Warning: this chapter contains a non-graphic attempted rape scene and brief discussion of bisexual erasure, particularly as it applies to men. Nothing groundbreaking here, I'm afraid, just acknowledging that the problem exists, but proceed with caution anyway if this subject is difficult for you.

Lancelot's bad feeling was immediately validated when Arthur sent him to help the new arrivals settle in, only for them to take advantage of the situation by ordering him to rearrange the furniture to their liking and move a heavy trunk several times before finally deciding its original position had been better after all. When he was able to get away from them, he returned to Arthur's chambers to find the prince waiting impatiently for him (and his lunch).

"There you are. What took you so long?"

"Sorry, sire," Lancelot said as he hastily set Arthur's tray on the table. "Getting Sir Oswald and Sir Ethan settled in took longer than expected."

"How long could it take to move their belongings into the guest wing?"

"They were…very particular about the placement of each item," Lancelot explained as diplomatically as he could, not wanting to say that he was sure the two knights had gone out of their way to make things difficult for him.

"Really?" Arthur paused with the first forkful of food halfway to his mouth. "I remember Oswald as a pleasant, easygoing fellow."

"How long has it been since you last saw him?"

The prince thought about it for a second before answering. "Four years, give or take a few months."

"Well, people can change a lot in that time," Lancelot replied, before adding in a quieter tone, "or perhaps you've only seen the side of him he shows to his equals, not to servants."

Arthur turned that over in his head, looked down at the fork in his hand with an uneaten chunk of meat still speared on its tines, then slowly set it aside. Suddenly he didn't feel so hungry anymore.

###

After taking Arthur's dishes back to the kitchen, Lancelot went to see Kenzi and attempted to share his concerns about the way Oswald and Ethan had looked at her, but he wasn't sure how much his warning sank in.

"The real question," she said as he tried to explain that there was just something about the newcomers that bothered him, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was aside from their unreasonable demands, "is why it doesn't bother Uther to have a couple of dudes in one bedroom. I would've thought he'd get his undies in a massive twist over that."

"There were two beds in the guest chamber."

"Yeah, but are they going to use both of them?"

"What if they don't?" Gwaine demanded in an oddly defensive tone. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"Not in my book," Kenzi assured him, "but Uther would throw a major shit fit if he thought they were getting it on. You wouldn't believe what he tried to do to break up Bo and Morgana…"

She launched into the tale of her friends' romantic difficulties, and any nefarious intentions the visiting knights may or may not be harboring were promptly forgotten. Lancelot walked away, shaking his head in exasperation; unless Arthur and Gwen proved more helpful, it seemed he would have to keep an eye on them by himself.

###

Arthur sparred with Oswald that afternoon, and later confided to Lancelot that something in their interaction made him uneasy. "I don't know if it's just because of what you said, but it seems to me that there is something different about him. Also, I distinctly remember that Oswald always fought left-handed, but today he picked up his sword with his right hand, and when I reminded him of his usual preference, he was oddly clumsy for someone who's been wielding a sword with his left hand all his life. That definitely wasn't my imagination."

"I wonder what could have caused such a change in him." Even as Lancelot said the words, a terrible thought crossed his mind. "Do you think he could be under an enchantment?"

"I don't know," Arthur replied, looking deeply disturbed at the idea. "Normally I'd say we should ask Merlin, but of course we can't do that. Why would anyone want to enchant Oswald anyway?"

"Well, he's an old friend of yours, and he's scheduled to fight in the melee; maybe someone's using him to get close to you, and they plan to make him assassinate you during the contest."

"For heaven's sake, can't we have just one tournament without someone trying to kill me?" Arthur complained. "I'm beginning to think Merlin was right about these knightly tests of skill… But if you're right, and Oswald is under a sorcerer's control, what can we do? I don't want to tell my father we suspect magic without absolute proof."

"I'll talk to Gaius," Lancelot offered. "He's not Merlin, but he knows a lot about magic. Perhaps he can help us figure out what's happened to Oswald and undo it before the melee."

Arthur agreed that this was a good idea – not to mention the only one they had at the moment – so Lancelot set out for the physician's quarters, but he never made it that far. He had just left the stairs leading down to the floor where Gaius lived when he was struck by a sudden indefinable sense of wrongness, of danger, and ducked just in time to avoid the blade that came whistling toward him out of the darkness.

