Finally I can give you the next chapter. No more exams for another year :) So thanks for persevering and all reviews = love and virtual cookies
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When Arthur woke just a little bit before sunrise, he found Alethea curled up beside him, her head resting on his chest. His arms wrapped around her, Arthur found that he couldn't move without disturbing her and he really didn't want to have to wake her after recent events. She needed as much rest as she could possibly get if she was to be able to help them. The Prince smiled ever so slightly. They made a right pair and he knew that no matter how much they wanted to be together, it would never last. Alethea would want to go home some day and Arthur had a feeling that that day was coming up very soon. He didn't want her to leave as he knew that he would never see her again and that would break his heart. However, he knew that she couldn't stay as she would just miss her home too much and he didn't want to see the spark of happiness in her eyes dull just for his sake. He'd rather her be happy than sad and if that meant never seeing her again, then so be it.
Inching himself from her grasp and trying not to wake her, Arthur looked around to find Merlin sat by the dying embers of a fire whilst a blanket of snow covered everything else. The forest was beautiful when it snowed at this time of the year, and today was no exception. The warlock turned around at the sound of movement and smiled as he saw Arthur moving quietly away from Alethea, trying desperately not to wake her, but it seemed that it had all been in vain as the girl suddenly opened her eyes. Helping her to her feet, Arthur then went and sat beside Merlin and stoked the fire before looking at them both. The Prince knew that he would have to leave them soon and head off to the unknown, but he needed to tell them a few things first. Letting Alethea sit beside him, their eyes turned to the sleeping King and they decided it best not to disturb him just yet.
"I'd best go soon."
"Do you want us to come with you?" Merlin asked, making Arthur smile.
"No. I'll go it alone. All should be fine and I'll be back very soon but if I'm not back by noon then…" he trailed off.
"We'll come and find you." Alethea finished for him. She had a lot more colour in her cheeks now but Arthur would be happier if they were in the comfort of Camelot. That was currently quite impossible for the time being though.
"Thank you." Looking at the sky, they found the pale moon beginning to set and the bright sun peeking over the horizon. Arthur got to his feet and made sure he had his sword, trying to push back the memory of how he had got it.
"Stay safe Arthur." Alethea told him as she stood beside him and kissed him. Arthur looked at her and knew that he had something worth fighting for, other than his home.
"I'll try to. Merlin…" The warlock looked up and walked a little way to the road with Arthur, letting Alethea keep watch for a few moments.
"Sire?"
"You and I both know that this could be a trap. Should anything happen to me so that I never return, promise me one thing."
"Yes?"
"Look after Alethea. Comfort her and then, should she wish it, send her home."
"But sire…" Merlin protested, about to claim that he could not do such a thing.
"Please Merlin. You've been more than a friend to me. Just do me this one thing."
"Of course Arthur."
"Good. Now, I don't want to be late. See you later." Ruffling the warlock's hair, Arthur set off towards the crossroads, his mind racing with thoughts of what may happen to him should this meeting actually be a trap.
His feet crunched in the snow and his footprints made up a trail which would soon be filled in as more snow fell. Wondering whether he would now gain men to capture Camelot or lose his own freedom, he followed the path and tried to think of a way to defeat Nimueh. Ideally they would capture Camelot that day and end the prisoners suffering. Hopefully they'd manage to do this and rid Nimueh from the throne without losing many more men. As far as Arthur could tell from his trip to the town the day before, at least ten women would be widows but there may be a few more than that. The prince also knew that he had at least three more men to join his cause and they may just mean the success of taking the castle. Remembering what Nimueh had told him about going to Camelot with someone else, he thought of a way to trick her but before he could, he reached the crossroads.
The sun was half way over the horizon now and the sky was a mixture of reds, golds and oranges with snow flakes falling from the heavens. Looking around with his senses heightened, Arthur looked around, wondering just where the men were. There were no footsteps in the snow other than his own and he rested his hand on his sword, just in case this was a trap. He needn't have worried though as just a few moments later the men he'd found the day before arrived, followed by a few others. It seemed that there may just be some happy reunions later on if all went well. Noting that they were all sporting injuries, the Prince then wondered if this was a trap or not. He reckoned that it was more than likely the latter.
"Sire." the leader said, bowing slightly.
"Is this all of you?"
"There were more." One or two of them said and Arthur was quite puzzled before he realised what they meant.
"The cold claimed two more last night. This is all that remains of us now." Counting them, Arthur came up with ten men. That meant that there would be fourteen of them to take back the castle and as far as Arthur was aware, there were no soldiers guarding the kingdom against them. All they had to worry about was Nimueh.
"You all wish to see your families again?"
"Yes."
