THE WATER WITCH AND THE BLACK DOGS
By TIPPER

CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE DEAD OF THE NIGHT

The horses weren't difficult to find, they were nervously waiting exactly where the alpha said they'd be. Merlin somehow managed to get Gwaine on the back of one of them, and then himself on the other, but, after that, things got foggy. He'd started them up the hill, but even kicking his horse to move had sent a shock of pain up his hurt leg that nearly caused him to black out. After that, it was if every ache and pain, every bruise, every cut and break, became magnified a hundred-fold with each step of the horse's hooves.

Gwaine was bowed low over his horse, eyes closed and barely holding on, and Merlin found himself getting lower and lower as well, blinking every more slowly, hands shaking from exhaustion.

He knew he couldn't stop. Thiernan would to be at the castle by now, preparing for a siege. Who knew what he might do to Elyan and the others, or to Gwaine's sister and her children. It was up to Merlin and Gwaine to rescue them, to save them before Thiernan could do anything to harm them.

But Merlin knew he was barely holding on, and Gwaine….

A soft thump turned Merlin's head. Gwaine had slipped off his horse into a thick bed of moss and plants, out cold. Merlin frowned.

Without grace, he dismounted, or, more accurately, collapsed off his own horse and stumbled to Gwaine. Kneeling down next to him, he gave the knight a shake. Gwaine didn't even stir.

"Gwaine," he said, shaking harder. "Gwaine, wake up."

Nothing.

Merlin settled next to him, and gave him another shake. Nothing. He lay down, his head slipping onto a cushion of moss.

"Gwaine," he called. But his friend's eyes remained closed. It looked nice.

Maybe he could just close his eyes for a minute. They weren't going to be able to help anyone in this shape anyway. He wouldn't sleep, not really, just close them for…

"Just for a minute," he mumbled out loud, feeling the fog deepening insider his mind. "Then we go."

Then we go….

…

…

Something snuffled by his head, and Gwaine frowned, batting it away. The snuffling became an annoyed snort, and got closer. He could also hear something chewing loudly, gums smacking and…ugh…what was that smell?

Cracking open an eyelid, Gwaine found himself looking up at a snoutful of horse, its nose buried in the plants by his head, noisily chewing away. It saw him and breathed on him…ugh. What the hell was it eating? Onions? Skunk?

"Get away," he snapped, pushing the horse's head away from his own. It ignored him and snuffled his hair like a dog. "Off!" Gwaine said, putting more force behind the shove this time. The horse snorted again, blasting another noxious bit of air into Gwaine's face, but shifted away, chomping loudly on some leaves hanging from a young tree a couple feet away.

Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Gwaine slowly sat up, trying to get his bearings. His head pounded unmercifully with the movement, worsening as he grew more wakeful, and he pressed a hand to his forehead in a vain attempt to lessen the pain. They were clearly lying on the side of a fairly steep hill, probably about halfway up to the ridge from the valley of the black dogs. The sun was slanting heavily through the trees—it was either going down or rising, depending on the direction—and from the heat still contained within the air, it was probably going down. How did they end up sleeping here?

He found Merlin asleep a couple feet away, pale and bruised, dark circles under his eyes. His shirt was open, and his neck and chest were still nearly black from the beating he'd taken from Peg. He wondered if he looked as battered as that.

He rubbed at his forehead and pushed up onto his knees. When he didn't immediately topple over, he risked getting the rest of the way to his feet. He blinked some more and tried to remember better what had happened.

The black dogs had attacked Peg, fighting her, ripping her apart. The alpha had saved his and Merlin's lives. Again. He huffed. Guess Merlin was right—not all monsters were evil. Unfortunately, Peg had been nothing but. He shuddered at the memory of waking to see her with a hand wrapped around Merlin's throat, moments from snapping his neck. Was that just this morning?

Speaking of monsters….

Thiernan still had to be dealt with. He looked up the hill, and tried to gauge how far they were from the prince's castle. If they were close to where Peg had attacked them, it may only be a mile or two away.

