AN: Hey guys! My finals are over! You know what that means? One whole month of FREEDOM!

Ok, so I am a bit excited. But now that I have time I plan on writing quite a bit more than I have been. Hopefully I will be able to get a lot done, but we'll see.

Um, in other news, still no editing. I'm sorry guys. Hopefully starwater13 is alright :/

And, as Bradley James said on twitter yesterday, "63 down, 2 to go." Kind of both really exciting and terribly sad. But, as I have said before, I will still be writing after the series ends. I have two more stories currently in development for once I finish the two I am currently working on.

Anyhoo, lots of love to readers and especially to reviewers. I don't own Merlin, as then it might never end as the people reading this fic may have realized, and in honor of this fic now officially being longer than the first Harry Potter book, I may have named this chapter after the last chapter in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I don't think this fic will ever be longer than that book though...

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Flaw in the Plan

When Merlin and Arthur got to the old oak Gwaine and Percival were already there waiting for them. Merlin wasn't surprised they had finished first, the sickness in the east town had spread and it had taken quite a bit of time and energy before most of the people were smiling at him, looking completely healthy. The happy faces of the children had been completely worth the exhaustion though, and with Arthur at his side getting out of the city had been easy. What Merlin didn't understand was why Lancelot wasn't waiting there for them as well. He had the fewest people to visit, he should have been back first. Most of the people who lived near the castle had enough to not need their help, or at least not as desperately as the people in the lower town did. The only thing that could have waylaid Lancelot was trouble with the guards. Arthur seemed to have read his mind as he leaned into Merlin's shoulder and whispered, "I'm sure Lancelot is fine, Merlin. He's a smart, strong, man. Don't worry so much."

Merlin gave Arthur a weak smile, his eyebrows still rumpled in confusion as he replied, "He should have been the first back, Arthur. If something's happened to him…"

"He will know what to do. And he wouldn't want you worrying so much. Just relax, Merlin. We will figure this out."

Merlin gave Arthur's hand a squeeze in response as they walked up to the oak and Gwaine called out, "You two haven't seen Lancelot have you?"

"No." Arthur shouted out, making Merlin's stomach squirm uneasily, "Not since we split up."

"He must have gotten stuck somewhere." Gwaine said, looking much more worried than he sounded, "He'll probably be here soon."

Merlin could feel Percival's eyes on him as Arthur guided him over to a large stump and sat him down. "You alright, Merlin?" Percival asked, moving over next to him.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired. It's Lancelot I'm worried about."

"What he means," Arthur said, "is that he worked himself to exhaustion fixing every scab and bruise on the children in the east lower town. The sooner Lancelot gets here and we can get back, the better."

As Arthur finished speaking, Merlin heard a rustling noise from the direction of the city. There was too much noise for it to be Lancelot, but whoever it was was definitely coming towards the old oak. Merlin saw Percival give Arthur a significant glance before Arthur pulled Merlin back behind the log, and Percival motioned for Gwaine to hide before disappearing into the trees. It wasn't long before they could hear voices to accompany the rustling.

"I know it's around here somewhere, Gwen." A male voice said. It didn't sound like one of the guards, too kind, but there was no way of being sure. If Lancelot had been caught, it was possible he had told someone of their meeting place, although Merlin knew Lancelot wouldn't break easily. He was much too noble for that.

"We can't waist time wandering in the forest, Elyan." A female voice responded. Arthur had smiled as soon as the woman had started speaking and jumped up, yelling, "Gwen! What are you doing out here?"

"Sire!" the girl, Gwen squeaked as she noticed Arthur. "It's so good to see you!"

"Please, call me Arthur. And you lot can all come out. Gwen and Elyan won't harm us."

Merlin cautiously stood from his position behind the log, smiling as he saw the two intruders. The girl was very pretty, but looked very worried about something. The man looked vaguely related to her, his skin and eyes matching hers. He was also quite handsome, although he was nothing compared to Arthur. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Percival and Gwaine emerge as well, both clutching the blades that they kept concealed on them whenever they went to the city, but Gwaine quickly put them away as he smiled and walked over to the newcomers, saying, "Arthur, you must introduce us to your lovely friends."

"I'm sorry, but there really isn't time for all this." Gwen said, looking even more worried than she had earlier. "We met Lancelot in town today, he saved me from a pair of guards who were harassing me, but they came back and surrounded him. You've got to help him!"

"What!" Arthur, Merlin, Gwaine and Percival shouted in unison.

"Lancelot has been arrested." Elyan said, cutting to the chase. "They didn't seem to realize who he was as he was only sentenced to a month in prison for assaulting the guards. He sent us to meet you before he was caught. We want to help him in any way we can, he did keep Gwen safe."

