"Oh. Uh… I was just down here to make sure everybody's armor was neatly polished," Merlin lied quickly. "And your axe had fallen over, Sir, so I was straightening it…"

"And my spurs? Did they need to be straightened, too?" Bertilak's face was thunderous and there was a threat in his tone.

"Oh, I… uh… thought I knocked into one of them when I picked up the axe."

Bertilak pulled the axe out of Merlin's grip and lifted it easily, setting the side of the blade on top of Merlin's shoulder. Merlin gulped.

"Tell me one reason why I shouldn't take your head off right here," Bertilak hissed.

"Oops!" There was a clatter behind them, and Anna stumbled into sight. "Oh, dear! Merlin, I kicked a sword," Anna giggled. She noticed Bertilak and broke into a wide grin. "Oh, did you come down to find me, too?" she simpered, walking toward them unsteadily. "Merlin and I were playing hide-and-seek. Ohhh." She put her hand on his muscular arm. "Aren't you strong, then?"

Bertilak's sour face broke into a leer and he removed his axe from Merlin's shoulder. "I am that. Coming to see the tournament tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Anna said, leaning in and speaking low. "All those big, muscular men, getting so sweaty…"

"Alright," Merlin said, taking her arm. "Your mother will kill me if I don't get you home." He steered her around Bertilak, who was no longer paying any attention to him, and out of the armory. "And next time there's a feast, I'm watering your wine."

"Awww, Merlin, you're no fun," Anna slurred, and let him drag her away.

"You're almost too good at that," Merlin said when they were well out of the armory and back in a more public part of the castle. "It's a good thing Gwaine didn't see you drooling all over him."

She grinned. "It was to save a friend. Gwaine would understand."

Merlin smiled ruefully. "Thanks."

"Did you get to test the axe?" she asked urgently, remembering their mission.

"Yes." Merlin frowned. "It doesn't work."

"Then the incident at the practice field…"

"Just a fluke."

"You needn't sound so downcast. Isn't it a good thing that somebody isn't cheating?"

"I guess. I was just so sure…"

"Well, keep your eyes open tomorrow." Anna stopped by the main doors and clapped him on the arm. "Maybe something will turn up."

"Anna!" Gwaine jogged up. "Where have you been?"

"I got roped into last minute preparations. Ready?"

"Sure am. Goodnight, Merlin," Gwaine said, offering Anna his arm. They headed out toward Anna's house."

"Goodnight."

000

Anna took a deep breath the next morning and knocked on Gwaine's door.

"Come in." He looked up from where he stood at the window, buckling on his armor. His face lit up when he saw her. "Annie! Come to wish me luck?"

"Yes. And to give you this." She blushed fiery red as she held out a white strip of cloth, which she had embroidered in scarlet. "Please wear it—for me."

Gwaine grinned. "Certainly, my lady." He held out his arm, and she tied it on between his couter and his rerebrace, ducking her head. When she had finished he lifted her chin and gave her a kiss. "I am honored to wear your favour."

She smiled, her eyes twinkling, and moved around him to fasten the straps on his armor. "Are you planning to challenge anyone?" There were scheduled bouts in the morning, and the afternoon was to be mostly given over to personal challenges.

"If anyone beats me in the morning I'll probably try a rematch," he answered. Anna knew that usually he was the one being challenged, as he was one of the best swordsmen in the kingdom in hand-to-hand combat, and there wasn't to be any jousting this time.

"If," she repeated with a smile, buckling the last piece of plate in place and throwing his cape over his shoulders. She lifted her face and gave him a kiss as she hooked it. "Good luck."

000

"Ah, there you are." Gaius didn't comment on Anna's late arrival to the physician's tent at one end of the lists: he knew where she had been. Besides, the servants had carried everything out in the morning, so she hadn't been needed yet. "I hope we'll have fewer casualties this time than at the last tournament."

"Oh?"

"Someone tried to use a sharpened blade when they had been expressly forbidden. Luckily, no one was too seriously hurt."

"But this time they are allowed to use sharp blades, aren't they?"

