Merlin and the Knights of Camelot play Truth or Dare…

Set at the end of season 3, where Arthur is a Prince in love with Gwen, Lancelot is still alive and Percival, Gwaine and Elyan are with the knights. Read on to find out what happens when Percival is asked to behave like a cat, what is Merlin's biggest secret and the reason as to why Gwaine drinks?

One day the knights decided it was time for some male bonding and the best way for them to do this would be to go camping within the woods. So Arthur, Elyan, Gwaine, Lancelot, Leon, Merlin and Percival went to the woods to hunt. The group, after a successful hunting trip, sat around the fire whilst Merlin made dinner. When everything was eaten and Merlin had finished cleaning all the dishes, tending to the fire, setting up all the tents, gathering further firewood, and making sure there would be more food for a substantial breakfast, the group decided they were bored.

"Anyone know any funs games we could play?" Gwaine asked, twisting the core of his eaten apple around the tip until its weight caused the core to fall to the floor.

All the knights looked to each other in confusion.

"How to annoy Merlin?" Arthur suggested, sneaking a snide grin towards his manservant.

Merlin, however, didn't give in to Arthur; instead he turned his head around to face his Prince, an eyebrow raised and a wooden spoon in hand. "You play that game and none of you get breakfast tomorrow," he said, earning small chuckles from a few knights in the group.

"Definitely not playing that game then," Percival snickered.

"Do none of you know any interesting games?" Gwaine said whilst throwing his arms in the air.

"Well, do you know anything?" Elyan asked sarcastically, staring his friend down.

"Of course I do: I'm actually interesting."

"Go on then," Arthur gestured.

This then stumped Gwaine.

"Gwaine, you said you were interesting-"Merlin began.

"And I am!"

Merlin raised his eyebrow – again. "So suggest something then."

"Okay then." Gwaine sat on his stool for a minute, twiddling with the remains of the apple that hadn't managed to fall from his hands. "I know one game which might stir something up…"

"Oh God," Arthur muttered underneath his breath, along with Merlin and Elyan.

"It's called 'Truth or Dare'. Picked it up in a bar once in a small town in another kingdom," Gwaine explained, letting his dark brown hair fall in front of his face. "We pick a player and ask them 'truth or dare' and if they choose truth then we get to ask them a question and no matter what they have to answer truthfully, if they chose dare we set them a challenge that they must accomplish."

The other knights started nodding their heads in agreement, it seemed simple and fun.

"Alright then, you can start as it's your game." Percival said.

"Okay," Gwaine agreed, "Lancelot: Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"Okay then, I dare you to... down five cups of ale in under a minute."

Lancelot stared at Gwaine. "You do realise I can't hold my liquor like you can, Gwaine," Lancelot said as his arm reached for the first cup of ale that Gwaine had begun to pour.

"It's a dare, Lancelot, it's meant to be challenging… unless you can't man up to such a simple challenge-"

"Hey, who said I was chickening out!" Lancelot challenged with the cup to his lips.

While Lancelot was busy gulping down his first cup of ale, Merlin, Gwaine and Arthur had begun to set up the other cups for him, Gwaine handing out his special flasks of ale.

One cup. Then another, and another, all down in the 43 seconds Elyan and Percival had been counting together. Lancelot kept on gulping down the ale as each second ticked by, knowing he had only one cup to drink in less than 10 seconds now as time ticked by.

"…58, 59, 60!" Percival finished as Lancelot throttled his last cup on the muddy floor below him.

"I did it!" He announced, receiving applause from his friends.

"Well done, my man," Gwaine congratulated, whilst returning his flasks to his pack.

Merlin peeked over to his friend suspiciously. "Where did you manage to get so much ale?"

"Ah, my friend. What you don't know can't hurt you," he said cheekily, tapping his nose with two of his fingers.

Merlin laughed at his friend whilst Lancelot tried to get his mind together enough for him to be able to choose someone next to do truth or dare.