He still had his sister, his niece and nephew, and the other Camelot knights to rescue. If they waited for Pieter's army, Thiernan would have time to prepare for a siege, and it might be months before they got inside, plenty of time for Thiernan to hang everyone Gwaine cared about. No…they had to act now, before Pieter arrived. And, if he could kill Thiernan at the same time, that definitely would be a bonus.

He glanced at Merlin, still sleeping soundly. His friend needed sleep. And he'd be safer out here, away from danger. Maybe he should leave him.

"Don't even think about it," Merlin said, and opened his eyes to look blearily up at Gwaine. "We're in this together."

Gwaine couldn't not smile.

…

…

They waited until the sun was fully down but the moon still low in the sky before attempting to scale the wall on the east side of the castle. It was in near perfect darkness—and with Gwaine in his black leather jerkin and Merlin in his dark blue shirt, they were nearly invisible. Gwaine had considered going in through the caverns, but realized that, if Thiernan was expecting an attack from Peg, he'd expect her to come into the castle by that way first. So, it was probably barred and guarded. Similarly, all the gates and wells would be manned. That left climbing the walls.

The yellow stone was dry and soft, and it was easy to find handholds. He'd heard the guards moving along the battlements, but they hadn't raised the alarm, so he was fairly confident when he finally reached the crenellations that they hadn't seen him. Swinging an arm up, he grabbed a metal bar in the machicolation, probably used to balance buckets of boiling oil on, and, finding a couple of solid footholds, took a moment to rest and listen. Merlin joined him a moment later, settling himself under a machicolation a couple feet away, giving Gwaine a curious look. Gwaine gave a soft head shake, and motioned for him to settle there for a moment.

They didn't have to wait long. The guards were alert, walking in patterns, but focused on watching for movement farther away than where he and Merlin were perched.

"…clear as day," he heard a guard say as he got closer. "Something set the forest on fire down there, near the river."

"Think it was the black dogs?" another guard asked.

"Or people. If Peg was in the valley, they might have tried to defend against her with fire. It's what I'd do."

"It'd take more than that to take her down, and those fires didn't last long."

"I know. Think the prince's plan will work?" The first guard sounded nervous.

"We have enough oil cooking to boil every living thing in that valley," the second guard replied. "It's got to hurt her at least, if she tries a frontal assault."

"Yeah," the first guard sighed. "If she doesn't just poison the river and kill us all that way."

Gwaine smiled thinly at Merlin. His friend gave a dark nod.

Finally, the guards were well past their position, and Gwaine swung himself up onto the battlement, keeping his attention on their backs as they walked away. Smiling softly, he dropped onto the wall-walk and went to help Merlin, who came over the wall far less gracefully. When Merlin was on his feet again, only rubbing at his hurt ankle once, Gwaine arched a finger for him to follow, and then ran in the opposite direction of the guards, aiming for the stairs leading to the floor of the courtyard.

With the guards all turned outwards, it didn't take them long to navigate the outer bailey. They came across only one mercenary near the inner gate, whom Gwaine quickly dispatched with a handy rake-pole. After relieving him of his weapons and his keys, they hid the body inside a disused livery. Gwaine took the man's sword and knife, which Merlin clearly had no issue with, and Merlin took the dagger. After covering him as best they could with moldy hay, they crept around the courtyard to the westernmost tower, unlocking the door at the base with the stolen keys.

The smell of sweat and blood assaulted his nose immediately, and Gwaine grimaced as Merlin shut the door behind them. If Thiernan had hurt Elyan and the others….

A spiral staircase led up, and the smell was definitely coming from above. Gesturing for Merlin to stay put, he tiptoed up the stairs, listening for anyone that might be coming down. Eventually, he realized he could hear voices, and he thought he could discern Elyan's, but it was too muffled to be sure.

Reaching the first landing, he stared at the small wooden door. If there were guards on it, they'd be on the other side, watching the prisoners. Well, no time like the present.

He knocked.

"Who's there?" a voice called through the door.

"I have new orders from the prince," he replied. "He's going to need all hands to help with the oil."