Spinning around as he straightened back to his full height, Lancelot came in close and punched the sword's owner in the jaw, sending him staggering backward. As he cursed, Lancelot thought he recognized the voice as Oswald's, which puzzled him – if the knight had been enchanted to kill Arthur, why was he attacking him before the melee had even begun? – but he didn't have much time to ponder it before Oswald's companion lunged at him from the shadows.

Lancelot dodged his strike as well, and a deadly dance began even as he tried to reason with the two men, just in case there was some part of their minds that could still be reached. "My lords, there's no need for violence. If you're unhappy with the condition of your rooms or the service you've received, surely we can work it out."

"I don't think they're interested in talking things out, mate."

At the sound of this new voice, the three combatants looked around to see that Gwaine had arrived on the scene, his knife out and body tensed for action. His anticipation wasn't for nothing, because as soon as they saw him, the two knights attacked him with the same ferocity they'd shown toward Lancelot. Once again, Gwaine loaned Lancelot his spare weapon (clearly he believed in being ready for anything, even inside the walls of a castle), and the two of them swiftly overpowered their assailants.

Finding himself with his back against the wall and Gwaine's blade at his throat, Oswald did what any noble in such a position would do, and called for the guards. Half a dozen of them came running – which begged the question of why they hadn't intervened sooner, when they had to have heard the sounds of clashing steel, but then the guards of Camelot weren't exactly known for being on top of things – and within minutes Gwaine and Lancelot found themselves being seized for assaulting knights and dragged off to the dungeons.

When they were brought before Uther in the morning, he was predictably outraged that two commoners had had the gall to get into a fight with knights of noble blood, and dismissed their claims that Oswald and Ethan had been the aggressors as preposterous.

"What possible reason could two knights from another kingdom have for assaulting the likes of you?"

Lancelot glanced over at Arthur, whose apprehensive expression indicated that he was thinking the same thing as his servant: they didn't yet have any conclusive proof of their suspicions that the pair in question might be under magical control, and bringing up the possibility of sorcery without solid evidence was a risky proposition at best.

Stepping forward and clearing his throat to draw his father's attention to himself, Arthur said, "Sire, I cannot claim to know the motives of anyone involved, but I do know that Lancelot has served me well since Merlin was called home, and Gwaine is my guest. I trust their word as much as any knight's. Then there's the fact that the altercation occurred on a lower level of the castle, where only servants, guards, and skilled workers like Gaius and Geoffrey have their quarters, which begs the question of what Sir Oswald and Sir Ethan were doing there at such a late hour. I can't think of any reason they should have been there, unless they were in fact lying in wait for someone."

A thoughtful look crossed Uther's face as he realized Arthur had made a valid point, but then he shook his head. "The fact remains that your guest was caught holding a blade to Sir Oswald's throat, and may have intended to kill him if not for the guards' intervention; regardless of the circumstances, I cannot let such an offense go unpunished. Gwaine is hereby banished from Camelot on pain of death."

###

"I can't believe Uther did that! What a dickhead!"

"The laws of Camelot allow for much harsher penalties when a commoner assaults a noble; my father was actually being quite lenient," Arthur said with a frown, though Lancelot and Gwen, who had come along to Gaius' quarters when Gwaine went there to retrieve his few belongings before the deadline Uther had given him for getting out of the city, couldn't help noticing that he didn't contest Kenzi's description of the king.

"Honestly, I don't mind," Gwaine insisted as he threw the last of his things into a small sack and straightened up to face them. "I intended to move on soon anyway."

"Well, if you're sure…" Arthur held out his hand. "I'm glad to have met you, Gwaine."

Gwaine eyed the outstretched hand with a conflicted expression, then surprised himself by giving it a quick shake. "Good luck in your tournament."

"Thank you."

Gwen also bade him goodbye while expressing her regrets at the unfairness of his banishment and seemed content to leave it at that, but Kenzi and Lancelot followed him out when he left the physician's quarters.

"It sucks that you're leaving," Kenzi complained, "especially since we haven't cracked the case of those shady knights yet."

Lancelot nodded in agreement, looking troubled. "Based on certain changes in Sir Oswald's personality and fighting capabilities that Arthur's noticed seem to have taken place since he last saw him, we suspect he and Sir Ethan might be under an enchantment. The only reason we can think of for someone to have done that to them is if they intend to target Arthur in the melee-"

Gwaine held up a hand to stop him. "I hope you're wrong, but if not, I'm sure you can sort it out without me."

