A/N Sorry about the wait. I was out of town this weekend and I have been completely drained all week. I'll try to be better! This isn't my best chapter, but it's kind of the beginning of really getting into the story. Thank you for your follows and favorites and I'll try to update again real soon. (I've already written a lot of the later scenes, but most of them will be in the second half.)


The sun rose over Snow White Memorial Prison as the work detail was led outside to the edge of the river chained together by their ankles. The guards stopped them ten feet from the bank and stood at attention as the governor strode out to address the prisoners.

"Pay attention." He demanded, sending an extremely cold look to Gwaine, who stood at the front of the line, and motioning to a large pile of junk near the prison walls. "You will hand this junk up one item at a time down the line and then chuck it into that boat." He pointed to a barge tied off near the bank of the river and Gwaine frowned.

"Um, excuse me?" He called, looking at the distance between them and the boat. "It's a long way away, isn't it? I mean, aren't you worried about us breaking some of the more fragile objects?"

The governor, who detested being questioned, approached the brunette and sneered. "What do you think this is, Ambrosias? A fairy-princess tea party? This is scrap. Now do as you're told and shut up."

The prisoners began passing down an assortment of rubbish, from old pottery to faded china, and Gwaine tossed it towards the boat each time, wincing as whatever object it was shattered on impact. This continued for about an hour until he noticed a familiar item being passed down the line.

The mirror.

The one thing that could take him and Merlin home, and it was less than twelve feet away from him. He cringed when he remembered that he was going to have to toss it into the boat when it finally reached him.

What if it shattered like everything else? How would he and Merlin get home then? Plus, wasn't breaking a mirror seven years bad luck or something? If magic worked, then did back luck work too?

All of these thoughts ran through Gwaine's head until he finally found the mirror in his hands. He hastily examined it, trying to find out how to turn it on. "Mirror, on!" he whispered, ignoring the looks his fellow prisoners were now giving him. "Mirror, on!"

"What are you doing?" The governor demanded with a scowl.

Gwaine looked sheepishly up at the man. "I…uh…I'm frightened it will get broken." He stammered.

"Ambrosias, if you refuse to throw that mirror into that boat, I will push you into the river." The governor threatened, face turning red. "And, as you are connected by leg irons, your fellow inmates will join you and also, sadly, drown."

Gwaine looked down the line to see death glares being pointed his way and groaned. Saying a silent prayer, he tossed the mirror towards the boat and squeezed his eyes closed, waiting for the sound of glass breaking. He let out a small cheer when he opened his eyes and saw that it had made it into the barge without breaking. The pot it landed on, well , that was another story.


Loud groans echoed through the forest as three tired trolls staggered tiredly behind the troll king towards the prison.

"Dad?" Valiant spoke up, yawning loudly after searching all night for the warlock. "Not that I'm questioning your judgment or anything, but why are we heading back to prison? We just got out."

Cenred stopped to face his children. "Why did the warlock steal the magic shoes?" he asked slowly, as though talking to a small child. The three trolls looked between each other and shrugged, the little brain capacity they had already burnt out from lack of sleep. The troll king rolled his eyes. "To break into the prison."

"Oh." The three exclaimed in unison. Sophia pointed to the small sack of flour in her father's hands.

"What's that for then?"

He let out an exasperated sigh. "We're going to sprinkle it outside the entrance to the prison, and check every fifteen minutes for invisible footprints."

"Great idea, Dad!" Cedric cheered, but the king ignored him and continued back to the prison, his children now eagerly following.


Arthur hoped he'd never see that stone building again. The memory of being dragged through the corridors and forcefully shoved into a tiny cell with a small slit in the wall for a window was still very fresh in his brain. But, it was for Merlin, who was determined to rescue his brother with or without his help.

The pair were knelt behind a large bush near the prison walls, and Arthur could almost smell Merlin's worry.

"Do you think that Gwaine's alright?" he asked, biting his lip anxiously. "I mean, he's only been in there a day. He can survive a day, right?"

Arthur considered this. "Well," he answered honestly, "from what I know about your brother, I sincerely doubt it."