"Then you will fight with me?" There were nods of agreement. "Then here's the plan…"
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Time was wearing on and Alethea had taken to pacing the clearing. She'd had her fill of not knowing what was happening when she had been Nimueh's prisoner and this was simply killing her. She needed to know if Arthur was safe and after all the heartache that she'd suffered, she hoped that once this was all over that she and the Prince would have some time together before she went home. With minutes feeling like hours, she eventually gave up pacing and seeing the snow on the ground, she was tempted to throw some of it at Merlin. It would do her no good though, so she didn't. Instead she decided to take advantage of the weather and made a snowman, just to keep her occupied.
As she did this, she found Merlin watching her with a bemused look on his face. Looking at him, she grabbed some snow and chucked it at him, laughing as it caught him on his cheek. The warlock looked at Alethea with all seriousness before chucking some back at her. Having a miniature snowball fight, the two of them laughed as they tried to take their minds off the time before Uther woke. The King watched them both laughing before looking around for the Prince.
"Where's Arthur?"
"He's gone to meet up with someone sire." Alethea answered him. "He should be back soon."
"And what on Earth are you two doing?" Smiling, Alethea let Merlin answer the King whilst she continued to make a snowman. They very rarely got snow where she lived, let alone this amount and she couldn't help but make the most of it, even if she was acting like a little child.
It was about an hour before noon when Arthur strolled back to the camp where he found Merlin and Uther sat by the fire with Alethea building something. Looking at her with a puzzled expression, the Prince walked over to her, everything that he was going to tell them now pushed to a corner of his mind.
"What are you making?" Arthur asked the student, who was making the finishing touches to whatever it was.
"A snowman." she answered, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "How did the meeting go?"
"We're meeting up with them at noon. We're going to get Camelot back this afternoon and we've got a plan."
"Are you going to tell us this plan?"
"Of course."
So at noon, Merlin, Alethea, Arthur and Uther stood at the crossroads, ready for battle. It wasn't much later that the men arrived with weapons at the ready and going back over the plan, they crept towards the castle. Uther had never thought that he would have to attack his own kingdom when building it, but he knew its weaknesses and should it come to it, he knew how to destroy it. He hoped that it would not have to be done though and watched as his son spoke with Alethea and Merlin, polishing some final part of the plan. They were going to distract the sorceress whilst the prisoners would be released and although Uther had offered to take on Nimueh himself, the other three would have none of it. Alethea especially seemed keen that it would be her to fix the mess that she had caused and the King had wondered if he'd been wrong to think of her as a bad influence. In truth, she was quite like Morgana in that she knew what she wanted and would keep to her beliefs. Wondering how his ward fared, Uther kept on walking towards his kingdom.
Upon reaching the gates, they split off and headed in separate directions through the shadows. Quite a few of them were cursing their bright red cloaks as this didn't exactly give them invisibility but they were the only thing that they had to keep off most of the chill. Sticking to the backstreets with their hearing on alert, they headed towards the castle building. Arthur and Uther were together and were one of the first few to the castle. Hiding in one of the doorways, they soon found themselves being spotted by Gwen, who was still under Nimueh's power. Arthur had no idea of this though and tried to call out but was stopped by Uther.
"What?"
"She's under Nimueh's spell. Call her over and we die."
"But she couldn't possibly…"
"Nimueh could." The Prince looked at his father and sighed before waiting for the girl to pass. It was then that he caught movement in the corner of his eye and glimpsing, he saw Alethea and Merlin.
The student and the warlock hadn't come across any obstacles as they picked their way through the streets and arrived at the castle just moments after Arthur and Uther. The other men were close behind them but Alethea looked at Merlin in alarm as she saw Gwen walk straight past Arthur. Knowing that Gwen was still under Nimueh's control, she wondered if that meant that Gwen could do magic but she knew that there was only one way to find out. Not wishing to put it to the test, she waited for the servant to disappear before looking at Merlin.
"Now it ends."
"It certainly does." Smiling at each other and with Arthur's words ringing in their ears, they ran towards the entrance to the main building and headed towards the Great Hall, ready to take on the sorceress whilst the others freed the prisoners. Hearts racing and adrenalin rushing through their veins, they took a deep breath.
"Ready?"
"Ready." Alethea nodded before they walked through the doors.
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The prisoners in the dungeons weren't aware of what was going on above them or that they were about to be rescued. In truth, many of them were too tired or too weak to care and Gaius knew that should they ever get out of the damp hell hole that he'd have quite a bit of work to do. Many of the children were now too hungry to move whilst the women were stuck in their misery. Morgana seemed to be slipping more and more into the depths of despair whilst Gwen's father was busy messing with a piece of hay from the floor. Since discovering that his daughter was under Nimueh's control, he had barely said a word. There had been talks of an escape but these were all gone as they had realised that they wouldn't stand a chance. Many of them would be cut down by magic the moment they got outside of the dungeons and it required too many risks, even if they could get the doors open. There were too many children as well, who would never cope with life on the run and so it put all hopes of escape out of reach. Leaning back against the wall, Gaius let himself listen to the sounds of people sleeping but found himself listening to the sounds of footsteps. Wondering just what Nimueh was going to do with them now, he looked at the others as he heard the key turn in the lock. Now they were going to suffer…