"Really? 'Cause I can think of two notable occasions in the last week where you've bailed our collective butts out of some pretty hot water." Turning to Lancelot, Kenzi added, "You really need to start packing, even here at home; this makes twice now that somebody's tried to kill you."

Before Lancelot could respond – not that he was sure of what he wanted to say; on one hand, it wouldn't be considered appropriate for a servant to carry a knife everywhere he went, not to mention making him look paranoid, but on the other, he appreciated the genuine concern in her eyes – Gwaine said, "Or maybe he has the right idea. I take my weapons everywhere, and everywhere I go, I keep finding reasons to use them."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I think he's saying that if you give the appearance of looking for trouble, trouble is likely to find you," Lancelot surmised.

"Exactly – it usually does find me, but I don't go seeking it out, and neither should you. If someone's bewitched a couple of knights to get to the prince, my advice is to stay as far away from them as you can get, which is what I intend to do."

"But what about Arthur?" Kenzi protested.

"What about him? Look, I'll admit he seems decent enough for a prince, but he is still a prince; he has plenty of other people to fight his battles for him. You don't need to risk your own necks for him too, either of you." With that, Gwaine turned and walked away, refusing to look back until the castle and its inhabitants, who had displayed a strange and alarming knack for getting under his skin, were well out of sight.

###

Miles away from Camelot's capital, Gwaine was still wrestling with his conscience, which persisted in needling him with pinpricks of guilt no matter how fiercely he argued back that he had nothing to feel guilty about – Prince Arthur was nothing to him, and there was no reason to believe Kenzi, Lancelot, Gwen, or Gaius were in any serious danger. Most likely the two knights had only gone after Lancelot as some sort of opening attack on Arthur, to distract or unsettle him, and Lancelot had handled himself quite well until Gwaine showed up. As long as he took a lesson from the encounter and armed himself for the remainder of the foreigners' stay, he should be fine, so it wasn't as if Gwaine was deserting his friends when they really needed him. Who said those people were his friends anyway? He'd only known them a few days…

Of course, Kenzi was another matter; if things had worked out differently, maybe she could have been more than a friend, but if she wanted to stay and stick her neck out for the prince, that was her choice to make. He just hoped she fared better than his father had, and didn't get herself killed for some royal ass who would treat her sacrifice as nothing more than his due.

These grim thoughts were rudely interrupted when a revolting odor of rotting meat invaded his nostrils. Thinking a deer or some other large animal must have died nearby, Gwaine covered his nose and walked faster, hoping he would soon leave the stench's source behind. When he rounded the next bend in the forest trail he was following, however, he discovered that the source was right there on the path, and it wasn't an animal. There were two human bodies lying there, carelessly abandoned.

Swallowing his disgust at the smell, Gwaine inched closer with some vague notion of burying them, or – since he didn't have anything to dig with – at least moving them to a more protected area until he could get help, because no one deserved to be left out for scavengers and the elements to pick away at. He bent over the first body, only to freeze when he saw the man's face.

Clearly the crows had already been at him; the corpse was missing an eye and sporting several bloody gouges where greedy beaks had torn at his flesh, but there was still enough of his face left for Gwaine to recognize him as Sir Oswald. A quick look at the other body confirmed that it belonged to Oswald's companion, Sir Ethan.

How can this be? I just saw Oswald and Ethan in the city this morning, but these men have been dead for days! Now certain that Kenzi and Lancelot were right about there being some dark magic afoot, Gwaine inspected the bodies more closely. It didn't take long to determine their cause of death, since whoever killed them had left a knife sticking out of Ethan's spleen. As Gwaine pulled it out, an eerie sense of familiarity overtook him. He was positive he'd seen a blade like this before…

Then, in a flash, it came to him – the knife in his hand was just like the one Gaius had removed from his leg after the tavern brawl! He had kept it, joking that it would make a nice souvenir of his time in Camelot; now he scrambled to dig it out of his bag, and when he held it up beside the one he'd pulled out of the dead knight, they were obviously identical, right down to the initials scratched into the wooden handles.

That pair in the castle aren't knights at all – they're the thugs from the tavern! Which means they probably aren't after Arthur after all, since he wasn't there and they never met him, and they didn't attack Lancelot to get to him; he was their target all along, because he's the one who got them arrested, along with me and Gwen…and Kenzi!

