'Ah, Lord Doctor,' said Uther as the four visitors followed Arthur into the hall, 'Camelot bids you welcome. It is an honour to meet you. To what do we owe this unexpected visit?'

'Oh, nothing much, just… passing through,' said the Doctor, tempering the grin he'd normally be displaying at being in such a well-known part of history, 'we thought we'd stop by for a few days.'

'You are welcome to stay, of course,' said Uther, 'We shall have the guest rooms made up for you at once. Tell me; did you not bring your servants with you?'

'We didn't, unfortunately,' said the Doctor, 'They were ever so busy what with rearranging the library that we thought it best not to disturb them.'

Loki hid his smirk. In his attempts to read almost the entire medieval history of Earth, the Tardis' library had become an absolute catastrophe; the Tardis and the Doctor were both in the process of finding all the books Loki had placed onto the wrong shelves and finding where the medieval section had disappeared to.

'No matter,' said Uther, 'I'm sure Arthur wouldn't mind relinquishing his servant for a few days, would you Arthur?'

'Father…'

'Of course not,' Uther smiled. 'You are indeed fortunate to have arrived this early in the day, Lord Doctor; we shall, of course, put on a feast for you, as our honoured guests.'

'Oh, we wouldn't want you to go to any trouble,' said the Doctor.

'Nonsense, it's no trouble at all. The people will welcome the opportunity to celebrate.'

'Then I suppose I'll thank you in advance,' said the Doctor, with a half bow, 'would we be excused for a while? It has been a fair journey.'

'Of course, make yourselves comfortable,' said Uther, 'One of the servants will show you to your room… you, Morgana's servant; Guinevere, was it?'

Peggy's eyes widened minutely. Loki's astonishment at both names grew. Morgana; he assumed that was the dark-haired, pale woman sitting beside and slightly behind Uther himself; was apparently a noble of the court of Camelot?

'Yes, my Lord?' asked Guinevere. She had been standing quietly at the side of the hall; presumably in case Morgana had required her services.

'Take these guests to the guest rooms,' said Uther, 'ensure they are comfortable in their quarters.'

'Yes, my Lord,' said Guinevere again, curtseying before moving to stand by the door of the reception hall, waiting for the newcomers to follow.

'We'll see you at the feast,' said the Doctor, before turning to follow Guinevere. As the others moved to turn, however, Uther stopped them with a wave of his hand.

'You,' he said, gesturing towards Loki, 'Lockhart, was it?'

'I am more often referred to as Loki,' said Loki, meeting the king's gaze.

'How did you come to be in the charge of Lord Doctor?'

Loki paused. He had very little time to come up with something good. It was far easier to tell a vague version of the truth.

'I've only been Doctor's charge for a short time,' said Loki, 'I have been placed into his care under the orders of my previous guardian.'

'Your previous guardian ordered you to be the charge of another?' asked Uther, looking noticeably confused.

'He no longer saw fit to keep me at his court.'

'In that case, I do hope that your new guardian will treat you as a guardian ought to,' said Uther, 'I cannot imagine a circumstance in which I would willingly give up my own ward, the Lady Morgana.'

Morgana smiled briefly.

'Your charge is lucky, then, to have a guardian such as yourself,' said Loki, although he expected that may not be the case. Uther's tone seemed to indicate that what he was truly unwilling to relinquish was control.

'Indeed,' said Uther, moving to sit, 'I shall see you all at the feast.'

Loki nodded at him, before turning to leave and restraining the strong desire to roll his eyes. Steve and Peggy followed him out, filing into a line behind the Doctor, who was catching up to Guinevere.

'So,' said the Doctor, and Guinevere looked at him in confusion, 'You're the Lady Morgana's servant. Guinevere, was it?'

'Most people just call me Gwen,' she said.

'Does the king normally order you about like that?' asked Peggy.

'Well,' said Gwen, genuinely confused, 'I am a servant of the court; isn't that what usually happens?'

'I'm assuming he's not the sort to ask nicely,' said Steve.

