Disclaimer: Ahahahahaha! Today I have finally bought Merlin! *laughs evilly* Today your favorite show shall fall!

…Just kidding, please don't report me…

Author's note: Hi Everyone! Well here is the next chapter, a shorty to make up for the length of the last one.

Cheers and enjoy!

Oh, and don't forget to have an amazing day!

TTT

Chapter 4

Merlin happily surveyed the pristine floor in Lord Haymor's chambers. Of course, the floor had been pristine beforehe had started cleaning it, but, it's the thought that counts, right?

This job was a breeze. Working with two other servants obviously lightened the load, but not having a demanding prince ordering him about just for the fun of it most certainly helped.

Merlin stretched and smiled. Now all he had to do was wash the floors in the corridor outside Lord Haymor's chambers, and he would be done.

Done!

When the day had barely started! He grabbed the wash bucket, and headed for the courtyard pump with a spring in his step.

…

Upon reaching the courtyard Merlin slowed.

There were soldiers everywhere! They were by the courtyard gate, the castle's entrance, patrolling the castle wall and, most importantly to Merlin, they were by the pump. Inconspicuously, with his head down, Merlin made his way across the courtyard. He doubted anyone would recognize him, but he didn't want to take any risks.

He walked between two wagons, and around another. 'What's with all the wagons?'Merlin thought in confusion.

"You there! Halt!"

Merlin froze. The voice had come from behind him.

"Turn around" the voice said roughly.

Merlin turned slowly, until he was facing a guard. The man was of a large build and had a beard.

"Yes sir?" Merlin asked, his voice squeaking.

"The courtyard is off limits. No one is to enter unless they have specific orders, which I doubt you have." The guard sneered.

"Why not?" Merlin asked without thinking.

"That, is strictly confidential!"

"Well, sir, I am strictly under orders- orders to scrub the floors, so may I please pass to get to the pump?"

The guard laughed, unpleasantly.

"I don't think so, boy." The guard jerked his head back towards the castle. "Now go."

"But-" Merlin started.

"Go." The guard said coldly.

Merlin hesitated, not so much because he wanted to get to the water pump, but because he found the guard's actions to be suspicious and he suspected that they had something to do with those wagons. Nevertheless with a shrug of his shoulders, Merlin turned and started to head back towards the castle. He had walked no more than three steps when he decided to probe just a little bit deeper.

"So what's in those wagons anyway?" Merlin asked curiously, while turning around.

The guard glared at him angrily, and just when Merlin feared that he was about to get his head bashed in he heard a voice call out to him from his right.

"Emrys!" Danen came running up, smiling. Merlin turned to him, relieved.

"Ah, you had a run in with Blonti, he always takes his anger out on servants like us." Danen whispered. He then turned around and smiled genially at the guard. "Hey Blonti, come on, let Emrys pass, it's just to the pump." The guard stared at Danen, and then shrugged, motioning for Merlin to pass. With a smile at Danen, and with as polite a nod as he could manage to the guard, Merlin walked to the pump without further incident.

….

"So, Danen?" Merlin asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Danen gave him a quizzical look,

"Those wagons… what's in them?"

Danen shifted slightly and raised his eyebrows. They were back in the castle, and Merlin had pulled Danen aside, after saying that he needed to talk to him.

"Oh those old things? Danen asked, waving his hand in a flippant gesture, obviously trying to convince Merlin that this conversation was pointless. It almost worked. Almost.

"Yeah," Merlin said, cocking his head slightly, "those old things."

"Uh, they belong to a bunch of traders that have come to town, I don't know what's in them." Danen said with a weak smile and an apologetic shrug. Merlin winced. Danen was a worse liar than he was.

"Danen-" Merlin said uncomfortably.

"Yeah?"

Merlin looked him right in the eye.

"What's in the wagons?" He asked quietly.

Danen looked away, and shifted uncomfortably. He was thinking hard. Finally, he turned back Merlin.

