Happy new year everyone! Wow, can't believe it's 2013. Hope you all had a great Christmas etc, but alas the last episode of Merlin has been broadcast. It's been a great show and I will miss it. For those of you who have seen the last episode - what did you think? I found it quite emotional!

Anyway, I'll let you get on with the chapter, not the best one I feel, but I hope you like it. Let me know what you think :)

Chapter 14

The Informers

Uther regarded the men who knelt before his throne with suspicion and dislike. They claimed to be travellers, but he knew bandits when he saw them. However they claimed to have some very important news about the woman he was looking for, and the King had heard such little news he was desperate to hear it from anyone. He just hoped they could be trusted.

"Tell me again what you saw," Uther mumbled, thinking hard, his brow furrowed.

Only two of the bandits had made it to Camelot to inform the King of what they saw. Not all of them had survived Merlin's magic, and the five that had survived were either killed in their own escalated arguments about what should be done next, or merely chickened out of seeing the King and limped off into the forest alone. Only the man who had attacked Morgana and one of the men Merlin had knocked unconscious before he even had a chance to fight, were left. They were angry that they had been so easily defeated by a young, defenceless couple, and were hoping the King would richly reward them for their news.

News had travelled far of what the King of Camelot was searching for, and when the bandits had witnessed a young woman wandering a dark forest who turned out to have powerful magic, they knew it must be the one Uther was searching for.

"It happened not two days ago Sire," the first bandit began. Uther noticed he had a bandaged hand and small, piggy eyes that were filled with malice, although not hatred directed to the King himself. He could tell this man was clever, and was trying to play innocent. "We were travelling through a forest in Ealdor when we came across two strangers walking through the forest too. We tried to talk to them but they suddenly turned around and attacked us. We tried to defend ourselves but they had powerful magic, there was nothing we could do, we were the only two who survived."

Silence followed this, Arthur, Gaius and a few other guards were in the Great Hall with Uther, some looked shocked at this story, others kept their faces blank. Gaius watched the King's face closely.

"Describe the people who attacked you." Uther interrupted the silence.

"One of them was a young man, short dark hair, thin." The first bandit continued. "The other was a woman, thin too, with long, dark wavy hair."

At this Arthur leaned forward and began to take more notice of the conversation. He had been leaning against a concrete pillar in the Great Hall, not interested in the conversation even though being able to listen to it he supposed was a privilege. Arthur was angry that his father would not listen to his worries about his missing manservant, focusing all his effort on finding the mysterious woman. However Uther wouldn't let Arthur having anything to do with the search for the missing woman. He still didn't even know who this woman was, he was fed up with his father keeping so much information away from him, being stuck in the castle while all the other Knights went off to find the missing woman no one knew anything about. He wanted to help but he was forbidden.

Now, all of a sudden, the description of his manservant had appeared alongside the description of the other missing person.

"Tell us more about the man," Arthur blurted out before he could stop himself.

Uther looked at his son and glared at him for interrupting, he wasn't interested in the young man, not at the moment, his main focus was on the woman. But there was disappointment for Arthur. The second bandit shook his head, staring down at the ground, "We couldn't see much else. He moved too quick, he had powerful magic and was skilled with a sword. He was deadly."

Arthur tried to hold back a sigh. Well, that definitely wasn't Merlin, from what he could remember his manservant's greatest talent with a sword was dropping it, and he wasn't a killer. He certainly didn't have any magic, Arthur was sure of that. No, his friend was still nowhere to be seen, and the thought made him ache with guilt and sadness. He couldn't deny it, he was missing his friend bitterly. But his father didn't care, he was more interested in the woman as always, whose description was making something stir in the back of Arthur's head, like a memory or realisation that he was trying to suppress. What was it?

"They didn't take anything of ours, they just left as quickly as they had attacked." The first bandit added, "there was no motivation for the attack. They were clearly on the run. But we recognised the woman from a description of one you were looking for, so we thought you ought to know."

"Do you have any idea where they could be going?" Uther demanded. Not giving the men any sort of gratitude for the information, but he was itching to know more, this was the closest they had got so far.

