Arthur opened his eyes and sat up to see... daylight? It must be near midafternoon meaning he had been asleep for the last night and the greater part of the day... He got to his feet and started pulling on his armour, getting increasingly frustrated as his sleep deprived, clumsy fingers couldn't do up the clasps. Damn, he really had taken Merlin for granted... He had no sooner thought this when he stepped into the room.
"Arthur? How are you feeling?" he walked over to him and began straightening up his armour.
"I'm fine... Gwaine?"
"He's fine. The bite has healed; Sir Kay still won't let me heal him though. Aside from that, everyone is fine."
"Good. As for the other one... there is nothing I can do about that. I can't order him to let you heal him... but I did order someone to wake me in the morning... not the middle of the afternoon..." he raised an eyebrow at the sheepish expression that crossed Merlins face.
"I told them that you needed to sleep. They listened to me... Anyone would think they actually trusted me..." He stepped back from Arthur. "Done. And you really needed to sleep. The others were asleep nearly as long as you... In fact, Gwaine only just woke up..."
"Is that because of the healing?" Arthur asked,
"I think it's more to do with Gwaine being... Gwaine..." Merlin joked. He turned to leave the room, "We're all in the Tavern. Seemed like the best place to stay..."
"Well, you used to spend a great amount of time there yourself Merlin... Or was that just a cover?"
"That was kind of a first thing that popped into my head excuse kind of thing..." He replied, with a grin.
Arthur felt himself smiling; he really had missed that grin.
Merlin waved a hand at him,
"Hello, anyone in there? Plenty of room alongside his brain but still..." Arthur picked up a rolled up blanket and threw it at him, sighing as Merlin ducked.
"Damn it, you really are the most irritating... patience testing... and you are much quicker than before." Merlin grinned,
"More like you are slower... wait till later in the day, you may actually be able to hit me."
Arthur laughed and joined him as they walked out of the door,
"I have really missed you Merlin. As it is, Gwaine was the only source of amusement we had..."
"Oi..." that came from behind them.
They turned and saw Gwaine jogging towards them,
"I wasn't that bad," he said upon reaching them, "It's just that I'm... Hey, are we heading for the tavern?"
Arthur put a hand out, barring his way.
"If you run up a bill like you did last time, I swear, you will be cleaning more than just boots..." seeing Merlin trying to hide a smile at the look on Gwaine's face, he continued, "And Merlin is responsible for you. Meaning he will be helping to clean them... By hand." he added as an afterthought, and was rewarded by the smug look slipping into a scowl.
"Gwaine..." Merlin said, before they entered the Tavern, "If I end up cleaning boots... again...! I swear, I will... I'll..."
"Stutter at me?" Gwaine laughed. "Relax... I will keep it all under control..."
His face fell at the spark that lit up Merlins face.
"No, I will..." he smiled innocently before calling to the barman. "Gwaine gets a three drink limit. Any more, and the one who serves him will be helping him with cleaning the stables... for..." he turned to Arthur, who was grinning, "Shall we say a month?" Arthur nodded. "There we go." He turned to see Gwaine glaring at him.
"Sorted." he said, cheerily, watching as Gwaine stormed off towards the others, who were all laughing at him. They followed him and were soon seated with Gwaine, Percival, Leon, Elyon, Bedivere and Tristan.
Arthur was getting an update about what had been going on while he was sleeping. The knights that had taken positions in the castle were reporting that since they had all escaped, Morgana had apparently locked herself away in her old rooms. The servants from the castle were all fine, only a little nervous. Arthur had to marvel at how they always kept their wits in situations like these... The lower town had not been subject to any Demon attacks, though that was likely to change soon, meaning they had already began to move people into the lower catacombs, the safest place they could think of. There had been a few fatal casualties because of the Discord stone. At this, Arthur had thought back to the young couple that he had seen a couple of days ago, he would have to tell Gwen... There was also the disturbing knowledge that Morgana still had the Echo of Morganite, the Mayhem Emerald the Truth Stone. That was the reason why they were wondering why she still hadn't launched an offensive. Arthur glanced at Merlin, who looked deep in thought. He hated to interrupt, but...
"Merlin? Any Explanations?" He started, looking up.
"Huh?"
Arthur repeated himself, and Merlin nodded.
"I have a few ideas..." at the expectant look on Arthurs face, he continued. "We have no idea how long it takes to use the Echo of Morganite. It could be that she is simply waiting for the right moment... and it could be that she has a completely different plan that we are completely clueless to... though that isn't very likely... the Morganite is considered the most powerful stone, so I don't think she would pass up an opportunity to use it... More likely that she was using it as a fail-safe in case she..." He looked up at the faces looking at him, expressions ranging from thoughtful to bemused. "... in case she failed to take Camelot with the first stones..." he concluded. Leon grinned at him,
"You've been putting a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" he asked.
"Yeah. The trick is not thinking of what she was likely to do, but of what she would not be able to resist doing..." with that final thought, he lapsed into another deep thinking state.
Arthur could see that there was no point in shaking him out of it. He turned to Leon,
"So, any ideas?"
"Aside from making sure she doesn't make copies of herself? Nope." Arthur scanned the faces at the table, and noticed that Tristan was looking nearly as thoughtful as Merlin.
"Tristan? You have an idea?" He looked up and seemed to clear his head.
"Hmm? Oh. I was just thinking. We know the castle better than the other soldiers and if it's true that Morgana has locked herself away, wouldn't now be a good time to either attack, or at least try to infiltrate the castle and get the stones?" Leon interrupted,
"He's right. If Merlin's theory about Morgana needing time to make the stone work is right, this may be the only chance we have of striking before she gets even more powerful than she is now." Arthur remembered what the old druid had said a while ago.
"No..." he mused out loud to the group., "Every time she makes a copy, it is weaker than her, and she is also weakened..." Elyan summed up what they were all thinking,
"I just wish I knew what in hell she is up to..." Arthur sighed,
"Well, if the past is anything to go by, she is up to something that will most likely mean she wins." Gwaine laughed,
"Well, if we are going by the past, we are gonna be back in Camelot, with Morgana god knows where after we beat her again, in less than a week." Then he sobered up, "Though last time, she didn't have a legion of demons at her control... or have the ability to multiply herself..."
Bedivere interrupted,
"Yeah, but this time we have a sorcerer."
"We had Merlin last time..." Tristan argued,
"I know that," Bedivere continued, "But last time, he couldn't really do much without being seen by someone. He doesn't have that problem this time..." He was interrupted by the arrival of Sir Kay, who was obviously drunk, and suffering from the demon wound he had sustained. His voice slurred as he interrupted the conversation.
"Who says he doesn't have a problem..? There are loads of us who hate his kind..." He turned to Arthur, "Even your own father hated them, and you think you are smarter than... " he slipped sideways, obviously unsteady on his feet, "You think you are smarter than your father... and you are just a kid... just one with a load of power..."
Arthur was just about to punch him in the face, when another fist beat his to it. Kay fell over backwards, out cold before he hit the floor. The entire room went quiet down and everyone turned, incredulous, to stare at Merlin, whose fist was still clenched. He loosened his fingers, stretching them slightly. Turning to Gwaine, he said,
"I can see why you guys do this so much. Feels strangely satisfying..." He turned to Arthur, "And I have an idea." Arthur grinned,
"Merlin, you never cease to amaze me. So, what's the plan?"
Merlin smiled as the room settled back around them, turning to the group, he called over Gaius and said three words that had all of them questioning his sanity.
"We do nothing…"