"Le-Leron," Lancelot slurred, "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Wimp!" Percival yelled.

"Leon, what was the l-last lie youu toolld?" Lancelot garbled.

"That, well, that I, gosh this is embarrassing, that I didn't enjoy, do I really have to do this?"

The other knights nodded, desperate to learn what Leon claimed he hated but actually didn't.

"Well, you see, Guinevere and I were in dresses, and well," Leon continued to stammer as a blush became evident on his cheeks. "ItoldherthatIdidn'tenjoywearingthembutinhonest truthIhaveneverfeltbetter," he rushed.

The rest of the gang stared at him in confusion, what on earth was he saying,

"Slow down." Merlin suggested and gestured for him to repeat what he said.

"I told her that I didn't enjoy wearing them but in honest truth I have never felt better." He said as he looked towards the ground, shamefaced.

"What?" Percival said, his jaw gaping.

"You've all heard it twice – I think that's enough for one day," Leon sighed, hiding his face with his hands.

"It's okay Leon; wearing a dress is nothing to be ashamed of," Arthur said in consolidation. "I once caught Merlin sneaking a dress to his chambers once, remember Merlin?"

Arthur only received a cold, hard stare from Merlin. "You won't get breakfast tomorrow."

"Anyway, can we please change the subject?" Leon asked, urgent to move on.

"Of course, Leon," Gwaine said. "You get to choose who goes next."

"Yaay for Leon!" Lancelot shouted, the slur evident in his speech.

"Um, okay," he started. "I pick… Arthur!"

The Prince exasperated, hoping this wouldn't happen. "Okay then, I choose dare," he said, hoping this would earn him at least a little bit of respect from the group tonight.

"Dare, okay…" Leon trailed. "I may need some help guys."

"That's okay, dress wearer, you've me – the Truth or Dare king – to help you out!" Gwaine exclaimed next to a giggling Lancelot.

"You're not a King!" Arthur shouted.

"Neither are you!" Gwaine retorted.

"Yet." Arthur murmured.

"Anyway, I've got a good one," he said before covering his mouth as he leaned into Leon's ear, whispering his own dare.

"Gwaine, I really don't think-"

"Come on, Leon, it's just a bit of fun. Arthur won't mind!" He joked, a glint in his eye. "Anyway, it's not that embarrassing... he'll just look a bit funny."

"Gwaine, out with it, already," Arthur sighed.

"Okay. I dare you to perform an imaginary fight against an imaginary opponent – and a decent fight. Except you lose in this fight," Gwaine smiled as Lancelot continued to burst into giggles next to him.

"That's funny because Arthur neeeever loses, haha!"

"Go on then, Arthur, act it out," Percival encouraged while Merlin played with the fire, eager to see Arthur do something ridiculous in front of everyone.

Arthur got out his sword and walked to the clearest section of the camp where he could 'fight'. He jabbed and parried at the empty air, with a look of intense concentration on his face. This look then contorted to one of pain as he clutched his exposed arm, obviously the place where his 'opponent struck'. This then transformed into one of sheer determination and anger as he started thrusting his sword wildly at the space before him. The knights could tell by the wild lunges that his centre was off balance and if in a real fight he wouldn't last another minute. Merlin on the other hand was finding it hard to stifle his laughter at the Prince.

Arthur then dodged what could have been a nasty blow, if it were real, to the right, ending up on his back with his sword out of reach to his left. He then let out what could only be a groan of defeat as he clutched his left side and gasped audibly, before closing his eyes and letting all the sounds he was making in the 'fight' to be replaced with silence… until Merlin couldn't hide his laughter anymore and snorted at the Prince for several minutes as did the rest of the knights.

"Well done, Arthur," Merlin called, raising his hands to clap. "I almost died of laughter!"

"Ha ha, very funny Merlin. Just remember who employs you," Arthur reminded him, as well as subtly looking at the rest of the Knights who couldn't bring themselves to stop giggling and snorting. Especially Lancelot.

