Chapter 12

Ivan made sure that there was no chance of Arthur's knights coming across their prince being taken away, and he led the burly guards down the back stairs to the cells with Arthur in their custody. This was a shrewd move on Ivan's part, because as Merlin took Gwen to find the knights, they had all just left the banqueting hall themselves and had just begun to saunter up the staircase, still laughing and in high spirits. All merriment ceased and they stopped dead, however, the moment they caught sight of the other two standing at the top of the stairs waiting for them, because each of them could immediately see that something was very wrong.

Elyan started running up the stairs two at a time, and the others followed his lead.

"What's wrong, Gwen?" But rather than answering her brother's question, she just went over to Elyan and put her arms out to him, just wanting to be held. As he put his arms around his sister he threw a questioning look at Merlin, who replied "We'd better go somewhere private."

They quickly walked over to the spacious room that the five knights had been sharing, all of them casting glances around them as they went, and all of them wondering where Arthur was. Once inside the room, Elyan sat Gwen down on one of the beds beside him, still with an arm around her. The others stood, and after Merlin had closed the door he turned to them to begin his explanation.

"Ivan tried to…. take advantage of Gwen." The reaction of the knights was immediate – shock and disbelief mingled with outrage. All of them felt very protective towards Gwen, as if she was not only Elyan's sister, but theirs as well. Merlin continued, "Thankfully Arthur discovered him in time, and floored him twice with his fist – I don't think I've ever seen Arthur in such a rage. Ivan was furious, though, and had Arthur arrested - he's probably locked in one of the cells by now."

Elyan rose to his feet in anger: "I'll kill him!"

Lancelot laid a hand on his arm to restrain him. "Elyan, we all feel the same, but if Arthur's locked in a Mercian cell, then you killing Ivan is hardly going to help his cause. Arthur protected Gwen when she needed him, and we need to try to help Arthur now – and that's not going to be done by doing anything rash."

They looked at each other, all wondering what they should do next, but it was Merlin who provided the answer. "I'm going to try to find out what's happening – I've got to know some of the servants here, and it's going to be a lot less conspicuous for me to move around the castle than any of you. Arthur said that Gwen's not to be left on her own at all though – he wanted at least one of you to be with her at all times."

Elyan turned to Gwen again, "Come on, I'll take you to your room, and I'll sleep in your room on the floor tonight."

Gwen nodded to Elyan, but then turned to Merlin. "Please come and tell us straight away if you find out anything, and if you manage to speak to Arthur, thank him for me and give him my love."

As Elyan and Gwen left the room, Merlin was just about to follow them out when Gwaine stopped him. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Merlin shook his head, so Gwaine just added, "Be careful Merlin – steer clear of Ivan and come back as quickly as you can."

Merlin, after a couple of exchanges with other servants along the way, quickly found the steps down to the cells, and one of Arthur's gold coins slipped to a Mercian guard was all that it took to get him access. Merlin hurried to the cell that he had been directed to, at the end of the corridor. He found Arthur somewhat calmer than he'd last seen him, sitting behind the bars and leaning against the back wall of the cell. He was nursing his right hand - opening and closing his fist, and flexing his fingers. He'd never punched anyone or anything so hard before, and his hand was suffering the consequences.

"Arthur!"

Arthur looked up, and was immediately on his feet, hurrying over to the bars. His first thoughts were, as ever, for Gwen's well-being. "How's Guinevere?"

"She's badly shaken, but she'll be alright. Elyan's staying with her tonight. She says thank you and sends her love."

Arthur smiled at this but then the smile faded and he shook his head. "I keep asking myself how I could have been so stupid. I was trying to protect Guinevere by hiding our relationship and bringing her here as a servant, but why on earth didn't I just tell Ivan that she was Elyan's sister as well? He wouldn't have touched her then."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Arthur. Maybe if Gwen was Leon's sister - but you told me yourself – he knows Elyan isn't a noble and you know how he views anyone who isn't of noble birth. He clearly thinks that just because he's royalty, that gives him the right to do and have whatever he wants here in Mercia."

Arthur was non-committal, "Maybe."

Merlin looked concerned. "What's going to happen to you?"

