A/N: Okay, now it's beta'd. Thanks DarkAngel2112

Chapter Seventeen

Arthur wasn't quite sure how to feel.

When he'd first been tied to a chair – and incidentally, it was very uncomfortable being tied to a chair – he'd been angry and scared. When he and Morgause began to exchange terse words, he'd been defiant, angry, and scared. When she'd struck him, he'd been even more of all three. When Merlin and Xyla came in, he was mostly startled and scared. Then Xyla had grabbed Merlin and left, and he felt somehow betrayed, ridiculous though it was.

Then Morgana showed up and Morgause was yelling at him again, and the door opened and Merlin and Xyla came flying in again…

By now, he was feeling rather numb, actually. And not just because he was losing circulation.

Morgana and Morgause were the ones taken by surprise this time, not Merlin. They turned to face the door, looking rather stunned. Merlin stood there looking at them, breathing a bit hard, acting like a frozen idiot… (Move! Arthur thought at him nervously.) And then he went for the weapons against the back wall.

Morgana and Morgause put their hands up at the same time, and the room filled with the buzz of magic, like lightning in a storm or angry bees.

"Merlin!" he warned, seeing what was coming.

So did Xyla, so she bent her knees, tensed, prepared herself… And she lunged, tackling Morgana to the ground. With a cross between a furious squeal and a dangerous roar, Morgana collapsed under Xyla, hitting the ground and losing her breath.

It distracted Morgana and Morgause long enough for Merlin to grab a sword from the wall, long and broad, like the one around Morgause's hip. Morgause recovered and sent a spell his way, her eyes flaring gold…

"Llosgi!"

But somehow Merlin ran right past it, avoiding the fireball that nearly set him ablaze. Dropping to his knees in an attempt to avoid whatever spell came next, he slid to a stop behind Arthur and lifted the sword to his bindings. Arthur would have noticed the quiet magic words he whispered, but the prince never noticed… and besides, he was distracted by the fact that his half-sister was currently trying to roll over on top of the girl in the blousy white shirt clutching a neckerchief. Morgause noticed, and couldn't deny the thrill of fear she felt at seeing his eyes flash gold.

Emrys… The clumsy servant.

Arthur's bonds fell away, and Merlin stuffed the sword in his hands, knowing that once he got a weapon, the prince had it from there.

Morgause drew her own sword.

Merlin got ready for some background protecting.

Morgana seemed to have forgotten about her magic, because instead of using a spell on Xyla, she fought back. She tried to roll over on top of her—which would have crushed Xyla if she were about five and a lot smaller. She pulled Morgana's hair.

She'd wanted to do that for so long. It felt good.

Morgana slapped at her and tried to set her on fire, but Xyla managed to block it. She didn't retaliate with magic, rather using her energy to try and sink a fist into Morgana.

Arthur went for Morgause's neck, but the slender blonde moved out of the way and tried to respond with a blow of her own. Arthur blocked it, but just barely.

Merlin watched everything carefully, holding the long dagger he'd grabbed for himself, waiting for an opening for his magic. He didn't want to use it on Morgause until Arthur wasn't looking, and he couldn't blast Morgana without hitting Xyla… What were they doing anyway? It looked like the time Arthur and Gwaine abandoned their swords for some weak wrestling.

Morgause opened her mouth and Merlin watched in horror as she yelled something worse than a spell, her voice magically amplified: "GUARDS!"

Arthur glanced at Merlin. They needed to get out that door… Now. But they didn't have time… They'd have to get Morgause out of the way and peel Xyla off of Morgana, and even then they might not make it out before the guards came pouring in. This castle was big enough to fit a whole lot of men.

Merlin winced and lifted his dagger higher instinctively. Well, time to throw subtlety out the window and hope for the best.

Arthur's shock knew no bounds when he swung his sword at Morgause… and hit her. But instead of dying or even bleeding, she left the ground. With a sword swing, he somehow managed to send her crashing into the wall. She sank to the floor, senseless.

He stared at his blade. How…?

"Give it up," Morgana sneered, trying to get to her feet, too wrapped up in Xyla to notice Morgause's situation. "You can barely even use magic!"

Xyla glared at her and noticed her looking at Merlin again, so she knocked her down again. "Don't need to. I won't let you hurt Merlin."

Morgana stumbled back, her hair falling down and her dress crumpled. "He hurt me," she pointed out viciously. "He poisoned…"

"Oh, shut up!" groaned Xyla. "Would you stop harping on that? A lot of people have been hurt before, you selfish witch!"

