Notes:

Sorry for taking so long to get the chapter out. The holiday really kept me busy plus my computer died. Im borrowing this one. I also really really struggled writing this chapter. I have never written an action sequence before so i am not really sure that I did a good job with the pacing. Any suggestions for improvement would be welcome. im a big fan of constructive criticism.

...

Merlin mimed eating a few mouthfuls of stew of stew for the prince's benefit. He overexaggerated the actions until Arthur seemed to understand the intended message. Then when the blonde prince wasn't looking, he began scarfing it down as fast as he could. Merlin had missed too many meals recently to turn it down. After the initial confusion, Arthur sat quietly and stared at the fire, knees to his chest and shackled arm outstretched to its fullest extent between both captives. Merlin took the pose to mean he wanted some time to himself.

Merlin welcomed the advantageous distraction and was able to stop burning his throat by using it as a soup funnel and enjoy the meal. He kept an eye on his grumpy companion. It would do no good to be caught actually eating it. Merlin knew that the spell he had been using only kept people asleep but that wasn't exactly possible from mundane medicines, so it was best to keep quiet about that and hide his meal. There were spells that better imitated natural medicinal effects but were much more potent. He didn't have the power at his disposal for any sleeping spell of that magnitude at the moment. As long as he didn't fall asleep, he would remain immune to the magic. Merlin had no doubt that he could either. He had far too much practice going several days without proper rest. Those afflicted with the herbs would still wake up naturally in the morning. Maybe the prince could find work as a cook if being king didn't work out because it wasn't half bad, or maybe he was just a good instructor.

Arthur watched the fire and thought of Peter. He wasn't mourning exactly. He hardly knew the man and the drowned servant might not actually be dead, Arthur supposed, but it seemed almost certain. Merlin had spoken of loyalty earlier and the dangers of it. Something he had never considered. As royalty, it was always spoken of as something that was paramount to have in spades. Each noble family swore their loyalty to Uther and each knight swore their loyalty to Camelot. He had always been told that his life was in a precarious state without loyalty from those serving him. He was taught to constantly weigh the loyalty of those around him and keep those lacking further away. He had never even considered loyalty as a danger to the loyal party but it had killed Peter, hadn't it? Peter might not have been all that loyal to Arthur personally but he was loyal enough to the title of prince, to accept duties outside of his normal responsibility. That loyalty had gotten him nothing but a premature death and an empty casket. Morgana's father rode to his death at the front lines because of his loyalty and devotion to his dear friend Uther. His loyalty cost his own daughter a father. These knights where loyal enough to Cenrid to follow his orders and cross into a kingdom where they knew that they would be killed on site if seen by any Camelot military force and then be scapegoated by their king to whom they devoted their lives.

Arthur listened to the men talk. They were obviously well acquainted with each other and joked frequently. Arthur felt guilty that he was enjoying stories of their conquests, travels and tavern trips. He had his own arsenal of stories of course and people always listened when he spoke, he was the prince after all, but none were ever shared with him, not freely. It felt like a look into what his own life might have looked like had he been born into any noble family instead of the noblest of families. It saddened him to see such normal men aligned to an unstable king who courted war like a moth courted flames.

...

Conversation petered out and soon everyone was bedding down for the night. Arthur was handed his own stolen bedroll. He was going to complain about the ongoing thievery until he noticed that Merlin was handed what only could have been Peter's. Instead of commenting Arthur set his up quietly while Merlin inspected his new bedroll. He didn't lay down, preferring to stay sat by the fire. Merlin decided to take up a relaxed position with one arm under his head, the other extended between them. He took on the appearance of sleep but Arthur could tell by his breathing that he was just resting his eyes.

Functioning as a lookout for the duo, Arthur was able to witness that Bors and Garrett had taken up a joint watch. Bors across the fire, on a felled log and Garrett was to his left back to a tree twisting something in his hands. He supposed an increased watch made sense. They were guarding prisoners in a foreign land after all but they would succumb to the herbs soon. There was no reason to worry.

