Gwaine had the second watch for the night. He glanced at where Merlin was sleeping. One of the visiting knights was sitting next to not far from Merlin, also on watch, despite it not being necessary. Gwaine slowly crept up to Merlin and reached for his neckerchief. Merlin's eyes shot open. He pulled a sword out of a sheath and had it at Gwaine's throat faster that he thought possible. The other knight on watch, Jacob, was drawn be the commotion and went to defend Merlin.

"Sire are you alright," dragging Merlin away from Gwaine "I think he was trying to get your seal."

"Sire!" came Gwaine's incredulous cry.

Merlin realizing his 'attacker' was not his enemy immediately dropped his blade "Gwaine?!" Merlin exclaimed. Merlin grimaced "well, I guess I've been discovered,"

"Care to explain?" Gwaine said in confusion, with a hint of anger.

"Come this way so no one hears," Merlin said dropping his servant act.

The three of them walked a short distance away before Gwaine put a hand on Merlin's shoulder, turning them face-to-face.

"Explain," he said, not asking anymore.

Merlin sighed running a hand through his hair "Its me; I'm the crown prince of Altair."

Gwaine nodded his head "That explains a lot,"

Merlin looked at him in confusion, "Like what?"

"You talk like Arthur sometimes, you acted like you already knew the knights, and you were used to all of the knights' activities, despite being a farm boy," Gwaine listed.

Merlin grimaced, when he put it like that it sounded pretty obvious.

"So, got any more secrets?" Gwaine said jokingly. That's when he saw Merlin's guilty expression, "Wait, there's more?!"

Jacob interjected "He's the most powerful warlock to ever walk the Earth, and he's the best swordsman in all the 5 kingdoms," he said with a smirk "oh, and he's a dragonlord," he added on as an afterthought. Merlin wouldn't have been a dragonlord as it was passed to the eldest son, but he was the only member of his family left aside from his mother and the only son with magic, so he became a dragonlord.

"Okay, I can understand the magic, I mean there's no way you can come out of every fight without a scratch, but there is no way you are better with a sword than me," Gwaine said doubtfully.

"Wanna test that theory?" Merlin said cockily. Merlin put a quick silencing spell around them so the others couldn't be woken by the sound of their fight. He lifted his sword and pointed it at Gwaine. "Ready?"

Jacob glanced between the pair and shouted go. Merlin advanced toward Gwaine and before Gwaine could get his sword up, practically before he'd realized the battle had started, it was over. Gwaine's sword lay in the dirt beside him and Merlin's sword was pointed at his chest.

Gwaine whistled appreciatively, "Wow…you can fight." Gwaine frowned slightly. "Really mate, its like nothing I've ever seen." There was a question in the statement and Merlin gladly answered, pleased to see Gwaine was more than wiling to accept him.

Merlin grinned. Hesitantly, he spoke. "It's my magic that allows me to fight the way I do." Jacob snorted. Merlin elaborated more. "Well, I mean, I'm a decent swordsman," Jacob cut him off with scoff.

"What Merlin means to say is that he is a brilliant swordsman, his magic just makes him better." Merlin nodded after his statement, his cheeks tinged red.

" My magic allows me to have faster reflexes. Or slow time a bit. Or-"Gwaine cut him off.

"You can stop time?!" He asked an incredulous but bright grin on his face.

"Well not stop it, I don't think, just slow it down a bit. It comes in handy." Merlin said it casually, looking between Gwaine and Jacob. Jacob laughed at Merlin's offhandedness.

"You should see him at his best." Jacob laughed.

"You mean to say that wasn't your best." Gwaine smirked slightly, amused and pleased to see the new side of his friend.

Merlin tone shifted slightly, taking on a tense yet no less open tone. "I have to keep my magic caged while in Camelot." Gwaine frowned, silently asking for more information. Merlin paused considering his wording. "I'm not quite like other sorcerers, well, any magic users really. My magic, when caged, remains at the center of me." Merlin said, trying to explain magic to a non-magic user. "It is like a pond," Merlin frowned "or like a lake, it is forced to the center of me, I can still use it but not as readily and there are no blatant sign that I'm a warlock."

Gwaine frowned, not quite understanding. "Signs like what?"

Merlin smiled slightly, thinking of his magic unchained "My eyes have flecks of gold, my instinctual magic is a lot more reactive, there's a lot really." Jacob suddenly cut Merlin off.

"We should probably get back," Jacob said, gesturing in the direction of the camp. Merlin noted that it had gotten much later. Seeing it was close to time to wake the others for next watch, Merlin nodded. The three of them made it back to the camp. "Merlin, mate, you've got a lot more to tell me." He grinned as they strode together toward Leon to wake his for guard duty.

"I'll tell you more in Altair, I promise" Merlin smiled at Gwaine and walked back to his bedroll. Gwaine chuckled to himself; he couldn't wait for Arthur to figure out and get destroyed by Merlin in a sword fight. More importantly though, Gwaine couldn't wait to see if Merlin could magically summon mead for him. Gwaine smiled at the thought as sleep quickly overtook him.