His Majesty and His Knights

Untitled Part 14

As Merlin made his way back to the castle, he wondered why he was so quick to trust Morgana. He knew firsthand that she was a skilled liar. It was really hard to explain, but it was as if his magic was urging him to trust her, and he knew that she wasn't using any magic on him because he cast many spells beforehand so he would know if she was using magic and to protect him from it. 

It was nearly midnight, so Merlin decided to tell everyone about their conversation in the morning.

-

"Merlin! You're late!"

Merlin groaned, covering his head with his pillow.

"Merlin. Get up, now! You need to attend to Arthur" Gaius said, a bit more forcefully than before.

"Tell Arthur that as a prince I don't have to do anything he says." Merlin's voice was muffled by the pillow.

Gaius snatched the pillow from Merlin, who sat up to retrieve it. Gaius then whacked Merlin in the head with it. "As a king, he outranks you, so you better go do what you're told."

"Fine."

-

 By the time Merlin had gotten ready for the day, retrieved Arthur's breakfast and brought it to him, Arthur was up and ready. "This is weird," Merlin said as he placed the plate on the table.

"What?"

"You dressed yourself." Merlin walked in a circle around Arthur. "And you did it correctly."

"I'm not nearly as incompetent as you seem to think, Merlin." Arthur walked over to the table and sat down, immediately digging into his meal. 

"Whatever you say, sire." Merlin tidied the room up with a silent spell and then sat across from Arthur. "You know how I asked to leave early yesterday?"

"Mhmm."

"I met with Morgana."

Arthur nearly spat his food out onto Merlin's face. "You did what?!"

"She called to me and I had no choice but to meet up with her. Don't worry though. I placed every protection spell I know around me as well as one to alert me is she used her magic, which she didn't."

"Why did she even want to talk to you?" Arthur looked a bit hurt that his sister didn't want to speak with him.

"It was about Myrddia, my kingdom. She figured out that the prince was me. She also figured out that as soon as she lost the bracelet that Morgause had given her, her mind became cleared and she no longer wanted to kill you."

"So then... when Morgana tried to take the throne..."

"She was being magically manipulated. She wanted me to apologize for her and hopes that once we defeat Morgause, you will allow her to return."

"Of course I'll let her return... but why did she go back?"

"Morgause doesn't know that Morgana's on our side, so Morgana will act as a spy of sorts."

"That's great, Merlin."

"Yeah. Also... can I have the week off?"

"The whole week? Why?"

"I want to go check out Myrddia and see if there are any other allies in there. I'll take Gwaine and Lancelot."

"Fine. But who will-"

"George. I already talked to him."

"George? Why him?" 

Merlin grinned. "Why not him?"

"He tells jokes about brass, Merlin. Brass."

"You'll be fine." Merlin rolled his eyes. "I'm going to talk to Gwen and then leave for Myrddia."

"Good luck, Merlin."

"Thanks Arthur," he said as he stood up and began walking towards the door,  "and, uh, try not to get yourself killed while I'm gone."

"Merlin!" Arthur threw a goblet at him, but he was too late.

Merlin found Guinevere at her home. Since Morgana was gone and Uther was dead, she really had no one to look after, so she was given time off until she received a new charge (or until she became queen).  "Hey, Gwen. Can I come in?"

"Yeah- Yeah. Is something wrong?" Gwen asked as she moved to the side to let Merlin enter.

"No, I'm just relaying a message. I spoke to Morgana last night."

Gwen visibly paled. "Is she going to attack again?" She closed the door.

"She asked me to apologize to you for her."

"Apologize?"

"Yeah. Turns out Morgause was using a magic bracelet to manipulate her."

"That... That makes a lot of sense. She used to be so sweet and caring, but then..."

"Yeah. Well, I better get going. Lancelot, Gwaine and I are going to Myrddia. Maybe, check up on Arthur once in a while? I've left him with George."

"Oh, poor Arthur," Gwen shook her head. " Good luck Merlin," she said as she walked him out the door.

"Thanks."  

-

Merlin met Lancelot and Gwaine in the main square. Lancelot was already on his grey horse while Gwaine was holding two horses by the reins. Gwaine handed him the reins of a dark brown horse with a black mane then got on his own mostly white one. All of the saddle bags were packed and the knights had their chain-mail hidden just in case. Neither of them wore armor as to not draw attention. With a nod of thanks, Merlin climbed onto the horse.

With out a word, the trio rode out of Camelot, East, towards Myrddia.

"So, what's it like?" Merlin asked after about an hour of riding.

"It's mostly the same," Lancelot said, "but it's also very different."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Morgause rules with an iron fist," Gwaine explained. "There are guards every where. The smallest slip up can get people thrown in the stocks or dungeons."

Merlin shook his head. "That's not right."

"No. It's not."

"But we'l fix it. Soon," Lancelot assured him.

They continued to ride until a few hours past sunset. Then they set up camp. But of course, what's a rode trip without a group of bandits attacking?

It was during Gwaine's watch when they attacked. He immediately pulled out his sword to protect the camp. He succeeded in wounding four men before reinforcements came. Gwaine knew he was outnumbered so he kicked Lancelot.

"Wha-"

"Bandits," Gwaine hissed.

"Oh." Lancelot grabbed his sword and joined Gwaine in the fight. 

All of the commotion woke Merlin up.  "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" He yelled.

"We can handle it!" 

"Can't I just-"

"You're in charge!"

It was two knights against at least fifteen bandits. They were good, but they were also tired. Merlin went over to the fire and whispered a spell. From the flames rose an image of a dragon. It was the size of a baby dragon, but the bandits didn't know that. It roared and they all retreated. 

"It's my turn to take watch, anyways," Merlin told them. "Go to sleep."

The two men nodded and went to their respective sleeping rolls. Luckily, there was no trouble for the rest of the night and they were able to continue their journey at dawn.