The two bandits looked at each other, as if deciding if they should tell the King what they had both been thinking. In the end, the first bandit said, "There could only be one place nearby that two people on the run with magic could go to. It's the safest and most logical place to go."

The King leaned forward in his chair, "Which is?" He demanded.

"There's a Druid camp at the forest of Newid in Ealdor, about two days walk from where we found them. I would say it's about a five days ride from here if you're fast. Druids have been staying there a long time, they think it's safe in that forest."

Uther paused, and gazed long and hard at the two men. But it wasn't hard for him to make the decision. He knew exactly what he must do.

"I want word sent to the soldiers searching in Ealdor." He said to the nearest guard, "they must go to this forest of Newid and find the Druid camp. Destroy it."

Once again Arthur's focus became fixed on the conversation. "Father is that really necessary? They're not even on our land..."

"What does it matter? They are a plague to everyone!" Uther interrupted in a sudden burst of frustrated rage.

"But there could be whole families there..." Arthur had carried out Uther's order of destroying Druid camps before, and although he too thought that magic was evil, he could never forgive himself for what he did to those men, women and children in the Druid camps he had attacked. Some managed to flee, screaming away from their homes as they burned, others came under the blow of the sword...

"They're all as bad as each other!" Uther growled, not prepared to show any mercy for anyone. He sighed, and tried to compose himself. "Destroy the Druid camp and find the girl."

A couple of guards nodded and hurried out the room to send the message. The first bandit turned his head to watch him go and then cleared his throat. "It took us a lot of trouble to get here to tell you the news Sire..." He began.

Uther waved his hand impatiently, "Yes, yes I will give you a reward for the information. Now unless there's anything else you need to tell me, you may leave."

"There is something else you should know Sire, about the woman we encountered in the forest," the first bandit spoke again at this. However he lowered his voice so that only Uther could clearly hear what the man was saying. "You should be aware of her, she is very dangerous."

Slowly the bandit lifted up his injured hand and unwrapped the bandage, revealing bright red, raw flesh on his palm, blistering in some parts. "She has hands of fire, she didn't even touch my skin and she did this. The woman is deadly, she could kill without thinking."

Uther didn't show any emotions to these words, but in his heart a crushing reality had been realised. He had been trying to deny it for so long, certain that the soldiers would have to kill in self defence instead of him having to say the fatal words.

His daughter was a deadly witch, if they found her, she would have to be executed.

Silence fell. The King dismissed everyone out the Great Hall with a lazy wave of his hand, the informers bowed graciously and departed along with Gaius and the rest of the soldiers. But Arthur hesitated.

"Father, I want to go to the Druid camp as well," he said. He didn't like what was going to be done, but if he was there, maybe he could prevent too much carnage from happening, and he could finally find out who this mysterious woman was.

But Uther shook his head, not even looking at his son. "It would not be worth the risk sending you over the border, these people are dangerous Arthur, it will be best to let the other soldiers deal with this."

"But I am the best Knight in the Kingdom, they need my help!" Arthur argued.

However Uther had heard this argument a dozen times now, and it fell on deaf ears. "I need you in Camelot Arthur, let other people deal with this matter."

Arthur glared, but there was nothing else he could say, he knew what the answer was going to be whatever he did. So he just turned and left the Hall in silence.

Creulon, the first bandit, listened to this conversation with mild curiosity on the other side of the Great Hall door. He ducked into the shadows when Arthur stormed out, and turned his attention to the second bandit, Ymladd.

"So, you got what you wanted, can we leave now?" Ymladd asked, clearly uneasy about being a bandit in Camelot's castle. He was over six feet tall and could hold his own well in a fight, but right now he was feeling very nervous. How long until someone realised they were not just innocent travellers? "The girl is as good as dead now."

Creulon didn't look so sure, "I don't trust that King, he might not even give us any money for our precious information. And how would we know if they reach the Druid forest and kill the two of them? No, I'd rather be sure."

Ymladd tried to hold back a sign, he knew what this meant, but there was no point arguing with Creulon. When he had an idea, he would stick to it, when he wanted revenge, he would show no mercy. "What do you suggest then?"

"We follow them to the camp, and if one of Uther's bloody red Knights doesn't cut her down for us, then I will kill her myself."