Fic: The Swimming Hole by kaizoku (BBC Merlin, pre-OT4, PG-13)
Title: The Swimming Hole
Author: kaizoku
Rating/pairing: PG-13, Gwen/Arthur/Merlin/Morgana (pre-OT4!)
Prompt: Gwen/Arthur/Merlin/Morgana, journey home after the battle in "The Moment of Truth". Written for thefuturequeen's Gwen Battle.
Length: 2,466 words.
Notes: Betaed by onehoureternity. It's a bit rough - feedback & crit gratefully accepted. I do intend to continue this.
"Do you want a stop?" Morgana asked, slowing to ride next to her. Gwen nodded. It was a hot day and they'd been mostly riding through fields, the sun beating down on them. She had taken off her cloak and tucked it into her saddlebag a while earlier, but there was sweat running down her sides under the tunic and shirt. Her horse, Pelly, looked like she could use a break as well.
Morgana kicked her horse forward to catch up to Arthur.
"Let's stop for lunch, Arthur!"
"Already?" Gwen heard Arthur say. "We've barely started."
"What's your hurry?" Morgana grinned at him. "You want to rush home to Uther?"
Arthur muttered something Gwen didn't catch and slowed his horse.
Gwen glanced back at Merlin. When they had stopped riding abreast, he had fallen to the rear and he had been silent all morning. Gwen knew he must be thinking of Will and she felt for him. But she also wondered if he wasn't avoiding Arthur. On the way to Ealdor, once Arthur had joined them, Merlin had ridden either beside or right behind him. They'd been riding too fast to talk much then, but now they were going at an easier pace. None of them were particularly eager to return to Camelot and face Uther's inevitable anger at Morgana and Arthur taking off without permission.
"That looks like a good spot over there," said Morgana, standing up in her stirrups, and then she split off from the trail to the right.
"Where are you going?" Arthur shouted after her. Morgana didn't answer, but he followed her down the small slope, with Gwen and Merlin behind him.
The hill eased down to a grassy bank next to the river they were following. It ran toward Camelot for a ways, growing wider and faster before turning south, while they would continue west through a pass in the mountains. Here the river was low, collecting in shallow pools before swirling into white crests between boulders.
"There, this is perfect." Morgana said, as they dismounted.
There weren't any trees for shade, but the river cooled the air slightly. And it was definitely nice to be off the horse. Though she went out with Morgana often, Gwen wasn't used to riding for long periods, and her legs still weren't entirely recovered from the ride to Ealdor yet. She stumbled a little as she adjusted to standing on the ground again.
There was a rustle, and then a thump, and Gwen looked up to see Merlin half on his back on the ground with one foot stuck in the stirrup. His horse turned its head to look at him curiously. Gwen stifled a laugh.
"Are you okay?" she called.
"Just... fine," Merlin answered, trying to kick free without sucess. His horse took a few steps, trying to rid itself from this strange encumbrance and dragging Merlin along the ground.
"Oh, very graceful, Merlin," Arthur said, clapping and grinning. He went over and untangled Merlin's foot from the stirrup, then hauled him to his feet. "What would we do without you for entertainment?"
"Arthur would die of boredom, no doubt," Morgana said, pulling the saddlebags off her horse. "He'd probably go back to randomly bullying pages instead of hying off to save people." Gwen thought she detected a slight admiring note mixed in with the teasing.
"Hey, I can do both you know," said Arthur. "I'm very talented."
"So we've heard," Gwen said in a not-very-quiet undertone. If Arthur and Morgana thought bantering would lighten the mood, she would do her part to help.
Arthur glared at her, but then got distracted by the food she and Morgana were spreading out on a blanket.
"Thank God we don't have to eat that porridge stuff anymore." Arthur made a face.
Gwen lifted an eyebrow at him.
Arthur ducked his head.
"I'm just kidding."
"No, it really is horrible." Merlin put in suddenly. "I mean, that's the real reason I came to Camelot. Much better food."
The joke fell a bit flat, but they all laughed at it anyway.
"Yeah, like rat stew?" Arthur elbowed Merlin.
"Rat stew?" Morgana said, wrinkling her nose. "That's disgusting. Why would you you eat rat stew?"
Arthur and Merlin exchanged a glance and then burst out laughing.
Morgana rolled her eyes.
"I suppose I should know better than to ask with the two of you."
