Chapter Text
Here's the thing.
Merlin was Arthur's servant. He was definitely Arthur's servant and damn was that boy loyal to Arthur. Even with all the bickering and mutters and glares and sarcastic remarks. Everyone in the kingdom (and even those of other kingdoms) would never dare to question Merlin's loyalty. His utter devotion was certainly something to be marveled at.
Merlin was also very fond of the knights. Sure, each had their own special relationship with him. Gwaine and Merlin were thick as thieves with their plotting and jokes. Anytime there was even a whisper of trouble the pair were usually the first ones to get the finger pointed at. Leon and Merlin were a much safer set of friends. Leon was a warm and calm presence that could easily talk down an irritated or trifled Merlin with only a smile and hand to the shoulder. And while Leon was a very traditional knight in most things it was still very obvious that Leon enjoyed when Merlin broke protocol to bring him extra servings of food or sneak him extra wine during feasts.
Then, of course, there Elyan and Merlin. Elyan had heard so much about Merlin from Gwen that he had accidentally adopted the servant into their family within a week of knowing him. If Merlin looked ill or too thin or tired then it was almost always Elyan who pointed it out to Arthur. Merlin would always bristle at it, but everyone was all too aware that Elyan was one of the rare people who the man would listen to with little to no argument. It was something Arthur was madly jealous of and begged his knight everyday to tell him how to achieve such a feat. Percival and Merlin - while seemingly both innocent enough separately - were also a dangerous match. Percival was scary and big enough to drive away anyone who might catch Merlin doing something he shouldn't (such as putting worms in Arthur's food that one time...He was really mad) and Merlin was all too happy to get Percival out of training by pretending he needed help moving furniture or lifting trunks around the castle.
But Lancelot? Oh, Lancelot was Merlin's favorite. There was no debate.
They all knew it. Arthur knew it. The knights knew it. Camelot knew it. It was just how it was.
There was no explanation for it. Sure, Lancelot had saved Merlin's life...And Merlin had been Lancelot's very first advocate for knighthood. Whenever Lancelot had been called back to Camelot it was fairly obvious it was Merlin who had sent for him and even more obvious that the two had kept in contact despite Lancelot's banishment. Still, one would think the difference in stations would set them apart.
...It did not.
Lancelot and Merlin were always together. It was a miracle that the time they spent together even rivaled the amount of time Arthur and Merlin spent by the other's side. Most of the time they wouldn't even include the others in their conversations, tending to whisper by fires or in shadows. Merlin always served Lancelot first during meals (it drove Arthur absolutely insane) and half the time Merlin acted as if he was also Lancelot's servant by the amount of favors he did him. Lancelot was no better. One time, Arthur had been outraged to find his knight bringing him his breakfast because 'Merlin deserved a lie in' and that one time Lancelot sharpened Arthur's sword because he was worried Merlin might cut himself.
It was all bloody ridiculous.
So when it happened...Well. People noticed...And were definitely talking about it.
"Lancelot," Elyan called as he rubbed his eyes with a yawn. He had just gotten back from patrol and pretty much wanted to die. He loved Arthur. Really, he did. But the man was brutal when it came to knightly duties. Elyan did not think it was necessary to scout the same area three times when it was snowing. It just wasn't. "Could you ask Merlin if he would mind drawing me up a bath? Gerald never gets it the right temperature." He shuddered, thinking of his own servant. Well. Not his servant. Just the one that usually attended him. None of the knights really liked the idea of having a personal servant. That felt weird...Especially since most of them had started out as commoners and weren't comfortable with servants to begin with.
"You'll have to ask him yourself," Lancelot said, voice somehow perfectly polite while tightening sharply "I have no idea where he is."
"You aren't seeing him later?"
"No."
Elyan paused, waiting for more. Lancelot always saw Merlin after patrol. After everything really. In fact, the only way to really separate them was if Arthur and Lancelot were on different patrols and when they reunited you would think it had been ages since they had last seen one another. Elyan rose his eyebrows and turned to where Percival had perked up at the comment, eyes lighting with interest.
