On the forth night as the knights slept Merlin remained awake and waited until Arthur was alone standing guard. From his position on the ground he could see Arthur quietly make his way to the fire to warm up. And after he was settled he made his way over as soundlessly as he could, to not startle him.

"Arthur" he said as he sat across from him.

"What do you want Merlin."

"I want you to stop acting like a prat."He replied defiantly. Arthur had to hide the smile that was forming behind a gloved hand. It was always easy to laugh with his manservant but he was still very upset and confused and refused to give him the satisfaction. So he simply grunted and kept his eyes on the fire.

Merlin knew what he had to do, as much as he hated to do so.

"Arthur I'm sorry for the other night. I shouldn't have said what I did." Arthur said nothing and remained motionless.

"I should have kept that to myself and I see now that it was selfish to burden you with it."

"It is no burden Merlin."

"Then why can't you look at me?"

"Because Merlin I don't like being toyed with." Arthur replied finally looking up.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm tired Merlin. Just who do you want? Can you not decide?"

"Arthur I've already told you the truth, it's you that won't listen."

"Because there is nothing to listen to." Arthur said with finality. He rose to his feet without another word and started to tread away from the warmth of the fire. However Merlin refused to let him walk away again.

"Arthur for once in your life can you just listen to me?" Merlin said in a heated whisper so they wouldn't wake the others. He jumped to his feet and grabbed Arthurs arm rather roughly and forced him to face him. This insolence only infuriated the hot headed prince more so he merely sneered and stomped off into the darkness.

"Arthur wait" Merlin called as he hastily followed. Arthur continued to ignore the annoyed remarks behind him and continued onward stopping once he knew they were far enough to from the camp as possible. Then he went off.

"For what? To hear you jabber on and watch you act as if you're some wounded animal." He bellowed with an arm gesturing towards the dark woods surrounding them. "As if you're the one who's suffering?"

"Excuse me but why shouldn't I be?!" Merlin roared back.

"Oh? Did you also loose the girl of your dreams to your best friend?!" Merlin stopped in his tracks then. Arthur was fuming, his jaw clenched, his body stiff but his eyes looked vulnerable, sad even. He hadn't realized that Arthur had been hurt by his own accusations.

"Arthur let me explain…"

"Shhh!"

"No I will not, let me-"

"Shut up Merlin…" Arthur whispered. Merlin barely had time to blink before he realized they were under attack. He watched in disbelief as a man rushed them from the shadows and assaulted Arthur head on. Unfortunately for the man, Arthur had been trained to kill since birth and quickly disarmed him as they collided and ended him with his own sword.

In an instant he felt Arthur grab hold of his arm and yell to follow, they were running back to warn the others before he even realized it. Luckily for them the others were already up and alert hearing the struggle in the distance. Men poured out from the shadows surrounding the knights as Merlin and Arthur joined them. By the fire there was nothing but grunts, and sword clashing. The knights were expertly skilled and disposed of the intruders at an amazing rate. But suddenly the amount of invaders began to multiply, the bandit's entourage was even larger than they realized. A handful of the knights were beginning to display distress from their injuries. Arthur had no choice but to call for a hasty retreat. The knights immediately did as they were told as they finished off another wave of the intruders. They ran through the woods doing their best to escape the conflict.

As the shouts from the bandits grew closer Merlin inevitably caught his foot on a nearby tree root and fell hard to the ground. Frantically he heaved himself up yet fell once more grasping that he had twisted his ankle from the fall. He took in a sharp breathe from the pain and watched as the others ran ahead, not taking notice of their fallen friend. He did not worry though, he planned on using his magic to fend off and diminish the invaders once Arthur and the knights were safely out of sight. However his plan unfortunately back fired when he heard a familiar figure running towards him, calling his name.