Excerpt:
Looking at Merlin with baleful eyes Gaius suddenly appeared much older than he usually did. "Have you ever wondered if your destiny asks too much of you?"
Merlin shook his head slightly. "I don't let myself. And even if it wasn't my destiny... I would still fight because he's my best friend." It was the first time he had said those exact words aloud and at that moment Merlin realized how true that was. If Arthur died it would be like losing a crucial part of himself, he would forever be incomplete.
It was a pleasant summers day, the sun shining down through the forest canopy onto the trail along which seven horses and their riders were traveling at a leisurely pace.
It was obvious that they were all good friends, though the two in back seemed a little less comfortable. In fact, the newest Knight known as Emanuel was actually riding backwards, "Melding the saddle," as Percival called it. It made perfect sense to the group. As Leon had explained it was in accordance with the ancient tradition of… Melding. Gwaine had assured Emanuel that they all had to do it on the way back from their first patrol. Merlin felt a little bad for the naive young man but not nearly enough to say anything.
Now there was a round of fresh banter going on among the five towards the front, "Well if somebody hadn't set my medical supplies on fire as a distraction then I wouldn't have to go and search for new ones now would I?" said Merlin pointedly, looking over his shoulder at Gwaine.
"Hey." Said Gwaine raising one hand in surrender. "It was the closest thing to me at the time. And how was I supposed to know that that was the medical bag?"
"Because it's the same bag that Merlin always brings on our various excursions," said Leon amused by Gwaine's obliviousness.
"Quite a distinctive look to it," added Arthur with a smirk.
"Come on you guys, give Gwaine a break. I'm sure he was merely under the impression that they were Moffat's beauty supplies," reasoned Elyan graciously as he attempted to include the two Knights riding behind him.
Unsure quite how to feel about this, Moffat simply sat in an awkward silence as the rest of them burst out laughing. Well, everyone except Percival.
"This would all be much funnier if the beast's poison wasn't running through my veins at this very moment, causing me excruciating pain," said Percival flatly, looking rather pale and a little unsteady on his steed. And although Gwaine would never admit it the reason he was riding so close beside Percival was in case he had to catch him.
"We'll stop here, have some lunch and send Merlin off to find whatever plants or weeds he needs to dull your pain and slow the spread of the poison," said Arthur, steering his black stallion towards a small, flat clearing.
"Hey you rhymed," said Leon amused. Then he obviously couldn't resist adding, "I guess your poetry sessions have been going nicely."
The glare that Arthur bestowed upon Leon as all the other's guffawed was one Merlin knew very well, and it was quite refreshing to see it directed at somebody else for a change.
Dismounting they secured their horses to trees on the edge of the clearing. Giving his chestnut mare a fond pat Merlin detached the large sack containing most of the cooking supplies, and another containing most of the food. It wasn't like they were setting up for any large amount of time, so it went much faster than it would that night. Percival had tried to help at first, but had been in too much pain to lift anything and had to sit down.
"Go on then Merlin, you also need to make us lunch so there is no time to waste!" encouraged Arthur mockingly.
"Wouldn't it be best if you learn how to cook by yourself?" commented Merlin dryly.
Grinning Arthur raised his eyebrows. "Why? That's what I have you for."
"What happens when I'm not around?" Merlin pointed out.
Arthur scoffed at that, "Don't be stupid Merlin, of course you'll always be there. Now off you go then." He made little shooing motions with his hand.
Rolling his eyes in exasperation Merlin folded his arms. "Do you always have to be such a dollop-head?"
"No matter how many times you use it," said Arthur in a matter-of-fact voice, "that will never be a real word."
"Whatever you say your Majesty." The way Merlin said the title made it seem more like an insult than anything else. Feeling a tad rebellious Merlin made sure to dawdle just long enough to make it clear he was going on his own account and not on Arthur's orders. When he did turn and set off towards the trees Gwaine jogged to catch up with him.
Slowing back to a walk when he reached Merlin Gwaine smiled. "Here, I'll come along."
