Following the Pendragon's plan for Arthur to run away, trying to escape Uther's arrangement, and only soon enough to return back, it would take a good week of convincing before Arthur finally gave in. Vivian had soon left the Saturday morning, and from the help of Catrina, Morgana and even Merlin aiding, Arthur stood by with their new plan. Catrina knew, from the look in Arthur's eyes and his expression, that this was not Arthur's game. Although Arthur had not admitted, Catrina strongly felt that Arthur was already with someone, but couldn't seek the courage to confront his father. As Arthur gave in, tears streaming down his face for technically betraying his love for Merlin, Catrina sat beside the blond, and pulled her arm around the distraught blond for comfort.

"I know you don't want to do this, and I believe what you say, but just go with the plan."

Arthur looked at Catrina as if she knew something that she shouldn't, and Arthur, if admitted, could find himself in rather a deep hole, and gave her a stern look. "Care to elaborate?"

"Well, from the reasons you have stated, and I know that look in the eye of yours. There's something you're hiding and afraid to admit, which I can truly understand; you're scared, and you feel that if you admit your love, dad, I and others will disown you. If I'm wrong then I raise my arms up in apology, but if you just accept the plan, we'll find a way to get you out."

Catrina seemed trustworthy enough to be able to let on his secret, and she already knew about Morgana, and had still accepted her. So if she accepts one, she can surely accept the other right? "But you don't understand. I do have a lover, but I can't tell dad, he'd kill me. And if Vivian is on camp with us, how do I get to spend time with my lover?"

"Is your lover a guide?" Arthur stilled, not knowing what to say.

"It's ok, you can tell me. I won't tell your dad, regardless of the answer."

"Promise not to yell or backstab me?"

"I promise Arthur."

"My lover is a scout. His name is Merlin, you remember? Dark hair, pale, quite tall, we're in the same patrol..."

"I see. Yes I know who you're on about. And does he make you happy?"

"Very happy." Morgana then butted in, backing Arthur's account. "In all that I've known Arthur, I've never seen him as happy as he is with Merlin."

"Well then I accept that."

"But if we're on the trip together, and we're already having to hide this at scouts and on the trip, how will I manage to spend any time with without Vivian following me around?"

"That's where I'll step in, and Gwen has already called me to tell that she'll kindly help out," Morgana added. Morgana couldn't stand Vivian either, there was many things about her that Morgana disliked, and no blondie was to break the relationship between Arthur and Merlin.

"You've only asked Gwen so that you get to spend as much time together as possible," Arthur smirked, feeling a little more relieved that his reponse had gone down smoothly.

"Of course!"

"Fine, I'll go with the plan. But I'm still not marrying her, not as long as I have Merlin."

"Good lad."

August

The Camelot division had been away from home for a few days, and over the time, they had gone shopping in the town, as well as learned a few new skills. One thing Arthur wanted to participate in more than anything was fencing, and of course, the chance to wrestle Merlin at some point. Okay, so for many years, Arthur had been fascinated with sword fighting, and would have wanted, if possible, to step back in time and compete in a tournament as some brave knight. But in the 21st century, fencing was the closest he was going to get.

Applying the uniform on and collecting their foils, Arthur noticed one distinguishable foil. This one seemed special, and this one was to be Arthur's. Instead of being any generic foil. the handle to the foil contained a thin strip of gold that wrapped it's way around. Arthur went over and picked up the foil. Inserted in his hand, he felt a spark within him. Merlin also felt this spark, as if it were magic.

That was one huge secret that Merlin kept away from Arthur. He was born of magic. Over the years, Merlin's magic for some reason had thinned, got weaker, and now it was at a point where Merlin went without magic in his life. The one thing was, Merlin couldn't understand how his magic had weakened, as it was supposed to get stronger. Merlin hadn't felt magic in him for over four years, and this spark added something peculiar.

Gwaine had picked up a foil, and pretended it was a sword, challenging Arthur to a sword fight. Arthur accepted, both using them as swords. The director of the class, John, watched the two scouts. "Boys! They are foils, not swords!"

"But we're having our own little tournament!" Gwaine shouted, adding "And this might impress the ladies."

