Notes at the bottom, don't own.

The sun was just rising, hinting at the end of his watch, when Horace woke up Will. The Ranger stretched and stared at Horace for a moment with an expressionless face before softening to a smile.

"Good morning." Will greeted.

Horace frowned as Will turned to pack up his camp supplies so they could set off out of their small clearing and towards the road. "Doesn't feel like a good morning at all," he muttered. Because it really didn't. Something in the very air felt off to him. Something similar to the feeling he got when in a fight and an enemy aims a weapon at his blind spot, like a… an intuition. He just knows things at times with such a familiarity that it scares him.

They ate breakfast on the road. Some dried meat and water taken from a nearby stream. Horace and Will traveled for almost two hours when they spotted it. Well, more like when Will spotted it. Footprints leading into a wooded area, footprints that came from a well traveled road that obviously led to a small town or village. What made ordinary footprints so notable was that whoever left them had covered them up. Quite skillfully, too. But not skillfully enough to fool a Ranger.

"What do you think, Horace?" Will asked from his spot on the ground where he had dismounted to study the tracks closely. He ran his calloused hand over a snapped branch. "Should we follow them?"

Horace sighed dramatically. "You're going to follow them with or without me. So I might as well go with you." Then he grinned and dismounted as well, both their horses knowing to stay put in the lightly wooded area they were left in. "Someone needs to watch your back, and I'm the most experienced with that particular action for miles around."

So the tracking began. It was slow going. But half an hour in, Will realized another thing about the trail they were following. "They have a prisoner."

"I don't like this. Not this close to Camelot."

Will turned to Horace and said seriously. "This might very well be bandits. But with our luck…" he left the ending open.

"It might be a Temujai encampment." Horace finished.

Both took a deep breath and turned back to the woods with new determination. Whatever lay at the end of the trail Will discovered, they would face it together.

Ten minutes later and they cautiously approached where campfire smoke could be seen rising towards the sky. Will motioned for Horace to stay where he was, then he quickly checked that his gear and the hood of his cloak were in the right place. When he was suitably satisfied, he disappeared from view. Pretty much literally.

Horace waited against a tree trunk, breathing deeply and scanning the surrounding trees for when his friend would reappear with news that he dreaded and yearned to hear. Hopefully it was just bandits. But when had fate ever been kind?

"They should be arriving any day now." Arthur said as he paced back and forth along the floor of his chambers. "I have no idea who they're sending or how to welcome them." Running his hands through his hair, the King huffed in irritation.

"What is it that we can do to welcome them?" Guinevere asked her husband patiently.

"That's just the thing, I don't know." He pulled out a chair at the table his wife was already sitting at, and sat himself down defeatedly. Suddenly struck with an idea, Arthur sat up quickly and turned to face her. "Wasn't marrying into royalty similar to a culture shock to you? What helped you adjust?"

Guinevere raised both eyebrows at her husband. "I suppose it was a culture shock. I certainly felt like an outsider." She said softly. At his concerned look she gave him a fond smile to let him know all was well.

"What helped me was to have someone who patiently and gently went over what I needed to know; such as the laws, their meanings, and most importantly, how to dress well and insult people politely." She shifted her weight in his direction. "Luckily, I had a very handsome man to teach me."

"Oh? Who would that be?" He said, voice low and lips twitching with amusement.

"I'd rather not say. Wouldn't want him getting a big head. Well, a bigger head."

"Oh, come on. Who?" Arthur took her hand and held it between his own, playing with her fingers.

She rolled her eyes at his behavior. "Well, if you insist. The one who taught me was my sweet, strong, brave husband." Guinevere could almost feel him preen under the praise. He could be so adorable at times.

In one swift movement, Arthur leaned towards her and kissed her, making her laugh. They both thought they were the lucky one, to have the other.

Then he went back to his serious thinking face. "Patient and gentle. And knows about how the kingdom works…" he stopped. Then turned towards her with a smirk.

"Merlin." Arthur and Guinevere said at the same time.

"He's the perfect choice to meet with whoever shows up and talk to them about how we work." Arthur added on.

"He's definitely a good choice. He also has the added bonus of not being biased against magic, if that is indeed in practice in Araluen." Guinevere added herself, thinking about the documents that entailed the last meeting between the two countries decades ago.

"Therefore less likely to cause a bigger rift between our countries!" The King pressed his lips to his Queen's cheek before quickly leaving to share his decision with Merlin. After a quiet yet sincere 'thank you', he rushed out the door.

Guinevere watched with a grin, wondering with humor how the Court Sorcerer would take this new responsibility.

Merlin was not handling this well.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. No." Suddenly he was put under the pressure of representing Camelot to one to five people from another country.

The message wasn't very specific, but the deliverer - apparently also a traveling singer of some sort with a wooden leg - said something about 'one riot, one Ranger', whatever that means.

"Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes. Yes." Arthur responded only a tad mockingly.

"Nope. Not happening."

"Yep. And it is happening. That's final."

Merlin groaned. How was this his life?

Gwaine was pretty sure that the wound on his leg was infected by now. Stupid invaders. Now he was definitely going to have some pretty bad scarring. He tilted his head to the side in thought, maybe the new scars would benefit him. Women liked tough men. Frowning, he turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand.