Gwaine's blood ran cold as he recalled how she had caused them more trouble than anyone, first by out-cheating them at cards and spurning their crude advances, which was what had led to them fighting the others in the first place. Then she had taunted them while they were in the stocks and pelted them with rotten produce… Suddenly, the venomous glares 'Oswald' and 'Ethan' had given her when they arrived made a lot more sense. They must've used magic to disguise themselves as knights so they could get into the castle and take their revenge on her – and they'll have the perfect opportunity while everyone's distracted watching that stupid contest!

Worst of all, she and Lancelot thought Arthur was the target, so she didn't even have an inkling that she was in danger. Someone had to warn her. Gwaine spun around and began running back toward the city as fast as he could, ignoring the pain from his wounded leg.

###

The melee began the following day. Kenzi, Gwen, Lancelot, and Arthur spent the time leading up to it watching Oswald and Ethan as closely as they could without being too obvious about it, but neither of them did anything suspicious, which seemed to confirm the quartet's suppositions that they intended to make their move during the melee itself. Gwen wanted Arthur to withdraw, but he flatly refused to make himself look like a coward in front of his father and future subjects (Kenzi's suggestion that he could fake an injury to get out of it failed to win anyone's support, especially when she offered to help him break his arm for real).

"I'll just have to do my best out there and take my chances," he said with an air of stubborn finality.

"Maybe we can sneak Lance into the game so he can watch your back then."

"That's not a half-bad idea," Gwen began before Arthur shot down that plan too.

"No. You're already on shaky ground with my father after your fight with Oswald and Ethan, Lancelot; I won't have you risking your place here on my account."

"I appreciate that, but it's a risk I would happily take."

"You're not going to, though."

"Has anyone ever told you you're a hard person to help?" Kenzi demanded with a baleful look at Arthur. "I don't know how Merlin put up with you so long." She gave a loud sigh as her mind raced through every angle of their predicament again, desperately searching for something, anything she could do. "Well, I can't be there for you in the arena itself; I don't have Geraldine-" Once again, she cursed her carelessness in letting herself get caught without her trusty katana the night that weird old man had sent her and Bo here "-and even if I did, it sounds like this melee thing is gonna be more brutal than the opening bloodbath of the Hunger Games, and I fight better with stealth than force. So while you're out there bashing heads and taking names, I'll sneak into the dastardly duo's room and see if I can find any evidence, or maybe break whatever magic doohickey's controlling them."

Lancelot offered to accompany her, just in case her self-appointed mission should prove dangerous in any way, but she declined. "I've broken into plenty of rooms before; I'll be in and out before you know it. Just keep your eyes glued to Arthur."

###

True to Kenzi's prediction, picking the lock on the suspect pair's door was so easy she could've done it with one hand tied behind her back; the hard part was finding what she was looking for once she was inside, because she didn't really know what she was looking for. What do magical mind control devices look like anyway? And why the hell didn't I bring Gaius, whose area of expertise actually involves this stuff? Oh yeah, because he's gotta be on call for when people inevitably get hurt playing real-life Mortal Kombat, plus nobody ever thinks of using the wise old mentor guy for the hands-on part. Maybe I should rethink following the typical TV formula all the time…

"Well, well, what have we here?"

Startled out of her musings, Kenzi whirled around to find Ethan and Oswald in the doorway, eyeing her with decidedly unpleasant expressions that for some reason gave her a weird sense of déjà vu, though at the moment she was more taken aback to see them than alarmed. "What are you guys doing here? The big free-for-all smackdown's happening outside. Shouldn't you be out there trying to use the action as a cover for offing Arthur and making it look like an accident?"

"Arthur?" Ethan echoed with genuine confusion. "We don't care about him."

"You have one thing right, though – everyone else is outside watching the melee, which means there's no one to hear you scream." Oswald took a step forward, his ugly grin widening into something downright menacing. "We looked for you in the crowd, hoping we could pull you away in the midst of all the noise and excitement, but we were afraid we might lose our chance when we couldn't find you anywhere. Imagine our surprise when we came back here to find that our prey had walked right into the trap of her own accord."

As they closed in on her, being careful to keep themselves between her and the door, Kenzi realized she was in very real trouble; she didn't know why, but these two definitely had it in for her. Forget Gaius – I should've let Lance come with me like he wanted. Lance, Bo – anybody – where are all of you when I need you?!

###

Down in the stands, Lancelot was growing more uneasy with each passing moment. "I don't like this, Gwen. Something isn't right here, I can feel it."

