Hi everyone. Thank you for continuing to like and follow this story even though I haven't been updating it the last few months. I have been very busy. i have had this chapter written for a while but I needed to work out some details. Like always I think I could do better lol. But sometimes its better to just post rather than sit on a chapter forever.

Sorry everyone but this is another chapter that is not so much action but more set up for the upcoming chapters. Shout out to windjammers for the lovely comment. Coming back and rereading comments really keeps me motivated so thank you so much!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Merlin's presence behind the prince was driving him insane. His ears were constantly straining, desperately trying to detect agents from Essetir, but every time he turned around, all he would see was a glare from his companion. The silence felt like a sentient thing, intentionally amplifying each rustle of the wind or chitter of a squirrel and making Merlin's increasingly irregular footsteps all the louder. It was all becoming too much. The eyes, the constant surveilling, the overwhelming quiet between them and the constant roar of the forest, the insidious, misting drizzle that was slowly soaking his hair and dripping into his eyes, the disobedient horses stamping and tugging at reins. It was all too much, yet Arthur knew that it was not much of anything at all.

"Hand me the food!" Arthur ordered suddenly.

He wasn't particularly hungry but he felt compelled to break the insufferable quiet. The royal didn't didn't have it in him to turn around and just stood, eyes on the road ahead, waiting for Merlin who was neither his servant or his citizen to comply with his demand. There was a pause before shuffling could be heard. Arthur considered that Merlin could be grabbing the reclaimed sword that had been stored in the saddlebags near the food and take the opportunity to stab him in the back. Uneven footsteps crept up behind him. He offered his hand out and winced, unwilling to entertain the paranoia and turn. The leather bag was placed into his hand and he almost stumbled as the tension he hadn't noticed building, oozed from his body. God he was a coward.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Arthur opened the sack and saw just one rock solid lump of tack left. Dread pooled in his stomach. They were getting closer to Camelot with each step but they were no longer on track to reach the city by early evening. The horses continued refusal to hold riders and constantly evading other travelers had really set them back.

As the prince stared into the food bag Merlin grew concerned. Oh, no, he was goi-

"Here," Arthur said, breaking the tack in half and handing him a piece.

"Thank you," Merlin accepted the morsel, bewildered.

"It is the last of our food for now," Arthur said, taking a bite of his own half, Merlin followed suit, preferring it to conversing.

Merlin noted that the prince had given him the bigger half to eat. He almost felt bad about hiding the other lump of tack while the prince wasn't looking. Almost.

"When will we come across the patrol, sire?" Merlin thought out loud before he could stop himself and grimaced immediately. Luckily the 'sire' that was tacked on at the very end didn't sound as last minute as it had felt. The prince could not pacify him with a piece of bread.

Arthur's posture stiffened considerably, "A few miles back."

After a pause for a response that never came, Arthur elaborated, "It was too late in the day, we wouldn't have seen a patrol until tomorrow at the earliest. We can't afford to idle."

Arthur allowed for another pause, waiting again for Merlin to argue. The Merlin of this morning would have, this one did not. So he spoke again.

"We will pass a village soon" Arthur intended to stop. They wouldn't reach Camelot until well after dark now. The moon would be barely a sliver and the stars would not be visible. Navigating those kind of nights was nearly impossible. Not to mention that Merlin was unsteady on his feet again.

The defector was not surprised to hear that Arthur made a decision without consulting him. It seemed that their agreement to be equals in their escape only lasted until it was no longer necessary to have Merlin's cooperation. The prince was impossible to deal with. One moment he was the epitome of Uther's kin, all demands and anger, the next he was noble and caring. Every time his opinion of the prince improved, the codpiece seemed determined to ruin it again. Merlin purposefully ignored the fact that the decision was the only realistic choice and barely required a consult (although it would have been appreciated) and instead chose to feed his anger and growing frustration. Holding his tongue had never been his strong suit so he took another massive bite of the excessively dry bread to ensure that he wouldn't be able to respond, even if he wanted to.

The prince sighed, struggled to take another bite of his own half of the hard tack and continued leading his horse. Merlin had no choice but to follow. He soothed himself with the knowledge that his tack no longer tasted like saw dust because the pocketed piece was absorbing the water that saturated his stolen jacket and the half in his hand was magicked soft. With any luck the prince would break a tooth before the rain softened his piece.

The vast forest soon became patchier and patchier with carefully maintained fields. The road grew more and more worn by humans rather than nature. The sparse signs of civilization thickened into a village with a small, empty market in the distance.

Arthur halted in the last remaining thicket before reaching the village and hopped off his horse. The impatience that had been missing from the prince all day seemed to have returned in full force.

"Give me your clothes" The royal prat demanded while stripping off his drenched jacket.

"What?" Merlin asked dumbly.

"Your clothes, give them to me" was the only explanation offered.

"You want my clothes?" Merlin said tugging on his shirt for emphasis.

"Not the clothes you are wearing," Arthur said, "the spare set you washed in the river,"

"What?" Merlin was confused, "Why?"

"Cenrid's men will be looking for a prince. If they catch up to us while we are here, I don't want to stand out."

Arthur was clearly a noble. His clothes were too fine to think otherwise but they were not as ornate as one would expect from a prince. Merlin wasn't sure that changing clothes would make him any less recognizable to his fellow, ex-fellow, soldiers. He weighed his options for a moment before dismounting so he could dig the clothes out of his saddle bags. At least he would be less recognizable to the villagers.

As he handed them over, Merlin asked, "What are our plans in this village? How long will we be here, sire?"

Arthur walked off the path for privacy as he answered, "First order of business is to find a messenger, then find an inn."

"You plan to send word to the king tonight? Are we not just passing through?"

"We won't get much further than this town before dark and a messenger who travels the same road everyday will have no issues finding their way in these conditions. Cenrid probably wants to be discreet and intercept us quietly. An inn is public enough to protect us from a direct confrontation. While we rest, my men will be ridding out in full speed on fresh horses to escort us back to Camelot"

Neither Merlin nor Arthur were at full strength. They kept running into setbacks. The prince had no doubt that their pursuers were gaining on them. It seemed more and more unlikely that they would reach the safety of Camelot before they were caught. With any luck the patrol was held up in the town for some reason. He considered leaving Merlin in the inn and moving on to Camelot. They would be less recognizable separately. Cenrid no doubt had his men looking for two escapees, one blond noble and one dark haired soldier. Merlin was probably almost as sought after as Arthur himself for witnessing the crime and Arthur did not think he could live with himself if he left Merlin to fend for himself when he was so clearly unwell.

Notes:

As always criticism is welcome. I havent posted a chapter in like 5 months lol so I feel a bit rusty. I don't think i picked a great stopping point for this chapter, just where i felt like stopping my edit lol. So sorry. I know a lot of you were very impatient to learn about Gaius and Uther and Hunith's relationship will be to Merlin and don't worry it will all be addressed. Not right now and not in the next chapter :( but it is on its way :)

Please comment! Thank you.