Chapter 4: Unwanted Revelations
Merlin finished making the bed and made his way to the table. He picked up the dirty dishes and the bottle of wine. Making his way to the door he looked back and stared at the state of the room. He had another long day ahead of him. Balancing the dishes and bottle he opened the door and headed to the kitchen.
After disposing of the half eaten food and dirty dishes, he looked around unsure what to do with the bottle of wine. Everyone was busy with their duties that they paid no mind to Merlin. He squeezed his way between a table and a serving girl and set the bottle down in one of the tables. Then he changed his mind and was about to toss it when another serving girl bumped into him and caused him to drop the bottle.
It went crashing to the floor and spilled all over his feet. For the second time in one day Merlin broke something. The serving girl hadn't stopped; she was half way down the corridor with food on a platter. Merlin bent down and cleaned up his mess as best as he could with a bandaged finger.
The smell of the wine reached his nose and he quickly covered it with his hand. It smelled quite strong and odd. Merlin was no expert at wines, or any type of alcohol, but wondered how anyone could drink such a horrible smelly one.
Once done he made his way back to Arthur's room to finish cleaning. He gathered the dirty clothes that was scattered all over the room and dumped them into a basket. Piling the armor on top he made another slow, but steady trip to the armory and set the armor on the table for later. His arms ached from carrying the armor around twice in one day.
He wondered how his friend Gwaine was, Arthur had left with Leon because of a commotion at the tavern. He hoped he didn't get into another bar fight. Gwaine really was a magnet for trouble. Merlin shook his head at the dirty clothes, which was in dire need of washing. Sighing again he stumbled through the corridors of the castle with the basket of dirty clothes. It seemed he had been sighing quite a lot today and the day was not even half way done.
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Arthur and Leon made their way to the Rising Sun. Gwaine was known for his love for alcohol and gambling. The King entered the tavern and almost stumbled on a fallen chair. The whole room was a mess. Tables were overturned, chairs scattered all over and some even broken. Evoric, the barkeeper, was behind his counter holding on to some bottles as if they were life itself.
They made their way to the center of the room were the commotion was the loudest. Some of the men, who weren't fighting among themselves, had formed a circle blocking any view of who was inside. They were cheering loudly and waving their arms in the air.
Leon and two guards, who had been waiting outside the tavern, made way and cleared some men away to allow Arthur to pass through. As Arthur laid his eyes on the two men inside the circle he frowned even more. "Gwaine" Arthur yelled with disapproval. Gwaine stopped his advances on the other man and turned towards the king, which rewarded him with a punch on the face. He fell backwards and laughed as he turned his attention back to his attacker.
As Arthur made to grab Gwaine by the neck and drag him outside, he bumped right into a woman. His hand landed on her breasts. Time seemed to stop as his face turned red and he moved his hand away from the soft exposing skin of the woman.
Recognition appeared on his face, he remembered the woman as the one who had given him the bottle earlier. He quickly apologized and stepped aside to get to Gwaine. This was the second time Gwaine had caused him to embarrass himself. He was now pulsing with anger; he was going to kill Gwaine.
"What is going on here?" demanded the King as he pulled Gwaine to his feet. Just then the tavern became silent once again, like the last time he had been here. In the commotion the men hadn't noticed the King's presence.
