Part 3: link

Yes, it's still going on...


    Guinevere stands, a तारा, स्टार cut roughly from parchment clutched in her hand. Where the devil is this one telling me to go?
    She puzzles over it, remembering Arthur’s early departure from रात का खाना just a short time ago. Merlin had come in, muttered something quietly in the king’s ear – in his ear furthest from her – and he stood with an “excuse me, please,” and left.
    Crafty devil.
    She ponders the star, turning it over as if the back of it will reveal its secrets, but of course it is as blank as the front.
    Damn him. I will definitely have to find a way to get even for this one.
    Okay. Stars. Stars are in the sky, outside. So go outside. But where?
    Sighing, she grabs her बरसती, लबादा and heads out the chamber doors.
    She looks right, left, right again. Then left. Ass.
    A glimmer catches her eyes to the far left, and she turns to walk that way.
    What is that? She approaches the glimmer, which becomes a glow, concentrated, golden, almost like a…
    …star.
    Merlin is helping.
    That’s cheating.
    She reaches the tiny glowing orb, no bigger than a bumblebee, and when she reaches it, it floats ahead, down the corridor a stretch, then waits patiently for her to follow.
    “Very well, then, I will follow,” she says aloud, giving chase.
    She follows the golden bee through unused corridors, paths she has rarely trodden, up cobwebbed and dusty staircases, up and up and up until she pushes through an old, weathered door and finds herself outside, at the very चोटी, शीर्ष of the southeast turret, where the bee explodes into a tiny शावर, शॉवर of glittering golden sparks.
    “Took आप long enough,” a familiar baritone voice drawls, and she turns, glaring at him.
    “You cheated.”
    He walks toward her, his face the very picture of innocence. “Me? Cheat? I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that there were rules to this little activity.”
    Damn him, he’s right. “You had Merlin help you.”
    “He helped me before as well, and आप didn’t complain. You’re just पार करना, क्रॉस because I stumped you.”
    She scowls, and he smiles, loving how her face transforms to that of a little girl’s when she’s frustrated like this.
    “I hate it when you’re right,” she says quietly.
    “What was that?” he comes even closer, stalking now.
    “You’re right,” she admits, loud and clear. She places her hands on her hips and stands defiantly before him, challenging him, daring him to try to seduce her now.
    “And?” he presses, speaking the single word quietly, a breath in her ear as he circles around her.
    “And I couldn’t figure out your clue, and that’s why I’m cross,” she says through clenched teeth.
    He reaches up and sweeps her hair over one shoulder, bending to place a soft किस on the side of her neck, finding the exact spot that makes her mind go blank and her knees go wobbly.
    Damn him, again.
    “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he purrs, his lips caressing the sensitive skin of her neck.
    “Oh, very good,” she manages, closing her eyes, her head tilting slightly of its own accord, allowing him better access. “I’m getting lessons in humility from the most arrogant man in the five kingdoms,” she says breathily, fighting to keep some sense.
    “Guinevere,” he breathes, his lips traveling to the swell of her breasts, “shut up.” He straightens slightly and kisses her lips, silencing any further protest या remark that she might have wanted to make, his tongue very effectively keeping hers otherwise engaged.
    “Oh!” she pulls away and exclaims, punching his arm.
    Grinning, he scoops her up and carries her over to where he’s spread a thick skin out over the stones of the turret. There are two large pillows there, and she sees that he’s brought a few candles up and even two goblets of wine for them.
    “Arthur,” she says, melting in the face of his romantic gesture.
    He sets her gently on her feet in the middle of the rug, then pulls her down to lay beside him, tucking her to his side.
    They lie together, gazing at the multitudinous stars overhead, the full moon drifting in and out of sight as wispy clouds float past its silver face.
    “They’re so beautiful, Arthur. The stars. There are so many of them. When I was a girl, I used to try to count them. I would count and count until I ran out of numbers या until my father called me inside.”
    He smiles. “I never noticed them much when I was younger.”
    “That’s not entirely surprising,” she says, her fingers trailing on his chest, feeling the warmth of his skin through the material of his shirt. “What use did the prince, the heir to Camelot’s throne, have for simple things like stars?” she asks, but her सवाल is not judging him या meant to criticize.
