As Merlin gazed at Arthur, he saw all of his plans falling apart. He and Gaius had assumed that Arthur would be walking, not riding, and certainly not tied to a horse. The spells they had looked at were distracting ones or spells that would allow Arthur to be free of his captors. None of them took into account an extra ton of flesh. Fear started to creep into existence. He simply had no idea what to do.

Arthur was in no better of a position. He could clearly see the gold, which meant his father had paid the ransom. That answered one of his questions. But what about the others? What would happen to him? He struggled once again with the ropes binding his wrists and, again, there was no give. With a frustrated sigh, he looked up, directly into the eyes of the bandit leader.

"Well, it looks like your father loves you after all. Isn't that sweet? But now, what will we do with you? I could think of some great entertainment." He chuckled, a low, grating sound. "Yes, I think I know just what to do with you." He pulled out a knife. Panic swept through Arthur. He struggled even more. But, the bandit simply cut the ropes binding him to the horse and pulled him off. His hands were still bond before him.

Merlin, from his position in the tree, saw all of this happening, through he couldn't hear what they said. He shifted nervously, hoping for an opening somewhere, anywhere. Looking around for inspiration, which usually worked, yielded nothing. Hearing a yell, he turned back toward Arthur only to see that the prince didn't really need his help but was sprinting straight across the clearing, his bound hands barely a hindrance. There was no way these men were going to kill him without a fight.

Glancing over his shoulder, Arthur felt his apprehension lift a little. Even with little food in the last day, he was in better shape than these half starved bandits. Hopefully, he would be able to disappear in the woods once he got there. With a lighter heart, he turned forward again. If only he could get rid of these blasted ropes.

As he watched the flight of the prince, Merlin couldn't quite figure out why he wasn't relieved that Arthur was escaping by himself. Perhaps he had wanted to save him again? No. That couldn't be it. Suddenly, realization struck him. Arthur was running right towards him! If the bandits had to search for Arthur among the trees, they would most likely find him too!

Unaware of the plight of his servant, Arthur finally made it to the woods and started weaving in between the trees, trying to lose his pursuers. He knew he was making way to much noise to simply disappear but maybe there would be some ditch or rotten log that was inconspicuous enough to hide him. He tripped over a protruding root and when he got back to his feet, he noticed that his hands were free. Must have broke when I landed, he thought.

Merlin held his breath as Arthur ran under his tree, followed soon after by the bandits. Did all of them run by? It was hard to count through the branches that lay between him and the forest floor. He could see Arthur enough to take advantage of his stumble to finally free him from his bonds. At least that one spell had been helpful. Now Arthur would be able to run at his full speed and hopefully shake off his pursuers.

Deciding that all of the bandits had passed by, Merlin climbed down the tree, trying not to make a lot of noise. Thinking he had been successful, he turned and promptly walked into the grip of the bandit leader.

"Well, well. What do we have here? Did Uther send you? Or did you just miss our hospitality so much that you had to come back? No matter, I'm sure the prince will give himself up now that he knows we have you." Grabbing Merlin's upper arm, the bandit dragged him, stumbling, into the clearing.

Arthur heard a shout. He lay in a ditch behind a log. It was deep enough that he was hidden completely and could not be seen unless someone stepped up on the log, which seemed improbable. He wondered who was shouting. Most of the men had fallen silent while trying to find him. He heard it again and tried to understand what was being said.

"..ave ser…give…self…" Was all he could make out. Lifting himself just to the height of the log, he was able to hear the next shout loud and clear. It was a voice he was very familiar with.

"I have your servant, your highness. If you ever want to see him again, give yourself up now. Otherwise, he will suffer the consequences." Arthur knew the only servant in the entire kingdom who could get into such a predicament. Merlin.