be fine. He'll be king. Besides your father is perfectly fine and well."

Gwaine huffed and swayed, falling away from Arthur and he sagged against the door, rapping his head sharply. He huffed in pain and slipped to the floor, almost pulling Arthur with him. At the same time Arthur opened the door so Gwaine collapsed full out on the floor and Arthur only managed to save himself by grabbing the door frame.

"Gwaine!"

Gwaine made a noise that sounded like a snort, it cut off and he jerked his head up.

"Huh!"

"Get up," Arthur ordered reaching down to pick him up on the floor. He half dragged Gwaine into the room, got his feet under him and eventually pushed Gwaine onto the bed, lifting his legs up. Gwaine flopped limply and Arthur shifted him about before pulling Gwaine's boots off, wrinkling his nose.

"For pity's sake Gwaine, when did you last wash your socks?" Arthur muttered before pulling the offending items off and dumping them on the floor. He then started on Gwaine's trousers, rolling him over to unfasten the lacings and he yanked them down. Then he stripped Gwaine of his shirt. The trousers and shirt he folded up, and then dumped with the socks. All of it probably needed washing. He could do that in the morning. Arthur paused as he placed the clothes to one side. Perhaps he could give it to someone else, he probably shouldn't be doing washing. Merlin would probably disapprove.

Gwaine gave several snuffling snores indicating that he had gone to sleep. Arthur scowled in irritation, wadding the clothes up into a ball and deciding at the same time that if he wanted to do Gwaine's washing then he damn well would. He could do his own socks at the same time.

"There is no reason a king can't do washing if he wants to," Arthur informed the empty air. Gwaine snorted in response, rolling over as he did so.

Arthur huffed and tidied the room a little, piling things up. He had already laid out his armour, although it still needed cleaning. Excalibur lay next to it and Arthur touched the sword briefly. He had wiped it down, but beyond that the blade seemed as sharp and perfect as when he had pulled it from the stone. Morgana had been right, it would never need sharpening or cleaning.

Turning away Arthur looked at Gwaine now hogging about three quarters of the bed. Merlin probably wouldn't like this situation either. Arthur supposed he could always leave Gwaine and find somewhere else to sleep.

"Oh for heaven's sake Arthur," he snapped to himself before stripping himself down to his underwear and yanking the sheets about got the top cover up over Gwaine and Arthur slid into the bed with him. Gwaine rolled, sensing his presence, curling himself around him and Arthur got the feeling Gwaine knew exactly who he was with as he snuffled his nose into Arthur's hair in a painfully familiar way. Arthur relaxed into the comforting warmth and closed his eyes for a few seconds. That was as long as it took for him to go to sleep.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Merlin hadn't checked on Arthur during the night. It was still fairly early in the morning when he opened Arthur's door, after knocking briefly, and was brought up short by the sight of Gwaine sleeping in Arthur's bed. The covers were down far enough to see Gwaine still wore underwear but that, Merlin thought, didn't mean anything.

"What's the matter?" Percival asked from behind him as he saw the tension ripple in Merlin's shoulders. Merlin walked further into the room, opening the door wider so Percival and Lancelot could see what was going on. Gwaine stirred, his arm sliding off his face, where it had been draped over his eyes and he squinted as the sunlight, encroaching through a gap in the curtains, caught his eyes.

Gwaine swore and rolled over. Merlin gave a cough to attract his attention. Gwaine rolled again, squinting his eyes as he slowly opened them, frowning as he saw Merlin, then the other two and then he looked around the room.

"Where am I? What am I doing in this bed?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "That was what I was wondering."

"Oh," said a voice from the doorway. Percival, Lancelot and Merlin turned to look. Arthur held a bucket of water in one hand and over the other arm he had draped some clothes for Gwaine, having finally found his room and rummaged to find something suitable for him.

"What is Gwaine doing in your bed?" Merlin asked, while the man in question tried to sit up and decided that wasn't a good idea. Groaning he lay back and pulled the covers over his head.

"Nursing a raging hangover," Arthur informed Merlin as he walked into the room. He draped the clothes over the back of a chair and put the bucket on the floor on one side of the bed close to the end.

"Come on!" Arthur pulled the covers off Gwaine, working relentlessly as Gwaine tried to keep hold of them.

"No!"

"Yes," Arthur contradicted patiently. "Off the bed and get your head in that bucket."

"Can't you just pour it on me?" Gwaine groaned rolling over and trying to bury his head under a pillow. Arthur snatched the pillow away, stepping out of Gwaine's reach as he tried to grab it back.

"No! Because that's my bed, I'm not suffering a damp bed," Arthur informed him while the three other people watched fascinated.