    “I know,” he says, almost regretfully, leaning to किस her. “My priorities were a little out of line for a while,” he chuckles. “Luckily the gods sent me आप to get me straightened out.”
    She smiles up at him, and he kisses her again, this time leaning over her, rolling her onto her back, and her hand drifts upward into his hair.
    He begins pulling at the laces of her corset, conveniently in the front of this particular gown, and his knuckles bump into hers as she moves her other hand to help.
    “Thanks,” he mutters, chuckling against her lips.
    The outer corset of her गाउन now gone, he turns her attention to her gown, pulling it this way and that as he continues चुंबन her, nibbling her neck.
    “Arthur, slow down,” she gasps, touching his hand with her own, trying to still it.
    “I want to see आप bathed in moonlight. I want to see your skin glowing under its glow,” he says roughly against her breasts.
    Gwen worms her way out from underneath him and stands, facing him, looking down at him.
    She frees herself of her dress, then her chemise, standing naked in front of him on the roof of the castle, shielded from the world द्वारा the walls rising and falling behind her.
    Of course no one would see us up here, Arthur absently thinks as he drinks her in with his eyes, consciously reminding himself to breathe. She bends to remove her shoes and stockings.
    “Leave them,” he whispers, eyes drifting down to her legs, where the soft हलके पीले रंग का, फॉन, हलके पीले रंग brown of her thighs meets the creamy ecru of her stockings.
    She shrugs and drops gracefully back down beside him, pulling his कमीज, शर्ट over his head before she reclines back down against the pillows.
    “Beautiful,” he says, almost to himself. “Guinevere, आप are so beautiful.”
    He quickly sheds his trousers, and Gwen notices for the first time that he’s been barefoot this entire time.
    “Come here, Arthur,” she coos, holding her arms out to him, and he dives over her, lips hungrily searching hers out, hands greedily roving her velvet skin.
    He nudges his knees in between her legs, and she hooks one of her legs around his thigh, caressing it with her stockinged limb.
    He moans into her mouth and brings his hand to her breast, teasing it, caressing it. She sighs, pulling her lips away from him, speaking his name ever so softly as his lips travel again, moving down to replace his fingers at her breast. He closes his lips around a stiff nipple and drops his hand down to touch her, finding her warm and slick under his fingers, and a small whimper escapes her lips.
    Arthur’s hand bumps hers once और as she reaches for him, finding his firm length with her cool fingers, and he smiles and groans against her breast, slipping his fingers into her as he does so.
    “Oh…” she gasps, fingers tightening around his shaft reflexively.
    “Oh…” he echoes, reacting.
    “Now, Arthur, please,” she whispers, gently guiding him towards her.
    “As आप wish, my lady,” he says, thrusting forward, entering her swiftly with a soft groan.
    She arches her back, pressing her head into the pillows as he moves within her, his manhood sliding deliciously in and out, the sweet friction satisfying yet always making her want more.
    He leans back, settling back on his knees, lifting her hips to meet him, and she winds her legs around his waist. Her fingers clutch at the फर of the skin beneath her, and she opens her eyes for a moment to find him watching her, his eyes glazed and dark with passion.
    He कहा he wanted to see me in the moonlight, she thinks, closing her eyes again, a smile creeping about her lips.
    He moves faster, harder, and once again any thoughts are driven from her brain.
    “Guinevere,” he whispers, his voice hoarse, strained. I’m too close, he thinks, but I cannot stop watching her.
    He slips one hand around, reaching with his thumb to pleasure her while he thrusts into her.
    “Oh… yes…” she whimpers, her body writhing beneath him now.
    With another strangled cry, Arthur drills into her, stilling his hips, his thumb, as he releases into her.
    His thumb starts moving first, resuming its motion against the tight slippery bud at the front of her folds. Then slowly, carefully, his hips हटाइए again, determined to bring her the pleasure she deserves, the pleasure he always wants her to receive from him.
    “Ah… oh… Arthur… Arthur…” she gasps, repeating his name over and over, building in a crescendo until she practically screams it when her climax washes over her.
    As soon as she recovers some sense, she starts giggling, realizing that it is quite likely that someone heard her crying out the king’s name from the roof of the palace.
    “What’s so funny?” Arthur asks, his head cradled against her breasts.
    “I wonder if anyone heard me,” she says, blushing.
    “Probably,” he laughs. “But let’s just hope that your voice didn’t reach your brother’s ears.”

