A/N: Thank you all once more for all of those awesome reviews! You guys are FAN-tastic! Sorry once again for the delay, but school, homework, and my boyfriend have been stealing much of my time. Not that I mind that last one in the slightest. :) I have come up with a new updating schedule, however, and hopefully I will be able to stick to it and update this story once a week, every Monday. *crosses fingers* :) One other thing: I struggled for a while, trying to decide if I wanted Morgana and Morgause to play a role in the plot. I've decided that yes, they will be (Morgana in particular), but they are not the main bad guys, mainly the catalyst of sorts. Now, enough of my blabbering. I hope you enjoy, and please review! :D


This Cold Land

Chapter Two: Mistaken Identity

"This is not good."

Arthur took a moment to glance away from the occupied village, glaring at his servant. Merlin was crouching behind some bushes near the crest of a hill that overlooked the coast, sandwiched between his master and Sir Leon. "Really, Merlin?" Arthur hissed irritably at the servant. "Because it looks wonderful to me! The entire village is occupied by these bloodthirsty animals, my people are terrified and dying, and all I have is one knight and my idiot servant, whose only talent seems to be stating the obvious!" He said this in a hoarse whisper.

"Arthur, your father is sending reinforcements," Leon reminded the prince kindly. "If Merlin will ride back to Camelot, the king will send more men, and sooner."

Arthur kneaded the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "I know, I know. Merlin—"

"I don't think I should go," said Merlin suddenly, interrupting Arthur. "You're already in a delicate state of mind over this, and I don't want to come back to find that you've gotten yourself killed because you're not thinking straight."

Arthur glowered. "Merlin. I am a knight. I obey orders, unlike some people, and I will not charge ahead without backup when the king ordered me not to."

Merlin sighed. "I know. But I also know that you are the kind of knight, the kind of prince that cannot stand to see your people suffer."

Arthur looked at Merlin, and for a moment, Merlin felt as if he could see through the prince's icy blue eyes and into his very soul. The sadness at what was being done to his people, the anger at those who were inflicting the pain, and the determination to set this right shone in Arthur's gaze. And just as suddenly, the door was shut and Arthur's face and eyes were as impassive as ever. "Do me a favor, Merlin, and stop trying to be a hero. Ride back to Camelot, immediately, and tell my father that we need more men now."

Merlin, realizing that he had no choice but still hesitant to leave Arthur and Leon alone in this situation, turned and got ready to stand when a voice rang out from his left. "I'm afraid to say that I cannot let any of you leave, my lord."

Merlin turned his head, craning to look at the trees surrounding the hill, and to his surprise, several well-muscled, fur-clad men with gleaming helms and battle axes were slipping out of the woods with surprising stealth. Arthur, Merlin, and Leon all stood to face the new threat, but found that they were surrounded by six of the raiders. The leader, who had been the one to speak, was by far the largest man Merlin had ever laid eyes on. His face was scarred, his arms were bulging, and his hair was matted. Arthur raised his sword, ready to fight, but before he could land the first blow, the man spoke again and his voice was cruel, harsh, and unusually accented. It was obvious, not only by his outlandish appearance, but by the way he spoke, that he was not from Camelot, or anywhere remotely close to it.

"What do you want?" Arthur demanded angrily. "Why do you continue to plague this village?"

"We came only for one thing, Sir Knight," said the man, grinning wickedly. "And once we have it, you'll be free to go."

"I ask you again, what do you want?"

"The prince," the raider said. His eyes scanned the three men before him. He smiled. "And luckily for me, he's already here. I have to say, your highness, you don't look very princely."

Arthur's mouth opened indignantly to protest what he was sure to have thought an outrageously insulting, but he never got around to it. The leader, still smiling darkly, ordered, "Get them."


Morgana ducked behind an old house – more of a hovel, really – and slipped away from the chaos of the village of Gedref. No one noticed her leaving because they had never seen her arrive. She had snuck in, worked some magic, and now, having completed her task, was leaving the village to its fate. Soon the raiders would have what they wanted, and they would leave Camelot. She had nothing else to do here.

She walked briskly away from the village along the sandy coastline dotted with spots of grass, her red cloak billowing behind her. Suddenly, the odd feeling came over her that she was being watched. She spun around to see an old woman several feet behind her, wrapped in a shawl. She knew who this was, and was surprised and grateful to see her sister here, disguised by magic as an old crone.

"Sister," Morgana said, making her way back to Morgause, the sand sticking to her shoes and slowing her down. "What are you doing here?"

The old woman smiled knowingly and briefly embraced Morgana. "I know you too well, Sister," she said, "and I knew that once word of the raiders from across the sea came to Camelot, you would want to see for yourself."

