Back at camp Arthur was in a terrible mood, no trace of Merlin had been found, and there seemed little he could do but wait for news from Percival and Gwaine. Hunith was avoiding him and who could blame her, she had lost her son once more, and this time it looked like Morgause and Cenred had him. The camp had settled down for the night ,but Arthur was sat at the camp fire with Leon, neither of the men could sleep. Lancelot and Eylan were taking their turn supervising the guard for the night.
In the early hours Morgana came out of her temporary home and went to her brother's side. She was visibly upset "Arthur I've had a dream…a vision of Merlin. He was with Cenred and he made Merlin kill a man! Just by looking at him, Merlin was terrified." Morgana was shaken; it had been horrible for her and she hated to think what it would be like for Merlin.
Arthur sighed "Hopefully Gwaine and Percival will get to him in time Morgana, at the moment we don't even know where he is, and if we did I don't know if we could rescue him. If Cenred had found a way to force Merlin to use his magic we may well be in more danger than we can understand. Merlin is a gentle boy I hope you're wrong."
Arthur made his sister sit down beside him. He pulled his cape to cover them both. "I hope you're wrong I really do, for Merlin's sake. That's all we can do at the moment…hope."
His sister's news hit Arthur hard, his first reaction had been to saddle up and ride out but he knew that was futile. They would have to wait and hope that the two knights sent news back soon.
At first light Arthur set out and rode across the border as far as the site of Cenred's building project. He decided to stay there for awhile and hope that he would get some word about Merlin. After a few hours he set of with Leon and Lancelot to travel further into Cenred's kingdom. He was feeling very uneasy. More than the situation should merit. After all he was already doing as much as he could. But he couldn't throw off the feeling of urgency he'd had since Morgana told him of her dream.
Percival and Gwaine had already found Merlin. They had been overlooking the Cenred's base and had seen him take Merlin to the Serket enclosure then that has seen Merlin's actions afterwards. It was plain to the men that the boy was terrified, and had no choice in what he had done. But they also realised they needed to get him out quickly, before anything else happened. The two men managed to ambush two of Cenred's guards and changed clothes with them. Percival's were a poor fit; although one of the men had been big, he hadn't been as tall as the knight. They hid their own clothing and the bodies out of site and waited for the camp to quieten.
Once the majority of the men had settled down, to eat and relax after training, Gwaine and Percival started to make their way towards the castle. They hoped to be able to find out where Merlin was being kept. Luckily most of the enemy was outside so once in it was easier to move about. Their luck nearly ran out when Morgause arrived back, she had heard what had happened that afternoon as was livid. She rushed straight past where the men were hiding, and into the Kings rooms. Where there was now a blazing row taking place. Making the most of the noise, and the certainty of where Morgause was, they started to look for Merlin. They had already guessed that Merlin would be kept near the monarchs chambers, so they took a side each and worked along the corridor. Percival found the locked door and managed to force the door open. Inside he saw Merlin on the bed. He signalled to Gwaine and then picked up the apparently unconscious boy, and the two men left as quickly as they could.
Morgause and Cenred were still shouting at each other, and as a consequence they met no one. The rows between the couple were well known, and no one wanted to get caught up in the resulting anger from either of them, so everyone made themselves scarce during their frequent arguments. More than one servant or guard had been killed as a result of the couple tumultuous relationship in the past.
One they reach to outer castle doors thing became more difficult; they needed to get Merlin away without being seen. Gwaine walked up the two nearest guards and started to act drunk, before hitting their heads together. Grabbing one of their capes, he quickly put it over Percival's shoulders and hid Merlin underneath. Then working on the principle that no one takes any notice if you look like you should be there, the two men walked away towards where their horses were waiting. Their luck didn't hold out, as they were spotted just short of the trees. The alarm went up and the knights gave up all pretence and started to run to their horses. Percival gave Merlin to Gwaine who was already on his horse and then mounted. They set off at a gallop making no attempt to hide their tracks. It would soon be dusk, when they would have a better chance of avoiding the following men.
Gwaine and Percival together with their charge had reached the forest before the followers had mounted up to follow them. They realised they couldn't get away easily so decided to split up. Gwaine being the smaller of the two climbed up into a tree from his horse, and was handed Merlin. Percival then took off leading both of the horses. This way he could travel faster, changing horses, and make more distance, and would either get help or if caught it would give Gwaine and Merlin chance to get away.
After hearing the alarm and realising their prize was getting away Morgause and Cenred forgot their argument for the moment, and were leading the hunt for Merlin. After a while Morgause decided to try to trace Merlin using her magic. She hoped to follow the young Warlock magical signature straight to him.
Percival was riding as fast as he could. It was nearly dark now, and he wanted to keep going for as long as it was safe for the horses. Reaching the top of a long slope he looked back and could see torches in the distance. He was still being followed. He knew he couldn't go on much longer and wanted to find somewhere to hole up overnight. Then he smelt smoke in the air and decided to take a chance and go towards it. Getting closer he got of his horse and crept closer hoping to check out who was responsible, before they saw him. As he got closer he stopped as a blade touched his neck.
Gwaine meanwhile remained where he was. He was fairly high in an old oak tree and fairly safe from detection. He had checked Merlin and decided that the boy had exhausted himself with the magic earlier. That and the stress of killing someone had put him into a very deep sleep. Gwaine could find no injuries so wrapped the boy back up in the stolen cape, and settled him on his lap and pulled him close to make sure the thin boy was warm. Gwaine then tried to rest. The trick had worked as far as he could tell and all the followers had gone after Percival.