"You don't want to know," Merlin waved a hand unsteadily.
"You had to be there," Arthur choked out at the same time, then snorted, which set Merlin off again.
Gwen was just watching them, but she found herself grinning and then laughing outright, without really knowing why. She spotted Morgana trying to hold back, so Gwen reached over and tickled her until she joined in. Morgana had a bell of a laugh, rich and clear, (whereas Gwen tended to giggle) but she rarely relaxed enough to let it out.
But here, with the sunlight and the river sparkling, far from Camelot, they all fell about and the guffawing went on past any reasonable amount of time, renewing itself each time anyone caught someone else's eyes.
Afterwards, Merlin looked wrung out but better than he had since his friend had died.
Their meal was nearly silent as they dug into the cheese and bread, with a few residual "hee hee"'s creeping in now and then.
Gwen woke up feeling warm and a bit fuzzy. She kept her eyes closed, enjoying the sun and the light breeze on her skin, the heat radiating up from the blanket she was lying on.
A male voice, Arthur's, filtered in slowly, "...wish he'd told me."
"No, you don't." Morgana. "It would have put you in a terrible position."
"But--"
"And anyway, we couldn't have done it without the boy's magic."
"Maybe, maybe not."
"More would have died."
Arthur didn't answer. Morgana said something too quiet for her to hear.
Gwen turned her head to the side and saw Merlin lying next to her. He had his eyes shut and looked asleep, but she wondered if he was really listening. She sat up slowly, looking around. Arthur was sitting on a boulder, throwing small stones into the water.
Morgana was sitting on the ground next to him. She spotted Gwen and bounced up.
"Let's go swimming!"
"What?" Arthur said, looking up. "You're crazy."
"Gwen, you want to go swimming?" Morgana asked. She came over and stood above Gwen, hands on her hips. There was a glint of mischief in her eyes.
"Um..." Gwen looked over at the water dubiously. It was tempting, but she had a hunch that it would be incredibly cold.
"Come on, it'll be great! Just a quick dip before we get back on our horses and get all hot and sweaty again."
"Morgana, you are the most unladylike lady I have ever met," Arthur said.
"You're just figuring this out?" Morgana laughed.
"Did someone say swimming?" Merlin asked sleepily.
"Yeah," Morgana said, looking down at him. "You want to go?"
"Merlin, say no!" Arthur shouted.
Merlin glanced over at him, and then said, "Sure, why not?"
Gwen laughed.
"Great!" said Morgana.
"Merlin!" Arthur got up and stomped over. "You can't go swimming with Morgana."
"Why can't he?" Morgana asked, glaring.
"Because it's not -- appropriate!" Arthur said. He looked a little flushed. "He's a boy and a servant and you're the King's ward!"
"So?" Morgana said. "Uther won't ever know."
Arthur stared at her. "That's not the point!"
"Oh, Arthur, stop being such a prude. It's not like he's going to see anything. You're both going to turn around and Gwen and I will get in the water, and then we'll turn around and Merlin will get in." She sniffed. "You can come too, if you're not too scared."
"I'm not sure I signed up for this," Gwen murmured but no one paid her any mind.
"No! That's -- no. Look, if you want to go in that river and catch pneumonia, that's your problem, but he's my manservant and I'm not letting him go in there."
"Do you get the feeling that they've forgotten we're here?" Merlin whispered to Gwen.
"Fine," Morgana huffed. "God, you're such a prat! Come on, Gwen."
Gwen shot Merlin a look and reluctantly followed her mistress.
"Aaagghhh!" Morgana shrieked as she resurfaced.
"That doesn't really make me want to get in," Gwen said.
Morgana's dark hair hung down in long wet streaks over her pale back and breasts. Gwen tried not to look like she was looking too much.
"Oh, Gwen," Morgana said, falling backwards into the water again. "It's wonderful, really it is. It feels so good after a few seconds." Ripples spread out from her as she treaded water slowly.
"Hmm," Gwen said, wondering how much Morgana was exaggerating just to nettle Arthur. She knelt down and unlaced her boots, then placed her socks inside them. She stuck a toe in the water. It was cold, but not as bad as she would have expected. The pool Morgana had found was actually quite still and deep.
Arthur and Merlin were sitting behind some rocks, out of sight, but close enough to hear in case anything happened.
