Hello. Slightly later update than expected as Word decided to have a hissy fit and I still can't work out why the pasting won't paste in the same format! It was fine for half the chapter and then scrunched the rest up! Apologies if there are a few format mistakes because of this.

Getting to the end now which is kinda sad but had to happen.

Hope you enjoy it. :)

Lancelot

The bottle slowed as Lancelot and Leon watched with intensive glares. The other men had moved back slightly so Lancelot and Leon were in front and a silent agreement had been reached that the person who the bottle was closest to would be picked.

The bottle stopped closest to Lancelot. The man sighed as he knew he would have to do his dare and hope he didn't get caught.

'Alright Merlin, what do you want me to do?' he sighed dramatically but really didn't like how Merlin was smiling.

'There's one person left,' Merlin grinned.

'No, that's not fair,' Lancelot interrupted pointing accusingly at his friend.

'Oh but it is,' Merlin smiled gleefully back. 'I want you to play a prank on Prince Arthur!' Laughter filled the room as the other knights realised that Lancelot would have the toughest task of all. Lancelot sighed and glared around the room but he knew that this was coming. Arthur hadn't yet been a victim and his dare was last.

'But Arthur is already suspicious,' Lancelot whined as he drank some wine.

'Then don't get caught!' Gwaine retorted laughing.

'It better be good mind,' Percival bumped his beefy shoulder into Lancelot who wasn't ready for it and fell into Merlin soaking the servant in wine.

Merlin coughed and glared but Lancelot couldn't help but laugh. He was rapidly trying to rack his brain about how to get to Arthur.

'I have an idea,' he announced, 'but Merlin, I'm going to need your help.' Lancelot flashed a triumphant grin towards Merlin and the servant sent a friendly glare back.

'Why should I help you?' Merlin asked.

'I helped Leon so surely I can ask for your help?' Lancelot looked towards Gwaine who was still grinning broadly.

'Sorry Merlin. I allowed it before so I will allow it again,' Gwaine responded while Percival and Elyan looked smug.

'Still liking your choice of Arthur?' Lancelot raised his eyebrows.

'Fine,' Merlin huffed. 'I'll get blamed anyway so I might as well be part of it.'

'That's the spirit!' Gwaine slapped Merlin on the back while Merlin glared back at Lancelot who was now looking rather smug. Merlin wondered what he had planned.

'Right there really is no point in spinning so Leon, who do you pick to ask you a truth?' Gwaine addressed the longest serving knight of them all and Leon looked around but already knew who he would ask.

'Elyan,' Leon announced looking directly at Gwen's brother.

'Ok, so you've been a knight much longer than we have,' Elyan indicated everyone else, 'so what was your most disappointing moment as a knight?' Elyan finished his question and was happy to see the others nodding at his chosen question. All of them curious to know more about Leon. The knight often kept to himself and the others were curious.

'Well as I told you last night I am the third son which generally meant that I was ignored,' Leon started and he could see that he had everyone's attention. 'Not that it is bad growing up on a noble estate it was just my eldest brother John was obviously going to inherit the lands and my second brother Uthred managed to win the heart of a very rich heiress and is now in charge of her lands and rich to boot.' Leon's tone showed some of the jealousy he felt towards his blood brothers.

'You felt you needed to do something to get your parents attention?' Lancelot asked quietly.

'I am the youngest by five years and to be honest my parents didn't really know what to do with me,' Leon met Lancelot's eyes. 'I liked pretending to be a knight when I was a child and I turned out to be good with a sword. In the end I thought it might make my parents proud of me.'

'Surely they were proud regardless,' Percival looked towards Leon.

'I will never know,' Leon looked to Percival, 'They died before I was knighted.' Leon's eyes were glistening slightly as he paused to collect himself. 'They died of a fever that swept through the lands. John was spared but he rarely talks to me. I look a lot like my mother and I think he finds it painful.'

Elyan placed a hand on Leon's shoulder and the blonde knight was grateful.

'Hey,' Gwaine waited until he had eye contact with Leon before continuing, 'I'm sure they would have been proud. You're one of the finest knights in Camelot and let's be honest, we are the best. Arthur chose you to go with him on many quests and he trusts you. Besides we're proud to know you and we're like brothers now.'

Gwaine's statement was greeted with nods and smiles of agreement from all the other men and Leon felt a warmth rush over him as he smiled. Leon also realised that he hadn't actually answered Elyan's question.

