Sorry for such a short addition. The next following will for sure be more of the usual 1,000-ish chapters. ;)
Merlin awoke the next morning to birds chirping in the branches above. She felt Arthur sleeping behind her, his arm was wrapped around her, holding her close. She thought she should wake him up so they can find their way back to Camelot, but he was blissfully sleeping and she was comfortable enough. She laid their for a little while longer before turning over to face him. The movement woke him and his eyes opened to see Merlin only inches away from his face. He leaned forward to kiss her and she let him.
"morning," he murmured.
"good morning, sire," she replied. As it dawned on him that he was sleeping with his servant, he sat up right.
"yes, well, we better get to it," he said, standing up. "Help me with my armor."
Merlin did and they began their trek back to Camelot.
"do you know where you are going?" Merlin asked.
"of course I know where I am going. I have been in these areas many times before. The forest it like a second home," Arthur said.
"what ever you say, Arthur," she shrugged sarcastically. They walked for hours. Morning went to noon, noon went to dusk.
"do you seriously know where the hell we are?" she challenged.
"fine, we may be a little bit lost," Arthur confessed.
"no kidding!" Merlin retorted. Arthur growled and kicked a tree.
"I thought I knew where I was going. The forest fire has discombobulated me," he muttered. Merlin crossed her arms and shook her head as she walk over to Arthur who was slouching against a nearby tree. She uncrossed her arms and slid them around his.
"it's ok. We will find a way out," she said. He huffed loudly and looked down at his feet. "I know we will be out of the forest within the next few days."
Arthur took a piece of her hair and twirled it around his fingers. "I told you I would be there for you. I won't let you go," he whispered.
"if only your cousin were here. He always found a solution. He was the best sevant I had ever had," Arthur sighed. "He understood me so well. I never had a better friend."
Merlin smiled. If only he knew he was standing right beside him, she thought to herself. They quietly watched the sun set in coral colors when Arthur said, "don't tell Merlin I said he was my best friend. He would never let me live it down". Merlin laughed so hard, she fell to the ground, rolling around in the dry dead plants. Arthur raised an eyebrow, probably thinking she was crazy. She knew Merlin would never, ever, EVER let him forget that.
Suddenly, out of the bushes came charging a hord of men dressed in various furs and knifes. Arthur instinctively lunged at Merlin to protect her, but they outnumbered them 5 to 1. He was easily pulled off of Merlin and the other men began to bind Merlin by the wrists and ankles. Arthur struggled. He thrashed around and began to beat up the men holding him, when one came up from behind and hit him on the back of the head with a large log.
"Arthur!" Merlin screamed before she was gagged and a cloth was placed over her nose and mouth. She breathed in and realized it was poisoned. She tried not to breath in, but she couldn't hold her breath for more than a minute and she breathed in the fumes of the cloth. Imidiately, she felt light headed and passed out.