A/N: Hi everyone. I knew I had said that I would bring the next chapter earlier than this, but I just wasn't able to do so. I had a really busy time. I went to live on my own, had to make exams and now I'm sick. But I promise everyone that I will always finish the stories I write.
I'm not really happy about the beginning, but I hope you can forgive me, I'm a little bit out of this story.
I hope that you will enjoy this story and please tell me what you guys (and girls :P) think.
xxx
Robin, Will, Percival and sir Robert sat all silently around the campfire, while Gwaine was pacing back and forth. It was eventually Gwaine who broke the silence with a frustrated growl. 'We have to do something!'
Robin stared at him. 'We all agreed on that, but we can't rush this.'
'I know, I know!'
'We shouldn't have let the queen out of our sight, especially with only a servant and a boy!' Sir Robert said with an angered voice as he glared at Will.
But those words were probably not the best thing to say as the others glared at him, while Will let his head drop even further and Robin thought that he saw small tears rolling over his cheeks. Percival who normally didn't say much stood up and went to stand dangerously in front of the man, a dark expression on his face. 'None of us could have known something like this would happen and besides it was her own choice.' He paused for a bit. 'We all want to save them, not only the queen, but also Merlin.'
'Why, he's just a lowly servant.' Sir Robert said again as he also stood up. He had never known the importance of Merlin in Arthur's life, he had arrived at Camelot just a few days before the raven had left, he had no idea, he couldn't have any idea.
Those words were filled with poison, but before more could leave his mouth a fist collided with his chin. Gwaine had in his rage charged towards his fellow knight and now he stood over him ready to punch the man again.
'W-What do you think that you're doing!' The knight shouted in surprise.
'Never say that again.' Gwaine snarled at him. 'You may not know it, but that servant is as important for Camelot as the queen is and he's definitely more important than you could ever be.' Percival than dragged his friend away from Sir Robert, as he feared for what the man would do next, not that he felt differently from his friend.
Now Robin decided not to stay silent anymore and he laid a reassuring hand on Gwaine's shoulder. 'Is he really so important for your king?'
Percival answered for him. 'Yes he is.' He looked once at Gwaine before speaking further. 'That counts for us too, we need him.'
'I see.' He sighed, he may like Merlin, but it was clear that the knight needed him more than then he did 'But now is not the time to talk about things like this, we need to make a plan.'
xxx
Gwen silently cried as she held an unconscious Merlin into her arms, slowly stroking his raven black hair. She looked once more at the silver bracelet around his wrist, the skin beneath and around it was painfully red, she had tried to remove it, but she just wasn't able to do so.
She stared through the little window in the cell wall, the only source of light they had. The queen didn't know how long they had been in here, at least five hours as she saw the sun began to set and that whole time her friend hadn't woken.
Gwen pulled him a bit closer to her chest as she whispered to him that she wouldn't let anyone harm him.
As it became night the cell became pitch black, but the queen stayed alert, trying to listen to every sound, to watch for every little movement. But eventually even she, tired from all the excitement, fell asleep.
It was a soft and gentle voice that woke her up again. She slowly opened her eyes and looked straight at Merlin's kind face. As she realised that he was awake again she almost jumped up and threw her arms around him. 'You're alright!' She said in relief. He gave her a sad smile and nodded, it was then that she noticed the soft light of the upcoming sun. 'How are you feeling?' She asked as she looked at the bracelet around his wrist.
The raven followed her eyes and placed his other hand protectively around it. 'I-it hurts.' He whispered to her.
She sighed as she was expecting it to be. 'You won't be able to get us out of here.' It wasn't really an question as she already knew the answer.
'No, I can't seem to use any of my magic... and it really wears me out.'
'How do you mean?'
He looked sadly at her. 'Gwen, I'm magic... if it will be bound for too long then I will die.'
She gasped at hearing her words, she definitely wasn't expecting that. '... D-don't worry, we will get out of here before that happens.'
'I hope so.' He whispered back.
Both their eyes turned to the door as they heard the sound of footsteps approaching them. Merlin immediately lay a protecting arm around his queen. The door was opened and the sheriff stepped inside, his eyes filled with some kind of wicked joy. 'Good morning.' They didn't answer him, but only glared at the man. 'Oh, don't be so hostile.' He said faking being hurt.
'Release us!' The queen shouted to him.
A small smile spread over the sheriff's lips. 'I'm not planning on doing so. The both of you will be my bait for capturing that irritating thief.' The queen bit her lip, she was expecting something like this, not that she wanted to become the bait to lure her friends in. The sheriff walked towards the door and looked once more back before leaving the cell. 'You will be executed tomorrow at dawn.'
xxx
The knights and Robin were planning the rescue, not that they had any success, each plan they came up with would have failed if they tried.
All of them sat silently around the campfire when Much ran towards them, his face filled with panic as he half stopped, half fell before them. 'R-Robin...' He said through his breaths.
The archer jumped up and grabbed him by the shoulders as he understood the message from his friend was an important one. 'They... will be executed at dawn.'
