While Arthur, Merlin and Gwaine raced for the stables, word spread rapidly throughout the entire citadel that Agravaine had been spotted. Leon had been ordered to stay in the castle and act as a central point of command until Arthur returned; in honesty, he'd been amazed that the King had managed to keep himself away from the action up till now. Leon had observed Arthur growing and settling into his role as sovereign since the untimely death of Uther and he doubted that even a few months ago, the young man would have shown such maturity and self control in similar circumstances.
When Sir Percival heard Agravaine had been sighted, he set off for the stables as fast as he could; a need to stand united against the enemy fuelling his progress through the dark of night. Like Merlin, he was deeply sickened by the cold hearted treatment of Sir Lancelot and by the personal nature of the latest attack on his leader's confidence. His heart thumped loudly in his chest, both due to physical exertion and with the need to display his loyalty to his brother's - whether they are knights, royalty or servant.
Sir Elyan too, longed to stand beside his fellow knights but his swimming head said otherwise. He realised he would be more of a hindrance than a help in his present state, so decided it was best to stay in the castle. He staggered up to Gwen instead: at least he could offer her some comfort and reassurance during this troubled night.
As they approached the royal stables, Arthur, Merlin and Gwaine could see the orange glow of torch light ahead as the search continued. Well over a score of guards, knights and stable hands were combing the buildings and surrounds for any sight of the criminal or evidence that he had been present earlier.
"Sir Boris. What's going on here?" Arthur demanded of the most senior knight he came across.
"Sire. There's no sign yet I'm afraid. Apparently no horses are missing though." The young knight answered; face reddening in embarrassment at the admission. "He must still be around somewhere." He added quickly as he watched Arthur's expression change from hopeful to anger.
"Okay, keep on it." In truth, Arthur was thoroughly frustrated at the lack of success but he did not wish to convey this disappointment to his men. Sir Boris was one of his best up and coming younger knights and was exactly the sort of man Arthur wanted in his army. He knew the man would be doing everything he possibly could to apprehend Agravaine, as indeed would all his trustworthy knights, so directing his anger toward him would achieve nothing.
Merlin and Gwaine had entered into the main stable block to help the others. Merlin rubbed the forehead of his favourite mare, Cora, as he passed by her stable. The dark bay rubbed back at his hand, obviously enjoying the attention.
"If only she could tell you whether Agraviane's been here tonight." Gwaine commented as he saw the interchange between man and horse.
Merlin snorted a small laugh in reply. He'd heard Gaius talking of magic users who could understand animals, so they did exist but it wasn't something Merlin himself had ever given much thought to. He felt a certain affinity for the horses to be sure and obviously animals of magic such as dragons and unicorns had a connection with him, but that was as far as he'd taken it.
It was worth a try though, surely?
Merlin whispered comforting words to Cora as his hands caressed the white star shaped marking on her head. Concentrating deeply on the animal in front of him, he forced all the noise and movement going on around them to fade away into the distance until it was only the two of them in existence. Then gently and somewhat hesitantly, Merlin extended a tendril of magic toward the horse, using his experience of telepathic speaking as a starting point. He'd not done anything like this before so wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. Furthermore, he had no wish to scare Cora so went very slowly and carefully, keeping his comforting touch on the mare as he proceeded.
In his mind's eye he pictured his magic as a thin golden thread, moving amongst Cora's own thoughts in an unobtrusive and non threatening manner. Merlin had read accounts of sorcerer's who had been experts in mind reading and remembered their references to the infiltration of the other's mind then the 'sucking out' of any information that could be useful. He supposed it was at this stage in the procedure that one pervaded the other's thoughts and memories. The very idea of abusing another's privacy like that repulsed the young warlock and he hoped there would never be a need for him too carry out such a task.
Merlin sent his magic forwards, caressing Cora's memories and thoughts as gently as he possibly could in his search for Arthur's traitorous uncle. The golden tendril swirled and twisted, never ceasing in its search, until finally... success.
As though looking through Cora's eyes, Merlin saw a view of Agravaine as he furtively entered the stables, panting and puffing as though he'd been running. He stopped to catch his breath for a moment before glancing over his shoulder then heading to the tack room at the end of the building.
Agravaine had emerged again, carrying a saddle and other equipment with him when one of the older stable boys entered the stable block, a flickering torch held up before him to light his way. Trent was doing a routine check of the horses and did not even realise there was anything to be worried about as all the action was still taking place nearer the castle.
Lord Agravaine had seen the light reflecting off the walls well before the boy came into view and quickly dumped the saddle down where he stood, seeking cover behind a stack of hay bales.