After an hour the prince began to wonder when the makeshift sleeping draught would make its presence known. Another half hour went by and the prince could hear both men still moving about the fire. His frustration was growing with each hushed word exchanged and footfall. By this point he had long since laid down uncomfortably but necessarily close to the odiferous deserter. He had positioned his own head far, far too close to Merlin's so they could easily share a whispered conversation in each other's ear. He would not wait any longer. One could stare into a black void a cloudy night sky brought for so long before losing their mind.

Merlin had been just resting his eyes, a dangerous game. He couldn't afford to fall off the precarious ledge he walked between sleep and wakefulness. Luckily everything ached far too much for sleep to come easily. His side felt terribly bruised, his foot felt overused, and he was sure his wrist was swollen and missing all the skin under the cuff. He felt something move near his head. He ignored it. Suddenly something hard had launched itself into his sore battered side. His eyes shot open and he let out a slight hiss. The grungy captive turned his raven-haired head to face the direction the elbow flew in from and immediately found his face within inches of the prince's. Both men startled away from each other silently. The two paused in horror and listened for one of their guards to react. After a few minutes of no sound, Arthur got agonizingly close to merlin's face again. They both stared awkwardly. Arthur glared at Merlin pointedly then held a finger to his lips.

"They're still awake. It didn't work." The whisper was almost nonexistent. Luckily the prince over annunciated so the words could be easily understood by reading his lips.

Merlin felt the words hit his face, that was how close they were and the sensation made him feel as though insects were crawling all over him. There was no noise but the muted forest sounds and the crackling of the fire. Even the smallest whisper would be far too loud, like a warning bell in the night. The closeness was the only way to communicate safely, yet it still made Merlin shudder. By the looks of the prince's matching grimace, he felt the same way.

Arthur mirrored Merlin's hesitation. Both seemed to be waiting for retribution for their stolen conversation. Finally, Merlin decided it was safe enough to respond, "It worked on four of them."

"We can't fight two men chained together." Merlin knew they could take two of them if he was using his magic. If Arthur had been any other royal, he could have just used magic then ditched him, but he couldn't do that. Part of the reason behind his escape was to get to Camelot. If he was seen using magic by the Heir of Camelot, there was no way he would be allowed to stay... or stay alive. Merlin wasn't even sure that he wanted to stay in Camelot but it was an option he needed to keep open. Without magic, their chances were on the leaner side. It wasn't a great option but when did Merlin ever have good options?

"Not with that attitude we can't," Merlin sassed, "Ok, follow my lead."

"What lead? What are you doing?"

Merlin held a finger up to his lips in a mockery of his conspirator's previous gesture.

"I will throw a rock over there" he pointed with his eyes, "When they go to check it out, we will get up, grab a sword, release all the horses"

"What happens if one stays? We need to think this through more be-"

"-No talking, no plotting" Bors said quietly from his side of the fire. His tone sounded bored, a good indication that he hadn't actually heard plotting, just assumed it. Merlin was certain he wouldn't be able to make out the words that they were exchanging at this distance even if he could hear some murmuring.

Both men rolled away from each other, so they were no longer staring awkwardly down the barrel of each other's nose. They got a reprieve looking at the empty sky instead. Merlin felt Bors's eyes on him for a moment before he went back to whatever it was that he had been doing. It sounded like whittling, but he couldn't be sure. An unspoken agreement passed between the boys, "not now".

After a very tense amount of time that felt like five hours but was probably less than one, Merlin nudged the prince, who was also faking sleep beside him. The prince barely rolled his head towards Merlin and opened an eye. With his gaze, Merlin motioned to his hand in his pant pocket and then out towards the trees. Arthur gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Without warning Merlin pulled his hand from his pocket, still lying in a supine position, mimicking sleep and launched a stone into the dark encircling the fire. The stone sailed far and knocked against some tree. A horse whinnied at the sound and stamped its foot. Both guards were instantly dialed in on the origin of the sound. They both looked around the campsite, at their two sleeping captives and at each other.

Arthur knew better than to risk a whisper and was afraid that if he opened his eyes, he would find an angry knight standing above him. It felt childish because he would have heard either man get up but he kept his eyes stubbornly shut. He would have to wait several painful minutes before they could risk communicating again. Before Arthur could even finish his thought another thud, this time seemingly unprovoked by his accomplice, was heard in the direction of the rock.

