Title: Assassins

Author: Kitty O

Rating: T


Part One: Refugees

Chapter Four: A New Person

It was Arthur who insisted they stop and wait once they were out of sight.

At which point Gwaine dropped Gaius's arm like an empty glass and spun around, only just noticing that Merlin wasn't with them.

"You left him behind?"

Gwaine's hands were balled in Arthur's shirt right over his chest and his face was right up near Arthur's, but the prince just shoved Gwaine off of him, glaring.

"He had it under control," Arthur told him, bristling at once.

Elyan, up ahead, turned around and looked back. "What is it?"

"Arthur left Merlin back there with those guards… By himself," growled Gwaine, tossing his hair out of his face.

Elyan's eyebrows rose and he turned his eyes to look back where they'd come from, but he couldn't see it. They'd walked behind a stone cliff not too long ago to keep any men approaching from that side from spotting them. It worked the other way around too.

Then Elyan turned to face the prince, but this time Arthur didn't defend himself. He couldn't explain it… When Merlin had ordered him to run, what else could he have done? Authority had been practically coming off of Merlin in waves—Arthur had never seen that happen before. He was used to Merlin taking the orders.

He's more comfortable being in charge the moment magic gets involved, said a disgusted voice in his head. Since he was born, he said. And he kept it from me all this time.

He hadn't even known Merlin was capable of keeping a secret.

He didn't even know Merlin at all, he thought.

Arthur shook the thought from his head and came back to the present. Merlin had been left with throwing the two immortal soldiers around like rag dolls, and Gwaine was angry.

"I'll go back for him," started Arthur.

"I'll go back for him," Gwaine corrected, glaring again, distrust on his face. One of the best things about Gwaine, in Arthur's opinion, was that once he latched onto someone and decided that person was his friend, he protected and cared for him or her with unbelievable zeal. Arthur hadn't earned the privilege yet, but Merlin had had Gwaine's friendship from the first.

If I decide to… do something… about the sorcerer when this is over, I'll need to get Gwaine out of the way first, Arthur decided—deep down in that part of his brain that was dedicated to being a knight at some kind of war. The rest of his mind was just annoyed that Gwaine wouldn't listen to him.

As Arthur opened his mouth to answer harshly, Elyan spoke up. "We might all go," he said in his soft voice. "It'll be dark soon."

"No one needs to go looking for me, but thanks," said a voice from behind them.

Only Gaius didn't jump, because he had been watching the edge of the rocks. The three young men spun around.

"Merlin!" Gwaine cried joyously, and went to pat the man firmly on the back. Arthur didn't move, but he couldn't deny that it felt a little like a huge stone had been lifted off his chest.

"What happened?" Gwaine asked.

Merlin shared a quirky smile. "They may be immortal," he said, "but it turns out they can be knocked unconscious. It just takes a while. And then I had to try and wipe their memory, but I know I messed it up—I've never done that before."

"You had us frightened, Merlin," said Gaius, but he had that look on his face that always managed to convey approval without him having to smile.

"Sorry," said Merlin, casting a short glance at Arthur to see if he had been worried as well. But the prince just stared at him with a blank look, almost as if he didn't recognize his servant, and that stung a bit. "Well, where are we going to stay, then?" Merlin asked. "We can hardly go back. Morgana will probably search for us there."

"She definitely will," Arthur said, turning away and looking up at the top of the cliff. "I think I know where we can stay."

"Where?" asked Elyan.

"Tomorrow," Arthur commanded. "We'll go there tomorrow. It's too late to start walking there now." His eyes flickered over to Merlin. He waited to see if Merlin would correct him, order him, tell the entire group what to do. But Merlin just nodded, accepting Arthur's power without a second thought, and that offered the prince a small amount of relief.

"For tonight, we'll have to sleep outside then," Elyan said.

"That's what the blankets are good for," said Gwaine jovially, for he seemed to have recovered his usual good nature. He moved away from Merlin.