Still, Gwen felt self-conscious taking off her shirt and breeches. She almost wished she was wearing a dress, so she could have worn her shift into the water, but then it would have had to dry and it probably wouldn't cover much anyway once it got wet. Morgana was right, it was better to just go in naked. They had brought a blanket with them to dry off with afterwards.
The water felt freezing at first and Gwen lost her breath as she submerged up to her shoulders. She hugged herself underwater and tried to resist the urge to jump out and go for the blanket.
"C-c-cold," she shuddered.
"Move around," Morgana told her, "You'll warm up." She came up behind Gwen and rubbed up and down her back vigorously. Gwen was shivering too much to enjoy it properly, but she appreciated the thought. Morgana put her arms around her, and Gwen felt her breasts pressing against her back. She pushed back into Morgana's warm body, feeling her own adjust to the water temperature at last. Morgana took Gwen's hands in hers and leaned her forehead on the back of her neck.
"Better?"
"Mmm," Gwen answered. She couldn't think of anything else to say. She'd never been this close to Morgana before, skin to skin.
Morgana leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "I have an idea."
Gwen's heart jumped in her chest.
"What?" she whispered back.
Morgana pushed off from her and paddled to the middle of the pool, then dunked under the water. A minute went by. Gwen started to get worried. She started for the spot where Morgana had gone under --
And then Morgana came up splashing and gasping, "Help! Help--!" She choked loudly and went under again.
"Morgana!" Gwen shouted. She dived down, struggling to reach her, searching through the dark water. She wasn't there.
Gwen came up for air. There was an almighty splash and shouting and then Arthur was right in front of her and--
Laughter. She whirled around and there was Morgana stretched out at the edge of the pool, her body hidden under the water, a grin curling her lips like a snake.
"So, Arthur, how's the water?"
"What the hell!" Arthur yelled. "What'd you do that for?" He was drenched and furious, still wearing all his clothes.
"It got you to come in, didn't it?" Morgana simpered.
"I thought you were drowning, you bitch!"
"Aw, you do care," Morgana said, swimming over to him.
"I can't believe you did that! I'm going to strangle you..." Morgana wrapped her arms around his legs and looked up at him coyly, "When you're not all wet and -- unclothed," he finished, looking anywhere but at Morgana. She laughed throatily.
"I'll help," Gwen said, and then, because she was a girl and she could get away with it, she grabbed Morgana's head and shoved it underwater.
"Ugh," Morgana groaned when Gwen let her back up. "I've got water up my nose!"
"You deserved it," Arthur said approvingly.
"You totally did," added Merlin.
Morgana sighed, defeated.
Since Arthur was already in the water and Merlin had waded in up to his knees when they thought Morgana was drowning, Arthur deemed it permissable for Merlin to come in. Merlin left on his breeches, while Arthur stripped down in the water and threw his wet shirt and breeches, and his water-logged boots, onto the shore.
"I would warn you about certain parts freezing off, but I guess you don't have to worry about that," Arthur teased him, as Merlin sank into the water.
"Oi!" Merlin splashed him. "Maybe I'm not worried because mine don't run and hide at the sight of cold water."
"Uh huh. Then why are you wearing breeches?" Arthur countered.
"I think you're just trying to get me naked," Merlin shot back, grinning.
"Pssh. Yeah right." Arthur reddened slightly.
Gwen caught Merlin and Arthur looking over at her a couple times. It made her nervous -- she kept glancing down to make sure her breasts were covered. She had piled her hair on top of her head to keep it from getting wet, but bits kept coming out and dragging in the water. She swam back and forth a bit to try to keep warm -- hoping her butt wasn't sticking up too much.
Morgana seemed the least self-conscious of all of them, but then she wore gowns at least this revealing on a regular basis. Gwen smiled. She often envied Morgana her confidence, but she was also thankful that she didn't have to wear such outfits, or play the games that went along with them. It was good to see Morgana being herself away the palace, playing the daredevil just for the fun of it, not to impress anyone.
Gwen had had boys approach her before, mostly village boys but also a few courtiers who seemed to think that "servant girl" was the same as "slattern." She'd put off the less ardent ones herself and sought Morgana's help once to get rid of a particularly aggressive pursuer. But she was aware that she had escaped sometimes through pure luck. But Arthur was different, if only by virtue of his pride -- though Gwen thought it was more than that. And Merlin, though she sometimes thought he might think of her that way, had never been anything but kind and gentle. The very fact that she could swim naked and without fear in a swimming hole with the two of them was proof that they were men of a higher caliber.