"You've done it before."

"Yes, because I had two nights in other beds, by the time I got back to yours it was dry. Now off my bed!"

Merlin raised his eyebrows while Arthur talked, moving around the bed to the far side and kneeling on it punctuated the last four words by pushing Gwaine as he spoke until the prince half fell and half crawled off the bed. Arthur clambered over it, and stood over Gwaine as he crawled to the bucket and proceeded to dunk his head in it while sprawling out on the floor. Arthur then seemed to remember the three other people in the room.

"He was drunk, and making a nuisance of himself. I thought it best to contain him."

"Why didn't you take him to his own room?" Merlin asked. Arthur shrugged, looking rueful.

"I couldn't actually remember where it was, this was easier. When he's that drunk he sometimes needs supervising, there has been the odd... accident..." Arthur euphemised scratching his head as he grimaced.

"Er, Arthur, is he all right?"

Arthur turned at Percival's slightly tentative words and he started to swear. The baffled trio had never heard Arthur say anything like it and they stared at him in shock, especially as he spun on his heel and reached down to grab Gwaine's hair pulling his head out of the bucket. Gwaine jerked and gave a spluttering cough.

"You are not supposed to fall asleep in it you moron!" Arthur snapped kicking Gwaine sharply on the backside to get him onto his hands and knees. Gwaine shorted out a jet of water and coughed again.

"Sorry," Gwaine groaned putting his head down again, this time under very careful supervision. Lancelot leant over and murmured into Merlin's ear.

"I don't think he needs that much help being assertive."

Merlin's eyes narrowed. Arthur didn't, not when he knew what he was doing. When he knew the routine, and knew what was required of him he had no problem getting on and doing it.

Once Arthur was certain Gwaine was fine, kneeling up and wiping his face with a towel, he turned to look at Merlin.

"I guess you wanted me."

"What?" Merlin snapped.

"You came looking for me."

Merlin blinked, shaking his head. "Oh, yes, we need to make a plan today. Gaheris is well enough to return to the camp outside, hopefully he can convey a message. Maybe we can find a way to talk them down, if not we can give them something to think about."

He frowned as he watched Arthur bite down on his lower lip, and then he said.

"I kind of already did that."

"Did what?" Merlin asked.

As Arthur explained even Gwaine roused out of his self-inflicted misery. Although he clutched his head as he yelled, he chorused Merlin as they both shouted in shock.

"You did what?!"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

King Lot wanted to burst out a similar exclamation. Bayard eyed Gorlois with delighted amusement.

"This is what the Golden Prince said to you?"

"Yes Sire," Gorlois replied, somewhat hesitantly. When Morgana had appeared that morning with not only some food for him but also Arthur Pendragon he had feared the worst. Morgana had opened the conversation but then Arthur had done the rest of the talking. The proposal Arthur gave had shocked him, and annoyingly he had started to feel a small stirring of respect for Uther's son. That, however, was not the reason that he had willingly taken the message. Arthur seemed to be trying to be honourable, but quite frankly, his idea seemed like nothing more than Arthur's own death sentence. Gorlois would lose no sleep over that.

"He will take his war down to single combat? Him against anyone we choose?" Alined said. "The boy has no training!"

"I beg to differ," a smooth voice at the back of the tent interrupted. "Merlin has seen to rectify that, plus Arthur carries Excalibur. Still, he is unlikely to be any match for even a half-decent warrior in your ranks."

Morgause pushed the hood off her head, exposing her face. She smiled as she moved closer to Gorlois. He reached out to her, taking her hand.

"Are you well father?"

"I was not treated unkindly."

"Just in an undignified fashion," Bayard growled. "Who is that Pendragon brat to send someone of nobility to the dungeon."

"According to prophecy, he is the king of that dungeon," Morgause said.

That appeared to remind all the kings why they were there. They glanced around at each other and then looked to Morgause.

"And what is your part in this?" Bayard asked. Morgause looked at him levelly.

"I have no desire to see Arthur Pendragon take the throne of Camelot. He will destroy the old religion as much as his father."

"What about Merlin?"

Morgause's eyes narrowed. "Merlin is followed by many, but not all."

"And your sister, she resides in the castle with them."

Morgause's face flashed with a flicker of hatred, causing Alined to back up slightly, his shoulders and neck tensing. Morgause made no further move, but her predatory stillness made all of the kings shift warily.

"I think what my fellow king means is, can your sister be some help to us? Is there any reason to assume this is some trick of Merlin's?" Lot asked.

Morgause glanced in his direction, but Gorlois answered for her.

"I don't think Merlin knows about this. Morgana didn't even seem to know about what Arthur asked of me."

