A hidden threat
Chapter four
Hello, I would like to say thank you for all the people that have read and alerted, and a special thank you to those who took the time to review. So the next chapter is here! Yay! *celebration dance* I am really proud of this chapter (although it is slightly long!). Its official, I am in love with Gwaine! I don't know what it is, maybe it's the hair! Whenever he comes into shot I keep thinking he's going to flick his hair, look down camera and tell us, "It's because I'm worth it." Can't wait to see what you guys think of this addition. And I know I previously said that this would be set at the end of series two but I looked back and realised Gwaine doesn't enter until series three (awkward!). So it is now set in the beginning of series three. If you like what you see then review!
Merlin sprinted towards the armoury, he had taken this route numerous times, but this time he was anxious. From experience a threat on Camelot usually meant a threat on Arthur. A power crazed megalomaniac baying for the prince's blood, and he had a feeling that this time would be no different. He could see the armoury up ahead, the door was open, spilling light across the otherwise darkened corridor. He could hear Sir Elyan's voice as he approached, this comforted Merlin slightly but he didn't stop until he reached the door to the armoury. He ignored the objections coming from Carmen, somewhere further down the corridor. He skidded into the room. He had never quite realised before that point just how far out of the way the armoury was. In a second he'd managed to scan the room and locate Arthur, and he did not look happy to say the least.
"Merlin!" he began, he studied his servant and realised that something was missing. Stony faced, he continued "Where is the armour that you were supposed to be bringing?" This was less a question, more a death threat.
"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" A voice behind him made Merlin spin on his heels. It was Carmen, standing in the doorway looking stern.
"Arthur. There's…" Merlin began, Arthur didn't let him finish.
"No, I don't want excuses. Just help me with my armour." Arthur cut him off
"Hello? Is anyone listening?" Carmen moaned, mainly directed at Merlin and Arthur.
"Look Arthur!" Merlin almost bellowed, receiving the attention of the whole room. "I don't care about that right now. They've got in. They're inside the castle!" This was received with a shocked look from Arthur and a moment of silence. After half a second of paralysis the knights suddenly fell into rank, fitting armour and preparing weapons. Carmen finally lost it.
"If no one tells me what the hell is going on right now, I'm sure I will kill you all." Carmen screamed, inducing another wave of silence through the men. Clearly they were not used to women being outspoken.
This time Gwaine spoke up.
"There's an army heading for Camelot, a big army, massive. We don't know what they want, but it can't be good." He seemed somewhat proud of himself for summoning that nugget of knowledge. He turned away, busying himself with a cross bow and a quiver of bolts.
"Thank you." Carmen replied, exasperated, "That's all I wanted to know!" She noticed the men rushing round panicked and smiled to herself.
"Anything I can do?" she enquired, genuinely wanting to help. The question was mainly aimed at Arthur, in response he fell into an awkward silence. She knew what was coming, the "I'm not being sexist but…" conversation. She was sick of it, if any man had asked to fight then he would have accepted him whole heartedly, but he was going to dispute her skills based purely on her gender.
Luckily for Carmen Arthur didn't get a word in edgeways before she shut him and the rest of the knights up, demanding silence. Straining to hear what was going on in the corridor, she leaned as far out of the door as she dared. She heard the familiar sound of metal against metal and the clump of leather boots on stone. But unlike before there were more than two, by the sound of it there were at least fifteen of them, far away but advancing quickly. The knights also heard the tell-tale signs of the approaching legion and sprang into action, crowding the door, swords at the ready, waiting for their cue, all except Arthur. The prince grabbed Carmen by the shoulder, spinning her round and leading her away from the group.
"You can't fight." Arthur stated.
"Well I beg to differ." Carmen retorted refusing to be cowed determined not to let Arthur win.
"I won't let you!" he came back, Carmen suddenly realised that it wasn't just archaic and out dated views that was contributing to Arthur's objection, he was confused and concerned. She softened.
"Sire, I appreciate your concern, but I have been fighting my whole life. I can give most men a run for their money." She commented respectfully. "Besides with this lot behind you you need all the help you can get!" she added jokingly.
"Hey!" Sir Leon protested.
"Arthur, I've seen her fight." Merlin interjected, "She's brilliant."
This comment earned Merlin a look of respect from Carmen.
"Yeah, come on Arthur." Gwaine began, "give her a chance."