'I'm so glad to have friends like all of you,' Leon smiled. 'In answer to Elyan's question, probably the most disappointing moment was...nah you'll think it's stupid.' Leon shook his head. After everything he had heard from the others this disappointment was really nothing in comparison.

'No, go on,' Percival urged.

'What is it Leon?' Merlin asked.

'It sounds rather stupid but...I always enjoyed jousting but I always end up losing to Arthur,' Leon explained.

'Everyone loses to Arthur,' Lancelot grumbled as he reflexively touched the now faded bruise where Arthur had broken his rib a few months back.

'Well there was a tournament and Arthur couldn't take part as he had to travel to the northern borders and that was my chance,' Leon looked dejected.

'Who beat you?' Elyan asked realising why Leon was disappointed.

'Some knight I'd never heard of,' Leon sounded exasperated. 'We haven't seen him since either. He wore purple.'

Merlin suddenly realised who Leon was talking about and had to suppress a smile. He had completely forgotten about Arthur's ruse.

'What was his name?' Gwaine asked as he bit into a grape.

'Sir William of Deira,' Leon answered.

'Never heard of him,' Lancelot shook his head.

'Haven't seen him since that tournament and the man could barely stay on his horse,' Leon looked thoroughly dejected. 'I'm just disappointed that I missed my chance to win a tournament without having to face Arthur.'

Merlin could barely contain himself now. For some reason he had thought that Arthur would have told Leon the truth but clearly that wasn't t the case.

'I get what you mean,' Percival looked sympathetically at Leon. 'Arthur beats us all the time.' Gwaine Elyan and Lancelot were nodding in agreement and Leon was glad they didn't think him stupid.

Merlin was shuddering now trying to stop himself from laughing. Unfortunately the others noticed and soon Merlin couldn't stop himself any longer and burst out laughing. He was lying on his back with his legs bent towards his chest and his feet off the floor and his laughter rang through the room.

The knights all gave Merlin quizzical looks but Leon looked down at the floor. He was right. His disappointment at missing out on a tournament was stupid.

Lancelot gave Merlin a friendly slap on the arm and nodded towards Leon and Merlin realised what the knight must think.

'Leon, Leon,' he called trying to stop the laughter in his voice. The blonde knight's eyes finally met Merlin's and Merlin could see the hurt. 'Leon I'm not laughing at you. I truly understand you're disappointment.' Merlin was rapidly trying to convince Leon that he wasn't laughing at him.

'Then why are you laughing?' Gwaine's voice was stern and not a tone regularly used by the knight.

'I remember that tournament,' Merlin started to explain. 'The truth is ...you've only ever lost to Arthur.'

Leon looked at Merlin with a confused expression. 'What?'

'It was after the practise where you didn't knock the idiot of his horse,' Merlin's description of Arthur caused Leon to smile. 'He got it into his head that he wasn't truly being tested because of who he was. That his victories were because no-one wanted to injure him.'

'It was a practise,' Leon said confused. 'Had it been a tournament then I would have taken advantage. There was no point in injuring him during practise.'

'Arthur thinks everything is about him,' Merlin added in a sing song voice. 'So the prat decided that he would go undercover in the tournament and he became Sir William of Deira.'

'Who was the guy on the horse?!' Leon asked astonished. 'Merlin?'

'A farmer from one of the outlying villages,' Merlin shrank slightly as he confessed and Leon just huffed a laugh.

'No wonder he could hardly stay on the horse,' Leon shook his head with a smile. 'So I've only ever lost to Arthur?' Merlin nodded as the room filled with laughter again. 'Why didn't he reveal himself?'

'He learnt some humility as he ended up jousting against the assassin that had come to Camelot to kill him,' Merlin sighed. 'He allowed our farmer to take the credit. I thought he'd told you.'

'Lancelot,' Leon looked directly at his friend, 'Get him good!' The room filled with laughter again as Leon realised that he had been duped by the Prince and his servant along with everyone else.

'Wait a minute,' Percival's voice rang through the room and everyone turned their attention to the big knight. 'Arthur couldn't have pulled that off with only Merlin's help. He must have stayed away from the castle.' All eyes fell on Merlin and the warlock squirmed slightly as he realised he may have to tell them the whole truth.

'I...er...alright,' Merlin collapsed under the weight of the stares now aimed at him. 'He stayed with Gwen,' he said simply.

'What!' Elyan roared loudly. 'So that's how it started,' he said through gritted teeth.

