Deviner Captive

The Door

...

The Knights of the Round Table stopped in surprise when they walked into the training field to find their prince leaning on his sword in the middle half asleep. The last time they'd seen him he hadn't been in good shape. This was very out of character.

Gwaine raised one eyebrow in question, shared a look with his companions asking if they knew anything he didn't before moving in. He crept up on the prince before yelling. "Princess!"

Arthur snapped awake and almost fell off his sword. Glaring at the other knights when he realized his surroundings. He must have fallen asleep waiting for them. Silently berating himself for his thoughtlessness.

The prince had sat in bed until the sun had risen. Deciding to get up even though he usually got woken up much later. Since he didn't want to deal with his new manservant yet he tried to get dressed himself. The clothes were no problem but it was the armor he struggled with.

The other knight's hadn't arrived yet since they were all strangely early so they were able to act normally with their prince since there were no witnesses. They all surrounded him.

"How you been?" Lancelot asked worriedly. Receiving only a glare of contempt for his inquire. So not forgiven yet then.

"You don't look so good." Elyan stated. The prince didn't look rested at all despite the king allowing him the day off to do so. "Maybe you should go see Gaius."

"I'm not sick." Arthur snapped. He hadn't managed to fall back asleep last knight. After he'd heard that voice his body was alert for an attack, jumping at any noise it heard and seeing shapes in the shadows. He wondered if he should tell any of them about the voice, or would they just think he was being paranoid. He decided against it for now.

"We should start training." The prince suggested.

"No, you are sleep deprived." Percival pointed out. "I can see the bags under your eyes and the glossiness from exhaustion. It slows a person's reaction time and you a more than likely to get hurt. You should go back to bed."

"My reaction time is fine." Arthur glared in indignation at the slight.

"Really? Follow my finger then." Percival said to suggest they test it instead of just taking the prince's word for it.

Arthur tried to concentrate on the digit the other knight held up at his eye level and moved slowly from side to side. At first he could keep track of it but then he started to feel a little dizzy from the constant movement.

"Now lets move it at a pace of an actual opponent." Percival said before he started to dash his finger back and forth. They all watched as the prince's eyes started to glaze and miss the following movements repeatedly. "See my point."

"I can't skim on my duties again. My father ordered I be here so I'm not moving." Arthur stubbornly stood in place. He tried to hide the swaying since he felt like he was going to throw up.

"If you aren't going to go back to bed yourself I'm just going to have to carry you." Percival exclaimed as he waited for the prince's reaction.

"You wouldn't dare." Arthur growled in shock. He knew the man was definitely physically capable of it. "No. I refuse."

"Wouldn't I." Percival replied before he threw the prince over a shoulder and started to carry him back to his quarters.

Gwaine started laughing his ass off while both Elyan and Lancelot looked on in disbelief. They could still hear the prince's yells of indignation even though they've disappeared into the castle.

"What is going on?" Came a feminine voice from behind them.

They froze and turned around. It was fine to act this way with Arthur when no one was around but they could get in serious trouble if the wrong person witnessed them treating the crown prince with such disrespect. They all took a breath of relief when they saw who had come across them.

Gwen had come down to the training field hoping to be able to catch a moment with Arthur since he hadn't left his room the day before and she knew he was suppose to be here. She had not expected to witness him getting carried away like that.

"My lady, what are you doing down here?" Lancelot asked.

"I came to talk to Arthur about the topic we were discussing the day before." Gwen replied as she gave him direct look so that he could fill in the blank.

"Oh…" Lancelot hadn't thought she would start on that so soon. "I think that will have to wait for later." He shrugged since he didn't know what else to do.

"I could see that for myself." Gwen had only caught a glance of Arthur but he didn't look to be in the best disposition for the conversation she wanted to have with him; or for any type of conversation for that matter.

"I'll escort you back to your chambers." Lancelot offered. Gwen nodded in acceptance and they turned to leave.

"What about training?" Gwaine yelled after the departing knight. Percival had left with Arthur and he had a feeling the large knight would not be returning anytime soon. If Lancelot scrimped off then it would just leave Elyan and himself.

