It took nearly five days to reach the village of Guelder, most of which was spent wading through the thick, soft mud caused by the recent rainfall. They took a few hours to rest and deliver food to the victims of Borin's merciless raid. The villagers thanked them gratefully for their help, soon, they were off trying to track down the malicious scoundrels that had been the cause of all this tyranny.

"Esme, I want you to wait here with Merlin." Arthur ordered.

"No way. I'm not gonna stay here and babysit your servant!" she snarled in protested. Merlin was about to make a comment about how he could look after himself when the king cut him off,

"I completely understand, Esme. None of us enjoy looking after that idiot, but someone has to do it, he'd get himself killed in three seconds flat."

"Prat." the warlock muttered under his breath. Arthur continued, a more solemn expression pulling on his face,

"You two are staying here, that's an order." Esme frowned but nodded, while Merlin folded him arms across his chest and glared angrily at his master.

"Don't be such a girl, Merlin." the king grinned as he rode off with the other knights. Neither the knight nor the servant spoke for several minutes, leaving the forest completely silent except for the distant hoofbeats and occasional crack of a twig from a scurrying animal. Esme waited until the men were out of hearing distance before venturing forward,

"You coming?" she called to Merlin. The servant's eyes grew wide with surprise, he hadn't expected her to be so quick to disobey the king.

"You're going to go against Arthur's orders?" he asked

"I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't, they're going to need all the help they can get." Merlin grinned,

"I think we're going to get along just fine."

The knights scoured the area surrounding the village, searching for any sign of Borin. Just when they had lost all hope of finding the bandits, they heard a voice behind them,

"Well, well. If it isn't King Arthur Pendragon himself." the coldhearted male voice said, giving a mock bow even though the knights backs were to him. Arthur drew his sword instinctively and pointed it in the direction the man had spoken from,

"Borin. You're reign of terror on this land is about to end."

"Oh, I don't think so, your majesty. My men and I are more than a match for you and your pathetic knights." the sorcerer spat venomously.

"We'll see about that!" Esme hissed angrily from behind the others. Arthur whirled around in surprise, Leon's face filled with concern while Gwaine simply shrugged as if he had been expecting this.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Borin mused, an evil glint in his eyes. Arthur ignored the comment,

"I thought I told you to stay behind and look after Merlin." his jaws clenched into a hard from as he stared sternly at the knight.

"I am looking after him," Esme smirked, gesturing to the manservant cowering behind her.

"You can't do that and fight." Elyan said solemnly.

"But of course I can, I'm a woman, multitasking is second nature." she grinned. Merlin stifled a laugh, his features grew serious again when he thought about how much polishing Arthur was going to make him do for this. Borin had remained alarmingly silent during the knights conversation, Arthur and Leon turned around to see what he was up to. The empty forest floor that greeted their eyes and the scream from Esme behind them told them everything they needed to know. The sorcerer clasped the beautiful young knight to his chest, a slender, silver knife pressed dauntingly at her throat. For the first time ever, the knights saw fear young woman's eyes, but fear quickly turned to burning rage. With a sharp cry of pain, Borin threw the blade to the ground, surprising the knights. No one saw Merlin's outstretched hand, they didn't spot the flash of mesmerizing gold in his eyes, nor did they hear the powerful ancient words of the old religion tumbling from his lips. Esme took the 'lucky' event to advantage, pulling herself from his grasp and dealing him a heavy blow that sent him hurtling to the ground. Borin's men rushed to protect their master, engulfing the knights in a bloody battle. One by one the bandits numbers dwindled, until only a few remained. Borin finally found the strength to stand again, aiming his first attack at the young king who had his back turned to him. The blast of wind and fire was cut off and sent right back to the wizard, killing him stone dead. Esme's heart stopped, she had seen Merlin raising his hand but hadn't given it much thought until now. Her fears were confirmed when she saw the gold fading from the manservant's eyes, he had magic, Merlin was a sorcerer. She gaped at the young man in astonishment, if he is a sorcerer then why was he protecting Arthur? Should he be trying to kill him instead? It didn't make sense, none of it.