Thanks go to GorgeousAngel aka Angelymygirl and fdarcy for the rooftop idea!

xXx

    Medicinal Plants and Where to Find Them.
    That is the book Guinevere has left on the बिस्तर for Arthur to find.
    Bloody hell, she’s crafty. The archives? The garden? He picks it up. It is heavy, and he can see the marks where she’s wiped away a layer of dust before setting it on the bed.
    Probably the archives. If she meant the garden she would have left a real flower, probably. Lavender, most likely.
    Hefting the book under his arm, he stalks from the room, heading down to the archives. Merlin intercepts him in the corridor.
    “Arthur,” he calls, “I need आप to—”
    “Merlin, I am busy,” he cuts him off. Merlin sees the book under his arm.
    “Where are आप going with that?”
    “I thought I’d take it to the stables. My horse wants to read up on the medicinal benefits of his oats,” Arthur जवाब sarcastically.
    “Right. Is that from…?”
    “Yes. So I’m busy,” he says, looking pointedly at Merlin.
    “Right. Um…”
    “What?”
    “Do आप know where, exactly?”
    “I’ll find her.”
    “Yeah, good luck,” he says, walking away, laughing quietly to himself. Man has spent less time in the Archives than I have in armor.
    “I’ll ask Geoffrey where it goes,” Arthur calls after him.
    “Geoffrey’s gone घर for the day. She sent him घर an घंटा ago,” Merlin yells back, laughing.
    Arthur stops walking. Bugger.
    Okay, then. The hunt is on.
    She’s making me pay for the last one. She knows I never go down there.
    “Merlin?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Is there anything आप can do?”
    “Yes.”
    “Oh, good,” Arthur says, relieved.
    “But she told me not to.”
    “What?”
    “She said, and I quote, ‘Don’t आप dare help him.’ And frankly, she scares me और than आप do.”
    Arthur fumes silently, frustrated and… frustrated. As soon as he saw there was something on the bed, the blood started flowing downward, and while he’s flummoxed at the challenge, he’s aroused enough (though not yet visibly) to press on.
    “Figures,” he mutters, stomping off again, cursing Merlin under his breath as he hears his trusted advisor laughing again.
    Ha. Trusted advisor. Turncoat, that’s what he is.
    Oh, who am I kidding? She has all of us wrapped around her little finger, and we’re all quite happy to be there.
    Now focus. I’m guessing that she’ll be where this book belongs. How hard can that be? The archives aren’t that big.
    Are they?
    He pushes the door open, grabs a torch, and wanders in.
    Bugger. “Guinevere?” he calls softly, knowing full well that she is not going to answer him.
    The light is dim, the air is cool, and it smells slightly musty. He walks slowly amid the rows and rows of books, peering down the aisles, looking for a glimpse of her, listening for any sound she might be making.
    It is as silent as a tomb.
    Bloody hell, why do we have so many books? Surely there can’t be that much information that needs to be written down. Some of these have to be duplicates. I’m sure that’s it.
    “Guinevere?” he tries again, swishing his torch to the right, looking down that aisle, then to the left.
    He sighs, and keeps walking. Then he hears it.
    Flip. The papery sound of a page being turned.
    Aha.
    Flip.
    He follows the sound, a slow smile spreading across his face as he hears it getting louder.
    Flip.
    He looks to the left, and there at the end of an aisle, is Guinevere, perched on a table, a large volume across her knees.
    Arthur approaches her, and she continues to peruse the book, not looking up. He’s not sure she notices his approach, but then suddenly she speaks.
    “Did आप know that lavender can be used to treat exhaustion, headaches, insomnia, and nervousness?”
    “Um, no,” he जवाब blankly, setting his torch in a holder on a nearby shelf.
    “Yes. Oh, and it says here that it can also help with poor digestion, upset stomach, and flatulence.”
    “Charming.”
    Guinevere chuckles and finally looks up at him. “I’ve had a lot of time to read, waiting for you, आप know.” She closes the book with a thud, hops down from the table, and re-shelves it.
    “Where does this one go?” he asks, holding out his book.
    “There,” she points up to the चोटी, शीर्ष shelf.
    He looks around for the ladder, and pulls it into place. He climbs up and put the book back in a gap he sees, then looks down at her, her little face raised, watching him.
    “Are आप looking at my backside?” he asks.
    “I am now,” she grins.
    He climbs slowly down, and turns to her. “You think you’re pretty clever, don’t you, my love?”
    “Perhaps.”
    “This is revenge for the roof, isn’t it?” he takes a step closer to her, backing her up against the तालिका, टेबल on which she had been sitting.
    “Perhaps.”
    “And आप sent Geoffrey home, I understand,” he grins at her now.
    “Indeed.”
    He picks her up and sits her on the edge of the table, his hands lingering at her sides as he leans आगे and places a किस on her neck, then another, and another. Her head falls back at his attention and her hands reach down to pull up her स्कर्ट slightly. She reaches out with her feet and grabs him with her legs, pulling him close.
    “Minx,” he mutters into her neck, moving down to her breasts, his strong arms wrapping around her, holding her close.
