Chapter 20

Silence had fallen on the cell. The oath that Arthur had required of his knights was eventually sworn reluctantly – and in one or two cases with choked voices – by all of them, and somehow they had been able to do it without Gwen being aware of it, not wanting to distress her further. The fact of it was that she had not slept at all the previous night, both worrying for Arthur and still badly shaken by Ivan's advances. And a day filled with grief and emotion on top of the sleepless night had left her exhausted, and when she returned from seeing Arthur with Lancelot, her troubled mind had been calmed enough by him to allow her at least some fitful sleep, during which the vows were taken.

None of the knights had had much sleep the previous night either, and were also sleeping intermittently. All of them were immediately fully awake however, when they heard once again the sound of approaching footsteps, and Gwen was woken by Merlin's name being exclaimed loudly by several of the knights as the door opened and the prince's servant was pushed unceremoniously through it, before it was locked again.

Given that those in the cell had had no idea of what had been going on outside, it didn't take Merlin a great deal of imagination to cover his tracks and to tell them in a rather vague manner that he had finally been captured by Bayard's knights, omitting the rather troubling detail of him having handed himself over to them. Although the reunion with Merlin brought some welcome relief from the heartache that they were all feeling, it didn't take long for silence – and sadness with it - to descend upon the cell again. Merlin had given Arthur's cloak to Gwen, who had wrapped herself in it, not only for warmth but also for the comfort it gave her, and she once again found herself dozing on and off, as the rest of the knights also did.

Merlin sat as far away from the others as he could, and beckoned Lancelot to join him. As the knight sat down next to him, he said in a low voice, "It's so good to see you alive, Merlin. We feared you were dead….. I'm only sorry you're in here with us now though."

Merlin looked around to check that all the others had their eyes closed, and then smiled at him surreptitiously and whispered. "I'm not sorry! You don't think they arrested me because they out-witted me, do you? I'm only here because I needed to talk to you – so I gave myself in!"

Lancelot's face brightened, and he too looked around to check on the others before whispering excitedly, "You have a way of saving Arthur?"

"I can't tell the others, but let's just say that I've got a little help for us!"

At the word us, Lancelot's face suddenly fell, and the excited tone left his voice to be replaced by a far more serious one. "Merlin – there's something I need to tell you… Arthur has made us all take a solemn vow that we will not attempt to rescue him tomorrow."

"WHAT?"

The others in the room stirred at Merlin's loud exclamation. Some had just stirred in their sleep and resumed their slumber after the outburst, whilst others looked up briefly, assuming that Lancelot had just told Merlin some detail of Ivan's doings, before closing their eyes and lowering their heads again.

When he was certain that no one was looking, Merlin exploded once more with exasperation and utter disbelief - but this time as silently as he could: "Is there anything else totally stupid Arthur's done that I need to know about?! What on earth's he done that for?!"

"For the sake of Guinevere – he doesn't want her life put at risk by anything we may do."

Merlin relented slightly at this, but was still in the mood for a little more ranting. "You know, I honestly think he deliberately sets out to make my life as impossible as he can. Do you know how many times he's got himself imprisoned, poisoned or shot – or any combination of those?"

Lancelot gave a little laugh at Merlin's comments, and Merlin continued. "Well, they'll just have to break their oaths!" But he suddenly looked worried. "They will break their oaths, won't they?"

"I don't know – they know why Arthur has required it of them, and if they know nothing of your plan in advance or what's going on, I'm not sure what they will do." Lancelot paused, but then a small grin came to his face: "But I think there may be one at least who won't have too much trouble breaking his vow!"

Merlin grinned back. They didn't even have to mention Gwaine's name. But Merlin became serious again, "And you Lancelot?"

The knight paused – he knew he would never be able to face Arthur if he were to be rescued but something happened to Gwen. He took in a deep breath before he spoke. "Can your plan keep Guinevere safe, Merlin? Can you promise me that no harm will come to her?"

Merlin deliberated for a moment, and finally decided upon a course of action. "When the time comes, you'll have to free Arthur - with Gwaine if he'll go with you. I'll make sure that the other knights stay with Gwen, and I'll stay too and I give you my word that I will guard her with my life and keep her safe."

Lancelot groaned at the situation he found himself in and put his forehead down on his knees as he turned over in his mind what was being asked of him.

"Very well. But how will I know when the time comes to act?"

"You'll know!"

Lancelot shook his head again. "So my first and only act as Captain of the knights of Camelot will be to break my solemn vow to Arthur and to encourage his knights to disobey him and do the same."

Merlin grinned: "Welcome to my world!"