A Marriage that Started a Legend

by IJustShowedUp

Follows canon but with my own arranged marriage spin on it. What happens when Hunith makes a mistake and is forced on the run with her infant son? What happens when Camelot knights find her twenty years later? What happens when Arthur learns he's betrothed to a peasant boy? Will Merlin be able to stand among royalty? Will these two different boys survive each other? Review!

29. Chapter 29

"He's thinking about giving the prince a favor!"

Merlin and Morgana both whipped their heads around to stare at Gwen, with identical looks of surprise on their faces. Gwen felt herself flush under the sudden attention, bringing her hands up to cover at her mouth, feeling absolutely mortified about what she had just blurted out.

"Gwen!" Merlin exclaimed, looking at her with rounded eyes. He wasn't mad that she had told, it wasn't exactly like he was trying to keep it a secret. If all things went well, Arthur would be going into battle with a 'token of his affection' strapped around his bicep.

Merlin's face scrunched up as he thought about that term. Yeah, he was never gonna call it that again, the term alone was more horrific that actually giving one to Arthur.

"I'm sorry!" Gwen exclaimed, jerking her hands away from her mouth so that she could talk more clearer. "I wasn't going to say anything, I really didn't mean to. But we're all just sitting here, and I didn't mean any harm. It just came out..."

She did have a point.

After Merlin had made his last comment about Arthur needing to impress him if he wanted him to root for him, the three of them had lapsed into silence. Mainly because Merlin had been to busy staring at Morgana who had been smirking at him.

She had been far to amused by Merlin's declaration. It wasn't everyday that she heard somebody say that Arthur was the one that needed to do the impressing. Most people either went out of their way to avoid the prince, and she couldn't really blame them considering Arthur's arrogant attitude. Or they fell all over themselves trying to win the prince's praise, which never exactly worked out the way they wanted it to.

As much as she hated to admit it, she almost knew Arthur better than she knew herself. And she knew something like Merlin's declaration was going to drive him absolutely mad. She absolutely loved it, probably more than she ever thought she would. But then again, she'd never met somebody so bold as to tell Arthur that it was him who had to do the impressing.

She had liked Merlin when they had first met. But the declaration had practically sealed the deal for her. He was definitely going to be her new best friend, especially if he could get under Arthur's skin as he know doubt had.

Taking in what Gwen had said, Morgana's head whipped back around so that she could look at Merlin, her eyes shining with surprise. "Really, is that true?" Because she wasn't going to believe it unless Merlin told him herself. Not that she didn't trust her handmaiden, but still, there were just some things that needed to be told from the source.

Merlin felt himself flush uncomfortably under the stares of the two girl's. He didn't usually get embarrassed like this, it wasn't exactly his character, but things hadn't been the same since he'd entered Camelot either. There were tournament's, and favors, and a pratish prince that Merlin may or may not like, and it was doing all kinds of thing's to his insides.

"It's not a horrible idea, is it?" Merlin found himself asking. "I mean, he'll probably just throw it back in my face..." and as much as Merlin hated to admit it, he could picture that exact scenario happening in his head.

"No, no, no." Morgana said quickly. "I think you should go for it!" She was so tired of seeing these vapid noble girl's try to give Arthur their favor every year. He probably had a trunk full somewhere, filled with rejected favors.

"Really?" Merlin asked, giving her a raised eyebrow while looking at her with a dubious expression. Maybe it was from his upbringing, but he hadn't been expecting a noble lady to be so pleased that a peasant was trying to give gift's to a royal. It wasn't exactly frowned upon, or against some very weird and archaic law, at least not that he knew of. But there was still a very distinct and firm line between nobility and the common people that made things a little harder.

And for Merlin, who blurred the line by being common born, and yet considered a noble through his sudden marriage to Arthur...it was a whole lot more complicated. Like where did the common boy end, and the new noble emerge?

And why couldn't he just be both? Why did he have to be the commoner Merlin who didn't know things about the traditions of his new home? Why did he have to be this noble who everyone stared at in shock when they realized he had no idea what he was doing.

Maybe it was time he did something that he knew he was good at...like doing thing's without thinking it through.

Merlin jolted up from his seat as the thought rung through his mind, startling both Morgana and Gwen.

"Where are you going?" Gwen asked, panicked. She didn't want Merlin to leave if she'd insulted him, or lost his trust by bringing this whole favor thing to attention.

"I'm going to bring Arthur a favor, before the tournament starts!" Merlin said firmly. And it didn't matter that his heart started racing in his chest again, or that the clamminess had returned to his hands.

Maybe it was silly, that this was the first thing he thought to do. But since Gwen had brought it up...why the hell not?

He didn't care that George had said that favors were usually only given sometime after the first rounds were done.

Fuck that.

He was Merlin Fucking-kill him now-Pendragon. Since when did he abide by 'rules' or 'customs' or whatnot. What was the big deal if he wanted to give Arthur a favor now or later?

He wasn't one of those noblewomen who treated all of this as if she was picking a prize racehorse for the chance of winning the prize money. He was Merlin, and if he wanted to give his husband a stupid favor before everyone else got the chance to pass their own around, then he fucking would.

And that was that.

Decision decided, Merlin took a step away from his seat, with every intention of tracking that stupid prince down and presenting him with...he didn't get the chance to move much further away.

There was a firm tug on the back of his jacket, and Merlin was yelling in surprise when he was jerked back into his seat. "What was that for?" He exclaimed, turning around to glare at Morgana.

"That was me stopping you from doing something stupid." Morgana said dryly, pulling her hands away from where she had grabbed Merlin by his jacket.

"I wasn't going to do something stupid!" Merlin protested. Why did everyone think he was always going to do something stupid? He knew exactly what he was doing!

"Oh?" Morgana asked, raising an eyebrow at him. And for a second, just a second, her facial expression eerily resembled Arthur when he thought Merlin had said something particularly stupid. "So, you weren't running off half-cocked to give Arthur a favor?"

Merlin scowled, feeling more petulant than he would have liked to admit, even to himself. "And if I was?" He asked, before nearly biting his tongue. That had sounded ruder than he meant it to, and Morgana wasn't prat enough to talk so rudely to.

He had to take a breath to calm his jittering energy, before he tried again slower, "I know that Camelot has all of these weird unspoken rules and such. I know that most people give their favors after the first rounds, but I'm not like most people!"

And for the first time, he wasn't talking about his magic. He was talking about the fact that he was common born, and would always be different from those who had grown up with silver spoons in their mouth's.

"It's exactly why I should go and give him one now instead of later." And maybe it was also because he couldn't take this for much longer. Not knowing if this could be the start of something new with Arthur, or if he would just have to be content with living in a marriage that was entirely different than the one he thought he'd have as a child. The kind of childish daydreams he'd had, long before he would learn that he'd been spoken for before he was even born.

Morgana waved a dismissive hand, "I don't care about that rule, I always thought it was particularly stupid anyway. What I do care about is you bursting into the competitor's tent and handing your favor to Arthur."

Merlin felt himself stiffen up, not sure if he should be offended or not. "What, you don't think I can do it?" He demanded. Or maybe it was something different, maybe Morgana didn't think that he was good enough for Arthur. Maybe she didn't approve of a commoner marrying into the royal family, maybe she hadn't liked this any more than Arthur and him had either.

Morgana scoffed, "Oh, I know you can do it." She said, confidently. Just looking at Merlin now, the way his chest was heaving with harsh breathing even though he'd barely moved, she had no doubt that he would have done exactly what he said he would.

"Then why shouldn't I go?" He asked hurriedly. And Merlin wasn't sure what he wanted her answer to be. If he wanted her to talk him out of this, or encourage him to go ahead with it.

He wasn't sure which one would be worse.

"Think about it," Morgana said slowly. "You want to give Arthur a favor, right?"

Merlin felt his flush returning, and a muscle in his jaw twitch. It just sounded so embarrassing hearing it come from somebody else like that. "Yeah." He grudgingly admitted, although he didn't know why he was so desperate to do it. Maybe he was just tired having this not knowing lingering in the back of his mind.

"Okay then," Morgana said calmly.

Gwen was watching them both, saying silent in her seat. This was more of a conversation between nobles, and Gwen wasn't a part of it. She was just a handmaiden, and therefore, she had no place to add something to a conversation about favors.

"Now, what exactly are you planning on giving him?" The lady asked, giving Merlin a stern look. It was almost similar to how a queen would look when talking to one of her subjects who had failed her.

