Merlin leaned against the wall, mind racing and heart beating heavily, aware of the painfully rough stone digging into his back, but not reacting to it. "Lancelot's here," he said out loud, glancing at Arthur to his right.
The young prince nodded, but didn't speak; the guards hadn't moved from their spot besides Lancelot's door; and it was less than likely that the would-be knight was a guest of honor, as both of them knew.
"Is this the one who had a crush on Guinevere?"Morgana demanded, earning her an annoyed look from Arthur; like most of his looks, it seemed to slide off her skin. Merlin had grown used to her enough to see the flinch in her eyes, though, and the thoughts whirring afterwards; Merlin was sure Arthur saw it as well, but the prince turned his attention back to the door. There was something going on with their lord and leader; Morgana knew it was; and Merlin had a fairly good inkling.
"It'll have to be a quick strike," the prince commented, his fingers clutching the corner as he glanced about it; the rock was hewn, and far from smooth, but if Arthur felt any pain from his grip he didn't let it stop him from squeezing. "You two stay back; I'll try and get through without alerting anyone, but be prepared for a chase. Await for my signal."
"What's the signal?" Merlin demanded; Morgana leaned in to listen as well, but Arthur never bothered to turn around.
"Me running real fast. Hold on." Moving about the corner before the other two could protest, he slipped back into a steady and confident gait. No one who didn't know him would be able to see the slight tenseness interfering with his walk.
"He's going to get himself killed," Merlin lamented. "Doesn't even think about all the work we do to keep him alive…"
Morgana remained silent; her brow was furrowed in thought as she watcher Arthur speak to the first guard. "He's in love with her, isn't he?"
"I was thinking Lancelot, actually…"
"Merlin!" she hissed sliding up behind him.
"Sorry. I make bad jokes when I'm stressed."
Her head moved above his shoulder, her body pushed almost uncomfortably close behind him, until he had to resist the urge to squirm, her elbow jammed against the lower half of his back, all that separated her groin from his bottom. It hurt; but felt surprisingly pleasant, making him blush. "Consider yourself punished," she informed him. "And I didn't say the joke was bad."
There didn't seem to be a proper response to that, so he didn't make one; in a silence that was becoming distressingly common, they looked on as Arthur leaned on, putting one hand on the guard's back crouching down as the other guard moved towards them. Arthur's fist moved quickly, punching his guard in the chin to knock him out, and then shoving the body at the remaining man, knocking him out similarly with another fist, before shaking his hand out to get rid of the sting.
"Well, that was…"
"Inventive," finished Morgana, slipping out from behind him and walking towards the door. Merlin rushed after, biting his tongue against any protests about Arthur's orders.
Arthur was in a less forgiving mood. "I told you two to wait." His glare was singularly on Merlin, as if he should have somehow stopped it himself.
"Because we're so less conspicuous hanging out over there while the unconscious guards are over here?" demanded Morgana. Walking past him, with a defiant look on her face, she grabbed Merlin's arm and pulled him after, thankfully sparing him Arthur's anger for a moment.
The man inside was surprisingly disheveled up close; the dirty hair, however, was not nearly enough to hide the familiarity of the equally disheveled face, who's owner was too busy staring at them to hide if it tried. "Merlin?" he demanded. A sword was in his right hand; merlin gestured at it with a word, dropping it to the floor beside the man's feet.
"She knows. Arthur doesn't. Hush!" he tossed up a hand, distantly aware of Morgana's surprised expression as Arthur walked in afterwards.
"Lancelot." There was warmth in his voice, but an edge too, similar to the one he'd heard from Morgana; possibly it came from being raised in the same household; he could believe that they'd inherited it from Uther, for certain. "How long have you been here?" he demanded.
"Long enough to know that Guinevere is in trouble." He bent down to pick up his sword, forestalling any complaint by Arthur as he made a show of wiping it with his shirt, dirty as that cloth was. "And long enough to have done something about it, if you're wondering. Did you bring any soldiers?"
He met Arthur's eye with a defiant look, and it was the prince that looked away first; Lancelot's face softened with that, and he turned his gaze to include all three of them. "She's fine; barely. Hengist got tired of waiting." He paused there, glancing at Arthur before continuing. "He set up a game; someone would champion her. If that person died, she'd die with him. I figured it would tide us over until you arrived; without soldiers, of course." His smile was bitter, but his stance was relaxed, his legs close together. "I suspect you have a plan?"
"And I suspect you do?" demanded Arthur; despite the continued edge in his voice, he didn't seem mad to Arthur. He sounded desperate; and Lancelot seemed to notice it when he reluctantly shook his head.
"Not a one," he admitted. "I was barely free to come and go when I was just a fighter. As a champion, I've been moved to new quarters, and kept away from my… charge… I don't even know where they're keeping her."
"So we make one of the guards tell us," declared Morgana, walking out. She bent down to grab one, pulling at the leg while the boys watched. Merlin was the first to move, cursing beneath his breath and grabbing the other towards the room.
"You knocked out two guards and left them outside?"
"I was in a hurry."
"Then how about you actually help?" interrupted Morgana, giving a final heave. "There only used to be two guards out there. Anyone up to running?"
"Do we have a choice?" demanded Arthur, bending down to the man; stripping the heaviest armor off of him, he pushed the other two over, grabbing a leg, as the first sounds began to come down the corridors.
"We always have a choice, my prince." Lancelot grabbed the other lower limb. "I just find myself not liking any of the choices."
"Talk later," Merlin huffed, grabbing the right arm. Besides him, Morgana did the same, the four of them lifting him entirely and making their way down the hall quickly, stretching the poor man out; thankfully, they were less concerned for his comfort than their safety.
"If he leads to trouble, we're using him as a meat shield," Morgana warned. "We can get 'help' from some other guard."
The others nodded agreement, Merlin faster than the rest; it was going to be a hard enough run already, with the guards on their tails. If he so much as saw a sword, he'd throw the guard to their feet. The trick would be convincing Arthur to do the same, when the time came.