    She lifts her स्कर्ट higher still, the silken material sliding easily as she bunches it in her hands.
    “Kiss me, Arthur,” she whispers, reaching for his face to bring it to hers. She guides his lips to hers, her fingers gentle but firm, her thumbs stroking lightly at his cheeks as their lips connect, softly at first, then with increasing passion as his tongue snakes into her waiting mouth, hungry and searching.
    Gwen’s fingers trace his jaw and caress his earlobes before one threads into his hair while the other grips his shoulder, the muscles firm and thick beneath her hand. Her legs wind around his waist again, linking her feet behind him.
    Arthur slips a hand down to her half-raised स्कर्ट and creeps underneath it, feeling her thigh under his palm, soft yet firm, her skin like luxurious velvet.
    “Guinevere आप have nothing on under this gown,” he pulls away and says, surprised.
    “Is that a problem?” she asks innocently, pulling the ties of his trousers as she does so.
    “No-Oh!” he says, his voice rising as her hand slips into his trousers, finding him stiff and ready.
    She chuckles at him again, sliding her hand on him a few times before reaching around to squeeze his backside momentarily, finding the muscle there as firm and delicious as the rest of him. He feathers kisses on the tops of her breasts as she withdraws him from his trousers, dragging her fingers lightly along the length of his shaft.
    He gasps at the soft touch, reflexively jerking away, but her legs are still around him, holding him fast.
    “You’re trapped, my king,” she says as he nibbles her neck, sending delicious shivers down to her belly.
    “I am a willing captive,” he mutters against her skin, his hand slipping further up her thigh, pushing at her स्कर्ट with both hands now, growing impatient.
    He pulls her closer to the edge of the table, so she has to hang on to him या she’ll fall off. His knuckles brush the coarse curls at the apex of her thighs, making her gasp at the slight touch. He turns his hand, pressing it against her warmth, the moisture from her arousal slick on his palm.
    “Touch me, Arthur,” she gasps, “please.”
    Arthur obliges, moving his fingers to stroke her, tormenting her द्वारा being gentle and slow, lazily dragging his finger back and forth, smiling as he draws a low moan from the back of her throat.
    Gwen reaches for him, carefully pulling his manhood towards her. Carefully but insistently. Bending his knees slightly, he removes his hand from her and replaces it with his erect member, sliding easily inside with a satisfied groan.
    “Oh…” she moans, her head falling back again, leaning back slightly as he holds her, teetering on the edge of the table.
    Arthur begins thrusting, slow at first, but he quickly increases his speed, spurred on द्वारा Gwen’s moans and cries.
    “Guinevere…” he gasps, “you are so… beautiful… when we’re…” He isn’t able to finish his thought because the small table, old and brittle with age and its life in the cool dryness of the archives, suddenly creaks and breaks under their assault, tumbling them both to the floor.
    “Oh!” Gwen exclaims as she finds herself pinned between her husband and a broken table, Arthur still sheathed within her. The few पुस्तकें that were on the तालिका, टेबल are scattered around them and dust is flying everywhere.
    “Guinevere, are आप all right?” he asks, eyes wide, worried that he’s hurt her.
    “Yes,” she laughs, pulling his face down to hers and चुंबन him. “Don’t stop,” she breathes in his ear before running her delicate गुलाबी tongue along its outer shell and sucking his earlobe into her mouth, lightly biting it.
    “Oh, you…” he growls, resuming his thrusts, चुंबन her greedily. His hand finds a breast and squeezes, kneading the soft flesh, his thumb finding her stiff nipple through the material of her dress and starts rubbing small circles over it.
    “Oh… Arth… yes…” she is gasping, repeating small sounds and half-formed words, her small body writhing amongst the rubble and tumbled books, hair coming loose from its carefully-arranged style, her beautiful गाउन becoming rumpled and creased.
    Arthur loves watching her unravel like this and finds himself speeding his movements, pushing them both to the brink. He keeps his eyes locked on her, fascinated as always with her beauty in arousal, unconsciously saying a prayer of thanks to whichever god it was that granted her to him. His limbs grow heavy. He feels as there is hot honey flowing through his veins, a molten sensation that starts where they are joined and spreads out to the very tips of his fingers and toes.
    Just when he can’t contain it any more, Gwen cries out his name, clutching his shoulders, her body quivering beneath him, and he releases his seed into her, that molten honey bursting forth with a low groan.
    She wraps him in her arms, holding him against her, his head on her chest, waiting while their breathing returns to normal.
    “You’re okay? Not hurt?” Arthur asks, sliding gently from her, adjusting his trousers and helping her to stand.
    “I might have a bruise on my bum tomorrow, but I think I’m fine, Love,” she smiles at him.
    He pulls her into his arms, चुंबन her ardently for a few moments, almost as if the last half घंटा hadn’t happened.
    “Arthur,” she says, pulling gently away. “We should clean this up.”
    “Merlin can take care of it.”