"And Merlin is highly over-protective of the boy," Morgause added. "I doubt he would expose him to any danger."

"He allowed him to fight last night," Bayard snapped. "The Golden Prince stood at his side while they defended the town."

The kings subsided again, considering the issue. Until Lot slowly, again, broke the silence.

"The question is now, what is our answer to the proposal?"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Are you out of your mind?!" Merlin roared as they sat in their own conference around the large, round table. The group had also been joined by Gaheris, who watched Arthur shrink slightly, looking down at the table top rather than Merlin's furious expression.

"It just seemed like the best option," Arthur said quietly, flinching as Merlin snorted. No one else spoke, so Arthur added.

"It means no one else will needlessly get killed."

Merlin took a sharp breath.

"He has a point there," Gaheris said, receiving a murderous glance from Merlin. Gaheris looked back calmly.

"You wanted me here because I can give you a better perspective on what they might be thinking. I am no way going to tell you any prior plans they have put together, nor should you tell me anything, but I'll play advocate here; none of them ever expected that sword to be claimed. Maybe mobilising their armies was a knee jerk reaction but they will not back down now."

Merlin said nothing.

"And they know you will not be able to hold for that long, unless you start using serious methods, and then you put every magic user outside of these walls at risk. You'll start another purge without a doubt."

Merlin sighed.

"The fact is Arthur has no more than a few days training, and one short battle, as preparation for this. That makes this little short of suicide!"

Merlin's voice rose as he spoke, directing the last sentence at Arthur, who flinched again. Gwen who sat next to him glared at Merlin.

"Merlin, don't shout at him!"

Arthur rested his elbows on the table, putting his face into his hands. On either side of him Gwen and Gaius leant over to comfort him. Arthur's shoulders shuddered, he knew Merlin would probably be mad at him but the scorching, bristling anger felt like more than he could handle over the last few days. Gwen and Gaius' fussing did little to help.

"I'm sorry, but if we carry on more people are going to get killed, and I don't want that." Arthur's voice wavered dramatically as he spoke. Gwen tightened her arm around him and Gaius gripped Arthur's nearest wrist.

"There is a good point there," Lancelot said carefully. "If we can take this situation down to one simple fight, then we save lives."

"And Arthur is technically a king, he has a right to choose a champion rather that fight himself," Percival said, by his tone he clearly volunteered for the role. Lancelot looked at him in irritation, Percival stared back steadily and Lancelot shrugged.

"That is true, either me or Percival can do that duty."

"It won't solve anything," Arthur's muffled voice announced from behind his hands. Slowly he lowered them, lifting his head. "It won't. It has to be me."

"I hate to say it," Gaheris said. "I really hate to say it, but he is right. Unless Arthur faces them, one way or another, they will not stop. You can put a champion in Arthur's place, but it will change nothing for them. If anyone does this, Arthur has to. And Merlin has to be above reproach in this."

"What to you mean?" Balinor rumbled.

Gaheris sighed. "They will think Merlin is behind this, that he will use magic in some way. Or that even now he is engineering something. They will no doubt demand that you are contained in some way."

"I will not let them near Arthur, they have to know that."

Gaheris looked at Merlin steadily. "I don't doubt that they know you will protect him. But that is, as far as I can see, half your problem. Arthur is the Once And Future King, he has to act like it. Otherwise he looks like he is nothing more than your puppet."

"I have to do this, or this won't stop," Arthur said. "And while they have half their army here, their kingdoms are weakened. Gwaine's right, I know how it all works. We can't just sit here. I know I can't."

Arthur sounded almost desperate. He looked up at Merlin almost pleadingly. Gwen and Gaius glared at Merlin from either side of Arthur, almost daring him to try yelling again. Morgana looked around.

"I didn't know what he was going to say, when he asked to speak to my father. If I'd have known I might have..." Morgana trailed off, closing her eyes and lowering her head. Merlin's head turned sharply, looking at her intently.

"Did you see anything?" Merlin took a breath. "Morgana please, if there is anything you can tell us."

"It was blurred, but it was a battle, Arthur, it was Arthur against Maleagant. You were carrying Excalibur and... your shield got stuck, in the ground and he..." Morgana tailed off then she looked up at Arthur. "I don't know, from then, I do not know. I woke up."

"That's unusual," Merlin said.

"I know it is, I know Merlin! It won't let me see. Try as I might, it will not let me see this. The power that I have, it doesn't know the answer. It won't let me help you. Arthur, the Golden Dragon, he has to find his own way."

"Enough," Merlin said eyes narrowing as he noted the title she unconsciously used. "That's enough for now. We're all too exhausted for this after last night. We need to know when they might want this to happen. Gaheris can you tell them we need a week to prepare. We have to prepare a ground for single combat, and mutually decide the ground rules."

