Chapter 10: Delicate Matters
"Roderick, I think you might have broken your new toy." The taller man chuckled as he rubbed his unshaved chin. His black eyes fell on the unconscious body of Merlin. Bending down he grabbed Merlin's arms, and threw the young man over his shoulder. "On what horse do you want him?" he asked as he looked at his master.
Roderick laughed as he got up and dusted his trousers. "Ivor, you will address me as sire and nothing more. Do not forget your place." He said with a much serious tone as he nodded towards his horse. "Put him on my horse. We leave now before his companions, if he has any, return to look for him." Roderick ordered as he looked at the ashes of what used to be a fire. Things weren't quite going as plan, but what he had found seemed to more than make up for it.
Ivor swung Merlin over his master's horse and made his way to where he had left his when a broken twig snapped behind him. He turned around and noticed Roderick pull his sword, from his horse's saddle with an angry look on his face, as he too looked in the direction that the noise had come from. Ivor quickly reached for his sword and walked back to his master's side, his horse forgotten.
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Arthur had jumped from his horse before it had fully stopped when he had heard Merlin's voice; he seemed to be talking to someone. At first, he had thought that Gwaine had found him, but as he got closer to the clearing his body froze. Arthur's eyes couldn't move from the scene in front of him, an unconscious Merlin laying on the ground with two men standing over him.
The worst possible thoughts ran through his mind and Arthur could feel his heart race. As one of the men picked Merlin up and put him over a horse, Arthur lost it. Before his logic could intervene, he quickly covered the distance between himself and the men sword drawn, with every intention to run them through.
"Put him down." Arthur yelled as he swung his sword at the taller of the two men. The king swung his sword again and again. His sword making a loud clanking noise as the other man met each of his blows with very little difficulty. They both fought on, one for his life the other for his friend.
Arthur's eyes were clouded with anger and his lips were pressed tightly as he tried to make with his threat. He saw an opening and brought his sword down, cutting the man on the left shoulder. Arthur brought his sword forward again, ready to run the man through as the man twisted slightly to his side at the force of the previous blow.
Roderick stepped in and blocked Arthur's sword with his. He then stepped quickly back, shielded his sword and held his hands up in the air, as if to say they meant no harm. Arthur stopped his attacks and his eyes trailed from Merlin back to the two men. His jaw clenched tightly as he tried to control his desire to kill them right then and there.
"Relax, we just stumbled across him and were taking him to be looked at." Roderick declared as he moved back to his horse. "Besides what is all the commotion about, we found him first." Roderick teased as a glare of recognition appeared in his eyes. He moved towards Merlin and yanked his head up. "Isn't he a rare find?" He addressed Arthur with a childish smile. "Such beauty just left in the middle of these dangerous woods. Who knows what would have happened to him if I hadn't stumbled across him?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Roderick felt a sword pressed on his back between his shoulder blades. Gwaine stood behind him, with a killing look in his eyes to rival that of Arthur's. "You heard him, let Merlin down and step away." Gwaine demanded as he pushed the sword a bit harder.
Gwaine had been standing off in the distance, his eyes glued to the scene. The knight had come across what had been happening a few minutes before Arthur had. He cursed and thanked Arthur when he saw the King come running out of the trees in a half crazed frenzy. Gwaine had been calculating the perfect time to sneak up on them and had not done so earlier in fear that if he showed himself they might kill Merlin right then and there.