Trent peered in at each horse as he moved along the row of stalls and it wasn't until he reached about half way point that he noticed the saddle lying in a pile of hay, slap bang in the middle of the walkway. As the boy bent down to pick it up and return it to its proper place, a couple of the horses gave nervous whinnies. They'd been having trouble with rats lately and the boy made a mental note to ask the girls in the kitchen if he could borrow a few of their cats again to deal with the problem. He still had no idea that anything was amiss as he assumed that one of the new lads must have forgotten to put the saddle away after they done cleaning it.
When he stood up with the wayward saddle, Trent noticed a glint of light out of the corner of his eye. He'd barely had time to turn around and note the tall, black cloaked man standing in front of him before the blade end of a large dagger was rushing toward him. Instinctively, he swiped at the dagger with the saddle he was holding and managed to knock it off target. Unfortunately, he lost his footing in the struggle and before he knew it his attacker was upon him again. Trent screamed as loud as he could before the dagger hit home - removing his ability to make a noise or even breathe.
"Wrong place, wrong time kid." The tight lipped Agravaine sneered unpleasantly, looking down at the boy as he gave his last few gasps. "The Lady Morgana thanks you for your sacrifice," he intoned as he lifted the dagger once again...
Merlin snapped back to reality with a jolt. His head spun sickeningly for a few moments and his whole body felt strained and exhausted. His gasps for air were overheard by Arthur, who had entered the stables and now stood near to where Merlin was.
"Merlin?" Arthur enquired, a note of worry hidden beneath his usual sarcasm. "Something wrong? Seen a mouse have we?"
"He was here." Merlin stuttered under his breath, eyes darting around frantically as he grappled with what to do next. "There must be evidence."
"What are you muttering about Merlin?" Arthur looked at his friend like he'd gone mad. When Merlin suddenly got onto his hands and knees and started scraping away at the hay on the floor, Arthur was even more convinced.
"Arthur, look at this. I think its blood."
Arthur squatted down beside his servant, a scowl of indignation on his face. "What are you on about Merlin?" His eyes travelled from Merlin's shocked face down to the dark red stain the boy had just uncovered.
He ran his finger through it and peered closely at the results. "This is fresh blood." He stated. "How did you ...?" Arthur stared into his servant's face questioningly.
Merlin was not returning his gaze however, instead his eyes were on the floor a little to Arthur's right and as he pulled aside more hay another sizeable stain of blood was revealed.
"Sir Boris!" Arthur called out commandingly over his shoulder as Merlin continued to follow the grizzly trail. By the time they reached a closed door, some five metres further along, Gwaine, Percival, Boris and a couple of other knights and guards had joined them. The door lead to a feed supply room and Merlin was the first to enter.
"I want this room searched from top to bottom!" Arthur delivered authoritatively as he put a hand on Merlin's shoulder to stop him going any further.
"How did you know there was blood under that hay?" He quizzed the young man, not letting go of his arm.
"Well, I ..." Merlin flailed mentally for a reasonable explanation, "I slipped on something ... and I know firsthand how fastidious the head stable hand is. He'd never have let the boys leave a spill like that lying around."
Arthur continued to stare at Merlin and was about to question him further when a cry of alarm interrupted him.
"Arthur, we've found something." Gwaine yelled out. He and Percival were squatting behind a couple of barrels of feed, on the other side of the room. Merlin could see the pallor of their faces and tension in their shoulders as he and Arthur approached. At first he couldn't make out what the men were looking at so sternly but as his eyes finally made sense of what he was looking at, the shape revealed itself. A dirty, pale hand was sticking out from underneath a couple of hessian sacks. Percival pulled back the rest of the covering to reveal the identity of the victim.
"This is one of the senior stable boys isn't it Merlin?" Arthur asked. Merlin swallowed thickly and nodded, unable to pull his eyes away from the lifeless stare of the youth before them.
"He must have walked in on Agravaine trying to steal a horse." Percival added quietly as he noted the saddle and other tack stuffed under the hessian sacks next to the twisted, bleeding body of the innocent boy.
"So he had to be kept quiet." Gwaine concluded. "That cold blooded murdering ..." he added under his breath.
Despite what Arthur's head had been telling him, somehow his heart was still pathetically clinging to the hope that it was all a horrible mistake. There was no way he could deny the evidence that had been building up over the course of the night though; his Uncle was a scheming, lying, murdering traitor.
Arthur felt all his self doubts rise to the surface again. How could he have been so gullible and easy to trick? What was wrong with him that he made such poor decisions about who to trust? As he had been taught to from a young age, Arthur pushed his emotions to the back of his mind and forced himself to carry on.
Summoning as much confidence as he could Arthur stood tall and spoke to the men gathered around him. "We need to keep looking!" He commanded, "If Agravaine left the saddle here and there are no horses missing, he must either still be on foot or still trying to find a mount. Take caution men. As we have seen here, a cornered animal is a dangerous beast!"
Merlin stumbled out into the night air again as men set off in a number of directions to further the search. Arthur was talking to Boris; telling him to keep the stables tightly guarded in case Agravaine came back, while Gwaine and Percival gravitated toward the warlock.
