Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Merlin or anything affiliated with it.
"This is the fifth unconscious guard this week," Arthur spoke as he stood up from an unconscious sentry that was found near his post that morning. "Who is doing this?"
"Dunno," Merlin replied loftily, throwing a stone up and catching it, "but they've got good aim." He tossed the stone higher and looked at Arthur to see a steely, suspicious glare. Shocked, Merlin forgot about the stone and it hit him hard on his foot. "I'm not the one who's been knocking out the guards!"
"That isn't proven yet." Arthur retorted, narrowing his eyes, "You do look pretty handy with a stone."
Merlin opened his mouth to reply but quickly shut it when Gwaine came between them to inspect the unconscious man. "Another one?" Gwaine smirked when he looked up at Arthur.
Arthur was not amused. "It isn't funny, Gwaine. If the stone hit him any harder he might have been seriously injured. He's been knocked out for at least ten minutes as it is."
"Shame." Gwaine didn't seem surprised and Merlin wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion. "Perhaps you should invest in some half-decent guards."
"We've been over this," Arthur rolled his eyes and started to walk away, "there's nothing wrong with them!"
Merlin waited until Arthur was out of earshot when he turned back to Gwaine and muttered, "You're the one who's been throwing stones, haven't you?"
Gwaine raised his eyebrows. "Merlin! I never thought I'd see the day where you accuse your friends of something so…" he trailed off, trying to think of a good adjective to use. He quickly sighed- giving up- and plastered a huge grin on his face, "Yeah, it was me."
"Gwaine!" Merlin's voice escalated a few octaves. "If Arthur ever found out-"
"What would he do?" Gwaine interrupted, "I'm one of his trusted knights. The worst he could do would throw me in the stocks for a day. Besides, these guards regain consciousness within half an hour and are back on their feet in time to get back to shoddily guarding the city. Personally, I feel safer when I knock them out." Merlin looked at Gwaine with mild horror on his face and Gwaine snorted. "Really, Merlin, this isn't something to be afraid of. It's me that's the culprit, not you."
A pat on his shoulder revealed to Gwaine why Merlin suddenly looked horrified. "That you are," Arthur said with a fake smile on his face. "And about your stay in the stocks- let's make it two days, shall we?" He gripped Gwaine's shoulder tightly and steered him towards the empty stocks. "Would you look at that- it's like they were waiting just for you!"