"I think that was the funniest, most stu-stupendous thing I have ever seen!" He cried out whilst throwing his empty mug around the air aimlessly.

"Well, after that, I would like to choose Merlin for the next round," Arthur said, smirking at Merlin who was smirking back at him.

Merlin continued to smile. "Truth."

"Really Merlin, truth?" Elyan asked.

"Sorry, I'm not a Knight, I'm but a manservant. I'd prefer to have my dignity intact," Merlin said with his signature smile.

"Well, for your question, Merlin, I want to know what you're biggest secret is," Arthur said, leaning forward in preparation.

Merlin gulped, suddenly losing the air of hilarity in the conversation. What was he supposed to say? He knew what his biggest, deepest, darkest secret was, but if he told Arthur and the Knights here and now, he could be put on the stake. But he couldn't lie; the knights would notice immediately.

It's okay, Merlin. Arthur's your friend, and so are the Knights. They wouldn't tell Uther, would they? Just tell them, or you'll never tell them…

"Merlin, are you okay?" Leon asked, understanding Merlin's hesitation. Sometimes, the truth was harder than the dares.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking."

"Well, we certainly don't want to die of old age, now do we? Come on," Arthur pushed.

Merlin grasped his hands together, stopping them from visibly shaking – he wasn't ready for this. "Okay everyone – my biggest secret: I have magic."

Silence. That was all that could be heard until Percival broke up in laughter, swiftly followed by Elyan, Leon and Arthur.

"Merlin, we asked for the truth, not a joke," Percival said.

"Come on, Merlin. Tell us what your secret really is," Arthur continued.

"Wha-what?" Merlin stuttered in shock. He'd just unleashed his biggest secret, the thing he had to hide the most throughout his entire life, yet people threw it back in his face. Was that better? It would make it harder in the future, but at least he was safe now. "Um, okay. Sorry guys, my biggest secret is that I have had my first kiss…" Merlin trailed, only just realising the pain this memory would bring him.

"Really Merlin, you've had your first kiss?" Arthur asked, curious.

"Yeah, it was a few years ago, with a girl called Freya," he started. "She was so beautiful, so kind and so pure of heart, but she believed she was a monster. I helped her as a friend at first, but I couldn't get away from the fact that I… well, I liked her. Then, one night, we kissed," he explained to an enthralled group of knights.

"What happened to her?" Gwaine asked.

"She was, um, killed by a knight from a different kingdom. I was sent word. I don't really want to talk about it," he said, throwing his stick into the fire.

Arthur stared at Merlin; his bumbling manservant whom he'd never thought could hold a relationship had been in one under his nose. It pained Arthur to see Merlin, and, right now, that hurt was written across Merlin's eyes.

"Thank you Merlin. I believe you get to choose next?" Arthur said quickly, hoping the change of subject would help his friend.

Merlin nodded, grateful for the subject change. "I believe that Percival, as the newest member you should be next, truth or dare?"

"Well, like you said I need to prove myself so I believe a dare will do."

"Right, well I believe that is the correct answer and your dare is to get on your hands and knees, purr like a cat, and rub against the legs of the other players."

Percival stared at Merlin, incredulous to believe that such a gaunt, bumbling man could ever some up with something like this for a knight to do. The others were left in hysterics – again.

"Come on, Percy, our little kitten. Do the impression!" Gwaine ordered.

"Anymore of your chanting and I'll attack you like a cat," Percival threatened as he lowered his hands and knees to the ground.

"If only we had some ears, whiskers and a tail. This would be the perfect impression then," Elyan continued as Percival rubbed his head against Leon's leg and purred in a rather… unusual fashion. Leon looked a bit confused to the whole situation as everyone else laughed like lunatics – how was he supposed to react, he'd been brought up on a noble life unlike most of his comrades here.

