"What was that?"

For once, Gwaine didn't sound as if he was understanding a joke nobody else got.

There was a buzzing in Arthur's ears. He realized distantly that he was sitting on the bench in the armoury, somehow traversing the distance between it and the curtain. Everyone was standing around looking as if they had been hit over the head. It was an odd expression on them, more suited to Merlin.

Right. Merlin, who was apparently not all Arthur believed him to be. Quite a bit more, in fact.

"Arthur?"

Guinevere was there, sitting next to him, staring at him anxiously. She hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder.

He looked uncomprehendingly at her for a moment, and mumbled.

"What?"

"I-" Arthur swallowed. "He, um, wants to kill uh - me."

'Us'. He had almost said 'us'. But that wasn't true. It was him Agravaine wanted to kill, that much was clear. Merlin was simply standing in the way. Interfering.

"Mate..."

Gwaine was standing awkwardly to the side, with Leon, Elyan and Percival. Arthur realized he must look like anything but a prince right now.

Somehow, he didn't care much.

Still, he had to do...something.

"Sire," Leon spoke, "I suggest we reconvene to a more secure location."

Casting Leon a grateful glance, Arthur rose. "Yes. Yes, we will meet in my chambers in ten minutes. Do not all come at once. Do not speak of this to anyone and avoid...confrontation."

There were mutterings of agreement, and Arthur kept tight control over himself until he reached his room.

Then he sank to the floor, his back leaning against the bed, and stared at the fireplace as if it would assure him that this entire thing was a dream.

Why couldn't it be a dream?

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Guinevere was the first to arrive. She glanced at him warily, but the short respite had allowed Arthur to come to his senses. Mostly.

Leon was next, then came Percival and Elyan.

Gwaine was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he?" Arthur stopped himself from pacing. It would just give the idea he wasn't dealing with this unexpected turn of events well. He was. Really.

"Perhaps we should start without him." Elyan remarked mildly. He wasn't as close to Arthur as some (Merlin and his sister came to mind), but even he could see the prince's obvious tension.

"Yes." Arthur decided. It really was like Gwaine to be disruptive. He ignored the voice in the back of his head (that sounded suspiciously like Merlin) that told him Gwaine was generally reliable when it came to things of importance.

"Right." He turned to look at the small group. They seemed to be waiting for him to speak, all with varying levels of the same wariness Guinevere had shown.

For the first few minutes, Arthur had been in shock. He had tried to rationalize the two's behavior, even considering sorcery. Then his head had taken over. His heart had been pushed aside to bleed in quiet. Arthur had drawn up a mental list of facts.

One: Agravaine is a traitor.

Two: He wishes to kill me.

Three: Merlin knows this.

Four: Merlin is protecting me somehow.

Five: Agravaine will kill Merlin to kill me.

Six: This will not happen.

It had been the fifth fact that had jolted Arthur into wakefulness. Merlin's comment about being hard to kill had most likely been a true statement - Arthur remembered many, many times when the stubborn idiot had just refused to give up - but nobody was invincible. Eventually he would slip up, and Agravaine would take advantage of that.

And he was doing it solely for Arthur.

Sometimes, Arthur had thought, staring at his hands, it terrified him to confront just how loyal Merlin was to him.

Now he mentally shook himself. There would be time for that later. Right now he had to look at this one small aspect at a time. Any more and he would lose himself.

While emotion was undoubtedly the greatest strength, it was also the greatest weakness.

Arthur found he had lost track of what he had said. He tried to regain his sense of purpose.

"Did any of you know?"

The question slipped out. He hadn't meant to say it. Though, truth be told, he didn't regret it. He was only just realizing it would be foolish to assume anything was concrete at this point. It was a good a point to start as any.

"No." Leon didn't seem fazed by the inquiry. His mental track appeared to run parallel to Arthur's. Elyan and Guinevere voiced negatives as well, while Percival shook his head.

Arthur let out a breath. He hadn't known how much their responses would reassure him. The knowledge that Merlin was hiding something of such monumental importance shook Arthur to his core.

It was a sobering find.

"You're certain." Arthur finally said. He gazed steadily at them in turn. They all met his eyes.

There was silent assent all around.

Arthur let out a deep breath.

Then Gwaine burst into the room.

"Hello." He gave a lazy smile. Arthur wasn't sure at what. It seemed to be his default expression.

"Gwaine," Arthur growled. "where have you been?"

"Ah." Gwaine raised a finger. "I realized something."

"And what would that be?"

"Well," Gwaine grinned, the smile blossoming over his face, and Arthur felt his stomach drop in sudden foreboding. "I figured that we can't really have a discussion about Merlin without Merlin present, can we?"

With that, he pulled Merlin into the room.