Chapter 4

Merlin felt another strong push as someone tested the magical barrier he had created earlier to protect the castle from attack. He had no idea if this meant that someone was attempting to undo his spell or simply trying to walk through it but, as before, he knew he'd do better facing them from the town side of the wall, especially as he was currently closer to the dungeons than he was the battlements. He half ran, half slid down various corridors and used a warming spell in front of him as he dashed down the flight of stairs that lead to the dungeons and, from there, the tunnel out into the city itself.

There had been other options, he thought as he came to a halt halfway through the market place and slowed his stride, but he was so used to doing things undercover, it just felt more comfortable this way and, right now he didn't know what sort of threat he was about to face. The pushes had now stopped and he worried what that meant. However, as he got closer to the gatehouse, he saw that the portcullis was still down and two burly men dressed in casual fighting gear were apparently deep in conversation just outside it. Merlin stopped and took a deep breath and wondered what to do next. Whilst he was thinking he felt a tug on his sleeve, and looked down to see John with a big grin on his face.

"It worked," the boy whispered.

"Good," said Merlin bending down slightly. "Where is everyone?"

"Most hid when they came – we thought they might be sorcerers."

"They just look like soldiers to me."

"Maybe, but something very strange happened when they tried to touch the portcullis."

"Oh, what?"

"They couldn't!" John grinned broadly. "When they tried they quickly pulled back as if it were hot."

Merlin attempted to look confused but was secretly celebrating at how well his spell had worked.

"We'd better go back indoors," he told the lad and then walked as if he were going towards one of the cottages. Instead he moved behind the buildings and tried to get closer to hear what the two men were saying.

"I don't see what else we can do," said the taller of the two. "This was supposed to be an easy in, grab and out again, but that spell was only designed to protect us against the cold … nothing was said about a locked gate and magical protection on the palace itself."

Merlin nodded as he started to understand more about why this enchantment had been cast in the first place. The 'grab' was probably the king or Arthur - or both. He kept listening, hoping the pair might give away the identity of their leader.

"Fine, but you know we're going to get blamed anyway," said the shorter man with a pout. The first man nodded glumly as the two picked up their belongings and slowly started to walk back towards the market without further comment. Merlin followed quietly, his mind racing. Would it make any difference if he just let them report back? If he stopped them somehow, kept them here, no doubt the enemy would get suspicious and send someone else along anyway. Saying that, they wouldn't know why the scouts hadn't returned and would not suspect magic to be involved. He sighed, still toying with both ideas and their outcomes in his head even though, deep down, he knew what he had to do.

"Merlin." A hissed whisper got his attention from the back door of the cottage he was just passing.

"Robert?"

"Quickly, in here."

"He reluctantly entered, trying to hide his annoyance at not now being able to openly use magic to stop the scouts. He was surprised to find the tiny cottage packed.

"We're not sure if they have magic," said another man. "But we thought … there might be enough of us to stop them." Merlin suddenly smiled, pleased of the extra support.

"Let's try, quickly, before they get too far away," he agreed. "We can easily overcome two but I'd rather not wait for them to go and fetch their friends."

A group of ten accompanied Merlin, and they quickly followed the men along the back lane behind the cottages until they drew level with them. Then, with a loud battle cry, Robert charged and threw his whole, not insubstantial, weight against the nearest scout. The rest of the crowd followed his lead and Merlin stayed close by watching in case he needed to use some subtle magic to assist them.

A young woman ran over to join them then, her hands full of rope. As the two scouts were quickly overcome, Robert and a couple of others quickly started to tie them up and, during all the shouting and barging, Merlin managed to quietly chant a few words to ensure that the ropes had a little extra magical strength added to them. Satisfied they'd not be reporting back to their superiors any time soon, the young warlock left the crowd with their prisoners and started to make his way back towards the tunnel.

Once back inside the castle he moved quickly but cautiously towards the Knight's Wing. In this part of the palace the noble soldiers had well furnished bed chambers, housed altogether, close to the battlements and with easy access to the stables and training grounds. Merlin moved in and out of several chambers, not entirely familiar with the layout, and a made a note of where the other key knights of Arthur's newly formed Round Table were housed for later reference. Once he'd found Lancelot's chambers, he quickly created a shield around his friend's frozen body and then cautiously cast his warming spell through it. It was much harder to do this way around, but it was likely that he'd have to perform this trick a few more times today, so he really did need the practice. Lancelot gave a small groan and then suddenly, just like Gaius, sat bold upright in shock.

