Chapter Nine

Changing the bandages on Arthur's wound with the cloth Merlin bought held them up a little while, but at last they got to moving again. The prince and the warlock knew that they would have to go quickly to get to Camelot before their provisions ran out, but for the life of them, they just couldn't get very far that day. Merlin was still feeling tired, because it had been a long day. Attacked by bandits (or was that yesterday?), tied to a tree, attacked again, trekking through the forest on the way to Camelot with a stop in a small town to buy supplies—it was a long day indeed. And Arthur was irritable because he was in pain, and when Arthur was grouchy, it was really hard for them to do anything productive. Somehow they even managed to get lost for a moment—even with Arthur's tracking abilities and Merlin's sneaking history, which meant that he was actually rather adept at finding his way back where he came from.

Evening was upon them, and night was approaching, when they ran into either more trouble.

Merlin was just thinking about suggesting they stop for the night so they could both get sleep and get started early. Arthur was… being grumpy. They were walking in silence, but suddenly the prince froze and whispered Merlin's name.

"What?" Merlin turned back, watching a cautious expression come over Arthur's face.

"Did you hear that?" asked Arthur.

Merlin shook his head. "No…" Were they about to get attacked again? Was there a monster running about? Merlin hated monsters…

Arthur made a hand signal, like he always did, and though Merlin always failed to understand them, he figured this one meant 'stay still; be quiet.' Arthur's nerves were contagious, Merlin thought nervously, looking around. He strained his ears.

There! He heard it too. Something or somebody coming. Merlin pointed to the direction it was coming from, off to his left and Arthur's right, and Arthur nodded in agreement, motioning for Merlin to step back behind him. His hand rested on his sword.

Through the underbrush and trees, a figure stumbled towards them, and right before Merlin recognized it, he was hit by a sudden sense of déjà vu…

"Morgana!" Arthur cried in surprise, hand coming away from his sword.

Just like he had when they first found Morgana after her "kidnapping," Merlin wished that he could face a monster instead.

She gave Arthur a slightly wild-eyed look before rushing forward and hugging him tightly. "Arthur!" she cried, and Merlin fought the urge to roll his eyes. "I never thought I'd see you here!"

Arthur pushed her back and took in her slightly rumpled appearance. "What are you doing here, Morgana? Why aren't you back in Camelot?"

She shrugged. "I… I wanted to visit my father's grave, and I was with these guards… But then…"

"It was probably bandits," said Merlin, who decided he had been right when he thought Morgana was up to something. Arthur didn't notice the cold way he spoke, but Morgana did, and sent him a look that was almost a glare. She only kept it civil because Arthur was looking.

"Yes," she agreed.

"They're running rampant, Arthur." Merlin's voice was quiet and dry. "You really need to do something about all these bandits running around."

This time even Arthur noticed the odd way he talked and shot him a confused glance, as if to ask why he was being so cold to the distraught Lady Morgana. "They were probably the same ones who gave us trouble."

Morgana's expression was too shocked to be genuine. "You were attacked by bandits? Is that why your horses aren't here?"

"Yes, but what happened to you, Morgana? Where are your guards?"

"I… don't know, Arthur." Her scared, quivering voice got on Merlin's nerves, but he chose to ignore it. "It all happened so fast… I lost my horse and ran away; I just heard a lot of yelling."

"It's okay," Arthur assured her, patting her on the shoulder, the picture of a gentleman comforting a lady. "Now that you've found us, we'll all go back to Camelot together. The remaining bandits will be taken care of later."

Merlin nodded a little, though Arthur wasn't talking to him. He was looking Morgana up and down for some kind of threat, but she didn't seem to even have her dagger on her. Which was good… Maybe he should've checked for that before she hugged Arthur with easy access to his neck. Maybe Merlin was just too trusting.

"How far are we from Camelot?" asked Morgana, thought she knew. Morgause's spell had helped her find Arthur and Merlin's position exactly.

"A day or two," answered Arthur. "If Merlin doesn't slow us down anymore."

"Me?" yelped Merlin, offended.

"And so we'd better get walking if we want to get back sooner," finished Arthur, completely ignoring Merlin. "Are you up for a bit of walking, Morgana? We'll stop for the night in a while."

"Of course, Arthur," she said with an almost-simper.

And then, for no real reason, she smirked. This time, Merlin did roll his eyes. Arthur, oblivious to all, started walking.

Frederick studied the sharpness of his blade in the fading light. "Soon, Morgause?"

She smiled at him. "Your thirst for blood is commendable, but be patient. Your men need more time to get ready… And Morgana needs more time to get rid of the serv—sorcerer, Merlin."

"When will you be giving her your poultice, or whatever that charm is?"

"Tonight. As soon as the prince and his pet warlock are sleeping."

The question was, would Arthur or Merlin be giving up his blanket to the Lady Morgana?

Of course one of them would be sleeping on the floor of the forest, but neither really wanted to be the one. Merlin because giving up his comfort for the witch was not an appealing thought, and Arthur because giving up his comfort at all was not a prospect he looked forward to. But, at the same time, the Lady Morgana could not be allowed to know that they didn't know who was going to give up the blanket. So the argument was only half out loud, covered by small talk, and conveyed a good deal by angry looks.

In the end, Merlin won, when he pointed out in a perfectly normal conversation that "the chivalrous prince here would be taking first watch."

Arthur sighed but prepared himself for a night of discomfort.

Morgana began to replan her night around the watch schedule, offering to take second watch so that she could meet up with Morgause. She ignored Merlin's suspicious stare, knowing that she had nothing incriminating on her (right now) and that for all he knew, she could have been completely honest (about the bandits, anyway).

Merlin determined to keep a close eye on Morgana that night. Doubtless, she would sneak off and do something dastardly, and he would be left picking up the pieces and keeping everyone alive. Again.

It really got very annoying after a while.