The moonlight reflecting blindingly off the cobblestones was certainly not helping Merlin keep his eyes open, and he yawned noisily. Elyan shifted uncomfortably next to him, and Arthur scanned the horizon, attempting unsuccessfully not to appear bored out of his mind as they guarded the meager food supplies left in the cornucopia.

The very thought of food, in particular the light, flaky rolls and exotic spices of capitol fare, made Merlin's mouth water, and his stomach rumbled audibly.

"Serves you right," Arthur griped under his breath, still bitter over Merlin's stew improvisation earlier in the evening. But it was definitely worth the hunger, Merlin mused to himself. Definitely. He stifled a grin in recollection of the look on the prat's face. It wasn't like hunger was something foreign to him; he and his mother often skipped meals to make ends meet. But the empty chasm in his gut gaped in disagreement.

Elyan slouched against the wall, leaning on his spear. "If we had water I could at least pretend to be full," he groaned.

Merlin blinked in surprise at the millisecond of guilt that flashed across Arthur's face. But it was gone so quickly that surely he had imagined it.

"I'll kill that Anhora," the blond growled in response. "That is, if the Capitol doesn't get the idiot first. They'll probably string the man up and stuff nightlock down his miserable throat for messing with their games."

Merlin shivered at the malice in the other boy's voice. An icy wind whipped across the courtyard, sending banners dancing wildly and causing the shadows to writhe angrily. It took Merlin a moment to realize that it wasn't just the darkness that was shifting.

"There's someone here!" He raised the alarm. Elyan and Arthur whipped around in the direction he pointed, barely catching a glimpse of a tattered green tunic fluttering in the wake of a small, fleeing figure. Merlin's blood ran cold. "It's a child!"

The three of them had the advantage of size as well as speed, and it was mere moments before Arthur seized the child's elbow as they attempted to cut around a corner.

"What're you doing here?" the blond demanded roughly. "Are you here to steal our supplies?"

"Arthur, she can't be more than six!" Elyan exclaimed.

Wide, dark eyes stared pleadingly at the three of them beneath short-cropped brown hair, and a sprinkling of freckles mixed with spattered mud and grime on the child's face. Confusion and a second wave of guilt, this time unmistakable, flickered across Arthur's expression, and he looked down. The elbow in his grasp was barely more than bones, seemingly fragile enough to shatter with his bare hands. He let go as if scalded, and Merlin knelt at her side.

"What's your name?" he coaxed gently. The girl flinched and looked away. Merlin glared at Arthur briefly. Prat.

"Come now, we're not going to hurt you," he murmured, and her eyes reluctantly met his own.

"Melody," she whispered, lips barely moving. Merlin smiled at her, willing her to trust him.

"Hello, Melody. My name's Merlin." He clasped her hand in his own and she let him as he stood, gesturing to his companions. "This is Elyan, and the scary one with the bad manners is Arthur. Don't mind him; he won't hurt you, he's just a bit of a cabbagehead."

Melody giggled, and Arthur looked indignant. "I am not-" he began, but Merlin cut him off.

"So Melody, can you tell us where you're from?" The little girl shook her head mutely, and Merlin tried again. "One of the districts?" Another no. "The capitol?" No.

Merlin sank back on his heels, bewildered, but Elyan spoke suddenly. "Are you from one of the refugee camps?" Melody nodded and offered them a small grin.

"The what?" Arthur demanded, and Elyan shrugged.

"Small groups of druids and other people looking to flee from the government. I ran into some of them while I was trying to get to District Six… Lots of engineering jobs in transportation, you know? But long story short, things went south, and they helped me integrate myself into District Ten instead."

Arthur looked vaguely ill at ease at the mention of druids, but Merlin straightened in interest, filing the information away for future reference.

Suddenly the young girl spoke. "I'm hungry," she stated simply, voice cracking with disuse. Merlin beseechingly turned to Arthur, but the blond had already disappeared inside the cornucopia with a sigh, emerging with several pouches of dried fruit. He placed them gingerly into her open palms and lowered himself down so that her face was at eye-level.

"Can you tell us how you got here?" he asked softly. Melody's smile turned mysterious, and she nodded in response, taking several small steps backwards and breaking into a run before any of them could stop her. They rushed hastily after her, uncertain if she was attempting to show them the way or escape, only to turn the corner and run into a familiar figure.

"Anhora," Arthur stated flatly, eyes hard.

"Arthur," the old man replied smoothly, patting Melody's head as she clung to the hem of his cloak. "You have proven that you are worthy of the chance to return prosperity to the kingdom of Camelot. It appears that mercy does reign in your heart despite your pride. Water has been returned, but you will be tested further before I can grant you full forgiveness."

"I don't negotiate with sorcerers," Arthur retorted mulishly, but his words sounded weak even too his own ears. He blamed it on a dry throat due to the lack of water, and Anhora barely heeded his statement.

"Until later, then," the old man smirked, holding Melody close and shifting his cloak about his shoulders. Then he was gone.

Arthur turned towards the water pump with an inscrutable expression, barely pausing to nod in satisfaction at the icy clear spring water that splashed onto the cobblestones before leaning over and shoving his mouth under it in a very undignified fashion. Elyan and Merlin joined him with hoots of delight, and it wasn't long before the entire castle joined them.

A/N: Before anyone shoves me in the stocks and pummels me with rotten tomatoes, I just want to say that I really did try to finish BSWB before writing this chapter, but tying up loose ends and getting the emotions of the ending just right is proving to be quite a struggle... I know, excuses, excuses, but at least I wrote something, right? Haha anyway, there should be one, maybe two more chapters for this episode before we move on to even more exciting things, so yay! constructive criticism/ questions welcome!

And in response to those who were wondering, Merlin can't magic the lot of them out of the arena because quite frankly he has no idea what's going on. The arena is ironically a blessing at this point, as the capitol can only try to kill him indirectly for his actions. He doesn't know that the gamemakers have completely lost control and that the citizens of Panem can't even see the events of the Games due to some mysterious force beyond their control. I don't want to give too much away at this point, but everything will be explained later. :)

Thanks for reading!