She chuckled, her lips curling up in a fond smile at the thought of the rebels, only to drop a moment later. If they knew what was good for them, they'd use this opportunity to leave. Grab the horses and escape under the cover of night while she kept the Blacklegs occupied. Perhaps she'd manage to catch up later, perhaps she wouldn't.

Maybe she could run up ahead of them to haunt the main roads, a fleeting murderous shadow that'd clear a path for them, only to disappear right after. Arthur had made his sentiments on her presence quite clear, after all.

Her heart clenched at the thought of the man, though she couldn't quite decide what hurt the most: never seeing him again or crossing paths only to have him regard her as a stranger.

Well, whose fault is that, you pathetic coward-

A knock on her door broke her out of her thoughts and for that she was grateful. Pushing thoughts of Arthur and the rebels out of her mind, she stood from the chair and cleared her throat. "Enter."

The heavy door opened, and the small figure of a woman walked inside briskly, holding two large buckets of water. "My Lady, I have come to help get you ready-"

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. "Mage?!"

Without missing a step, the dark-haired woman shut the door and deposited the buckets on the floor. "You better forget that name while we are here. I am called Sillt and I am but a maid."

Recovering from shock, Sakura's eyes narrowed. "What in the world are you doing here?"

With the same soulless expression that she always wore, the Mage stared back at her. "I was already here on Merlin's orders when I received Bedivere's missive, detailing the events back at the brothel. The question is what are you doing here."

Crossing her arms across her chest, Sakura huffed. "Gathering information and making a few heads roll, obviously. You don't really think I'll allow the pest of a man that runs this place to live. He won't have another chance to go after Arthur and the others."

The Mage studied her, lips pressed tightly. "You insist on walking the line between life and death. You shouldn't have come here."

"You have not known me for long, Mage, but you should have put two and two together by now. Prophecies do not scare me. I despise them. So please, spare me your lecture."

Look at what prophecies did to Naruto. He was the child of a prophecy too. Look at where that got him. Dead and left for the vultures to feast on in an open grave that no one will ever pay respects to.

Sakura clenched her fists to keep her emotions in check. I won't let Arthur suffer the same fate.

"You shouldn't have come."

Sakura snorted, raising a challenging eyebrow. "Well, I came anyway. So, you can either help me out or go on your merry way and leave me alone to form my plan. Which is it going to be?"

Yet again, Sakura found herself feeling unnerved under the Mage's dark gaze. Though she wasn't willing to budge or show her discomfort, the dark-haired woman's eyes were so utterly emotionless, the medic had to wonder if that was a trait of her kin. If it wasn't…Sakura didn't want to think of what could have happened to the Mage to suck the very life out of her and leave her one shell of a woman.

"Come. I need to prepare you for when Lord Agrarrok calls for you. We can talk."

Sakura kept the triumphant smile off her face. "I'll take that as a yes."

The Mage did not comment and simply passed her two washcloths and a bar of odorless soap. "Sit down and hold these while I undo your hair."

Not wanting to aggravate the woman any more, Sakura followed her instructions and took a seat, allowing the Mage to start unravelling Sebivere's handiwork.

"How long have you been playing the part of the maid here? What have you learned so far?"

For a moment, Sakura was sure the other woman wouldn't bother answering, but she was proven wrong when the Mage sighed.

"I've been here for the past week. King Vortigern has been sending more and more men around these parts. The staff needed the extra help, it wasn't hard to slip in. There are even more coming. Balan ordered us to prepare rooms. They should be here a little after dawn on the morrow."

More men…Damn.

"Is he planning something? An attack on the nearby villages to look for Arthur? On any disobedient bannermen perhaps? Are there any rebel groups still loyal to Uther he wants to eradicate?"

Though she couldn't see her, Sakura felt the Mage shake her head.

"I have not been able to get any closer to Lord Agrarrok than I was my first day here."

The pink-haired medic frowned. "Not even with your magic?"

"I cannot read minds. It would serve no purpose to harm Lord Agrarrok before managing to acquire the information we want. Whispers are all I hear."

Well, she's not wrong…

Sakura hummed thoughtfully. "I might be able to do something about that, so don't concern yourself with him. I need you to do something else for me."

Having freed her locks from their braids, the Mage started undoing the laces keeping the back of her dress together. "What would that be?"

"Did you happen to notice any girls around here? Young, pretty ones? Don't quite fit in as staff? Those are Lady Avarre's girls. She told me Lord Agrarrok has a habit of snatching her employees away on a whim. Well, obviously, considering how I came to be in his fine company."

"I might have, though it was only fleetingly. I've been to the dungeons only a handful of times to deliver meals to the guards."

Sakura's eyes widened. "The dungeons? He keeps them in the dungeons?"

