"I'm not sure you should be doing this My Lady," Gaius said.
"But I am," Morgana said. She walked along next to her horse, and she was now dressed in her battle gear, hidden under a cloak. Gaius and Gwen were also similarly concealed. Merlin was across the back of one of the horses, hidden under a blanket. They had just cleared the edge of the citadel, and were going slowly. Any sort of hurry and they might draw attention to themselves.
"You need someone to protect Merlin, and if Arthur can't get away from Uther, then you'll be on your own. Arthur's a little more conspicuous than me."
"With any luck Arthur can follow us," Gwen said.
"It depends on what he tells Uther. He'll be less than pleased by what we've done, although it doesn't look like any soldiers are being sent out to follow us. When we get to those trees we'll mount up," Morgana said. "Are you sure you know where we're going, Gaius?"
"If the maps are correct, but it will take us out of the kingdom, that's the worst risk. I would feel better if Arthur was here," Gaius said. Merlin gave a muffled answer that appeared to be an agreement, or it could have been a grumble about his undignified hiding place.
"I'm just as competent as Arthur," Morgana said. "And it's not like I've never been in battle before."
"But we are going against sorcerers," Gaius mused.
"Gaius," Morgana moved a little closer. They were still walking, heading towards the tree line, but her stare became a little more intense.
"You used to practice sorcery," she murmured in a low tone. Gaius frowned.
"A long time ago, My Lady."
"But you know enough," Morgana insisted. "If we need it."
"I'm still not sure we should be doing this alone," Gaius said.
"We can't risk Uther's solution to the problem," Morgana said, as they moved out of sight of the castle she paused and flipped the reins over the neck of her horse. Gwen moved to do the same and Gaius pulled the blanket off Merlin and lifted him off the saddle. Morgana mounted up and Gaius reached up to settle Merlin on the horse in front of her. Morgana put an arm around him, holding him steady with one hand, keeping the horses reins in the other.
"Are you all right Merlin?"
Merlin nodded, looking apprehensive, especially as he looked down at the ground. Gwen and Gaius mounted up and very carefully they set off. Merlin looked around.
"Arthur knows where we are going though," Gwen said. "Hopefully he can catch us up."
"That I feel depends on what he tells Uther, I really do think we are going to need some help," Gaius said, sounding very doom laden about the whole thing. Morgana nudged her horse into canter and the other followed, Merlin turned to look back but there wasn't much to see now as they headed off. Worry flickered across his face as Camelot disappeared from view and as they left Arthur behind.
Arthur, unfortunately, had ended up having to tell Uther the truth. The only fortunate bit about it was that he had managed to clear most people out of the council chamber. Only Sir Leon remained to listen to the story. Arthur winced as his father started to pace up and down.
"You knew sorcery had occurred, right under our noses and you chose to conceal it!" Uther snarled, pacing up and down the room. Arthur watched him. He had managed to distract Uther long enough for the others to make plans to get Merlin away. Then he was a little lost as to what to say beyond that. Nothing that his mind ran through sounded even remotely plausible, and most of it would have ended up with Uther wanting Merlin killed. Arthur didn't want that.
"I wanted to investigate what had occurred. Gaius was able to find enough information."
Uther stopped pacing, eyes locked with Arthur's. He was also forced to implicate everyone else now, since had had to admit what had gone on. But he didn't want anyone else getting into trouble. Since they had disappeared from the citadel, then it was most certainly inevitable when they returned. All Arthur could do now was damage limitation.
"He was acting under my orders," Arthur said.
"And Morgana?" Uther asked.
"She didn't know anything about it until today."
"Before or after she was attacked?" Uther's voice had gone dangerously low. Arthur cringed again.
"After, I didn't know that was going to happen! It's the first time since Merlin's been out of the citadel, and without me!"
"So, they could have been waiting for that exact moment."
"It would appear so Sire," Arthur said quietly.
"And now, they appear to have left the citadel, alone, walking into that danger."
"That's why I need to go after them. I need to deal with this situation. Merlin is my responsibility," Arthur paused, deciding not to look his father in the eye at that point in time. "They all are."
"And yet, you let them go running off into danger." Uther stopped pacing, facing his son. Arthur swallowed dryly and considered his next words very carefully.