Thanks to a lot of people for this prompt, it was another लोकप्रिय one: larasmith, shaymars, fdarcy, dowadeedee, somegirlinthisworld, Julyna.

xXx

    “Arthur, Leon is looking for you. He needs…” Gwen looks around the royal bedchamber, finding it empty.
    I could have sworn he was in here. I just saw… Her eyes cast around the room and settle on the bed.
    Aha. So that’s where he is. She walks over, picks up the banner, and carries it from the room.
    “My lady, did आप find him?” Leon calls after her, seeing her striding purposefully down the corridor, carrying something red in her arms. He jogs the short distance and catches her up easily on his long legs.
    “Not yet, but I know where he is. I will send him as soon as he is available,” she says, barely glancing at him.
    “Oh, well, I’ll just accompany you,” he says.
    “Um, no, that’s quite all right. I don’t know long he’ll be detained, honestly,” she says. I like you, Leon, but not that way. Plus I don’t think Arthur’s interests lean that way.
    “That’s really all right, I’m kind of at a stand-still until I find him anyway,” he says, shrugging.
    She sees Merlin approaching and gives him a pointed look, shifting the banner in her arms so he sees it. Help me.
    Merlin smirks and picks up his pace. “Ah, Sir Leon, just the man I was looking for,” he says, approaching them. “There is a minor… issue in the armory. I think some items might be missing.”
    Merlin आप are a bloody genius, Gwen thinks.
    “What? Oh, no, we can’t have that! Excuse me, my lady, but I must see to this matter at once,” Leon says, nodding respectfully to her as he joins Merlin.
    Merlin glances back at Gwen, and she blows him a kiss. He grins and blushes faintly before turning his attention back to Leon.

