Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own none of the original characters. *sigh*

Prologue

It could have been such a fine evening. The Ale was cheap, the tavern full and the barmaid a sight for sore eyes: long, nutbrown hair, an almost angelic face with large, green eyes that stared at him with a doe-eyed expression and a lean body with just the right amount of round shapes in the right places to arouse his interest. Amongst other things. After two or three (or maybe five? He wasn't quite sure) mugs of the fine tasting brew, he felt just bold enough to ask her what her plans for the night were. And maybe, just maybe his fingers had found their way onto her well sized behind.

From there on, the evening had turned from great to ... well, not so great. Not that she did seem to mind. But some young, sturdy fella had suddenly turned up and asked him to leave, which of course he didn't. The boy didn't look like serious competition, much less a serious opponent. So he had pushed him. Not a smart move, he now admitted to himself, but it had seemed right at the time. Unfortunately, the boy hadn't been alone. Within seconds, the pretty barmaid (Nadienne, if he remembered correctly) had been snatched off by two of her barmaid-friends (though she did put up quite the fight) and five guys had been upon him, kicking and punching and (he really hoped he remembered falsely) … biting. He seemed to remember his answer to that kind of assault: "You bit me! Are you insane?" Then everything had turned into a blur of fighting and shouting and … drinking? Yeah, at some point he had actually managed to empty his sixth (or eighth?) mug of Ale before dealing out a lot of headaches and splintered teeth. But at one point one of the little buggers must've gotten to him. He had felt a sharp pain in the back of his head before registering a broken jug next to him. What a waste! he had thought before passing out and landing right in the puddle of Ale.

Now he was lying in the stables. His head hurt, his stomach hurt, his … well, everything hurt. Some merciful soul must've have carried him out of the tavern after the fight and put him here to regain his senses. It was still dark outside, but he could make out a canteen with water standing next to him, which he emptied in one thirsty swig. Under it he found a small note, which was hard to read in the semi-darkness: Meet me at dawn at the old mill. Nadienne. He was just about to revise his opinion of this evening as he detected voices from outside the stable, coming closer. He didn't recognize them, but he decided to fake a sleeping state. Just in case. As they drew nearer, he could make out three different male voices. One was very deep, one sounded quite young and the last one was … cold, snarling, almost piercing. He shuddered imperceptibly at the sound of it.

"I want you to have everything ready tonight. There can be no mistake, Rogar" the cold voice said. The one spoken to, Rogar, rumbled some inaudible reply and asked: "And you're sure they will be taking this route?"

The young voice replied eagerly: "Yes, his servant told me."

"And there will be only the two of them?" Rogar wanted to know.

"Yes, just a minor hunt in the woods of Marbor. They have hunted there often. No need to bring guards."

At this he began to listen more carefully. The woods of Marbor were situated only a few miles South of Camelot and he began to wonder who the threesome was planning to trap. Sounded like some noble man and his servant, and as such it wasn't really of his concern. Unless of course that noble man was that arrogant blonde and his servant was someone he considered to be a dear friend. His only friend, actually. He pondered about that possibility for a moment, then concluded that it would have been too much of a coincidence if these thugs were planning on assaulting Merlin and Arthur. It would be best just to get some more sleep before his meeting with Nadienne that he was really looking forward to.

He had only just finished the thought when Cold Voice stated: "No mistakes, Rogar. We do not know when we will get another chance like this to capture the prince. We have waited too many years for this."

Gwaine let out a quiet sigh. He had been right about this night all along. It had just gone from not so great to bad.