Percival moved on to the rest of the group, earning a petting from Gwaine and rather boisterous game of chase from Lancelot who was becoming even more plastered by the second as the last of the ale made its work in his body.

"Okay, Percy, I think you've done enough," Merlin chuckled as Percival's hands became wet and dirty from the mud and leaves below him, along with knee stains from crawling across the ground.

"Thanks for that, Merlin," Percival said as he rubbed his hands clean – sort of.

"Anytime," the servant replied with a grin.

Percival looked around the group to find his victim: Elyan, one person of the group left to not have had a 'Truth or Dare' yet. There was Gwaine still, but Percival believed in saving the best till last.

"Come on Elyan, it's your turn now," Percival grinned.

Elyan sighed. "Okay, then."

Percival looked at him, merely staring at him daring him to answer the question without the need to voice the question, he had an impish grin on his face, Elyan was sure that no matter what he did it would be embarrassing.

"Dare?" Elyan questioned, looking at Percival to see if this was the correct answer to avoid any embarrassment.

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Telling you?" Elyan caught a flash of anger through Percival's eyes. "Telling you, I want to do a dare." I think.

"Excellent, I dare you to perform an interpretive dance without the aid of any music." He then flashed a brilliant, yet evil grin – even one Morgana would be proud of – as the fear took precedent on Elyan's face.

Elyan sighed as he stood, glancing at the rest of the players already biting their lips in an attempt to hide their laughter. I might as well get this over with. He looked around himself, searching for some inspiration when he saw a small and delicate butterfly perching on a leaf.

"This," he declared, "is the dance of the butterfly."

He heard the squeals of laughter escape from the others and knew that it shouldn't take long to make them laugh enough for him to quit.

He closed his eyes, and drew on his inner butterfly to guide him through this dance. He started to crawl along the ground, as if a caterpillar searching for food. He continued to wriggle along and roll around as if creating a cocoon for himself.

The others were already in hysterics but he had to finish this dance.

After lying on the floor, he broke free unexpectedly and flapped his 'wings' as if he were an actual butterfly. He took it a step further when he 'flew' around the members of the circle and tried to land on them, succeeding in sitting on Lancelot's lap – even though he was almost passed out from drunkenness, he bowed his head and waited for the laughter to die down.

After several minutes of ridicule Elyan decided enough was enough when Percival made a particularly rude joke about escaping a cocoon and a closet – referring to the fact he decided to perch on Lancelot's lap – when he snapped.

"Well, I may have sat on his lap for less than a minute but I see no difference to you rubbing yourself against his legs when you were a pussy cat Percival."

This just earned more rounds of laughter from the remaining knights, and Merlin at the look on Percival's face.

After what seemed like an eternity Elyan reminded everyone that Gwaine still hadn't completed any task.

All eyes turned to the dark haired wonder to see what he would choose…

"Truth," Gwaine declared.

"Really Gwaine, truth?" Leon questioned, slightly bemused.

"Yes, truth Leon," he replied with a smile.

"Why on earth would you pick truth, Gwaine?" Arthur asked. "I thought choosing a dare would show how brave you could be, especially when asked to do something outside of your comfort zone."

"And I thought you were always up for a challenge," Elyan added.

"Yeah!" Lancelot said, confused as to where the conversation had gotten to.

"Who said that the dare would be the most challenging and most honourable choice?" Gwaine asked. "In my opinion, the dares make you look a fool, but the truths really make you think about something," he explained, turning to Merlin.

The servant nodded in agreement. "One of the hardest things I've ever done was telling you my truth earlier on," he said, supporting Gwaine.

"Same with me," Leon added, looking to the muddy leaves at the memory of the night's earlier events.

"You see? It's hard, so go on. Challenge me!" Gwaine ordered with a flutter of his wrists as a sort-of bow movement.

The Knights – and Merlin – all gathered together in order to create the hardest question for Gwaine he could possibly answer. It was to be a tough call.

