A/N: Okay, I spent some time deciding how I actually want to end this. It might go on a bit longer than I thought at first, but hopefully not too long, because people would get bored with me. I can tell you this: it won't just be rescue-Arthur-then-the-end. Also, I think you might like to know some of what is coming. Merlin's liable to get a bit dark in this story… Not Dark!Merlin dark, but perhaps a wee bit darker than, say, his ka-pow in the finale. Arthur's not going to just sit around in that dungeon the entire story, but he's not going to be doing a lot of the really heroic stuff. Gwaine will probably continue to be in the story. Some of the other knights might make appearances, but they won't take the focus. Also, there will not be real!Gwen in this story, because I always intended for this to take place somewhere in between 4.09 and 4.11. That, in my opinion, makes the fake!Gwen worse.
Okay, blurb of spoilage there but I thought you might be interested in knowing. Again, not TOO long, but longer than I originally thought.
Merlin slept five hours, and long before the end of that time, Gwaine was chomping at the metaphorical bit. So he stood and took a walk, hoping to find something useful.
And he did.
When Merlin woke up, Gwaine stood over him, smiling. Merlin thought that was suspicious—until he sat up and saw that Gwaine was holding onto the reins of two horses. Then he thought it was really suspicious.
"Where'd you get those?" he asked, standing and rubbing his eyes.
"There is a small farm nearby," Gwaine told him. "With horses."
"How'd you get the horses?" When there was no immediate answer, Merlin said, "Gwaine, did you steal them?"
"No," Gwaine defended himself. "I borrowed them."
"With permission?"
"Yes, Merlin—the farmer told me I could borrow them. Apparently knights of Camelot are trustworthy. Also, I gave him the few coins on me. And he gave me a loaf of bread, but he doesn't want that back." Gwaine grinned and tossed Merlin a piece of bread. "I already ate my half," he said, and that was all it took to get Merlin to inhale the sustenance.
"Come on, then," said Gwaine, gesturing towards the horse, and Merlin scrambled up. "Let's go rescue the handsome knight."
They rode out, following the directions that Merlin had memorized. They didn't stop again, though Merlin began to realize on the trip that he was terribly thirsty and wanted more than anything to stop so he could find some water. But he wanted to have Arthur back by the end of the day and in his own room by tomorrow afternoon at the very latest.
And if someone had hurt Arthur while he was gone, he wanted to have them dead before sundown.
That didn't seem like too tall of an order to him.
They found it several hours before sundown. Merlin recognized it from the dragon's description. He slid off of his horse, tying it to a nearby tree, and began to slink through the shrubbery to get a better look at it. Behind him, he heard Gwaine copying his movements.
They got into a position behind a bush and several trees, where they could see the front of the house fairly well.
He gestured to the house. "Thoughts?" he said to Gwaine.
Gwaine scrutinized the place. "Two story, white-ish building," he said. "Not very sinister looking."
"Means nothing," said Merlin dismissively. "Neither was Nimueh at first."
"Who's Nimueh?"
"High priestess, poisoned me and tried to kill Arthur and Uther… and my mother. She did kill Gaius for a short while there. Dead now."
"Basically, sinister?"
"Very. Kilgharrah said that the place goes underground too. How did he know that?"
"It's sort of on a bit of a plateau, isn't it?" said Gwaine. "There's probably a back entrance in the ground… like a trapdoor. An escape route for emergencies."
"If we can find it, it would be easier to get in that way than through the doors, wouldn't it?" said Merlin. "There seem to be guards at the doors."
"It could be miles away from here though, depending on how far the underground extends. It would be easier to sneak in than to locate it, especially once it gets dark."
Merlin sighed in resigned agreement and sunk to a sitting position, thinking.
"Maybe," said Gwaine, "if we look around the back…"
Merlin sat up straighter and stared at the house more intensely. It looked like just an unusually large house, but he knew that there were guards posted on the inside – one for each door, he'd bet – and several triggers in certain places on the walls that would set off an alarm. Spells of protection kept everyone unauthorized out of the house. The dragon had told him some of these things, and the rest he could sense with his powers.
