"Tell me again what we're doing out in the middle of nowhere again getting eaten alive?" Merlin asked as he slapped a hungry mosquito.
"There's supposed to be a witch in this part of woods," Arthur explained. He was walking cautiously through a marshy area with his sword drawn and his eyes carefully darting about the place.
"I see and what do we plan on doing with this so-called witch when we find her?"
"I don't intend on running her through with my sword if that's what you're afraid of. I just intend to emphasize to everyone that there is still a ban on magic and that means clearing up any rumors of magical practice. What kind of king would I be if I ignored someone blatantly practicing magic in my kingdom?"
"And if we don't find her?"
"Then we go home," Arthur answered in an irritated tone.
Merlin looked around at the bug infested, overgrown spot complete with a murky pond. "This is the sort of spot you would expect to find one. I don't imagine too many people traverse through here. Just so I'm prepared what exactly are her crimes?"
"Magic for one, but according to reports, she's fond of turning people that she considers to be trespassers into animals."
"Oh, so not only are we looking for a witch, we're looking for someone who's going to turn us into some sort of creature the minute she sees us. Am I the only one that sees the problem with this idea of yours? If we don't find her, all we have to show for it is muddy clothes and mosquito bites. If we do find her, we spend the rest of our days trapped in an animal form."
"I'm starting to get tired of your cowardly blathering. Why don't you do back and check on our horses and I'll be along in a minute."
Merlin was hesitant. "Are you sure about that? What if you do find her?"
"She wouldn't dare harm the king. I will explain to her that there will be no trouble if she comes along for some simple questioning."
Merlin didn't exactly agree with that reasoning, especially when it seemed this lady had a history of acting first and asking later, but after taking one last look around the marshy area and discovering there was nothing out of the ordinary, he agreed. He was hoping that it would hurry Arthur along if he knew that he was waiting for him and the sun would be setting pretty soon. Merlin didn't want to be out here after dark with a woman of that sort of reputation running around.
30 minutes passed and Merlin was impatiently tapping his foot. Arthur should have been back by now. His impatience turned into worry and he went back to check on him.
"Arthur, Arthur!" Merlin called. There was no answer unless you counted a pond full of croaking frogs as an answer, but as he took a closer look at the frogs, he saw that one of them was Arthur.
"Great, how am I supposed to tell the people that their king is a frog? Better yet, how am I supposed to tell Gwen that her husband is a frog?" With a sigh of frustration at how Arthur never listened, he went splashing into the shallow pound to retrieve Arthur.