"Oh! What happened?" His eyes fell on Merlin, then flashed around his ice covered chambers before returning to his friend. He raised his eyebrows. "Magic?"

"Magic."

"You're immune?"

"Not exactly … I'll tell you on the way." Lancelot was already out of bed and heading towards his uniform. He held out his padded shirt, stiff with ice and pulled a face.

"On the way?" He asked, whilst holding the shirt up to Merlin with a questioning look. The young warlock nodded and quickly cast a warming spell on it so that Lancelot could put it on.

"To Gaius' chambers. Look, I'll help you dress – I do this for Arthur every day anyway but, I'll warm up each item as I hand it to you." He was going to complain about Lancelot wanting to wear his armour, but quickly realised that it was probably a sensible precaution and would help the young man to feel better anyway. As he dressed him, Merlin also subtly adjusted the shield he'd created for his friend so that the armour was included in it's warmth. That accomplished, the pair moved as quickly as they were able towards the physician's chambers.

"What about the others?" Lancelot asked, looked down the corridor at the other doors.

"Better if it's just you at first and I'd rather not hold more than two shields at a time if I can help it." Quickly and concisely, Merlin explained what had happened so far.

"You have done very well, Merlin," Lancelot said. "I'm not sure I would have had the nerve in such circumstances."

"You are far too modest and far too easily impressed," Merlin countered with a grin. They'd now arrived at Gaius' chambers. "Look, I've protected this room and will drop your shield as soon as you're inside. Lancelot, you will not be able to leave this room without me … do you understand?"

"Of course, but, Merlin, this is not the best room from which to mount a defence," the knight replied as they walked in the door. Gaius looked up with a relived smile whilst Gwen turned slightly pink, gave an embarrassed smile of acknowledgement to the pair, and quickly returned to her reading. Merlin noticed her subtly adjusted her shawl to cover the front of her low cut dress.

"You're right of course," Merlin replied to Lancelot's earlier question, "but it is the best place to find a solution. Gaius?"

"A few ideas, spells similar to this but … nothing obvious as yet."

"Can't you enchant another object in another room?" Gwen asked Merlin pointing at the mask. "One in a better position. Is it possible to have two or more working at the same time?"

"Yes, I think that is the next step. Which room though?" he asked.

"The council chambers?" Gaius asked.

"Sensible in some ways," said Lancelot, "but there is no clear view of the outside from there either."

"In fact there are few rooms that have a good vantage point," Merlin agreed.

"The areas outside of the building are just as cold as inside?" Lancelot asked.

"Yes, the enchantment reaches all the way to the castle walls but not beyond."

"Does your protection spell need to have walls surrounding it?" the knight continued.

Merlin grinned, suddenly understanding. "No. No more than your personal shield did a moment ago. So, that area of green near the training grounds? It's got a great view of the back gate from one side and the fields approaching Camelot from the other."

"Yes, that would be ideal. Do we need a tent?" Lancelot asked.

"No, why would we? It'll be just like a room indoors when I've finished and then ..." He paused and pulled a face.

"What?"

"I was going to say then I can then wake up Arthur and the rest of the knights but … how will I explain why it's not cold in those places?"

"Easy. Just say the spell didn't work fully and there seem to be a couple of places not covered," said Gaius.

"But, it will feel warm within the shield and how will I explain how I wasn't frozen like everyone else?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something," said Lancelot with his usual confidence.

"Perhaps, but it's likely I'm going to need to use my magic to defend us if we're attacked and, with that in mind, the fewer people that are awake the better."

"You will have to wake Arthur up though," said Lancelot. "You know this is true." Merlin shook his head and pulled another face, quite unable to see how he was going to solve all of this with a rapidly growing audience.

"Of course, there is another option," Gwen interrupted calmly, her eyes not leaving the book she was reading.

"What?"

"You could just tell Arthur the truth!"

~o~0~o~

Edited 19/5/12