One, he was tied up very well. Two, no one knew where he was, and they might not even miss him for another day at least, considering how he was known to get drunk and sleep it off at an inn somewhere before heading back. Three, the men who had captured him were looking at him in annoyance more and more often, sometimes leading to heated arguments with who he thought were the superiors of the group of about two dozen men. And four, well, he didn't have anything else to add but Gwaine thought he should emphasize just how screwed he was.

He stared of into the trees and decided to wait for either death (likely) or rescue (unlikely). That's when he saw movement. Something that seemed natural but not at the same time. Weird.

Then, right as soon as the camp's watch changed shifts, a man in a cloak just straight up materialized out of the shadows. Gwaine didn't make any noise, because he didn't see the point, and because the man held both hands out in gesture of peace.

"Who are you?" The knight whispered as quietly as he could. The other man pulled his cowl back slightly to show his face to Gwaine. Half sure he was going to see the wrinkled face of some sorcerer, he was surprised when he was met with a young man that looked half a decade younger than him. And someone that oddly reminded him of Merlin, but he couldn't place how.

"My name is Will, and a friend of mine and I will get you out of here." The young man, Will, said softly. "I'm a Ranger." He said in clarification.

Gwaine's eyes widened. "I've never seen a Ranger before."

"That's the thing about Rangers. We aren't seen unless we want to be." Will grinned, and that was where the resemblance to Merlin stemmed from.

The potential new friend of Gwaine's turned his attention back towards the camp. He saw something the knight didn't, and started backing away towards the shadows again. "I'll be back tonight. Don't die."

Gwaine wasn't planning on dying, not now that there was a chance he could get out of there alive.

Merlin was worried. Gwaine had been missing for a day. He had a funny feeling about the situation. And a part of him, despite this very same thing happening countless times, was scared that the man might be in serious trouble.

So that is why Merlin was looking for Arthur.

He finally found him in the armory talking to his knights about how to properly greet a diplomat. They already know the drill, but Arthur apparently was not going to take any chances.

"Arthur."

The King turned around and took in Merlin's worried expression and immediately turned serious. He had learned through experience that listening to the warlock was very important to Camelot's survival. "What is it?"

Merlin swallowed thickly and replied, "Gwaine is gone."

"And you're having some kind of funny feeling over it, aren't you?"

Merlin nodded.

Arthur ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. That idiotic drunkard. If the man wasn't one of his dearest friends, he would leave him to face whatever mess he got himself into. The King waved Leon, Percival, and Elyan over and addressed them. "Gwaine may be in trouble."

"When is he not in trouble?" Elyan said jokingly.

Arthur quieted him down with an annoyed stare. "Merlin thinks Gwaine might actually be in serious trouble. I want the three of you to search for him."

The Once and Future King turned to his Warlock and asked him, "Will that be enough?"

Merlin tilted his head, looking as if he was listening to a voice only he could hear. "Yes. But they will have to find him soon. Before dawn." It was noon. They had less than a day to find their comrade.

"Shouldn't we have you come with us?" Leon asked Merlin.

"No. It wouldn't make a difference. If anything, my presence would change what's going to happen for the worse." Merlin answered morosely. He desperately wanted to search for his friend. But you can't bargain with fate. It only ends with grave consequences. Whatever will be, will be.

Will and Horace waited until dark and then moved in on the camp. Horace stayed in the same spot he had earlier in the day while Will continued forward.

The Ranger quickly found a spot within his sight to observe the camp, more specifically, the positioning of the watch. When he had them in his sights, he crept closer to the nearest one, the one who had the Camelot knight in view. The guard was also in a spot that obscured him just the slightest from his companions.

Will grabbed him and dragged him backwards into the shadows. One hand over the man's mouth and the other he used to knock him out. Slowly lowering the Temujai into the tall grass, Will turned to cross the short distance to the knight. A knight that was looking at him with wide eyes, but also a large grin.

"You came back." The bearded man said quietly but with feeling.

"Of course I did. I said I would." Will answered, barely above a whisper. Frowning at the bandage on the other man's leg, Will asked, "Are you capable of walking on your own?"

The knight nodded. "Don't worry about me, I'm very stubborn."

"Most knights I've met are." Will grinned. "Now be quiet, we don't have much time before they will discover us." The Ranger took out his saxe knife and started on the ropes. When he was free, the knight rubbed his arms and wrists. Will motioned for the knight to follow him.

That was when all hell broke loose. Another Temujai that was walking towards the treeline spotted them and raised the alarm before Will's arrow could peirce his chest.

Will cursed. "Run!" He instructed.

Wow, two years? I'm so sorry. There was a lot going on, I started college and a bunch of other stuff in real life that took a definite priority. But I've got some free time so I've decided to update my stories. If I'm lucky, this will be finished by the end of the month. No promises, though.Also, sorry for the short chapter! I'll make the next ones bigger, but they will take a little longer to finish (this one took about two days).

Thank you so much for reading! Let me know about any scenes you want to see, and if I like them, I'll incorporate them in here.