My Friend, My Love ~ Merwaine Oneshots

How Dare you Hurt my Merlin!

Synopsis: Gwaine doesn’t take too kindly when he best mate is hurt by a noble
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One of the many factors Gwaine  adapted to when he became a knight was the number of nobles he'd be surrounded by. Not just the knights, but the actual Lords and Ladies. Now, some were nice, but some…let’s just say they further backed Gwaine’s disdain for nobility in general. 

But he had it easy compared to others. As a knight, he was treated respectfully. People with a low status like Merlin, however, were not. As Merlin’s self-proclaimed best friend, Gwaine took it upon himself to make sure the servant was treated right. 

The only problem was that Gwaine could not always prevent situations from transpiring, and as a result, incidents like Lord Eldric happened.

It was an ordinary day, and Gwaine and his fellow brothers in arms were out at the training field. Leon was being his bossy self filling in where Arthur could not. The King was unfortunately stuck hosting a very snobbish Lord named Eldric. 

The Lord was a close friend to Uther, which made Arthur feel honor bound to go very extra in hosting. With all the feasts and preparations being held, Gwaine had not seen Merlin often, for the manservant was extremely busy with his serving duties.

And it just so happened that one of those special duties involved looking after Lord Eldric. Gwaine, for the life of him, never understood why Arthur would give out his personal manservant and make him perform more duties on top of the ones he already has.

After a couple of hours of grueling sparring, the knights were blessed with the presence of the noble lord. Gwaine had to wince when he caught a glimpse of his friend straining to carry a multitude of weapons. The servant looked like he was about to collapse from the weight.

Leon went over and respectfully addressed the lord. “Uther’s knight’s were the most formidable in all the lands, I’d like to see if the sentiment still holds up under King Arthur!” Eldric exclaimed, laughing boisterously. Gwaine swore he saw a brief flash of scorn in Leon’s eyes at the comment.

"Of course, my Lord, would-”

“I’d like to spar with one of the famous commoner knights, I hear great tales about them!” Eldric interrupted.

Gwaine, Percival, and Elyan stood before the Lord as the noble took a minute to decide his opponent. And guess who was the lucky winner…Gwaine. “You Sir…”

“Gwaine.” Gwaine supplied montone.

“Sir Gwaine seems to be a skillful man. Let us duel at once!” Eldric proclaimed

Gwaine had to refrain from rolling his eyes in annoyance.

As he got himself ready, he could hear Lord Eldric’s impatient shouts.

“Servant! Get my dueling sword! Well don’t just stand there, you lazy idiot, now!”

Gwaine curled his fists tightly at the Lord’s tone. No one talked to his best friend like that, no matter the status. He was about to speak up and take Eldric’s attention away from Merlin when the Lord committed a most grievous mistake.

Merlin, in his exhaustion, grabbed the wrong sword. When Eldric saw this, he blushed in anger. “You insolent boy, can you do nothing right!? You wait until King Arthur hears of this. He will have you flogged!”

Merlin opened his mouth to apologize when a strong force collided with his jaw. The servant was sent crumbling to the ground with a small whimper of pain. Gwaine saw red. He could feel himself marching towards the noble only to be held back by two pairs of hands.

Elyan and Percival struggled to keep ahold of the uncontrollable Gwaine, who was busy spitting profanities at Lord Eldric. “How dare you! You will hold your tongue, Sir Gwaine! Sir Leon, is such behavior condoned amongst King Arthur’s Knights!?”

Leon said nothing except showed his disdain for the Lord more clearly than he had before. 

Gwaine charged out of his friends’ hold, took off his gauntlet, and threw it down on the ground before the Lord. “I, Sir Gwaine, challenge you, Lord Eldric, to a duel of honor.” Gwaine stated coolly.

Lord Eldric scoffed but did accept the challenge. “And what, pray tell, are your terms?”

Gwaine did not break eye contact nor hesitate to state his demands, “If I win, you, Lord Eldric, will renounce your lands and therefore your nobility. If I lose, I will renounce my knighthood.”

Everyone around them gasped at the claim. Merlin hastily got up and grabbed Gwaine’s arm. “Gwaine no, you can’t do this. Not for me!” Merlin cried out desperately.

“Stay out of this boy! If Sir Gwaine wishes to defend your worthless honor, then so be it.” Eldric sneered, walking away to prepare himself.

Gwaine turned to Merlin with a serious expression. “He has to pay Merlin. I won’t stand here and watch my best friend be mistreated by some pompous Noble who believes he is superior to all others.”

“But Gwaine, if you lose..” Merlin trailed off.

”Merlin, you mean more to me than some stupid knighthood.” Gwaine stated strongly.

Merlin wanted to protest further, but he knew it would be futile. Instead, he squeezed Gwaine’s shoulder in gratitude. “Kick his arse Gwaine and be careful.”

Gwaine smirked and reciprocated the action.

~8~

Lord Eldric could fight, Gwaine would give him that. But ultimately, there was no debate on who the better swordsman was. The duel was over in just a brief few minutes ending with Gwaine’s sword being held at the fallen Lord’s neck.

Lord Eldric stormed onto his feet and, to Gwaine, burst out into a temper tantrum. “No! I do not concede to this! I will renounce nothing! King Arthur will not stand for this!”

“I was not aware you spoke on my behalf, Lord Eldric.” Everyone turned to see a stoic Arthur who had been watching the entire event with crossed arms. Eldric’s eyes widened as he quickly bowed to the monarch, trying to hide his panic.

“Sire! I-”

“No Lord Eldric, you will hold your tongue!” Arthur interrupted sharply. Eldric gulped nervously. “You are a guest at this castle, but I will not tolerate the mistreatment of staff or any of Camelot’s citizens, be it commoner or not. It was your own arrogance that accepted Sir Gwaine’s fair duel. Now, you must own up to the consequences. Believe me when I say I will personally see to it that your nobility is revoked. You will be gone by sundown.”

It was not a suggestion.

With Arthur’s signal, Eldric was escorted out of the training grounds. The king turned to Gwaine and gave him a grateful smile. Thank you. Gwaine tipped his head. He stumbled back when an unexpected force collided with him. “You’re a clotpole for doing that.” Merlin mumbled, hugging Gwaine tightly. 

Gwaine wrapped his arms around his friend, “Thought Arthur was the clotpole.” He teased.

“You both are. But seriously, Gwaine, thank you for defending me.” Merlin said softly.

“Anything for my best mate.”