Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, this is an alternate universe fan fiction, in which I have used the characters, places, quotes and story from the BBC TV show which I do not own.

A/N: I forgot to say last time, so I want to thank D Rose for pointing out my errors again, and also, thanks for the continued support and reviews! Onto the next chapter.

No-One Knew

~ARTHUR~

They all stared up at Merlin, whose eyes were stuck at Gwain's. He looked almost as bewildered as they felt. Not to mention what Arthur had said to him:

"Merlin. What, in the name of Camelot, are you doing here, in the middle of the woods, and how did you find us."

Which had, Arthur admitted to himself, come out more harshly than intended. Merlin's head had snapped quickly to face Arthur. The poor boy was left staring at the King, unspeaking, and seeming a little terrified. Who wouldn't be, hearing the voice of Uther in Arthur? He knew for a fact that Merlin had secretly been afraid of the former king. He couldn't even blame him. He stared back at him, though he knew that it was probably intimidating him. But Arthur knew that he had every right to be cautious - no one knew what Merlin was up to these days...he could have gone and changed his allegiance to Morgana for all he knew. All the knights were thinking the same thing, and Merlin probably was too. In the end, it was Tristan who broke the ringing silence.

"Is anyone going to enlighten us on all of this?" he questioned, waving his hand lazily in the direction of Arthur and Merlin. Isolde and he, they were watching the (lack of) interaction with perplexed expressions on their faces.

Lancelot chose to speak up. "Tristan, Isolde, this is our good friend Merlin. Merlin, Tristan and Isolde. He used to be Arthur's manservant." he trailed off, not quite sure of how to finish the sentence, looking at Merlin. In that one sentence he conveyed that he had complete trust in Merlin to everyone, especially Arthur. The two other knights nodded their mutual trust. So Arthur sighed and gave in. It was a bit ridiculous, really. Merlin, sided with Morgana. It was laughable - Merlin would never do that, Arthur thought.

"Um yes. That's me. Merlin, I mean. But you know that, obviously. Right. Of course. Hi."

All of them stared at Merlin (they seemed to be doing a lot of that) disbelievingly, and Lancelot and Percival even looked a little concerned.

"Merlin, you alright mate?" Gwain asked, a huge grin on his face.

"Yes, I'm good. Great, even."

"Great."

"Yeah."

Merlin rocked on his heels, subconsciously biting on the corner of his lip and looking at each of the people in turn, as they did the same, sitting down. Merlin and an awkward situation, why am I not surprised, thought Arthur.

"Merlin, were you planning on answering my previous questions?"

Merlin's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, before his face dissolved into the trademark Merlin mischievous grin.

"No, not really."

"That was an order, Merlin, not a request." Snickers could be heard form Gwain's general direction, while Tristan and Isolde stared at them in utter bewilderment. Who would dare talk to the King like that?

"Yes, sire. My friend asked me for help, so I came. He sent me to look after you for a while, because he won't be returning tonight."

"He sent you. You to look after us." Arthur said incredulously.

"That is correct."

"What is he doing anyway which is so important?"

"You know, as much as you like to believe it, and as much as everyone else lets you, the world doesn't revolve around you. Maybe I should come back just to keep your ego in check." Merlin replied in a perfectly innocent way.

"Merlin?"

"Shut up."

"You get it."

A/N: It is so hard to write the banter between Merlin and Arthur properly. I mean that you can imagine exactly how it happens, but it is just not satisfactory enough when written. Colin Morgan and Bradley James are great actors! I hope you enjoyed!