...

Through a half-lidded stare, Merlin was able to witness both knights, young and old react to the latest disturbance. Both knights had pinpointed the sound immediately and watched it carefully. Garret jumped to his feet to investigate. Bors took a more conservative approach and settled his hand on his own sheathed sword across his lap but made no move to get up. The greener of the two knights, Garret, looked to Bors. A conversation seemed to pass between them and they revealed their swords in unison and moved silently towards the obscurity just out of reach of the fire light. As Bors moved past the chained captives, Merlin made sure to fully close his eyes. Curse the man's nature to sniff out bullshit. Merlin sensed the distinguished noble hovering above him and remained still, making sure to maintain deep even breathing of sleep. He risked another spell with Bors' eyes on him. He used his eyelids to conceal the golden flash of his eyes and uttered the spell without moving his lips. Luckily it had the intended effect and another distinct rapt thumped in the dark.

He heard Bors's cloak flap as he turned and felt the man take a step towards the curious sound and call softly, "Garret?"

Merlin hadn't noticed that Garret was no longer with Bors. He must have continued towards the "mysterious" source of the sound while Bors investigated the obvious suspects. Merlin risked another spell, this time to knock the young knight over. There was a yelp in the near distance. Bors kicked lightly at the two prisoners, "Get up!"

Both Merlin and Arthur jumped up as though startled awake and feigned confusion. By that point Bors was running about the camp calling for his fellow patrolmen to wake up. When none roused from their slumber, he resorted to full on slapping the faces of several knights.

Bors cursed then ran into the forest after Garret yelling back at his captives, "stay here and wake them up!"

The moment Bors stepped outside the circle of light Merlin and Arthur wasted no time. Arthur looked around then raced towards the nearest knight to plunder a weapon while simultaneously, Merlin went for the weakened chain link. Neither got far before being ripped forcefully backwards. Merlin fell on top of Arthur in a messy tangle of chains.

"Get off me you dolt!"

"I'm trying your highness"

Merlin was liberated from his position with the "helpful" addition of Arthur's knee in his stomach.

Arthur decided verbalizing his actions was better than assuming his conjoined dumbass would make smart decisions, "we need a weapon."

"We need to break the chains first," Merlin argued.

"We can use a sword to cut the chains," the prince countered.

"Right. Let's do that then" Merlin relented.

In sync once again they ran to the nearest slumbering knight only to realize that his sword was just out of their reach on the other side of the unconscious man. Merlin began patting down what he could reach of the knight for useful items. Arthur hesitated a moment before joining the looting. The act felt wrong but Ewan wasn't dead and they weren't stealing for the sake of it. There was no humiliation or honor in survival either it seemed.

Arthur ripped an empty scabbard for a small dagger from Ewan's belt and held it up for Merlin to see, turning it upside down to emphasize his lack of useful findings.

"Find a key?" Arthur asked.

"No."

He figured as much.

Merlin huffed in frustration and stopped the pat down, "There's no use. We need to break the chain first then we can get better weapons."

"You're right"

Merlin dragged Arthur to the largest rock he saw and picked it up and started smashing the chain link, grunting with each percussive slam. It was laborious work especially considering he had to time the spells just right. one fraction of a second misaligned and the crack of the spell would be obvious.

Arthur grabbed the rock out of Merlin's hand after he paused to catch his breath and demanded, "Give me a turn."

"Gladly," Merlin panted. It was much easier to line the magic up with Arthur working on the chain. Arthur hissed at him to keep watch. Merlin nodded at him, chest heaving.

After a flurry of movement Arthur suddenly stopped, "It's broken. The link split all the way through. We should be able to stretch the link apart if we both yank on each side."

They each grabbed an end of the chain and were tugging in opposite directions when Garrett came bursting out of the underbrush of the surrounding woods screaming, "Hey what are you doing!"

Merlin almost dropped his half in shock but Arthur had not. The deserter was pulled off balance as a result.

Garrett approached cautiously with his sword drawn, "put the chain down!"

