Courtyard, Camelot Citadel, Friday Morning

[bitchprince]

"All right," Arthur bellowed across the gathered collection of knights. "I understand that Sir Leon has been responsible for your training over the past few months. I see many new faces among you. Let me introduce myself."

The last few words held a certain sarcastic drawl. "I am Prince Arthur of Camelot, head of the knights, and I am your greatest nightmare. From now on, all of your training will once again be performed by myself. I do not tolerate failure in any of you, although I know you aspire to be its greatest pinacle."

He smiled. It was not a nice smile. "The Knights of Camelot are no mere warriors. We excel in discipline, strength, valor and honour. Our swordsmanship holds great renown in all of Albion. I will commence your training by examining whether you hold to that standard."

He let his eyes glide over the knights present. One of them seemed to be flinching the slightest bit. Thinner than the others. Slouching a bit. "And I will start," Arthur continued, gesturing at said knight with his sword, "With you."

By the time afternoon rolled around, a bruised Dinadan leaned on his fellow and said, dryly, "I did so miss the prince. And how good is it to see him back to his old, jovial self again?"

Gawain snorted, and smacked him mercilessly in the shoulder. "Don't speak too openly now," he said, "I think he's looking for another bout."

"DINADAN! Stop mucking about and get back in here!" the prince bellowed across the field, "Your defense has gotten bloody atrocious-- I'm ashamed to be seen with you."

Sir Dinadan sighed. "Perfect. Can we whack him about the head again?" he muttered.

"Stop whinging." Sir Gawain had no mercy.

[[ open for all in camelot to watch, heckle, or what-have-you ]]

Comments

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Having fun, damaging your knights again?" Merlin asked, dropping off a few more of the practice swords. These ones were clean!

[bitchprince]

Arthur let go of an irritated breath. "Half of them have become useless in my absence."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure that can't be the case."

[bitchprince]

And that earned him a very pointed look. "You're hardly an expert on the training of knights," Arthur pointed out. "Dinadan has let the weakness on his side get the better of him, Agravain has gotten slower than a snail--" He could rant for a bit. Actually, he would.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"...plenty of work to do then?"

[bitchprince]

"--And even Gawain--"

And his eyes snapped back to Merlin.

"Yes, Merlin, plenty of work. Are you even paying attention to what I'm saying?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin nodded quickly. "Of course!"

Not in the slightest.

[bitchprince]

Arthur grunted, half-satisfied with that. "It's going to take me weeks to get them into anything even remotely resembling shape," he said. "I don't know what Leon's been doing, but it hasn't worked."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin nodded along, watching the knights for a moment. Then, looking at Arthur out of the corner of his eye, added, "...you enjoy it."

[bitchprince]

Yes. Yes, he did.

"Why would I enjoy it?" Arthur said, pointedly. "If Camelot's knights are not in shape, it reflects badly on all of us." Beat. "OI! DINADAN! STOP LAZING ABOUT AND GET BACK TO IT!"

He ignored the foul look he got in return.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"They're going to spend the next month loathing you," Merlin pointed out kindly. And then adjusted Arthur's chainmail. For purely servantly reasons.

[bitchprince]

"They'll get over it," Arthur said, who endured the not entirely servantly adjusting in a normal, princely sort of way. "How else are they going to get better?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"By being yelled at," Merlin replied. If his fingers brushed over Arthur's neck in the process of fixing things, so be it. "I told Gaius where we went."

[bitchprince]

"It's good for their constitution."

There was no slight lean into the touch. He knew better than that. ... well, not a visible one, anyway.

"...Why?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Well... it's Gaius." That was totally an answer, Arthur.

[bitchprince]

No. No, it wasn't.

"Merlin," he said, cautiously, and rubbed at his gloves in a transparent attempt to calm a sudden wave of anxiety. "What if he tells my father?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin stared at him.

"...Arthur, he's known about me since I arrived here."

[bitchprince]

"I know."

But keeping magical secrets was a new thing. To him.

Arthur rubbed at his brow, and changed the subject abruptly. "Any luck with the Blackberry?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Uh, no. Not so far."

[bitchprince]

And this is why Arthur didn't believe in getting his hopes up. Not about getting something-- good back.

"Pity," he muttered, and fidgeted more with his gloves.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I'll keep looking into it, though," Merlin replied.

[bitchprince]

"Good," Arthur said. A less emotionally stunted person might have now brought up the topic of two very special women, but he wasn't, and so he cleared his throat. "What exactly have you told Gaius?"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Just about the school and how long we've really been gone. Nothing more."

[bitchprince]

"That's something, at least." Better that way. Not too many details.

This thing was going to make him paranoid.

"We might need his help if anything follows us back like Romeo says it does."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"...like what?" That sounded bad.

[bitchprince]

There was a depressingly long silence on Arthur's part.

"He said he turned into a girl whilst off the island," he said, in what was remarkably close to squishing a sentence into one word for Arthur's standards.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Oh. Well.

"That would be bad," Merlin said, going for the obvious.

[bitchprince]

"No, really, Merlin."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps we won't since things are so different with getting back?" he suggested.

[bitchprince]

"Perhaps," Arthur said, setting his jaw. "Still, if something happens, it would be brilliant if we had Gaius to tell my father I was coming down with something."

The lying just sort of kept increasing, didn't it?

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure he would," Merlin said. "Or that we've gone on a hunting trip!"

[bitchprince]

The word 'hunting trip' was taking on all sorts of connotations these days, didn't it?

Arthur couldn't for the love of God understand where the slight, passing flush came from. Had to be the sun. "Yes, or a hunting trip," he said, quickly, "Whichever be the case. Look, the knights are almost done..."

And he'd rather not be overheard talking about this sort of thing to Merlin. Or... well, all right, they were just lucky they'd always done their fair bit of random touching.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Oh!" Merlin pulled away quickly, gathering up the weapons that needed to be cleaned. "Right. I'll keep working on the phone."

[bitchprince]

Arthur took a breath. "Merlin."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin paused, arms full of dangerous implements. "Yes?"

[bitchprince]

"It's almost time for the afternoon meal," he said, finally, aware that one or two knights had already stopped and were watching them by now. "Tend to those later. I'll be expecting you--" and he left a tiny, blink-and-you-miss-it if you weren't privvy to the extent of this whole thing, emphasis on the word you, "...in my chambers with the food. Tell the kitchen staff to make sure there's plenty."

Now that was one thing to be said for Fandom; at least there, he could simply ask Merlin for a 'lunch date'.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin blinked in confusion as Merlins are wont to. Then, after a few painful moments of that, finally cottoned on.

"Right!"

Stop grinning like that, Merlin.

[bitchprince]

... Yes.

Arthur squinted at him for a second, then turned on his heel.

To bellow at his knights about what fools they were turning out to be on the field and please, please to remove themselves from the courtyard before they embarrassed anyone else--