"Did you know the lad?" Percival asked him gently.
Merlin looked at him and nodded before speaking, "His name was Trent. I've known him for years. He used to always help me out when Arthur gave me stable duties as punishment." Merlin swallowed back tears before continuing. "He can't get away with these crimes."
Gwaine patted his friend on the back, "We'll catch him mate. We'll catch him."
Merlin managed a small smile at the knights words, feeling comforted by their solidarity even if, thus far, they had not been entirely successful.
"I could do with a drink right about now." The knight added wistfully, staring over to the nearest tavern which was less than a block away.
Percival glared at him angrily. "Is that all you can think about?"
"What? Calm down Percy." Gwaine held his hands up in surrender. There were some people it was pure stupidity to anger.
There were no lights coming from 'The Horse and Rider', it's bar section long since closed for the evening and it's guests all turned in for the night.
"Gwaine! That's it!" Merlin suddenly shouted before setting off up the road. "You're a genius!" he bellowed over his shoulder.
Having finished giving orders to Sir Boris, Arthur joined his two closest knights as they contemplated their next move. "Where's he going in such a hurry?" Arthur gestured toward Merlin, who was now some way down the road. "Merlin!"
The sorcerer stopped and turned back to where Arthur, Gwaine and Percival stood. Even from that far away they could see a twinkle in his eye, a twinkle which had been absent for most of the night.
"The Horse and Rider has its own stables doesn't it?" Merlin called back to them.
The three men looked at each other as realisation dawned.
"Percival, make sure there's horses ready if we need them! Gwaine, you're with me!" The King ordered before drawing his sword and heading up the street after his servant.
A few minutes later Arthur, Merlin and Gwaine crept into the small courtyard behind the tavern which housed their small stabling area, the overhanging section of the upper story providing ample shadows for them to hide in. All was in darkness and after the hubbub of the royal stables, the atmosphere seemed unnaturally still and quiet.
Arthur issued a series of hand signals, indicating for Gwaine to silently approach where the horses were kept from the right, while he and Merlin edged along from the other direction. They had almost closed in upon the stable doorway when, without warning a large dark shape catapulted noisily toward them, bursting apart the tranquillity of the night as it moved. Arthur instinctively threw himself back against the wall to get out of the way, dragging Merlin with him. Sir Gwaine wasn't so quick however and Merlin heard him scream as the entity collided with him and threw him into the air.
The apparition was not effected by the contact however and continued its rapid flight through the courtyard. By this stage, Merlin was finally able to get a proper view of what had 'attacked' them. The tell tale stutter of a horse galloping, the heavy breathing as it strove to accelerate and the eerie sounds of fabric flapping in accompaniment to the animal, suggested one thing; a rider desperate to escape.
As Merlin continued to stare after the horse and rider, Arthur had already begun to move.
"Guards!" he screamed. "Guards he's here!"
Torchlight flickering and the sound of horses neighing and stamping out in the street was followed by the entrance of Percival and several guards, most of whom were staring after the retreating figure of Agravaine.
"Bring the horses!" Arthur ordered as he ran toward them. His whole body was tense and on alert; his muscles primed and ready for action and his mind equally so. This whole business had been a personal matter for him and every fibre of his being cried out for vengeance. He'd pursue Agravaine relentlessly until he'd caught him and delivered the appropriate punishment.
Merlin was right behind him, and as Arthur mounted the stallion, Merlin reached to take the gelding from Percival. As he took hold of the reigns he caught the large knight's eye.
"I think Gwaine's hurt."
"Come on Merlin! We need to get after him!" Arthur's loud voice interrupted. At the same time he urged his mount to move, digging his boots into his flanks and leaning his body forwards. Merlin looked up at Arthur as he spoke, recognising the stubborn set of his shoulders and the determination in his face.
Percival must have noticed it too. "I'll see to him Merlin. You better get after Arthur. Tell him I'll send reinforcements." He urged the warlock.
Merlin nodded his agreement with the knight then sent his horse forwards after Arthur. If he was in one of his 'I won't give up until I can go no further' moods, it would not be wise to let him out of his sight. A stubborn, angry Arthur was synonymous with trouble and Merlin would fight with everything he had to prevent any harm from coming to this man who he shared such a momentous destiny with.
A/N: Poor Trent. Don't you hate it when OC's are added only so they can be killed off? Yes, it was cruel but I just wanted to emphasise how cruel and cold hearted Agravaine is. I hated the way he got away with Eoghan's murder in "The Hunter's Heart" so i invented this poor boy so that some vengeance could be had on the behalf of all the innocents Agravaine killed off.
I actually intended to get to the confrontation between Arthur and Agravaine by now but I gat a bit carried away - what with Merlin communicating with the hoses and stuff. Still, that would be a great skill to have. Anyway, any reviews warmly welcome.