The guides and senior section members were on the other side of the room, being trained by Eliza. John then added, trying to add the theme of sword fighting in. "Okay, if you want a little tournament, then we'll have one. Beth, fetch us a whiteboard marker and write everyone's name down, and a stopwatch." Beth, another member of staff at the centre, fetched a pen, and began to write the group's names down. She then came over with the stopwatch, handing it to John.

"Okay then. The tournament is simple. Three minutes between each match, becuase if you played an actual match we'd be here all bloody week. The one who scores the most points goes into the next round, the loser is eliminated. At the end, the final two will have five minutes, the winner is with the most points and will recieve a prize."

"First up is Percival and Cornelius," Beth called from the other side. Using their knowledge of fencing from the day before, they knew how to properly play the sport.

As Percival and Cornelius took their places, the remainder of the lads were seated across the benches. The girl scouts had joined the guides and senior section, as they found it unfair to be challenged against the lads, being only three females in the unit. Arthur, Mordred and Merlin had taken to one end of the bench, with Arthur admiring the foil, twisting it within his fist-type grip, running his forefinger over the blade. "I love this sword."

"It's a foil," Mordred replied, concentrating on who was defeating who.

"I don't care. I'm going to think of a name for it."

"Next up, Arthur and Edwin."

"You'll have to come up with a name later you numbskull!"

"Wish me luck!" Arthur called as he took his place, winking at Merlin as he took position. Percival returned to the bench, and Cornelius departed over to the eliminated bench near the whiteboard, returning to his foil to the rack, Beth removing his name off the board.

Returning back to the bench victorious, Arthur settled back in his position, Merlin clapping and Arthur giving Merlin a one-sided hug. "Thought of a name for it then?"

"Yeah, I'm going to call it Excalibur."

Morded huffed, creating a debate. "Oh bloody hell. You've been reading too many of them King Arthur books. You can't call it that!"

Merlin tried to be the middleman and end the debate as quickly as it started. "Well, how about a deal. If Arthur becomes victorious in this tournament, he can name the foil Excalibur. If not, then no. We can all call him King Arthur."

"And what are we then, Merlin the manservant sorcerer and Mordred, the druid who has the final showdown with Arthur, and then the likes of Lancelot, Leon, Percival, Gwaine and Elyan the knights of the round table?"

"Why not? We all dine at a round table."

Mordred collected his foil, the next in group to take action to fight, and departed from the bench with an unimpressed look. "This just gets better and better."

Although Merlin was quite the fencer, he was no match for Arthur, and when it came to the final four, Beth called the first two participants up. "Merlin and Arthur."

Both looked at each other, and Arthur immediately backed down. "I can't fight with Merlin."

Mordred and the others turned to Arthur, who glared at them back. "Why not Arthur?" Merlin inquired.

Arthur added a smirk to his reponse, but from Arthur's point. He knew he was better at fencing that Merlin, and felt it wrong having to fight against your other half. Not because there would be an actual fight afterwards, but because he didn't want Merlin to lose. He loved the sight of Merlin's face when he was happy, and would sympathise with him when he was at a dead end. His response wasn't intentionally meant to come out as flirtatious though, as his eyes met Merlin's. "Because I could take you apart with one blow."

"Oh I could take you apart with less than that," Merlin quirked and hit back, both gazing at each other. If it weren't for Vivian on the other side of the room, Arthur or Merlin would have grabbed the other and snogged them, regardless of whether it was in public or not.

Out of nowhere, someone wolf-whistled, Merlin patting Arthur's shoulder to fight. Everyone cheered them on, including Morgana and Gwen from the other end of the room.

Both got into position, when John started the watch. "Begin."

In all it was a good match for three minutes, but Arthur snuck a touch to the neck at last minute, calling the ends 4-3. Merlin was capable of hitting touches to Arthur's hip, but having the cool foil against the neck, caused the other to blush, heat filling within them. Finishing, Arthur bowed to the crowd like a gentleman, entwining his hand with Merlin's, jesturing him to bow as well and recieve cheers from their 'fans'. Both shared a hug as Mordred was called up to face Lancelot in the second semi-final.

