"It's your servant, Sire. He's hiding something from you. Something you'll very much like to know about."

Arthur clenches his fists so hard his nails cut crescents into the flesh of his palm. "What do you think you could say," the king growls, "that would make me rethink the punishment I have in mind for you?" Arthur didn't actually have a punishment in mind - well, he had a few, but he got the feeling that no matter how much he might want to he would regret having Kay drawn and quartered in the morning.

"Sorcery."

Arthur only pauses for a moment, but it's enough for Kay to take it as an invitation to keep talking. "Your servant has magic, sire, Robert and I saw him," Kay says earnestly. He has this conspiratorial look on his face that elicits a strong urge in Arthur to knock his lying teeth out. "In the armory, after we had finished hunting the wyverns, we saw him. He was polishing a shield, your highness, with magic." He drops his voice to a low, silky purr that reminds Arthur momentarily of Agravaine. "I know that we should have brought it to your attention immediately, Sire, but I'm a forgiving man. He was only doing hedge magic, and Robert and I thought we could give him a second chance. If you don't mind me saying so, your highness, I know how...fond of him you are. We hoped o spare you that pain. It was wrong of us, but we thought he could change him. We were fools: sorcerers can never change. That servant of yours is -"

Arthur thinks that Kay really should've seen the blow to the head coming, but it's evident that he saw no such thing as he reels backwards, his hand shooting up to his bleeding nose as he stumbles before catching his balance. "I will not stand here and listen to you spout lies," Arthur hisses. "Merlin is a loyal servant, and a better man than you will ever be."

Arthur stops, collects himself. Somehow, the man's words have left the king even angrier than when he had first stood on the knight's doorstep. Maybe because somewhere deep inside Kay's accusations have struck a cord: after all, everyone Arthur has ever cared about has turned and stabbed him in the back, and why should Merlin be an exception? Merlin, the best friend he has ever had - Arthur thinks a betrayal from the bumbling servant might destroy him.

But Merlin wouldn't. That, more than anything else, is what steadies his voice when says, "You are hereby stripped of your title and banished from Camelot on pain of death. You have until sunrise tomorrow to arrange your affairs and leave the kingdom." He drops the regal tone, stares the shocked man down and makes sure his face shows every ounce of fury he's feeling. "If I ever see you or Sir Robert again I'll kill you myself. Same goes for anyone who so much as touches my servant. Do we understand each other?"

Kay nods, skin ashen in the flickering light from the torches in the hall. Still, as Arthur turns his back on him, he says, "You'll believe the word of a lowly servant over that of a knight?" His tone is incredulous and full of a self-righteous anger that makes Arthur waver on his decision not to kill him.

Gwaine decides to make an appearance, then, tiny drops of blood speckling his shirt and bruises forming on his cheeks, saving Arthur from having to respond. What timing that man has.

"Robert?" Arthur says casually as he steps past Gwaine and into the corridor. Something he thinks might be adrenaline is mixing with the anger, because even though he's done his job, ensured that those pieces of scum will never go near Merlin again, all he wants to do is hit something. Again.

"I made certain things clear to him," Gwaine spits. "I don't think we'll be seeing him again."

For an instant, Arthur wonders idly if Gwaine's gone and killed him, but it soon transpires that he really doesn't care. He nods at the knight, and walks away to the sounds of Kay repeating his "I can explain" line. He almost snorts. If Kay thinks he's going to get anywhere with anything resembling reason when Gwaine's like this, than he's stupid as well as despicable. Arthur pauses to consider whether or not he's going to regret all the violence he's allowed to happen tomorrow. He thinks not.

Making his way back to Gaius', Arthur can't help but roll Kay's words over in his mind. Sorcery. Sorcery. How dare he accuse Merlin of such a thing, how dare he -

The mere thought of Merlin doing something so profoundly evil wriggles under his skin and nests there, prickly and uncomfortable, and Arthur does his best not to entertain the thought seriously, but if he's being honest with himself he knows that some of boiling rage he feels at Kay's accusation stems from the possibility that it could be true.

He's still seething when he arrives at the old physician's door. Percival and Elyan nod respectfully at his approach, but neither says anything, even though it's clear Elyan wants to ask. Arthur doesn't know what Percival's thinking. He never knows what Percival's thinking. "The problem's been dealt with," he says to them.

"Good," Elyan replies quietly. "Who was it?"

"Robert and Kay."

No surprise crosses either of the knight's faces. "I never liked them," Elyan says. "They were condescending and arrogant at best and cruel at worst."

Like I used to be, Arthur can't help but think. To Elyan, he says, "I don't think we'll be seeing them again."

"And Gwaine?" Percival asks. His voice is soft, as it always is, but the unexpected sound startles Arthur anyway.

"I left him down there. He's having a calm, reasonable discussion with Kay at the moment."

Elyan snorts.

Arthur can feel his face darkening, but he does nothing to stop it. "They deserved it, I promise you." He claps the two men on the shoulder. "Thank you for standing watch." Both nod, and Arthur pushes Gaius' door in and strides in.

Merlin and Gaius look up in unison, and Arthur doesn't miss the alarm that shoots across their features. He knows he must be a sight, angry as he is and with Kay's blood on his knuckles, and he makes a conscious effort to calm down. Now that the threat has been taken care of he can sit down and have an actual conversation with Merlin, can figure out why this happened and why Merlin didn't tell him, and for that to happen he can't be this worked up. He'll end up taking it out on the servant for being so bloody stupid as to think that Arthur wouldn't put a stop to it immediately -

He takes a breath.

"Merlin," he says, and even though he wants to have this talk in private, this is the question he wants answered, that he needs answered, and not just because of what Kay said. "Why were the knights targeting you?"

Merlin's gaze drops from his, but not before Arthur catches the fear that flashes across his features.

A/N: More dialogue and more from Merlin next chapter, and Arthur's suspicions continue to grow.