Arthur gave a little wry smile, "It's not the first brawl between princes that's ever happened, I can assure you. Ivan and I will probably both be brought before Bayard first thing tomorrow morning. I'll put my side of the story forward, but the fact is that whatever Ivan's intentions were, all I can actually say is that I caught him kissing Guinevere and that it was against her will. Ivan will, of course, lie through his teeth and undoubtedly say that nothing happened or that Guinevere consented to his advances or whatever he feels is most likely to be believed. It'll be my word against his."

"So what will Bayard do?"

"I know Bayard – he's a fair minded man, but I'm not sure that even he would see Ivan kissing a servant as anything other than a trivial matter, even if Ivan's advances were unwelcome. He's mindful of politics too, however, so he'll probably just decide to reprimand me for over-reacting to what he considers to be a harmless situation, and let the tournament continue."

"And will Ivan accept that?"

"I don't think he's got any choice."

"And what about you?"

"Believe me, all I want to do at the moment is get us all out of here straightaway and take Guinevere as far away from Ivan as is humanly possible. But that would be a terrible snub to Bayard and I don't think I can do that. Besides, I think my father would kill me if I did, especially after it was my idea to bring Guinevere along in the first place."

They both paused, taking it all in for a moment, before Arthur sighed and continued. "I think we have to stay and see the tournament out. I know Ivan won't dare bother Guinevere again if she's with one of the knights – and I also think he probably knows that I would kill him if he touched her again."

"Will Bayard let you continue in the contest?"

Arthur gave another wry smile. "Probably, if only because I suspect the audience will feel they've missed out if they don't see my fight with Gwaine tomorrow…" Arthur looked down at his right hand again, and flexed it and winced. "And thanks to Ivan, I'm pretty sure it's not going to be me who wins." Arthur smiled ruefully at the prospect, but then his smile faded again as he added, "Ivan will love that. Anyway, Gwaine will undoubtedly be crowned champion at the closing banquet tomorrow evening, we'll be out of here as soon as we can the following morning, and Guinevere will hopefully never have to see Ivan ever again."

Although what Arthur said seemed to make sense, Merlin was still looking concerned.

"Merlin – you look like a scared cat! It'll be fine – I'll be out of here tomorrow morning - trust me. Now go and get some sleep.…. And please bid goodnight to Guinevere for me."

So as Arthur went back to sitting against the back wall of the cell, Merlin began to make his way back to the others. But as he turned one particular corner, he saw Ivan speaking with two of his knights, and there was something about the way that they were behaving – almost furtively - that made Merlin uneasy. Thankfully, none of them had spotted him, and Merlin was able to fall back into the shadows where he couldn't be seen to watch them. Although he couldn't hear what was being said, it was clear to Merlin that Ivan was giving some sort of instructions to the knights, who then went off on some errand for him. Merlin waited until he was sure that Ivan was out of the way before he continued back, giving Arthur's message to Gwen before returning to the knights.

"It sticks in the throat that Ivan can get away with how he's behaved," Percival commented on hearing what Merlin had to report.

Leon reluctantly added, "We're in Mercia, not Camelot, and Arthur's right – we're just going to have to swallow it."

"It almost makes me want to let Arthur win tomorrow, just to annoy Ivan."

Leon looked over to Gwaine with a questioning smile, "Almost?"

"Arthur wouldn't want me to throw the fight – where's the fun in that?"

They all laughed briefly, glad of something to lighten the mood.

But Lancelot, having fought Arthur in the arena, looked unconvinced. "I wouldn't be so sure you're going to win anyway Gwaine, especially after the quantity of ale you consumed this evening!"

"It's never stopped me winning before!" was all that Gwaine would say.

All of them decided, however, it was probably time to attempt to get some sleep, but as Merlin turned to go, Lancelot caught him and spoke quietly to him out of the hearing of the others. "What is it, Merlin? There's something troubling you, isn't there?"

"It may not be anything, but I saw Ivan on the way back talking to some of his knights. I couldn't hear what was going on, but it looked like he was up to something."

"Well, we can't do anything now. We'll just have to see what tomorrow brings."

And Merlin's fears were not without foundation, because in the hours of darkness, Ivan was – like a deadly, venomous spider – weaving his web of deceit in which he would trap his unsuspecting prey and fulfil his threat to make him pay for what he had done.