The knight's aura was frantic and off putting. Neither shackled captive doubted the seriousness in his voice.

Both boys dropped it immediately. Garrett kept his sword between him and the captives and knelt at the nearest knight's side and tried to shake him awake, "Alfric! Get up! Alfric!"

When there was no sign of acknowledgement, he moved on to the next sleeping knight, trying to wake them. As he worked his way around the fire, each unsuccessful attempt to wake up a knight got more and more desperate.

The panicked knight turned on Merlin and Arthur "What have you done?!"

"We haven't done anything." Merlin said carefully.

"Why aren't they waking up?!" Garret screamed.

"I don't know," Merlin lied.

"You poisoned the soup!" Garrett lifted his weapon in warning as he accused the duo.

"If we poisoned the soup, we would all be dead. I ate some too. They're alive, just asleep. Look. They're still breathing."

Garret lowered his sword and started rechecking every man on the ground. He went around and searched each body for signs of life. He shook each one again for good measure. Arthur subtly got Merlin's attention with a poignant look while Garrett continued with his near hysterical examinations. He made small motions at himself, then Merlin, then Ewan, the only sleeping soldier in their reach, then back at the distraught knight. Merlin nodded. Arthur hoped the idiot he was stuck with understood his hand gestures this time.

When Garret knelt down to check Ewan for signs of life, Arthur snatched the back of his shirt and hauled him over the unconscious form while Merlin grabbed for the sword. It seemed the stress caused the knight to be in a state of hypervigilance and he managed to hold on to his sword. He flailed in Arthur's hold aiming his blade at the taller prisoner's neck. Merlin dodged the swipe in a swift back step thus pulling Arthur forwards and breaking his hold on Garrett. The odd momentum tripped Merlin and the prince to the ground. Meanwhile Garrett was dumped straight down onto Ewan.

"Bors! Get back here! BORS!"

Garret was quicker to his feet because he didn't have to collaborate in order to stand like his opponents. Merlin was still on the ground and Arthur was standing behind him as far as he could get from their attacker. With a step closer, Garret slashed at Merlin's head. There was no time to even think of a spell and his usual intuitive magic was no longer at his fingertips. All he had time to do was instinctively throw his arm out to block the sword and pray. Luckily Arthur had no such limitations, and he also stuck his hand out above Merlin's so when the sword arched sloppily toward Merlin, it was caught in the taut chains between their hands. Of course, both wrists snapped together with a brutal snap but the sword never reached its destination, lodged in Merlin's skull. Arthur then whipped his arm in a circular motion, taking advantage of Garret's momentary surprise, and wrapped the chain links around the sword. He yanked his arm sideways and the blade twisted out of Garrett's grip. It landed loudly nearby.

Sword suddenly missing, Garrett suddenly replaced it with a dagger from his belt. Luckily Merlin was on his feet by now. He dodged Garrett's wild slash that was so poorly aimed, it was hard to tell who he intended to stab. Merlin rushed Garret and grabbed his wrist while it was going past him and aimed it at the sky in an attempt to control the knife. Arthur joined and was also trying to wrestle the knife away. One armored leg managed to snake its way behind Merlin's so when Garrett shoved him, he wasn't able to catch his balance. What Garrett did not factor into his attack was that the captives were a package deal. Arthur was still holding onto Garret. When Merlin is felled like a tree, so is Arthur and in this instance so is Garrett.

The fight never stopped, it just switched from vertical to perpendicular. The dagger was never lost from Garret's hand nor were Garret's wrists from Merlin's hands. Now that the berserk knight had landed on top of Merlin, weapon at the other man's throat, he had the advantage of gravity.

Arthur's collision course with the ground landed him just next to the dueling Essetirans and he was somehow ignored in the fall. Arthur saw the struggle next to him. Both Garrett and Merlin were shaking with exertion as the knife inched ever closer to piercing the sweaty flesh of Merlin's neck. A quick turn of his head reveled that the earlier discarded sword was just within reach. Arthur snagged the sword out of the cold soil and without hesitation used the brass pommel to bash Garrett in the head. The man collapsed instantly going boneless. Merlin collapsed under him panting for a moment. That was very close. He had just been about to expose himself and use magic when the prince saved him.

