Merthur - The King and His Guardian Angel

Chapter 24 - Between a Rock and a Hard Place

As the last of the Saxons run from the city shouts of joy start to erupt from the crowd. Some knights pat their friends on the back at a job well done, already planning a trip to the tavern while others mourn for their fallen comrades, holding their limp bodies in despair.

The king himself is tackled into a hug by his friend, or by Gwaine to be exact, who is quickly pried off by an irritated Percival. Leon, Lancelot, and Elyan appear a moment later, all looking relatively unharmed much to Arthur's relief.

"Are you injured my lord?" Leon asks, always the concerned one.

Arthur gives him a smile. "I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about."

Gwaine pokes his head in between the conversation, a wide grin on his face as he leans in close to Arthur, making the latter rather uncomfortable at the close proximity. "I heard from Leon," he says with a grin.

Arthur shuffles back, trying to place some distance between them. He raises an eyebrow at the knight's odd words. "Heard what?"

"You," he emphasizes the word by jabbing a finger to the king's chest, "kissed Merlin on the battlements."

Immediately, Arthur's face flushes red at the words. He looks away, not wanting to see the amused grin on Gwaine's face, but no matter where he tries to look all he can see is his friends faces breaking into grins. "Did not."

"Now, now, Arthur," Elyan says, throwing an arm around his shoulders, "No need to lie. We have a witness after all," he points towards Leon.

Arthur frowns, sending the man a death glare. Leon quickly averts his gaze, trying to act as innocent as possible.

Gwaine soon joins in beside Elyan, wrapping an arm around Arthur's other shoulder. "See, we understand if you love him mate, but was there really a need to fake his death? Quite selfish of you to try and hide him all to yourself."

Arthur flushes again at the accusation, his embarrassment growing even stronger when he hears Percival and Lancelot trying to cover their snickers. "That's not why we faked his death! There was Agravaine and Morgana and-"

His explanation is cut off by Gwaine shoving a finger against his lips. The man smirks at him again, "No need to make excuses, princess. We won't tell a soul what really happened."

Elyan starts to laugh beside him and Arthur quickly pries the two knights off his shoulders. He turns away, still covering his face with a hand as he looks to Leon. "What's the status?"

Leon clears his throat, wiping the grin off his face as he returns to seriousness. "As of now the fires appear to have been put out through most of the lower town. There was not much significant damage other than the areas around the immediate vicinity of the citadel and city gates. Though there are plenty of injured knights, civilian casualties are minimal as very few of the skeletons and Saxons had managed to breach the castle."

Arthur gives a nod. "Good, then see that the injured are treated. Send any knights that are able to work to begin rebuilding as soon as possible."

"Yes sire." With that the knights disperse, moving out to complete their various tasks and leaving the king alone.

Arthur sighs, slumping down on a nearby crate and finally giving his body a chance to rest. He looks at the scene around him, pained at the amount of destruction yet happy that it hadn't been as bad as it could have been. After all, Morgana could be on the throne right now.

He glances towards the open gates, waiting to see a familiar lithe figure walking into the city but it never appears. With another sigh he gets to his feet, rubbing at his temples as he tries to calm his overly active mind. Merlin will be fine. He'll come home as he said he would.