"Look," He said uneasily, "really we shouldn't be talking about it, because you are not from around here. You're a Mercian."

Merlin waited, still looking him in the eye.

Danen sighed, resigned. "I really don't know what's in them, but," he said, just as Merlin was about to protest, "I think I know what they're for."

"And?" Merlin asked excitedly, already expecting the answer.

"Now this is just a rumor mind you, I don't know for sure…"

"Yes?" Merlin asked hopefully.

"And this could just be a lie that some bored nobles made up because they wanted attention. They do do that you know. All the-"

"Danen!" Merlin said with a laugh. "What is it?"

Danen took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

"They are for the army…" He said with his eyes still closed. "…that King Cenred is raising for war."

Merlin lowered his head and sighed. He had expected as much.

"And who," Merlin asked quietly, "is Cenred planning to attack?"

Danen shrugged. "I don't know. No one does. The king is keeping it so quiet I wouldn't even know that we were going to war if I hadn't heard Lord Haymor whispering about it with his friend, the pompous captain."

Merlin tried to smile at Danen, but his worry must have shown through because Danen slapped him on the back.

"Don't worry," Danen said optimistically, "King Cenred has no reason to attack Mercia, our countries aren't the best of friends, but we still have a mutual agreement for peace. If we get lucky," Danen continued, "The king might even attack that ghastly kingdom of Camelot! That would be a stroke of luck, wouldn't it?"

Merlin swallowed a gulp and forced a laugh.

"Yeah, it sure would." He said with as much conviction as he could. Then with a shake of his head he said brightly, 'C'mon," Merlin grabbed Danen on the arm, "I'm starving! Let's go see what we can beg from the kitchens."

Danen's eyebrows shot up at Merlin's quick recovery, but with a shake of his head, he followed.

….

His head throbbed. His leg burned white hot. He could feel his heart beating. Pain. All of his senses were overwhelmed by it. A voice. A voice so far away, so very familiar.

"Sire?"

His eyes felt like leaden weights, so heavy.

"Sire, can you hear me?"

He felt himself drifting into unconsciousness, a black void that he could jump into to be free of the pain. All he had to do was jump.

"Arthur!"

Arthur's eyes snapped open. He was in his chambers, back home in Camelot. Gaius stood hovering over him, a concerned expression written on his face.

"Good afternoon Sire, you've been out for quite some time, and I thought it might be good if you ate somethi- now wait, wait, don't sit up too quickly."

Arthur groggily brushed him aside, wincing. He had a nagging feeling in the back of his head that he was forgetting something… but what?

"Take it easy," he heard Gaius say kindly, "When your men brought you in you were in quite a state."

'Brought me in?' Arthur thought blearily.

"Here, sip this," Gaius said, holding out a bowl of soup.

With a nod of his head he quickly threw his legs over the side of the bed.

"No wait, don't!" Gaius exclaimed.

He didn't hear Gaius until it was too late. A piercing pain shot up his leg from his knee. If he had been standing he would have collapsed. Arthur gritted his teeth. When the pain finally subsided, Arthur slowly looked down at his wounded knee.

Memories came back with a flash.

They had been trapped in the town, soldiers everywhere! Then in the woods, they were surrounded, outnumbered, an arrow had been flying straight at him! It should have hit him… why didn't it hit him…? Merlin!

With a strangled yell, Arthur threw himself onto his feet, ignoring the pain.

"Arthur! Arthur, stop! What are you doing? You are making it worse!" Gaius cried.

"Merlin! He's hurt or maybe dead! I have to- agh!"

Gaius had shoved him back onto his bed, with a no-nonsense look on his face.

"Merlin, is perfectly alright!" Gaius said loudly, trying to get Arthur's attention.

"No, no he's not! What are you talking about? I saw him get shot myself!" Arthur shouted, half hysterical.

"No, he's not, he's fine." Gaius said exasperatedly.

"How could you know, Gaius? You didn't see how bad-"

"I know because he sent you a letter!" Gaius shouted.