Merlin winced at the truth in this statement and stood up from their hiding place, but Arthur pulled him back down.

"Trolls." He whispered, pointing to four figures sneaking around the prison gates.

Merlin glanced around, looking for another entrance. "Now what?"

Arthur thought for a second before turning to face him. "Okay, I have an idea. You wait here and I'll put on the shoes, then I'll go inside and pre-"

"No!" Merlin interrupted, pulling the shoes away from him. "You'll never come back. You just want them for yourself!"

Arthur pulled the shoes back. "No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

Merlin pulled them away again and Arthur growled. "Alright, I do. But I'm trying to fight it, unlike you!"

Merlin glared back at him dangerously. "How about I wear the shoes and you hold on to me and that way we'll both be invisible?" He suggested, trying to grab the shoes back, but Merlin moved out of reach.

"I will wear them and you will hold on to me." He shot back as he began slipping them on.

"You are hopelessly addicted to those shoes." Arthur accused, holding Merlin's arm, nervously adding as they disappeared, "And I'm not far behind."


The guards forcefully dragged Gwaine back to his cell after he finished loading the boat, making him wonder how he was going to get back out to get the mirror back. They threw him inside without a second look and slammed the cell door closed. Gwaine frowned when he saw his cellmates standing at the middle of the cell, staring back at him in surprise. His frown transformed into a grin when he noticed the list of rules that usually hung on the back wall were now lying on the floor and in their place was now

"A tunnel!" He practically jumped for joy, until he noticed that Lancelot and Percival were watching him suspiciously.

"Think we can trust him?" Lancelot asked, looking up at the half-giant who gave a slight nod.

He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Gwaine with a smile. "We can trust him."

Gwaine looked down at what he'd been given and saw that it was the soap carving that Percival had been working on the day before, now finished. He shoved it into his pocket before seeing what it was of and smiled back.


It should not be this easy breaking into prison. Merlin thought as he and Arthur slunk through the hallways of the stone prison. Really, it's a wonder the queen didn't escape earlier.

He felt Arthur's grip on him tighten and he looked to see a terrifying older man walk out a door at the end of the hall.

"That's the governor's office." The wolf whispered next to his ear. "There will be a list of prisoners and their cell numbers inside."

Merlin nodded but, remembering that Arthur wouldn't be able to see him, he squeezed his hand in response. The pair quietly walked into the room, and the first thing Merlin noticed was a black dog tied to the desk.

"It's Morgana. We have to grab her." He reached down to untie the rope that tied her to the desk.

"No, no, no. The shoes won't take an extra person." Arthur protested to deaf ears. "She'll drain all of their magic and then we'll become visible!" But the shoes' magic was already surrounding the dog and in a few seconds she was invisible along with them. Arthur groaned and looked over a list on the desk.

"Gwaine is in cell 304." He mumbled, grabbing the keys off the wall.

They barely made it into the cell when the shoes' magic began to sputter and suddenly the three were standing visible in Gwaine's cell. Unfortunately, they were the only ones in Gwaine's cell.

"Now, where could he have gone? We're in a prison." Merlin asked, closing the cell door so no guards would come by.

Morgana rushed over to a list of rules posted on the wall, barking when she noticed an opening behind it. Arthur ripped the list off the wall and let out a low whistle.

"Wow, your brother works fast." He remarked, staring into a long tunnel in the wall. "Into the tunnel?" He looked over at the raven-haired boy, who shrugged.

They crawled through the dark tunnel as quietly as they could, hoping that it took them outside rather than somewhere else. Arthur began taking very deep breaths the longer they were in there, his claustrophobia getting the better of him. A small amount of light peaked out in front of him and he crawled faster, only to be stopped in his tracks by some kind of obstruction.

"What is it?" Merlin whispered from behind him.

"There's something blocking the tunnel." He responded, trying to keep panic out of his voice. He caught a familiar scent, like stale beer and dirt, and his eyebrows knit together. "Gwaine, is that you?"

"Who the hell is that?" A voice called back.

"It's me, Arthur. I gave you the magic bean, remember?"

"You stay the hell away from me!"

