Hello again! So this is another story of mine. I hope you guys enjoy it - it is basically complete so I can update fairly regularly. For the purposes of this story, Odin's kingdom is called Bernicia, although what it's actually called in the show, I don't know. Did do some digging but couldn't find any answer.

This is not beta'd but I've been over it as much as possible, any mistakes are mine alone.

I warn you, there is some general violence and such in this story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the BBC does.

Keep going. One more step.

One more step. Keep going.

The agony in his side built until spots flashed across his vision. He blinked and looked down at his stumbling feet, willing them to move and pressed his hand to the wound, muttering to himself trying to get the pain to a more manageable level.

Keep going.

Nothing happened. But it didn't matter. He had to keep moving. He looked ahead and tried to focus on the back of his king but his companion, oblivious to his plight, had continued jogging on and was too far away for him to focus on properly.

He looked back down at his hand, pulling it away from his side, unsurprised by the mixture of blood and mud. Mud he himself had rubbed down his shirt and trousers to hide the spreading bloodstain from Arthur and Gwaine. He hadn't been sure it would work but neither man had been able to focus on more than escaping the ambush and then it had got dark. Gwaine had offered to lay a false trail and, after a long hushed argument with Arthur, had left them around midnight to do so. Neither knight nor king had questioned his unusual silence or the dark stain on his clothes.

It was just as well. They would only have insisted on slowing down, trying to treat him or something equally foolish. Nothing was more important than getting Arthur back to Camelot. Certainly not his life.

So he had done his best to heal the wound surreptitiously with magic but had been unable to do much other than slow the blood flow. Realising he wasn't going to be able to fix the problem, he had focused on keeping the pain to a manageable level. Unfortunately, he had to keep regularly reactivating the spell but the blood loss and excessive use of his magic all night had left him exhausted and now his magic wasn't responding. Unable to keep the spell going the pain had become almost too much to bare.

One more step.

But instead of taking the step, his left foot snagged on a tree root and his leg buckled under him, sending pitching forward with an anguished cry amid the fallen branches and leaves on the forest floor.

THE PREVIOUS DAY

The King of Camelot looked out over the clearing, waiting for the knights of Bernicia to arrive. Judging by the sun, Odin's men were late - it was hardly the most auspicious start to the peace talks between Bernica and Camelot but Arthur resolved not to allow the slight to annoy him. If Odin felt the need to prove his power within his own country, then so be it. If it got too late then he would lead his men to Odin's city without an escort.

He looked over at his men, who were sat on various fallen logs joking amongst themselves. Since this was a peace-keeping mission and he did not want to be perceived to be taking an aggressive force within the borders of Odin's land, Arthur had chosen to bring only four knights with him. Kay and Ulfric were relatively new to the ranks of the knights whilst Gwaine and Geoffrey were both experienced veterans. Gwaine was even sober. And then Merlin rounded out the group, in his role as servant, general dogsbody, physician and unofficial advisor.

Annoyance flared in Arthur as he saw Kay deliberately trip the hapless servant as he walked past him; it was one thing for Arthur or one of the other Round Table knights to play jokes on the king's manservant but that was different. They were Merlin's friends. Kay, Ulfric and Geoffrey were not friends and Kay especially was particularly vocal about his opinion of Merlin, but he always kept the jibes just on the right side of 'jest' that everyone laughed it off.

Gwaine chuckled and punched Kay in the shoulder with a "Good one, mate" - but Arthur could tell from the way Kay winced that it hadn't been a friendly 'tap' at all - before helping Merlin back to his feet.

"Kay, if Merlin doesn't look presentable at Odin's court because you thought it would be funny to trip him up, you'll be the one cleaning out my stables when we get back to Camelot." Arthur called, not bothering to hide his annoyance. Taking off his cloak, he called his manservant over and handed it to him. "Put that in your pack. There's no point in it getting dirty while we're waiting."

Merlin nodded and slung the pack off his back, carefully folding the cloth and placing it inside. "Is there a school where they teach you lot how to be complete prats?" Merlin muttered with a grin, nodding in Kay's direction.

