Chapter 2
Merlin sneezed again and shivered. Although he should have been up considerably earlier to finish preparations for the journey, he was actually still lying in bed, with Gaius standing over him. The physician laid his hand on Merlin's forehead.
"That settles it. You're running a fever and are not fit to go anywhere. I will send word to Arthur that you cannot accompany him to Mercia."
Merlin answered sarcastically, "That'll please him," before sneezing twice more.
"Well, it's his own fault for dragging you out in that appalling weather yesterday. He'll just have to manage without you for a few days. It won't kill him!"
Arthur, as Merlin accurately predicted, was not best pleased with the news that his servant was ill in bed, although he did feel a slight pang of guilt, remembering Merlin's shivering the previous day. As he mounted his horse in the main square in Camelot, Gwen came hurrying down the stairs to say farewell. Since Arthur had so very publicly kissed her in the same square several months earlier, she no longer had to hide her feelings for him, and Arthur smiled as he caught sight of her coming towards him. Gwen was the first to speak.
"I'm going to miss you."
"And I you. I can't tell you how much I would rather be staying here. Believe me, I will be back at the very first opportunity. It should only be a few days."
Gwen looked at him and smiled, grateful that she could now openly express what she felt. Arthur paused and smiled ruefully back, as if he was going to regret or be embarrassed by what he was about to say.
"Look in on Merlin for me. Check he's alright."
Gwen looked at him playfully and spoke with a mock surprise in her voice.
"Caring for your servants, Arthur Pendragon? Very commendable!"
"Yes, but don't tell him I sent you…."
Gwen shook her head laughingly, as if to say, I will never understand men! "If you say so…."
Arthur took her hand, kissed it, and then wheeled his horse around to lead the small group of knights and soldiers out across Camelot's drawbridge.
The weather was considerably better than it had been the previous day, and so the ride was a relatively pleasant one, although Arthur was missing the usual banter with Merlin that always livened up a journey. Some time after midday, their route took them through a forest, not too far from Camelot's border. The horses were going at a steady walk, as Arthur wasn't in too much of a hurry to reach Mercia. The attack was sudden, brutal and took Arthur and his men by complete surprise.
The ambush had been planned by Alvar with chilling precision and was executed with deadly accuracy. Arthur was stunned and horrified to see every one of his soldiers and knights simultaneous brought down by cross-bow. None of them survived. He only had a split-second to take this in, and didn't have time to react before his own horse was also brought down. Arthur had just enough presence of mind to free his feet from the stirrups before the horse fell, so that he wasn't trapped by it as it crashed to the ground. He leapt to his feet and pulled his sword from the scabbard strapped to the horse, but found himself surrounded by armed men. As Arthur raised the sword, one of them uttered the same spell that Merlin had used more than once before, causing the sword's hilt to glow red hot and Arthur to drop it. The Prince stood breathing heavily and tensed, but utterly vulnerable. One of the group, who appeared to be its leader, spoke.
"You are coming with us Arthur Pendragon. You can make this easy for yourself or you can make it difficult."
Arthur made a swift move to try to break out of the ring that was closing in around him, and to make a run for it, but as Arthur made his move, the leader simply said "Have it your way."
Facing a score of men, Arthur didn't stand a chance, but that didn't stop him trying. Although he managed to land blows on two or three of them, he was unarmed and there were too many against him. He was quickly overpowered and was brought roughly to the ground. He found himself being held down by four burly men, as the leader issued his instructions to them. "Strip him of his armour and mail, and then bind him securely." He then spoke to another group who were standing next to a horse on which something was being carried: "You know what you have to do."
He finally turned his attention back to Arthur and said with a smirk, "As I said, you are coming with us."