"I can take care of myself," Morgana protested, but in actuality she was pleased that Morgause wanted to make sure that she didn't run into any trouble. "And I overheard something. Apparently, they want Arthur."

Morgause's eyes were wide. "If we allow them to take the prince, we will not be able to deal with him ourselves when the time is upon us. We may yet have further need of the boy, Morgana."

"I know," Morgana smirked. "After all, if there's anything that Arthur is good for, it's being manipulated, and through him, it is easier to get to Uther. I do not pretend to know all of your plans, Morgause, but I do understand that Arthur may very well be a part of them. So I made sure that they wouldn't take him." She smiled deviously, proud of her initiative.

"How?" Morgause questioned.

"They didn't know anything about Arthur," Morgana replied slyly, "and so I used magic to ensure that the people they questioned about the identity of the prince gave them the wrong description…"


Arthur was furious. The three of them had put up a good fight (even Merlin, who had somehow wound up with one of the bandit's swords), but as it turned out, they were even more helplessly outnumbered than the prince had previously assumed. There were about four more of their attackers lying in wait in the woods, and they came out to join their comrades as soon as they saw that between Arthur and Leon (Merlin wasn't putting up that good of a fight), the tides were being turned.

Arthur knew one thing: he was not going to let these men take him. They probably wanted to ransom him, which meant that while they would have no problem wounding him, they wouldn't kill him. Still, he was losing ground, he was exhausted, and despite his sheer, stubborn refusal to be beaten, it was three (or two and a half, Arthur thought in exasperation as he saw Merlin flat on the ground, eyes wide; this was the Merlin he was used to seeing) against ten and these men were monsters. He watched as Merlin struggled to his feet and dove out of the way of a broken branch that one of the new reinforcements was wielding. Leon was panting, bleeding, and bruised, and Arthur knew that he himself had acquired some injuries. The extent of these, however, he didn't know.

Finally it was over. Leon and Merlin were both weaponless, and Arthur's arms were so drained that he could barely lift his own sword. The prince's head was light and fuzzy and he vaguely wondered if he had gotten hit on the head at one point. He felt the warm trickle of blood seeping down his face.

Two swords, a battle axe, and a tree branch were now at his throat and Arthur saw that already, Leon and Merlin were being bound by the raiders. Arthur had no choice, and although he hated surrendering, sometimes that was what a knight had to do. He only hoped that his father would hurry up and send the reinforcements already; it had to have been close to an hour by now. With a growl of anger, Arthur threw down his sword and put his hands in the air, signaling his surrender. Immediately, his arms were dragged behind his back and bound there securely. He grunted as he felt a cut in his arm stretch and felt blood soaking through his sleeve beneath the chainmail. The prince grimaced, realizing that his injuries might be a bit worse than he thought. His vision was blurry.

Their prisoners bound and gagged, the ten burly men took a step back and stared in satisfaction at their work. "You know," said one with curly blonde hair and a horned helmet on his oversized head that was so scarred it looked like a bear had chewed on it for a while, "it was a clever trick, that." Arthur had no idea what the man was talking about and he could feel his mind wandering with the pain in his head, arm, and side. "Dressing as a commoner as a means of keeping yourself safe and invisible. Too bad your own people are cowards, Prince Arthur. With the right incentive, they told me many things about their 'beloved' prince."

Arthur was quite confused now, because he was pretty sure that he was wearing chainmail and armor and not common clothing. He glanced hazily at his companions and saw that Leon's eyes were wide and that Merlin, the quietest Arthur had ever heard him due to the gag, looked as baffled as the prince. Arthur found himself checking the servant over for injuries, even in his bleary state, and it didn't look like Merlin had sustained more than a small cut on his shoulder. Arthur wondered how that had come about, considering Leon looked worse for the wear and he himself was beaten like hell.

Their captors were speaking again, but Arthur found himself going in and out, only hearing bits and pieces of what was going on. "… for ransom … if your father cooperates … home … someday … best behave … never said what condition … sent home in … now just for fun—"

There was a loud smack and then a groan, and Arthur forced his eyes open to see that Leon had just been clobbered by the leader of the men and he knew that Merlin would be next. Just for fun. There was no reason for the men to knock their enemies out; they were tied up and helpless until help arrived. There was also no reason not to kill them, but Arthur, even in his dazed state, knew that it was not mercy that stayed their hand, but the idea of the sense of failure they would feel when they woke and discovered their prince was gone. Arthur took as deep of a breath as he could through the pain, knowing that he was about to be taken. He would have to try something to escape; he wasn't going to be taken on their ships as a prisoner.