I guess that's a yes. Arthur thought, rolling his eyes. "We're in a tunnel together, Gwaine. How am I supposed to do that?"

He heard a resigned sigh. "I'm almost out, but I'm hung on something and can't get loose."

Arthur used what little light there was to search for whatever the brunette was hung on before giving up and attempting to push him out. Gwaine was suddenly launched from the opening of the tunnel with Arthur falling out on top of him.

"Thanks." He muttered, dusting himself off. His face brightened when a mop of raven hair pushed itself out of the tunnel.

"Merlin!" Gwaine shouted as Arthur helped the boy climb out. He ran over and grabbed his little brother in his arms, too happy for words. Merlin chuckled.

"I'm fine, Gwaine. Really." He reassured as they pulled apart. Morgana jumped down to the ground with a bark, breaking the moment.

"The mirror!" Gwaine exclaimed suddenly. "We moved it this morning onto a barge!"

He ran around to the edge of the river with Merlin, Arthur and Morgana following close behind. He stopped at an empty dock.

"It was right here! Lancelot and Percival must have taken it!"

Merlin pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes and groaned in frustration, while Arthur bit back a small grin. Merlin would be staying with him a bit longer.


The trolls followed Cenred's plan, sprinkling the flour at the entrance to check every fifteen minutes, and it wasn't long before they were rewarded with two sets of footprints in the white powder. Cenred ordered his children to watch the exits for the warlock and this 'Arthur'. Hopefully, they wouldn't try escaping through the mirror.

"There they are!" He heard Sophia call, and the trolls turned their attention to a small boat docked at the bank of the river. The raven haired warlock stood towards the bow, untying the boat from the dock. Next to him was a larger man with light blond hair and a long brown coat trying to help, but the boy kept swatting away his hands. On the other side of the deck, another man was standing next to a black dog, which he recognized as Princess Morgana. He smirked at the fact that he could now kill two birds with one stone.

"What are you waiting for?" he shouted, shaking his children from their daze. "After them!"


"I have it, Arthur!" Merlin scolded, slapping the wolf's hands away from the rope again. The blond stood up and looked back at the prison, frowning as he spotted three figures pursuing them.

"Oh, cripes!" he cursed, recognizing them as the troll king's Merlin's protests, he reached down and pulled the rope loose, allowing them to drift away from the shore.

Merlin screamed as Valiant jumped from the river bank and clung to the back of the boat. Reacting quickly, he swung a piece wood from the deck down on the burly troll's head forcing him to let go and fall into the river. Arthur and Gwaine both let out a cheer as the boat floated further and further from the trolls, who were now all three floating in the river looking back at the shore, where their father stood shaking his head.

"Pitiful." Cenred spat, looking over his children with distaste. "You dare call yourselves my children? You-" The troll king took a sharp intake of breath as a terrible pain filled his head, filling it with one thought.

"Mirror…" he moaned, barely noticing his children's worried faces as they approached him. "Find me a mirror…"

The trolls rushed into a shack on the outskirts of Beantown, where Cedric found a large but simple mirror and held it in front of his father. Valiant and Sophia gasped when the queen's face reflected back at them, an annoyed smirk on her lips.

"Hello, Cenred. Thank you so much for joining me."

The troll king glowered back at her. "Do that to me again and I'll kill ya!"

"Of course, Your Majesty." She responded, her condescending tone not lost on him. "Do your children have the dog?"

Cenred looked around at his children, who were fidgeting uncomfortably. "Not exactly."

"You do surprise me, Cenred. How in the Nine Kingdoms could she possibly escape your tiny, little grasp?"

"Don't you talk to me like that!" he spat, but the queen ignored him.

"She must be captured. Send your children after her. And what are you still doing in Beantown? Return to your kingdom and await further instructions."

"I don't take orders from you-" he began, but Nimueh had already disappeared, the troll king's reflection in her place.


A/N So, question. Who do you think would make a really good Huntsman? I have someone in mind, but I'm not really 100% sure if he's who I'm going to use and I'd love to hear any suggestions.

Reviews are like pizza, and pizza is love.

Review.