Merlin smiled back, glad for his company. After walking a ways into the trees Merlin stopped and turned to Gwaine. "We're looking for some Arctus. It grows in small patches, and the leaves are about this big with jagged edges." Merlin made his fingers into a circle about the size of a copper shilling to indicate the size. "This time of year there may be small yellow flowers with red centers. It looks like it could be poisonous, but it's not."
Nodding Gwaine gave a little salute."Got it, let's get started."
"Hey Merlin, mate, did you say yellow flowers with red centers, or red flowers with yellow centers?" called Gwaine sometime later, fingering a rather unfriendly looking plant. When there was no answer he turned on the balls of his feet, looking in the direction he had last seen his friend. "Merlin?" He waited, listening for a reply.
Feeling no urgency he began to walk towards the last place he knew Merlin had been he heard a shout which was abruptly cut off. In less than a second Gwaine's sword was in his hand and he had begun moving swiftly towards where it had come from. He came to a rocky ridge and slowed, hearing scuffling coming from the bottom. Peering over he saw Merlin, but he wasn't alone; there was a group of men around him, one of them pinning his weakly writhing form to the ground with a knee planted between his shoulder blades. Te man hand a handful of Merlin's hair and was pulling his head back, one beefy arm wrapped around his neck, effectively cutting off his air. Even as Gwaine watched Merlin slowly grew still, the lack of oxygen making him pass out.
There were only about five of them and Gwaine was sure he could take them by himself, but before he could make a move or even shout for assistance from the others he heard a twig crack behind him. Gwaine managed nothing more than a half turn before a man struck the side of his head with the hilt of a sword. Gwaine was still half conscious when the man used his foot to shove him off the rock shelf and fell nearly fifteen feet to the ground, his head slamming against the ground and passing out cold.
The others had finished setting up ages ago and were now lounging around the crackling fire. Arthur had only been goading Merlin when he said Merlin would have to make lunch, and there was a pot of stew simmering over the fire. Of course Arthur hadn't been to one to make it, he was helpless when it came to cooking. Instead Elyan had been the one to skillfully throw it together.
It was only when the topic of conversation strayed to an upcoming tournament that Arthur realized exactly how long Gwaine and Merlin had been gone. He didn't know why, but as soon as this thought occurred to him he got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach as though something was wrong.
He caught Leon's eye who nodded, confirming he felt the same. Forcing himself to remain calm Arthur stood, stretching luxuriously. "Come on, let's go after them. Merlin's probably lost in the woods, or maybe he fell and knocked himself out. Wouldn't be the first time."
Percival and Emanuel stayed behind to watch the camp while the others set out. It wasn't hard to follow them- neither of them had been making any effort to conceal their tracks. By the time they had reached a small rocky outcrop Arthur and the others had all drawn their swords.
Holding up a hand to tell the others to stop Arthur soundlessly approached the edge, peering over it. Arthur could clearly see the signs of a struggle at the bottom of the rocks, as well as a motionless Gwaine lying on his back. Arthur could see his chest was moving as he breathed, but blood was staining the rock under his head.
"Gwaine," shouted Arthur, sheathing his sword and swiftly but carefully climbing down to the bottom quickly followed by the other Knights. Kneeling by the unconscious Knight Arthur saw that the blood was obviously coming from a wound on the back of his head, presumably where it had struck the rocks after his fall. Head wounds always bled rather profusely, so upon closer inspection Arthur found it wasn't very serious.
Leaving the task of tending to Gwaine's injury to Leon Arthur went over to inspect the scene of an obvious struggle, and the more he saw the colder he felt. There was no doubt that the person who had been the subject of this struggle was Merlin, and from the footprints he could see he had been quite outnumbered. His sharp eyes picked out blood spots on the ground, though Arthur had no way of knowing if they had come from Merlin or any of his assailants, or possibly both.
The tracks headed East and Arthur had an urge to go back to camp and get the horses and pack up at once so they could go after them, maybe even skipping the packing part. But felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Elyan shaking his head slightly.
"I'm worried for Merlin too, but we have to be patient. Our first priority now is to make sure Gwaine is okay and find out what we'd be facing from whoever did this. And besides, we don't know if Gwaine is really okay and we won't until he wakes up."
