Hi Everyone. Sorry for the long wait but life got in the way. Thank you to all of you who continue to read and to those of you that review. I really appreciate it. :)

Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Nine – Captured!

The musketeers decided to leave their rapiers behind as they would be of little use against the broadswords and would only add extra weight. They stashed them in the cave and hoped that they wouldn't be stolen. All kept their daggers and pistols but knew they would have to use the firearms sparingly as their ammunition was limited with Aramis carrying the most. Merlin was looking apprehensive. Calling Lancelot and asking him to risk his life for Arthur was palatable but asking the three men that he had only just met to do the same for a man they didn't know was weighing heavily on him.

Merlin approached Athos quietly as the man appeared to be the one most willing to listen to reason.

'Athos?' Merlin asked.

'Hmm,' came Athos' reply without looking up.

'I err-,' Merlin started.

'Nobody blames you,' Athos cut him off looking up at the young warlock.

'Err,' Merlin stuttered, shocked at Athos being able to read his mind.

'You are having reservations about asking us to help and are feeling guilty that we have been brought here in the first place,' Athos stated quietly with his calm blue eyes meeting the other set. Merlin opened his mouth but no sound came out as he realised that Athos was a mind-reader. He shut his mouth quickly.

'Be rest assured that no-one blames you and if something were to happen, it is not your fault,' Athos continued. 'We are here because we would not leave him,' Athos indicated Aramis with a nod of his head, who was busy trying to work out exactly where they should be going with D'Artagnan and Porthos. 'He is here because of you. We are connected through Aramis, or Lancelot as you know him, and we would go through hell and back for him as he would for us.'

'And as he did for me,' Merlin said sadly.

'We are united. So let's go and save your king,' Athos gave the merest hint of a smile as he left Merlin to re-join the others.

It took them nearly two hours to negotiate the steep and rugged sides of the valley, while trying to be as quiet as possible as they did not want to attract any unwanted attention. Soon they cleared the forest and the ruins were in view ahead of them.

To the untrained eye the ruins looked abandoned but if one looked closely guards could be seen high up on the partly weathered battlements and at the entrance near the drawbridge which was covered in moss and ivy, shielding the guards from sight. The moat was also full with recent rain.

'Well, I don't fancy trying the drawbridge,' Athos stated voicing the concerns that they all shared.

'I think we need to scout for other possible entrances,' Aramis agreed. 'Let's spread out and see what our options are. Just nobody get too close.' The others all nodded as they split up trying to surround the ruins and find any other way in before darkness fell.

For his size Porthos moved stealthily with the skills he had learnt at young age when he had been living in the Court of Miracles as he managed to move around the ruins to the other side. Unfortunately he saw no other entrances but did see some stables and quietly made his way back to the others. Aramis and Merlin too had found no identifiable entries that would suffice but Athos had chosen to move closer and had spotted a grate covered with ivy and moss. As he approached he could see that it was unguarded and hadn't been used recently, suggesting that the guards had no knowledge of it. He couldn't be sure where the tunnel led but he was sure it led under the moat and most likely into the ruins. He turned back to relay what he had found.

D'Artagnan had also decided to take a closer look but he had chosen to scour the drawbridge itself, just in case no other entrances could be found.

He could see that the drawbridge was worn but it would need to be activated from the other side. The moat would make it tricky as the guards would signal as soon as the musketeers broke cover and the drawbridge would never be dropped. The battlements that overhung the entrance were sturdy as guards passed quietly over the top. The drawbridge was not an option.

D'Artagnan started to move back to others but froze when he heard a voice, 'Hello boy. What brings you here?'

Tréville arrived at the palace wondering what Louis could possibly want while a niggle of worry was starting to make itself known due to the absence of the Inseparables. Tréville entered the throne room and bowed to the King and Queen, while Cardinal Richelieu stood at the King's side.

'Ah, Captain Tréville,' Louis beamed and Tréville half-smiled back.

'Your Majesty. You are in fine spirits today,' Tréville replied, wondering what had put the King in such a good mood.

'Indeed Captain. I have decided that we're going hunting tomorrow!'

'Sire, that is extremely short notice,' Tréville did his best to not sound accusing but Louis' demeanour was still buoyant.

'Oh nonsense Tréville,' Louis waved his hand dramatically. 'How difficult is it to get your musketeers together? The Red Guard will have any duties here as obviously Anne cannot travel,' he kissed Anne's hand delicately, with pride shining from him. She was glowing as her pregnancy was progressing.

'Of course,' Tréville answered as he tried and failed to keep his annoyance from his voice. Louis, however, did not seem to notice.

'You have your orders,' Cardinal Richelieu sneered from the King's side, clearly noting the annoyance in Tréville's voice.

Tréville made to leave but was called back.

'Oh Captain, can you make sure that, oh what's his name...Aramis, that's it. Make sure Aramis is with us. He is by far the best shot,' he turned to Anne who was smiling, 'and we always have a good haul when he's around.'

'I can confirm he is an excellent shot,' Anne smiled. 'He, along with Athos, was instrumental in keeping the assassins away.' She looked rather smugly at Cardinal Richelieu who visibly gulped as he remembered the hold she and the musketeers held over him for ordering her death.