"That was...Strange." He whispered to him as they watched Lancelot march his horse back to its stall. "Is he sick?"
"He doesn't look sick." Percival said with narrowed eyes. "Do you think he got stabbed and we didn't see?"
"By who? Nobody attacked us."
"Maybe we were and he took care of it before we noticed and he got stabbed." Percival reasoned. Elyan blinked. "Can you think of another reason he won't see Merlin?" Percival challenged. That was probably fair. Elyan clicked his tongue and went to hand the reins off to - Oh. That was Gerald. Elyan really hoped that he hadn't heard the bath comment. Judging by the scowl on his face he led the horse away...Yeah. Elyan was definitely getting a cold bath now. He shivered at the thought and set out to find Merlin before he was doomed to freeze to death.
"Is Arthur here?" He called, stepping into the throne room where some of the other knights were pouring over reports and various forms. Gwaine was banging his head repeatedly on the table as Leon signed something with a flick of his wrist. "I'm looking for Merlin." He added.
"I think Arthur is getting changed." Leon told him and Elyan groaned. "I wouldn't worry about it. He'll be down here as soon as he hears that Lancelot is back from patrol." The knight snorted and kicked Gwaine under the table. The man muttered something under his breath before picking up a quill and sifting through some parchment. Percival cleared his throat.
"Lancelot said he wasn't seeing Merlin today." He said and everybody stopped.
"What? But Lancelot was on patrol."
"I know."
"They haven't seen each other all day."
"I know."
"That surpasses the three hours maximum amount of time they tend to be apart."
"I know."
"Something is not right." Gwaine decided and put a finger to his lips. "Are you certain this is Lancelot you brought back? Or did you mix him up with some other strait-laced saint?" He asked, narrowing his eyes. Elyan crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. "Come on. We all remember the one time you went to rescue Leon and you brought back a farmer, Elyan." He added, eyes sparkling. Leon sighed at the reminder.
"Gwaine, I told you to stop bringing that up. It was fine. I managed to escape and-"
"He had a sack over his head! How was I supposed to tell?"
"I do wonder," Percival interrupted "Why you never took the sack off after you saved him?"
"He asked to keep it on." Elyan muttered and Gwaine started laughing "Stop it! It was my first quest, leave me alone."
"Do you remember Arthur's face when he pulled the thing off? And Leon just came around the corner with an arrow in his arm and demanded to know why you left him?" Gwaine giggled to himself. "Oh, the farmer was so mad too. He really hated that his sack got pulled off-"
"You know what? I-"
"Hi Lancelot." Leon interrupted pleasantly. They all went silent as their friend strode into the room, arms full with parchment that Elyan knew was probably finished reports of their patrol. The man always managed to do it in a ridiculously short period of time. Elyan wrinkled his nose at the reminder he still had to do his. "How are you feeling?" He smiled and when the knight tilted his head, smiled. "It looks cold out there." He explained. Lancelot's expression cleared.
"Ah. I might have a sore throat in the morning, but I should be fine."
"Merlin could probably whip something up for you." Gwaine interjected, eyes alight with interest. Lancelot paused.
"Oh...That's quite alright. I wouldn't want to bother him. He's very...Busy." The man said and placed the parchment down. "Goodnight." He nodded. Leon blinked a little but nodded back as everyone else gaped at the man's retreating back. Silence followed.
"Huh." Leon frowned "I thought it was a rumor." He said and went back to his paperwork. The others waited.
"You thought what was a rumor?" Percival asked, breaking first. The knight glanced up before sighing. Elyan rolled his eyes. As if telling them was such a trying task. Leon was a bit dramatic in his own, petty way.
"You know...Merlin and Lancelot yesterday. Fredrick mentioned it, but I didn't think it was true." He said with a wave of his hand.
"Frederick? Is that the bloke with one eye?"
"No."
"The one with the big nose?"
"No."
"The one that I thought was a girl that one time and tried to kiss?"