Merlin didn't hesitate to say, "I was going to give him..." he cut himself off when he realized that he still didn't have the answer for that one. He hadn't even had the time to begun looking for something that he could pass off as a poor attempt at a favor. "...Oh."

"There it is." Morgana said, smiling when it looked as if the little torch had gone off in Merlin's head. It hadn't been to hard to deduce that Merlin didn't have anything to give the prince. She saw the clothes that Merlin wore, and how he had yet to touch anything of any real value. She would have that that somebody common born, would have gone straight for the valuables and yet...Merlin hadn't.

"What am I supposed to give him?" Merlin moaned, slumping in his seat. It was as if everything he'd been feeling had drained out of him completely, as if his bubble had been popped. "I can't afford to give him a favor!"

They were just so expensive, so expensive that Merlin could probably work somewhere for a full year and not be able to afford half of one. And adding that most favor's were one of a kind, and custom made by tailors, it added up to an almost frightening number for such a small piece of cloth.

Hell, he'd heard that some favors literally had diamonds sewn into the silk. How was he supposed to afford something that had literal diamonds on it?

Morgana didn't seem to think that money was any problem at all. But then again, Morgana had gone from her father's highly noble home, and straight to the king's castle. She'd never had to worry about money a day in her life.

"Don't worry, Merlin. I'll have Madame Teresa brought up. Just tell her what you want it to look like, and she should have it ready for you to give Arthur by the third rounds." And then Morgana was lifting her chin, trying to crane her head to look over the heads of the people nearest to them. She was ignoring Merlin's protest, already raising her hand to call for one of the nearby guard's. "And it will all be paid for by the crown, of course. We do take care of our own, after all."

"No, no, no!" Instead of being relieved by this like she would have thought, Merlin seemed to be even more agitated by it. He even grabbed her by the arm, jerking it back down before one of the guard's had noticed her trying to flag them down.

"Merlin! What on earth!" Morgana exclaimed, wrenching her arm free to stare at Merlin with startled eye's. Not that it had been very hard for her to get free, Merlin had let go immediately.

"I don't need you calling Madame Teresa for this." Merlin said quickly. As much as the royal tailor had both amazed and terrified him when she had been getting him prepared for his wedding with her royal assistants Rachael and Rebecca, he didn't need her for something like this.

"Why on earth not?" Morgana asked, frowning deeply. She knew that the Madame did great work, she'd had the royal tailor make her own favor when she was fourteen and it was quite a beautifully decorative piece of cloth. Not that she had ever used it, of course. Arthur had found out and teased her mercilessly about it. Uther had put a stop to it when he found out, but Morgana had still tucked it away in her drawers for safe keeping.

She had never found anybody worth giving it to anyway.

"I'm not using Arthur's own money to get him a favor." Merlin said firmly, that was one thing that he was dead set against doing.

He had more pride than to give Arthur something that had been paid for by his family's money. If he couldn't afford to give Arthur a proper favor himself, he was just gonna have to figure something else out.

Maybe this was just another thing that made him different, but this was the one difference that he was okay with having. This one wouldn't get him killed, not like his magic would.

And he didn't care if he was technically considered family now, by law at least. He didn't care that anything the crown had, was now his as well, he still didn't think of any of this as his. He hadn't done anything to earn what Arthur had been given, just by being born into the Pendragon family.

Nobody would find him digging though the Pendragon wealth.

Morgana was staring at him blankly, as if she didn't understand why he didn't want the help of their seamstress.

When she didn't say anything for the longest minute, Merlin looked around her to the silent member of their party. "Isn't that right Gwen? It's wrong to give Arthur something using his own money."

After all, hadn't Gwen and he already talked about using Arthur's money to buy him his own favor? Back when Gwen had been helping him learn how to put Arthur into his armor.

Gwen startled, her head shooting up in surprise when she was suddenly addressed. Yes, she'd been paying attention and keeping up with the conversation, but she hadn't been expected to actually be involved in said conversation.

But under Merlin's encouraging stare, and Morgana now raising an eyebrow at her, Gwen felt herself flush. Playing with her fingers in her lap, she had to force herself to start talking. "He...does have a point, m'lady. It does seem unseemly to give Prince Arthur something with help from the royal vaults."

Morgana pursed her lips in thought. She hadn't seen a problem with it herself, and she was sure that a commoner like Merlin would have taken advantage to having so much gold at his disposal. But he didn't crease to surprise her, and her handmaiden as well for agreeing with him, even if it went against her mistress.

Ultimately, she shook her head, flipping her dark ponytail of hair over her shoulder. "You both are something else, aren't you?"

Gwen felt her flush deepening, and averted her eyes away from her mistress. Merlin just looked at the Lady confused, not sure what 'something else' was supposed to mean. And if he should be offended or not.

"So," Morgana said, in a more chipper tone as she turned to Merlin. "If having Madame Teresa make you one is out, what plans do you have?"

Merlin stared at her blankly.

"You...do have a plan, don't you?" The lady asked slowly. "For how you're going to get your hands on one...for how you're planning on presenting it to Arthur..."

"Nobody told me I needed to have a plan!" Merlin exclaimed, feeling more lost than the day he'd said 'I do' to Arthur in the first place. And feeling more helpless than he wanted to admit, Merlin brought a hand up to cover his face as he groaned loudly.

"Okay, okay." Morgana said quickly, before Merlin could fall into more despair. "We can fix this. We'll find something to use for a favor, if you won't accept the crown's help...?" She stared at Merlin, as if expecting him to jump for it now that he'd realized just how lost he was. But he just raised his head from his hand to give her a stern look. "No? Okay then. Please tell me you at least have an idea on how to present it to Arthur! Even a little inkling of thought for how you were going to do it?"

"I can't just wing it?" Merlin asked. What did he know about how people presented their favors? And he was a commoner anyway, not a noble, should he really be trying to follow along with all of their ways?

"Wing it?" Morgana asked slowly, as if she had never heard of something so dumb in all of her life. "You were just going to wing it?" She gave a little laugh, looking over at Gwen to join her, as if she thought Merlin was just joking. But Gwen wasn't laughing with her, and neither was Merlin. Her laughter died down abruptly, as her eyes became wide and rounded with shock as she realized that this wasn't a joke. "You were really just going to wing it!" She exclaimed in disbelief, her voice so high that it actually cut through the noise of the crowd around them.

Everyone in the nearby vicinity went quiet for a moment as everybody turned to stare at them. But after a moment of silence, everybody went back to talking as if nothing had happened.

Merlin turned back to the other two girl's and said defensively, "There's nothing wrong with winging it!" It wasn't as if he knew anything about how to 'present' a favor to somebody. So winging it was probably his best bet.

"There's everything wrong with winging it!" Morgana protested. "Don't you want everything to go perfect?" Maybe it was just the girl in her, but she could think of a million of different things that could go wrong with just 'winging it'.

Merlin groaned, bringing a hand up to roughly run it through his hair, feeling his bangs flopping back onto his forehead. "There is more work than I thought it would be. What's wrong with me just handing it to him and saying 'here, wear this'."

Morgana stared at him in disbelief, before she shook her head. "You are such a boy!" She said, pushing him hard on his arm. Thank God Arthur was also a boy, because Morgana couldn't imagine Merlin being able to romance a girl with that kind of thought process.

Merlin looked at her confused, bringing up a hand to rub at his arm where she had pushed him, "...Thank you..." he said confused, wondering what his gender had to do with any of this.

Morgana ignored him, turning to face forward in her seat. "We just need to think of a game plan." She insisted, bring up a hand to curl a strand of hair around her slim finger. "Something so that when you do it, Arthur will have no choice but to accept it!" And she sounded way to excited about planning this.

"Like what?" Merlin asked with a snort. "It's not like I'm going to get down on bended knee, hold out a favor, and then profess my undying love to him for all eternity while begging him to accept my favor."

Merlin may just be starting to come to terms with him possibly liking Arthur, but love? That was so far out of the realm of possibility that Merlin had to almost laugh at the thought.

And then Merlin saw the contemplative look Morgana was wearing.

"I am not doing all of that!" Merlin exclaimed, his voice going into a higher pitch than he would have liked.

Morgana pouted her ruby red lipstick stained lips, before shaking her head. "No, you're right. That is far to much, and the two of you haven't even had a date yet, right? Unless you count your wedding." And then she gave Merlin a questionable look, as if wondering if the two of them had gone on a date and she had somehow not known it.