Gwen bit her lip as she looked down from their elevated vantage point in the stands at the melee…which seemed to be unfolding in a disconcertingly normal fashion so far. It was utter chaos, of course, but none of the combatants were paying special attention to Arthur, nor did any of them appear to have a weapon more deadly than the blunt swords everyone was required to use. "If there are assassins on the field, they're certainly biding their time," she admitted.

"Meanwhile, Kenzi hasn't come back. I shouldn't have let her go off alone."

Stifling a smile at his concern for her, Gwen said, "I don't think Kenzi is the sort of woman you let- Aah!" A hooded figure had just pushed their way through the crowd and grabbed her arm.

Lancelot's hand automatically went to the dagger hidden under his jacket – despite his previously stated concerns about appearing paranoid, he wasn't going to be caught unarmed again with assassins possibly lurking about – but before he could fully rise from his seat, the newcomer pushed their hood back just enough to reveal a familiar face: Gwaine.

"Relax, it's me!"

"Gwaine? What are you doing here?" Gwen hissed incredulously. "If the king sees you…" She glanced nervously up at the royal box where Uther sat alone, ignoring the pang in her chest at the sight of Morgana's empty seat beside him. Luckily, his attention was riveted on Arthur.

"Never mind that," Gwaine said impatiently. "Where's Kenzi?"

When Lancelot told him, his dark eyes went wide with fear. "We need to get to her now."

###

As she backed away from the two men who were closing in on her in a way that reminded her of a scene from some documentary she'd ended up watching at three in the morning because she was too tired to reach out four feet for the remote to change the channel in which a pack of wolves had cornered an elk – the thought of wolves made her wish Dyson was there too – Kenzi desperately tried to stall for time in the hope that some brilliant escape plan would come to her. "Guys, can't we talk about this? I don't even know what your beef with me is-"

"Enough talking! We've heard more than enough from you!" Oswald lunged at her, only to end up doubled over in pain when her knee crunched into his groin.

Taking advantage of his momentary incapacitation, Kenzi darted past him and made a beeline for the door, but Ethan seized her by the arm before she reached it. "Where do you think you're going?" he growled as he yanked her back and shoved her against the wall.

"Um, getting the hell away from you?"

By then Oswald had recovered somewhat from her attack, though he was still limping and red-faced with pain and fury. "You're not going anywhere. Bring her here, Ebor."

Ebor? Doesn't he mean Ethan? Kenzi didn't have long to ponder this slip of the tongue, however, as she soon found herself dragged over to one of the beds and pushed down onto it with Oswald leaning over her in a decidedly threatening manner. She fought back, of course, and in doing so ripped open his shirt. A big, sparkly crystal that had been hidden underneath it swung forward from a chain around his neck, nearly hitting her on the nose. Despite the seriousness of her situation, Kenzi couldn't help blurting out, "Isn't that necklace a little femme for a dude? Are you sure you two are really using both the beds in this room?"

"Shut up!" Oswald drew back his fist to deliver a blow he hoped would stun her enough to end her resistance so he and his accomplice could get on with their sinister plans for her, but before he could follow through, the door flew open with an almighty bang.

"Get off her!" The enraged shout was a disconcerting departure from Lancelot's usual calm, collected tone, but at that moment it was music to Kenzi's ears. Even more welcome was the sensation of Oswald's restraining hand being torn away as Lancelot, not waiting for him to comply with his demand, grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him away.

Oswald managed to free himself and spun to face his attacker, but this time the tables were turned – Lancelot was armed while Oswald, having removed his sword belt in anticipation of completing his assault on Kenzi, was not, and his intentions were so obvious that Lancelot didn't hesitate to plunge his blade into the man's gut.

Gwaine, meanwhile, was having more trouble with Ethan due to his leg, which was really hurting after his rushed return to Camelot, slowing him down. Fortunately for him, Gwen was able to provide some assistance in the form of a well-placed kick to the back of his opponent's knee, allowing Gwaine to finish him off. With both of their enemies safely dispatched, he and Lancelot immediately turned to Kenzi, addressing her simultaneously.

"Are you all right?"

"Did they hurt you?"

"Yeah, no, I'm fine. I mean, he pushed me down on the bed and all, but he didn't get any further than that." She stood up and smoothed out her dress, which both men took as a cue to offer their arms in case she decided to faint, until Gwen shooed them away with admonitions to give her room to breathe. Once she had composed herself, Kenzi gave her rescuers a slightly tremulous smile. "Still, I know things could've gotten really fudged up for me if you guys hadn't shown up, so thank you."