"We've got to get him out." Merlin stated, moving to run back towards the city. Gwaine seemed to have agreed with him, but Percival and Arthur didn't and had quickly pulled them back to the old oak.

"We can't just rush in blindly." Arthur said, keeping his grip on Merlin as he sat him back on the stump. "We will help him, but all of us getting caught won't do him any good. It will be best if we can do this without drawing any attention to him, so they don't realize who they have locked up in their dungeons."

"Arthur's right," Percival said, letting Gwaine slump against a tree, looking rather defeated. "As long as Uther doesn't know that Lancelot has been caught, he should be safe in the dungeons. You need to rest, if we get back to camp now you can rest and we can go back as soon as it gets dark."

"No!" Merlin shouted, barely keeping control of his magic as his emotions ran wild. "You don't understand! You've never been stuck in that hell-hole Uther calls a dungeon. We need to get Lancelot out now!"

"Merlin." Arthur said, grabbing both of Merlin's shoulders and positioning himself so Merlin had no choice but to look right into his eyes. "Lancelot is brave. He will survive, but only if we do this the smart way. I know how bad it is to be locked up under the castle, and I swear to you we will get him out, but if we rush in swords blazing, Uther will realize who he's got and he'll use Lancelot against us. I know that you're worried about him, but we have to be smart. I'm sure Lancelot knows that we are coming for him, and that knowledge will help him keep up hope as he waits. We'll have him out of there in no time, but we can't act rashly."

"And we'll help as well." Guinevere said with an encouraging smile, kneeling next to Arthur and laying a hand on Merlin's leg. "I'm a maid in the castle, I can let him know that you're coming for him and do whatever I can to make sure he isn't recognized. It's my fault he's in this mess, I want to repay him in whatever way I can."

Merlin smiled at the kind woman who Lancelot had protected. He vaguely remembered seeing her around the city, and he was pretty certain she was the woman Morgana had asked him to watch out for. "Thank you." He whispered. "And you are right. It's just I don't want anyone else to get hurt because I couldn't protect them."

"Don't worry, Merlin." Arthur said, smiling back at him. "We're going to free him before anything bad happens. We just need a plan."

Merlin nodded with determination and sat upright. Now was not the time to be moping. "Guinevere, if you can get down to Lancelot, let him know that we will be down to visit him tonight. Gwaine and I will use the guard uniforms we stole to get down to the dungeons. My magic should be back at full strength by then, and we can get Lancelot out. Then Gwaine and Lance can change, and we can say we're escorting 'a drunken miscreant', or Gwaine in disguise, out of the castle. Hopefully no one will see us, but at least then all of us will be disguised. Arthur and Percival can keep watch in the town and help us get out of the castle through one of Arthur's secret passages. As long as we don't set off any alarms, Uther will never realize he had one of us locked in his dungeons in the first place."

Arthur smiled at him as Gwaine thumped him on the shoulder and said, "Makes sense, Merlin. Then we can make fun of Lancelot for getting himself stuck in the dungeons to impress a girl. Although, I must say he does have excellent taste." Gwaine turned towards Guinevere as he continued, "You are quite beautiful my Lady. If Lancelot's chivalrous-ness hasn't already stolen your heart, I may have to make my own attempt at it."

Merlin rolled his eyes and elbowed Gwaine in the stomach, saying, "Now really isn't the time, Gwaine. And I don't think Lancelot would appreciate you flirting with his damsel in distress."

Guinevere was blushing a bit as Merlin spoke, but she didn't look quite as offended as she could have been by Gwaine's brazen comments. Elyan looked slightly more disturbed as he pulled Guinevere back to his side and said, "We should be heading back to the city anyways."

Guinevere nodded and said, "I should be able to bring Lancelot your message. It is the least I can do. Thank you all so much for your help. And it is nice to finally get to meet the man who stole Arthur's heart."

Merlin smiled at her as she walked away. He couldn't help but think they could have been good friends if things had only been different. And she would make a lovely match for Lancelot. Her eyes seemed to hold the same kindness that Lancelot radiated. Maybe, someday, they would get a chance to be together.

As Merlin watched Guinevere and Elyan walk away, Arthur gently took his arm and said, "We should probably get back to our camp as well. We can finish planning and get the supplies we need before we have to get back to the city."

Merlin nodded and let Arthur guide him back up, still trying not to think about what Lancelot must be going through right now.