Merlin felt himself flush, "No! We haven't gone on a date, and our wedding definitely doesn't count."

He huffed, finding himself more annoyed than he wanted to admit. He had always thought that marriage meant time spent together, going on dozens of dates, and sharing kisses and conversations.

He'd been married for almost two weeks! And had barely managed to have a decent conversation with his own husband!

He was finding out that his marriage was anything but what he'd thought it'd be. Or maybe it wasn't the marriage itself that was the problem, maybe it was just because Arthur didn't seem to have a single romantic bone in his body.

Or maybe Arthur just hated him so much, that he didn't want anything to do with him.

"Good, good." Morgana said, reaching out to pat at his knee before pulling away. "Remember what I said when we first met. If he wants to go on a date with you, then you need to make him ask for it." A wickedly teasing smile tugged her lips upwards at the thought of Arthur actually having to ask for something.

Merlin shook his head, wondering if there was something wrong with Morgana's head. "And how exactly am I going to do that? At the rate we're going, I'm more likely to get a date with a frog." He stopped to think for a moment. "Although really, that probably wouldn't be a bad idea. At least the frog can't talk..."

Arthur had clearly never held his tongue a day in his life. But then again, Merlin hadn't exactly ever held back himself.

Morgana shook her head, "Don't talk like that. Giving him a favor is a wonderful first step so show him that you're interested-"

"I'm not interested!" Merlin blurted out, his voice coming out fast and rushed. And at both Morgana and Gwen giving him confused looks, he felt himself flush. "I just mean...there's nothing for me to be interested in. Arthur is rude...and he's always talking way more than I think he should since he never says anything good...and for all I know, he's lying about being this great swordsman...but what do I know, I've never seen him in a real fight before..." he trailed off when he realized that he'd been talking for to long. Both Morgana and Gwen were still staring at him. He smiled weakly, "I just meant that there's nothing to be interested in. He's not my type..."

And who cares if he always thought he'd end up with a guy that had blonde hair and muscled biceps, it was just a coincidence that Arthur had both. And although he'd never thought about slightly crooked teeth like Arthur had, it was growing on him...

Fuck, he really did have a crush on Arthur, didn't he? But it was probably just his looks that Merlin was attracted to, right? Somehow, liking him because he thought he was cute, was less scary than liking him for anything else.

After all, his personality still left a lot to be desired.

"Not your type or not," Morgana said, bringing Merlin out of his thoughts. "You do still want to give him a favor, don't you?" As if she thought Merlin was going to back out of it now, after all of this.

Merlin straightened up in his seat, "Of course I do!" And it wasn't just because of his stupid crush on the prat, it was because this might be the only chance he had to know what his future was going to be like. He needed to know if there was a chance, or if he was just being stupid. "But I'm still not getting down on bended knee." He said bluntly, because he had to draw a line somewhere.

He was already going to feel stupid trying to give Arthur something that he was probably just going to turn down. He wasn't going to make himself look even more of a fool than he already felt.

Morgana pouted, before nodding in agreement. It probably was to much after all, for such a new couple at least. Besides, seeing Merlin on bended knee would probably just freak the prince out and he'd lash out. Knowing Arthur like she did, he would probably say something spiteful, and she didn't want to see Merlin turned down that harshly.

"Okay, so that plan is out." Morgana started. "Maybe you could do it in a public setting?" She suggested. "At least that way, he won't be able to just throw it back in your face! Not without looking like the bad guy, at least."

But that plan made Merlin's face scrunch up in disgust. "No way! That is definitely out." It was bad enough that he actually wanted to go through with this, he didn't want to be humiliated by it when Arthur ultimately rejected him.

"Why not?" Morgana exclaimed. She knew Arthur, and putting him under that kind of pressure was probably the only way he'd accept a favor in the first place.

"Because, think about it." Merlin started. "He's a prince, Arthur's already in the public eye every waking minute. I already know that much from what little I've seen of him, and it doesn't help that he's a showboat as well. If I'm going to do this, I would want it to be more private."

It didn't hurt that doing it in a more private setting had always seemed more romantic to him. It was more like it was just for them, then them putting on a show for everybody else. And it didn't hurt that doing it more privately would at least save him some face if Arthur really did reject him, which he probably would.

Merlin shook that depressing thought out of mind and turned his attention back to the two girl's at his side. "Besides, I don't want him to agree to something he doesn't want just because he feels pressured."

Maybe he was thinking to much about this. It wasn't like he was asking Arthur to marry him, although they already were, but that wasn't the point. It was just a stupid favor, Arthur would either accept it or he wouldn't. And then Merlin could get on with his life accordingly.

And before Morgana or Gwen could say something, Merlin threw something else in there last minute.

"And besides, he doesn't need my help looking like the bad guy, he does that all on his own."

Why was he so desperate to give this guy a favor again?

Morgana shook her head, feeling her dark hair settling around her face as it came to a stop. "Okay, maybe you have a point. But I still think it's a good possibility to put on the table if we can't think of anything else. I mean, he'd be a fool to turn you down publicly."

Merlin scoffed, waving a dismissive hand at that. "Arthur's already a fool." He said bluntly, rolling his eyes a little. "Turning me down isn't going to make him even more of a fool, it'll just make him smarter than I thought he was."

And maybe that was a cynical thing to say, so completely unlike the Merlin he was before all of this had happened to him, but it wasn't wrong either. There was a reason that Merlin never really dated any of the guy's back home. Most of the one's in his age group were straight anyway's, but there had been one or two that had been opened to guy's. Which didn't help him at all because they had been dating each other.

The point was, Merlin had never even been sure if he could date anyway, even if he had the opportunity. With a secret like his, and the repercussions that would follow if he ever told the wrong person, it had left him more closed off than he wanted to be. It was probably why growing up, Will has been his only real friend, despite there being at least a dozen other village children.

Sure, he'd always tried to seem like any other kid in their village. But nothing he'd done had ever been enough, he had still been considered the weird kid in the village. It hadn't helped that so many odd thing's seemed to happen around him, just small things but they had happened nonetheless. But nobody had ever actually been able to prove he had anything to do with it, but it had still caused many of the other villager's to stay away from him, unless it had something to do with the harvest.

It hadn't helped that his sarcastic, or dry remarks hadn't exactly endeared him to many of the other villagers. But maybe that had been for the best, if only so nobody got close enough to discover him. Maybe that was why he'd been so close to Will, who was just as sarcastic-if not more so-than himself.

The point was, with a secret as big as his was, it had been hard enough to make friends. And really? What was the point of dating if he couldn't share all of himself with them?

But any choice he had in picking a lifelong partner had pretty much been taken out of his hands when he'd married Arthur. So okay, maybe he couldn't share all of himself with the prat, but beggars couldn't be choosers. But he could at least try to be happy, or as happy as was possible given these circumstances.

Merlin was shaken out of his thoughts when Morgana started talking again, "Don't say things like that! You're a great guy!" And sure she didn't know Merlin all that well, they'd barely known each other for two weeks after all, but she couldn't say she was disappointed with what she did see.

Merlin gave her a wry smirk, "You're just saying that because you're not the one married to me." Arthur would probably have a lot to say about Merlin since he was the one that was actually in this position with him

"Um...guys," Gwen finally spoke up, forcing their attention to her. The handmaiden was playing with the ends of her shawl, fidgeting around with her fingers. "As much as this whole favor thing is clearly a problem, I think that you're still missing one crucial fact." And she flushed, fearing that she may had spoken out of term. After all, she was just a handmaiden when the other members of their group were considered royalty. Even if her already noble born lady was was only royal because the king had taken her on as his ward, and the other had been married into the family.

"Oh lord, what is it now?" Merlin asked, groaning heavily. It had been bad enough that they were discussing favors, but it wouldn't surprise him if there was something else that he had forgotten about.

Morgana didn't seem put out at all by her handmaiden voicing her concerns, she liked it when Gwen spoke out of turn, even if the girl couldn't do it at certain functions. It made her feel more like a friend than just somebody who was only ever with her because her job acquired her attendance.

"Go on Gwen," she said with an encouraging nod of her head. "What are we missing?"

Gwen felt herself flush under the sudden attention, but she shook it off the best that she could. "Well," she said slowly, her lips dipping into a frown. "Does anyone of us even know if Arthur wants to be with a guy? I mean, I knows he's married to Merlin, and I know I don't know the whole story of why, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't because the two of you are in love with each other."