"No... But that was actually Frederick's brother." Leon pointed his quill at him and Gwaine snapped his fingers in recognition. "Anyways, Frederick said he overheard Merlin and Lancelot arguing about something but I figured he was mistaken." the knight explained and tapped the quill on his chin "But maybe not."
"Lancelot and Merlin don't argue," Percival noted with a frown "I've never seen them even disagree on something." He said. Elyan nodded in agreement. Lancelot was once distracted and said the sky was purple. Rather than join in the teasing Merlin had vehemently defended him for over two hours - declaring that, he too, also thought the sky was purple because at night the sky was very dark and none of them knew what the sky was like at night because they didn't work past sundown.
Then the rat bastard had woken them up before the sun rose to point out that the sky did sort of look purple at night.
None of them ever dared to try and correct Lancelot ever again.
"Well I don't know why Lancelot wouldn't want to see him then."
"You don't think he's dying, do you?" Elyan asked "Maybe he doesn't want to tell him he's dying."
"Merlin is pretty much a physician. He would be able to tell." Leon dismissed. He smiled again and it took Elyan a moment to realize he was looking past Elyan. He turned to find his sister strolling up with a basket at her hip, a small smile on her lips as she looked at them gathered around.
"I've come to collect your bags." She said, nodding to the damp leather bags by Percival and Elyan's feet. It held the clothes they had changed out of earlier - that were arguably even damper than the bags. Elyan nodded and leaned down to pick it up as Gwaine tried to convince Gwen to throw his gloves in the wash as well.
"I washed your things yesterday," She rolled her eyes and nodded when Percival and Elyan threw their stuff in. "I'll go find Lancelot and get his. I'm guessing he's with Merlin?" She asked and everyone shook their heads. Confusion flittered over her face for a moment before clearing. "Oh. I forgot...George mentioned he heard them fighting."
"George heard something too?"
"Is George the one with one eye?"
"No, Gwaine. Shut up."
"It's true then?" Elyan frowned as he peered out the door into the hallway Lancelot had just exited through. Gwen bit her lip before nodding. "Damn. What would Lancelot and Merlin even argue about?"
"Please," Gwaine rolled his eyes before flicking his hair out of his face "This has got to be some new battle strategy. Maybe Morgana is trying to throw us off with this so we won't notice when she tries to invade again." He shrugged. The others seemed to consider this.
"That somehow makes more sense." Percival muttered. Gwen wrinkled her nose before putting down the basket with a sigh.
"I'm telling you," She said "George heard them both yelling. It sounded very intense."
"Maybe they were having sex. Sometimes people yell during sex." Gwaine suggested. Everyone turned to him.
"Is that more likely than having an argument?" Leon asked dryly. Gwaine pointed his glove at him.
"Between Lancelot and Merlin? Yes. Absolutely, you ignorant fool." He said and they all fell silent.
"...Maybe we shouldn't be involved." Gwen said uncomfortably, picking the basket back up "Or just ask. I'm sure if it was an argument they would make up very soon." She pointed out and there was a murmur at that. If Merlin and Lancelot really were arguing there was no way it would last long. Maybe until the end of the day. If that.
"You're right." Leon agreed and picked up another form. "I'm sure everything will be fine by tomorrow."
Things were not fine.
Leon was a damn liar and while Gwaine had always known this he now had even more proof.
During training the next morning Lancelot and Merlin didn't even talk. Not a word. Not even an acknowledgement. He could tell the others were watching closely - trying to see the tension and figure out what the Hell was going on. Even Arthur had picked up on something. Arthur. Princess Prissy didn't even notice when it snowed...Because it was snowing now and they were still having training that son of a bastard king.
"Is Lancelot alright?" The prince asked Merlin after Lancelot had trotted off to the other end of the snow riddled field rather than accept one of the wineskins Merlin had dumped on the ground in front of them. Gwaine reached for his before the damn thing froze because it was snowing and why were they out here?
"How should I know?" Merlin asked and brushed his hair off of his forehead. Arthur blinked. Gwaine froze - as did everyone else - to lean in at the comment.
