Hey guys! I hope you enjoy :)

SHE LOVES ME! Arthur was as excited as a child. He collapsed onto his bed. She loves me! Why? Because you're a prince, the future king. No, Arthur smiled to himself, she would have loved me regardless. She would have loved me even I was a farmer. Merlin barged into his chambers to help Arthur get ready for bed.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I've been really ill," Merlin fake coughs, "See I'm still recovering…"

Arthur just ignored him. He had a big smile on his face as he lay on his bed, his hands clasped behind his head and he gazed up above him.

"You seemed happy," Merlin commented as he busied himself getting Arthur's bed clothes out.

"She loves me," Arthur blurted out.

"Who does?"

Arthur threw a pillow at him, "Gwen of course!"

"Well everyone knows that," Merlin replied having mysterious avoided the pillow. Arthur made a mental note to work on his aim.

"Well, I didn't," Arthur said quietly to himself.

"What?" Merlin asked loudly.

"Nothing," Arthur replied.

The next day was the first round of the tournament.

Gwen was up against a young knight named Richard. He had joined the knights soon after Gwen herself. His father was a landowner of many of the southern farms. Richard was a snob but had become a much nicer man since joining the knights. He was perfectly competent at fighting.

The battle didn't pose much of a threat for Gwen. She managed to have Richard on his back, sword pointed at his throat within five minutes. She was a crowd favourite, still a novelty to watch although she had been a knight for many months. She could always guarantee a full stadium, particularly amongst the womenfolk who admired her greatly. Some thought she should just settle down and marry a nice young man but many women secretly wished they had the courage to do what Gwen did. Cheers and whistles erupted as Richard landed flat on his back.

Gwen took her customary bow, rather than the traditional curtsey, and exited the field. Uther would not be present for the opening rounds of the competition, except when Arthur was fighting. Lancelot followed her next and thrashed his opponent. Leon quickly joined them in the next round of the tournament. The second half of the draw was due to fight in the afternoon.

"Gwen, Gwen!" Merlin was calling her name as he ran up to her.

Gwen politely excused herself from the conversation with Leon and Lancelot and went to Merlin.

"Merlin are you okay? You seem panicked," Gwen asked concerned.

"I need…to…talk to you," Merlin panted.

"Just take a deep breath and tell me what's happened,"

Merlin took a deep breath and began his story.

It started the morning he woke up hung over and cuddled up in Gwen's bed. Obviously he panicked, fully aware that it must have been mid-afternoon and he was extremely late for work. He burst out of Gwen's front door and stumbled into a man walking past. Merlin made his apologies and was about the hurry on his way when the stranger stopped him. He introduced himself as a wandering trader and engaged Merlin in conversation. He was particularly keen to find out all about Uther's birthday tournament. Merlin, being Merlin, happily obliged and informed him when the rounds would commence. He was asked many questions about Arthur, which Merlin was much more cautious in answering. Eventually Merlin bid him good day and went off to find Arthur. He had not thought much about the encounter until he saw the stranger lurking around the preparation tents.

"Gwen, I'm convinced he is up to no good and I think it involves Arthur," Merlin finished.

"That may be the case. We need to alert Arthur and some of the other knights. We will be prepared for him if he decides to attack," Gwen declared.

She called out to Leon and Lancelot who were still stood close by.

"Leon, can you go find Arthur quickly please? Lancelot can you find Percival and Merlin can you find Gwaine. Meet back here as soon as you can," Gwen commanded.

The knights and Merlin nodded and went to complete their individual tasks. Within 15 minutes, everyone was accounted for. Merlin informed them all what he had seen, Arthur was sceptical, but Gwen's insistence that he took his safety as a priority was enough to make him take the situation seriously.

And then it was Arthur's turn to fight. He confidently strolled into the arena, Merlin hurrying along behind him with Arthur's sword and helmet. He grabbed his sword but left his helmet. Cheers erupted from the crowd, and Arthur being the constant showman, bowed and waved to his fans. He turned to his opponent and mockingly beckoned him with his hand. His opponent made some grand movements and sweeps and hurtled towards Arthur. Arthur stood completely still, sword pointed to the ground. As his opponent went for the final stab, Arthur stepped aside, the momentum of his opponent too much for the poor man to stop, and he crashed face first into the ground. Arthur then rested the tip of his sword on the back of the knight's neck.

"LONG LIVE THE PRINCE!" Arthur bowed and waved to the crowd, giving a particular nod to his very proud father who stood on his raised platform, probably cheering the loudest of them all. Gwen just beamed at him as he approached the group of knights.