'Merlin the matchmaker!' Gwaine roared with glee.

'It wasn't like that,' Merlin tried to calm the giggling knights. Only Lancelot seemed subdued. 'From what I gather Gwen actually hated him for most of the time he was there.'

'Well, y'know what they say about the fine line between love and hate,' Gwaine winked while smiling broadly.

'You keep telling yourself that Gwaine,' Percival quipped as Gwaine scowled playfully.

'From what I understand, and believe me it was hard enough to get this, Gwen told him the truth,' Merlin explained. 'Something along the lines of how arrogant he was acting but neither would tell me anymore.'

'Gwen doesn't tend to hold back,' Elyan nodded.

'I tell Arthur he's an arrogant prat and he ignores me. Gwen tells him and he listens,' Merlin shook his head as if despairing at Arthur's actions.

'To be fair we'd all listen to Gwen over you,' Gwaine voice was riddled with amusement as the rest of the knights nodded smiling.

'Thanks!' Merlin added haughtily before he couldn't stop his smile any longer.

'Come on Merlin,' Lancelot said as he moved to stand. 'We have a prank to lay before it gets light.'

The other knights waved jovially as Lancelot and Merlin left the room.

Merlin followed Lancelot out of the castle and towards the training ground. The knight was quiet and it was unnerving Merlin.

'You're annoyed at me, aren't you?' Merlin asked as he pulled Lancelot's shoulder back to stop the knight.

'No Merlin. I'm not,' Lancelot turned to his friend and Merlin could see the genuine warmth in his eyes. 'I always wondered how Gwen and Arthur came together and that she's challenged the less inviting aspects of him is good.'

'The tournament was before Hengist,' Merlin explained. 'I couldn't have predicted that.'

'That was why Arthur was willingly to risk his life to save her,' Lancelot said with conviction. 'I don't blame you Merlin. I wasn't here and Arthur was. I left so I wouldn't get in the way, maybe I should have fought harder for her.' Lancelot's smile was rueful but Merlin could see the acceptance.

'Alright, what are you planning?' Merlin asked happily and the smile Lancelot gave told him it would be good.

'To make it quicker though, I will need your talents,' Lancelot smiled knowingly and Merlin smiled back. Merlin was glad Lancelot knew about his magic as he had someone who he could show the real Merlin rather than the bumbling idiot that everyone else saw.

Lancelot whispered his idea to Merlin who laughed quite loudly at Lancelot's plan for Arthur. Merlin soon realised that should the plan work he would in fact have more work to do but it didn't faze him at all.

Merlin and Lancelot finished their task quite quickly, just as the sun started to rise on the longest day of the year. Both were filthy but that didn't bother them and both couldn't wait for training in the morning. Both quickly drew some water from the well to wash and they managed to get to the castle without being seen and quickly returned to their chambers.

Arthur assembled his closest knights for a training session in the morning before the evening feast celebrating the summer solstice. Arthur was generally a creature of habit and that was exactly what Lancelot had exploited. Arthur appeared with Merlin in tow and Lancelot felt himself tense slightly and this was noticed by Percival who was next to him.

'You didn't do something out here, did you?' the big man asked quietly.

'Maybe,' Lancelot responded quietly but he could see Gwaine on the other side of Percival raising his eyebrows and Lancelot gave a short nod. Gwaine cleared his throat to stop his laugh.

'Today is about defensive training and also a chance to rid yourselves of any extra weight so you can pig out at the feast tonight,' Arthur announced. The knights cheered at the word 'feast'. Arthur was pacing as he normally did and he had actually worn some of the grass down with his habitual walking.

'Right pair-off-' but Arthur never got to finish as the ground gave way beneath him and he was now standing in a ditch of muddy water up to his waist with a very shocked expression on his face. He then lost his balance and plunged head first into the murky water before re-emerging soaking wet and filthy.

The previous night

'Right Merlin, you know how Arthur tends to walk the same path?' Lancelot looked enquiringly at Merlin who nodded. 'Well maybe he needs to stop some habits.'

Lancelot quickly retrieved a couple of spades and the night was quite light as the moon was only just starting to wane. Lancelot marked out the area where Arthur normally walked and soon they knew the area to dig. As Lancelot moved to remove the top layer of turf Merlin held him back with a smile.

Caespite volvunt,' he muttered and his blue eyes flashed gold and the top layer of downtrodden grass rolled up of the ground leaving the bare earth beneath.