The Mage nodded. "They are kept alive, but mostly for the guards' enjoyment. Most do not make it."

Sakura felt her blood run cold in her veins, an intense feeling of anger gripping her. Gritting her teeth, she glared at the wall across from her, her fingers itching to demolish the whole damn place, burn it to the ground and spit on the ashes.

That sick bastard…

Narrowing her eyes, the pink-haired woman glanced at the Mage. "Alright, change of plans. You're gonna help me get them out of there."

"I do not think that would be wise-"

"I don't think you realize a crucial thing, Mage," Sakura growled, too angry to really care about manners, "This is not up for discussion. I will get those girls out of this hellhole and unless you want me to blow up your precious Merlin's plans along with this place, then you are going to help me."

The dark-haired woman's hands stilled, and she remained silent for a few moments, her breathing echoing profoundly in the silence of the room.

"When this whole quest of yours results in disaster, do not tell me I did not warn you."

Smiling triumphantly to herself, Sakura bit her lip to keep herself from responding to that. "I'll keep that in mind. Now that is out of the way, we need a plan."

For a moment, she thought she heard the mage huff, but she paid it no mind, too focused on what they were about to attempt to care about anything else. They did need a plan, and a very good one at that. If the Mage's words were true, that meant more soldiers were coming in, and were likely to arrive a couple of hours after dawn. Which left them a little over eight hours to extract the information they needed, free Lady Avarre's girls, and escape with their heads intact.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura glanced at the Mage over her shoulder. "Alright, this is what we are going to do…"

XxxxX

Cursing Bedivere to the pits of hell and back, Arthur stormed inside the stables, kicking aside a bucket in a fit of anger. Some horses whinnied in protest, snorting uneasily in their stalls, but Arthur paid them no mind, too caught up in the storm raging inside him.

Reaching the very last stall, Arthur felt his anger abandon him at the sight of the dapple-grey gelding chewing on some hay. The beast's back was relaxed, and he seemed content in the warmth of the stables with food in his belly and clean water to quench his thirst.

Arthur never thought he'd be jealous of a horse.

Sighing deeply, he grabbed a battered brush and stepped in the stall, reaching to stroke the horse's warm nose.

"I'm sorry, boy. I'm not the one you wanted to see, eh?"

The gelding flicked his pure white tail as if to respond, his large brown eyes watching the man closely.

"Aye, you have every right to blame me. I was horrible to her."

Running his hands over the horse's back, Arthur started brushing him, focusing on the movement of his hand and the sound of the animal munching on his food.

Despite how hard he tried to keep his thoughts controlled, the image of Sakura riding behind that deplorable bastard kept flashing in his mind, taunting him. Reminding him of his failure as a friend and a man. Tormenting him with thoughts of her suffering all kinds of torture at the hands of Vortigern's lapdogs.

What if…What if we never see her again? What if those vile words I spoke to her…

He gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on the brush.

No. This is the wench we're talking about. This won't be the end.

As if reading his thoughts, the gelding snorted again, pawing at the ground nervously, shifting uneasily on his hooves. Putting the brush down, Arthur patted the beast's neck, running his fingers through his white mane.

"I will bring you your mistress back, boy. I swear it."

Even if it's the last thing that I do…

XxxxX

When the knock reached her ears, Sakura shot her to feet more out of instinct than conscious thought.

Straightening down the skirts of her new dark blue dress, she cleared her throat. "Enter."

Looking as elegant and condescending as he had looked a couple of hours ago, Balan walked inside with his hands clasped behind his back and his nose in the air. His eyes swept her form from head to toe, and Sakura fought the urge to squirm. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so thoroughly judged.

"Just barely acceptable, but it should do. After all, clothes probably matter little in your line of work."

Had this been any other situation, Sakura was absolutely certain she wouldn't have managed to restrain herself and would have broken his chin.

You spineless, fork-tongued lizard…

Smiling at him stiffly, she curtsied prettily. "Aye, I'm not a seamstress."

Huffing indignantly, the man turned around swiftly, glaring at her over his shoulder. "My Lord has no need for a seamstress. See that you offer him what he requires."

Bowing her head to hide her scowl, Sakura fumbled with the skirt of her dress to keep her hands occupied. "Have no fear, Mr. Balan. I will treat M'Lord the way he deserves."

"Good. Come along now. Lord Agrarrok is expecting you in his personal quarters."

He'll get what he deserves indeed…

TBC

Hey guys!

Hope you're all doing ok. I'm getting back into writing and I'm mighty glad. Not much in this chapter, but the action will pick up in the next one, rest assured. Our dear Sakura is a woman on a mission, and you know what that means. :P

I hope you enjoyed this!

Reading your thoughts always makes my day so drop me a review if you have a minute to spare.

Until next time,

Lots of love!