All of them froze after hearing those words, they weren't prepared for something like that. Gwen was supposed to be the hostage to lure Arthur out, but now... they didn't had much time to come up with an plan.
xxx
Merlin looked gentle at the sobbing queen in his arms, he knew he had to do something, but without his magic it all seemed so hopeless. He sighed again, not for the first time. 'Gwen... it will all be alright.'
'You know it won't. Or we will be executed or the others will fall into the trap.' She responded with an emotionless voice.
'We don't know that for sure...'
The queen looked into his eyes, they were almost the same colour as Arthur's, but at the same time they were totally different from the man she loves. Arthur's eyes were filled with courage and power, while Merlin's were tender, kind and what she now realised filled with magic... 'Magic... that's it!' She jumped up and took Merlin's face in her hands. 'That's it!'
He looked with startled eyes at her. 'W-what's it?'
She smiled at him. 'You may not be able to use any magic, but that doesn't mean that I can't.'
'But you don't know any magic... right?'
The queen rolled with her eyes. 'Of course not, but that doesn't mean that you can't teach me.'
Merlin looked shocked at her and took her hands in his. 'It's way too dangerous, I-.'
'Merlin.' She said with an stern voice. 'We don't really have any other choice.'
'I guess not, but still...' She narrowed her eyes and he gulped, he definitely didn't like it when she looked at him like that. 'Fine, but nothing to dangerous.'
Gwen smiled at him. 'Good, now let's go to work then.'
So Merlin did what his queen told him and he was quite surprised when he noticed that she was a fast learner. First they started with some simple tricks, letting stones float above their heads and creating small flames in the palm of her hand. She was a natural in the art of magic.
They spend the whole day and most of the evening practicing and when he finally was convinced she was ready for it they started their plan to escape their dark cell.
Both of them stared through the bars of their cell, Merlin's eyes catching the set of keys hanging on the wall near the guards. The queen and the warlock looked at each other and gave the other a reassuring smile.
'Do you remember the spell?' He whispered to her.
Gwen gave him a quick nod, she knew she was ready to do this. She took a deep breath and silently whispered the words of magic. The queen's eyes turned to a dark colour of golden as she stared at the floating keys. They keys created a soft sound as they slowly made their way towards the two captives.
The queen smiled as her fingers closed themselves around the metal keys. With a shaking hand she placed one of them inside the lock and with a small click the door was opened.
She turned around to face Merlin. 'Ready?' The man only gave her a quick nod. She stared at him as she noticed how his face was even paler than normal and small rings of black lay under his eyes, but there was no time for that now, they had to get out of here.
Gwen let her hand slide into Merlin's and they slowly opened to door before turning to the left. The both of them ran through the hallways after Gwen placed the two guards under a sleeping spell. They didn't go as fast as she had hoped since Merlin wasn't able to run that fast.
But as they ran up the stairs and around the corner they ran into Gisborne and his men.
'Trying to escape?' The man asked amused.
The two of them stared with wide eyes at him. 'We won't go under without a fight.' She hissed.
'Get them.'
With that order the guards charged forwards. Gwen shouted, kicked and bit to try to free herself, but she wasn't able to do much against many strong arms. It didn't take long before the two of them were restrained again.
The queen turned to her friend, seeing how he was searching for his breath. The bracelet was taking his toll on the boy.
She glared once more at Gisborne knowing that it was all over, before she let her head hang in defeat.
xxx
Robin looked around, searching for the others spread through the crowd. He locked eyes with Gwaine, giving the man a slight nod and the other responded the same. He could see how nervous the knight was, not that he wasn't.
The brunette looked away and searched for the others. The plan they had thought of was simple and he wasn't sure if it would work, but they didn't had many choices. The knights had switched their cloths for simple commoner cloths. Their swords hidden beneath long cloaks, the same as Robin's bow.
It had been several hours before something started to happen. The sheriff walked onto the stage, he wore a big smile as he greeted the crowd. He saw how the man scanned the crowd, probably searching for him as he was sure this was partly a trap to capture him. Robin pulled the hood of his cloak even further over his head, their plan would fail if he would be spotted.
'People, you have gathered here to view the punishment of two thieves, two thieves that have helped the evil Robin Hood steal all of your taxes, the money we use to help you, the people.' With that said he turned back and winked to Gisborne who answered with a slight nod before disappearing inside.
Robin felt his heart sink as he saw the man appearing again with both Merlin and the queen right behind him. He gulped as he saw how pale the warlock was, black rings under his eyes and a frightened look in them. Gwen was right behind him with an equally scared look in her eyes. Their plan just couldn't fail.
xxx
Gwen had Merlin's arm in a tight grip, she was scared to death about what was about to happen. She didn't even hear what the sheriff was saying, but searched for some kind of comfort in her friend. He tried to calm her down, speaking to her with calming words, but both knew their fate.
Eventually after the sheriff's words faded away Gisborne came to them and he ordered them with some help of the guards to go outside.
The queen walked after her friends, forced to release him and to walk towards her own death. She stared at the silent crowd, seeing remorse in their eyes, as all the people knew how wicked the sheriff was. As she scanned over the crowd she thought that she saw Percival standing between the people, but immediately lost him again. She sighed, her mind was probably trying to give her that last bit of hope she so desperately wanted.
She turned back to the sheriff when she heard his next words. 'The boy goes first.'