Arthur froze.

"He sent you a letter." Gaius repeated, quietly this time.

"He… sent me," Arthur cleared his throat, "a letter?"

Gaius nodded, smiling. "It's on my desk, if you would like to read it?"

"That would be," he cleared his throat a second time, "nice."

Still smiling, Gaius turned towards the door to leave, partly to get the letter, but mostly to let Arthur Pendragon regain his dignity.

….

Merlin crept out of the servants' chambers as subtly as he could. Quietly, slowly, he shut the door. He heaved a sigh of relief when he could still hear snoring inside. Keeping to the shadows, he started for the courtyard.

Danen had said that whatever was in those wagons was for King Cenred's army, so if for some reason they mysteriously disappeared… wouldn't that hinder said army? At least for a little while?

Well, that's what Merlin hoped as he quietly turned a corner, and froze.

Footsteps loudly emanated from the corridor ahead, so he instinctively ran to a conveniently close doorway to his right. It was locked. Wordlessly, he tried another. It wouldn't budge. He ran across the corridor and tried yet another.

Stuck.

The footsteps were close now, too close. In desperation, Merlin's eyes flashed, and the door swung open. Merlin dove inside and shut the door just as the footsteps rounded the corner.

Merlin sighed vociferously in relief, resting his forehead on the door. That had been a bit too close.

"Look, I don't who you are, but I just thought that I should let you know that I can see you."

Merlin's sigh turned into a cough. He knew that voice. That was the voice of Mini Arthur. Of all the chambers he could have walked into, why his?

In a panic, Merlin flung open the door and ran for all he was worth.

…

By the time Merlin got to the courtyard, he was completely on edge. One thing he could give this castle credit for was that it certainly kept him on his toes. He had ducked behind the door that led to the courtyard, but he needed to get closer. He could hear the guards patrolling behind him. They were laughing boisterously and sounded half drunk.

Peering into the courtyard, he could see a medium sized crate about ten feet away. The crate was pushed close enough to the wall to be in the shadows and was at an ideal angle for Merlin to hide behind and not be seen. Perfect. Ducking low, he quickly scuttled to the crate, and dove behind it.

If only he had looked back.

There were about forty wagons in all, each one having a large canvas slung over it.

The three men who were on guard duty that night were camped out in the midst of them.

That was a problem. 'I need a way to distract them.' Merlin thought pensively. He looked around for a pebble or something, but there was nothing in sight.

With a sigh, Merlin pulled off one of his shoes and threw it at the gate before quickly ducking back behind the crate.

Surprisingly, this crude method of distraction worked. The guards silently performed the indiscernible hand motions that Merlin had never quite understood. They split up and started cornering Merlin's shoe.

Merlin waited for them to reach the gate so they would be far enough away. The guards realized that they had been fooled just a moment too late.

"Cume her fyrbryne!" Merlin muttered under his breath, and with a bright flash of his eyes and a wave of his hand, the wagons exploded into flames.

The guards yelled and stepped back away from the burning flames.

Merlin's eyes glowed brighter, and the blazing inferno got higher. A couple of seconds later Merlin leaned back against the courtyard wall, exhausted. The guards were going berserk and Merlin knew that he had to move or he was going to be discovered. With his back to the wall, he quickly made his way back to the servant's entrance he had come from.

Safely in the corridor, he sat with his back to the wall. He was tired. Merlin glanced at his feet.

Only one shoe… that was going to be a problem. He wearily leaned his head back and closed his eyes. That had been close.

"Emrys, what have you done?"

So much for closing his eyes.

Author's note: Cliff Hanger! Yes, you hate me, I know.

Once again, thank you so much for reviewing. So special thanks to… NotquiteBezerk *Throws coconut*, Ebonyice, 1, Falling down the Stairs, Ruby890, Eclipseoftheheart17, Wisegirl24256, Catwomanswrath, Cwam, Emachinescat, Suzie, Lilyplusjamesistotallove, and Whirlwind421!

TTT