"I didn't let them, Morgana has her own mind, and she can take care of herself. But I do need to go after them, we need to get Merlin to the second circle to undo the spell, and that will be where these people are."
"Tell me where they are going, and we can send a patrol."
Arthur looked at Uther carefully and then shook his head. "No, I go."
He watched the anger flare up in his father. "Don't try my patience boy! I should have you thrown in the stocks for this!"
"Fine!" Arthur shouted back. "Just wait until I've dealt with this. Don't you see, Merlin triggered this spell early, he was not the intended target!"
Although Gaius and Merlin both had slightly differing thoughts to Arthur on that subject, Arthur as the potential recipient of the spell still did hold as a theory. Uther frowned as he looked Arthur up and down. Arthur, very slowly, elaborated.
"A spell that close to Camelot, and Gaius was guessing that it took a long time to build, on one of the hunting grounds I use regularly. It was probably meant for me, when these people were ready to activate it. Merlin just happened upon it. Indirectly he's done us a big favour."
"They were after you?" Uther said, his tone of voice changing dramatically. Arthur nodded.
"It would seem the most logical option. If you wanted to take me for any reason it would certainly work, plus we can't entirely anticipate what they are planning. But they now can't complete their plan, they only have any hope of salvaging the situation if they can get hold of Merlin."
"It would appear that is not going to be a problem for them," Uther snarled.
"But if we don't get Merlin to the site of the counter spell then he is stuck as he is. I can't let that happen, nor do I want him to get hurt."
Uther frowned, glaring at Arthur. "What is it about this boy that makes you so completely irrational? He's just a servant."
Arthur blinked, he supposed Uther would see it like that. The prince frowned, wondering how he could explain it. There was just something about Merlin, something that Arthur couldn't really define.
"He's my servant, he's irritating, smart-mouthed and can't hold his own in a fight to save his life, but I know for a fact if this had happened to me, or to anyone, including you…"
Uther turned sharply at that, anger flashing in his eyes but it was tempered now by curiosity.
"… Merlin would move heaven and earth to help, probably putting himself in danger as he did so. Something he wouldn't think twice about. He's loyal to me because he wants to be, not because he's vowed to uphold the principles of this kingdom."
Arthur was glad, when he said that, that only his father and Leon were in the room. There were probably some things he shouldn't say, any affection for Merlin was something he should probably keep under wraps. He watched his father debating with himself. The main key to this was Morgana's safety, Arthur knew that. Uther wouldn't want anything happening to her. Arthur didn't want anything happening to her. Or any of them that had chosen to go with Merlin.
"I admit, maybe I should have told you the truth from the start, but…" Arthur paused, looking for a tactful way to say what he wanted to say. He was quite certain there wasn't one.
"But… I didn't want to just randomly start a panic over what had happened, it seemed more sensible to keep Merlin under wraps. It seemed the less people that knew the better, and I didn't want Merlin blamed for something that wasn't his fault."
Uther's face remained completely impassive, Arthur didn't know if he was doing any good or not. It was often so hard to tell with his father. Arthur didn't want to point out that any mention of sorcery always seemed to set his father off in a way that Arthur considered a little irrational. The incident with Gwen's father taught Arthur that lesson.
"Sir Leon can accompany you," Uther said, the order having a finality about it that meant Arthur was not going to argue. He was getting his way well enough.
"Thank you Sire," Arthur bowed and backed up, getting out while the going was good. Or at least as good as he was ever going to get it. Leon bowed to the king and started to follow Arthur. They were both stopped as Uther's voice rang out again.
"Arthur."
He paused and turned to look at his father, who waited a moment before saying.
"If anything happens to Morgana, or you for that matter, I don't care what state that servant of yours is in, I will have him executed."
Arthur felt his jaw harden, he knew Uther meant that and he wouldn't back down from it.
"Yes, Sire."
"I'm not going in again," Gwen said, raising her hands in surrender. "I can hardly sit in the saddle my backside has been pinched so much."
The group regarded the small village they had paused in. There were in fact two taverns this time. They had paused twice previously, at Merlin's instigation.
"You stay with the horses then, Morgana, you try that one, it looks a little more respectable, I'll go into the other one. Are you sure about this Merlin?"
Looking up at them Merlin nodded, eyes wide. His idea of help was not exactly panning out very well. The other places they had tried had not been far off their route, but they were going to have to make a decision soon enough. It was coming to late afternoon and they would have to stop somewhere overnight.