Merlin was still sucking in air so his "thanks, thank you" came out very breathy.

"Need some help?" Arthur asked.

After Merlin made no move to get up from under the dead weight or answer the question, Arthur carefully rolled the knight off his companion. He made sure Garret was set down gently and inspected the top of Garrett's head closely.

"Is he ok?" Arthur sounded worried.

Merlin assumed he was referring to the fact that Garrett wasn't stirring at all. Anyone who had any combat experience could tell you that it was a misconception that people who got hit in the head remained unconscious for a while almost as if they were knocked into a normal deep sleep. Usually, people blackout for a moment before waking again. Those who did not get back up most likely had severe head trauma.

"Should be, I didn't hit him hard."

"I think herbs just needed a kickstart" It was true. The magicked herbs could only keep someone asleep so they would have no effect on the knight until he was knocked unconscious.

Merlin knelt next to Arthur at Garret's side. He felt the bump on his head for himself and felt the thrumming pulse of his neck for a few moments. "He's probably fine, just drugged"

Arthur grabbed the sword once again motioned for Merlin to stand with him. He was about to take the sword to the chain when Merlin grabbed his wrist.

"That is a waste of a perfectly good sword. Better to use the dagger." Merlin said brandishing the blade he that was almost embedded in his throat earlier.

"That is the only good idea you've had so far."

The dagger was used as a lever to stretch open the chain link and free the two captives. As Merlin predicted the dagger was ruined. The edge was notched and rolled and the belly of the blade itself had a catastrophic bend starting at the handle. Arthur was left holding the dagger and Merlin in possession of the sword. Arthur was glaring between the two weapons.

"Maybe we should switch" Merlin offered seeing the prince eye him warily. He could wield a sword well enough but he guessed that the prince was the better swordsman of the two. It seemed the prince might agree.

"Do you even know how to use that thing?"

"Just give me the dagger" Merlin said with his hand out.

Of course Merlin could use a sword. He had spent years in service of Cenrid's Army. Like most soldiers he was proficient with multiple weapons, though fighting had never come naturally to him. He had training and experience to make up for his lack of natural skill. If the prince's reputation was to be believed he had been a prodigy, a born swordsman from a young age. It also didn't hurt that he was most likely trained to kill and lead armies since birth. Perhaps even a week ago he would have bristled at the insult, but he was tired. Tired of fighting. He would gladly let his skills waste away if his circumstances would allow it. Merlin let the prince have the sword and held onto the dagger despite its condition. He wouldn't let himself be defenseless if he could help it.

"Horses?" Arthur asked.

"Yep," Merlin agreed just as easily.

As they were about to reach the cluster of tethered horses, a crashing sound was heard behind them. Bors had stepped back into the faded light of the fire wearing a haunted expression.

...end of chapter...

Notes:

Just in case anyone was wondering how why Arthur was given his own bed roll while Merlin was given Peter's. there are 3 possible answers. 1. Arthur didn't know what Merlin's or Peter's bedroll looked like and just assumed any bedroll he did not recognize as his own must be Peter's because he had been thinking about him. 2. The knights made sure to give Arthur his own bed roll out of respect because it was the best one but just gave merlin the first one that they grabbed. 3. the knights gave Arthur his own bedroll because it was the best and gave Merlin the second best one which happened to be Peter's. I considered all options and decided it didn't matter because it was kind of a combo of all three that happened.

I keep saying the fic won't be much longer but Im starting to realize i am not a good judge of how long my plots are written out. Im still at the beginning...kind of.

Also don't fight me, Arthur is still a better fighter than Merlin if no magic is involved. they probably have equal training but Arthur's training was built on natural skill which Merlin did not have. Obviously merlin would win in a fight if magic was involved. in this fic Merlin has more experience than Arthur. Arthur has a lot of military experience too but he was always sheltered because Camelot cant risk her heir. so he mostly participated in raids and skirmishes and tournaments. Merlin has a lot more experience on campaigns and in actual warfare and espionage. I have a solid idea of his military background and training in mind. I also have been brushing up on my medieval history. Im not trying for accuracy just for good story.