As soon as Arthur and Merlin had entered the caste Leon and the knights decided to take a look at the accommodation they had been offered. They were met at the door by one of the local men "Hello and welcome, most of Lord Anstey's knights choose to pay for lodgings in the town but feel free"
The building was dark and not that clean with a dirt floor. It was roughly screened into several sections. Each section had four cots in and a very small opening not even covered. Although old sheets were left tied u nearby to drop over the openings overnight to stop the worse of the drafts.
Leon grimaced and looked at Elyan who seemed to share his view "I think we will camp outside thank you" the first knight said "Is this really all you are offered?"
"It is. Why do you think we are so short staffed and don't attract the best men. Thanks to King Uther we get paid but not always when we are supposed to. The town's folk are a blessing and many of us live homes rented to us at a low rate, or have houses where the former occupants have been executed for sorcery. The locals at least are grateful for the protection we offer." He paused realising he was being less than discrete.
Leon looked at the man "Have no fear, your Lord will hear nothing from us you have my word. Why don't you move on?"
"Look I am putting my neck out here but I have heard a lot about you, so I am going to trust you. We stay because most of us have friends in the area, it has been worse since Lord Anstey's son Sir Kendrick has taken over the patrols. Most of us are either sins of minor nobles or third or fourth sons of higher nobility and have little chance of getting somewhere better. Some have been sent here by the King. Look just don't blame the men for the bandits we follow orders and do the best we can." He looked at Leon before continuing, as if to gauge his reaction "Look the King needs to know this and I am loyal to the Kingdom, but it is thought that Kendrick takes a cut of the bandit's loot. The border is getting more unsafe and if there is ever an invasion we won't be able to stop it"
Leon knew just how much the man was risking in telling him and said "Thank you for telling me. I will let the Prince know, you can trust him he is a good man. This won't get back to you, what is your name by the way"
"Sir William, my father was a knight of King Cenred, but when he was killed Cenred did nothing to help my family so I came to Camelot, but I am coming to the conclusion that nobles are all the same."
"Well Sir William you can be sure the Prince will do his best to help all of the knights and peoples of the area."
"But what will King Uther do, he seems to spend all his efforts on catching sorcerers like our Liege Lord?" Sir William demanded
"His son is a different man than his father, he looks at the whole picture. Give him a chance" Leon looked over his shoulder and saw several other men hovering, not wanting to get Sir William in trouble he said quietly "Now we need to camp, come and visit us in the morning before we leave and I will arrange for you to see the Prince. If you prefer catch us up after we leave, that way you won't be seen"
Leon took the time to wander around the town and then after the evening meal he went with the knights to the tavern. They soon picked up the discontent among the citizens. It seemed the father was liked but the elder son was feared by all and none felt their women folk were safe. Taken with the knights comments Leon knew that Prince Arthur needed to be informed and he intended to speak to him first thing in the morning.
Arthur and Merlin had retired to bed and George and Freya went back to camp, both felt safer that way. Lancelot and Percival escorted them back as Arthur had told them they would not be needed overnight. Merlin was snuggled up to Arthur his head on Arthur's chest. As Arthur held Merlin and looked down at him he was once again reminded just how young Merlin was. Sometimes it was easy to forget he was only sixteen. He coped so well with the trip and had acted impeccably in the presence of the Anstey's. But then he had been brought up in a court environment. Arthur in some ways felt jealous of his husband, he had after all had a loving family live as a child, but then he had also had to leave all he knew and be married to someone he had never met. Not to mention living with a secret that could get him killed.
"What are you thinking about?" Merlin asked him "I can hear your brain working"
Arthur smiled "You, what else? You are coping very well"
"Didn't you think I would?" Merlin demanded. "But I do wish we could help Sir Kendrick's wife, she seems so unhappy. Perhaps I could turn him into a rat and have the castle cat eat him" Merlin felt Arthurs chest vibrate as he chuckled
"Better not, the poor cat would be poisoned" Arthur paused "I will think about it love, but we may not be able to do anything. It's hard but unfortunately his father is responsible for his family and as much as I hate to say it many women have hard lives. Now please try to make the most of this bed and have a good sleep"
Merlin grinned and pulled himself up on one elbow and looked down at Arthur "Sleeping would not be making the most of the bed" he bent down and kissed Arthur. Arthur was lost, he had no defence against Merlin's lustful smile.
The next morning Arthur and Merlin were up and dressed and about to join Lord Anstey for breakfast as Leon knocked on the door. Inviting him in Arthur said "I hope you all had a good night Leon"
"We did Sire, although as you suspected we camped out. I have much to tell you"
Arthur frowned "Much as I would like to hear it we have breakfast with Lord Anstey and his family. After that we must be on our way, will it wait until then?"
"It will Sire but I will warn you all is not as it seems here, I suggest that perhaps you will need to speak to the Lord once you know what is happening. Might I suggest you arrange to pay a repeat visit on our return journey at the end of the patrol?"
Arthur trusted Leon's judgement "That sounds reasonable thank you Leon. Come on Merlin lets go and eat" he turned to George and Freya "Make sure everything is packed and down to the horses. Make sure you have eaten if you haven't already, we leave in about an hour."