Dusk had just fallen over the camp when the scouts returned. One of them moved through the camp swiftly, people stepping out of his way as he marched towards the tent at the centre. He pushed one unfortunate servant who didn't move quickly enough. Lurching forward the boy crashed to the floor, dropping the tray he held in his hands. Several angry growls erupted from the nearby cluster of men and the boy hurried to gather up what he had dropped and he scurried away, flinching as he received a swipe to the back of his head. The man who had caused the disruption in the first place paid no attention, he continued on and passed the two guards outside the central tent and stepped inside.

He paused a little way in, glancing at the people inside, his gaze finally resting on a strong, well-built man lounging in a chair. The man shifted to stare at the new arrival, the dark expression almost boring through the knight. Despite the discomfort he felt at the stare the new arrival politely gave a curt nod.

"Sire."

"What is it?" Lot rumbled, moving the furs he was wrapped up in as he turned in his chair, reaching out to the plate of meat laid on the table in front of him and with a curt wave hinted to the nearby serving girl to top up the drinks of the other diners.

"The scouts have seen a patrol of Camelot's knights, they are a small group, but I believe that King Arthur is with them."

Lot sniggered, glancing at a younger man lingering close by. Their eyes met.

"Come to see what I am up to? Where are they headed?"

"They are passing around the scar, and are very careful to stay within their own boundary."

Lot snorted, looking unimpressed.

"Let the snot-nosed brat come if he likes, he had hardly take back what we have helped ourselves to."

There were a few laughs around the tent. The messenger lingered for a moment longer, the hesitation drawing Lot's attention again. He glowered at the knight who took a deep breath. At least the news he needed to add was something his king wanted to hear.

"There was one other thing, I'm certain that I am right..." he paused a moment.

"Out with it!"

The knight reported the news as swiftly as possible. During the time he spoke the king turned his attention from the surrounding men and leant forward to listen to what he was being told with intensity. By the time he had listened to the report his eyes were burning with malicious delight.

"You say you are certain it was him. You saw him?"

"Not clearly My Lord, but I also heard his name mentioned. I am certain it is him."

Slowly Lot sat back in his chair. He held out his hand and the serving girl put the goblet into it. Lot snatched it, taking a long swallow while he stared off into the middle distance debating his next move. He glanced at the younger man, who had shifted closer, a mild look of anger forming in his eyes. Lot watched his expression carefully before turning his head and glared at the messenger.

"You did well, now get out."

With a swift bow, knowing when to retreat, the man left.

"What do you propose to do?" the younger man asked, voicing the question that several of the other higher ranking men in the room wanted to know. None of them, however, were brave enough to ask.

"I want the men ready at dawn. Pendragon has no doubt camped for the night, I can assume where he might have set up. We'll draw him through the scar and hopefully our prize will be easy enough to snare."

"He may not be willing."

Lot smiled, baring his teeth in a feral expression. "Then we don't give him a choice."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Merlin gave a yelp as his foot slipped on the rock. Flailing out an arm he tried to regain his balance, the water skins flying in the air. A hand grabbed his wrist, pulling his limb a little harder than he would have liked but at least he didn't end up sliding into the water.

"Careful there," Percival said with a chuckle.

Merlin settled his feet and looked up, a faint trace of a blush on his cheeks while he gave an embarrassed grin.

"Thanks."

Percival smirked. "Are you all right?" he asked as he gently released Merlin's arm, he kept his hand out, just in case he needed to grab for Merlin again.

"I'm fine," Merlin said. Percival handed him another water skin and Merlin took it, crouching down to start filling them.

"Give me a couple of them, that way you won't have that much to carry when you climb back up."

Merlin laughed. "They aren't that heavy, and it's not exactly a mountain," he pointed out, looking at the sharp, rocky incline of the bank. It was only a metre or so high.

"Getting up is easer than getting down anyway," Merlin said handing up two filled skins. Percival took them, slowly rising to his feet.

"Don't take too long. Arthur's ready to set out. Gwaine has finally got himself organised."

"I'll only be a minute," Merlin promised. Percival grinned again and turned away. Merlin concentrated on what he was doing and slowly stood up hooking the straps of the skins over his shoulder. He turned to clamber up and then started to look up as a shadow fell across him.

"Don't tell me there is another…."

His question cut off as a boot landed heavily against the side of his head. Merlin's eyes fluttered and he sagged as he momentarily blacked out. As his knees buckled he felt a hard grip on the back of his neck to stop him toppling and hands yanked him upwards until he landed face down on the ground. Before he could get up he received another blow to the head and he flopped down dazed.

Vaguely he felt his hands pulled behind his back and material constricted tightly around his wrists. Merlin's head felt like a lead weight as he was hauled onto his knees and he tried to look around. Everything around him had blurred, so he only had a feeble image of dark clad people. The only thing he did immediately realise was missing were the bright red cloaks of the Camelot knights. Which meant, he vaguely thought to himself, that these were Lot's men.