There was an audible sigh from the other side, followed quickly by the bolts on the door being slid back. Gwaine smiled and drew the knife. As the door opened, revealing a frowning guard, he stabbed the man in the heart and shoved him backwards with a kick. Slamming the door open the rest of the way, he drew his sword and had the blade pressed against the throat of the other guard before the other man could even blink.

"Gwaine!" Elyan called from somewhere behind him, the joy in his voice evident. Gwaine looked over his shoulder and grinned at his friend. Three other Camelot knights were in the room with him, including Sir Clay, who was gamely trying to push up off his cot. He also spotted Hildy leaning her back against the far door, her eyes wide.

"Scream, and I finish this one off," Gwaine warned her. "And then I'll kill you."

Hildy shook her head.

"No," Elyan said, standing up and waving his good hand. "Don't. She's not the bad guy here."

"She gave me up to Thiernan," Gwaine snarled. And his eyes flashed back to the guard he was holding, spotting him trying to reach for his knife. "I wouldn't. Drop all your weapons and get on the ground, hands behind your back."

"Are you going to kill me?" the guard asked weakly.

"Not if you behave."

The guard nodded, and when Gwaine pulled the sword away from his throat, he dropped all the weapons off his person and then dropped to the floor, putting his hands behind his back.

"Hildy, tie him up with some sheets. Gag him as well."

She nodded, quickly moving to do as she was told. Merlin appeared in the room as she was doing so, glancing at the dead guard only briefly, before quickly heading over to check on the injured knights. As soon as the guard was bound, Gwaine lowered his guard and looked to Elyan.

"What do you mean, she's not the bad guy?"

"I mean, she and the other servants, and all the villagers that feed this castle, are terrified of Thiernan," Elyan said. "He'd captured some insanely powerful magical creature, a water demon, and Thiernan demonstrated her power by killing off everyone without a family, and any guard that didn't swear undying fealty. Apparently, she did it so easily, it completely cowed them." Elyan frowned. "He basically held their families lives over them. They had no choice. But even so, Hildy's the only reason we're still alive up here. She managed to convince Thiernan not to kill us this afternoon when he rode in, saying we might be useful to help defend the castle against the water demon, now that she's free. We'd be dead, otherwise."

Hildy was crying now, sobbing softly where she sat on the floor next to the now bound guard. Gwaine, against his will, felt some of his rage at her betrayal fading. Merlin's big eyes, where he was checking out Sir Clay's bandages, weren't helping either. Damn it. But even if he was less angry at her, his hatred for Thiernan only grew.

"Well, Peg Powler is no more," he said, and Hildy looked up, her eyes wide. "She's dead, and Prince Pieter has gone to fetch an army to bring Thiernan down." He looked around the room. "I'm here to find a way to get you all out of here, so Theirnan can't use you as hostages."

"They can't leave," Hildy said then, and Gwaine growled at her. She shook her head again, standing up. "No, don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that because I want to. They're not well enough. Sir Elyan, perhaps, could escape, but these others, and the two upstairs, just moving them out of this room right now might undo any healing they've managed. They're barely being held together as is. You'll kill them if you move them."

Gwaine frowned deeply, and turned to Merlin. His friend simply gave a nod, straightening up from where he was now checking on another knight.

"She's right. They shouldn't even leave these beds."

Gwaine muttered a curse. "Alright," he said, and looked at Elyan. "So what should we do?"

Elyan's eyebrows lifted.

"You mean, that was your whole plan? Break in, and ask us what to do?"

Gwaine just gave him a look, and Elyan huffed a weak laugh. "Right. Not Arthur," he said, as if that explained everything. Gwaine decided to ignore the jibe and looked up at the ceiling.

"Are there guards on the next level as well?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

Elyan shrugged and looked at Hildy. She was standing rather still in the middle of the room, frowning slightly. When she felt their attention on her, she blinked rapidly and looked around.

"Sorry," she said. "What?"

"How many guards are there?" Gwaine asked her.

"In total?"

Gwaine thought about that for a half second, then nodded.

"He returned this afternoon with about two dozen mercenaries," she said. "Add that to the guards he left behind when you left yesterday, half of whom are also mercenaries, it gives him about forty men."