"Well we've all survived round one, I mean that more literally in some cases that others," the knights laughed but Gwen was still tense and on high alert. The day ended peacefully and the excitement was high for the second round and quarterfinals for the following day.

Gwen passed through the second round without a scratch and was easily into the quarterfinals. However, her opponent in the quarterfinals was Sir Leon. He was a loyal and practical man, often looked to for advice by Arthur and his fellow knights. She knew he would be tough competition and that the crowd would be evenly divided between the two of them.

Sure enough Leon hit her hard and fast, the round had only just commenced when he pounced. Gwen hit the ground running, never a popular move, but she had little choice. She darted and dived out of the way of Leon's sword. Gwen just reacted, it was instinct, the words were out of her mouth before she could think. Luckily for her, the crowd's boos at her running were too loud for anyone to hear her. Leon suddenly came to dramatic halt, unable to move his feet. Gwen quickly released him but it gave her the precious couple of seconds to gain her footing and take her stance. As Leon began to move again, his initial confusion slowed him greatly, and Gwen managed to get an almighty hit on his left side. The weight of her blow winded him and after that Gwen was constantly on the attack. It eventually became a fight against stamina. Leon moved too slowly and put too much force behind his attacks. Gwen managed to run rings round him, and gave a defeating jab when he was too tired to defend. The crowd cheered loudly. It might not have been the most exciting fight but both knights had fought admirably.

Lancelot had fought earlier on in the day and had already made it through to the semi-finals, making him Gwen's next competition. Gwen had no idea how that fight would go as Lancelot was arguably the best fighter in Camelot. It was a tough call between him and Arthur.

Arthur and Gwaine were to meet in the semi-finals of the second half of the draw. Arthur had faced a fierce fight against Sir Percival or as most of the women in Camelot like to think of him, the man with the arms. He was the strongest knight in Camelot, and one of the most loyal, but not necessarily the brightest. Arthur eventually defeated him by feinting right but then delivering a huge blow from his weaker left side, completely surprising poor Percival. Percival's shock sent him stumbling and it was all Arthur needed to force Percival's head into the sand.

"PRINCE ARTHUR WINS AGAIN!"

Gwen, Merlin, Gwaine and Lancelot were all on guard duty during the round but no one had even seen a glimpse of the mysterious man. They were beginning to think Merlin had imagined him; he had had a lot to drink the night before. Uther stood in the stands beaming at his son. Arthur returned his proud smile with a bow.

The knights had an early night as it was the big day tomorrow. The two semi-finals would be held in the morning, followed by the grand finale in the afternoon. Everyone was feeling nervous and Gwen went to bed with butterflies in her stomach. She had no idea how to beat Lancelot in the morning and just hoped she would be inspired during the battle. She did her best to avoid using magic in tournaments as she felt it gave her an unfair advantage.

And, if tomorrow went to plan, Arthur would tell the world about them. Was she ready for that? Could she handle the hate and disapproval of the people, of the neighbouring kingdoms? It was a huge task to become the potential future Queen of Camelot and a lot of people would have a lot of opinions about it, many of them negative. But Gwen was confident in herself and she hated hiding any part of her life in shadows. One day she would be completely true to the world around her.

She slept restlessly, often tossing and turning throughout the night. From the look of Gwaine's face he had a significantly better night's sleep than her.

"Relax Gwen, you're the best knight out there and you know it, particularly with your little gift," he grinned at her.

"I do try not to use in competitions you know," Gwen grumbled.

"Yes I know, doesn't mean you can't use it though, just remember that," Gwaine put his arm round her shoulder, "but I don't think you'll get to use against your boyfriend, I will be facing you in the final."

"If I make it to the final," she mumbled.

"What's the matter? Of course you'll beat Lancelot, but that's more because he won't possibly be able to attack you."

"What?" Gwen asked shocked.

"Come on Gwen, it's obvious. There is no way Lancelot will be able to fight you properly. He is too much of a sappy idiot to realise you can take it. I don't mean that in a bad way, just you know, Arthur and I know that we can fight you like you're a man whereas Lancelot treats you like a princess. This is coming across all wrong. We are very aware you are actually a girl, and I'm not saying you're like a man, just you fight like a man..." Gwaine continued to ramble on.

Gwen just looked up at him and patted him on the head. "It's okay, I'm not offended. I know what you mean." She smiled at him, "In fact you have dramatically brightened up my mood with that ridiculous rant."

"Well, I aim to please," Gwaine gave her a cheeky wink. She punched his arm.

"Come on lets go find Princey and Lancelot!"

"You've got to stop calling him that!"

Well that's round 1 (and 2) of the tournament. I hope you enjoyed it, please review and brighten up my day :).