"What could we ask him?" Leon started.

Elyan shook his head. "I have no idea. What could we possibly ask him that could be hard?"

"I don't know. The man seems almost impenetrable whenever we try to discuss hard topics with him," Arthur said, supporting Merlin who was trying to get Lancelot to stand up in the group.

Then, a light bulb went off in the servant's head.

"Leave it to me, guys," Merlin announced, shrugging Lancelot off into Percival's arms.

"Merlin, what could you ask him?" Arthur said, gripping Merlin's arm before Merlin could do anything. "We train and talk with Gwaine a lot more than you do: we may know something that you don't."

"Well, maybe you forgot to remember that I was the one who befriended Gwaine before he became a Knight, before he got roped into hiding parts of who he was so he could look like an okay-Knight," Merlin argued, raising his eyebrows at the way Arthur was holding his arm. "Just trust me."

Arthur looked into Merlin's warm blue eyes, finding trust everywhere he looked. "Okay then, go ahead," he said, loosening his grip long enough to allow Merlin to face Gwaine.

"Gwaine, I have a question," Merlin said, almost solemnly.

"Fire away, Merlin."

Merlin paused for a second. "Why did you start drinking so much?"

And there was the question: the ultimate question that Gwaine struggled to make out the first time he heard it, the question that made the other Knight's look at each other with a 'we should have thought of that' look.

"Okay then, I'll tell you," he said, reaching for the log stool below him.

"As you already know Merlin, my father was a nobleman," Gwaine began.

"Wait! What?" Arthur interrupted, whilst Gwaine simply nodded, obviously annoyed with the interruption. "Well, then why didn't you say anything, if I had known when you were first in Camelot and saved my life you wouldn't have had to leave?"

"Yeah," Merlin continued, even though he already knew the answer, he just wanted to shut Arthur up and see the look on his face. "You could've stayed and flirted with Gwen until she came around to the idea of you two."

The look on Arthur's face said everything: rage.

"Anyway, back to my story now if you please, and no more interruptions." Gwaine managed to say, between stifles of laughter he shared with Merlin. He had an amused grin on his face at the way Merlin had shut up Arthur.

"My father was a nobleman and when he tragically died fighting for the King he showed us no mercy. My mother and I were seen as nothing more than hangers on for the noble life and were abruptly kicked out of our house with the remainder of our money taken." Gwaine said with a solemn expression on his face. "It was then I thought I should look to drink for happiness."

"That's terrible," Arthur began but Gwaine held up his hand in a sign to show that the story was not yet over.

"My mother and I were then forced onto the streets as there was nowhere else to go, and my poor little sister, well," he sniffs, trying to hold back the tears "she didn't even make it past that first winter.

"I had always been an excellent fighter, and had quite a knack of getting myself into trouble, and as those noblemen didn't care for me and my family why should I have cared about their rules?

"I started to steal food for my mother and myself, she was growing weak, without my father and my sister I was her only hope of happiness, yet because of my rebellious ways – and rugged good looks – I was not allowed to even train to be a knight, that was a right for noblemen and it was clear that I would never be one of them.

"I was loud and outspoken and continuously questioned the right to defend the king when he did nothing to defend my family. As I told you Merlin, I hadn't found a nobleman worth fighting for – I am glad you proved me wrong when it came to Arthur." He bowed his head, and Merlin smiled in gesture of thanks.

The rest of the knights were gripped on Gwaine's tale, wondering how they could've fought alongside this man without ever knowing who he truly was. Arthur felt humbled by the fact that it was Merlin who convinced Gwaine that he, Arthur, was a nobleman worth fighting for – his servant never ceased to amaze him.

"My mother ended up having to sell herself for food and clothes; I was disgusted when I found out. I had failed my father in protecting my mother and sister, all I was doing was getting myself in trouble, being beaten and put in the stocks every other day. I decided it would be best for my mother if I left, she wouldn't have to pay the exuberant fines we couldn't afford to get me out of trouble and I was doing nothing but hurting her whilst staying, I still don't know what happened to her." His voice broke on this last phrase and tears started to gather in his eyes.