'Right let's dig,' Lancelot took the spade and started to dig quickly with Merlin helping him.

It took them a couple of hours but they managed to dig a hole deep enough that it would come up to Arthur's waist. Both men quickly took a bucket each and collected water from the nearby stream so as not to waste the drinking water. They filled the ditch with water and carefully laid the turf back over the top. Thanks to some rain a few days ago, yes this was Camelot it rained in summer, the ground was already quite wet and the water wouldn't seep through quickly. It was likely that a decent amount of water would be left. No-one would suspect anything, until they fell through.

Arthur was stunned as he realised he was stood in a filthy ditch and soaking wet covered in muddy water and his hair was now sticking to his face. Mud was stuck to his left cheek and his hair was no longer blonde but now a darkish brown with blonde flecks. Merlin and Lancelot were talking to him but all he felt was rage! The knights' pranks had gone far enough! Lancelot and Merlin helped a grumbling Arthur out of the ditch and Arthur turned to the knights.

'THIS HAS GONE FAR ENOUGH!' Arthur roared glaring at his men who were all doing their best to keep the smiles from their faces. 'If I find out which one of you it was he will no longer be a knight!' Arthur stormed towards the castle while Merlin flashed a cheery grin at them all before following Arthur.

'Back luck, Lancelot,' Gwaine was trying to be serious but laughter overcame him quickly. 'Nice one,' Percival brought Lancelot into a one-armed hug. 'He won't forget that in a hurry,' Elyan added.

'We won't tell. Don't worry,' Leon chimed as the knights slowly made their way back up to the castle all of them grinning widely.

Arthur slammed the door of his room and quickly got undressed and ordered Merlin to prepare him a bath. Merlin was being unusually quiet which was never a good thing and Arthur suspected that he was in on this with the knights. Once he was dry and dressed in clean clothes he dismissed Merlin and lay on his bed trying to calm down. He was dozing when he heard a knock at the door.

'Come in,' he said tiredly but he really wanted to be alone. 'Gwen,' he smiled as she entered and sat down on the bed next to him. 'You heard then?'

'About your mishap, yes,' she was smiling and looking at him in a strange way. 'The knights are behind this.'

'Yeah, I know,' Arthur sat up slightly so he could see her better. 'I can't prove it though. Not to mention if my uncle got hold of this then they would be out of here before I could stop him.'

'You're not angry anymore then?'

Are you?' Arthur responded smiling slightly. At first I was really annoyed but at the end of the day it was pretty harmless turning me blue,' she said. 'Only my pride was dented slightly.' 'Same here,' Arthur agreed. 'If it was one of the others I'd have found it very funny.'

'Stop sulking,' Gwen smiled. 'There's a feast tonight.'

The feast was glorious as ever with roasted goose, chicken, pork and beef joints. The wine was flowing freely as well, the knights got rather tipsy and started to become very loud. Arthur was watching them with interest and Merlin seemed to be joining in too. No-one had dared to mention the incident on the training ground and it seemed that the knights had rather kept it to themselves. Arthur was grateful for that.

Arthur left quite late but the knights were now arm-wrestling and Arthur was quietly thankful that he wouldn't have to take on Percival. The man didn't know his own strength sometimes, especially after a few tankards of mead. He bid the knights goodnight and tried to forget about the troubles of the day. He told Merlin to go back to the feast when he servant made to follow him. Merlin had given him a strange look but said nothing further as he returned to the hall.

The knights were among the last to leave the festivities but all made their way to Gwaine's chambers. Although there were no truths or dares this night they settled again in their familiar circle.

'Well, I want to toast to a great night and also a great game of truth or dare!' Gwaine was clearly quite drunk but the others were hardly better off. 'Stealing apple pies, changing the library, getting stuck in a cupboard, blue skin, wet Agravaine and dirty Arthur!' The knights cheered loudly as Gwaine listed their successful and unsuccessful pranks.

'We did well,' Lancelot toasted to cheers.

'We were funny,' Elyan added.

'We settled scores,' Leon smiled.

'I got a new cat,' Percival chuffed. The cat was now happily living in his quarters and he'd gotten rather used to her. The others laughed loudly.

'We didn't get caught!' Merlin grinned. 'Well, apart from Percival.'

Nobody noticed that the door to Gwaine's chambers was ajar or that there was someone listening on the other side.

A/N: I said we were getting to the end and there is one more chapter left. :) I'm sure you've all worked out who was listening. :)

'Caespite volvunt' = Turf roll up.