"You...Usually know." Arthur told him and oh boy. Oh boy. Gwaine watched as Merlin's face went blank before his jaw tightened and he took the wineskin back from the prince a little more forcefully than he needed to. Without a word he marched back to where the weapons were, sitting on the ground with his arms crossed over his chest. Percival let his mouth fall open.
"Holy mother of Camelot." He whispered. Gwaine was inclined to agree. "They really are in an argument. Leon, you said they would be getting along again by now." He added, voice almost accusatory as he looked to where Leon was watching Merlin as if he had been punched. He spluttered for a moment before giving a meager shrug to show his confusion. Arthur looked between them all warily.
"How long has this been going on?" He asked and Elyan cleared his throat.
"We noticed yesterday, sire. Apparently two people heard them yelling the other day. We don't know the details. Lancelot didn't even see Merlin yesterday after patrol." He said and Arthur rose his eyebrows a little at that. They all fell silent as Lancelot approached them with his own water, eyes flicking a little towards where Merlin was sitting. Gwaine wanted someone to point out that it was a little cold to have Merlin just sitting there but wasn't sure what would happened if he did.
Then again...Gwaine also didn't care.
"We should send Merlin inside," He announced "It's too cold to have him stay out here without moving around with us."
"You're right," Elyan frowned "Or maybe get him some blankets or-"
"He's not a child." Lancelot interrupted and...By God. The man actually sounded annoyed. Lancelot was annoyed. By Merlin's welfare of all things. The group slowly turned to him with their own expressions of shock as Lancelot picked up his sword. Gwaine put a hand over his heart.
"My dearest, noblest, sweetest friend and brother." He started despite Percival's look of alarm "Are you suggesting, of all people, to ignore a potentially precarious situation for Merlin?" He asked. Lancelot closed his eyes.
"It's a bit of cold weather. Besides, you know him well enough. Do you really think he would go inside if we asked him? No. No, because Merlin doesn't listen to people. Because Merlin knows best. Because God forbid someone doesn't agree with him. You know, I'm surprised we haven't made him king yet with Merlin being just so smart." Lancelot drawled and Gwaine was pretty much choking on the words as they fell out of his friend's mouth. Sarcasm? Was he using sarcasm?
Normally, he might say Lancelot adored Merlin enough to really suggest that the man knew everything and should be king...but no. Gwaine knew sarcasm all too well and while it was foreign to hear it from Lancelot's lips...There was no doubting it.
"Lancelot," Leon jumped in, voice gentle in a way that only Leon could manage (because he was a liar and only liars had such silver tongues) "Has...Something happened between you two?" He asked, raising his hand the way you might calm a frightened mare. Lancelot bristled. Had Lancelot bristled before? What a day this was turning out to be. So many milestones for Gwaine to take note of. He might have a pint for each new thing he saw today.
"Oh, I certainly wouldn't know." Lancelot muttered darkly "I'm just -" He began and paused. For a moment the whisper of anger that had appeared on his face retreated and Gwaine watched as if he magically had been hit with a wave of tranquility. After a few moments of silence he took a long breath. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate. Everything is fine." He said, though his voice was kind of stiff. "I think, if you don't mind, my lord, that I might recover from my patrol a bit more?" He added. Arthur only gave a silent nod.
Now Lancelot was missing training? Oh, this was a downright picnic. Granted, Gwaine would be enjoying this a lot more if Merlin wasn't involved but he could still enjoy the world ending...Because the world was totally ending. Lancelot used sarcasm. There was nothing shielding them from utter and complete chaos now.
"He's mad." Elyan whispered in slight awe as Lancelot crunched away, leaving footprints in the snow. "What do we do?"
"I would say ask Merlin but..." Percival clicked his tongue. Leon and Arthur exchanged baffled looks. "We should investigate."
"What? No." Leon frowned "No, we don't snoop around other people's business. That isn't polite or agreeable to the knight's code of honor."