"I'll leave it up to you to tell Leon where everyone went." Lancelot yelled back in jest then just continued on leaving.

Gwaine frowned. He would much rather be at the tavern then stuck here when his only competition had been ordered back to bed. Why did everyone else get to just skip? Then he smirked.

"Make sure to pass on the message." Gwaine turned to Elyan before dashing away fast enough so that the other knight couldn't stop him.

"Hey!" Elyan yelled after the other knight. He would have run after him if he thought there was any chance of catching the man but he hesitated too long. "This is so unfair."

He said to himself as he sat to wait for the others to arrive.

...

Arthur had given up trying to open the door. Percival had been guarding the exit and stopping his attempts to escape by putting all his body wait against it. He flopped down on the bed and closed his eyes.

"Young prince-ling, I need to speak to you."

The prince jumped up in fright. It was that voice again from last night. It was broad daylight now and he had not fallen asleep yet so he wasn't dreaming. "What do you want?" Arthur asked shakily, feeling weird speaking to thin air. It felt semi logical to talk back to the voice if he wanted to get any answers.

"I need you to tell me what happened to the young warlock."

Arthur was confused for a second before it clicked. It wanted to know about Merlin of course. That was the title his ex- manservant had called himself by. Why wouldn't the strange magical voice want to know about him? He thought sarcastically to himself. "Who are you?"

"I will only tell once you have come to meet me in person. You will have no peace till you do though."

Arthur guessed it meant it would keep disturbing his sleep to get what it wants, after only one night he could already feel his resolve to refuse crumbling. "You haven't told me yet where you want to meet." He questioned its logic.

"There is no point in revealing the location if you will not come."

"I give. Where?" Arthur sighed. This could be a very bad idea but he graved sleep. He knew this person must possess magic, but he didn't actually care much about that. Leon was right that the fact that Merlin had been lying to him was the cause for his anger.

"Meet me in the cave under the castle. The entrance is right before the prisoner cells."

Arthur recalled a door that used to have guards present at all times but lately his father had stopped assigning anyone that guard duty. He found it strange how he had never questioned what was on the other side. "I know which one you mean. I'm locked in my room though."

"They want you to sleep, so feign to sleep. The door will not be guarded much longer if you do."

Arthur wondered how it knew that. He didn't see why he couldn't do that, just laid under the covers and closed his eyes before slowing his breathing. It wasn't long before the large knight quietly eased the door open to peek in. Percival probably thought he had given in because he hadn't heard any movement on the other side of the door for a while. On seeing he was asleep the night closed the door again. The prince could hear heavy footsteps retreating from his door.

Once he was confident the other knight was gone Arthur got out from under the covers.

Usually if he was sneaking somewhere he'd do it in the dead of night but this time no one knew he wasn't suppose to be out of his room but his knights. It was also inside the castle. All he had to do was avoid them as he made his way down to the dungeons.

The prince eased open his door and looked both ways to see if anyone was coming. He made his way out into hallway the when no one appeared and made his way towards the stairs downward.

He tried to act normal whenever he came across any servants though most servants didn't know what his normal was except his manservant who he didn't want to think about right now.

…

Lancelot and Gwen were walking the halls on the way to her rooms. They noticed every time they passed a servant they would either whisper to the person beside then or if alone give them really strange looks.

"Oh no." Gwen said when she realized what was going on. She grabbed onto the knight's arm to stop his movement.

"What's the matter?" Lancelot asked.

"They know!" Gwen said with wide eyes.

"Who knows?" Lancelot questioned in confusion. "Knows what?"

"The servant's know about me and you and how I'm going to dump Arthur."

"They can't know. No one was present when we had that conversation. I think you're just being paranoid." Lancelot denied.

"Servants have eyes everywhere. There is always one present even when you don't see any. They are always the first to know everything. I'm sure it's spread through the servant gossip vine. It's probably been sick and twisted already, passing from mouth to mouth so many times." Gwen started to feel herself hyperventilate; she could feel a panic attack coming on.

"What if Arthur hears about this from them first." Lancelot contemplated the implications.