Many were making the odds that Lancelot would easily beat Mordred, as Lancelot was a trained fencer. But what none of them knew was that Mordred was also an established fencer, and was more than Lancelot's match. Both started out defending the attacks, and for what seemed the majority of three minutes, both were holding their opponent off, neither managing to strike the other to gain a point. From what seemed to be, both would have to have a re-match to determine a winner. Just as it called to 2:55, Mordred posed a touch on the hip, taking the score to 1-0. Lancelot, for the first time in his fencing career, had been defeated. Mordred bowed to the crowds, following Arthur's path. Now many would just walk away, but not Lancelot. Lancelot shook hands with Mordred, and clapped for Mordred, being a true nobleman.

Mordred remained standing as Arthur took to the stage for the final round. Before John could start the match, Merlin shouted to Arthur and Mordred, who knew the odds for the outcome of the final match. "This is for Excalibur!"

In the end, Mordred would be calling Arthur 'King Arthur', the proud champion of fencing. Beth and John glanced around for the initial prize, which was a foil. John turned towards the scouts, where one of them were likely to be guilty. "Who's taken the fence with the gold stripe?"

"Oh bugger! I'm so sorry. I picked it out to use." Arthur grinned.

"Well, that was meant to be the prize for the victorious one. But since you are the crowned winner, the foil is yours."

Arthur raised the foil in the air chanting. "For Excalibur and for the love of Camelot!" All raised their arms into a fist-type motion, as their foils had been returned to the racks, and recited with Arthur.

Getting out of gear, the scouts and guides would have time to do their own thing for an hour or so. "Hey, we're going down to the lake Arthur. Want to join us?"

When Gwaine meant "we're", he meant Percival, Lance, Gwen, Leon, Mordred, Kara, Freya, Will and himself. When it came to Gwaine and plans, it was probably in the form of mischief, even though after the fencing session, all had removed their gear and were sweaty, so maybe the lake wasn't such a bad idea. "We'll join you in a bit. You go on ahead."

The rest made their way out, and Arthur dragged Merlin with him, barely able to lift his helmet off, hair spiking up in all directions. Leaving the hall, Merlin and Arthur made their way along a footpath, taking a slow walk towards the lake. Vivian tried to call Arthur and break him away from Merlin, following the lads from the hall. Morgana knew that since they have arrived there on Friday, Merlin and Arthur hadn't shared a moment together, mostly due to either the presence of Vivian or Uther, and it was about time they did. It was now Wednesday 1st August, and going five days without the comfort of another must be hard.

Vivian kept chanting "Arthur! Where are you going?" and "Don't you walk away from me! We're getting married next year!" Morgana, who was champion in fencing through the guides division, picked up her foil, this one containing a black stripe, and poked Vivian from behind, grinning as the blonde princess retorted. "How dare you poke me. Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah, an obsessive blonde nutter. Do you know who I am?"

"A nosey git for one!"

"As champion fencer and sister to Arthur, I'm telling you to back away and leave them alone." Morgana had a stern and serious look to her, which made Vivian give in and walk off, but not for long.

In this abandoned field nearby the lake lay many trees. Merlin had no idea what they were doing there, and whether they were actually allowed there or not. Arthur however was up for adventure, and for other things, and was searching for the perfect tree. He came across a large oak, which seemed sturdy enough for both of them to sit on the main branch. "Come on Merlin," Arthur gave a shove from under Merlin's rear.

"Arthur! Anyone could see us. What?"

"Up you go."

"What up there?" Merlin pointed to the branches of the tree in front of him.

"Yes up there!"

Merlin climbed up the tree first, just about remembering how to, and Arthur followed, shoving Merlin up so that Arthur could spend more time up there. Both were now sitting on the branch, side by side, and were finally alone. "Well, congratulations on your win, 'King Arthur'," Merlin started.

"Thank you. You let me win didn't you?"

"What? No! You were the better man, and I raise my hand" Merlin beginning to slip, Arthur grabbing Merlin's arm to hoist him back up on the branch, "because I'm crap at balancing, in defeat."

Arthur, who had been all week, was still grinning like a goon at Arthur, and if he didn't watch his step, would be turning into a pile of mush from Merlin's striking appearance, suddendly gaining a dry throat. "Okay then, well this calls for a runner's up award," Arthur dazed, trying to stay focused.

"But Mordred was the runner up." Truly, Mordred indeed was.

"Yeah well, it's only Mordred. You actually put my skills to the test, and came off on a better fight, so you deserve it. Also, you're my greek god Merlin, so you deserve it anyway."

