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When the infamous knights of Camelot first professed their love and loyalty to King Arthur, they could never have imagined the shit they would have to deal with on a daily basis.
They sat around the table of the ancient kings and promised their lives to Camelot. They had kneeled in front of the long prophesied Once and Future King and swore an oath. However, just a few years later, those most noble knights would have taken it all back for five minutes of peace and quiet.
For what these men hadn’t realized was by swearing fealty to the king, they bound themselves to a life of hearing Arthur and Merlin endlessly bickering.
“Is there nothing that will shut them up? They find a way to argue over everything .” Gwaine moaned, leaning against his panting horse. “It’s the most obnoxious form of foreplay I’ve ever seen.”
Percival snickered as he unbuckled his bag from his horse’s saddle.
Camelot’s finest were on their way to the western border, where several villages had been raided in the last month. The ride would take four days, and they were only halfway.
“Careful, Gwaine. That’s your king you’re talking about.” Leon warned. He had far grown used to Arthur and Merlin’s incessant arguing, although he couldn’t deny it had gotten much worse in the last few weeks.
“I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.” Gwaine looked around for someone to defend him. “Come on, men. It just keeps getting worse, they’re going to drown in sexual tension before either of them ever makes a move.”
“He’s not wrong.” Elyan chimed in.
“It’s none of our business.” Lancelot finally interjected.
The knights of Camelot each braced themselves, packs in hand, and headed for camp.
“I’m just saying, we could have had fresh rabbit in our stew tonight if you could manage not to fall on your ass every five minutes!”
“Well, I’m just saying I only manage to fall when you trip me!”
“For the last time, I didn’t trip you!”
“Yes, you did! How else did I end up underneath you?”
“I don’t know Merlin , why did you pull me down on top of you?”
Gwaine dropped his bag, all eyes suddenly whipped over to him.
“I can’t do this. I’ll go find some wood for the fire or something.” His hand raised in defeat as he marched into the trees.
“What was that all about?” Arthur asked briskly, still riled up from his heated discussion with Merlin.
“I think it’s just been a long day for us all, sire.” Lancelot answered respectfully, avoiding Merlin’s gaze.
“Yes, I suppose it has. We’ll all do better with some food in our stomachs.” He pointedly commented, looking back over at Merlin.
“You know, I think I finally understand why people keep trying to kill you.” Merlin huffed.
“ Merlin , you can’t say things like that. I’m the king!”
“You’re a prat, is what you are!”
They continued to argue as Merlin fed and watered the horses. And while Merlin set the fire and cooked.
Eventually it quieted down, as they all shoveled food into their faces, but when they finished Merlin mumbled a comment about how much Arthur ate under his breath and they started all over again.
That night, in the middle of the woods, with no one else for miles, the knights of Camelot fell asleep to the sound of the king and his manservant whispering insults to each other in between their yawns.
~
“We’re going to be positive today, boys.” Gwaine ran up behind Elyan and Percival as they saddled their horses, clapping them both on the back. “We’re going to be happy, light, carefree, and we’re not going to let certain sexually frustrated members of our party ruin this lovely day.”
Lancelot rolled his eyes and the rest of the men laughed as Gwaine's forced smile.
“That’s good, Gwaine. You keep thinking like that and let me know how it goes.” Leon chuckled as he passed by.
“Are we ready, men?” Arthur interrupted.
They were not ready. They were most definitely not ready for another day of torture.
Around midday, when even Lancelot had been daydreaming treasonous thoughts while Merlin and Arthur’s shouts echoed through the forest, they were attacked.
It took them a minute to gather their wits, as all of them had been caught off guard by the perfectly ordinary bandits.
Merlin was tackled off his horse, which Arthur immediately revenged. The knights formed their practised battle stances as soon as they’re wits returned to them, and they easily fought off twenty men, cutting them down one by one.
Merlin was behind Arthur and Lancelot, trying to subtly take out some of the men. He was focused making a branch fall on an archer in the treeline, when he saw Arthur drop to the ground out of the corner of his eye.
Lancelot was busy wrestling with another bandit, when Arthur had been struck on the back of the head by the hilt of a man’s sword.
The world slowed down, Merlin watched, frozen in time as Arthur’s knees buckled underneath him and his eyes drifted shut.
The rational part of Merlin’s brain knew his king would be fine. He’d whine about the bump on his head for a few days, but he’d probably recover without any issues.
The rest of him, including the part that controlled his magic, could only see the person he was tasked to protect crumbling to the forest floor.
His whole body hummed, like lightning under his skin slowly building strength until…
Snap.
Every bandit, every enemy, suddenly flew through the air. They smashed into trees or landed on their necks, and if they were lucky enough to get up after, then they ran.
The knights were frozen, with their swords still held high, looking for the enemy.
“Arthur?” Merlin whimpered.
Lancelot collected himself first, despite knowing about Merlin’s magic, he was shocked to see his friend lose control like that. He sheathed his sword and signaled for the other knights to stay back.
“Merlin?” Lancelot searched Merlin’s eyes, which were a constant, glimmering gold, and tried to find any sign that his friend was still there.
Merlin still hadn’t moved, his feet planted in the mud a few paces back from Arthur’s unconscious body.
“Gwaine, come check if Arthur is alright.” Lancelot ordered softly, not taking his eyes off Merlin. “And put your sword away, all of you. Merlin, isn’t going to hurt you.”
Merlin seemed to recognize Lancelot’s voice, his eyes slowly beginning to fade.
“Merlin, it’s okay. It’ll be alright.” Lancelot soothed as he inched closer to Merlin.