The soldiers were approaching quickly; Arthur was under pressure, and hating it.
"I'm not happy about it." Arthur said defeated. There was no point in arguing the issue any longer. "You do exactly as I say no questions." He commanded, trying to regain some authority. "If I tell you to get out you do it. Okay?"
She gave him a mock salute in return, "Sire." She snapped.
Arthur rolled his eyes and made his way towards the knights. He peered out of the doorway, the soldiers were in sight. He took a deep breath, dispelling all irrelevant thoughts and drew his sword.
"For Camelot!" he yelled him and the rest of the makeshift army pouring out of the armoury doors.
The soldiers responded appropriately, drawing their swords and running towards the group with gusto. Arthur's retaliation was outnumbered by ridiculous odds; there were definitely more of them on the opposing side. This was either going to go really well, or it would end up with the lot of them getting slaughtered. Arthur hadn't quite decided yet.
The fight erupted in a cacophony of steel and screams. Arthur managed to dodge three of the soldiers and plunge his sword into each of them before they could register what was happening. Gwaine was across the corridor from Arthur, wrestling with another one of them, trying to regain control of the fight. He was losing. Badly. Arthur could see the knight was in trouble and so ran in his direction in an attempt to help, but before he got even half way there another assailant jumped in front of him and yet another battle ensued. Carmen seemed to be holding up quite well, Merlin was right. She was brilliant. The prince would have been impressed if he didn't have a mad man swinging a mace at his chest.
Gwaine felt his hand slipping. He was at a disadvantage, the soldier had backed him against the wall and he had nowhere to go. His opponent twisted his sword so that a shot of pain sped through the knight's wrist. He resisted the use of a profanity as his arm began to ache under the strain of the other man's body weight. Somehow he managed to spin himself back towards the centre of the corridor, kicking his antagonist in the ribs on his way round, thinking this would buy him some time, but it just made the thug even angrier. He came at Gwaine at a run with a scream. Gwaine heard a snap coming from somewhere behind his head and another, and then he was tackled to the ground.
Carmen swung her sword in a wide arc, taking out two more of the villains. Then punching another behind her, cracking two of his ribs, he collapsed with a cry. Something made her stop, a noise. A loud snap came from the opposite wall. She looked over and saw an adversary cutting through three large ropes on the wall; he had already severed two and was now starting on the third. She traced with her eyes to where the ropes led and noticed the massive iron chandelier hanging from the ceiling. She also realised that two of the men were fighting underneath it. One of them being the knight that had convinced Arthur to let her fight. He was going to be killed.
"Oh, what the hell?" she muttered to herself, and sprinted towards the knight, throwing him to the ground just as the chandelier crashed to the ground killing the soldier. Carmen was now lying on top of the knight in a very awkward position.
"Hello." Said Gwaine, his eyes sparkling with that look that he gave every woman.
"Hello" said Carmen, her eyes sparkling with that look that she gave every man.
"I don't think we've been introduced." Gwaine started. "I'm Gwaine." He would have offered her his hand but she was lying on his arm.
"Carmen." She realised that she was still lying on top of him. "Sorry."
"Oh no," he replied with a wink, "There's no complaints from me."
Carmen decided that she liked Gwaine.
"Maybe we should do this some other time." Carmen suggested. "You know, when we're not at risk of being stabbed."
"Suits me," Gwaine agreed, "I think my foot's gone dead."
Carmen took this as her cue to get up, on turning round she realised the fight was over, all of the soldiers had either been killed or had fled. And now all the knights were staring at the pair as they recovered from their compromising positions.
Merlin was looking at Carmen, an embarrassed smile creeping across his face. Carmen couldn't help but giggle slightly when she saw the servant's expression. Arthur decided to break the awkward silence that had fallen over the men.
"Maybe we should go? There'll be more coming soon."
The men fell back into rank, Carmen catching up with Merlin, not before she threw Gwaine a flirtatious smile. A smile that not only Gwaine saw.
"I've still got it." He commented cheekily to Leon who was suitably impressed.
…
Arthur had sent the knights away to prepare for the imminent onslaught. Carmen and Merlin were both attending to their duties and the prince was now standing outside his father's chambers, wishing he wasn't. He summoned up the last of his courage, inhaled deeply and knocked on the door, he heard the muffled invitation from inside the room so strode inside. He noted immediately how tired and drawn his father looked, the attack had clearly taken its toll on the monarch, and it hadn't even begun yet.