Xyla obviously wasn't so proficient at insults or name-calling, but Morgana sucked in her breath angrily, her face going pale, and she responded.

"What do you know?" she practically shrieked, her eyes flashing an uncontrollable gold. "What do you know, you filthy peasant, you… you whore daughter of a dirty magician!"

Xyla felt herself get a bit cold in the core, and realized she was too out of energy to even hate the woman before her. "You're insane, Morgana. Besides, they were magicians. Plural."

There was a beat.

"And I'm not a whore."

Merlin took advantage of Morgana's distraction and Arthur staring at his sword to use a wordless spell. There was no bright light, but Morgana went flying across the room and cracked her head on another wall.

Arthur looked up at the noise and saw Xyla breathing hard over Morgana's unconscious body, her feet still apart in a fighting pose.

Xyla and Arthur met eyes, and she smiled briefly. She looked over at Merlin and smiled wider, her eyes lighting up.

"C'mon," said Arthur. "They'll be here in seconds."

"What?" asked Xyla.

"Guards, didn't you hear?" replied Merlin, reaching for the wall of weapons again. "You want a knife or sword?"

"Knife," she replied, and he grabbed one. Arthur walked to the open door and peered out. Guards' feet clanked against the ground as they came running up the hall, swords out.

"Run!" he ordered, and after making sure that Xyla and Merlin were just behind him, he fled the room and ran down the opposite way.

Merlin passed the knife to Xyla as they ran out, slipping his own into his belt so he could grab it quickly. She followed suit, glancing back at the ever-nearing soldiers. "We can't outrun them," she pointed out, even as they tried, ducking down a side hall.

"Merlin!" snapped Arthur.

"What?" gasped Merlin, looking forward.

"Is this the way out?"

"I don't know!"

"It is," Xyla assured them, looking back again. "They're gaining."

"I know," Arthur informed her shortly. "Run faster."

Then they stopped talking and ran faster, blood pounding in their ears, the guards breathing down their necks… Xyla and Merlin exchanged one desperate look, and Merlin dropped behind.

They turned a corner when Arthur glanced back. "Where's Merlin?"

"He's coming… Keep going! No, don't stop…!" But Arthur had stopped, his new sword out again, and tried to head back, sending Xyla a look of disgust.

Before they could get into an argument, Merlin rounded the corner, breathing hard, his eyes innocently blue as though he hadn't just been using magic. "Why are you two just standing here?" he asked. "They've dropped behind, but not by much!"

They ran again. A stitch appeared in Xyla's side. Merlin's breath was ragged and wheezing. They couldn't stop.

The courtyard of the castle. The rocks out there would provide some protection, Arthur knew, especially since the soldier's had fallen behind. It would also keep them safe from the archers.

Because of course there were archers, and arrows were presently raining down like the deadliest precipitation ever. Arthur just kept running, praying they could all reach the first boulder in one piece. If they could just get past all this to the horses…

Xyla pushed herself, putting her body just a hair before Merlin and a few steps before Arthur, her eyes on the rocks, on the target, pushing back the intoxicating thoughts of freedom…

And then a small cry from behind stopped her in her tracks. She knew all the archers could know hit her like a horse flicking off a fly, but she had to turn. She saw Merlin sprawled on the ground, an arrow in his back, trying weakly to crawl to his feet, and weakness passed through her.

"Arthur!" she yelped, immediately starting for Merlin.

Arthur looked back and his heart leapt to his throat.

"Merlin!" he called, reversing and running back towards certain death. "Get up!"

"He can't!" cried Xyla in a panic. She bent down as an arrow went over her head and tried to take Merlin's arm. They didn't have time for that, though, so after a second and an arrow nicking the skin on his arm, Arthur sighed and reached for Merlin. He picked up the smaller man with a grunt and slung him over his shoulder, the arrow shaft sticking into the air.

"Don't stop!" he ordered her, and they kept going, Xyla watching with some awe as Arthur sped across the rocks with a grown man over his shoulders. And finally they reached the first boulder, diving behind it.

Xyla was on her stomach. Arthur crouched, ignoring the burning in his thighs thanks to Merlin's weight. Merlin gazed up at the boulder with glazed eyes.

"It's… the… king," he muttered to himself, and a small smile touched his lips. "Uther." And then, after another second of staring at the rock, he slumped down onto Arthur.

They weren't out of the woods yet.