The stench in the cells was really something remarkable. Lancelot usually wasn't bothered by things like this, having spent so much time visiting the people most in need of their help who were not always the cleanest to say the least, but the smell in the dungeons under Camelot was a form of torture all its own. He supposed it probably hadn't been so bad before the new guards and taxes forced so many more people into breaking the 'law'. Overcrowding was definitely getting to be an issue. Some of the cells were like his, with only one person, but others had six or seven people stuffed into them. A few of these groups looked like families, all huddled together for warmth, children clinging to their mother's skirts and babes wailing in the darkness. Lancelot wanted to comfort these poor people, but there was little he could do from his position. He had already given his cloak to the group in the cell next to his along with his brightest smile, but without it he now had no disguise. His fake facial hair had faded after a few hours in the dank cell, leaving him looking a whole lot like the posters strewn throughout Camelot. If any of the other prisoners realized who he was, they might use that information to barter their way out of the cells. The only protection he had was the darkness of the dungeons, his face turned away from everyone else there. He could hide his identity till Merlin and the others came to save him, right?

He tried to keep calm and focus on the fact that his friends would be crafting a plan to get him out of here soon when he heard her voice. In this horrid place it sounded even more beautiful, like an angel coming down to free him from this hell. Once again his common sense fled while his heart leapt into action, spurring him towards the sound of Guinevere informing the guards that she had "food for the prisoners."

All thoughts of hiding himself had vanished as he pressed up against the bars, longing for a chance to get to see her again. He heard the guards grunt in acknowledgement of her mission and her light footsteps before she reached the corner and he saw her face. The glow from the torches illuminated her cheekbones, and her dress caught the light in a way that made her appear to be glowing. The taint of the jail could not reach her, making her an island of beauty in the rotting hole he was stuck in. She caught his eye quickly and smiled before moving towards the first cell and passing out bread and water to the people inside. Lancelot couldn't stop staring as she offered a kind smile and hopeful words to each prisoner along with the food and water she was providing. When she finally reached his cell he reached out his hand, grasping hers when she offered him his bread.

"Elyan and I found your friends, they're going to get you out of here tonight." Guinevere whispered.

"Thank you, Guinevere." Lancelot whispered back, "You've brought me hope."

"It was the least I could do, I mean, you did save me. I should be thanking you."

Lancelot raised his free hand and brushed a stray curl back behind her ear as he said, "It was my privilege to protect such beauty from such terrible men."

Gwen blushed and smiled before pulling away and saying "I must bring the food to the others. I hope to see you again someday, Lancelot."

"We will see each other again, Guinevere. I promise." Lancelot said as he watched Gwen walk away. He continued to watch her as she finished her task, sending quick glances his way between each cell. He couldn't help but smile at the slight blush that would spread across her cheeks each time she caught him gazing at her. The prison felt so much darker when she finished giving out rations and left, depriving the inmates of the one source of light in the gloomy cells. But the joy that her presence brought him didn't fade. She wanted to see him again! As soon as he got out of here he would make sure that they met as often as possible. With a smile on his face, Lancelot sank back to the ground, unaware of the pair of eyes that had been watching him ever since Guinevere's voice had echoed down the stairwell.

Now, Neil wasn't a bad man. Bad was such a terrible way of putting it, Neil thought. No, he wasn't bad, per se, he was just smart. Yes, smart was a much better way to think about it. Neil was smart enough to know how to get what he wanted, and smart enough to know that sometimes that had to come at the expense of others. And what he really wanted at this moment was a way out of the stinking cell he was stuck in.

Neil was one of the many people currently trapped in Camelot's prison due to an inability to pay taxes. Unfortunately, his plight had been ignored by Emrys and his troop as he had no small children with big, weepy eyes to plead his case for him. So instead of being able to pay the ridiculous sums of money the king was currently demanding of the people with money stolen from that very same king, Neil had been dragged from his home, that probably wouldn't even be his home anymore now that he thought about it, and dumped into a dirty jail cell that was already occupied by three other tax evaders. He didn't deserve to be stuck down here with these dirty men, and as he was smart, it didn't take him long to think of a way out.

One might say that it wasn't his superior intellect but luck that had saved him, but Neil knew this wasn't true. For he was smart enough to keep alert, smart enough to watch each knew prisoner that was brought into this hell-hole, and smart enough to remember just what the wanted poster that hung on the side of his favorite bar said about newest resident of the dungeons. The man had tried to hide, keeping to the shadows, but his stomach must have betrayed him as he jumped out of hiding at the sound of the serving wench who brought their food's voice. As soon as he had moved out of the shadows, Neil had noticed a difference in the man's appearance. His hair had changed length and color, making him the splitting image of one of Emrys' men! The girl seemed quite enamored with him, so Neil kept his mouth shut until he was sure she was gone. He wouldn't lose his ticket out of here because of some love-struck damsel. But Neil had listened to everything they said, and learned that the man whose picture looked identical to the wanted posters' name was Lancelot as well as some other juicy information.