She gave a questioning look to Merlin, who shrugged helplessly. He wasn't going to lie and claim than he was in love with the prince, he couldn't even admit that he may/may not, be forming an innocent crush on the guy.

Then Morgana was looking at Merlin, and the two of them shared a look. The both of the knew about the contract, but it wasn't something that was public knowledge. Only the royal family and a few select members of the council knew the true details, and Gwen obviously knew something wasn't right about this. But as far as anyone else was concerned, they probably did think that Arthur and Merlin had some epic love story that ended with them somehow convincing the king to bless their marriage.

Frowning, Gwen caught sight of the look shared between the two, but she didn't ask any questions. It wasn't her place to ask questions from nobility.

Sighing, Gwen tucked a wayward curl behind her ears as she decided to ignore the look shares between the two. "I don't mean to bring up any troubles, but that seems like a pretty big problem to get through. The prince has never accepted a favor before, why would he from a man?"

And it was such a glaringly obvious problem, that Merlin couldn't believe he didn't think more about that before. He slapped a hand to his forehead, "I'm an idiot." He grumbled to himself. And then his head was snapping up quickly. "Don't tell Arthur I said that." He said, in a rushed tone.

The last thing he wanted was to give Arthur more ammunition against him. He was already plenty of jerk enough without Merlin adding fuel to the fire.

"Alright, so maybe that is a little problem." Morgana agreed with Gwen, making the handmaiden sag in relief. She really hadn't wanted to speak out of turn, all of this favor talk was just a conversation meant for nobility, but it was just a glaring problem that she'd felt as if she had no choice but to point it out.

Merlin turned to give Morgana a look of disbelief. "Little?" He repeated, his voice going up in pitch. "A little problem? What would be considered a big problem? If Arthur only liked people with-with..." he trailed off, trying to think of the most ridiculous thing he could say. "Elephant ears!" He shouted the first thing that came to mind, and then cursed himself for saying something so idiotic.

"Well then, if that's true," Morgana said with a wry smirk. "You're already halfway there." Before giving him a very pointed look towards his ears.

Merlin scowled, bringing his hands up to cup subconsciously around his ears. He knew that they were larger than normal, and it didn't help that they stuck out some, but did they really look as big as elephant ears?

Morgana took charge of the conversation with ease, "And no, I don't believe that Arthur has ever been attracted to a man before." She admitted. She really did know Arthur like the back of her hand, and she had never once caught an inkling that he might be holding a secret torch towards his own gender. "But," she smirked. "That doesn't mean that he won't ever be."

Merlin raised an eyebrow at her, "It doesn't work like that you know. Arthur told me himself that he doesn't like men, and if he's really not attracted to men, then our marriage was doomed from the start." He gave a heavy sigh. He propped his elbow up onto his knee, and leaned his chin heavily into the palm of his hand.

He should just give it up, and go ahead and throw in the towel. If there was nothing there, then nothing he did would make Arthur the least bit interested.

"Unless he's just never thought of it before." Gwen said. Her voice had been quiet, as if she was just thinking out loud. But her words had been enough to get the attention of both Morgana and Merlin.

"What do you mean?" Morgana asked her handmaiden, with a curious expression on her face.

Gwen looked startled when she realized that she'd been heard, she hadn't even meant to say those words out loud. She had just been talking to herself, but now that they were out in the open, she had no choice but to elaborate.

"Well," she started slowly. "Think about it. Arthur's a prince, right? And what do prince's do when they grow into men?" Morgana was looking at her with a contemplative expression, and Merlin was just looking at her confused. So she elaborated some more, "They usually end up married off to princess's. I mean, everyone thought that Arthur was going to marry some foreign princess one day, right?"

"That is right." Morgana agreed, nodding her head. "I mean, when we were young, I used to tease him about which of the princess's that visited Camelot would become his future bride. I always pick the one I thought Arthur would be the least attracted to, and told him he was going to be stuck with her forever."

It had just been childish teasing when Morgana had first moved into the castle. The kind of thing an older sister might do when trying to mess with her younger brother. Not that Arthur was her brother but still, he might as well had been, since they had been raised together since their early teens.

"And instead, he got stuck with me." Merlin pointed out bluntly, with a dry expression on his face. It wasn't exactly the love story he'd wanted as a child, back when he was naive enough to believe that he could have everything everyone else had.

Despite having to live with keeping such an innate part of himself, his magic, a secret.

"Don't say it like that!" Morgana protested, her hair whipping around her face as she turned to look at Merlin. "Think of it more as...you got stuck with him."

Merlin's lips started to twitch upwards into a grin, before it spread wider to stretch across his face. "Yeah! I suppose I did get stuck with him." It was only as Morgana turned back to face Gwen, did Merlin's smile dip somewhat.

Maybe he was stuck with Arthur, and maybe there was nothing that neither of them could do about it. But still...he still held onto that part of him that wanted things to work out.

Everything just kind of seemed hopeless right now, with the reminder that Arthur quite possibly didn't like men in that way.

Morgana was talking again, "You were saying Gwen?" She asked, waving her hand to encourage the handmaiden to keep going on with what she was about to say. Merlin had to drag himself out of his thoughts to pay attention.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Gwen asked, but it was clear that neither of the two knew what she was talking about. So with a sigh, she continued, "Arthur always thought he was going to marry a princess. He probably thought about what she would look like, where she would come from, what she would be like...all of the things that people think about when they wonder who they're going to grow up to marry."

"I know my ideal husband wasn't Arthur." Merlin commented. For one, he'd never considered his future husband, if he even managed to get married in the first place, would be a prince. He hadn't exactly been prepared for that one.

"Well then," Gwen continued. "It makes sense that Arthur would have never considered being with a man before, if he thought he was always destined for a princess."

Morgana got excited, straightening up in her seat. "So maybe we just need to get him to think about it." She turned to Merlin, waving her hand in an excited gesture. "The favor is definitely a way to open the doorway, it might just be the thing he needs to consider things more seriously. And oh, maybe we should do something else! Something bigger and undeniable, to find out if he could be attracted to you..." she trailed off, looking lost in thought.

"Like what?" Merlin asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "You want me to just walk up and plant a kiss on him?"

Merlin had only been joking about that, he hadn't been seriously considering it. And okay, maybe he had wanted to kiss Arthur earlier, but he wasn't about to force a kiss on the guy if he didn't want Merlin to kiss him. But then again, how was he supposed to know if Arthur wanted him to kiss him, how did anybody know if somebody wanted to kiss them?

Was there something that he was missing here?

That was when he noticed Morgana and Gwen looking at him, and both of them had large smirk's across their faces, reminding Merlin of what he'd been saying.

"I'm not going up and kissing him!" He exclaimed, far louder than he actually meant to. The nearby crowd around them quieted down again, everyone turning to stare at the three in the front row. But when nothing else was said, the roar of the crowd started up again.

Merlin had been looking at the people in the row behind them, but when they started talking again, he turned back to Morgana and Gwen. "I am definitely not walking up and kissing him." He hissed in a much more quieter tone.

And he didn't care if his heart pounded at the thought. He was not going to do it, nope, no way. He didn't care how curious he was about it, he didn't care that he really wanted to experience a proper kiss, he was not going to throw himself at Arthur.

.. .Why did he still really want to kiss that jackarse?

"Why not?" Morgana asked with a wry smirk. "I think it'll be a real eye opener for Arthur." And maybe she really wanted to witness it, if only to see the shock on Arthur's face. It would definitely be a moment that she wished could be captured on a portrait.

"And a concussion for me when he hits me." Merlin said bluntly. "If Arthur isn't interested in men, he'll hit me. And if Arthur just hadn't thought of it before and I surprise him like that, he'll freak out and still try to hit me."

Merlin had never really gone through the whole gay freak out thing himself, it was just another part of him. Like his magic, something that he was born being without any real choice in the matter. But he supposed if somebody thought they liked girl's all this time, suddenly found himself crushing on another guy, he could see how it would cause a freak out.

And Merlin also really didn't feel like getting punched in the face because he let his own desire for a real kiss get the better of him.

"Yeah, I suppose I could see either one happening." Gwen said slowly, tugging a wayward curl out of her eyes. "But there is something that you haven't considered."

Merlin looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "And what's that?" He asked, because he couldn't see this ending up in any other way other than him getting punched in the face.

"What if he likes it?" Gwen said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What if he likes it? And finds that he wants to do it more?"