"Usually the royals don't hear about the servant gossip but Arthur has friends in low places." Gwen said, she noticed the knight gave her a blank look when no one immediately sprang to mind. "Gwaine."

Lancelot was surprised he didn't figure that out with all the bar fights the other knight had been in. "Yes, I can see where that could be a problem. As soon as it reaches his ears he's going to go blabbing about it to Arthur."

"I'm just going to have to get to him first. Do you think Percival will allow me in to see him?" Gwen asked.

"We can always ask." Doesn't mean we are going to be successful." Lancelot said before turning down a different hall to make his way towards the prince's chambers.

…

Arthur ducked into a linen closet when he'd heard Lancelot's voice. They were moving in the direction of his chambers. When the knight passed he couldn't make out any of the words that he was saying to his companion because it was muffled through the door but he could tell by the tone of voice they were female.

The prince realized then that this was the same linen closet he and Merlin had been locked in together not long before he'd been taken. He had to get out of there he thought to himself. Arthur was glad he had the forethought to order the entire closet locks be replaced so no one else got trapped accidentally. He pushed the door open and sneaked in the other direction of Lancelot.

Once he reached the stairs that led into the dungeons he peeked around the doorway to see if his father had decided to assign anyone guard duty but he didn't see anyone. He'd always thought the guards posted here before were used to guard the prisoners in the cells but really it was all about this door.

The prince dashed towards it once he made sure the coast was clear. He grabbed the handle and easily opened the heavy door. Why wasn't it locked if his father had wanted to keep people out before or is what he was hiding gone now?

Looking on the other side of the door he realized it was very dark. Grabbing the torch by the entrance he lit the tunnel that was very dusty like no one had come down here in ages. The walls were made of natural stone that had been chipped away at.

Most people would have turned back at the sight but he would have never gotten anywhere being a coward.

Arthur forced himself into movement. Each step disturbed the dust on the ground. His torch only lit ten feet in front of him before the tunnel faded into darkness. It seemed like it was never ending when suddenly he emerged into a large cavern.

His eyes widened in surprise.

He observed that he was standing on an outcrop that had stairs chipped out of the same stone leading down further into the cavern. No one else was present yet but he guessed the guy who called him didn't expect him to arrive so soon. He was sure he wouldn't be waiting long.

...

Lancelot and Gwen were just entering another hallway when Percival passed them going the opposite direction. Giving them both a nod of acknowledgment.

"Aren't you supposed to be guarding Arthur's door?" Gwen called after the knight who stopped at the sound of her voice.

"The prince finally fell asleep. I thought it would be alright if I left to fetch something to eat." Percival explained before disappearing down a set of stairs that led to the kitchen.

The knight and ex-handmaiden continued to make there way towards the prince's chambers.

Gwen knocked on the door but received no answer. She eased the door open to peek inside but just slammed the door the rest of the way when she discovered the empty bed. "Of course he's gone." She mumbled to herself in frustration; wanting to rub at her temples.

"Where do you think he went?" Lancelot asked as he peered over the young women's shoulder. The blanket was pooled on the floor hanging off the bed like the prince left in a hurry. Percival hadn't managed to get very far before the prince dashed for freedom it seemed.

"I don't know but I'm going to be waiting right here for when he finally gets back." Gwen exclaimed she sat with her arms crossed in Arthur's favorite chair with the animal skin. How come it was so hard to get a minute alone with the prince when she wanted to break up with him?

"That could be hours though." Lancelot pointed out.

"Then I might as well get comfortable. I'm determined to finally get this conversation over with. The stress of it is making me anxious." Gwen said.

Lancelot sighed thinking there was no point in talking her out of it. He was glad she wanted to get this over with because the sooner she did the sooner they could be together. "I'll collect the knights to search for Arthur then. If we don't find him before dinner I'll have a servant bring you a meal."

Gwen nodded in agreement to the plan.

Lancelot leaned down and kissed his be-loved on the head in farewell before leaving. It was the most he could do to show his affection at this point of time. He didn't dare go any further. Hopefully everything would work itself out by nightfall, and then Gwen and he could be aloud to show their love truly.

… TBC