"You don't need to thank us," Lancelot said at once. "Of course we came the moment we knew you were in danger. I could never let anyone hurt you."

The heartfelt emotion in that simple declaration coupled with the way he looked at her – like he was ready to skewer another dozen Oswalds if they tried to lay a finger on her – made her heart thump hard against her ribs, but she ignored it aside from a silent, Calm down, you stupid out-of-control ticker! and forced herself to focus on more practical matters. "I appreciate that, but now we've got two dead bodies on our hands and our friend's about to become one if he gets caught here. We need to do some damage control, stat."

"About that," Gwaine piped up. "There's something you should know about these so-called knights."

###

When Gaius was summoned to examine the bodies, he quickly pinpointed their suspiciously girly necklaces (Ethan turned out to have one as well) as the source of their magical disguises, explaining that the crystals allowed the wearer to assume the form of anyone whose blood they touched. Once he removed them, the false knights were revealed to be Dagr and Ebor, the thugs Kenzi had cheated at cards the night she and her friends first met Gwaine.

"Well, sire," Gaius announced when he had concluded his examination, "as you can see, Gwaine and Lancelot did not kill two knights after all, but two criminals who murdered the real Sirs Oswald and Ethan, then used magic to impersonate them. Moreover, they saved Lady Kenzi from a terrible fate."

Kenzi wasn't thrilled with the way he'd phrased that, like she was some distressed damsel, but she had already admitted in private that they had indeed saved her bacon, and she was willing to acknowledge it publicly too if that was what it took to make Uther give credit where it was due. "So that means Gwaine can be un-banished, right?" she asked pointedly.

Uther's face twisted like he'd just taken a swig of pure lemon juice; he hated being forced to admit he was wrong, and the fact that the man he had unjustly punished had not only proven himself to be a hero but had also exposed a plot involving magic that had unfolded right under Uther's nose was just salt in the wound.

Seeing the king wrestling with doing what was obviously the right thing, Gwaine scoffed and said, "You know what, I don't care – now that those ruffians have been dealt with, this place is getting dull. Besides, you'll probably still want to banish me when I tell you that it was me that stole from your larder. Prince Arthur only covered for me. Don't worry, your highness, I'll be out of here by nightfall."

###

Gwaine was as good as his word; after stopping by the kitchens for a snack, and to restock on provisions, he headed out while the afternoon sun was still well above the horizon. Once again, everyone gathered to see him off, but this time Kenzi walked a little way with him, stopping just outside the palace gates.

"So I guess you're really leaving this time?"

"Yes, I am. I like almost everyone I've gotten to know in Camelot, especially you – even Arthur isn't so bad, really – but Uther's everything I hate about the nobility. This could never be my home with him as king."

"Because he's an elitist jerk or because of his attitude toward people who don't quite fit into his rigidly heteronormative standards?" At Gwaine's startled look, Kenzi said simply, "When I mentioned how he reacted to a couple of girls getting together, I noticed you seemed to take it personally – more than I did, because even though the girls in question are my friends, I only like men, so I can't really relate." She then leveled a look at him which said plainly that she suspected he was in a much better position to empathize with the discrimination Bo and Morgana had faced.

Deciding not to lie to her – she was much too perceptive, and besides, he didn't want to part from her on dishonest terms – he said, "I wasn't pretending, you know. I really did like you very much. I still do."

"I know that," Kenzi retorted with an indignant scoff. "My best friend in the whole world swings both ways, so you can't seriously think bisexual people existing is news to me. Or did you think I thought it only applies to girls? Because for your information, I'm fully aware that men can be into both chicks and dicks too."

By the time she finished, Gwaine was staring at her like he could hardly believe his ears, but all he said was, "Most people aren't so accepting. Even among those who don't share Uther's prejudices, a lot of them tend to assume you're either confused or fooling yourself."

"Yeah, and guys get hit extra hard with it since lots of people at least seem to think girl-on-girl action is hot, so they get more of a free pass for 'experimenting'," she added with a sympathetic shake of her head. "People can really suck sometimes, but don't let them get to you, okay? You do you – and whoever else you want to." She punctuated this statement by clapping her hands to his shoulders in an encouraging gesture, which became less lighthearted when he reached up and took both her hands in his.

"Wherever I go next, I don't know if I'll ever meet another person like you, Kenzi. Come with me – we can leave Uther behind and find a place where neither of us has to pretend to be something we're not to fit in. Maybe we can even find Bo."