Gwen bit back a giggle. 'You lot are awfully friendly for nobles in Uther's good graces,' said Gwen, leading them up a flight of stairs. She suddenly looked a bit horrified at herself. 'I mean… I didn't…'

'Oh, don't worry, we don't bite,' said the Doctor with a grin, 'So, how long have you been working here?'

The walk to the guest rooms wasn't particularly long, and once Gwen had shown them where their three rooms were, they gathered in the Doctor's room, sitting around the wooden table at the centre of the room.

'Was there anything you needed?' asked Gwen, 'Food, linen…'

'We should be fine,' said Peggy, 'These rooms are fantastic, thank you.'

'Oh, it's hardly my doing,' said Gwen, 'Actually I'm not sure who made up these rooms, we've had some newcomers in the past few days and I've not managed to learn all of their names yet.'

'Well good on you for making an effort,' said the Doctor, smiling.

'I'd best be off then,' said Gwen, 'It was lovely to meet you!'

She curtseyed, and left before the Doctor had a chance to look as uncomfortable as he felt. After waiting for a few seconds to ensure that Gwen was out of earshot, Loki asked a question he'd been wondering since they entered the reception hall.

'So then, Doctor. How is it that Uther recognised a time lord from the distant future?'

'I noticed that,' said Steve, 'I thought you landed us somewhere too convenient.'

'Oi!' said the Doctor, 'I land in convenient places all the time.'

'Of course,' said Peggy, 'Which definitely explains the broom cupboard.'

In a move of mastered deflection, the Doctor said 'That was extremely convenient at the time. You are right, though, Uther does know who I am.'

'Yet he hasn't met you before?' asked Loki.

'No,' said the Doctor, 'I wasn't in Camelot the last time I came to this time period. It was a few years before now, in a little village a few days from here. I was here to meet…'

There was a knock on the door and Merlin's voice sounded from outside the room. 'Hello? Sorry to disturb you, the prince sent me here.'

'Speak of the devil,' said the Doctor, standing to answer the door.

'Wait,' Loki said quietly, 'If you once came here to meet him then why doesn't he recogn…'

The Doctor opened the door and Loki stopped talking.

'Merlin!' said the Doctor, 'Come on in, we were just talking about you.'

Merlin was stunned. He paused at the door, only stepping through after shaking his head and asking 'I'm sorry you were talking about me?'

'Apparently we were,' said Loki.

'But… you only met me fifteen minutes ago,' said Merlin, somehow sporting a confused smile.

'And yet you've already been mentioned by the king himself,' said the Doctor, clapping Merlin on the shoulder, 'So, what was it you were here for?'

'Well, the Prince told me I was supposed to be your servant for however long you're staying here, so I came to see if there was anything you needed,' said Merlin, 'Is there anything I can get for you?'

'We should be alright,' said Peggy.

'I think you can start looking forward to a few days off,' said Steve, 'None of us are really used to having servants. Actually…'

He turned to look questioningly at Loki.

'My people had servants,' said Loki, mindful of keeping his story straight, 'but neither I nor my brother cared to use them.'

'Right…' said Merlin, 'Sorry, should I… I mean, is there anything I can do, or should I get back to my other duties?'

'Or, you know,' said the Doctor, 'take some time off. Whatever you like, really.'

'Before you leave, however, I do have one thing to ask,' said Loki.

'Oh?'

'Would you show me where the library is?'

After Loki left, Peggy and Steve had promised the Doctor that they would absolutely be back before the banquet began and had left to go on a walk through the castle grounds. The Doctor had grinned; it was fantastic not to have to worry about his companions accidentally walking into situations they couldn't get themselves out of. Between the two of them, they had the wit, strength and intelligence to get out of almost any situation they could have found themselves in.

The Doctor had waited for them to leave before heading to the court physician's room. After all, he knew it would do some good for Merlin to know that for once, his guests were both entirely honest and most definitely not planning to kill Arthur. The Doctor thanked his lucky stars, and his clever Tardis, that they'd managed to land on a day in which Camelot was not under siege of some magical threat.