Merlin’s face turned to stone the moment his eyes were fully blue again. Their focus shifted to Gwaine, who was now leaning over Arthur’s body.
“Is he okay?” Merlin asked, sounding uncharacteristically authoritative.
“Yeah– yeah, he’ll be alright.” Gwiane startled.
The rest of the knights looked between themselves equally confused and relieved.
Merlin’s eyes closed, his face still portraying no emotion except the single tear now tumbling down his cheek.
“You have magic.” Leon was the first to speak on it.
“Yes.” Merlin whispered, keeping his eyes tightly shut.
Gwaine wondered if it was shame Merlin was feeling, or if he was grieving the loss of his friends and all of Camelot now that his magic had been revealed.
“You love him.” Percival stated next, shocking everyone.
It wasn’t like they didn’t know. Everyone saw the awkward attraction between the king and his servant, and those closest knew it was deeper than that. Still, no one had ever dared to say it outloud before.
“Yes, I know.” Merlin growled through closed teeth. His eyes opened and filled with a fiery rage no one had ever seen before.
“You’re a sorcerer and you love the king of Camelot.” Leon laughed. Maybe Arthur was right, Merlin truly was an idiot.
“Warlock.” Lancelot corrected thoughtlessly.
“You knew?” Gwaine was suddenly outraged. “He knew and I didn’t?”
Merlin’s brow pinched together. He was still processing, running through the past few minutes over and over in his mind.
“Merlin, you know I would never have told anyone! Why didn’t you tell me?” Gwaine pleaded, covering his hurt with just a hint of mockery.
“I didn’t tell Lance, he just found out.” Merlin mumbled. “It doesn’t matter anyway, everyone knows now.”
Merlin stepped forward and knelt at Arthur’s side. He was truly fine, his breathing was steady and there was color in his cheeks. But, Merlin ran his fingers lightly over where Arthur had been hit and could already feel the bump forming.
“Gods, Arthur’s going to kill me.” Merlin whispered to himself, softly brushing Arthur’s blonde locks out of his face.
“I won’t let him hurt you, Merlin.” Gwaine assured. “My oath was to Arthur, but only so long as you were by his side.”
The rest of the knights, except Lancelot who stood firmly behind Merlin, shuffled their feet, questioning all they’d ever known. They flashed back to when they swore to protect their king, then to just hours ago when they regretted the path they had chosen as Merlin and Arthur bickered incessantly ahead of them. They realized Gwaine was right, because without Merlin they didn’t really know who Arthur was anymore. And if Arthur could strike Merlin down, their friend who didn’t have a malicious bone in his body, then they had truly lost sight of their king.
Their thoughts ran wild, each trying to predict the future knowing that when Arthur awoke all hell would break loose.
“What?” Merlin shook them from their termoile. “No, Arthur already knows. He found out two weeks ago.”
“That’s why you’ve been fighting so much?” Elyan asked, completely astounded.
Lancelot smiled at his friends knowingly. He had warned them not to get involved.
“Well, he’s being a royal prat about it! He won’t believe that I’ve told him everything, he keeps insisting I’m still hiding something.”
“You are still hiding something, Merlin.” Lancelot drawled in a way that told the rest of the knights he’d had this conversation with Merlin many times.
“Yes, well I’m not telling him about that, and it hardly counts anyway.” Merlin muttered quickly.
“Why? You just admitted it to us.” Lancelot reminded him.
“Yes, to you guys, not to him. Telling you I love him, and telling him I love him are two very different things.” Merlin turned, looking at his friend like he was a fool for not understanding.
“You and Arthur have been making our lives miserable, because you won’t confess to loving him.” Leon tried to follow.
“Yes.” Lancelot supplied bluntly.
“Merlin, you know he loves you too, right? You have nothing to fear.” Elyan came forward, genuinely concerned.
“Yes, yes, I know.” Merlin groaned, returning his attention to the still unconscious Arthur in front of him.
“Then why don’t you just confess already?!” Lancelot barked, briefly losing his ever peaceful demeanor.
Merlin’s jaw ticked. This really was none of their business.
“Because,” Merlin began, sounding every bit as frustrated as he felt, “he’d brag about me being the first one to confess for the rest of our lives, and this prat is going to confess to me first!”
Gwaine sat back on his heels, still on the other side of Arthur from Merlin, he glanced around at his fellow knights trying to piece together how he felt before slowly nodding.
“I changed my mind. I’m going to execute you myself.” Gwaine finally managed.
“I– Wha–” Merlin stumbled exasperated, hearing Lancelot laugh behind him.
The rest of the knights agreed, even Percy who normally stayed out of such dramas.
“Merlin?” Arthur stirred in Merlin’s arms.
The men silenced, suddenly remembering the brevity of the situation. Their king was injured. Their friend had magic.
“Merlin, I heard that.” Arthur’s mumbles were barely audible as his eyes flickered open. His mouth slowly stretched into a weak smile. “You love me. You said it first.”
It was Merlin laughing now, bringing his forehead down to Arthur’s.
“Shut up, you clotpole.”
~
It was another week until they were on the road back to Camelot. Arthur was fully recovered, the raiders to the west were handled, and the whole while the bickering between Merlin and Arthur had been kept to a minimum.
The knights wrongfully assumed the four day ride home would be a breeze. But once again, after two days on horseback listening to Arthur and Merlin whisper sweet nothings to each other when they though no one could hear, and a few extremely awkward meal where the pair disappeared for an hour in the woods together, coming back obviously disheveled, the men decided they had preferred the incessant fighting afterall.