Arthur frowned at his servant disapprovingly; secretly he may agree with the younger man's assessment of Sir Kay but the knight's father was a highly influential noble within the Court and, furthermore, Kay was one of the best horsemen Arthur had ever seen - it would not do to be seen favouring his servant over a skilled and high born son of the Court. Although if Kay's behaviour ever escalated to more than light bullying - which appeared not to bother Merlin in the least - Arthur would have him stripped of his knighthood and out the kingdom before anyone even realised what was going on. Not that Merlin needed to know that.

"It's called nobility, Merlin. Obviously, that's not something you would understand," Arthur replied, his tone suitably gruff and reprimanding.

Merlin held his gaze for a moment, before shrugging, slinging the pack over his shoulder and heading back towards the knights. After a few steps he paused and with a grin, called over his shoulder, "I know wouldn't - that's why I'm not a total clotpole!"

"Merlin!"

Arthur took a step in his servant's direction, intending to cuff him sternly around the back of his head, when with a howling battle-cry, well armed men erupted from the trees and undergrowth surrounding the knights of Camelot. It was a testament to their training that before any of the men had even fully registered the presence of the enemy, they all sprang up into fighting stances, their swords at the ready. But Arthur had no time to be satisfied by his men's quick reflexes before the first of the bandits reached him, swinging a huge axe at his head. The king ducked under the blow and moved forward, shoving his shoulder into the man's hip which, combined with the wild swing, put him off balance and sent him sprawling to the ground. Arthur had no time to finish his opponent off because another bandit thrust a sword at his chest. It was an easy blow to deflect though and Arthur knocked the blade aside, countering with his own upward strike that caught the man across the throat and sent him stumbling backwards.

Arthur had time to glance around to assess the situation before the next attack. Through the mass of black clad bandits, Arthur could see Ulfric slumped motionless across a fallen tree and the way both his comrades and the enemy were ignoring him, it was obvious he was dead. Gwaine, Kay and Geoffrey were fighting close together, trying to work their way towards Arthur but the bandits outnumbered them at least four to one and even as Arthur watched, Kay crumpled beneath a ferocious blow to his head. The king looked for Merlin and relief rushed through him to see his friend still standing and fending off attacks from two different men, although the rest of the band had obviously identified Merlin as the lowest risk because there were no other bandits in his vicinity.

Another sword was swung at his head and once again Arthur ducked but this time aimed his own blow so it struck his opponent's stomach, slicing through armour and flesh and sending the man reeling back clutching the wound.

Suddenly there was a loud cracking sound and Arthur spun around in time to see a huge tree branch fall to the ground, flattening six of the men surrounding Gwaine, who was now, Arthur realised, the last of his knights left alive. The fortuitous branch had provided both a distraction and a gap between the bandits and Gwaine did not hesitate to exploit both, leaping over the fallen men towards his king.

Arthur shook his head and pointed at Merlin, who surprisingly was stood over the bodies of the bandits that had been attacking him. The young king opened his mouth to tell Gwaine to head towards Merlin and run, when he saw his servant's eyes widen and focus behind him. Arthur just saw Merlin start to sprint towards him as he spun on the spot bringing his sword up defensively. But even as he turned, hearing his name yelled by Merlin, he knew wasn't fast enough - the man he had knocked to the ground moments before had picked up a sword from one of his fallen comrades and now thrust it low at Arthur's stomach. Arthur knew he wouldn't be able to deflect the blow and waited for the inevitable.

Instead, Merlin barreled into him from the side and he went crashing to the forest floor with enough force to knock the wind out of him. The bandit seemed equally stunned by this turn of events and stood gaping for a second before recovering his wits enough to hack at the downed king. Arthur, still gasping for air, knocked the blow aside as Gwaine appeared, trusting his own blade into the bandit's neck. The knight let the sword go and bent over, hauling Merlin off his prone master and shoving him in the rough direction of escape. Arthur rolled over and pushed himself up, grateful for the supporting hand Gwaine wrapped around his arm. Gwaine and Arthur looked over their shoulders at the same time and saw the remaining bandits charging towards them.

And ran.