Though the Doctor didn't know Gaius personally, he most certainly knew who he was; and, more importantly, knew that Gaius knew who Merlin was.

Merlin thought that these newcomers were strange, certainly. Not the most threatening visitors Camelot's ever had, but certainly strange. They'd brought no luggage, no horses and no servants; they'd sent no advance word of their arrival and yet the king was quite happy to throw a banquet in their honour.

He changed his opinion of "strange" to "downright bizarre" the moment he walked into Gaius' room and saw him conversing happily with Lord Doctor over some aspect of medicine or another.

'My Lord,' said Merlin politely, 'I didn't realise you needed our physician.'

'He doesn't, Merlin, he's just here for a chat,' said Gaius, 'And I must say, Merlin, he knows some rather interesting things about Camelot. And yourself.'

Loki had thanked Merlin for bringing him to the library, and Merlin had left immediately, which suited Loki just fine.

The library was extremely outdated. Loki guessed that at least ninety percent of the information stored in these texts was not only wrong, but dangerously so. Compared to the TARDIS, the libraries of Asgard, or quite frankly even Tony Stark's smartphone, this library contained little that could be useful.

It was exactly what Loki had wanted.

Intending on amusing himself by reading through texts and finding what he could on magic users, Loki started picking books off the shelves at random. He knew what he was likely to find would be anti-magic propaganda, or simply information about magic that was completely off the mark, but he wanted to gain some understanding of these people's attitudes towards magic. He had understood almost as soon as he'd arrived that what he knew about this place was not only wrong, but so wrong that a simple misunderstanding could possibly get him sent to the dungeons as a suspected accomplice of magic users.

Picking up a hefty volume that appeared to be on local laws surrounding magic users (Loki believed they could simply replace the book with a sign reading "don't" in capital letters), he settled down into a chair to read.

Hours passed. Books Loki had taken from the shelves stacked in an ever-increasing pile to the side of his chair. He was largely left alone by the others who passed through the library, aside from a few raised eyebrows at how absorbed Loki was in his studies.

It was only when a servant stood directly in front of him and coughed politely that Loki ventured outside his world of research.

'The prince has asked me to collect you for the banquet,' said the servant, clearly nervous. Loki stood, placing his most recent book on the ever-more-precarious stack next to him.

'Lead the way.'

Having been found by a servant of Uther's, Steve and Peggy met the Doctor and Loki just outside the banquet hall.

'Ready?' asked the Doctor.

'Looking forward to it,' said Peggy, and the four of them walked into the hall.

They were immediately ushered to their seats. After a brief welcome by Uther, servants filed into the room to serve the meal to these "honoured guests," along with other nobles and important people from the region.

The banquet was elegant, extremely filling and extraordinarily well-cooked. The Doctor took a mental note to travel down to the kitchens and thank the cooks personally after the meal; the usual guilt accompanying an extraordinary meal in a room full of riches was overshadowed by the knowledge that, in most times, the citizens of Camelot were well-fed and cared for. No, their difficulties were not with food or shelter; it was with the far higher than usual number of raids, wars and magical attacks that Camelot faced.

The Doctor looked across the table at Arthur and reminded himself of the prosperous future he would bring to Camelot.

Loki was savouring every moment of the meal. It was extremely refreshing, he considered, to be unrecognised by those around him; it afforded him a kind of peace he had never experienced in his life. He ate mostly in silence, listening with a semblance of politeness to Uther when he was addressed, and responding appropriately.

However, after a short while, he began to watch the servants.

"You see," said a voice in Loki's mind eerily reminiscent of Sherlock's, "but you do not observe."

There was something, something Loki couldn't quite put his finger on. Waiting until she was free, Loki gained Peggy's attention by tapping her on the shoulder.

'Yes, Loki?'

'Earlier, Guinevere said that most of the servants were new, didn't she?'

'What of it?'

'Simply a guess. Did I guess correctly?'

'Yes, you did.'