Merlin's eyes went round, and he felt his heart stuttering in his chest in an unnatural way. And his throat suddenly felt very dry, and his adam apple bobbed when he swallowed hard.

"I uh..." Merlin stuttered, his voice sounding rough even to his own ears. "That would be one hell of an eye opener." Would Arthur like it if Merlin kissed him? If Merlin had done it back when he had been dressing him, would Arthur had pulled him closer? Would he like it if Merlin happened to find himself where all of the champion's were and plated a kiss on him right then and there.

He had to shake himself out of those thoughts, feeling as if his skin was overheated in a way that had nothing to do with the sun high in the middle of the sky.

"A kiss may be the way to go." Morgana commented. "I mean, this is Arthur we're talking about. Something like that may be the only way to get Arthur to notice that you want more than what you're getting from him."

Merlin averted his eyes, trying not to think on this even more than he already was, "I think I'll save that idea for later. Arthur seems pretty hard headed, but I don't think I'll have to go that far. Surely he'll get the idea when I pull out a favor..."

Merlin trailed off, rapping his fingers against his knee. He didn't have high hopes, Arthur did seem like he could be pretty dim in some matters, but surely even the prince would realize what Merlin was trying to say by giving him a favor.

It was the equivalent of admitting to your crush that you had feelings for them. Which was...pretty much what Merlin was feeling right now. Oh god, he wasn't just giving Arthur a favor to see if he'd be open to giving them a chance. He was giving Arthur a favor, as in for real, with all of the feelings that were supposed to be attached to it and all.

Crap, Merlin raised a hand to rub tiredly between his eye's. All of these emotions and feelings, and his constant thoughts about Arthur...he was getting another migraine again.

"I'm telling you!" A sudden voice said, passing somewhere behind them in the next row. "I saw that scrawny kid! The one that made those comments to us and then disappeared before we could catch him last week!"

Merlin acted on instinct, sliding out of his chair and practically falling on his arse on the floor.

"You're seeing things!" The other knight was exclaiming loudly, never noticing the tuff of dark hair that was poking out the top of Merlin's chair. "He probably already left Camelot after we scared him off."

And that was all he heard before the knight's were gone, walking further and further away from them. Merlin gave a cautious peek over the top of his chair, making sure that they were gone, before he dragged himself back up and collapsed into his chair.

"Now, as I was saying-" Merlin started up again. He froze, seeing Morgana and Gwen were now staring at him.

"...Do you have something to tell us?" Morgana asked. And she honestly didn't know if she should be concerned about Merlin's sudden reaction, or amused by it instead.

Merlin stared blankly at her for a minute, and it took a second to process why she was asking him that. But when he did, Merlin just grinned cheekily at her. "Not at all." He said, dismissively.

Morgana raised an eyebrow at him, before turning to look in the direction that the knights had gone. But they had already disappeared somewhere in the next section of stadium, so Morgana turned back to Merlin. "If you're in trouble...we can have those two knights arrested if they did something. Or maybe demoted, at the very least."

It wouldn't do for word to get out that some of the knight's of Camelot thought they could treat the Consort of a Prince with anything less than the respect he deserved.

Merlin stared at her blankly again, not able to comprehend what she was going on about. "For what?" He had to ask.

Morgana was looking at him with an 'are you serious' expression. And even Gwen sitting on her other side, was looking around the Lady to look at Merlin as if he were a dumbarse.

"What?" Merlin exclaimed, knowing that he was missing something here.

Morgana shook her head, absolutely fascinated that a peasant boy suddenly had the keys to their kingdom, and had absolutely no idea of the power that he held in his fingertips.

"You do realize that you're married to Arthur, right?" Morgana had to ask, just to make sure.

Merlin scowled, raising up his left hand to point out the wedding band on his finger. "No, I think I somehow missed that." He said sarcastically. "What, with the fancy clothes, and the 'I do's. And let's not forget about the huge wedding banquet afterwards where somebody tried to kill my new husband."

Merlin could admit that Camelot completely baffled him, it was just so different from Ealdor. But not even he could have missed all of that happening.

"Okay," Morgana said slowly. "Well, you do realize that Arthur's a prince, as in he's the highest of all nobility. Other than his father, that is."

"Somehow, I think I do vaguely remember a crown being on his head when we were married off to each other." Merlin said dryly, actually remembering the crown vividly in his mind. But that was mainly because it had brought out the golden blonde in Arthur's hair, not that he would ever admit it though.

Morgana shook her head, "Well, in case it escaped your notice, being married to a noble makes yourself a noble. And being married to a prince, makes you higher than even those bully knights that just walked through here." She jutted her thumb over her shoulder to where the two knights had disappeared off to.

Merlin looked in the same direction, before shaking his head and turning back to Morgana. "I'm not some noble just because I'm married to one." He said, in a grumbly tone. He sure didn't feel like a noble, or what he thought a noble probably felt like. He still felt like Merlin, the common peasant boy hiding that he was a sorcerer. Only now, he was in a much larger playing field than he was used to being in.

God, why couldn't he had been married off to another peasant? At least thing's would make a whole lot more sense, with this whole nobility thing taken out of the picture.

Smirking at him, Morgana said dryly, "Yes, you are." Was it really so hard for Merlin to see that he was in fact nobility, which he had been since the day he'd said 'I do' to Arthur, and that he would remain in that position for the rest of their lives.

Merlin shook his head, not really interested in arguing rather or not he was considered a noble now. Even if the laws of Camelot said he was now, he wasn't going to pretend that he was anything more than he was: just a common farm boy who found himself tied to the throne by things out of his control.

"Okay," Merlin started. "Putting aside rather I'm a noble or not, what does that have to do with those two knights getting demoted?" And he craned his neck to look over her head, as if to see if the two knights had returned or not.

They hadn't.

Morgana stared at him blankly, probably feeling more baffled by this than she should, "...You don't really get what being a Consort to the Prince of Camelot means, do you?"

Merlin stared at her confused, because he thought he was starting to get a pretty good grasp on it. But apparently, according to Morgana at least, he still didn't know all of the full detail's that went into it.

Smiling wryly, Merlin said sarcastically, "Doesn't a consort mean I get to hang about all day in my fancy bed, with servants to wait on me hand and foot all day long, while I do absolutely nothing with my life other than enjoying the riches that my husband's family has provided me with."

Gwen looked at him with a worried frown, her eyebrows creasing together. Being that Gwen was a servant, and once the shock had worn off, she had actually been pretty excited to realize that a commoner was so close to the throne. She had been even more relieved about it when that commoner turned out to be Merlin, because he didn't seem like the kind of guy that would do the thing's he'd just said.

What could be worse than one of their own forgetting all about them, now that he was living the good life?

"Actually," Morgana said, her lips turning downward. "You could if you wanted to." And that was one of the reason's she had been so worried when she heard that Arthur was going to be marrying a commoner.

Merlin's eye's widened, looking absolutely horrified by this. "What?! No! There is absolutely no fucking way am I going to live my life like that! If that's what Arthur is expecting from me, than he can forget about it right now!"

That stupid, pompous prince! If Arthur thought he was going to laze about in bed while the blonde went off and did whatever, then he had another thing coming! Oh god, just kill him now, because there was no way in the seven hell's that he was going to live like that. And fuck Arthur and all of this if he thought that was what Merlin was going to do.

"Oh good," Gwen said, letting out a breath of relief as she raised a hand to her chest. And seeing that the two had turned to look at her, Gwen realized she may have put her foot in it again. "Oh! I don't mean anything about it! I just meant that...there's obviously nothing wrong with doing that. Being a consort, it is nobody's business but you're own how you choose to spend your time! I just mean it's...a good thing that...you're not going to do that..." she trailed off, feeling more awkward than she wanted to admit.

Merlin shook his head, trying not to let his confusion show, and his fingers started rapping against his knee again in a steady and quick motion. "I may not be entirely sure about this consort business or what it entails," he said, his voice firm and strong, and his finger's never lost the rhythm against his knee. "But I'll be damned if my only job is to sit around and look pretty."

Morgana's lips curled into a smile, because that was exactly what she had been hoping to hear. Arthur didn't need somebody who sat idly by and let all of the work be done by the people under him. Arthur needed somebody who could actually lend a helping hand and take charge.

Now, she still didn't know if Merlin could put his money where his mouth was, but she was definitely intrigued enough to find out.

Clearing her throat, Morgana readjusted her thick skirts to better cover herself as she shifted some in her seat so that she could lean forward towards Merlin. "Merlin," she said slowly, making sure that she had his full attention. "I'm glad that you said that."