Arthur heard Merlin grunt in surprise and looked toward the serving boy, expecting to see him sprawled on the ground, unconscious. Instead, he was awake and fighting as he was pulled to his feet by a mess of the raiders. What were they doing with his servant? If they harmed a hair on his head, Arthur would—

Arthur never got to finish his mental threat. There was a blinding flash of pain, a rainbow of red, black and white obscuring his vision, and then all went dark and silent.


Merlin struggled wildly, his stomach clenched in fear as he was hauled away from an unconscious Arthur and Leon. What the hell was going on? For some reason, these men had it in their heads that he was Prince Arthur. If Merlin hadn't been gagged, he would have been glad to set the record straight and inform them that he could never be as big of a prat as the true Prince Arthur.

But because of this confusion, Arthur was safe. Well, he had been hit on the head, but he hadn't been taken prisoner. Merlin glanced around at the gathered villagers who watched with hope as the raiders began packing up their ship with the village's belongings. It seemed to Merlin that they didn't care that their things were being stolen, only that these monsters were out of their homes.

Merlin didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to use magic to make the ropes snap and make an escape, but the other part wanted to wait for Uther's reinforcements so that he could know Arthur was alright before he acted, just in case something went wrong. Then he saw where they were prodding him toward, and he made up his mind. Apparently, they knew that help would be on the way and they were getting ready to set sail as soon as possible. Merlin wasn't going to risk being put on that boat and taken away. He'd escape and while they were looking for him, they would be delayed.

He closed his eyes briefly to hide the flash of gold and the ropes snapped. He was surrounded by four raiders, each about four times bigger than him, but he used surprise to his advantage. Hands free, he ducked down and dove between the legs of one of the men. There was a shout of anger and shock as Merlin darted away, tearing the gag away from his mouth. He had to keep them busy until Uther's reinforcements arrived.

But, as per usual, Merlin hadn't exactly thought everything through. Yes, he had managed to escape the clutches of four men, but there were another two dozen or more in the village. Merlin discreetly used magic to make two of his pursuers slip in a mud puddle that wasn't there before. Three tripped over stones. Two more ran into clotheslines. Merlin was just about at one of the houses, which he hoped would have a back door to let him out of the confines of the village. He planned to cut through the house as a shortcut and use magic to confuse the raiders. Then, the plan was a bit fuzzy, but it basically consisted of: Run like hell and get to Arthur.

He was reaching for the door handle when the door itself was swung open from the inside, smacking Merlin in the forehead and knocking him over. He lay there, stunned, and saw that a thin, brown-haired boy a few years younger than himself was staring at him from the doorstep, having just flung open the door and unknowingly hindered Merlin's escape.

Merlin, dazed, struggled to his feet but it was too late. They were on him, and this time they weren't taking any chances. He saw the fist coming at him, but it was too late to stop it. It crashed into his skull and everything went dark.


Kol stared at what he had just done. He had heard chaos from outside of the house he was supposed to be searching for loot and had run to the door, throwing it open to see what was going on. Unfortunately for the fleeing Prince Arthur, Kol had always had an uncanny knack for clumsiness resulting in injuries, whether they be to himself or the other party. With a smack, the door hit the skinny, dark-haired prince in common garb and he toppled over, stunned.

Kol simply stared at the prince, thinking to himself that the prince did not look very princely. The two locked eyes for a second, and Kol saw fear, anger, and power there. Power so great that for a moment, the young Viking apprentice nearly backed away. Now he could see the prince in the boy.

Then the Vikings swarmed the prince and Kol knew that the fight was over. Onäm strode away from the scuffle as Alrik and Erak hauled the unconscious boy to the ship. The leader then turned back, eyes gleaming maliciously. "There might be hope for you yet, boy. You caught the prince. You won't be punished for the captain's delay tonight." Kol felt relief in knowing that he wasn't going to have to deal with an angry master later. A bit of guilt sunk into his mind, however, at Onäm's next words.

"I'll punish the prince instead."


A/N: Cue dramatic music! :) Hope you're still enjoying. I had a blast writing this chapter. If you've seen my new updating schedule, you'll know that I plan to update this story once a week, every Monday. Be looking for chapter 3 on Monday, and if for some reason I'm not able to post on time, I'll let you know ahead of time through Facebook or Twitter. If you want to be able to get these updates, like me on Facebook (I'm Emachinescat, obviously, LOL) or follow me on Twitter (xEmachinescatx). That'll definitely keep you in the know with my stories, thoughts, and ideas. Please, oh, please review! I'll update Monday (maybe even sooner)! :)

~Emachinescat ^..^