"Fine, we'll try here, and then push on to the next town. We should hopefully be able to get lodgings there, if not, we'll find somewhere in the forest to bed down," Morgana said. She pushed her cloak back a little to show her armour, and her sword. It might put off the more eager of the men.
"Oh, take Merlin with you," Gaius said.
"Gaius, I can't take him into a tavern!"
Merlin blinked, looking from one to the other with interest.
"You might get bothered less if you've got a child with you," Gaius said. Gwen rolled her eyes, and rubbed her sore backside.
"Now you think of that," she muttered to herself. Merlin's little hand patted her leg sympathetically. Morgana smiled, trying not to look amused as she held out her hand.
"Come on then Merlin, we'll give it a try."
Merlin trotted along with her and they moved through the stalls that were spread out in front of the large tavern. The traders glanced at the pair of them, they were strangers, she was well dressed and carrying a sword. It was bound to attract some attention. She helped Merlin up the small set of steps and pushed the door open.
"Now, don't wander off," she ordered him as she looked at the crowds in the tavern. Merlin nodded very seriously and as Morgana scanned the room she bent down and lifted Merlin up, putting him on her hip, for the purposes of getting him across the room. She walked swiftly, moving through the crowd, again aware of the eyes following her. Reaching the bar she put Merlin down on a stool and he gazed around with interest, smiling where necessary, and scowling at one group who were quite obviously making ribald comments about Morgana. They all looked at the furious little boy with surprise, and then all yelped as the tankard in the middle of their table suddenly tipped up, spilling its contents everywhere. Happy with that Merlin turned his attention back to the rest of the room.
"Excuse me?" Morgana asked, catching the attention of the nearest barmaid. She turned, eyeing Morgana up and down, calculating the cost of her clothes, looking at her face and rich dark hair.
"Can I help you?" she asked, sounding as if she'd rather not.
"I'm looking for someone," Morgana started. The barmaid's lips quirked as she glanced at Merlin, before looking back at Morgana. Morgana could see the assumptions being made as the woman opposite her looked at her and then dark haired child accompanying her. Inwardly Morgana snarled, but kept the smile on her face, she needed answers, not to get into an argument over Merlin's parentage.
"Yes, he might be here, or passed through here…" Morgana started. Merlin stopped listening, instead he looked around intently, peering through the door that led to another room. His eyes widened and he beamed with delight. A second later he swung down off the stool with amazing agility and disappeared through the door.
Morgana turned, but not in time to see Merlin's disappearance, instead she growled as she looked at the now empty stool.
"Merlin!" she snarled, raising her voice a little, before heading off to search for him.
In the other room the man smiled at his companion. It was as charming as ever, but there was an edge of nerves to it. The woman smiled gently and reached out to take his hand.
"We should speak to my father," she said, smiling back.
"Well, I'm sure that might seem like a good idea but…" he started talking, mind rolling over the way to get away from the conversation when he paused as something grabbed hold of him. Both of them watched in surprise as the little boy clambered up into his lap and smiled up at him.
"Hello!" Merlin said brightly.
"Hello," he drawled in response, sounding slightly confused. He turned and looked around, spotting the stunning dark-haired woman who was scanning the bar. He frowned, realising she seemed a little familiar, and then he looked down at the little boy again, and then up to his companion, who had also spotted the woman searching the bar. She looked down at the little boy again and came to the same conclusion as the barmaid. Her eyes widened and she huffed, getting up abruptly she spun on her heel and stormed out. The little boy giggled.
The man laughed and reached down to pick the little boy up around the torso.
"Well, not that I mind the timely intervention there little fella, but…" he paused as he lifted the little boy up to look at him. He blinked, once and then again, very slowly, as a smile of shock and disbelief spread across his face, and he gave a short huff of laughter. Slowly he lowered Merlin down to let him stand on his legs and the man stared at the little boy even more intently.
Merlin lifted his hand and gave a little wave, smiling slightly. The man leant forward, staring at Merlin's eyes intently, looking him up and down, seeing the familiar features, now slightly altered by his young age.
Gwaine sniggered again, jaw dropping before he shook himself, looked again into the familiar blue eyes and eventually gasped.
"Merlin?"