Kenzi gulped; his offer might have come out of nowhere, but she could see in his dark brown eyes, which were more serious than she had ever seen them, that it was made in earnest, and there was a part of her that was sorely tempted to accept it. Camelot was a lot less fun without Bo (and Dyson, Merlin, and Morgana; she was even starting to miss the witch now that she'd mostly forgiven her for the whole sleeping curse debacle), so if there was any chance that she and Gwaine might find her missing friends, she should jump at it, right?

Still, something held her back. Moving on when she got bored with her current circumstances or things got tough was what the old Kenzi would have done – the Kenzi who hadn't met Bo yet, who was mainly out for herself and hung out with people who shared that mindset, and who therefore did not form many deep or lasting attachments even to the ones she considered her friends or allies of the moment. It wasn't until Bo came into her life that she grew into someone who would stick her neck out for others when there was nothing in it for her, who stood by her friends no matter what, and something told her Bo wouldn't approve if she bailed on her Camelot crew to run off and have adventures with Gwaine.

After all, this week's bad guys might not have been after Arthur, but eventually someone else would come gunning for him (the prince was such a trouble magnet, she honestly had no idea how he'd survived so long before Merlin came along), and she had promised her favorite sorcerer that she would carry on his mission to protect Arthur, which Bo had made hers as well, along with everyone else who had stayed behind. She couldn't go back on her word now just because an enticing new option had come up. Knowing Bo made me a better person… Now I have to show her I can still be my best self without her here to be my good influence.

Besides, there were other people she cared about still in Camelot – Gwen was nice when she wasn't being too uptight, Gaius needed some young people around to stir up trouble and give his blood a reason to keep pumping, Arthur generally needed all the help he could get, and Lance… Well, Lance was too complicated an issue for her to delve into right now, but whatever he did or didn't feel for her, she did believe he would be genuinely sorry to see her go. After everything she'd been through with them, could she really abandon them for a guy she'd only known a few days?

All these thoughts flashed through her mind in a matter of seconds, but they must have shown on her face, because Gwaine's hopeful expression fell away. "But you can't go, can you?"

"I'm sorry," she said as kindly as she could while still remaining firm in her conviction. "Getting away doesn't sound entirely unappealing, but my posse needs me here. Bo wouldn't want me to ditch them, even for her."

"I understand. The people here are lucky to have you…especially Lancelot."

"Lance?" Kenzi echoed, her eyebrows shooting up. "We're strictly in the friend zone – that's all he wants anyway," she added under her breath.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I may not always be the most sensitive or astute fellow, but I can tell when a person has feelings for someone. Just think about it; he's a good man."

"He is," she readily agreed; that, at least, was impossible to argue with. "And I bet there's someone out there for you too, who's…well, almost as awesome as me."

Gwaine laughed and hugged her, saying, "Good luck, Lady Kenzi. Stay away from dubious characters in taverns."

"You too – and if you run into Bo somewhere out there, tell her I miss her."

"I will." They let go with those parting words, and he set off down the road, only turning back once to give her one last wave.

She waved back, then went back into the courtyard. Gwen and Lancelot were waiting for her just inside the gate, though the maid left quickly when she saw Kenzi approaching, leaving her alone with Lancelot. "So, Gwaine's gone."

"Yes. I'm sorry," Lancelot said tentatively while searching her face for some clue as to how she felt about his departure.

"He asked me to go with him so the two of us could have crazy globetrotting adventures and maybe even find Bo, Dyson, Merlin, and Morgana, but I turned him down. I figure you guys would last about a week without me tops," Kenzi told him with a teasing grin.

"That's a generous estimate," he replied, grinning back. "I am glad you're staying, though."

They were still smiling at each other as he offered her his arm and escorted her back to the palace, though as they walked together, the humor gradually bled out of their expressions, giving way to some deeper emotion neither of them was quite ready to name yet.

###

As he watched this scene play out from atop the castle's walls, Arthur was not smiling. He was still stewing over the injustice of Gwaine being forced to leave even though he'd done nothing wrong, and in fact had helped to expose two dangerous criminals – and on top of that, everyone had gotten so thoroughly distracted with the whole business that Arthur's victory in the melee had almost become an afterthought. He supposed they would all be reminded at tonight's celebratory feast (assuming Kenzi and Gwaine had left enough food and drink for the feast to go on), but he had hoped Gwen might seek him out to personally congratulate him, which was something she certainly couldn't do in the banquet hall. Not in the way he'd imagined, anyway…

Just then, he heard footsteps approaching and felt the weight of his father's gloved hand drop onto his shoulder, causing him to give a guilty start, as if the king might somehow know he'd been having inappropriate thoughts about a maidservant.