"Yeah and you also told me that we were going drinking yesterday," Gwaine scowled at him "But we did paperwork instead and so your word means nothing to me." He said, pointing at him. "Besides, saving a very close friendship is chivalrous and that seems quite knightly. Plus, we can ask the servants about Merlin and they always have amazing gossip." He grinned. He loved Merlin so much but...Gwaine did not know everything about the guy. Servants always had the best intel. Last time he talked to a girl named Nina and she said Merlin used to visit a restricted part of the castle in the middle of the night where a bloody dragon was said to be kept. Amazing. Probably wasn't true but still amazing.
"Gwaine-" Leon started but Arthur rose his hand.
"...let's do it."
"Sire, please think about this."
"We're doing it Leon."
Leon was not a fan of this plan.
Of course, he was so very curious about this...This tiff that was going on, but that did not mean they could snoop around. He thought to what his mother would say if she knew he was involved in such a thing...Then again, in retrospect his mother might have been big on people minding their own business because she was having an affair...But that wasn't the point.
The point was that he cared for both Merlin and Lancelot very much and knew they could work things out on their own like adults.
"Oh, I'll show him. I'll show him that lying, manipulative, backstabbing little..." Merlin growled as he stomped around the room. The knights had planned to ask Gaius what was going on, but upon entering his chambers they only found a very disgruntled Merlin throwing books over his shoulder. "The nerve! The nerve!" He hissed. "Oh, I'm Lancelot and I'm so noble and can never do anything wrong because I'm just so bloody perfect!" He mimicked and grabbed another book. He read a passage and then threw it on the ground and went back to the bookshelf.
...So this was worse than he thought. Maybe they should be getting involved.
"Uh, Merlin." Arthur said. It was meant to get his attention, but there was no hiding the sound of astonishment as he watched the other man. "What are you doing?"
Merlin jumped and looked up at them. His eyes narrowed for a moment before seemingly registering that Lancelot wasn't part of the group and relaxing ever so slightly.
"I'm reading." He said dryly and took a long breath. "Do you need anything? I promise I've remembered your dinner. It takes an hour to cook, you know." He told the prince, eyes narrowing a little. Then his expression changed - the annoyance melting very suddenly into concern. "Or...Wait, is it your father? Gaius isn't here but I can find him if something is wrong." He said. Leon smiled a little at that. Merlin had never liked Uther. Leon could just tell but... He always seemed to look out for the king - even before Morgana's attack. He suspected he only did it for Arthur's sake.
"My father is fine," Arthur began and looked over his shoulder. The others shrugged. There really wasn't a good reason for all of them to be here. Seeing they had no excuses, Arthur rolled his eyes. "We actually wanted to ask about Lancelot."
Merlin scowled.
"What about him?" He snapped, making Elyan jump. Well then...It would appear the situation was escalating somehow. Interesting. Leon pursed his lips. Maybe the goal should be to get them to talk to each other rather than ask what was going on. Still, Arthur seemed committed to getting an answer so he did the unthinkable.
He just outright asked him.
"Why are you two angry with one another?"
Leon wouldn't have guessed those were the words to start a war... But he supposed he had seen stranger things in life.
"Angry?" Merlin repeated and his voice rose a little "Oh, he's angry with me now, is he? Well, that's lovely. Because he has every right to be, of course. Except...No. No he doesn't." Merlin muttered and yanked another book from the shelf. "And what did he tell you? To ask me what's wrong? I bet he did. Lancelot is above such things." He sniffed and clenched his hands by his sides as he put the book down. "Can you believe him?!" He yelled.
"I...I don't really know, mate." Gwaine managed, looking a little startled by the outburst. "We're a little in the dark-"
"Merlin," Leon tried because...Well, this was a bit of an issue with propriety. Just a little. It was his duty to maybe point it out. "Maybe be careful when speaking about a knight that way." He warned and Elyan groaned a little, closing his eyes. Leon grimaced. Yeah... He watched as Merlin's face drained. Being reminded you are of a different station than the person you are arguing with wasn't probably the best thing to hear.
"Leon, why?" Gwaine whispered.