"In the challenge part during the afternoon. But it's doubtful many will choose to do so. After all, this is supposed to be a friendly competition, celebrating a new peace."

The morning went off without a hitch: Arthur and Gaheris were both competing, and both proved their abilities as swordsmen. Gaius and Anna mostly just had bangs and bruises to bind up, and one sprained ankle. The morning's bouts went so smoothly and quickly that they finished early, and moved on to challenges before luncheon.

Bertilak had beaten every fighter he had gone up against in the morning's bouts, so it wasn't long before he was challenged—this time with bladed weapons.

Bertilak seemed almost gleeful as he took up his gigantic axe to do battle against Sir Sagramor, his first challenger. He had bested him earlier in the morning when Sagramor tripped over an uneven place in the ground of the lists, so he was eager to fight against the Green Knight again.

Sagramor put up a good fight. The crowd was very excited; there were cheers every time one or other of the fighters got in a good hit. Sagramor was popular in Camelot, but Bertilak had fought so well that day that he had his own little following in the stands. Merlin and Anna stood at the end of the lists watching the fight.

"Oo!" Anna suddenly exclaimed. Sagramor, faster on his feet than his heavy opponent, had ducked a swipe of Bertilak's axe and had spun around, slicing between Bertilak's armor and wounding his arm. Expecting his opponent to fall back in pain, he moved more slowly than usual to deliver the next blow. But Bertilak took no time to recover, and used the haft of his axe to hit Sagramor in the belly, knocking him backward onto the dirt.

Sagramor lay panting, trying to catch his breath, and Bertilak held the blade of his axe to Sagramor's throat: the match was his.

Bertilak's admirers cheered, and he offered his hand to his opponent, pulling Sagramor to his feet. The two of them headed to the end of the lists, the golden thread on Bertilak's sash glinting in the sun.

"Let me see your arm," Merlin said as Anna escorted Sagramor to the physician's tent.

"No, no, it's fine," Bertilak said.

"Come, Bertilak," Leon said, striding up. "You need to have that stitched so you can compete in the afternoon. I for one want you to be whole when I challenge you!"

"No, really." Bertilak saw he couldn't escape, and removed some of the plate armor from his left arm. "Look."

He displayed the rent in his green arming jacket, holding it open and pushing the down stuffing aside. The skin beneath was perfectly whole.

"You must have the hide of a boar!" Leon exclaimed. "I could swear you went to a tanner before you came to Camelot!"

Bertilak grinned at this sally and picked up his axe again. "I believe the herald is announcing a break for luncheon," he said. "I will see you in the Great Hall, Sir Leon."

Merlin sped back to Gaius's tent and saw the physician pinning up the bandage he had wrapped around Sagramor's bruised ribs.

"Tell me I at least left a nice scar," Sagramor groaned.

Merlin shook his head. "Not a mark on him." Anna and Gaius both shot Merlin a piercing look, then exchanged a glance with each other.

Sagramor slapped his leg. "I could have sworn my blade went right between the plates."

When Sagramor had been sent out of the tent to wash up for luncheon, the three healers looked at one another.

"The blade definitely went deep enough to go into his arm," Merlin asserted, "but there wasn't a mark on him. Just a rend in his arming jacket—just like before."

"It's very unlikely such a fortuitous chance would happen twice in two days," Gaius admitted. "But you said the axe did nothing."

"No. I don't think it's the axe. It would be a silly thing to enchant with a protective spell, anyway. What if he were disarmed in a fight? Then he wouldn't have the protection anymore. No, it's more likely to be something he's actually wearing."

"It could be anything, then," Anna pointed out. "His breastplate, his arming jacket—"

"No, not the arming jacket. Bertilak isn't the type to hide his light under a bushel. Look at all that green! He wants to make a spectacle of himself. He wouldn't wear a protective charm that he couldn't show off. Besides, his jacket was cut by Sagramor's sword. No, we're looking for something that isn't harmed in combat—something that doesn't even seem to get dirty in the dust of the lists. Something that's spectacular and eye-catching…"

Gaius and Anna caught on at the same moment. "His sash!"

Merlin nodded. "Now, here's the real question: how do we steal it?"

TBC