A moment later everything went dark as one of them pulled a cloth bag over his head, muffling everything. He had just enough time before that to hear one of the comment.

"We had better go and tell the king, we've snared a rabbit."

Merlin struggled as he was lifted, but then with a third efficient whack to the head Merlin lost consciousness.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Merlin had roused by the time he got unceremoniously dumped in front of Lot. Someone yanked the hood from off his head and Merlin squinted up. His head throbbed, one painful lump rising on the back, just behind his left ear. Blinking rapidly he tried to focus, increasing the action as he heard the sound of a sword being drawn. He winced as he felt the point prod his shoulder.

"And what use is this skinny little dreg?"

Merlin tried not to feel insulted and instead he looked up, letting his gaze sharpen up so he could stare upward. Lot glared down at him. Merlin frowned as he stared up into his face, then as the pressure of the sword increased he decided to look away letting his gaze drift around.

Lot looked up, staring around at his men, who shuffled warily.

"Sire, we just saw him by the stream, he's their servant."

"I've got plenty of servants, what do I need one more for."

The sword had slowly started to drift to Merlin's neck. Thinking rapidly, not easy while his head thumped painfully, Merlin spoke up, working out a way to at least delay Lot.

"I am King Arthur's personal manservant," Merlin informed him. He inclined himself away slightly as Lot brought the sword to his neck, pressing lightly into the flesh just below his jaw. Someone's hand clamped on his other shoulder to prevent him from getting too far away. Lot eased the sword round to use the flat of the blade to force Merlin's chin up. Taking the hint Merlin looked up to meet the man's gaze again.

"And that makes you worth something does it?"

Merlin blinked, staring into a pair of familiar eyes. Although he couldn't remember having ever seen Lot before.

"Probably not. Arthur thinks I'm hopeless."

Lot's mouth quirked up into something of a smile. His eyes remained unfriendly, but Merlin saw the calculation in them as he heard Merlin use Arthur's name with a good deal of familiarity. It was probably a mild oddity in their relationship. Merlin had never really conformed to the idea of a manservant. He didn't really know how, he had not been trained for such a role until he had accidentally got it.

"So what use are you?" Lot demanded of him.

"You'll at least get his attention."

"I can probably do that by stringing up your skinny corpse," the king announced. A rumble around him told Merlin that a few of the men agreed with that idea. Merlin tried not to tense as he felt the sting as the blade started to open his skin.

"And he's really too lazy to hire anyone else, he's not bothered so far."

Lot eyed him again, in speculation, but the pressure of the sword slowly relaxed.

"Bring him along. No need to be gentle with him."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Where is he?" Arthur hissed. Percival looked rueful as Arthur gave him a sidelong glare.

"I left him by the river side, he said he would only be a minute."

Arthur's jaw clenched and he looked around, glancing to his left, where through the trees the river ran.

"He can't have fallen in," Elyan said. Percival met his gaze and shook his head.

"I know he slipped on the bank when I was there but he said he was fine. And it wasn't that deep there anyway. He couldn't have been swept away."

"Something's happened to him," Gwaine said.

"Obviously," Arthur said. "Even Merlin wouldn't just wander off for a stroll. With Lot's men so close to the border even he would have more sense than that."

Arthur paused, raising his hand, eyes searching the woods in front of him for any sign of movement. Instinctively the knights behind him drew closer, eyeing their surroundings just as warily. Arthur's eyes narrowed as he spotted a faint trace of a shadow moving deep within the trees ahead of him, just to his right.

Turning his head he looked at the rest of the knights.

"We'll follow the trail northeast. Gwaine, Leon, stay back and watch the rear. That way we should be able to pin down Lot's men along the ridgeline."

Gwaine and Leon nodded moving away as the rest of them went forward. Arthur moved the troop forward, his concern for Merlin slowly growing. The patrols of Lot's men had been shifting over the border. Not always, to make any sort of consistent pattern but appearing to take advantage of the villages just within his lands. Although minor, Arthur couldn't let it continue to happen. If he did, it may turn into something major.

He made their approach cautious and he froze as he watched the shadows start to gather. With a wave of his hand he indicated for his knights to back into the small crevice that lay to their left. The knights backed up. Arthur could only assume that Lot's men had no idea they were there, and were not expecting any trouble. As Arthur eased himself carefully into a small nook, still making sure he stayed ahead of his men he ducked his head out to try and watched the enemy's progress. Peering around the corner he froze, Lot's men had paused and one bold one wandered forward towards their position. As they paused, easing their way up the slight incline and round to bring Arthur's men in sight Arthur's grip clenched on his sword. He recognised Lot immediately and sighed heavily as the king smiled at him.

