As soon as Uther gave his orders to Arthur, Morgana immediately made a stand: "Kill them all? Just like that? Without giving them a chance to -"
"Morgana, I will not endure any of this childish contestation today," Uther interrupted categorically.
Arthur waved Merlin to come with him outside. He didn't need to hear the end of it, he already knew where this conversation was going.
"Magic is dangerous," he heard his father continue as he walked away. "It is prohibited in Camelot, and everyone knows it. Anyone practising magic in the kingdom publicly defies my authority, and I can't allow that."
"But -"
"We've talked about this on way too many occasions already. I will not discuss it any further with you."
Arthur was barely out of the Great Hall when he heard Morgana call out his name.
"Arthur!"
The prince sighed heavily. "Go prepare our horses," he told Merlin. "I'll meet you in the stables, we'll leave within the hour."
Morgana caught up with him in the hallway just as Merlin left. Gwen followed her closely.
"Arthur, you don't really intend to conform to your father's orders, do you?
He shrugged. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Because this is nonsense! He's asking you to exterminate all these people based on presumptions!"
"What do you suggest I do, then? Please, enlighten me, Morgana!" he invited on a mocking tone.
"You could ignore his orders. This wouldn't be the first time."
"Precisely," Arthur agreed. "I've disobeyed him a lot lately, and trust me, he's quite aware of that. I'm already in a rather dire situation without adding to it."
"Oh, you're afraid daddy may scold you?" Morgana provoked.
"He's the King," he reminded coldly. "Look, even if I don't do it, someone else will. It doesn't make any difference."
"Yes it does! You're the prince, people look up to you!"
Arthur didn't reply. Instead, he just remained silent. It didn't take Morgana very long to realise that no matter what she said, it wouldn't change anything. Obviously upset, she stormed off, leaving Gwen behind.
The maid didn't seem in any hurry to follow her mistress and dawdled behind. Arthur observed her out of the corner of his eye.
"You don't approve either," he stated.
"I am but a servant. My opinion is of no importance, Sire."
Arthur gave a tight smile at her usage of the conventional title, acknowledging the way he'd kept his distances with her since their return from Hengist's fortress.
"But you don't approve," he insisted.
"Is it that surprising?" Gwen asked. "Can't you just bend the rules once more?"
"And disobey the King again to achieve what? Just to save a few random people?"
Gwen pursed her lips. "Well I'm sure those random people would appreciate it, no matter how little you care," she said, looking hurt, and walked away.
It took Arthur a little too long to realise the double meaning of what he had said. "No, Guinevere, I didn't mean you were random, I..."
She was already too far to hear his attempt at an apology.
He sighed. Women.
Merlin was busy harnessing two horses when Morgana burst into the stables.
"Morgana, what are you -"
"You can't let him do that, Merlin," she urged. "I saw those people in my..." She gave a look around and lowered her voice. "... in my vision last night. They were defenceless. It's going to be a massacre. Now that I know I'm... one of them... I can't let this happen."
"Believe me, I don't want any of this to happen either," Merlin assured. "But I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything. These last few days, Arthur's been very keen on trying to please his father. I seriously doubt he'll change his mind."
"Please, promise me you'll try to reason with Arthur. He won't hear any of it for now, but who knows, he may listen to you during the trip."
Merlin nodded. "I'll do my best. As for you, you have to promise not to do anything foolish while we're gone."
Morgana shrugged. "What do you fear I might do?"
"Help this witch escape?" Merlin suggested. "And don't tell me you didn't think about it. I believe it wouldn't be a good idea to cross Uther these days, least of all give him reasons to suspect you. Give it some time, give Arthur and I a chance to set things right."
"I guess you're right," Morgana finally agreed. "I'll wait until you come back, and if need be, we'll figure out something. I'm not sure I could be of any help to her anyway, I don't have any control over my -"
Morgana stopped just in time when Arthur walked in. Apparently the prince noticed they had fallen silent at his arrival.
