Author's Note: I know, I know, I suck at the updating thing. I have just been sooo busy with school and unfortunately it doesn't look like it will let up any time soon! Let me know what you think!
Gwaine and Leon had packed their bags and saddled their horses. They went to say goodbye to their friends, who both offered last-minute protests feebly from their cots.
"You shouldn't be risking so much," Arthur said.
"You could just stay here?" Merlin offered.
"Stop being idiots, you two," Gwaine said. Leon looked a bit affronted at the disrespect Sir Gwaine was showing to his king, but understood that the relationship between Arthur and the unruly, often drunk knight was one quite different than Leon's own experience.
"Arthur," Leon said quietly. He seemed to suddenly notice exactly how young the king appeared, pale and shaken and completely helpless. "We will do what we can to help you, and I'm afraid that nothing you say is going to stop us."
The skies around Camelot that day were blue and open, with a slightly chilly wind pressing in from the north. Gwaine and Leon kept their horses at a steady pace – not too fast, but they had a silent understanding that the sooner they completed this task, the better.
The night before, they had gone to visit the ailing woman in the lower town. Gwaine's stomach still curled unpleasantly with the memory of her face, wrinkled and severe. She had seemed surprisingly lucid when she had demanded to die for her king.
"Lucia," Leon muttered softly, the woman's name feeling heavy on his tongue. He was to condemn her to die.
"You thinking about her, too?" Gwaine asked.
"It feels wrong."
"She'd be dead within a few weeks, anyway. And I know that none of us feel good about this… but it's not as if we can…"
"Let Arthur die?" Leon finished.
"Nor Merlin," Gwaine said, his voice serious.
They found themselves going further and further into the wilderness, keeping a relatively fast pace and talking only when necessary. Gwaine was normally impossible to shut up on long journeys, but his mind was too full of worry to focus on joking. Leon, for his part, was rather glad of this. His mind was churning as well, and although normally a joke or two from Gwaine was a nice way to lighten the mood, he didn't feel prepared to handle the jovial young man today.
Gwaine finally spoke as they were setting up camp for their first night away from Camelot.
"It's almost frightening, how much Merlin is willing to do for Arthur." His voice was quiet, and he was determinedly not looking at Leon as he spoke.
The older night nodded. "I agree. He seems to care so much more for Arthur's life than he does for his own." He paused. "Not that I would not lay my life down for my king," he said, pride coloring his voice.
"And I would too, even if he is a prat," Gwaine said, grinning. The grin slid from his face just as suddenly. He sounded like Merlin.
"What did Gaius mean when he said that Merlin was part of a bigger destiny?" Leon wondered, forming a pile of wood and starting to work on lighting it.
"I never understand half of the things that Gaius says," Gwaine said, shrugging.
The two brave knights set up camp for the night and sat around the fire, talking quietly in the dying light of day.
"I hope we make it in time," Gwaine said.
"We have to. We must. Arthur is our king, and Merlin is a friend to all of us. I won't tolerate the thought of losing either of them."
Gwaine nodded along with Leon's fierce words. "We'll save them. I don't see any other choice."
Far away from the two anxious knights, a third knight of Camelot was entering a small cottage hidden in the woods.
"Lady Morgana," Sir Agathon said, his voice timid with the bad news he was about to deliver.
The lady was sitting at a small desk, reading a book of ancient spells by the light of a single candle. "Sir Agathon," she said when the knight entered. "I wasn't expecting you until the morning."
"I have troubling news, my Lady."
"Oh yes?" Morgana said, eyes narrowed. "What is it?"
"I overheard Sir Elyan speaking to Sir Percival, my Lady. Gwaine and Leon have left Camelot. They're heading for the Isle of the Blessed."
Morgana looked startled. "There is no way Arthur would allow anyone to die for him."
"I only know what I've heard, Lady Morgana," Agathon said nervously. "They left this morning."
Morgana's eyes narrowed. "But could they have found two volunteers? Two people willing to give up their lives? They are still linked. If one of them dies, the other goes as well…." Without sparing a glance for Agathon, Morgana stood and began pacing the room. "This is rather troubling. Agathon, go back to the castle. Find out what you can. Find out who Arthur's loyal knights are planning on sacrificing to save their king."
Author's Note: So... Morgana hit it on the nose! Two people need to die! Thanks for reading!