"So we are leaving Camelot in the middle of the night because you have a hunch?" Gwaine asked with some kind of a grumbling sound. He had just gone to bed in the makeshift bed that Gwen had made for him in her house and dreamed about a very cute, brown-haired girl when Merlin had woken him up with a far too serious expression on his face and told him about a hunch he had about Arthur. He had had a hunch too, of course, and he had decided to do something about it too – but in the morning after a good night's sleep. Now that Merlin looked at him with this well-known, doe-eyed expression, he knew that he probably wouldn't get any sleep at all that night. But then again – what was life without a few surprises?
"We have to go now. If I'm right, Arthur will leave Camelot soon and we need to be prepared to follow him" Merlin explained, which actually didn't explain anything.
Still Gwaine smiled at these words and nodded to show Merlin that he understood. His friend's face lightened up and Gwaine could tell how relieved the young servant was. "Alright then" he added and got up. "But would you care to explain to me why we are following him?"
"Because it's not Arthur" Merlin answered with a mischievous grin.
Gwaine sighed. Yeah, that made a lot more sense.
XXXXX
Now that they had more time, it was a lot easier to find a way out of Camelot in the middle of the night. It wasn't like Merlin hadn't needed a secret way out before, after all, he remembered with a grin while he and Gwaine moved silently through a tunnel that would bring them to the forest outside the castle walls. There, horses would wait for them that he had fastened to a tree earlier that evening when he had begun working on his plan to discover the truth behind Arthur's weird behavior. Then the horses had been a last resort, but now he was glad that he had thought about the possibility that he might have to follow the fake prince on his nightly venture. He had explained everything to Gwaine on their way and wasn't surprised when his friend told him that he actually had had the same thoughts about the prince, especially after that "terrible performance" in the forest, as he called it. "I know I'm better than him" Gwaine had said. "But, I have to admit, not that much better."
They hadn't had to wait as long as Merlin had feared: After about an hour of standing in the shadows of the forest and keeping a wary eye on the town's gate, the lean figure of a man sitting on a white horse left Camelot and took a path straight towards the woods of Marbor where everything had begun.
"That is weird" Gwaine mumbled as they gave their own horses signals to follow the prince. Merlin had to agree. He was quite sure that his theory proved to be correct, but it still lacked some serious explanation: If that was a fake Arthur, then what had happened to the real Arthur? If that was an impostor, what did he want in Camelot if clearly it wasn't to take over the throne as he could have done in the evening? If that actually was his friend, why would he behave so strangely and leave the town in the middle of the night? He was missing some important pieces of the puzzle, but he was sure that they would find those pieces once they found out where the fake prince was leading them.
The ride took almost two hours and by then Merlin's nerves were stretched to breaking point. He and Gwaine hadn't talked at all in order to not alarm the impostor, but Merlin could feel how the tension had spread to his companion too. When they finally saw the alley that led down to a large mansion, Merlin gave a sigh of relief. At last they knew where their fake prince was headed, though Merlin had never been here before nor heard of this place. On the barred gate at the end of the alley, there was a large crest with the picture of an eagle that somehow seemed familiar to him, but it looked as shabby as the gate and the house behind it. The west wing of the mansion was all but in ruins, as if a ravenous fire had raged through it many years ago. The main part of the house as well as an annex to its right were in a bad shape with the roof having collapsed in some places and almost all windows being either shattered or barred with wooden boards. At first glance he wouldn't have thought that somebody actually lived here, but then he saw a dim light behind one of the open windows that might stem from a lantern or a small fireplace.
"The silver eagle" Gwaine whispered as if in a sudden understanding and pointed at the gate. "So that's what he meant." He signaled his horse to stop and gave Merlin a determined look. "We better leave them here and follow him on foot." Merlin nodded in agreement and climbed down, tying the horse to a nearby tree again. He would have to find some really tasty snacks for their patient mounts once they got back to Camelot, he pondered. From a distance he could see how "Arthur" followed their example and tied his horse to the gate, then turned to the left and entered the mansion grounds through a small hole in the wall that Merlin hadn't noticed until now.
