Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, this is an alternate universe fan fiction, in which I have used the characters, places, quotes and story from the BBC TV show which I do not own.
A/N: I hope all of you are having or have had a great day, and I hope you will enjoy this!
No-One Knew
~ARTHUR~
Arthur was worried, but that was an understatement. He was very, very, very worried - he was turing around every few steps to see if there was any sign of Merlin.
Seriously, what was the man thinking! Yes, he knew the tunnels, but he was no warrior, and he was definitely no knight. There was no need for him to show courage in the face of danger, there was no need for him to be all high and honourable. Yet he was the bravest of them all. The idiot. He was gone before Arthur even had a chance to send one of his knights with him.
In the end he gave up and slowed down, turning to face the others.
"What are you doing?" Tristan said, slightly annoyed.
"Merlin."
"He know the tunnels. He'll find his way."
"I'm going back."
Arthur started to move past them, but not soon enough to miss the confused look on Tristan's face, and his comment of "For a servant?" which for some reason angered him greatly. He chose to ignore it, shaking his head as his knights made to follow him.
"No," he said to the knights, "you all keep going. I am going on my own."
They all jumped when they heard a cheerful voice called out "No need!"
"Merlin!" Arthur cried out, relief filling him, as he checked over Merlin of any signs damage and finding none. Though he did see a little shaken up, but then again, all of them were.
He received a cheeky grin and a knowing smile from Merlin.
Arthur straightened, putting his sword back in its sheath as an excuse to look down avoiding Merlin's eyes.
"Shut up, Merlin." he mumbled, only to receive a wider smile in return.
Gwain was staring in front of him, utterly confused. Merlin was leading the rest of the group, along with Arthur. They were walking a few paces in front of them.
He stopped, putting an arm out to stop the others. When the others looked at him in question, he leaning into the group and asked, "Did any of you hear Merlin approaching before?"
Percival shook his head, and Lancelot blinked a few times in confusion before dening it too. When Gwain turned to the couple, the shook their heeds as well.
He all stood in their tracks, staring at Merlin warily. There was no way he could have done that - no one could be that silent, especially in tunnels full of loose sand and rock.
Arthur and Merlin noticed that the rest had stopped and so turned around. "Everything all right?" Arthur asked in a slightly concerned tone.
They didn't move. "Yeah..." Gwain slowly dragged out, not moving his eyes from Merlin, just like the rest, who hadn't even acknowledged Arthur in favour of staring wide-eyed at Merlin.
"Okay..." Arthur replied slowly.
He and Merlin looked at each other and shrugged, walking on. After a moment of exchanging suspicious glances, the rest also followed, leaving the interrogation to later.
They stood at the end of the tunnels, at the other side of the mountain, debating on what to do.
"So, where now?" Tristan asked.
"To the plains beyond the mountains." Arthur replied.
"You sure? That's Lot's kingdom. He's no friend of the Pendragon's." Isolde said.
"Well, maybe we could find somewhere here. A house where we could rest." Lancelot suggested, supporting his king, for which Arthur was grateful.
"We're fugitives, a danger to anyone who harbours us." Tristan retorted.
"He's right. We must travel back towards Camelot." Merlin said. Arthur couldn't let the stray thought of how quiet, and thoughtful, and un-merlin-like Merlin was being, out of his head.
"No, we need to keep going." Arthur said.
"If we hold up in the Forest of Essetir, we'll be safe at least for a while." Merlin tried to reason, looking at Arthur meaningfully.
Ahh! He was right Arthur thought. Why was it that Merlin could always change his mind. And seriously, what had happened in the tunnels? Why was Merlin so downcast all of sudden?
"No. But, well...I don't know."
"You're the king of Camelot!" Tristan snarled.
"At least I was." he said quietly, letting the truth sink into him.
"I'm not going to loose everything because of some indecisive, good for nothing king!" Tristan shouted.
It stung so badly to hear those words. He flinched, and seeing Merlin have the same reaction helped, if only a little, preventing him from breaking down then and there.
"That's quite something coming from a smuggler." he said quietly, having calmed down to a certain extent.
"Well, I wouldn't have to be a smuggler if it wasn't for your damn taxes, would I!"
He bit down his fury, closing his eyes to help him see straight. He couldn't do this anymore.
"Those taxes help protect the people of this land."
"My people are dead. You call that protection?" Again, a jolt which almost made him stagger backwards.
"If anyone has survived this battle, that's where they'll be hiding." Merlin said helpfully, looking at Arthur with pleading eyes, obviously trying to stop the argument which would only make things worse than they already were.
"I know which I'd do. You're the king, Arthur. You're our leader..." Tristan taunted.
"All right. Forest of Essetir it is." Arthur relented.
He caught sight of Tristan smirking at him as they set on the path. He didn't however see Merlin frowning at him.
A/N: So we are coming nearer to the reveal - isn't it exciting? I have had this question roaming around in my head for a while, so I have decided to set up a poll which you can find at the top of my profile...please do vote - I want this to be a decision I make with all of you instead of myself. Hope you enjoyed and I will look forward to the poll results.