"Gwaine," he cut his friend off. "Have you ever impersonated a cult member?"
Gwaine shrugged. "Once, but I was very drunk and she was very attractive."
"How do you feel about doing it again?"
"Considering I woke up on an altar last time… How would we even disguise ourselves?"
"We'd need those thick brown robes they all seem to be wearing, of course, which might be a bit of a problem," Merlin conceded, bobbing his head in Gwaine's direction without looking at him.
"You were right," said an angry voice from behind that Merlin knew without a moment's thought did not belong to him or to Gwaine. Wincing, Merlin turned around (and saw Gwaine doing the same) to face the two men that had snuck up behind them.
Both wore the thick brown robes that seemed to be characteristic of the Mortdestin – a parody of the Druids' style, Merlin reflected.
"Of course I was," said the other man, who had a higher voice but a bigger build.
"My friend here," the first man informed Gwaine and Merlin, simpering, "said that he saw movement in the bushes near some of our triggers, and that it was probably spies. I would have ignored it, except you should always know when to listen to your friends."
Merlin slowly made his way to his feet, his eyes on the sword that the one speaking had out. The other one had a hand out, ready to use magic. "That's wise," he said, trying to figure their chances while he blabbered. "I'm still trying to teach my own friends that."
"Well, usually we'd bring prisoners straight to Vera," said the talkative one conversationally. "But orders are to dispose of anyone trying to steal away the king, so… Better just to kill you."
Yes. We found Arthur. Now, to get him.
Merlin shared a look with Gwaine. Then he took a step forward. "Well, then, in that case I suppose I should just… Oops!" Merlin 'tripped' and went sprawling into the one that appeared unarmed, nearly knocking him off his feet.
Before the Mortdestin members knew what had happened, Gwaine had leapt over Merlin's legs, drawing his own sword, and launched himself at the one with the weapon.
Merlin shrugged the tension out of his shoulder, drew himself back a bit, and threw himself at the magic-man, a spell on his lips.
"That was slightly scary," Gwaine said as he pulled the new hood up over his head and they left the unconscious, bound, and gagged men behind in the trees.
"Why?" said Merlin. "I didn't do any more than you did."
"Yes, but I'm not used to you actually, physically fighting. With magic." Gwaine was resisting the urge to ask where he'd learned how to conjure rope.
Merlin shrugged. "You know, you really aren't accepting this half as fast as Lancelot did."
"Lancelot knew?"
"Shh, we're getting close to the door."
Gwaine followed Merlin's footsteps as they approached the door. On the outside, it looked like any wooden door you could walk through, but Merlin said there was a guard right on the inside, watching those who entered and left. Merlin figured there were three doors, plus several people just working inside, a leader—maybe ten enemies in all? Eight after they defeated the last two? Perhaps more, though, depending on how large of a group this really was.
"Just don't say anything," Merlin whispered as they approached. "Maybe we just walk in."
They approached the door and stepped inside. The guard saw them and they saw the guard. They passed the guard – Merlin stiffened – Gwaine was prepared – nothing happened.
Merlin and Gwaine kept walking. They were in.
The hallway they entered was dark, blank, and empty, with only several torches lighting things up. They could see several other hallways branching out from it.
"Not many places for holding someone here," said Gwaine, looking around, his hand on his sword, right behind Merlin.
Merlin nodded. "We'll probably have to go down into the lower parts. That's where they'd have someplace to… hold someone." Cells, he thought, but didn't say it for fear of his anger boiling over. "Oh. Gwaine," he said, it suddenly occurring to him. "By the way, don't touch the walls, because they have triggers for…"
Just then, the unmistakable sound of warning bells pealed from nowhere. Merlin sucked in his cheeks and turned around, glaring at the knight who was leaning on the wall and smiling sheepishly.
"Now you tell me," Gwaine griped.
Merlin sighed. They were blown. Well, no where to go but in. "Better start running," he said, wrapping his Druid-esque cloak tighter about himself and lifting it slightly so his feet had more room.