Thank you for the reviews!

This is set before the Knights really become a team and definitely before Uther goes mad. So probably just before the end of the third season. By this point I think Merlin and Arthur were already close as friends and trusted each other quite a bit. As I said in the description, there is no slash, but I want to depict the pair of them as very close, almost brothers say. Anyways, Enjoy x

Merlin is woken by a hand over his mouth. The soft leather of a glove is pressed hard against his face and he quickly becomes aware that he can't breathe. Blinking away sleep he begins to panic, thrashing around, and is about to make some kind of noise in an attempt to wake Gauis when a voice hisses close to his ear,

"Quiet boy, I'm not going to kill you," Merlin falls still in fear and the shadow steps back, hand releasing to let him breathe. Merlin gasps and sits up quickly, air flooding his lungs and making him light headed; the shadow has retreated to the corner of the room. Glancing up, he recognizes the king and falls to one knee on the floor in shock,

"My Lord," Still fearful, Merlin begins to rack his brains for some magic somebody may have seen him doing, coming up blank he risks a peek at the king under his shaggy fringe, who is watching him closely. Silence falls, and Merlin begins to fidget.

"Pack up and get ready for a journey boy," The king grunts finally, "Prince Arthur is collecting food so there is no need to worry about that"

Merlin starts slightly in surprise then jumps up to start his task. Still shocked he looks back awkwardly, realising he has to change, but the king has turned to watch the sun rising out the window. Quickly he shrugs on thicker trousers and a proper tunic, grabbing his brown jacket from the back of the door and a rucksack. He chucks in extra clothes and socks and his sleeping roll from under his bed. Whilst he is buckling it closed the king moves towards the door. Silently the king places his finger on his lips and leads him through Gauis's chambers. Merlin can see his old mentor sound asleep in his bed by the fire and closes his eyes in a silent wish that Gauis does not worry too much about where he has gone, cursing that he cannot leave a note.

Quickly they wind through the palace. Merlin notes that there are no guards and glances at the king, realising he must have planned this. The courtyard is silent and Uther leads the way to the stables, Merlin spots Arthurs blonde head over the stalls and hurries past the king to meet him. The prince pats him on the back by means of greeting and carries on packing his horse, giving Merlin's questioning look a tiny shake of the head.

Merlin moves over to the second horse of three and begins fastening his bag onto the saddle, quickly checking the stirrups are the right length, over the back of his horse he can see Uther doing the same to another. Soon he is ready to go and is about to follow Arthur out onto the courtyard when Uther stops his son with his hand,

"The children?" Merlin's head jerks up in surprise, what children? This outing was just getting stranger by the minute.

"They are safe with Leon, he is taking them out the back way, past the cells and down under the citadel, we will meet them in the woods near the east tower." Uther searches his son's eyes for a couple of seconds before giving a sharp nod. Swinging onto their horses the three men make their way down through the town.

It is a nice night, not too warm or too cold, the type of night Merlin likes. Yet still, when they ride out over the final bridge and enter the woods, Merlin shivers. He knows Arthur will explain everything later, but he cannot help worry that Uther has something awful planned for these children, after all, the king had been known to drown children suspected of sorcery, without giving them a fair trial first.

Once they have left the city, Arthur takes the lead, slowing his horse to a walk as they travel around Camelot. When the Eastern tower finally comes into sight Arthur slides off his horse and hands the reigns to his father, motioning at Merlin to do the same. Nervously he hands the reigns to Uther but the king seems far too preoccupied to care. Cautiously he follows Arthur into the trees, aware of every tiny sound he is making.

Finally Leon comes into view. Sitting on the ground the knight looks weary, in his arms are two well wrapped bundles. Arthur and Merlin approach quickly in the dark, the only light now is that of the moon that has managed to filter through the trees and Merlin can make out tiny sleeping faces peeking out of the cloth. As they come closer, Leon stands, grimacing and stretching his stiff limbs

Leon greets them with a murmur, and holds out the bundles,

"Careful, they haven't been asleep very long."

Arthur grimaces, trying to readjust the position of his arms, then, once carefully embracing the bundle, stands up straighter, looking Leon in the eye,

"Thank you Leon, we owe you a great debt, you are a loyal knight" He pauses, almost conflicted for a second, "And a good friend."

Leon gives them a small nod,

"May your journey be fast and free from danger, I hope to see you both again soon" Then he clasps Arthur's shoulder once before disappearing back towards the castle.

Merlin spares him a quick look before looking back down at his bundle. The child is larger and heavier than he expected, perhaps the size of a two year old, yet is warm and comforting to hold, breathing evenly in its sleep. He studies its little face in wonder. Arthur watches him carefully for a minute then barks a short laugh,

"C'mon Merlin, let's get a bit further away before we set up camp, then you can play mother."

Merlin just snorts and shoulder barges his friend, very gently of course.

When they emerge from the trees Uther whips out his sword, and with the grace Merlin supposes only kings can possess, manages not to look sheepish.

"Ahh Arthur, you have them both?" Even as he addresses his son, Uther's gaze is constantly on the lookout, peering into the thick foliage surrounding the path.

"Yes Father," Merlin can see the concern in Arthur as he watches his father, "Do we ride south still, as we discussed?"

"Yes, we can set up camp as the moon wanes." Uther's voice leaves no room for discussion and Merlin fights to disguise a yawn.

The ride south was awkward for Merlin, to say the least. At first he attempted to ride with the child in one arm, but found his arms tired awfully quickly, finally he wrapped in between his jacket and his chest and used his belt to keep it in place. Thankfully it never woke, which was more than could be said for the child Arthur was holding. Shortly after they set off it awoke and began to wail, and despite Arthurs best efforts he was unable to stop it doing so for a long time to come.

To make matters worse Uther was riding at the front and kept up and fast pace throughout. He was perpetually grumpy the entire journey and repeatedly told Arthur to shut the child up.

When he finally stopped beside a small stream and announced they were stopping for the night, Merlin was so stiff from trying to both ride and hold the child to his chest so it didn't fall that he could barely move.

Wincing he slid off his horse and one-handed tethered it to a tree. Arthur was encountering similar problems so Merlin lay the child on the ground and stumbled over to help him when it became apparent that Uther would not. He was glad when Arthur lay his child down also and helped him with the horses and bed rolls for he was not sure he would have managed by himself.

By the time they were laying down next to the fire Merlin was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. He thought it was ridiculous that the king hadn't helped at all, but instead just sat with his back to a tree watching the flames of the fire Merlin had lit.

When sleep overcame him at last, Merlin didn't fight it, his brain still whirring from the events of the night, who were these children? And why was the king so concerned with them?

As you possibly noticed, the tense changed halfway through. I'm not very good with tenses, so sorry about that :/ I think I will settle into one or the other soon, probably the one I used for the second half - so just hang on! Thanks x