Arthur put a finger to his lips and took a step forward. They were staying low at the moment but were very close to launching their attack. They had come to the nearest castle to where Morgana had been sighted; it seemed likely that she would be using it as a base.

"Arthur!" Gwaine hissed, and Arthur refrained from rolling his eyes. If Gwaine had one failing as a Knight it was his inability to stay quiet. However, there was always the chance that he actually had something useful to contribute.

"What?"

"Can you hear that?"

Arthur listened; sure enough, there was the sound of a cracking twig. Ordinarily, he would have dismissed it as a wild animal or just a townsperson taking a stroll, but he had found recently that sometimes it was better to be safe than sorry.

He swivelled to the source of the noise; it was coming from within the forest, that much was certain. So Arthur approached the large tree, which seemed to him to be the perfect hiding place.

Think as your enemy thinks…

Arthur sensed rather than saw movement and quick as a whip he had rounded the tree with Lancelot, Gwaine and Percival on opposite sides and held the stranger at sword point.

"Well, this seems like a little bit of an overreaction."

Who, it turned out, was not a stranger at all.

"Merlin."

Merlin smiled weakly. "Hello Arthur." He looked down to where Arthur still had his sword pressed to his neck. "Do you mind?"

Arthur lowered his weapon and Merlin stepped forward, readying himself for the onslaught.

"What the hell do you think you are doing here?" Arthur yelled - or he would have done, had they not been on somewhat of a covert operation, as it was he sort of hissed it loudly. And with venom.

"Er."

"I'm waiting Merlin."

Merlin offered a shrug. "Picking… herbs…" he grinned. "Or whatever I do in my spare time."

Arthur glared at him. "I expressly forbade you from coming with us."

"I am as shocked as you are."

"Merlin," cut in Gwaine. "Do you honestly think anyone's buying this?"

"I've found that Arthur will generally buy anything."

"Watch it, Merlin," Arthur growled. Lancelot looked vaguely amused by the whole thing, as did Gwaine. Percival looked fairly impassive, although, Arthur noted, none of them looked altogether surprised.

In all honesty, neither was he.

Of course, when given a direct order, Merlin would disregard it utterly.

"You need to leave."

"Oh, come on Arthur."

"Merlin in case you've forgotten, you are actually supposed to do what I say. Whether you want to or not."

Merlin looked down, and when he spoke it was in a short clipped tone, with an undercurrent of steel. "I hadn't forgotten," he said. "But when you continue to make bone-headed decisions, I'm not about to let you go and get yourself killed."

Arthur was taken back by this rather passionate speech - and confused. "How on earth is you not being here going to get me killed?"

Merlin looked up. "Never mind, point is-" Merlin's gaze drifted past Arthur. He looked surprised and said in a horrified voice, "Point is," he said slowly, "that we've just discovered an ambush."

Arthur turned on his heel, sword at the ready as several armed men appeared from bushes. He heard a gasp from Lancelot and a groan from Gwaine and Percival as they readied themselves for battle.

One thing was for sure: Morgana had known they were coming.

This was precisely why Merlin needed to accompany Arthur on these trips.

Merlin once again found himself cursing the utter pigheadedness of the Once and Future King, as he got ready to save his life. Again. Probably.

He quickly assessed the situation. They were outnumbered, that was true, but not by too many. The plan had clearly been to surprise them, which had been set off course by himself forewarning Arthur.

There you go, Morgana, he thought wryly, that's another of your plans I've messed up.

Merlin quickly focused on the battle. Arthur was fighting a man, but appeared to be holding his own quite well. Gwaine, Lancelot and Percival were all fighting about five men together and, Merlin noted somewhat proudly, they were all holding their own as well.

That was when he spotted the man coming up beside Arthur.

He glanced up and, when no handily placed branches were there to fall on anyone's head, looked back and muttered "Forbaern," and the man dropped his sword as his hand was burnt.

Merlin breathed a slight sigh of relief, but his brief respite only lasted a moment as another group came out of the bushes to the other side.

Of course, he thought, a second wave.

As the Knights let out cries of shock at the other men emerging, Merlin was halted in his attempt to help by a dagger at his throat.

"Give up, or the boy dies," a grisly voice from behind him said.

The men ceased fighting as they all turned to see Merlin being held hostage.

Merlin sighed. This was exactly why it was very inconvenient that no one knew about his magic. Except Lancelot, but it was unlikely that they could fool Arthur that he was having some sort of hallucination. If he had been able to do so without revealing himself, he could have had the man off him in a moment. As it was, he had to stay still, and look for all the world like he really was the victim.

Gwaine dropped his weapon immediately. Arthur seemed to be frozen in shock before slowly laying down his weapon as well. Percival followed suit. Lancelot looked at Merlin for a long moment, clearly wondering whether Merlin had some sort of plan. Merlin grimaced at him and Lancelot sighed and also dropped his sword.

The man jerked his head back against the tree that he was pinned against, and Merlin saw lights popping in front of his eyes.

Oh, he thought vaguely, this must be what it's like for Arthur.

Then he remembered: Arthur.

Arthur was in danger. They were all in danger. His friends. And with that last thought translated as a strong burst of magic, he drifted into the blackness.

Please, keep them safe…

Arthur had a sensation much like he was being pushed through a very narrow tube whilst being hit repeatedly over the head.

When he sat up he blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.

No, he was still… perfectly safe.

Which was odd.

Because, one moment he had been about to be captured by Morgana's men - at least he assumed them to be Morgana's men - and the next he had been pushed down the aforementioned tube and had ended up… here.

Wherever here was.

He looked around, seeing Gwaine, Lancelot and Percival all sitting up in similar states of disorientation.

Gwaine's gaze connected with his, and Arthur could see that they were both struck by the same thought:

"Where's Merlin?"

"The idiot."

Arthur, Gwaine and Percival all turned to the unexpected source of the comment: Lancelot. Even Arthur would have admitted that he - Arthur - would be more likely to insult Merlin than Lancelot.

But Lancelot had leapt up and seemed to be utterly unaware of their presence at all.

"The idiot. He's left himself there." Lancelot ran a hand through his already dishevelled hair. "He's saved us, and left himself there. Probably to be killed because, hey, that was probably their aim. Honestly, what is the point of having m-" Lancelot spun on his heel and seemed to be suddenly reawakened to their presence.

"What was that, Lancelot?" asked Gwaine.

"Ah, that was-"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, I was just…"

Arthur, though, could only think of one thing:

"Having what, Lancelot?" he stared at Lancelot, his eyes wide and staring. "Having what?"

Ah, cliffhangers, how we love thee... Sorry this has taken a while to get out; I'm still not precisely sure of how it all hangs together. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, but, until then, please review!