"Please, don't mind me," he told them as he headed for his horse and got on it with ease. Then he added while leading it outside: "Whenever you feel like it, Merlin. By all means, take your time. It's not like we have to catch up with anyone..."
"I'd better go..." Merlin told Morgana and hurried off after Arthur.
"Merlin!" Morgana called. "That man you're going after. His name is Elias. It could help," she finished with a shrug.
Arthur urged his horse forward, deeper into Camelot's forest. The trail was extremely easy to follow. The man was obviously making no effort to hide his tracks.
"Are we really going after these warlocks?" Merlin suddenly asked him.
"And what do you think we're doing exactly, Merlin? Taking a stroll in the forest just because it's so lovely at this time of year?" Arthur teased. "Of course we're going after the warlocks!"
"Why is it only the two of us, then? Why didn't you bring some knights along, to fight those twenty mighty warlocks when we find them?"
"We're only doing reconnaissance for the moment."
"Right..." Merlin laughed. "That's also probably why we're going so slow."
"The guy's on foot," Arthur pointed out, "we don't want to get ahead of him."
"Or, you don't really want to catch those warlocks," Merlin suggested.
Arthur sighed heavily as he brought his horse to a halt. "What's up with you all today?" he cried out. "Morgana, Guinevere, now you... Do you practise magic?"
"NO!" Merlin exclaimed a little too hurriedly. "I mean, of course not. Seriously, can you imagine? Me? Magic? Ha!" he finished with a slightly forced laugh, but Arthur put it on the account of his own accusative tone.
"Are you pro-magic?"
"Well, hum..." The question seemed to make Merlin slightly ill-at-ease. "You know I think your father's attitude towards magic users is too repressive, but I... wouldn't call myself particularly pro-magic. I suppose," he finally managed to answer carefully.
"Then why won't you let it go?" Arthur exclaimed. "Don't you think it's a little easy to blame it all on me as if I were the bad guy just because I'm enforcing the law?"
Merlin remained silent for a few seconds, apparently deep in his thoughts. Arthur thought he had finally dropped it, just to be proven wrong when his stubborn manservant spoke up again. "All right. Your father is miles away, no one's here to hear us, and I won't tell a soul. So just between you and me, honestly: what do you think about magic? You, personally, Arthur?"
Arthur sighed again. "Magic is banned from the kingdom. What I think about it doesn't matter. It's the law and the King's command. As the crown prince I must abide by it. Period."
"But you're still entitled to have an opinion of your own," Merlin insisted. "Come on, you've gone against your father's authority when you thought him unfair, so surely that means you're not entirely opposed to magic."
"Yes, he's too harsh and lacks clemency as soon as it involves magic," Arthur agreed. "But I believe he's right when he says that magic is evil. Magic doesn't bring anything good to this world. Just look at a few of the things that have happened in Camelot recently because of magic: none of them were any good. Not even close."
No matter what Merlin was trying to have him say, he would not openly undermine his father.
"Something is upsetting you," Merlin suddenly stated.
"Yes, something definitely is. Let me give you a hint: it starts with an M, it's riding right beside me, and I'm going to kick it's ass unless it shuts the hell up."
"It's about Gwen, isn't it? Or rather, about Gwen and Lancelot?"
Arthur stiffened a little at the mention of the other man's name.
"It's got nothing to do with magic or the King," Merlin continued. "Ever since we came back from Hengist's castle you've been in such a terrible mood, but I didn't realise -"
"This is absolutely ridiculous," Arthur finally interrupted. "Why would I be upset about that?" he contested, convincingly he hoped.
"Oh come on... You wanted to rescue her. To save the day, like you always do. To be the hero. Her hero. Except another knight in shining armour was already there."
Arthur stared at Merlin without a word, dismounted, walked a few steps, and knelt to examine some traces on the ground.
"This witch hunt won't take your mind off her," he heard Merlin say gravely from behind.
Arthur kept ignoring his manservant's remarks, his throat tight. He indicated the traces. "He's heading right for Raguenel."