Author: kaizoku
Rating/pairing: PG-13, Gwen/Arthur/Merlin/Morgana (pre-OT4!)
Prompt: Gwen/Arthur/Merlin/Morgana, journey home after the battle in "The Moment of Truth". Written for thefuturequeen's Gwen Battle.
Length: 2,466 words.
Notes: Betaed by onehoureternity. It's a bit rough - feedback & crit gratefully accepted. I do intend to continue this.
"Do you want a stop?" Morgana asked, slowing to ride next to her. Gwen nodded. It was a hot day and they'd been mostly riding through fields, the sun beating down on them. She had taken off her cloak and tucked it into her saddlebag a while earlier, but there was sweat running down her sides under the tunic and shirt. Her horse, Pelly, looked like she could use a break as well.
Morgana kicked her horse forward to catch up to Arthur.
"Let's stop for lunch, Arthur!"
"Already?" Gwen heard Arthur say. "We've barely started."
"What's your hurry?" Morgana grinned at him. "You want to rush home to Uther?"
Arthur muttered something Gwen didn't catch and slowed his horse.
Gwen glanced back at Merlin. When they had stopped riding abreast, he had fallen to the rear and he had been silent all morning. Gwen knew he must be thinking of Will and she felt for him. But she also wondered if he wasn't avoiding Arthur. On the way to Ealdor, once Arthur had joined them, Merlin had ridden either beside or right behind him. They'd been riding too fast to talk much then, but now they were going at an easier pace. None of them were particularly eager to return to Camelot and face Uther's inevitable anger at Morgana and Arthur taking off without permission.
"That looks like a good spot over there," said Morgana, standing up in her stirrups, and then she split off from the trail to the right.
"Where are you going?" Arthur shouted after her. Morgana didn't answer, but he followed her down the small slope, with Gwen and Merlin behind him.
The hill eased down to a grassy bank next to the river they were following. It ran toward Camelot for a ways, growing wider and faster before turning south, while they would continue west through a pass in the mountains. Here the river was low, collecting in shallow pools before swirling into white crests between boulders.
"There, this is perfect." Morgana said, as they dismounted.
There weren't any trees for shade, but the river cooled the air slightly. And it was definitely nice to be off the horse. Though she went out with Morgana often, Gwen wasn't used to riding for long periods, and her legs still weren't entirely recovered from the ride to Ealdor yet. She stumbled a little as she adjusted to standing on the ground again.
There was a rustle, and then a thump, and Gwen looked up to see Merlin half on his back on the ground with one foot stuck in the stirrup. His horse turned its head to look at him curiously. Gwen stifled a laugh.
"Are you okay?" she called.
"Just... fine," Merlin answered, trying to kick free without sucess. His horse took a few steps, trying to rid itself from this strange encumbrance and dragging Merlin along the ground.
"Oh, very graceful, Merlin," Arthur said, clapping and grinning. He went over and untangled Merlin's foot from the stirrup, then hauled him to his feet. "What would we do without you for entertainment?"
"Arthur would die of boredom, no doubt," Morgana said, pulling the saddlebags off her horse. "He'd probably go back to randomly bullying pages instead of hying off to save people." Gwen thought she detected a slight admiring note mixed in with the teasing.
"Hey, I can do both you know," said Arthur. "I'm very talented."
"So we've heard," Gwen said in a not-very-quiet undertone. If Arthur and Morgana thought bantering would lighten the mood, she would do her part to help.
Arthur glared at her, but then got distracted by the food she and Morgana were spreading out on a blanket.
"Thank God we don't have to eat that porridge stuff anymore." Arthur made a face.
Gwen lifted an eyebrow at him.
Arthur ducked his head.
"I'm just kidding."
"No, it really is horrible." Merlin put in suddenly. "I mean, that's the real reason I came to Camelot. Much better food."
The joke fell a bit flat, but they all laughed at it anyway.
"Yeah, like rat stew?" Arthur elbowed Merlin.
"Rat stew?" Morgana said, wrinkling her nose. "That's disgusting. Why would you you eat rat stew?"
Arthur and Merlin exchanged a glance and then burst out laughing.
Morgana rolled her eyes.
"I suppose I should know better than to ask with the two of you."
"You don't want to know," Merlin waved a hand unsteadily.