Fortunately for him, Uther had other things on his mind. "Ah, Arthur, there you are. I'm glad I found you before the feast; I wanted to express my regret over what transpired today."

"Father?" Arthur asked hesitantly, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. Was Uther actually about to admit he'd been wrong to make Gwaine leave?

"Winning the melee is a great achievement, and I'm sorry your triumph was overshadowed by the actions of two common miscreants."

I should've known better, Arthur thought bitterly. Of course the king wasn't going to acknowledge having erred, he just assumed Arthur would be upset about the slight to his own pride and vanity (which, in fairness, he was, just a little). Still, it was nice to know that his father appreciated his accomplishment.

"It's also unfortunate that your new…companion…had to leave," Uther continued, now sounding rather uncomfortable, "but on the whole, I think it's for the best."

"Why?" Arthur demanded, the frustration he so often felt with his father these days welling up yet again. "Yes, Gwaine's a bit rough around the edges, but I truly believe that underneath it all he's a good, honorable man-"

"Arthur, please," Uther broke in, the pained expression he had worn when Kenzi asked if he would revoke Gwaine's banishment reappearing. "I understand that you must be lonely since Merlin left, but if you must find another to take his place, I wish you would choose someone worthy of your station. Regardless of how I felt about her choices in general, at least Morgana showed better judgment in that respect."

It took a moment for Arthur to realize what Uther was talking about, but the second it dawned on him, his face instantly went beet-red. After all this time, had his father still not let go of the utterly absurd notion that he had taken Merlin into his bed? And now he thought Arthur had invited Gwaine to stay there as his guest and stood up for him for the same reason?

"Father," he sputtered, "I… That isn't… I never…"

"Yes, well, now that Gwaine is gone, there's no need to discuss the matter further," Uther interrupted. "Just bear in mind my advice about holding yourself to higher standards next time. You are the future king of Camelot after all." Deciding to end their increasingly awkward conversation with that final admonition, he walked away with a slightly more hurried step than usual.

For a moment, Arthur allowed himself to wonder whether his father might consider Gwen an improvement over the last two people he imagined Arthur had been involved with, since at least she was a woman…but no, probably not. Recalling how Uther had immediately assumed Gwaine and Lancelot were at fault for their confrontation with the impostors posing as Ethan and Oswald simply because they were commoners while Uther believed the latter pair to be nobles, as if blood was all that mattered in determining a person's character, Arthur amended that thought to 'definitely not', which left him seething at the unfairness of the situation.

He also wondered for the hundredth time where Uther had gotten such ridiculous ideas about the nature of his friendship with Merlin, though he suspected either Kenzi or Morgana, or both, were somehow responsible – it seemed like exactly the sort of thing they would find amusing – and in his irate state of mind, the thought flitted through his head that the next time he saw Morgana, he might just strangle her.

Of course, this errant flight of fancy disappeared as quickly as it had come as the sobering reality that he had no idea when he would see her again came crashing down on him once more, and he sighed heavily as he leaned over the battlement to stare out into the vast lands beyond the city, to the distant horizon that had swallowed his friends.

Dealing with Merlin's absence was difficult enough since the sorcerer was undoubtedly the best friend he'd ever had – he could admit that in the privacy of his own head, even if he would never say it within earshot of Merlin himself – but in a way, being without Morgana was harder. She had been a constant fixture in his life for over a decade, even longer than he'd known Gwen, and as much as he used to complain that she was nosy, bossy, sarcastic, and generally obnoxious in every way, he now found life rather dull without her around to argue with. In fact, that was probably the real source of his burst of anger toward her, which had completely dissipated by now, leaving only the empty feeling that flared up inside him whenever he thought of her or any of his other missing friends. Wherever they were now, he hoped they were safe.

No, Arthur will never get to live down Uther thinking he and Merlin were a thing, because it's just too darn funny.

As you can probably tell from the wrapped-up feeling here, this concludes the first Camelot arc, so next time we'll be back in Trick's kingdom with Bo and the gang. If all goes well I may be able to get chapter 7 posted before the end of the year, but just in case I don't or it's at the very end of the month, a very happy holiday season/Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah to you all.