I read most of your stories and they have one thing in common. Protective Arthur :D and it is awesome

Absolutely loved it! Keep up the good work :)

and there it is. tucked nicely back into series canon. *sigh*
although, well-written and extremely enjoyable story - thanks very much for writing and sharing!

you know that's so funny, merlin contemplating the aggravation of arthur watching his every move - when at the moment that's exactly what he's doing to arthur... :)
hm, agravaine making sure he's taken to camelot... (i /cannot/ trust that man!)
that bit when gaius confronts them - it's so much, two brothers found out by their father. wasn't me - wasn't me either! :D

i can't shake the feeling that these are agravaine's men, on loan to morgana and alerted by him somehow...
arthur's suspicious that he was let go. and even agravaine's saving of merlin... idk. am i too suspicious of a reader? (b/c in an unrelated 'verse, i've been discussing the tricks of spies getting their enemies to trust them and let them in on secrets, etc. and it's just that sort of 'proof' of loyalty - look, i've killed one of them saving your life. look, they've got me in prison as well, i'm /their/ enemy.)

okay, promise me their escape is for real this time? :)
i like arthur knocking merlin out so that he can bundle him along faster without hurting him. you know what i mean.
but, i find i'm not happy with agravaine guarding merlin while arthur scouts about...

you know, i think it's safe to say that just about every emotional/relational snarl there exists in the merlin series is down to uther.
maybe it's b/c of the alliance that exists in-series, but i have this feeling that agravaine is working with morgana... the whole 'trust a fellow prisoner' set-up...
and. poooooor merlin. :(

thank you for cautious!arthur - not throwing his trust at the enemy of his enemy being his friend...
man oh man. you are the master of the thwarted escape, you know that? :)

hm, the thick plottens. :) i assume this isn't series-canon agravaine... but with merlin, i'm not willing to trust right away when arthur's life and safety are at stake...

always love a glimpse of awesome-fighter!arthur... ;)
ah, but... morgana. nope, not going to get to leave without seeing her first. (actually, this reminded me a bit of 'wizard of oz', when they're running for the door in the witch's castle and it closes in their faces...)

and, captured again. :(
btw, i like arthur recognizing merlin's magic (looking back?) without really thinking about it. assuming the men were drunk b/c he /notices/ merlin's contribution at least, even if he doesn't understand it.

ooo, nice. arthur's not the only one with a sense of strategy. go, merlin! ;)
i started panicking when the dart hit arthur and he went down - then i realized. arthur out cold means merlin can go bamf on their kidnappers! :D
or not. :( well, not entirely. free for a moment, then captured again - and merlin getting a glimmer of information on the person their captors are working for... that means he's got to keep a lid on the magic again, though, doesn't it. *sigh*

oh, good. merlin multi-tasking with magic! waking the others as he was told, but not letting arthur go off on his own!
(another side effect of merlin's magic kept secret - arthur is convinced he's invincible, and won't listen to caution!...)
oh, crap. merlin knocked out in the /middle/ of a fight - never a good thing!
this makes me curious, though. bandits wouldn't keep fighting and falling individually, they'd charge and overwhelm him with numbers, or back off and kill him from a distance with an arrow or something... now they know arthur isn't some run-of-the-mill knight (b/c knights don't travel with personal servants), and that merlin is a soft spot for arthur... hm.

love your view of merlin on this patrol. knowing arthur needs to be out, and happy for him - but still wary (and recognizing that arthur felt the same, and for the same reasons). and respectful in public, too. :)
such a tight-knit group. arthur's mood and well-being not /entirely/ merlin's responsibility - i do enjoy a perceptive!gwaine, too!
(and, btw, there are few writers who do a camp scene properly. have the knights scout it out, have arthur aware of its strategic strengths and weaknesses, sitting guard in an appropriate place. most people don't think through stuff like that, that makes the whole story as well as the scene more believable.)
although, arthur running into the dark on his own after someone spying out the camp! (though you've set up /this/ arthur to do that beautifully - so /tired/ of inactivity and helplessness in other areas of his life that he's almost welcoming a bit of recklessness!)

it's a tough position for both of them. arthur concerned about the kingdom, and merlin concerned about arthur. and neither of them is /wrong/, exactly. just... different priorities.
ah, poor arthur. burying himself in busy-work, to try to forget the deeper issues (uther, morgana) that he doesn't have answers for, and can't solve merely by /working/... merlin's doing his best but it's only making things worse... :(
'his way of apologizing was showing he was listening' - that's beautiful as well as perfect. best line. :)
and i like including the knights (gwaine especially - and then elyan, telling merlin he was needed for /arthur/, not arthur's armor) in on the cheering-up sessions. you're doing it, i know you're doing it, i appreciate you doing it, and i'll let you know /without/ saying it. :D
and, patrol. i have this feeling it's not going to be the stress-reliever merlin anticipates...