Tréville felt fear overcome him as he would have to admit that he had no idea where the Inseparables were. Richelieu would push for them to be named deserters and the penalty for desertion was death.

'I'm afraid that may not be possible, Sire,' Tréville tried to keep the fear out of his voice.

'Why not?' Louis demanded petulantly.

'I have sent Aramis and his friends north. We had heard of skirmishes in some of the towns and villages north of Paris,' Tréville surprised himself with his ability to lie so quickly. 'Depending on what they find, they may return tonight or it may be several days before they return,' Tréville finished confidently, knowing that he had no idea when they would return or why they had disappeared.

'I have heard of no skirmishes,' Richelieu drawled.

'Information came to the garrison directly and I did not want to worry anyone until I knew whether the rumours were correct,' Tréville explained to Louis who was looking at him questioningly.

'Very well,' Louis sighed disappointedly. 'You will of course bring them on the hunt if they return tonight?'

'Of course, Sire,' Tréville answered, 'and give them a piece of my mind!' he thought as he bowed and left.

Tréville stalked purposefully towards his horse with anger rising at the Inseparables for leaving him in the dark and yet worry was nagging at him as he couldn't help but fear that they were in danger.

'Hello boy. What brings you here?' D'Artagnan turned to see a man dressed in chainmail and yellowing teeth grinning evilly at him. A broadsword was held towards his throat and D'Artagnan tried not to show his fear.

'Just out for stroll,' D'Artagnan answered.

'Really? Cos it looked like you was spying to me,' the man said as two man dressed in similar clothing appeared.

D'Artagnan was pulled roughly to his feet by the other men and he knew escape was not likely.

'Look at this,' one man said throwing the sword that D'Artagnan was carrying to the one with yellow teeth.

'What's a boy like you doing with a sword like this?' the man asked.

'I need it for protection,' D'Artagnan made his face as serious as he could. 'There's bandits and wild animals out here. Never know what danger you may find.'

'Really?' the man smirked.

'Should we kill him,' one of the other men asked as D'Artagnan failed to suppress an involuntary shudder.

'Nah. We'll let Trickler decide. Let's lock him up with the others,' D'Artagnan assumed that 'the others' meant the knights and not his friends. Athos was going to kill him, he was sure of it.

The men led D'Artagnan towards the ruins and with three-to-one against and no weapon D'Artagnan decided compliance was the best course of action. He was outnumbered and the chainmail the men wore would only lead to sore fists for him. They seemed to want him alive and he didn't want to change their stance.

'Dammit,' came Aramis' voice as he saw D'Artagnan being led towards the ruins by three soldiers as looked through the spyglass.

'What?' Merlin asked quietly beside his friend.

'Yes, what?' Athos voice came from behind as Porthos joined them as well.

'Look,' Aramis stated simply as he passed the spyglass to Athos.

'Oh, shit,' Athos cursed and passed the spyglass to Porthos.

'So now we're one man short and we've got an extra to rescue,' Porthos sighed.

'But it does look as though they are going to keep him alive for now. They'd have killed him otherwise,' Aramis said trying to put a positive spin on the situation.

'Not to mention that if he is put with Arthur and the knights he can warn them that we're coming and they will be ready,' Merlin pointed out as the others grumbled in agreement.

'Doesn't stop me wanting to kill him though,' Athos said dryly with a small smirk. 'I found a tunnel that looks like it goes under the moat and into the castle. It appears that the guards are unaware of it but it is locked.'

'That shouldn't be too much of a problem,' Aramis turned smiling at Merlin who returned the smile.

'Well I guess that's sorted then,' Porthos rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

'We need to wait for darkness,' Athos sat down as did Porthos as they waited for the cover of darkness which would allow them to strike.

D'Artagnan was led to the drawbridge that he had been scouring just moments before as his captors waved up to the battlements and moments later the drawbridge creaked into life and began to lower. The men had stripped him of all his weapons but D'Artagnan had to use a lot of restraint not to laugh as one man peered down the barrel of the pistol with no clue that he if pressed the trigger he would be dead instantly.

They crossed the drawbridge as D'Artagnan noted that including the three men that had captured him he had so far seen a total of ten men. A sword was being pressed uncomfortably into his back as D'Artagnan was forced further into the ruins. He assumed that he would be held in the dungeons below the structure so was surprised when they led him through a series of corridors and up several sets of stairs before coming to an open landing. At the top D'Artagnan looked over the bannister and could see what he presumed would have once been the throne room below. He gulped slightly as he realised that it was quite a drop.

He was pulled back roughly as the door in front of him was unlocked. Twelve men, D'Artagnan counted as he was pushed harshly forward. The room was dimly lit by a few candles and D'Artagnan could see that through the small window darkness was approaching outside. There were two barred cells in front of him and both were occupied.

In the first one, a man with blond hair was sat leaning against the wall at the back of the cell resting his forearms on his bent knees. Next to him was a man the size of Porthos who looked like he could easily throw any man a great distance without even trying. The third man was dark-skinned and had obviously just stopped pacing when the main door had been unlocked.