"I'm not Greek! Nor a god!"

Arthur leaned forward, breathing near his neck. "You're a god to me! You're my Northern Irish God Merlin."

Merlin leaned forward, breathing hot into Arthur's ear, nuzzling the naked flesh nearby. "And what's that reward then?"

Arthur gasped, trying to stay within his senses. "Lean against the trunk, leg either side of the branch." Merlin backed into the trunk, swinging the one leg over so they were either side. "You know, this is quite uncomfortable."

"Won't be for much longer." Arthur leaned in to Merlin, swinging his leg over so that they were facing each other, and ruffled Merlin's spiked up hair, bringing his head forward to connect their lips together, finally alone to do whatever they wished. Breaking off for air, Merlin panted. "I'm so glad that the award wasn't for Mordred, he'd probably kill you, as would Vivian. I'd kill you!"

"I couldn't give that to Mordred. I'd shoot myself, and let's not get that blonde pest involved eh. I'm suprised I gave that to you."

Merlin was concerned now. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's supposed to mean that I can do much better than that!"

"Prove it." Arthur reached for Merlin and re-connected themselves together, Arthur slipping his hand under Merlin's t-shirt and traced the warm body. "You know, if we were indoors... and alone... I'd have to rip that shirt off you... Too many layers Merlin! I need to see you, feel you and taste you. I'm having a craving and I can't get enough of you." With the summer heat on their backs, Arthur proceded to undo the first few buttons on Merlin's shirt, but stopped about three buttons down, giving room to either slip his hand in and feel more, or just to connect his filthy mouth to the exposed skin. Arthur undid the buttons to his own shirt, giving access to Merlin to undertake anything that one desired, and Merlin would do just that.

Vivian, showing her power of stalking, followed the tracks made through the tall grass. When she approached the tree, she noticed Arthur in one of the trees above from a distance, kissing and discovering Merlin. Vivian blinked her eye-lids shut, thinking it was just a vision, but then came the sounds, and then one knew it was more than a vision, but a reality on show. Running back in disgust, muttering such baloney such as "That bloody twat! Oh my god he's gay! Euggh how am I supposed to marry that?" Vivian was confused? What was Arthur hiding? Should she tell Uther about Arthur's secret man-loving relationship?

Later on that evening, Excalibur, as it was now well-known by practically everyone, was perched against Arthur's bunk. When Arthur had held Excalibur for the first time, Merlin felt a rush through his system, which felt like the magic he had long grown up with and gotten used to. Whilst the scouts were out in the mess hall celebrating the Pendragon's fencing victories, Merlin retreated back to their rooms, and took a closer look at the foil.

As any other foil, it was of a metallic silver, and enabled you to poke people, using it as weaponry of defence. At first, Merlin thought the sudden jolt through him was just of Arthur being all 'kingly' and regal with such an object, and Merlin had a desire for Arthur in such scenarios, but no, every time Arthur went to touch Excalibur, the jolt went through the pair of them, as if they were connected in some way to the object.

Picking up the foil, Merlin perched himself cross-legged on Arthur's bed, fumbling the object. Merlin ran his palm across the blade, advancing upward towards the shield where the gold stripe curled along the handle, following it's path. Magic surged through Merlin, almost too great of something to handle. This was no ordinary foil. That's when Arthur entered the room, and noticed Merlin with Excalibur.

"Merlin? What do you think you're doing?" Arthur approached the bed, and plonked himself beside Merlin, wrapping an arm around his lover and leaned in to kiss his cheek. The question was asked in a soft, comforting tone, so Arthur clearly wasn't angry with someone messing with his possession, but maybe, coming to conclusion, if another was to be in Merlin's position, Arthur would have probably lashed out, but this was calm, mysterious, gentle and fit as heck Merlin.

Merlin stopped mid-track and directed at Arthur, his mind going blank at what exactly he was doing with Excalibur in the first place, but then the blade jabbed both of them in the side, both feeling the magic in them. "Arggh, what the heck is that?"

"Oh, so I'm not the only one with the feeling then?"

"Clearly not." Arthur then had a thought. "Hold on, what about if everyone else has the same feeling?"

"What do you mean?"