The knights looked on, proud of what their friend had done, how he sacrificed his happiness to try and relieve his mother. They felt bad for what their friend went through, but at the same time they could tell the story was not yet over, he hasn't even started to drink yet.

After several minutes of composing himself, Gwaine continued…

"I didn't really pay any attention to where I was going, I just went. The easiest place for me to stay would be at a tavern, they were normally the cheapest and if I was lucky enough I could volunteer to fight a man in exchange for lodgings. My training from my father really swung the battles in my favour against the drunkards who thought they could accomplish the task of beating a 14 year old boy in a sword fight. Sometimes, I won money as well; therefore I could pay for the next place I happened upon.

"I had stayed in this one tavern for over a week. I remember how a wench, named Sofia, brought me a pint of ale, said that it would help me sleep as I looked so worn out. I had fought every night that week but still sleep avaided me. I was in constant fear of sleeping wherever I went, in case I happened to be visited by my father or sister telling me how disappointed they are with the way I left things with mother. Sofia, however, seemed to know and the ale did calm me down considerably. In fact it came to a point where I couldn't sleep without a pint.

"I left that inn knowing how I needed to rest and when I chanced upon the next tavern, I offered my services for a fight, but with addition to accommodation I requested money as well. I earned quite a living this way and soon I didn't need to fight in every new bar, every 3 or 4, I had enough money for food, lodgings, my ale and even more to spare!

"Then, whilst in a different tavern some many years later, I happened to run into Sofia again. She was still a wench, but she was there with some of her friends. She had grown and matured since I last saw her yet, I recognised her instantly, and I swear my heart almost stopped beating: she was radiant.

"You know, I think I always had a bit of a crush on her, but when I saw her that day I couldn't stop staring. I had more than enough money but I wanted her to know who I was, to see if she remembered. So I stepped up to the bar and offered myself for a swordfight, but instead of asking for money along with lodgings I said: 'and if I win, per chance this fair maiden will give me ale to help with my slumber?'"

The knights and Merlin couldn't help but snicker at what Gwaine had said. It was so cheesy, yet so Gwaine.

He smirked, "At that, she recognised me," he laughs, "she gasped whilst the tavern owner merely growled, not amused by our exchange at all. I had certainly grown in confidence, as well as skill. With the more fights I took the better and stronger I became, and the more drunk. I learned to fight whilst drunk and so even if someone were to give me some ale before a fight I could still win easily, it didn't really affect me.

"I spent months there; ever slowly growing closer to Sofia; at least I thought I was."

Gwaine took a deep breath and the knights could see the tell-tale signs of tears in the back of his sorrow filled eyes.

"It turns out even though she flirted with me and always made sure no girl tried to and I quote 'take advantage of my youthful innocence'," he chuckled darkly, then started screaming "She was seeing some nobleman! I hated them, hated them all for taking her and for leading me on like that! She knew how I felt ad she led me on!"

He stopped talking for several minutes and took some deep breaths to calm down. "I ended up wandering again and drinking myself into oblivion, I no longer cared if I found trouble; I knew how to use a sword. I wandered for months just drinking, trying to forget Sofia. Until I came to a pub one day and met both Merlin and Arthur, the rest you may say is history."

The knights and Merlin stared dumbfound at their friend not knowing how they never knew this information about their friend before. Merlin in particular felt bad towards his friend as it seemed they both had to go through heartbreak on their own, even though Freya was never coming back he missed her dearly each day, he was grateful he had Arthur as a distraction from her but Gwaine had no-one. He bottled up everything and went through it all on his own. His only escape from the torture: drink.

The knights decided it was best to turn in for the night and when they woke up vowed never to tell anyone, including Gwen and Gaius anything of the weekend that had just passed.