The One Where All The Knights Love Fem!Merlin

Gwaine

Merlin and Arthur rode side by side out of the woods, tired from the hunt, despite not catching anything. They continued to ride until they reached the top of a hill, overlooking a village. "You know what you need after a hard day's hunt?" Arthur asked.

"Sleep?" 

"A nice cold tankard of mead."

Merlin shook her head, unimpressed. Men. "Mead? Really?"

A short ride later, Merlin found herself in front of a tavern. "Now remember," Arthur told her, "in here, you're not my servant. I'm just a simple peasant just like everyone else."

"Simple part's right," Merlin muttered.

"What?"

"Uh, I said that the sun is very bright."

"Yes, I suppose it is."

Merlin rolled her eyes at Arthur's obliviousness and followed him into the tavern. Arthur was just about to order when-

"Afternoon, Mary. Business looks good," Dagr, a man that Merlin and Arthur had encountered before, said to the tavern hostess.

"We've had our better days," Mary replied. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her forehead.

"I don't suppose you'd begrudge me my share, then."

Mary tossed some coins at Dagr. He counted them and frowned. "And the rest?"

"That's all we've got."

"I'll not ask again," Dagr growled and pulled out a knife, pressing it against Mary's throat.

"Take your hands off her," Arthur interrupted.

The man turned around with a sneer and swung his weapon at Arthur. Arthur dodged it and pushed Dagr into the wall. The man stood up. "I'll make you pay for that."

"I'd like to see you try," Merlin laughed. She was leaning against a pillar not too far from Arthur so that she was in a position where she would be able to use her magic should the need arise. Dagr glared at Merlin, causing her to quickly look away and pretend that she had not said anything.

Dagr whistled and a group of men, likely fellow bandits, strutted into the tavern, looking extremely tough and menacing. "You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you, Merlin?" Arthur said with an exasperated tone. Merlin shrugged.

"You two have gotten yourselves into quite the pickle, haven't you?" A young man, perhaps in his late twenties, noted.

"You should probably get out of here while you still have the chance," Arthur told him.

"You're probably right," he said, taking a swig of his drink, "but this is more fun." He handed the mug to Dagr. Dagr took it, but then looked down at it confused. He took that opportunity to punch the other man square in the face. Of course, this led to one of the wildest bar fights in all of medieval history. 

Unfortunately, the brawl was so epic that it is unable to be accurately recorded. Nonetheless, the author shall try her best.

The first man to go was one of the skinnier bandits. He was thrown out the door. Literally. Once he was out of the way, the young man punched another bandit in the gut repeatedly until he passed out. Many other people in the tavern joined the fight simply for the sake of fighting. 

Merlin stayed on the side for the most part, but eventually began weaving through the crowd, using her magic to throw things such as benches at the bandits. 

On the other side of the room, Arthur charged at Dagr, smashing him into a wall. Dagr retaliated by punching Arthur repeatedly in his princely face. Then, Dagr threw Arthur against a table and raised his fist to punch Arthur again. Punching was probably all that the poor man knew how to do.