Merlin's eyes held her own steadily, and it was obvious that he was taking every word she said very seriously.

"Being a consort," Morgana started again, trying to find the best words to describe it. "It's more than just sitting around and looking pretty. I mean," she stopped to wave her hand in a dismissive gesture. "You could certainly do that if you wanted, nobody would tell you different or dare argue against it. But Arthur is the Prince of Camelot," she spoke those last words more firmly than she had the one's before, trying to enunciate just how important this was. "He needs somebody who can...bare the weight of the kingdom with him when he becomes king. Somebody who can help him shoulder the burden that comes with having an entire kingdom full of people depending on you to keep them safe."

Maybe it was far to early to discuss something this seriously, Merlin hadn't even been in Camelot a whole month yet, and he was still adjusting to his new life. But still, Morgana couldn't help but bring it up herself, because she needed to know if Merlin was the right man for the job. If only so she could prepare herself for Camelot's upcoming future. After all, a kingdom was only as strong as the people who ruled it was.

Leaning forward more, Morgana reached out and put a hand on top of Merlin's, stopping his fingers rapping against his knee. She never lost eye contact as she said, "Do you think that you can be the one to do that?"

Morgana didn't know exactly what answer would be the one that she was looking for. If she wanted Merlin to reassure her that he was the perfect person for the job. Although really, it probably was way to early to get a serious answer.

No matter what answer he gave her now, it had no baring's on the kind of ruler he could grow into many years from now, when it was time for Arthur to take the throne.

She still found herself wanting to know what kind of answer would he give her now.

Merlin looked away, staring at the stone railing in front of him, without really seeing it. His eyes took on an eerily blank quality, and his hands shifted into fist's under Morgana's hand, curling around his knee's.

"I don't know." He admitted, but his voice sounded off to his own ears. As if he was talking but at the same time, it wasn't him at all. He had to shake himself out of it, but he still stared ahead with unfocused eyes.

How was he supposed to answer Morgana? Did she realize that he literally knew nothing? That he had no idea what he was doing, or that he was still trying to come to terms that all of this was really happening to him? Hell, he still sometime's woke up and expected to find himself back in Ealdor, curled up with a ratty blanket in front of the hearth while listening to the sound's of his mother as she started getting ready for the day.

This was just like the conversation he had with Uncle Gaius just before his wedding all over again. He didn't know anything then, and he still felt as if he hadn't learned anything. This was all just so much for him, and he had to ask himself all over again, the people couldn't really be expecting much from him, could they?

But Morgana was asking him now if he could help Arthur carry the burden of ruling a kingdom? He could feel the heavy weight of that settling into his shoulders, and he wondered if this was how Arthur felt? And maybe he should start taking it easy on the guy if it was...nah, he dismissed that thought as soon as it had arrived.

The point was...how was he supposed to put this into word's.

Merlin raised his head a little, still not looking at either Morgana or Gwen, as he tried to figure out the perfect answer to give. But then again, thinking before he said something had never exactly been his strong suit.

So he tried again, "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing." He said bluntly. "Maybe I should tell you yes, that I can handled anything this kingdom will throw at me. If only so you don't worry about what the future will bring, if only so you don't worry about Arthur doing everything by himself, but...I can't say that." He finally raised his head to meet eye's with Morgana. "I can't say that I'll be able to handle it, because I'm not entirely sure what the future will bring, or what I could possibly do to...shoulder this burden with Arthur."

He had to stop so that he could take in a large breath of the crisp air around them, feeling his lung's expanding in his chest. If only so he could take a minute to reorganized his thoughts. But like he said, he had never been very good at thinking thing's through before he said them.

Merlin turned back to Morgana, and his eyes held a startling seriousness in them, as if he was starting to understand just how significant this all was. So unlike other commoner's who would have taken this marriage as an opportunity to enjoy the easy life for the rest of their day's. It was actually so serious, that it took Morgana's breath away for a minute there.

She's only seen a look like that a handful of time's in her entire life, and that had always been reflected in Arthur's eye's. The prince may try to hide how much he was feeling, and maybe that was because he felt so much more than he wanted to, but Morgana could see it, she could alway's see it. The prince may not treat his people as they deserved to be treated, but he understood just how serious his duty to the protection of his kingdom as a whole was.

And she was surprised to see that same seriousness reflected in the eye's of a common farm boy.

"But I can promise you this," Merlin started talking again, trying to get this out the way he wanted it to go. "I can promise that I'll try my best, and I'll do whatever it is that I can do to help. I may not be able to do much in the long run of thing's, but I will certainly try."

And really, that was all that Merlin could offer right now. And it was kind of ironic, really. That with all of this untapped magical power that he had shimmering beneath his skin and running through his veins, that offering to try was all that he could give her.

Morgana didn't say anything for the longest moment, to busy staring at Merlin with a stumped expression on her face. Merlin was actually sure that he had said something wrong, but he wasn't about to take it back, because he really didn't want to lie to her and claim that he was ready for something that he wasn't.

Crap, if Arthur held even a fraction of the weight on his shoulder's that he was feeling right now, maybe his limited-to almost none-respect for the man had risen an inch.

Morgana shook her head, "Okay then." She said simply, accepting Merlin's answer for what it was, and trying not to look as impressed as she did. Looking back out at the field, she said quietly, "And the two knight's? They were clearly looking for you, and I don't know the whole story, but they were clearly looking for trouble. So what do you think should be done about them?"

If it had been Arthur that the two knight's had been going after like that, Uther would have told Arthur to deal with it. After all, the prince needed to earn the respect of his men if he was going to have their respect as king. She was kind of curious as to know what Merlin would do instead, as most commoners would most likely be going through a power trip and try to have them locked in the dungeons or the stocks for a few hours.

Merlin once again surprised her when he scoffed, turning back to the empty field, "Don't worry about them, they don't need to be demoted or anything, I'm not that concerned. They probably have families to feed anyway." As if it was only natural for anybody to be concerned about the families of the people that treated them as the knights had him.

Merlin didn't see it, but Morgana had an impressed smile forming on her face.

"I think that's a wise decision." Gwen chimes in from the side, tugging on her scratchy peasant skirt's. "I only hope that they don't come back later and try to start something."

Morgana waved a dismissive hand, "They wouldn't dare." Especially if Merlin was in the presence of a Lady, and surely their attitude's would change once they realize that Merlin is now their consort.

Gwen nodded her head, "I'm sure you're right, M'lady." She started, yanking her hand roughly through her hair to tug some wayward curl's that had been bothering her, behind her ear. Maybe she should consider growing her hair out, at least that would solve the problem. "Anyway-" she started, but before she could get another word out, the sounds of trumpets started up. It echoed throughout the stadium in all direction's, forcing all of the spectator's to grow stark silent.

All except for Merlin, of course.

"Ooh! The tournament's starting up!" Merlin exclaimed loudly, his voice being the only thing that people could hear since he had said it the exact moment that the trumpets started to die down.

Although many people had heard it, it was only those in the immediate vicinity that could pinpoint it to Merlin. Morgana brought up a hand to cover her face, shaking her head as she shook with silent laughter. Gwen was in the same boat that she was, nearly falling into her mistress as she burst into giggle's.

Merlin didn't notice anything at all, to busy staring down at the field with rapt attention, leaning forward to see better over the railing. And no wonder Morgana had chosen these seat's, the first row was clearly the best in the stadium if you wanted a good view.

Down on the field, "Please tell me that wasn't your husband shouting?" Markus hissed into Arthur's ear. The two knight's, along with about a dozen other's, had exited out onto the field as the trumpet's had been dying down.

"...Don't remind me." Arthur grumbled, already starting to feel his eye twitch. And he was careful to avoid looking out into the crowd, sure that he wouldn't be able to stop the glare from forming on his face if he caught sight of his annoying consort.

In the bleachers, Merlin watched with wide eyes, as if he was trying to take in everything he could. There were at least two dozen knight's standing in two rows in the center of the field. Each knight was wearing a different colored cloak and shield, which he assumed represented their family. And only one of the knight's stuck out in stark contrast compared to all of the other's.

But Merlin was fully prepared to blame the vivid red cloak, the brightest among all of the other knight's, for that one.

Merlin darted his eye's to Gwen, his signature cheeky smile spreading across his face. "Do you see his shoulders?" He pointed out, as if this was the first time that Gwen was seeing Arthur like this, and not the other way around. "I told you that he was large! I had to let the straps out so much just to get it to fit him!" And then he was turning his eye's back to the knight's in front of them.