"You had to be there," Arthur choked out at the same time, then snorted, which set Merlin off again.
Gwen was just watching them, but she found herself grinning and then laughing outright, without really knowing why. She spotted Morgana trying to hold back, so Gwen reached over and tickled her until she joined in. Morgana had a bell of a laugh, rich and clear, (whereas Gwen tended to giggle) but she rarely relaxed enough to let it out.
But here, with the sunlight and the river sparkling, far from Camelot, they all fell about and the guffawing went on past any reasonable amount of time, renewing itself each time anyone caught someone else's eyes.
Afterwards, Merlin looked wrung out but better than he had since his friend had died.
Their meal was nearly silent as they dug into the cheese and bread, with a few residual "hee hee"'s creeping in now and then.
Gwen woke up feeling warm and a bit fuzzy. She kept her eyes closed, enjoying the sun and the light breeze on her skin, the heat radiating up from the blanket she was lying on.
A male voice, Arthur's, filtered in slowly, "...wish he'd told me."
"No, you don't." Morgana. "It would have put you in a terrible position."
"But--"
"And anyway, we couldn't have done it without the boy's magic."
"Maybe, maybe not."
"More would have died."
Arthur didn't answer. Morgana said something too quiet for her to hear.
Gwen turned her head to the side and saw Merlin lying next to her. He had his eyes shut and looked asleep, but she wondered if he was really listening. She sat up slowly, looking around. Arthur was sitting on a boulder, throwing small stones into the water.
Morgana was sitting on the ground next to him. She spotted Gwen and bounced up.
"Let's go swimming!"
"What?" Arthur said, looking up. "You're crazy."
"Gwen, you want to go swimming?" Morgana asked. She came over and stood above Gwen, hands on her hips. There was a glint of mischief in her eyes.
"Um..." Gwen looked over at the water dubiously. It was tempting, but she had a hunch that it would be incredibly cold.
"Come on, it'll be great! Just a quick dip before we get back on our horses and get all hot and sweaty again."
"Morgana, you are the most unladylike lady I have ever met," Arthur said.
"You're just figuring this out?" Morgana laughed.
"Did someone say swimming?" Merlin asked sleepily.
"Yeah," Morgana said, looking down at him. "You want to go?"
"Merlin, say no!" Arthur shouted.
Merlin glanced over at him, and then said, "Sure, why not?"
Gwen laughed.
"Great!" said Morgana.
"Merlin!" Arthur got up and stomped over. "You can't go swimming with Morgana."
"Why can't he?" Morgana asked, glaring.
"Because it's not -- appropriate!" Arthur said. He looked a little flushed. "He's a boy and a servant and you're the King's ward!"
"So?" Morgana said. "Uther won't ever know."
Arthur stared at her. "That's not the point!"
"Oh, Arthur, stop being such a prude. It's not like he's going to see anything. You're both going to turn around and Gwen and I will get in the water, and then we'll turn around and Merlin will get in." She sniffed. "You can come too, if you're not too scared."
"I'm not sure I signed up for this," Gwen murmured but no one paid her any mind.
"No! That's -- no. Look, if you want to go in that river and catch pneumonia, that's your problem, but he's my manservant and I'm not letting him go in there."
"Do you get the feeling that they've forgotten we're here?" Merlin whispered to Gwen.
"Fine," Morgana huffed. "God, you're such a prat! Come on, Gwen."
Gwen shot Merlin a look and reluctantly followed her mistress.
"Aaagghhh!" Morgana shrieked as she resurfaced.
"That doesn't really make me want to get in," Gwen said.
Morgana's dark hair hung down in long wet streaks over her pale back and breasts. Gwen tried not to look like she was looking too much.
"Oh, Gwen," Morgana said, falling backwards into the water again. "It's wonderful, really it is. It feels so good after a few seconds." Ripples spread out from her as she treaded water slowly.
"Hmm," Gwen said, wondering how much Morgana was exaggerating just to nettle Arthur. She knelt down and unlaced her boots, then placed her socks inside them. She stuck a toe in the water. It was cold, but not as bad as she would have expected. The pool Morgana had found was actually quite still and deep.
Arthur and Merlin were sitting behind some rocks, out of sight, but close enough to hear in case anything happened.
Still, Gwen felt self-conscious taking off her shirt and breeches. She almost wished she was wearing a dress, so she could have worn her shift into the water, but then it would have had to dry and it probably wouldn't cover much anyway once it got wet. Morgana was right, it was better to just go in naked. They had brought a blanket with them to dry off with afterwards.