Gwaine looked at Elyan for confirmation of her veracity. Elyan gave a nod. "She's telling the truth. You can trust her." He frowned then, glancing at Hildy. "Forty men. That's more than enough to hold a castle this strong for months against any army."

Gwaine's gaze narrowed. "Well, we can't wait for months."

"No," Hildy agreed. "He'll likely kill all of you and, probably, Lady Clarrisant, long before that."

"But, if you're right, the bulk are mercenaries," Gwaine said, looking at the bound guard on the ground. "Which means, if I cut off their source of pay, they have no reason to stick around." He looked at Elyan. "If I kill Thiernan…."

"But how are you going to get to him?" Elyan asked. "From what Hildy told us a little while ago, he's surrounded himself with so much protection, he's going to be impossible to reach."

"A big enough scare might also send some of the mercenaries running," Merlin said then, a decidedly devious tone to his voice. "Something to convince them to run rather than continue to defend Thiernan. If that happened, it'd leave him with barely a handful of guards…."

"And they wouldn't protect him either," Hildy said, her voice certain. "They hate him almost as much as the rest of us do."

"You have a plan?" Gwaine asked, feeling better already. Merlin arched an eyebrow in his direction, and smiled wickedly.

"I might," he said. "Hildy," he asked her, "is the servants' hatred for Thiernan strong enough for them to overcome their fear and help us in a ruse?"

She stared at him, and bit her lip. "Peg Powler is really dead?"

"She is. Thiernan's just a man again and, trust me, once Pieter reaches Bayard, he won't have his family to protect him anymore."

She looked down at the floor, and when she looked up again, there was a new confidence in her gaze. "What do you want us to do?"

…

…

Hildy led Gwaine and Merlin through the back hallways, keeping them safely hidden behind doorways and curtains as guards and mercenaries marched by. Eventually, they came to a stop around a corner from a stout door with two guards stationed on it, both looking extremely tense.

"This is as close as I can get you," she whispered, peeking around the corner at the guards before turning to look back at them. "I can't help you with the guards."

"That's alright," Gwaine said, smiling at her. "Thank you for this."

Hildy just nodded, and snuck away down the corridor the way she'd come. Gwaine watched her go with an uneasy air. They were putting a lot of trust in her—all based on Elyan's word on her character. He trusted Elyan with his life—he just hoped Elyan hadn't been fooled by her matronly demeanor.

"It'll be alright," Merlin whispered, looking at Gwaine. "This will work."

Gwaine gave a pained smile. "I hope so."

Merlin patted his shoulder, and then peeked around the corner. "So how do we get past the guards?" he whispered.

Gwaine looked around the corner as well, and then gave a shrug. "The same way Arthur normally deals with this sort of situation, how else?" And then he smiled.

Merlin's shoulders drooped. "Really? That's the tactic you want to go with?"

"You have a better one?"

Merlin sighed, straightened his shoulders, threw a glare at Gwaine, and then walked out into the corridor and around the corner.

"Hello!" Gwaine heard him say cheerfully. "I'm sorry, I think I'm lost. Do you know the way to the closest garderobe? Is it down here? Because I had way too much cheese at dinner and—oof."

Taking that as his cue, Gwaine jumped out from around the corner. Both guards were facing Merlin, one of them with a tight grip on Merlin's arm and the back of his neck. Flashing a smile, Gwaine knocked one upside the head, and stabbed the other through before he could cry out. Merlin jumped away as they both hit the ground in a clatter of armor. Gwaine then rounded on the door and knocked loudly.

"Clara! Clara, let me in!"

There was a peep from the far side, then some stumbling and shuffling, then, "Gwaine?"

"Yes! It's us! Let us in?"

"What? But we're locked in! Don't you have keys?"

"Oh!" Gwaine looked around, to see Merlin already ahead of him, ripping a set of keys off one of the guard's belts. He tossed it to Gwaine, and he quickly had the door unlocked. Pushing it open, he spotted Clara in a nightdress a second before she jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck. And then she started to cry.