"No need to hide Your Highness, I know you're there."

Arthur gritted his teeth and stepped forward, realising just how foolish he had been. As he looked up he realised he had not only let himself be drawn into the crevice, essentially trapping them, but he had not realised just how many men Lot had with him. He had not even been aware Lot had been leading the raids.

"Lot," Arthur said flatly. "This part of the forest is mine."

The king smirked and looked around.

"A little hard to tell, all these trees, I must have got lost." His men laughed in appreciation of the not very good joke.

"Were you lost when you raiding the villages on my side of the border?"

Lot stopped smirking and instead viewed Arthur thoughtfully.

"Call it payback, for something of mine you appear to have."

Arthur frowned, his eyes darkening. "I have taken nothing of yours. I kept my side of the treaty."

Lot shrugged. "Maybe you were unknowing, but it remains true. You have taken something of mine. But since I have something of yours, I'm sure we can make an even trade."

Arthur tensed, confused for a moment, but then his eyes widened and his heart, quite heavily, sank to his boots, chilling his stomach on the way down. Lot raised a hand and indicated someone forward. Arthur looked up to the highest point of the crevice as two men dragged a bound and battered Merlin forward. His lip bled and one eye had swollen, Merlin's breath looked to be hitching painfully and as they pulled him forward and Merlin put pressure on his right leg it gave out under him. The two men dragged on his arms to keep him upright and Merlin sagged between them.

"It said it was yours," Lot sneered dismissively.

"He's just a servant, he has nothing to do with this," Arthur snapped trying, and succeeding, to keep the tension out of his voice. He had become quite good at it when it came to Merlin, keeping him under Uther's radar had made Arthur adept at the act. Lot raised his eyebrows.

"I believe he's your personal manservant."

Arthur tensed his jaw, glancing up at Merlin again, who appeared to have heard Arthur's voice and looked around groggily to find him. Eventually Merlin thought to look down, his undamaged eye holding an apology and a plea. Arthur didn't want to deny the fact, which Merlin had clearly used to keep himself alive, pointing out that he might have some value. Arthur had to admire Merlin's thinking on that.

"He is, and there was no need to have hurt him," Arthur snapped.

Lot shrugged dismissively, "perhaps not."

From behind him Arthur sensed the knights stir restlessly. All of them liked Merlin, and didn't like it when something happened to him. Each one, in their own way, made sure they looked out for Merlin.

Percival stared up, his jaw tensing as he assessed Merlin. He didn't doubt that Arthur would get him back. Arthur would to anything to do so. As he debated Merlin's position in relation to their own he suddenly realised someone was trying to make his way past. Percival held against the pushing and turned to glare at Gwaine.

"Get out of my way, Percival," Gwaine ordered, with a level of authority that Percival hadn't really encountered before. Percival frowned at him, Gwaine glared back, pushing his entire body against the bigger knight's frame in order to shift him.

"What are you doing?" Percival murmured.

"Saving Merlin," Gwaine said. He stood chest to chest with Percival, watching Arthur and Lot as they talked. Gwaine then looked up at Merlin, held on the edge of the crevice.

"You just make sure you catch him," Gwaine said, with an odd level of resignation. He moved forward, knocking Elyan, none to gently, out of the way, and he stepped up next to Arthur.

Arthur's head jerked round as he sensed someone moved closer. He glared at Gwaine, who didn't even acknowledge him. Instead the knight stared up at Lot, his jaw tense and a grim expression on his face. Arthur frowned as he saw the emotions on Gwaine's face, then Arthur turned to look at Lot, who eyed Gwaine with malicious delight.

"Leave Merlin alone, he has nothing to do with this," Gwaine said steadily.

Arthur sighed. Gwaine had been around, he had been in trouble. He had roused Uther's ire, it was not an inconceivable scenario that it had happened elsewhere. Arthur opened his mouth to say something but Gwaine's hand clamped down hard on his wrist, and Arthur, taken by surprise fell back a step, and lost his voice for a moment.

"Sir Gwaine?" Arthur snarled the second he recovered.

"Stay out of this Arthur," Gwaine ordered. "You cannot drag any of them into this," he informed Lot. "Least of all Merlin. He has done no one any harm."

Lot raised his eyebrows, glancing up at Merlin, who looked down, trying to focus on the scene in front of him and work out what was happening. Lot stared at Gwaine and smirked. He looked utterly amused by the turn of events.

"And what is the magic word?" Lot asked, humour filling his voice.

Arthur watched Gwaine's jaw lift, his confidence and arrogance suddenly backed up by the resolution that, when needed, would surface in Gwaine. For a brief moment Gwaine's eyes drifted up towards Merlin's battered form, still held by Lot's men, then he looked back to the king himself, taking a heavy breath before he uttered one word; filled with regret and resignation.

"Father."