Neil hadn't waited long after the girl, Guinevere if he had heard right, was gone before calling out to the guards. It had taken quite a bit of screaming before one of the men guarding the cell had finally answered his call. Of course this meant Neil now had the attention of almost everyone in the prison, including the man he was about to hand over in exchange for his ticket out of there. He couldn't help but notice how Lancelot had shrunk back into the shadows, as if his sudden cries had released the man from some type of trance.

"Wha's all this racket about?" Once of the guards asked, glaring at Neil as he ceased his screaming.

Neil scrambled up next the bars, trying to get as close to the guard as possible as he whispered, "I have some information I think King Uther would find rather useful."

"Oh really?" The other guard responding, sounding much more intelligent than his compatriot, "And what would be the nature of this information, boy?"

Neil had some trouble keeping himself from glaring at the guard. He was no boy, he was nearly twenty-five! Long past boyhood. But now was not the time to get caught up by such silly trivialities. Neil kept his tone neutral as he said, "I believe I know the location of one of Emrys' men, and would be willing to trade this information in return for my freedom."

"Emrys?" The more intelligent one said with a grin, "Well, I'm sure King Uther will be very pleased to hear about this. Geoffrey, get this man out of his cell, but keep him in irons. We wouldn't want that information to get away from us, would we boy?"

"No sir." Neil replied, grinning back up at the guard who he really wanted to punch in the face. But getting out of here was his priority. He couldn't risk his chance by attacking a guard, no matter how annoying he was. The other men in his cell watched with resentment as he was escorted out of the dungeons and up towards the king. He couldn't see Lancelot when he glanced back at the cell he knew the man was hiding in, but he hoped he understood. Neil wasn't doing this because he was a bad person, he was simply being smart.

Uther had a headache. He had expected to have Emrys' head by now. He had gambled everything he had on Myror, which was possibly the worst decision of his life. He had been trying to drown the thoughts of the miserable assassin with the kingdom's finest wine when two guards escorting a dirty, bound man entered his dining hall.

"What was so important that you two louts decided you could interrupt my dinner!" Uther shouted. It felt nice to take his anger out on any passing visitors.

"Excuse the interruption, Sire." The taller of the two guards said, "This prisoner informed us he had some information on one of Emrys' men, and we figured you would wish to be the first to know."

Uther's eyebrows rose as the guard finished speaking. Could this dirty prisoner be the key to solving all his problems? He glanced at the man with skepticism as the prisoner spoke.

"Yes! Yes Sire, and I'm willing to tell you in return for my freedom!"

"Very well." Uther replied, watching the prisoner like a hawk watches a scuttling rat, "I shall grant you your freedom for this information, but if it proves false, you shall be killed in the most painful way imaginable."

The man gulped at Uther's threat, but nodded and said, "There's a man down in the dungeons who I believe to be one of the men you are looking for. When he was brought to the cells he looked nothing like the wanted posters, but when the maid who brings down the food came, and I saw him once again, he was the splitting image of one of those drawings. The one with the medium-length hair. And the maid said something about some of his friends coming to get him out tonight. I figured Emrys probably used some magic to change his appearance, but this man, Lancelot's his name, doesn't have the power to keep it up now that their apart, so he's gone back to looking like he should. And those friends the serving girl told him about must be Emrys and his other men. Who else would be stupid enough to try to break someone out of Camelot's prison?"

Uther listened to the man intently. If all he said was true he already had one of Emrys' men in his dungeons. How could his guards be so stupid to overlook that! But if he really did have one of Emrys' own in his cells, then he would hold the key to catching Emrys himself! There was no way that wretched thief would let one of his friends die. This Lancelot could be the bait in a trap that would ensnare Emrys once and for all.

"What is your name?" Uther asked the prisoner, a smile on his face for the first time in days.

"Neil, Sire."

"Well Neil, why don't you tell these two guards exactly where that man is, then you two can fetch him up here. If you're right about this man, you will be set free."

"Thank you, Sire!" Neil said, bowing repeatedly before turning to speak with the guards holding him. Uther then turned back to the guards stationed at his door, and said, "You two, find out who brought the prisoners their food today, and have her brought to me. She obviously has been in contact with someone working against me, and shall be punished as well."

The two pairs of guards bowed and left, leaving Uther alone in the room with Neil and his personal servant, but he felt as if the hall was filled with cheering people. Soon, he would have everything he needed to kill Emrys and free his son from the magic that had ensnared him.