"You know he makes our food during expeditions, right?" Percival asked. Say what you will about the bigger knight - the man was bloody wise. Leon winced, already tasting the poorly seasoned stew Merlin would innocently give to him the next time the situation came about. He had seen it happen to Arthur once...And that situation had not been pretty. Arthur made him remake it and Merlin only made it worse...So Arthur had him remake it again. And surprise! Merlin made it worse. The cycle continued until finally Merlin presented him with a bowl of water with grass plopped inside.
Merlin was in the stocks for a long time after that.
"Oh?" Merlin asked, voice dangerous. Leon inwardly screamed. If Merlin lost their temper with them...Well, he wasn't sure what would happen. "Of course...I shall...Refrain from such...Uncivil language." He said, voice way too pleasant. Had Arthur even made Merlin this mad? This was actually very concerning if Lancelot managed to piss Merlin off more than Arthur had ever done. The prince must have been thinking the same thing because he seemed torn between saying something and outright leaving. "I should get to your armor, my lord." Merlin added with a nod at Arthur.
"You didn't tell us what Lancelot did-" Gwaine objected. Merlin smiled. It seemed forced.
"Oh, but I don't think I can say." He told them sweetly. "You see, describing what he did, well..." He tsked and shook his head "That is no way to speak of a knight." He said, looking directly at Leon. "Good day, my lords." He nodded and with that left the room, slamming the door behind him. Nobody said anything for a couple seconds.
"Well done, Leon. Elyan was bloody right to leave you behind for the farmer." Gwaine began, throwing up his hands.
"Oh, come on! I know we let him cross some lines but he can't go around speaking ill of knights-"
"If it means we find out what the Hell happened then yes he can!"
"Enough!" Arthur interrupted and closed his eyes. Leon scowled. He wanted to point out that Arthur could have definitely gone into his 'prat mode' as Merlin called it and downright ordered his servant to tell them. But no. He had humored his rant. Bloody coward.
Not that he would ever say that to his face...Probably.
"Maybe we can try getting them both in the same room and asking what's wrong?" Elyan suggested warily "I bet you Gwen could do that." He asked and there was a murmur of approval at that. If anyone could get something like that done...It would be Gwen. "And in the meantime, we can let Gwaine ask the servants questions." He shrugged. Gwaine's bad mood was immediately lifted.
"Good suggestions, Elyan." Arthur nodded. "We should also-"
"What the Hell is this?" A voice asked and everyone paused to find the door opened again. Gaius gaped as he looked around. "What did you do to my chambers?" He demanded, gesturing towards the books thrown about. "Did you have training in here?!" He asked, voice rising and...Huh. Merlin's angry voice kind of sounded like Gaius' angry voice. Leon had never noticed. That was kind of sweet that his ward had picked that up. Though he wasn't sure why Merlin had heard Gaius' angry voice so much to be able to reflect it that well.
"Merlin."
"It was Merlin, Gaius."
"I swear we didn't do it."
"It was your slightly psychotic ward who might be trying to kill Lancelot as we speak." Gwaine nodded and looked at Gaius. "Do you know why Lancelot and Merlin are arguing?" He asked, leaning forward. The group nodded eagerly in agreement. Gaius pinched his nose.
"No," He sighed, "I just went to Lancelot to ask myself. Merlin was muttering about cutting his hair so I thought to investigate."
"...what did Lancelot say?"
"That Merlin would lose a hand if he touched his hair." Gaius said dryly and crossed his arms. "Are you going to help me with these books?" He asked. Percival frowned.
"But we didn't do it."
"I'm sorry, Sir Percival. How old do you think I am? Should my worn bones work to clean this up myself, most chivalrous knight?"
"Goodness, Gaius." Gwaine frowned as he went to start cleaning up. "Everyone is so angry today. And..." He glanced to where Arthur had picked up a book. "You just got the Prince of Camelot to help you clean. Nevermind. Keep being angry."
"I was being polite-"
"Princess Polite. I love it." Gwaine grinned and Leon sighed. He got the feeling his previous optimism that this all might resolve itself might have been premature. He wondered what a full-blown fight between Lancelot and Merlin might look like.
Leon swallowed. He had been raised for war...But not this.
He hoped Camelot would survive the aftermath.