Loki and Peggy returned to their respective meals, Peggy with a questioning look, and Loki returned to carefully observing the servants taking too long to refill drinks and missing the occasional pointed looks from their masters. He was almost ready to simply dismiss their behaviour as nerves suffered by servants tending to guests at their first banquet.

Right up until the servant behind Arthur drew a sharpened blade out of his pocket.

Merlin had been helping serve dinner, assisting the new servants with their duties, when he saw Loki stand. His mouth dropped in shock when he saw him pick up his knife from the table and hurl it in Arthur's direction.

Merlin panicked. He was in full view of everyone around him, but as he drew on the magic he had so often used to save Arthur's life, the knife had already buried itself in its target; not Arthur, but the servant standing behind him.

The servant immediately dropped to the floor, screaming in pain, and in doing do, dropped his own blade.

'What is the meaning of this!?' cried Uther, glaring at Loki with utter contempt.

'Get him!' screamed the servant on the floor, Loki's knife buried deep in his shoulder, and in a flash, the other new "servants" had drawn their own blades.

It was the spark that set of utter pandemonium. Horrified shrieks emanated from the table as people began noticing the servants. Most stood; some to flee, though some stood with every intention to fight. Arthur drew the sword that he had taken to wearing to the table in the face of numerous attempts on his own and his father's life. The newcomers had leapt to arms; Merlin noticed that while they had no weapons of their own, Peggy had snatched up what knives were within reach and Steve had plucked a giant silver platter off the table, holding it as a makeshift shield. Loki had ripped a carving knife that had stood upright in a half-served leg of pork and had already stabbed it into a knife-wielding servant's leg.

Knights and loyal servants leapt to the defence of their King and Prince.

'Defend us!' shouted Uther to the pair of knights by the door of the hall, drawing his own sword.

In all the chaos, reasoned Merlin, his magic was likely to go relatively unnoticed. The clashing of steel and the sheer number of people involved in the brawl would, hopefully, mask his movements. Dashing to hide behind the pillar closest to Arthur, Merlin did his best to trip, confuse, and distract as many servants as possible.

It took very little time for the servants to fall. With a carefully-placed hit with the silver dish, Steve had sent the last of the seven or eight servants sprawled to the floor. The people left standing; the four visitors, himself, Arthur and Uther, stood panting, looking around the room for any other possible threats.

While Merlin had his head poked out from behind the pillar, Arthur spotted him.

'Ah, Merlin,' said Arthur, still looking somewhat shell-shocked, 'as always, running for cover when there's a decent fight on.'

'Of course, sire.'

'I must apologise,' said Uther, somewhat flummoxed, 'I had not expected the new servants to be anything but what they appeared.'

'No harm done,' said the Doctor, brushing splattered food off his clothing, 'In fact, I think you'll find most of the servants still alive.'

Merlin looked around and, with astonishment, realised that the Doctor was right; though all the servants were incapacitated, only one or two appeared dead.

'An excellent outcome,' said Uther, 'we can question them as to who sent them. Knights? Take these servants to the dungeons. Ensure that none of them are able to escape.'

As the knights went to begin dragging the fallen "servants" out of the room and towards the dungeons, Uther turned to Loki.

'It seems I owe you an apology as well,' said Uther, much to Loki's apparent surprise, 'I believed you intended my son harm. Little did I realise that you were actually in the process of saving his life. You have my gratitude.'

'You have my thanks as well,' added Arthur. He nodded to Loki.

Uther inclined his head as well, and Loki repeated the gesture somewhat belatedly.

'Well, if it's alright with you, my Lord,' said the Doctor, 'my associates and I seem to need to tidy ourselves up a bit.'

He indicated to their clothes, stained with a combination of blood and food.

'Of course,' said Uther.

'Merlin,' said Arthur, 'See the guests back to their quarters.'

Merlin nodded.

'Of course, sire,' he said, 'If you'd follow me.'

Merlin turned to lead the way out of the hall. As he did so, he couldn't help but wonder how on earth this newcomer, Loki, had reacted to the servant's hidden blade before he himself had managed to do so.