"I…I thought….I thought he'd killed you…." She was sobbing now, and her grip was tightening. "I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry! My little brother, I'm so, so sorry!"

He found himself returning the hug, pressing his head into her neck and holding her as tightly as she was holding him.

"Um…" Merlin cleared his throat somewhere behind them. "I don't mean to interrupt but…could we maybe hide the guards inside the room before someone comes along?"

…

…

"And you think the plan will work?" Lady Clarrisant asked, sitting on the edge of her bed, dressed now in a thick bathrobe. "Will the servants really go along with it?"

"You know them better than we do," Merlin replied, watching her carefully. Her fear was plain in how tightly she hugged her daughter to her chest, and the way her son was wrapped around her shin on the floor. "Will they go along with it?" asked Merlin. Will you?

She frowned slightly, but, after a moment, gave a nod. "If the grindylow is dead, yes. I think they will. Thiernan…After he captured her, he was so brutal, so insane, I don't think anyone could be loyal to him anymore."

"That's what Hildy told us," Gwaine said. He was washing some of the dried blood from yesterday off with a towel, and Merlin had to smile at the wide eyed stare Gregory was giving him and the amount of red staining it. Clarrisant gave another nod to Gwaine's words.

"And if anyone can convince them, she can. She's been something of a leader to them these past few weeks, keeping their spirits from completely despairing." She looked at Gwaine. "Of course, I thought I'd convinced her to keep you quiet, but she told Thiernan anyway."

"I was wondering about that."

"But it really was Peg Powler that had them so terrified. Without her…" She licked her lips nervously. "Without her, I think they'll take the chance of defying him."

"Well, we'll see in a few hours at breakfast," Merlin said. "Until then, we need to get you to somewhere else safe."

"Won't someone notice the guards outside our door are missing?"

"Gwaine and I are going to remain here, and pretend to be the guards. If no one looks too closely as they walk past, we'll be fine."

"And then…" Lady Clarrisant looked to Gwaine. "You're going to go after whomever doesn't run and Thiernan, all by yourself?"

Gwaine smiled softly. "Yep."

"But…But how? How can you possibly defeat them all? And Thiernan, he's good, Gwaine. More than good. Don't take this the wrong way, but it would take a master swordsman to face him and win."

"Well, luckily I am one."

"Gwaine, be serious."

"He is being serious," Merlin said.

She sighed. "I'm sure, as his friend, you think that, Merlin, but—"

"I don't just think it, my lady, and I'm not saying it as a friend. " He nodded at Gwaine. "Gwaine isn't just good with a sword, Lady Clarrisant. He is one of the best swordsmen in all of Albion, if not the best. I don't think anyone, not even King Arthur himself, could defeat him in a straight fight."

Gwaine gave him a surprised look at that, but Merlin meant every word. He'd seen Gwaine fight. Arthur was amazing, but Gwaine…Gwaine was exceptional.

"And don't tell Arthur I said that," he added, flashing Gwaine a quick smile. Gwaine returned it, and, curiously, he was blushing a little.

Lady Clarrisant was staring at them both, still clearly worried. "Well, I hope you're right," was all she said.

"I am," Merlin said.

"I believe him, momma," Gregory said, looking up at his mother. "I bet Uncle Gwaine is amazing."

Clarissant smiled more deeply, and gestured to him to stand up so she could hug him along with her daughter. Gregory did, and Merlin could only smile at how close they were.

"Alright then," Clarrisant said, loosening her hold on the children so they could all look up at Gwaine and Merlin together. "What do you want us to do?"

…

…

The remainder of the night passed slowly, and Merlin found himself nodding off once or twice, exhaustion trying desperately to knock him down. He wasn't quite sure when he'd last had a normal night's sleep, one that wasn't induced by injuries or that wasn't interrupted only a few hours after he'd bedded down. It was impossible to think about how quickly this had all happened, that just a week ago he was complaining about having to get up "early" to get to the laundry room to fetch Arthur's socks to pack for the trip. It seemed like eons ago.