The water felt freezing at first and Gwen lost her breath as she submerged up to her shoulders. She hugged herself underwater and tried to resist the urge to jump out and go for the blanket.
"C-c-cold," she shuddered.
"Move around," Morgana told her, "You'll warm up." She came up behind Gwen and rubbed up and down her back vigorously. Gwen was shivering too much to enjoy it properly, but she appreciated the thought. Morgana put her arms around her, and Gwen felt her breasts pressing against her back. She pushed back into Morgana's warm body, feeling her own adjust to the water temperature at last. Morgana took Gwen's hands in hers and leaned her forehead on the back of her neck.
"Better?"
"Mmm," Gwen answered. She couldn't think of anything else to say. She'd never been this close to Morgana before, skin to skin.
Morgana leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "I have an idea."
Gwen's heart jumped in her chest.
"What?" she whispered back.
Morgana pushed off from her and paddled to the middle of the pool, then dunked under the water. A minute went by. Gwen started to get worried. She started for the spot where Morgana had gone under --
And then Morgana came up splashing and gasping, "Help! Help--!" She choked loudly and went under again.
"Morgana!" Gwen shouted. She dived down, struggling to reach her, searching through the dark water. She wasn't there.
Gwen came up for air. There was an almighty splash and shouting and then Arthur was right in front of her and--
Laughter. She whirled around and there was Morgana stretched out at the edge of the pool, her body hidden under the water, a grin curling her lips like a snake.
"So, Arthur, how's the water?"
"What the hell!" Arthur yelled. "What'd you do that for?" He was drenched and furious, still wearing all his clothes.
"It got you to come in, didn't it?" Morgana simpered.
"I thought you were drowning, you bitch!"
"Aw, you do care," Morgana said, swimming over to him.
"I can't believe you did that! I'm going to strangle you..." Morgana wrapped her arms around his legs and looked up at him coyly, "When you're not all wet and -- unclothed," he finished, looking anywhere but at Morgana. She laughed throatily.
"I'll help," Gwen said, and then, because she was a girl and she could get away with it, she grabbed Morgana's head and shoved it underwater.
"Ugh," Morgana groaned when Gwen let her back up. "I've got water up my nose!"
"You deserved it," Arthur said approvingly.
"You totally did," added Merlin.
Morgana sighed, defeated.
Since Arthur was already in the water and Merlin had waded in up to his knees when they thought Morgana was drowning, Arthur deemed it permissable for Merlin to come in. Merlin left on his breeches, while Arthur stripped down in the water and threw his wet shirt and breeches, and his water-logged boots, onto the shore.
"I would warn you about certain parts freezing off, but I guess you don't have to worry about that," Arthur teased him, as Merlin sank into the water.
"Oi!" Merlin splashed him. "Maybe I'm not worried because mine don't run and hide at the sight of cold water."
"Uh huh. Then why are you wearing breeches?" Arthur countered.
"I think you're just trying to get me naked," Merlin shot back, grinning.
"Pssh. Yeah right." Arthur reddened slightly.
Gwen caught Merlin and Arthur looking over at her a couple times. It made her nervous -- she kept glancing down to make sure her breasts were covered. She had piled her hair on top of her head to keep it from getting wet, but bits kept coming out and dragging in the water. She swam back and forth a bit to try to keep warm -- hoping her butt wasn't sticking up too much.
Morgana seemed the least self-conscious of all of them, but then she wore gowns at least this revealing on a regular basis. Gwen smiled. She often envied Morgana her confidence, but she was also thankful that she didn't have to wear such outfits, or play the games that went along with them. It was good to see Morgana being herself away the palace, playing the daredevil just for the fun of it, not to impress anyone.
Gwen had had boys approach her before, mostly village boys but also a few courtiers who seemed to think that "servant girl" was the same as "slattern." She'd put off the less ardent ones herself and sought Morgana's help once to get rid of a particularly aggressive pursuer. But she was aware that she had escaped sometimes through pure luck. But Arthur was different, if only by virtue of his pride -- though Gwen thought it was more than that. And Merlin, though she sometimes thought he might think of her that way, had never been anything but kind and gentle. The very fact that she could swim naked and without fear in a swimming hole with the two of them was proof that they were men of a higher caliber.