"Chapter 4 - Infiltrated"
"Is he dead?" The 'guard' asked, prodding the dark haired boy's body where it lay sprawled on the far side of the table, a trickle of blood slowly forming a pool around his head in a gruesome mockery of a halo.
"Does it matter?"
"S'pose not – He's only a servant. What about Egan?" He pointed to the unconscious attacker from earlier.
"No, he's breathing."
"See if you can bring him round – So much for his claim that this job would be no problem, now he's made a right mess of it. I'll watch the door."
Arthur watched the exchange in silent horror, shock freezing him to the spot, unable to do anything but shiver. His mind was clouded by a haze, darkness had begun to engulf his vision, creeping in from the corners of his eyes. A blur of thoughts swirled round his head, each one screaming at him, vying to get his full attention. Merlin was down. These guards were imposters. Camelot had been infiltrated.
The dull thud of his pounding heart reverberated around his chest, pumping a new wave of adrenaline into his blood stream, steadying his shaking limbs. Sweat made his sword hand slippery, instinctively he clutched the hilt tighter, digging his nails into the leather binding as he gritted his teeth against the pain shooting down his arm. He tried to stand, pushing himself up against the foot board while pulling himself up the thick silk curtains and bed post, his sword jammed between the floor tiles to steady himself. He got half way up, managed an unsteady step towards the guards, intent on a fight and revenge, but his legs turned to jelly beneath him and he pitched forwards, his knees striking painfully against the cold stone floor. His sword shot out of his hand, skittering across the floor with a sharp metallic ting, ending with a dull thud as it buried itself under the wardrobe.
"Won't get far," one of the guards, who was attending their first fallen attacker, muttered to Arthur, not bothering to look up, "Cut you with his knife eh? It's a paralytic – Won't kill you though," he added with a slight sneer, as though he found that fact just a little disappointing.
"What do you want?" Arthur demanded with as much dignity as he could muster. Unable to stand he pushed himself up onto hands and knees, dragging himself forwards, towards Merlin, over the tiles. What was left of Arthur's colour drained when he saw Merlin, the boy's face was deathly white, highlighted further by the splashes of scarlet on his cheek and temple. Please be breathing. Please don't be dead. Please.
"I don't know what Cenred has in mind for you. Not my problem. We're just the delivery boys. Ain't that right?" The guard near the door laughed, turning away from the door to answered Arthur's question.
"Right," the other guard agreed succinctly, harshly slapping the cheek of their unconscious accomplice.
Cenred. Arthur's heart squeezed in his chest; they shared miles of their eastern border with Cenred's Kingdom and the relationship between them could be described as anything but amicable. Not a week went by with out some form of border scuffle or night raid that would leave a handful of men dead on both sides and more often than not some unfortunate village or small holding in flames. What appeared at first to be a random attack; there were any number of likely candidates who held a grudge against Uther, and by extension his son, had turned into something far more sinister.
For a moment Arthur felt like retorting that they would never get away with this, but, judging by the current situation, they already had. There was no use in crying for help, it was unlikely there was anyone to hear; besides they could quickly silence him with a gag or swift blow to the head, like they had done Merlin.
Arthur's progress was infuriatingly slow, his limbs refused to cooperate, several times they gave out all together, letting him crash to the floor, his chin scrapping on the gritty stone. The guards were content to let him struggle, they knew he wasn't going to get as far as the door before the paralytic took full effect; even if he did he was as weak as a kitten now, they would have no trouble restraining him.
Sheer force of will finally allowed him to reach Merlin's side. "Merlin," he hissed, roughly shaking his friend's shoulders. Nothing. "Merlin!" he hissed again, pushing back Merlin's blood stained scarf to place two fingers against his throat, feeling for a pulse. Arthur held his breath for a moment, then growled with annoyance when he was unable to tell whether it was his own pulse he was feeling or Merlin's.
"Come on Merlin," he begged, slapping a hand hard against Merlin's face. Suddenly Merlin stirred, only slightly, his fingers twitched, then lay still again; his chest gently rising and falling. "You idiot," Arthur breathed and fell back, relief gushed through him. Merlin was alive.
A groan, some cursing, and the sound of scuffling feet told Arthur that their previous attack was awake again. Arthur turned towards the noise, alarmed to find how much his eye sight had dimmed, he could only just make out the shape of the man, getting unsteadily to his feet, as a shifting grey pink blur.
"Better go," the guard who had been watching the door said, striding across the room, roughly dragging his unsteady accomplice's arm around his shoulders. "You, get the Prince."
Hearing himself mentioned, Arthur backed away instinctively, fumbling backwards until he reversed into Merlin's prone form. He glanced urgently over his shoulder, trying to locate his sword, a knife, the fire irons, anything he could use to fend them off.
"I'm going to kill that brat for interfering! I'll solve him!" The earlier attacker, Egan, seemed to have come fully to his senses now and was roughly pushing away the guard who was trying to help him. "Loyal little whelp! I'm going to kill him!" He snarled, storming towards Merlin, feeling in his boot for his knife, cursing savagely when he found it missing.
"There isn't time, Egan," one of the guards said with exasperation, "You said we needed to grab the Prince and go – Remember?"
"If that boy hadn't gotten in the way-"
"We don't have time."
"I'm in charge here! – Remember?" Egan snarled rounding on the other man.
"We need to disappear - All hell's going to break loose round here soon." The guard snapped back, barely keeping his voice under control; he was well aware how bleak their prospects would be if they were caught. If Uther didn't have them killed on the spot then all they could hope for would be a swift execution.
The exchange gave Arthur a few seconds to think, what could he do? He had no weapon, escaping or fighting them off were no longer option. Thinking fast Arthur dipped his finger into the pool of Merlin's blood and started scrawling something across the floor. There were foot steps behind him. There was only time to finish one word before rough hands grabbed him.
One word. Cenred.
Arthur! D= Thanks for reading - Please review ;3