"Let's take a closer look" Gwaine whispered and crouched towards the house hidden by the shadow of some trees and bushes. The moon was bright today, so they had to be careful not to be seen if watchful eyes were looking. Merlin's gaze wandered over the dark spots where windows once had been and he shuddered. Maybe they had placed guards somewhere up there? He tried to follow Gwaine as silently and elegantly as possible, but once again he had to discover that cat-like movements just weren't his strong side. At one point he noticed out of the corner of his eye how Gwaine made some weird gestures, pointing at his eyes, then at Merlin, then tapping his fingers on the grass, then pointing at himself. It didn't really make any sense, because as far as Merlin could see there was nothing that warranted the gesture, so he just nodded and continued to follow his friend, who noticed it with a sigh. Had he been supposed to wait? One day, he decided, he should simply ask Arthur and Gwaine what these strange gestures actually meant.
Once they reached the hole in the wall, Gwaine looked around suspiciously, but he didn't seem to find anything that looked like a threat. At the same time, a large cloud moved in front of the moon and seemed to beckon them to use their chance now. So they entered the grounds and hurried to hide behind some rubble in a corner as soon as the cloud had drifted past. Then they sneaked onwards, passing the ruins of the west wing on their right and moving around to the back of the mansion. The fake Arthur had entered the house through the front door, but that wasn't a possibility for them. At one point there were bound to be guards, and behind the main entrance was a quite likely position for them. Suddenly, Merlin noticed something changing in Gwaine's posture. He tensed, then, as Merlin was about to whisper "W-what?", almost flew around and put his hand on Merlin's mouth. Merlin fell silent, and not a second to soon. Above them, coming from one of the open windows, came a voice.
"I'm sure I 'eard somethin'" a man said in an urging tone of voice. "Came from down 'ere." Merlin felt how Gwaine pressed him closer against the wall they had used as a cover. They could hear the creaking of the window sill as someone leaned on it. Merlin's heart beat fast and painfully against his chest – had they been discovered?
XXXXX
"Probably cats" Thomas replied to Janus' comment and leaned on the window sill to get a better look at the dark garden below. "There are lots of them here." As he could see nothing, he looked back at his companion and shrugged. What else should it have been? No one knew that someone still lived here, especially because no one had lived here for the last 20 years. That their Lord suddenly had decided to use this old pile of rubble as a hideout had surprised him, but then again – who was he to question the commands of the man who paid his quite considerable salary? It was probably some kind of revenge thing, Thomas assumed. He hadn't been around when their Lord had gotten those scars that now marked and named him, but the others had told stories, especially that large one, Rogar. Apparently he had already served Scar before everything had gone down the tube for him.
He heard Janus grunt beside him. "Can't wait for this to be over. Can't wait to move into that fancy castle an' all."
He hated that sloppy accent of his companion, but as long as they were in this together he would just have to live with it. Still the comment made him laugh. He wasn't as sure of this plan as Janus, and he could most certainly not imagine to live in Camelot, but if it actually worked he would be set for life. That was worth a little risk. So he simply answered: „Yeah well, let's see what he says now that he's back."
"I really wouldn't wanna be that boy" Janus sniggered. "'ave you 'eard what Rogar said yesterday? All that false information the boy 'ad fed 'im? Was pretty smart, apparently. Did you 'ear 'im scream last night? Don't think Scar was too nice to him, if you know what I mean."
At that Thomas simply snorted in reply, but added a short moment later: "Yeah, very smart to risk a slow and painful death." Didn't that idiot understand that this was exactly the kind of glitch in their plan that could make the whole thing come crashing down upon them and every dream of a life of luxury? He just hoped that no one at court had noticed, or at least not showed any further consideration for the prince's weird behavior. Twenty years of planning, as far as he'd heard, for nothing if someone suspected something.
Before they could continue this conversation (if you could call it that, Thomas thought with a sigh), the black haired boy came into the room and looked at them with worried eyes.
"Rogar says he's found something" he whispered and pointed at the door.
Or someone? Thomas thought as he followed the boy down to the main floor.