    She finds Arthur in the royal box in the jousting arena, sitting casually in the king’s chair, one leg hooked over the arm in what seems to be his प्रिय pose.
    “We almost had a third,” she says, laughing as she tosses the banner on the queen’s chair.
    His eyebrows go up. “Oh, really? Some saucy little maidservant? A beautiful but bored courtier, perhaps?”
    “Sir Leon.”
    Arthur’s grin and eyebrows both drop abruptly. Gwen moves closer, and he brings his leg down from the arm so she can climb into his lap.
    “He’s actually looking for you,” she adds, चुंबन the end of his nose.
    “How did आप shake him off?” Arthur leans in and kisses the pulse point on the side of her neck.
    “Merlin helped. Made up some story about items missing from…” she pauses a मिनट as his lips trailing wet आग on her neck momentarily distract her, “from the armory.”
    Arthur chuckles against her, “Good call, Merlin. Leon does प्यार few things और than weaponry.”
    “I know,” she says, smiling as his arms लपेटें tighter around her. “We need to find him a wife. Soon.”
    “Or at least a little bit of crumpet to put his mind on other things,” Arthur says, his lips making their way to her breasts.
    “Arthur! That’s terrible!” she laughs again. “Though probably true,” she muses.
    “I don’t want to talk about Leon anymore,” he says, lifting his head for a moment to look up into her soft brown eyes.
    “What do आप want to talk about?” she asks coyly.
    “Jousting, of course,” he motions to the arena below them.
    “Oh, of course,” she says, looking out over the long oval. Little dust clouds float up here and there where the breeze catches the dirt. The late afternoon sun is sinking lower, casting the sky in shades of गुलाबी and orange, giving everything a rosy glow.
    He shifts her on his lap so that she is straddling him, the wide सीट of the king’s chair providing और than enough room for her knees to fit on either side of his thighs.
    “Are आप my stallion?” she asks, her voice dropping low and sultry.
    “Indeed, my lady. Ready at your command with my lance,” he says against her lips, चुंबन her with his words as he pulls her even closer into his lap.
    “Yes, I see,” she says between kisses. “Or rather, I feel.” She moves her hips, pushing against his groin.
    He groans and drops his head back for just a moment, his hands now creeping below her skirts, groping for her hips.
    “Your armor is not very strong,” he remarks, dropping kisses on the exposed tops of her breasts as his hands find bare skin above her stockings and slide higher, gripping her backside.
    “I wasn’t aware that I needed much armor for this kind of joust, my lord,” she जवाब breathily.
    “The less the better, actually,” he agrees. “Might I suggest you… take up your lance, my lady?”
    “Take it up where, exactly?” she teases, unable to help herself.
    Arthur drops his head against her chest, laughing now. “I walked into that one, didn’t I?”
    “Directly and with great strides, Arthur,” she says, lifting his head to place a searing किस on his lips, her tongue snaking in to seduce his, coax it forth into her mouth. Her hands drop to his waist and she blindly pulls at the ties of his trousers.
    They open easily, her practiced hands needing little guidance. She reaches her hand slowly inside the opening, wrapping her fingers around him.
    He grunts and moves his hands, pulling at her skirts, freeing them so that they are no longer tucked between them. His one hand slips underneath again, this time in front, where his fingers trail up her inner thigh until he reaches her center, warm and wet, the coarse curls there familiar against his knuckles.
    She cries out softly as he touches her intimately, sliding back and forth, circling around, slipping inside. Gwen works his manhood out of his trousers, stroking him as she does so, enjoying the feel of him in her hand, thick and firm.
    “The lance is at the ready, my lord,” she whispers into his ear, licking it, nibbling.
    “The target is set,” he confirms hoarsely, removing his hand to guide her hips to him as she guides his shaft to her.
    She spears herself on him, the ring snagged द्वारा the lance, and she moans as he pushes upward, settling deep within her. “Oh…” she sighs, rocking her hips as he moves his, pushing against the chair, using it as leverage as she rides him, his hands still on her hips beneath her skirt, her hands in his hair, his face buried in her cleavage.
    The breeze picks up, blowing the loose tendrils of Guinevere’s hair from her neck, cooling the small places left wet द्वारा Arthur’s kisses, and she shivers slightly. They simultaneously speed up, spurred on द्वारा their mounting passion and need, and Gwen clutches Arthur’s shoulders, gripping his leather vest in both hands, holding them almost like reins.
    Arthur lifts his head and gazes up at her, his beautiful क्वीन rendered even और beautiful द्वारा her desire. She opens her eyes and catches him watching her, so she boldly watches him back, drinking in his passion-dark eyes, the slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, his full, parted lips.
    He is beautiful, she thinks, and leans down to किस him. Slowly, deeply, luxuriously, until Gwen tears her lips from his, crying out as her climax comes upon her, throwing her head back and sending her limbs tingling.
    Moments later Arthur’s breathing speeds up and deepens and he shouts out his own release, moving his arms up and clamping his arms around her waist tightly. He presses his face into her chest again and sighs a heavy, satisfied sigh.

    Gwen and Arthur find Leon outside the armory, going over an inventory सूची with Merlin and Gwaine.
    Gwaine is the first to notice the king and क्वीन approaching, and he grins and nudges Leon.
    “Ah, thank you, my lady. Sire,” he nods to Arthur.
    Merlin’s eyes meet Gwen’s for a fleeting moment, and Merlin is about to look away, slightly embarrassed to be continually and unwittingly embroiled in their little game, but then his eyebrows raise slightly and he lifts a hand to his hair, smoothing it.
    Gwen gets the message and follows suit, finding the comb she had tucked there earlier askew. As she adjusts it, Gwaine suddenly seems to choke on something and falls to a fit of coughing, turning away slightly.
    Leon absently pounds the other knight’s back as he chats with Arthur, wondering what Gwaine’s problem could possibly be.
    “…So, my lord, the men will need your instruction on unarmed combat. Percival is very skilled, but he doesn’t have the, um, flair for explanation that आप do,” he finishes, frowning at his quiet friend’s failed attempt at instruction.
    “He’ll get there, Leon. I’ll work with him on that as well as with the men. What is it?” Arthur suddenly asks, seeing Leon’s eyes wandering towards the side of his head.
    “Oh… nothing sir, nothing,” Leon lies, pretending that he hasn’t just noticed a lock of hair sticking straight out from the side of the king’s suspiciously over-tousled hair या the queen’s slight glowing rosy sheen.
    Gwaine simply turns and walks away.

Thanks to SherryLynne and PrincessJennifer for the location, and thanks also go to faithlessducks for suggesting the usage of the jousting metaphors!