"Sire," Arthur began, "We've had reports from the lower towns of raids and attacks. And I'm afraid to say that…they're inside the castle, they've breached our defences and advance in far greater numbers than we could have ever anticipated. We may be able to hold them off for a while, but not indefinitely."
The king visibly sagged, his shoulders dropping another inch, and his head falling to his chest. Uther had his back to his son, but Arthur could tell that he had accepted the obvious-something Arthur had always refused to do-they would need a miracle if they were going to get through this.
When the king finally did answer, he may have retained his powerful and commanding tone, but he had lost all his vigour and passion, he sounded depleted.
"Move all the guards and sentries to the perimeters of the castle, they're not to let anyone else get in. Do you understand? The knights are to patrol the inside of the castle, to cut off anyone soldiers who do get in."
The king turned away again, an indication for Arthur to leave. But he didn't.
"Father," he began again, "Who does this army belong to? Why are you so scared of them?"
"I don't know. I don't know anything about them." Uther lied.
This was the second cue Uther had given Arthur to leave. But the prince either didn't take the hint or he chose to ignore it.
"But father…" He began, he wasn't allowed to continue.
"Arthur!" His father bellowed, spinning round with a deadly darkness bleeding from his eyes. "Just go." He spat.
This time the prince took the hint, he bowed and left.
Once safely on the other side of the door Arthur exhaled some of his pent up frustration. How on earth was he supposed to lead an army successfully if the king was losing control? What was so terrifying about this particular army? And why were people refusing to talk about it? These thoughts clattered through his head, sending his mind into a daze. But suddenly he was pulled out of his musings with a snap after hearing a shuffling coming from down the hall. He didn't move but could see a shape out of the corner of his eye. A cloaked figure lurking in the shadows, watching him. He crept his hand towards the hilt of his sword. The figure must have seen his action as they took off down the corridor, cloak billowing behind them. Arthur unsheathed his sword and took off after them.
Sprinting down the corridor, Arthur was making a mental log of who this mysterious shadow could be. Using their height, speed, size and gait to narrow down the possibilities. They were too slow to be a soldier. And too tall to be an archer or in the cavalry.
Although they were fast Arthur was faster and was catching up with the mysterious stranger. Until…
they rounded a corner, meaning that for half a moment Arthur lost sight of them. And from past experience, half a moment could be what stood between success and failure.
He rounded the corner, gaining speed in an attempt to make up the ground, when he collided into Carmen carrying a pile of clothes. Subsequently scattering them on the floor. He was lucky not to have stabbed the servant as his sword was still drawn. Carmen jumped back in shock, waiting a second or two before bending down to clear up the mess.
Arthur halted, staring down the corridor. It was empty. No one had walked this floor but him and the servant before him. Carmen was on the floor, trying to collect up the discarded garments when Arthur grabbed her and pulled her up again.
"Carmen did you see someone come down here?" The prince demanded.
"No there was no one, sire." She replied calmly.
He shook her.
"But you must have seen something! Anything?" He cried, now frantic. He was starting to doubt whether he had really seen the figure himself.
"Sire!" The servant replied an air of authority and calm about her, which was surprising considering Arthur had intimidated many grown men with less. "I haven't. Seen. A thing."
Something about Carmen seemed to calm the prince, he let go of her arms, sheathed his sword and began to help her pick up the clothes that she'd dropped.
"I'm sure you and Merlin have got a bet on to see who can break my neck first." She commented jokingly.
It didn't work, Arthur was still on edge. They stood up and Arthur handed her back the pile of clothes. She could see Arthur glancing down the corridor. So she tried to pull his attention back.
"Look Arthur," she began, deciding they were beyond formalities at this point, and he didn't object so she carried on. "It's been a hard night, and it's set to get worse. So just keep it together. Camelot's faced worse, we all have. We'll come out of this, I promise, no matter what anyone else says."
Her tone was the perfect mix of authority and sympathy, not patronising or condescending at all. She instantly put Arthur at ease.
"Come on." She gestured and he followed her back down the corridor.
Had either the prince or the servant turned back they may have noticed the mysterious cloaked figure staring from a doorway, he was shrouded in darkness and the stench of magic filled the air around him.