Bonjour mes amis! Bienvenue! Sorry, I be in a happy mood :) So obviously this is another chapter which is a little less like a filler than the last as it is with dialogue and I feel that helps. Enjoy as always, my lovlies ~

Replies (extremely quickly):

Angelwahalla and Spazwahalla: Soon... ;)

MamzelleHermy: Merci ;)

Mersan123: I'm not too sure if that aspect comes back too often. It might do, but I am unsure at the moment. Thanks for reading, enjoy this chapter (it has another trait that Arthur is not too familiar with) ;)

-L.

The horses trotted slowly and innocently through the evergreen forest, hardly aware of the situation. That made three of them. Merlin still had no clue as to where he was going or why it was just him and Arthur and a couple of knights from the round table. None of this made any sense. If this was a hunting trip, then there would be more knights and less luggage If this was a raid somewhere or a battle, there would be more knights and more luggage. None of this made any sense to the young servant, and his throbbing head wasn't making putting the pieces any easier.

Arthur was completely oblivious to his friend's inner turmoil, so he made no attempt to reassure him. His horse, Apthir, was being as patient and gentle, unlike her. She was usual a troublesome girl, causing injuries and mishaps wherever she happened to be. Uther had once tried to accuse her of being enchanted, but Arthur had trained her well so he decided against burning her.

To say that the prince was thankful for Apthir's calmness would be an understatement, and to some extent a lie. Her being careful made him uneasy.

"Where are we going?" Merlin finally asked from beside him.

"I will explain later, Merlin, I've already told you this." He rolled his eyes.

"Yes but how much later?"

"Nightfall, maybe."

"Maybe?" Merlin raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"That's the best answer you're going to get," he replied. The man sighed.

"Can we at least ride a little faster?"

"No," the prince answered bluntly. With speed came lack of caution, and Arthur could not afford to have any flaws in his plans due to carelessness.

So the small group rode on. Occasionally Gwaine would crack a joke or poke an insult, but other than that there was a relatively omnipresent silence. It bothered Merlin but he couldn't find anything to fill it with so it became less oppressive. Eventually, they stopped for the night.

Merlin sat on the conveniently placed log opposite his master and stared at him. Arthur stared straight back. A silent agreement was made.

"Elyan, go and fetch some water. Gwaine – firewood. Percival and Leon, I'd like you to go with Gwaine. It isn't safe to leave him on his own in the dark," Arthur commanded. The warlock would have smirked had he not been trying to stare an answer out of his master. He felt pain from an oncoming headache but ignored it. He couldn't afford to be weak – something important was about to happen.

"Shoot then," Merlin said, still staring. Blue against blue. Arthur sighed and broke the eye contact.

"Fine. It's not easy to say but... Merlin, I'm going to need your help." The servant sighed and gestured for him to continue. This was going to be a long long conversation.