The Pendragon's fury
Arthur Pendragon was not happy. He had arrived back in Camelot only a few hours ago and he was already preparing to leave again in the morning. It had all been Leon's idea - he had suggested that Arthur use a decoy, and although he had not been particularly happy about it at the time, he had seen it was a good idea and had grudgingly agreed. What no one had counted on however would be Merlin volunteering for the dangerous job. Arthur had of course instantly objected to the idea, but then after much arguing, he had to concede that Merlin was actually the best option - he knew Arthur best, he wanted to do it and was about the same height. So Merlin had been chosen as the decoy.
And now Merlin was gone. Arthur had been fighting of the ambushers and the knights had all been doing the same - they had been winning too. Although their victory had seemed to have been aided greatly by branches mysteriously falling on men and enemy soldiers spontaneously dropping their weapons. This had only gone noticed by Arthur once or twice but the other knights admitted to have had similar sightings. Weird. The though of a magic user trying to help him was laughable but magic was the only explanation he could come up with - other than extraordinary luck, but seeing as how often he found himself in dangerous situations or wounded, he doubted it was just luck.
All of this had been blown out of Arthur's mind however, when he heard a warning shout from Gwaine, he had turned just in time to see half a dozen or so of Cendred's men chasing after Merlin. Unfortunately Arthur had at that point been too busy fighting to run after his servant - but now he wished that he had. After he and the knights had dispatched the last of Cenred's rather poorly trained soldiers, they had all followed the tracks that led them down to the river - where they had stopped.
There had been no sign of Merlin or his attackers, other than a sword lying in the muddy riverbank. The king had recognized it immediately, it had been the royal forged sword that he had given to Merlin as part of his disguise. Arthur had felt a ball of fear form in his chest at that point - cold, hard and clawing at his insides. The soldiers must have taken Merlin, thinking he was Arthur, and knowing that he would be instantly killed if he disagreed, Merlin must have played along with it. But Leon, Elyan and Percival had all said that they should head back, as it was getting dark. Gwaine and Arthur had both wanted to continue their search, but knew that they wouldn't get very far with their limited supplies and the fact that Percival was sporting a bleeding head wound. So they had all rode back to Camelot in the setting sun.
Instead of sleeping that night - Arthur had paced his chambers, rubbing his forehead and trying to not scream out with anger at how stupid he felt. He had let that idiot take his place so that Arthur would be safe and happy, but now the king felt anything but. Gwen had come in once or twice to try to comfort Arthur, but each time she failed, Arthur felt quite guilty for sending her away, but he couldn't seem to feel comforted by much anymore. That stupid boy had gotten into trouble again and this time Arthur was worried that it was serious. The prince couldn't see any way that all of this could end well.