Arthur's forehead creased in worry as he asked the man who stood nervously before him to repeat himself.

"It was just as I said, er… sire-"

"I struggle with calling him that too," Merlin interjected.

Frederick nodded, looking torn between amusement and confusion, and continued, "Er, I saw this woman standing in front of this cauldron. She was- she was muttering all these words, not that I understood them mind. But still, I could tell they were magic, on account of her eyes being all gold."

"Right," said Arthur. "And what did you say she looked like?"

"Er, well, she had long dark hair. Er, she was young, about your age, if you don't mind me saying, sire. And," he shrugged a little sheepishly. "If you were of a mind to notice it she was beautiful as well."

"Morgana," Merlin said immediately .

Arthur looked at him and he shrugged.

"Right," said Arthur, a deep seated feeling of dread already starting to settle in. "See that this man has somewhere to stay the night." He waved some of the guards off and the man left, glancing nervously back. "And, Merlin?"

"Yep."

"Call a meeting of the Round table will you. Quickly," he sighed. "If you can manage it."

Remarkably quickly - Arthur had to concede - a meeting of the round table council was called. Arthur had set up this council fairly swiftly in the aftermath of Morgana's attempt to take over Camelot; it was one of the ways in which he was managing to keep a hold over the Kingdom that had lost its King. He still held the ordinary council meetings but he found that they were more formality than anything else. The Round table meetings were where things were actually done.

"We have received news that Morgana may be attempting to take over Camelot," Arthur announced to the consternation of… well, nobody.

Gwaine groaned whilst Leon said, "Morgana? Again?"

"Yes," said Gwaine, leaning forward on the table. "But - and please believe me on this - there is no need for you to wear a dress again."

Several members of the council hid laughter - some more successfully than others - whilst Leon glared at Gwen. Really, had there been any need for her to let slip to Gwaine of all people? And Gwaine had, in turn - of course - told everyone.

Right. More important things happening.

"We can't know for sure when she will attack, but we know that there will probably be some sort of attempt to disarm us… magically, probably." Arthur took a deep breath. "Which is why we're going to go to her."

The round table sat up at that. "Are you sure that's wise sire?" Gaius asked. "You have said before that the citadel is Camelot's best defence."

"But Morgana got into the citadel. Granted, technically she was in it already, but that doesn't matter. She," Arthur paused. "She grew up here," he swallowed. "Which means that she knows the castle well. We can't trust a final line of defence. We're going to have to attack first.

"We know where she was last sighted, which means we have an advantage. The man who saw her is fairly certain that she didn't see him, and let's face it he wouldn't still be here if she had."

"So…" said Gwaine. "When are we going?"

"Immediately." Arthur replied. "But Gaius is right, so if this fails, we need people back here.

"Gwaine, Lancelot, Percival, you're with me. The rest stay here, and prepare defences as a precaution."

As the three mentioned rose up so did Merlin and Arthur sighed, "That includes you Merlin."

Merlin looked surprised. "It does not," he said, without thinking.

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

Merlin seemed to realise what he'd said and sighed, "Sorry, but… why?"

"It's dangerous."

"And I've never been with you before when you go on dangerous quests?" Merlin looked completely bemused.

"Look, Merlin," Arthur exhaled loudly. "It might get ugly in there and, if it does… I can't be preoccupied with your protection."

Merlin seemed to hold back a laugh, but he regained himself, "You really don't need to worry about my protection, Arthur."

"Merlin. This is not up for discussion. You're staying here."

Merlin straightened and said, his voice laden with irritation, "Yes, sire."

Gwaine clapped Merlin on the shoulder as the Knights filed out. "Hey," he muttered. "I think that's the prat's way of saying he cares."

Merlin smiled wryly. "If only he knew," he muttered and, at Gwaine's confused look, shook his head. "Never mind. Good luck."

"Ah, you know me, Merlin," Gwaine held out his hands. "I don't need luck."

Merlin shook his head as they left. They might not need luck, but they would certainly need him.

It truly was a miracle that Arthur had survived as long as he had before Merlin came into his life.

Whilst readying his armour, Arthur glanced up at the door being pushed open and his face relaxed into a warm smile, rarely seen by anyone else. Gwen smiled back, closing the door with a muted thud.

"No Merlin?" she asked, half teasingly as she surveyed Arthur putting on his armour himself.

Arthur smiled. "No, I thought he had more important things to do, what with readying the city for a possible siege."

Gwen moved closer to him and took Arthur's wrist in her hands, "He's not really mad, you know," she said as she worked on the straps.

"I don't care, anyway. I have more important things to worry about."

Gwen gave Arthur a look that told him he wasn't fooling anyone, but didn't push, instead saying, "You know, I taught Merlin how to do this when he first became your servant."

"What? Put on my armour?"

Gwen nodded.

Arthur grinned. "I thought he got good at it way too quickly. Although he did keep forgetting to give me my sword."

"Hey," said Gwen, presenting him with his sword. "I'm not a miracle worker."

They were closer together now, and she looked up at him, her eyes wide as she said, "Come back safe."

"I will," Arthur said, before leaning down to kiss her. It was only brief, but the time in which their lips met spoke volumes. So much so in fact that when the time came for them to pull apart no more needed to be said, and Gwen pressed a hand to his chest before walking out without a word.

Gaius thought that Merlin had been surprisingly quiet all evening and so, once they had finished their meal, he was naturally suspicious when Merlin suddenly stood up.

"Where are you going Merlin?"

"Oh, I thought I'd go muck out the stables. Keep busy, you know."

"Right," Gaius nodded. "But, Merlin?" Merlin turned just before he reached the doorway. "Didn't you do that this morning?"

"Did I?" asked Merlin. "Well, you know what they say, a horse's stable can never be too clean."

As he headed out again, Gaius murmured. "Hmm, and Merlin?"

"Yes Gaius."

"I hear the Knights are heading off from the courtyard."

Merlin grinned. "I know."

And then he disappeared, leaving Gaius to mutter to an empty room, "And be careful, Merlin."

Well, I already had this chapter written so I thought I'd post, but I wouldn't expect all updates to be this quick! I apologise for the shortness of the prologue and hope that it hasn't turned you off the story. Most of these chapters are about this length - which is quite short for me, but that may change. I realise there wasn't much to review in the prologue but I hope now you can see a little bit of where the story is going, you will find time to let me know what you think; I'd really appreciate it.

Anyway, thanks for reading!