Anna made Merlin stop several times on the way to Camelot to eat and rest, but he was so eager to get there that they still made it by noon. They hurried up to Arthur's chamber, only to find it empty.
"Well. Where have you been, Merlin?" one of the maids said, coming down the corridor. "Oh, Sir Gwaine—my apologies," she added as she saw who was with him.
"Faleiry—where is the King?" Merlin asked urgently.
"In the Great Hall, signing the treaty with King Illtyd," Faleiry answered in a tone that implied it was obvious.
They turned and hurried down toward the Hall. "Wait—" Merlin said, stopping so suddenly that Gwaine actually dragged him on a stride before he realized.
"What?"
"This should be locked," Merlin said, indicating the door that led up to the gallery over the Great Hall. "You go warn Arthur," he said, and Gwaine turned and ran on, while Merlin and Anna pushed open the heavy door and hurried up the stairs.
As they reached the top, Anna could hear Arthur's voice ringing out from the Great Hall. "Today we celebrate a new friendship between Camelot and Amata. As we sign this treaty we pledge ourselves and our goods in defense of one another against our common foes."
"SIRE!" Gwaine shouted.
Merlin and Anna burst through the last door and onto the gallery. Anna, behind Merlin, barely had time to register the massively tall man in leather armor wielding a crossbow before he released the bolt. She shouted, and the man reached for one of the small knives on his belt. Merlin threw a hand back to shield her, and it flew wide of its mark. Anna had never seen Merlin use his abilities in a fight before—but she didn't have much time to contemplate it. Two more small knives followed, and both of them whistled past her ear as Merlin deflected them. Seeing that they were still standing, the man drew his sword—
—and fell backward gurgling, the handle of one of his own knives sticking out of his throat.
Anna sprang forward and pulled his sword out of his loosened fingers, but there was little for her to do: the light went out of the man's eyes and his head fell to the side just as Percival and Elyan came thundering up the stairs and burst into the gallery, swords drawn. They stared at the tableau that met them.
"Arthur!" Merlin said urgently.
"He's fine," Elyan assured him, still staring at the would-be assassin. "Gwaine knocked him out of the way. What happened?"
There was a clatter on the stairs. "Elyan? Percival?"
"Everything's fine up here, Sire," Percival answered, sheathing his sword, and Arthur and Illtyd emerged from the stairwell and stared down at the assassin.
"Albin," Illtyd said, shaking his head. "He was one of my father's men. I humbly beg your forgiveness, Arthur: I had no idea he was planning anything like this. But why would he try to kill you?"
"And who killed him?"
Percival and Elyan looked at Anna, and Anna pointed wordlessly at Merlin. Arthur seemed to notice him and Anna for the first time: Merlin with a bloody bandage around his leg and a wound on his brow, and Anna holding Albin's sword. "He was hired by Morgana," Merlin said, and stumbled a little as his injured leg gave.
Arthur caught him by the arm and held him up. "Let's discuss this sitting down," he said grimly, and led the way down the stairs.
000
"So let me get this straight." Arthur was seated at the head of the table in the council chamber with Illtyd and Guinevere on his right and Merlin and Gaius on his left. The knights and Anna were gathered around them. "You went out early in the morning to pick a rare herb." Merlin nodded. "While in the woods, you met a young boy who persuaded you that his sister was in need of immediate medical attention—no time to go back and fetch Gaius. So you went with him all the way to the Valley of the Fallen Kings, only to discover that he didn't have a sister, and Morgana simply wanted to poison you to get you out of the way, because you're always 'spoiling her plans'." Arthur's expression clearly indicated that he thought Morgana had lost her magical marbles, but he went on. "Meanwhile, Gaius became worried that you hadn't come back yet, and instead of bringing the matter to me, he sent Anna and Gwaine to find you."
"I knew you were busy with your honored guest—" Gaius began, but Arthur waved aside his objections.
"They managed to track you to the Valley of the Kings, where Anna cured you of the poison. In the morning, when you had recovered, you traveled back to Camelot. Morgana had contracted with Albin to assassinate me. He got the steward drunk last night and stole the key to the gallery from his ring. On your arrival in Camelot, believing that Morgana would strike sooner rather than later, you sent Gwaine to warn me, and finding the door to the gallery unlocked, you ran up just in time to see him fire his crossbow—the shot of which barely missed me as Gwaine knocked me over. Albin threw three knives at the two of you, all of which apparently miraculously missed you, as Illtyd assures me Albin is one of the best shots in Amata, and he drew his sword, at which point Merlin, of all people, threw one of his own knives back at him and struck him directly in the throat." He raised both his hands. "Do I finally have that right?"
Anna, Gwaine, and Merlin nodded.
"You have to admit, it sounds pretty implausible," Arthur said, and Anna held her breath. "I mean, Merlin tried to toss my gloves to me last week and threw them right in a mud puddle. I would have less trouble believing Anna had thrown that knife." (Percival and Elyan exchanged looks and shrugged.)
"Lucky throw," Merlin said weakly.
"I'll say. Merlin, I've said it before: you must be the luckiest man in Albion."
"I believe you are the luckiest man," Illtyd said, rising from his chair. The others all stood. "You are the one who has him for a servant. Again, Arthur, I offer my apologies."
"It wasn't your fault. Albin was one of your father's men—of course you trusted him. With your consent, I would like to return to the Hall and complete the ceremony that my knight so rudely interrupted," Arthur answered, slapping Gwaine on the back in thanks.
Merlin accompanied the others back toward the Hall, but Gwaine saw Anna slip away and followed her. He caught up with her in an isolated corner of a stairwell, and when she turned to face him, there were tears in her eyes. He pulled her into his arms and they stood there silently for a few minutes while oblivious servants ran up and down the stairs. At last she pulled back and wiped at her face. "Oh God, Gwaine, what am I going to do?" she groaned.
"The first thing we're going to do," he said calmly, imitating her healer's voice as he smoothed her hair back from her face, "is talk to Merlin."
She smiled up at him weakly at his use of "we" and together they went up the stairs to the surgery.
TBC
AN: Magical explanations in the next chapter!
So I have discovered that my document of notes for this fic is 15 pages long, single-spaced. The outline section alone is 3 pages, and I've covered about half a page of it so far. O_o
Thanks to everybody who reviewed! Half the fun of writing a fic like this is reading people's reactions. :) Please review!