"Merlin?" Gwaine called softly from where he stood a couple feet away, looking somewhat ridiculous in the borrowed guard uniform. It was too big on him. Merlin's didn't look much better.

"Yeah?" he answered, keeping his head down and fighting the urge to close his eyes.

"Just in case this doesn't work—"

"It will," he said. Though, frankly, he thought it would take a miracle. So much could go wrong. If just one servant ratted on them….

"Right," Gwaine said. "It will. But, if it doesn't—"

"Don't." Merlin shook his head. "I'm not thinking that way."

"Sure, but…but listen." Gwaine straightened in his too large armor. "If it doesn't, I want to tell you something."

Merlin sighed. "You don't need to."

"No. I do. I…" Gwaine sighed, and he rested more heavily on the halberd staff in his hand, pressing his head against it. "Everything that has happened, it's made me think a lot about family. There's my sister and her kids. There's Thiernan and Pieter, and their father Bayard. There's the servants working here protecting their families in the villages. Even the black dogs, that alpha's only goal was to protect her family. All of this, everything that's happened...family's been at the center of it. And I started thinking about how family can make you crazy, how it can get messed up, and can mess you up…."

Merlin frowned slightly.

"When family is on opposite sides, it just makes everyone weaker and miserable, like Pieter and Thiernan. Or Morgana and Arthur. Or, to a lesser degree, me and my sister…"

Merlin just nodded.

"But when family is on your side," Gwaine continued, his tone changing to something deeper, "when you're fighting shoulder to shoulder, it suddenly all seems worth it, doesn't it? And the strength it gives you—I don't know why anyone would not want that feeling. Look at how strong it made the black dogs. And I think, why would Thiernan throw away something so amazing just for a crown?"

Or Morgana, thought Merlin.

Gwaine sighed. "Funny thing. When I was by myself after my mother died, I was unhappy for a long time, though I didn't really know it. And then I met you and Arthur, and…and that started to change. I found myself happy, genuinely happy, whenever we all got together. I didn't really understand why until now. Finding my sister again, the feeling I get when I'm with her and the kids, I realize now what I'd been missing when I was alone. I'd forgotten what it's like to be part of a family."

Merlin smiled softly.

Gwaine frowned, and straightened up from his lean on the staff. "So I've decided something. Risks be damned, I'm not going to lose having a family again, no matter what. The Gwaine who followed the wind, who wandered from tavern to tavern without any ties, he's not me anymore. From now on, I am going to stand by my family's side for as long as they'll let me, and I will protect it with everything I have."

Merlin frowned again, and glanced at Gwaine. Was he talking about staying with his sister? He'd been worried about that, ever since Gwaine had admitted who Lady Clarrisant was. He'd been afraid that Gwaine might stay here, in Mercia. Or that he'd leave to go somewhere else with Lady Clarrisant. Leaving them. Leaving Camelot. Though he'd never begrudge his friend that chance, the thought felt like a weight on his bones, making him heavier and even more tired.

Gwaine seemed to notice, and he looked squarely at Merlin, a tiny smile on his face. "Hey."

He sighed, and turned to meet his friend's gaze. "Yeah?"

"You're my family. You know that, right?"

Merlin just looked at him, slightly stunned. And then, slowly, he started to smile. "I am?"

"Yeah. You are. You, Arthur and the others. You've been my family since the day I met you in that tavern. And I just wanted you to know that. So, no matter what happens today, we're in it together. To the end."

Merlin just grinned stupidly, and he found himself standing a little straighter as well.

"Gwaine," he asked.

"Yeah?"

"You know how you wanted to know if our plan was going to work?" he asked.

Gwaine smiled. "Yeah?"

"Just thought you should know, it's not just going to work. By the time we're done, we'll have brought this castle down around Thiernan's ears."

Gwaine laughed, and Merlin joined him. And if it was a tiny bit hysterical from exhaustion, stress and madness…? Well, that just made it even better.

TBC…

Almost done! And, can I say, I completely appreciated that Gwaine and Percival spend most of the newest episode of Merlin completely shirtless. Not that I'm shallow or anything…:-P