Hey Friends! I am back with a new fic! My other story 'Return Of The King' is on a little unannounced hiatus because of this little precious piece of work here *Caresses story lovingly*. So, I've already finished 10 chapters of Wayward already but the update times will be really out of wack. I might post an update after a really bad day, or if I get a really nice review (wink wink), or if I'm bored, or if I think I have tormented all of you nice people long enough. But I promise that every time I finish writing another chapter I shall, of course, bestow another upon you guys. WOOOOAAHHH this is the longest AN I've ever written! Sorry about that, I'll just let you start reading. Enjoy!
Wisegirl6

Wayward by Wisegirl6

Chapter 1 ~Last Glance

Merlin mentally cursed himself as he slipped on the stairs. With a sickening crunch he hit the cold stone floor. The warlock sat there for a moment, nursing his newly-injured elbow.

"Merlin, if you're done being an idiot me and the knights would like to start the patrol now," called Arthur from somewhere in the corridor ahead of him, all the usual joking lilt missing from his voice.

The two had had a row that morning. Arthur had found out that Merlin had been skipping out on meals for the last few days and spent most of the nights up much too late in the armory polishing Arthur's armor.

Merlin had never heard Arthur scream so loud. "How are you supposed to be my manservant if you can't even take care of yourself? Honestly, Merlin!" he had yelled, deciding to use his hidden concern for his servant to fuel his anger. The warlock really had looked horrible though, he was much too thin and the evidence of sleep deprivation was all too clear on his face.

Merlin had given him some sort of witty remark, which probably hadn't helped with Arthur's temper.

"Do you think this is some kind of joke?" Arthur had asked, his voice deadly low. "I don't want you dropping dead on me because you're too stupid to realize that you might need food or sleep once and a while!"

Arthur still hadn't forgiven him yet.

Merlin grumbled -still holding his arm- and trudged after his master.

Outside, the knights were already set to go. Arthur had decided on a small group of trusted knights to accompany them which consisted of Gwaine, Percival, and Elyan. Leon stayed behind and was to stand in Arthur place if any emergencies were to arise

Arthur mounted his horse silently and Merlin followed suit.

The group galloped through the gates of the city and out into the forest. Merlin turned and gazed at Camelot as it disappeared behind a hill. Little did he know that that would be the last he would see of his home for a long, long time.

The patrol was pretty standard for the first two hours. The knights joked around, with Merlin joining in every once and a while.

But despite the cheery air to the conversation there was an unspoken tension surrounding the group, courtesy of the King and his servant.

More than once Merlin tried to get his friend to talk to him. He didn't care if Arthur yelled at him or just insulted him, anything was better than this reserved, stony silence. But despite the warlock's efforts the only reaction he could invoke from his master was either a quick, one worded response or a cold glare.

It made Merlin very angry that Arthur couldn't just drop it. He was fine, so what if he'd missed a couple chances at food and a few hours of sleep?

Arthur was still very much mad at his servant, he was thin enough as he was without skipping much-needed meals. He really didn't know who he was more angry at, himself or Merlin? He was as much to blame as his stupid servant. He always demanded to much of him: 'Merlin, be on time tomorrow,' 'Merlin, go polish my armor,' 'Merlin, go muck out the stables,' he shouldn't be surprised that he didn't even have time for simple things like eating or sleeping. Arthur should have been paying better attention to Merlin, he was his servant after all. He made a mental note to apologize to Merlin once they had reached Camelot. Sadly, the apology would never come.

"So what did you do?" asked Elyan, interrupting Arthur's thoughts and Gwaine's retelling of one of his more spectacular bar fights.

Gwaine continued with a smile, using his hands for extravagant gestures," After I single-handedly fought off the men and left the bar, their bandit friends decided to stop by and have a little chat. I think it goes without saying that the 'talk' didn't go so well for me." He continued to paint a tale of brave heroism by himself (which everyone saw right through), which ended with a very hungover Gwaine hanging from the ceiling by his right foot.

Percival, Merlin, and Elyan roared with laughter at Gwaine's misfortune.

Their glee came to an early end, however, when several armed figures melted from the shadows of the forest and surrounded the group. For a moment it was completely silent, nobody daring to move.

Arthur was the first to react, slipping off of his horse and drawing his sword in mere seconds.

Like him, the knights prepared for a fight, equally as fast.

Merlin dismounted and stayed back a few feet behind Arthur, he didn't have any weapons and could only help with his magic if he was out of everyone's line of sight.

The mercenaries charged. The knights met them with equal force.

Merlin was starting to wonder when someone would take notice of him when one of the men strayed from the fray in his direction. He pulled a long sword from a fallen mercenary's belt just in time to block a strike. The blade was oversize and horribly unbalanced.

The mercenary looked at Merlin strangely before swinging his sword away and disarming him. Merlin couldn't swing a sword if his life depended on it, even though in this case it did.

All Merlin could do was watch as the man's sword hilt came down on his head and the world went black.

Arthur didn't notice the mercenary charge Merlin, strike him down, or pull his limp form away into the brush. Nobody did. They finally realized what had happened when the last of the men ran off into the forest and their group was one member short.

Gwaine was the first to notice,"Arthur, where's Merlin?"

He turned in a full circle, eyes scanning the surrounding forest for any signs of his idiot manservant."Merlin!" Arthur called, hoping with all of his might that the stupid servant had simply gone to hide in the woods. But Arthur knew Merlin, and running away from a fight while his friends could be in danger just wasn't something he would do.

So, of course, no Merlin answered their calls.

The knights and King huddled together to plan their next course of action. They could either return to the city for help or go after Merlin themselves. It was a unanimous decision on the latter.
"Who were they?" asked Percival gruffly. "I don't know of any bandits who would steal an entire person."

Gwaine ran a hand through his hair worriedly. "That's because they weren't bandits, I recognize them from a tavern in Mercia. Him and his friends had stopped there after a 'haul' to celebrate. He cheated me out of a horse that I had recently won," he said, nudging a body a few feet away with his foot.

The group held their breaths.

"They were slave traders."

Arthur felt his blood turn to ice.

Yay! First chappy done and posted! I'm so excited to see what kind of response this gets! Each chapter will always be over 1000 words not including the author's notes, It will be the longest story that I have ever posted! Remember, I like reviews almost as much as I like Colin Morgan, so please review.
Hope you liked the first chapter!
PLEASE REVIEW!

Wisegirl6