Merlin's eyes moved to the top of the rocks too, trying to see what Arthur found so interesting up there. But there was nothing to look at except sky.

\-_-BREAK-_-/

The vase sailed through the air in a graceful arc before crashing into the stone wall, shattering and raining down on the floor, where the shards broke into even tinier pieces. Gwen followed the glass piece's flight with her eyes, trying to focus just on that broken vase. Otherwise she might cry.

"What do you mean, he's alive?" Morgana's rhetorical question thundered through the air, shaking the windows with her uncontrolled magic. Gwen had never seen her mistress so terrifying before—her eyes were narrow, her nostrils flared; her decorum and clothes were forgotten, and Morgana didn't care how she looked. She just cared about her anger, the anger that Gwen could feel crackling overhead.

Distantly Gwen hoped that she didn't get struck by some artificial lightning.

He's alive. Arthur's alive.

She could've sworn her heart hadn't beaten once since she'd gotten the news that he had probably perished, but now she was alive again, and she thought she could jump out of her skin for joy. But she couldn't. Morgana would see. Morgause would see. She stayed still and unaffected behind the throne, blinking her eyes dry.

"Morgause!" Morgana practically roared, turning to face her sister. "He's alive! They said he was dead! You said…"

"Obviously Merlin was more resourceful than I thought. We were mistaken, sister," said Morgause nearly emotionlessly. "We will have to amend that."

Gwen's heart squeezed and cried out in pain. Arthur!

"They must both be dead!" Morgana insisted, only a trifle calmed by her sister's "soothing" voice. She turned her glare to the two soldiers who brought the news; they were standing at the end of the throne room, looking like they'd really rather be somewhere else.

"You had them right in your grasp!" she reprimanded. "And you let them go!"

The two soldiers silently drew back from the venom in her voice. They weren't at all feeling up to standing before her verbal attack and flying vases. They'd awoken with blinding headaches and only the vaguest memory of what had occurred. And it seemed to them that there was some important part of their confrontation with the refugees that they had forgotten to inform their queen of, but for the life of them they couldn't think of what it might be.

Both of their heads really, really hurt.

The one on the right, who had been a brutish and rough man back when he'd still been able to have his own personality, was wishing he didn't have to listen to her shrieking. The one on the left, who'd been an efficient man who went into battle with his whole heart back before he'd become immortal, was regretting that he hadn't finished off the queen's enemies and been done with this.

"How do a few running men manage to overpower two immortal guards?" she demanded.

Because, thought Gwen with pride. They're Merlin and Arthur. She had to work not to smile. She'd been schooling her expression a lot since she told Morgana that she was still the queen's loyal maid.

The guards glanced nervously at each other, wondering if she wanted an answer.

She didn't. Morgana reached for another object – a goblet full of wine – to throw. "Just get out!" she screamed. "Leave!" She hurled the drink. It spun through the air, dark red liquid splattering out onto the wall and floor.

The two men made a hasty retreat.

Morgana turned her back on the door, tears of frustration beginning to stream from her eyes.

"Sister!" Morgause cried concernedly, rushing across the room to the dark haired woman's side. "We will find them!"

"I worked so hard for this!" Morgana declared. "I will not lose my place to my idiot half-brother! I will not! I worked too hard for this!"

Morgause gestured for Gwen to bring some water for the distraught queen. It took the maid several seconds to compute the order, because she was staring at her old friend with disbelief.

When Morgause gestured again, Gwen brought the water, but her mind was elsewhere.

Why you selfish witch, she suddenly thought to herself, as amazed at her own ideas as she was at Morgana's behavior. She'd never hated anyone before – not even Uther – but some eerily similar feeling was climbing up her throat. You selfish witch. Don't you know I've cried myself to sleep every night since I realized what was happening? Didn't you know I couldn't breathe right for worry?

No, of course she didn't know. If she'd known, then she would not have let Gwen keep working for her.

But she'd been Gwen's friend.

The maid took the water to the queen, bowed her head, and kept her opinions to herself.