Even though they were in the first row, the knight's were standing in the center of the field, and it was kind of hard to make out any detail's. And even though he looked over at the other knight's with a curious expression, his eyes always returned to Arthur, who was far to easy to find with the vividness of his cloak.

Gwen frowned, looking at Merlin with a baffled expression. "When did you tell me his shoulder's were large?" And it took her a minute longer than it took Merlin to find Arthur among the knight's.

"In your house." Merlin said, as if that was supposed to be obvious to her. "We had this whole conversation about how large he was."

Maybe it was a good thing that Merlin hadn't turned around to look at her, to distracted with what was about to happen in front of him. Gwen could feel herself flushing as it dawned on her what Merlin was talking about.

Back at her hut, when Merlin had come to her for help with Arthur's armor, he had started talking about how large the prince was. She had played along, to embarrassed to admit that she was uncomfortable with the conversation, but that was only because she had thought Merlin was talking about Arthur's...but he wasn't...

"Oh!" She exclaimed before she could stop herself, easily getting the attention of the other's. "You meant...I mean...of course you meant..." she trailed off, feeling as if her face was as hot as the sun as she realized her mistake.

Morgana looked at the handmaiden with a growing smirk, "What did you think he meant?" She asked, looking far to amused by this. She may not understand the entirety of this conversation, but she had picked up enough pieces to give her some inkling of a clue.

"Nothing!" Gwen exclaimed, and heaven forbid her from lying to her mistress, but it was obvious that Morgana had realized what had happened. "That's exactly what I thought he meant, I mean...what else would he mean..." she had to stop herself from talking before she said anything more embarrassing.

"Come on now girl's, tell me what's happening." Merlin interrupted, trying to take in as many details of his first tournament as he could.

Morgana turned away from Gwen to explain as it was the same thing pretty much every year, "Uther's about to give some great and encouraging speech to his knights, and he'll probably include Arthur's name somewhere in it." She rolled her eye's at how predictable Uther could be. "But the fight's should start after that."

Merlin nodded, "Alright then." And then he was stretching forward, his fingers interlocking together so that he could make them pop.

Morgana grimaced at the sound, having never particularly liked it. And obviously, nobody would be able to confidently say that Merlin was born a noble. No noble would have dared to do that, especially in such a public setting.

"Now it's time to see for myself if Arthur's any good at this." Merlin finished, shaking loose his limbs, as if he was about to be the one fighting instead of his husband. And it wasn't that Merlin didn't trust Morgana and Gwen, or any of the other's who had stated what a wonderful swordsman Arthur was. He didn't even care that Arthur had apparently one three year's in a row. Hearing about it, and seeing it, were two completely different thing's.

The crowd was already dead silent in the stadium, everybody watching to see what would happen next. But it became almost eerily silent, if that was even possible, when Uther came walking out onto the field. Merlin's eyebrows creased together, almost amazed by the effect that Uther's presence seemed to have on his people. He wasn't sure if it was because of fear, or respect, or if they just wanted to make sure that they could hear him.

Whatever it was, it made Merlin's excited expression dim down into a more curious one.

The king walked down the row of knight's, looking as if he was examining each one. It was only after he made it down the row of knight's did the king turn to face them, looking every bit as regal as a king should. It was really brought out because of the long and thick cape that he wore, the exact same shade as the one his son was wearing among the competitor's. The crown sitting on his brow seemed to sparkle under the light of the sun.

Merlin might have been more awed by the king, if he didn't find his eye's constantly darting away so that he could try to spot Arthur standing in the second row, through the gap of a couple of knight's standing in the first.

"Knights of the realm," Uther started to talk. He had raised his voice, making it easier to hear even from the bleachers. It helped that every one had stayed quiet, so that they could hear the king speak. "It's a great honor to welcome you to a tournament at Camelot."

X

Arthur felt his bang's flopping heavily over his forehead, nearly hanging into his line of sight. His bang's had been bothering him ever since he walked out onto the field, and god was it irritating him. He wanted to blow them out of his face, but he knew that it wasn't proper for a prince to behave so fidgety. So taking a deep breath through his teeth, he sucked it up and tried to prefect his posture even more than it already was, trying to capture the same regality that his father had captured the crowd with.

Even if he still sometimes felt like a toddler when he caught himself trying to emulate his father.

"Over the next three days, you will put your bravery to the test." His father was saying, and Arthur had to force himself to pay attention, even with the way his bangs were tickling at his eyelashes. "Your skills as warriors will be speculated. And, of course, you will have the opportunity to challenge the reigning champion, my son, Prince Arthur!"

Arthur took note of his name, noticing how a few of the knight's had turned in his direction. He didn't take much notice of it, everybody was curious to see the prince of Camelot, he had gotten used to it.

"But only one of you can have the honor of being crowned champion!" His father announced.

Arthur had been staring ahead, finding that his eye's had been involuntarily scanning the set of bleacher's closest to his line of sight. But maybe they were just to high up, or maybe the sun was stopping him from getting a good look. Whatever the reason it was, he couldn't spot Merlin in the crowd, and maybe that was for the best.

He already knew that the brat was out there, simply from his earlier shout that had seemed to echo across the stadium. And as humiliating as that had been, he was pretty sure only Markus recognized the voice.

"And he will receive a prize of one thousand gold pieces!" His father announced proudly, waving a hand somewhere behind him. Standing there, was a manservant opening a dark wooden box that, true enough, held a thousand golden coins.

Arthur didn't pay the coins any attention, he wasn't here to win money that he already had. He was here to defend his spot as the champion, and he was full well planning on winning for the fourth year in a row.

So ignoring the box, Arthur dragged his eyes away so that he could scan the crowd again. He swore, if he saw Merlin out there doing something that would humiliate him, he was going to take his sword to the brat instead of his competition.

He had just barely started scanning the crowd, when he felt the pinprick sensation of the hair on the back of his neck starting to stand on end. Arthur pulled his eyes away from the crowd, snapping them back onto his father. But it wasn't his father that was looking at him at all.

Arthur's frowned, the prickling sensation getting even stronger the longer the seconds passed. Glancing around, it took Arthur only seconds to realize what was up.

One of the knight's in the first row, and a few people down, was staring at him. Now, that was nothing unusual, Arthur was used to people staring at him for a multitude of reasons. It just came with the territory of being a prince, and there was nothing that he could do about that.

But still, Arthur narrowed his eye's on the knight, and felt his lips tugging down onto a more forceful frown. There was something about that knight, the way that he was staring at him...there was just something off about his the look in his eye's.

Arthur had learned that one of the greatest thing's a knight could do, was to always trust their instinct's. And there was something about this knight that just seemed to set off every alarm that he had.

Maybe it was because he wasn't even looking at the gold. And even though Arthur himself wasn't interested in it, it was still a good chunk of change for the average knight. Maybe it was because even though Arthur had clearly caught him staring, the knight didn't look bothered in the least. He didn't even turn around or anything, he just kept staring at Arthur.

It was surprisingly disturbing.

"It is in combat that we learn a knight's true nature, whether he is indeed a warrior or a coward." His father had started talking again, and it was only then did the knight look away from Arthur.

Arthur kept frowning, now looking at the other knight's back. More specifically, at the bright yellow shield, with three snakes interlocked together on the surface. It was certainly not a family crest that he'd seen before. And as prince, Arthur was well versed on all of the noble families among their boarders.

So that brought up the question...who was this knight?

"And now, the tournament begins!" Uther finally finished his speech, raising his arms above his head.

X

Merlin whooped and hollered with the rest of the crowd, his already loud voice getting lost in the sheer amount of people cheering for the competitor's.

"Calm down, Merlin." Morgana said, with an amused smirk. She was calm and as poise as any well brought up lady should be, politely clapping as the tournament commenced.

"How can I be calm?" Merlin asked, his face flushed with excitement. He had never once in his life dreamed that he would actually get to see a real live tournament. And sure, he had to get married to do it, but hey, he was gonna take the good while he could.

"I suppose it is exciting." Gwen said, clapping not nearly as quietly as Morgana had, but not as excited as Merlin had either. "My father took me to my first tournament when I was only five, I still remember how excited I was!" She smiled at the fond memory. It hadn't been very long after her mother had died, but her father had brought her here in an attempt to brighten up her spirits some. It may had been a tragedy over why he had brought her, but the tournament itself was still one of her earliest childhood memory to be treasured.