There was too much sense in this statement for Arthur to ignore and he nodded tensely, walking back over to Gwaine. None of them had wanted to take the risk moving Gwaine farther than the softer ground away from the rocks, although from the once over Leon gave him it seemed Gwaine's only injury was the one to the back of his head. But they all became increasingly concerned when almost an hour passed, and still Gwaine did not wake. By that time both Percival and Emanuel had grown concerned about their long absence and had followed after them.
Eventually Gwaine cracked open his eyes, moaning, and In an instant they were all crowding around him. Looking up at them Gwaine smiled weakly, "Well at least I know I didn't die and go to heaven- all of you lot are here."
Arthur couldn't help but smile in relief, because if Gwaine was feeling well enough to crack jokes he must not be in danger of dying. Actually... he supposed that didn't mean much, Gwaine would be the kind of person completely willing to crack jokes until his very last breath.
"Does anybody else hear ringing?" asked Gwaine absently, massaging his temples and running his hand over the cloth bandage Leon had wrapped around his head to stop the bleeding. He attempted to sit up, only to have Arthur push him back, "Stay down, rest."
A concussion realized Arthur, observing how Gwaine looked rather unfocused and the slight slur in his speech.
"Gwaine, Gwaine you have to concentrate" said Leon soothingly and yet with a tone of urgency that Gwaine couldn't ignore "What happened to Merlin?"
Gwaine's eyes widened slightly. "That's right, Merlin- he's in trouble!"
Trying to stay patient and calm Arthur nodded agreement. "Yes, yes we know that but what happened, who did this?"
"I… I can't…" Gwaine pressed one hand to his head and squeezed his eyes tightly, obviously struggling. "There were… men, bandits I think. They took him, I got attacked before I could do anything to help."
For Arthur It was one thing to see the scene of abduction, but another to have the events confirmed. It was hard to ask because he feared what the answer could be, "Was he alive?"
Nodding Gwaine pressed one hand to his head. "I think so, I can't remember very clearly."
Crossing his arms Emanuel frowned slightly, not really understanding the level of concern his King and fellow Knights were showing for one simple servant. He had heard that Arthur was fond of the boy, but it had seemed to him that Arthur was actually often a bit abusive. "They must have been slavers, who else would be interested in taking Merlin alive?"
"Why didn't they take Gwaine as well?" asked Elyan confused, "it would have been easy enough, he's helpless in the state he's in."
It was Leon who answered this, "No doubt that they thought we wouldn't follow them if they only took Merlin." He glanced at Arthur almost expectantly. "I take it we are going after him, correct?"
"Absolutely," confirmed Arthur without hesitation. Merlin would never abandon any of them, and he was certainly never going to abandon Merlin. It wasn't even an option just to leave him to whatever fate he would face at the hands of those who had taken him.
"Sire, it looks like they're heading North, into Queen Jezebel's kingdom," said Moffat cautiously. "Are you sure we should-"
"We must catch up to them before they have time to reach their hide out, and preferably before the border."Interrupted Arthur, then looking straight at Moffat he said firmly, "we are not going to abandon Merlin, but neither can we lead a small army into Queen Jezebel's kingdom to get him so our best chance is now". His tone left no room for argument and Moffat gave up without a fight.
Next Arthur turned to Gwaine who was still laying on the ground, looking rather dazed and confused, then at Percival who had his right arm tied tightly to his chest and obviously still in great pain but not voicing it. " Gwaine, you take Percival back with you. Both of you need to get to Gaius so he can treat your injuries."
Predictably, Gwaine was not much pleased with this idea. "Wouldn't it be better if I come with you?"
"You very clearly have a concussion, and while the bleeding has stopped for now it won't take much for it to start up again. You need Gaius to look at you."
"I'm fine!" protested Gwaine stubbornly.
"It's not up for discussion Gwaine, now go," said Arthur sternly, making it clear that this was his final decision. Gwaine glowered and Arthur softened, "It's alright, we'll bring Merlin back safely."
Reluctantly Gwaine nodded, realizing that this was a fight he could not win. "We'll see you soon then."
A/N- Updated!