\-_-BREAK-_-/

Merlin sat bolt upright in his blanket.

The stars were shining coldly above him, the moon was high in the sky, the rest of his group was sleeping around him, and something wasn't right.

There it was again. The sound that had woken him in the middle of the night.

A footstep where no footstep belonged.

"Ar—"

"I hear it," hissed a voice through the darkness, and when he squinted Merlin could see Arthur's dark shape kneeling in his own blanket. "Shh!"

"Where's Gwaine; he's on w—"

"Quiet!"

Merlin didn't need Arthur's order though; he shut up by himself. Partly because he heard the something in the woods crack, and partly because he spotted Gwaine. The man was behind a tree, his sword drawn, waiting for the steps to get just a little closer.

Not another immortal soldier, Merlin prayed. He saw two shapes in the darkness now, ones he didn't recognize, and he scrambled to his feet, ready to fight. Arthur was up too, prepared. Elyan was just starting to awake, though, and Gaius still snored.

"Who's there?" came a rough whisper that Merlin dimly placed as familiar.

"Who's there?" answered Arthur immediately, not bothering to lower his voice.

A moment of silence. "…Prince Arthur?"

Merlin placed the voice. "Lancelot?"

"Merlin?"

Gwaine was confused and blind without any light. "Who's this?"

"Who're you?"

"What's going on?" Elyan sat up groggily, looking around. "Why's Gwaine's sword out?"

"Who's with you, Lancelot?" asked Arthur suspiciously.

"Who's Lancelot?" demanded Gwaine.

"This is Percival."

"Who?" Arthur, Merlin, and Gwaine said that last one simultaneously, and then a small, awkward silence descended upon the group.

At last Lancelot broke it. "If I could just see anything…"

"I could make a light…?" Merlin suggested.

"You'll alert anyone who's watching that we're right here," Arthur disagreed. "Lancelot, how did you find us? Why are you here?"

"We thought we heard movement and came to inspect it… But I think now it was just snoring. I came as soon as I heard that the Lady Morgana had taken the throne. I heard you were dead, Arthur, and Merlin with you. I wanted to see what I could do… Percival, my friend, came too. He helped me out a while back," he said, as though that explained why Percival was still with him now.

A bit of amusement crept into Merlin's voice. "I'll shake your hand as soon as I can see you, Percival," he said.

"Shut up, sorcerer."

Gwaine growled disapprovingly, and the voice that issued from the shape that was Lancelot sounded surprised when it said, "Arthur knows?"

Arthur heard it loud and clear. "He knows?"

"Erm…" Merlin blushed but no one could see him. "Look, maybe we all… just… should all just wait until it's morning and we can see each other before we really get into…"

He was saved from further jabbering when Gaius suddenly sat up.

"If everyone here is quite sure there are no enemies in the immediate vicinity, perhaps then you would consider ceasing this noise and letting an old man get his sleep!"

There was stunned silence, but as the old man in question went back to sleep, Gwaine and Merlin managed to recover enough to chuckle.

"He's right," Arthur said firmly. "We'll sleep now and discuss everything in the morning. But we will discuss it." He got back in his blanket and very pointedly went to sleep.

"I'll keep watch," offered Lancelot, but Gwaine waved that away as he put his sword back up.

"I've got this watch," he said. "You and your friend put any supplies you've got there and sleep for now."

They did so, and Merlin got into his own blanket. The silence once more took over, punctuated only by the breathing of the various men. Merlin couldn't help but give a little smile into the darkness. Everything would be sorted out in the morning, and perhaps their chances of getting out of this alive had just been upped. But for now he would just worry about getting back to sleep.

And throughout the entire exchange the large lump in the darkness that apparently went by the name of Percival said not a word.

End of Part One


A/N: Well, I certainly hope you people aren't losing interest, because part two is where things (hopefully) get exciting! Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter! Again, sorry for any mistakes.

~Kitty O of Awesomeness, PBO