On the field, the knight's were starting to take their leave, most of them heading towards the back room where they could watch from the sideline's as the first round commenced.

All but two of the competitor's headed off of the field. One of them was Arthur, who already knew that he was going to be the first to fight. Every year, the champion of last year's tournament was supposed to be the first, kind of as a way of getting the crowd more riled up than they already were.

In the stands, Merlin leaned forward in his seat, "Arthur's going first?" He asked, easily spotting the bright redness of the prince's cape fluttering behind the blonde in the breeze.

"It's not surprising, the champion of last year's match is always the first to go." Morgana patiently explained. "It's a way of saying that they came back this year, to defend their title."

Merlin shook his head, not taking his eye's off of the field, "Well then I sure hope Arthur know's what he's doing." He grinned cheekily, his eye's locking onto Arthur's still form. "Hopefully, he won't embarrass me by losing in the first round's. Can you imagine the horror of being married to the loser?" He asked, his tone obviously mocking and teasing.

On the field, Arthur narrowed his eye's onto his opponent, taking in everything he could about this knight within a second's notice, as his father had drilled him into doing every time he faced a new opponent.

Arthur dragged his eye's away from his opponent only when his father stopped by him on his way off the field, clasping a hand onto his shoulder.

"I trust that you will make me proud." Uther said, patting Arthur firmly on his shoulder. It wasn't a question or a statement, Uther was pretty much telling Arthur that he better win this match, lest he shame the family for losing.

Arthur felt a muscle in his jaw twitch, but he nodded anyway. He was far to use to his father's version of 'fatherly advice' to say anything about it. Arthur's eyes drifted somewhere over his father's shoulder, and he could see the knight that had been watching him disappearing into the back room.

The prince wondered if he should mention it to his father, but then Uther was walking away to take his seat in his throne situated in the stands, before he could decide if he should or not.

Watching him leave, Arthur shook it off. Now wasn't the right time to be bringing thing's up. Besides, all the knight had done was stared at him, and really, what was so wrong about that? He was probably just being paranoid, being a knight for as long as he has been could do that to a guy.

Sometimes, trusting your instincts could just be another way of saying, giving in to your paranoia.

Arthur turned back around, looking at his opponent with a bland stare, not impressed in the least. The least they could have done was paired him up with somebody that had a hope of getting out of the first round's.

Arthur reached upwards, grabbing at the tie around his neck that was attaching his cape to him. As he started tugging the string's loose, his finger brushed against the column of his throat. And for a second, even though he wasn't really, he could have sworn his throat closed up as if he was choking. Just like when Merlin had been tying the string's of his cape together, when that fucking brat had gone off about Arthur needing to impress him.

The blonde scowled, seeing that the other knight had just finished undoing his tie, and all it had taken was a single pull of the string. Arthur narrowed his eye's, yanking harder on the string, but it seemed as if it was knotted up together.

Watching the other knight hand his cape off to a nearby guard that had been waiting to collect it so that their fight could start, Arthur could feel a low growl building in his throat. That fucking brat hadn't tied his damn cape right. It was supposed to be tied in a way where all Arthur had to do was yank on one string for it to come undone, but it seemed as if Merlin had just made it into a knot.

"Um...sire...do you need some assistance..." the second guard standing by Arthur asked, in a low voice as to not attract attention. Because apparently a guard being seen untying his cape for him wouldn't attract attention at all.

Arthur felt another low growl building up in the back of his throat, and he shot a glare in the guard's direction to shut him up. The guard's mouth clicked shut, surprised by how much annoyance he saw in his prince's face.

"I'm fine." Arthur grunted, yanking roughly at the string. But still, it refused to loosen. In fact, Arthur almost could have sworn he'd tightened up instead.

Arthur shot a glare off in the crowd of spectators. Only this time, it was different, it was different because he finally saw Merlin. The stupid brat was sitting with Morgana and Gwen in the first row, he should have known he'd find him with them.

In the stands, Merlin rolled his eyes when he saw Arthur glaring in his direction, "Oh lord, what did I do now?" He muttered, in a sarcastic undertone. Honestly, Merlin just breathing could upset the guy at this point.

Back on the field, Arthur had to bite his lip as to not start cursing like a sailor. He was not going to break his decorum as a prince just because that brat didn't know how to tie a proper knot.

Finding his urge to curse increasing, what annoyed him more than anything was the realization that Merlin was probably rubbing off on him. He'd never found the urge to curse so strongly before, and he rarely did it to begin with as it wasn't proper for a prince to always use that kind of language.

Fucking Merlin, doing this to him.

Finally giving up on undoing it, Arthur put his arms over his head and grabbed the cape. And then he was dragging the red velvet over his head as if it were a shirt, feeling the tie get caught on the tip of his nose for a minute there before he got it over his head. The guard nearly dropped it in surprise when Arthur suddenly threw it into his arms in frustration.

He acted aloof though, as if this was an everyday occurrence as he turned to his opponent.

Arthur could literally feel the crowd as it went hushed, like it was an itch under his skin. But he ignored it, and it took everything he had not to shoot another annoyed look in Merlin's direction, now that he knew where he was. He didn't have time to deal with that brat, not when he had a knight to beat.

So Arthur raised his helmet and slid the cold metal over his sun warmed skin. The crowd's started to cheer again, yelling and clapping as the fight was about to commence.

In the stands, Merlin put two fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle as his contribution towards the cheer.

"I thought you weren't going to cheer for Arthur?" Gwen asked with a curious expression, practically having to shout to be overheard over the roar of the crowd.

Merlin shot her a particularly saucy grin, "Oh, I'm not. That's all he getting from me." And maybe Merlin was more than a little curious about what Arthur would do to him when he saw him cheering for his opponent.

The crowd went quiet again, and Merlin's head whipped around to see why.

On the field, Arthur dropped into a practiced crouch. He had his shield on one arm, and he was thanking the god's that Merlin hadn't gotten around to messing with his straps on that one. And in the other hand, he was sliding his sword out of it's scabbard.

Arthur watched from under his helmet as his opponent, a man whose shield was nothing more than yellow and green stripes. What was that supposed to be? It was painfully dull when compared to the vivid red crest of the Pendragon's, with it's golden dragon in the center spitting out a mouthful of flames.

Arthur let out a heavy sigh, feeling his finger's tighten around the handle of his blade.

Well, it was best to get this over with.

In the stand's, Merlin felt his breath catch as Arthur took charge, practically diving head first into battle. The prince brought his sword over his head and brought it down on top of the other knight, who barely managed to bring his shield up to protect himself.

Gwen though, had started wringing her hands together in her lap. She was almost more anxious that the actual fighters, even if she had every bit of faith that Arthur could win this.

It still didn't stop her from wondering, what if Arthur lost?

Merlin's eye's almost lit up in fascination as he saw the other knight bring his sword up to swing at Arthur's side. But it wasn't the knight that made Merlin's eyes lit up, it was what Arthur had done in response.

The way the prince had brought his shield up to protect himself. And then in one fluid motion, did a complete spin to give himself enough momentum to bring his own shield up to bang against the other knight's head.

Merlin couldn't have dragged his eyes's away if the world was burning down around him. He had never seen fighting done like this before, was it strange that he found himself wanting to compare it to a dance?

Not the other knight, no, he was more of a clumsy oaf who was acting as if he had no idea what he was doing.

But Arthur...he obviously knew exactly what he was doing. Every move was precise, and done as if the prince was moving by nothing less than pure instinct alone.

Watching him, Merlin found himself wanting to compare Arthur's fighting to his magic. Like Arthur, Merlin did thing's instinctive and without a second thought. It was a strange comparison to make, and not one to be made lightly, but it was there all the same.

Arthur was...the way he moved, the way he fought as if he was putting his entire soul into it, even for something as small as a tournament.

It was absolutely, stunningly...breathtakingly...beautiful.

X

In the back room, the knights were standing clustered together on the sidelines, watching with rapt fascination as the prince of their kingdom fought the newcomer.

All except for one knight that stood in the back. He stared with unfocused eyes at that one single knight that stood somewhat in front of him.

At the knight with the yellow shield that had three snakes intertwined on it.

It had been many of years since he'd last seen that knight. And he hadn't forgotten what that knight had done the last time their path's had crossed...he hadn't forgotten the pain and tragedy that Valiant had caused him and his family.

Valiant would pay for what he had done.