"Think of it, if we invite every other scout and guide over and get them to touch Excalibur, then we can work out who reacts to the touch and who doesn't."

"Okay then, but we'll have to leave it until later."

The first to arrive to inspect the sword was Vivian and Gwen. Arthur invited Vivian first in order to drive her back out of the room quicker. Both girls touched the handle to the foil, and felt nothing. So they were out of the game, next was Morgana, Mithian and Freya. Out of the three, Morgana and Freya felt a spark run through them, and therefore stayed behind, leaving Mithian to depart and call in the next lot.

Next were the supposed knights and Arthur's excutioner. Only Mordred felt a spark run through him. During the process, Agalin noticed the come and goers passing by Arthur's room, and went to investigate for himself.

"Arthur! Merlin! What do you think you are doing?"

"Agalin! We need your help. Every time I've touched Excalibur, I keep feeling this spark rush within me. I don't know what it is, but Merlin had the same feeling. We thought it would work with anyone making contact with the handle, and so everyone came."

"And, what were your outcomes?"

"Not everyone has the same effect. So far only us, Morgana and Mordred, Freya, Gilli, Edwin and Cornelius have felt the surge. We thought maybe you'd be the same." Aglain came inside the room, and felt it for himself. Touching the handle, Agalin went to speak, only to justify his thoughts. "Arthur, I think you lot have gone... Bloody heck, what was that?"

"See what I mean, something from this is connecting all of us."

"Morgana, what about your foil?"

"It's the same with that one as well, but more powerful than Excalibur. Shall I bring it over along with an ordinary one to test further?"

"It might be a good idea," Freya replied.

Morgana returned with the two foils, and placed them onto Mordred's bed. In turn, each would touch the blade of the ordinary foil, and then Morgana's, which she had named Aithusa.

The ordinary foil still remained ordinary after it recieved countless numbers of touches, but when Aithusa was touched, everyone recieved the same spark, Merlin and Arthur recieving a weaker dosage, and Morgana and Mordred recieving a higher one. "This is strange."

"Something is definitely wrong with these swords!"

Mordred was seriously going to punch Arthur if he kept boistering on with the King Arthur stuff. "How many times do I have to tell you Arthur, they're not swords!"

Morgana threw Aithusa in front of Mordred, backing him into his own bed. "That's King Arthur to you!"

"Well whatever it is, we can't do anything about it until we can get back to Camelot," Freya muttered.

"Not necessarily," Aglain started, everyone turning to their leader. Merlin wanted to hear more. "Go on."

"Well, if I ask, just out of curiousity where the foils came from in the first place, we might get an answer."

"And then?"

"Well, I'm not sure then. After that we might have to wait until we arrive back in Camelot, but at least we know some information rather than none."

"Okay, well we'll stick to that idea then," Arthur commanded.

Night had fallen and everyone had returned to their rooms. It was half-way through the night where Merlin kept hearing a voice through his head, as if it were a dream. The voice sounded remarkably old, almost like of a grandfather. Merlin kept visualising a dragon who was giving him advice, repeating that 'magic is the answer to the question,' but there was more than one question that required an answer. Unfortunately for Merlin, this dream was enabling him to wake up Arthur, and was becoming more of a nightmare, until Arthur shook the other awake.

"Merlin? Merlin! What's wrong?"

"Arthur, I think it's magic."

"What do you think is magic Merlin?"

"Magic is what ties us and Excalibur all together. Somewhere along the line, we're all involved with magic! Agalin asked John earlier, and said they came from some sports equipment company, which you and Morgana both said you recognised."

"Yes, we did say that. I think father has worked with them in the past, but how long ago or whether they are still in partnership I don't know, I don't really know what dad does, he's never mentioned it in front of us, as if it's some sort of threat. But magic dosen't exist anymore, there are no potential sorcerers out there..." Merlin gave a horrid look, as to say ' I'm one Arthur, and so might be everyone else.'

"Oh no! Merlin no! Don't try and tell me that you are a sorcerer!"

"I have magic Arthur, and I'm not sure about the others, but I think they do as well, in some form."

"How?"

"I was born with magic Arthur, I can't help it!"

"Never mind that for now Merlin, do you know anyone who has a decent knowledge on magic and swords?"

"Gaius."

"Great, we'll have to wait until we return to Camelot."