In the second cell sat a man with longer blond hair who was watching D'Artagnan with weary eyes. The second man had dark brown hair and had more facial hair than the rest put to together. D'Artagnan couldn't help but smile slightly as he was reminded of Aramis and how he wished he could grow a beard like the marksman if he wanted to.

He was guided towards the second cell and was pushed harshly inside and fell catching himself on his hands so he didn't hit the floor. None of the men inside the cells made any effort to escape as the guards had their swords at the ready. D'Artagnan turned to see his dagger and pistol being placed on the table against the wall in front of the second cell.

'I don't think a lot of your manners,' D'Artagnan quipped as he picked himself up and brushed the dirt from his hands.

'Watch your mouth boy,' warned a guard but D'Artagnan just smiled back.

'How many more of you are there?' another guard asked.

'Well as far as I know, there is only one of me,' D'Artagnan replied cheekily. He slid down the wall onto the floor with his back resting against the side wall as he eyed the men who had captured him. 'Not sure the world could cope with more than one.' D'Artagnan turned to see the dark haired man in his cell smile in amusement.

'You-,' the guard started but the other held him back.

'How many friends to do you have?' the other guard cut-off his comrade.

'Plenty,' D'Artagnan smirked. Anger crossed the man's face as D'Artagnan added, 'They're obviously not with me now. But they do exist.' Athos would be glaring daggers at him right now but Aramis and Porthos would be smirking, D'Artagnan was sure of it.

'Where are they?' the first man asked not bothering to disguise his rising temper.

'Somewhere,' came the short reply.

'You arrogant little-.'

'He's not worth it,' the second man said to his comrade, 'He'll be dead soon anyway,' and with a last glance at D'Artagnan they left the room and the outside door was locked.

'That...was not wise,' came the voice of the blonde man in the other cell.

'Yeah. Athos is going kill me when he finds out. I'm D'Artagnan by the way,' D'Artagnan looked around to the men.

'Gwaine.'

'Leon,' both men shaking D'Artagnan's hand.

'Percival.'

'Elyan.'

'Arthur,' all three men reaching between the bars that separated them to shake D'Artagnan's hand.

D'Artagnan was struggling to believe that he was now in the presence of King Arthur and the Knights of Camelot.

'What are you doing here D'Artagnan?' Arthur asked, jolting D'Artagnan out of his thoughts.

D'Artagnan huffed a laugh before answering, 'I'm supposed to be rescuing all of you.'

'Going well then,' came Gwaine's sarcastic reply but his smirk was friendly.

'Who else was with you?' Percival asked.

'My friends. Athos, Porthos and Aramis,' D'Artagnan replied. He thought it best not to mention that Aramis was in fact the reincarnation of Lancelot. The marksman could deal with that.

'Only three men,' Elyan sounded disappointed.

'I've seen twelve men as I was brought here. So make it a round twenty. I fancy my friends' chances personally,' D'Artagnan replied. 'Oh I almost forgot. We found Merlin. He's fine.'

'WHAT!' Gwaine had made the distance in a second and was now pressing D'Artagnan up against the wall. 'YOU DARE TO MENTION HIS NAME! THEN LIE SAYING HE IS ALRIGHT! I SAW THE WOUND. NO MAN COULD LIVE FROM THAT!' Gwaine's anger was abating and his voice tremored as he thought of his friend. Merlin could not have survived that. Leon was tugging at Gwaine encouraging him to let go while the other three were stood close to the bars watching on. Gwaine finally released D'Artagnan who took a few deep breaths as he had been winded by the force of Gwiane pulling him up and slamming him against the wall.

'I promise you Sir Gwaine, Merlin is ok. He can explain it himself when you see him,' D'Artagnan moved over to Gwaine who was sat on the floor with his head on Leon's shoulder sobbing. 'I promise you I would not lie about it.'

Gwaine looked up and gave D'Artagnan a short nod which was followed by a quiet, 'Sorry.'

D'Artagnan was distracted as he looked at Leon's left arm. 'That's infected,' he said to the knight who just nodded.

'You didn't say anything,' Gwaine moved to look.

'There's nothing that can be done,' Leon said quietly looking dejected. His fever was worsening and he knew he needed treatment soon if there was any chance for him. But D'Artagnan was smiling.

'Well look on the bright side, you're going to get a lot of attention from Aramis,' D'Artagnan couldn't contain the teasing in his voice. Leon looked at him quizzically. 'Aramis is our resident medic and mother hen. Best not to fight him. I know I wouldn't be here without his abilities though.'

'You seem confident that these men will come for you?' Arthur questioned, sensing that the young man's beliefs were true and not merely for show.

'We're brothers,' D'Artagnan stated with confidence. 'Not by blood,' he clarified, 'but we would follow each other...anywhere,' D'Artagnan couldn't help his laugh as he thought of the situation he was in. Yes he had followed Aramis back in time to Camelot because the marksman had a funny feeling. Knowing the outcome, he would do it again without question. Yes, Aramis. It was for the marksman to explain, not him.

TBC