Gaheris shook his head.

"They won't accept a week delay. Arthur's right, they want to get back to their kingdoms. At least they might be able to send some troops back and leave enough force to be a threat, but none of them will wait that long. They'll say two days."

"I say seven, stick with that," Merlin said. "Gwaine, please escort your brother to the gates. Prince Gaheris would you please pass on our message."

"Yes, Merlin, I will." Gaheris slowly rose to his feet his hand moving to gently press against his injured side to support himself. He reached out, stepping sideways to touch Arthur's shoulder. "Thank you, Arthur."

Arthur lifted his head to give a vague embarrassed smile. Gaheris rested his hand on Arthur's shoulder before walking away with Gwaine. Arthur's eyes widened as he watched the others slowly get up. Gwen half rose and then hesitated as Gaius remained in position, holding onto Arthur's wrist. Merlin walked up to them.

"Gaius, I just want to talk to Arthur on his own."

"I don't want you upsetting the lad."

"I won't. But I need to talk to him."

Gaius' hand tightened on Arthur's wrist and then he released, slowly.

"I need to check on my patients."

Arthur felt momentarily terrified when everyone left the room and left him alone with Merlin. He stayed in his seat looking down, flinching as Merlin pulled out Gwen's chair a few more inches and slowly sat down.

"I'm sorry, I know I should have said something, but I knew you'd stop me."

Merlin huffed, and then sighed and Arthur felt Merlin's hand on his shoulder squeezing lightly in an indication that it might go further, depending on the conversation.

"You can't be surprised by that Arthur. You're the Once And Future King, I don't want to lose you just as I discover that I have found you."

"Thanks," Arthur said. He was looking down so he ended up being taken by surprise as Merlin's wrapped his arms around him, grabbing him swiftly and pulling Arthur close.

"That obviously came out sounding wrong. I heard myself, I know it did. Arthur, I just want to keep you safe. You've had more than enough to deal with over the years."

"I'm fine Merlin. I just need to make these decisions. They won't stop, even if we do it, they won't stop."

"You've left them with no choice Arthur. If you win then it's over, and time will tell how your power comes about. I just wish you had said something to me."

"But then you would have stopped me," Arthur said, repeating his previous comment.

"I feel I should. You need someone to tell you what do to."

"You act like you are my father," Arthur said, and then he tensed. "I don't mean that in a bad way. You'd be good at it and you are certainly not like... my father. I'm glad I don't remember him, I don't want to think about... I don't want to have a shred of affection for him."

Arthur stopped rambling, hanging limply in Merlin's arms as Merlin forced him to sit up.

"I didn't mean that. Bits of it anyway."

"I don't doubt that your father loved you."

"I don't care. Your father told me what he did, to your mother. I don't want to, I don't want to even think that he loved me. How could he love me and then do that?!"

"You were his child, he loved you."

"I don't remember him," Arthur said. "I know I try to push a lot of my memories away, but I don't get a flicker. Something in me reacts to Gaius. I remember holding his hand, I can hear him pleading with someone, your father I guess, but nothing more than that. I don't want to remember my father. How can I accept him knowing what he did to you, and your family."

Merlin went very still, his jaw clenched and his arms tensed around Arthur.

"I wasn't there."

"Your father was, he told me what happened."

"That does not make you responsible. You are not your father. I'm not my father. I have my own opinions on things."

"I know, I know that, and I just thought this was better. I couldn't tell you, I knew you would stop me."

"I would have."

"The people here cannot take on this army. I know that, I've seen more than enough skirmishes, and seen every tactic and I know, we have nothing to fight with except you and me. And we can't use you."

"Thanks."

"Gaheris is right, if you go beyond using the dragon, or more than tricks with your magic, then they will take it out on other sorcerers. I know Bayard well enough to know that is what he will do, and I know Lot won't accept it. From that divide the others will split. Godwyn can get away with siding with Lot because Elena is betrothed to Gaheris. The marriage is meant to happen at High Summer. That can't be put in jeopardy. Godwyn can't lose that, or he might get trapped by Bayard or Alined, and Elena's a nice girl, and Gaheris likes her. He'll be nice to her. I wouldn't trust her with Reynard, and..."

Merlin tightened his grip.

"Don't think about it."

"I can't not. Gwaine is right, I know how everything works. I almost wish I hadn't picked up that sword."

"Almost," Merlin said, picking out that one word. "Once I took charge of you such a thing was little more than inevitable."

"So we can blame you for all this," Arthur said wryly. Merlin gave a chuckle.

"Yeah, everyone probably can."