Chapitre Neuf

                                    

                                          
The ride back down to Camelot was long and Merlin jumped out of his skin at every crackle in the brush, which let to a rather eventful journey, if you counted events as "a pair of squirrels fighting," or "a badger," or a "an angry wild boar sow with her newborn piglets."

 That last resulted in a brisk thirty-minute gallop to finally evade her. But at least it took his mind off of Arthur's mouth, soft and tender and urgent, and that sudden, shocking kiss.

 Eventually, Merlin started to recognize landmarks--this fallen tree, that cluster of rocks--and he dismounted near a cave that he knew hunters didn't like to frequent because it was small and poky and never housed anything interesting except bats. He tied his horse, securely but with a long rope so it could graze, and carefully tucked Arthur's signet into his shirt. Then he set off on foot.

 He'd been trying very hard not to think about this part, because for all his brave words to Arthur about needing information, he really really didn't want to walk back into Camelot again. He'd woken up with nightmares twice about Gaius and Gwen in the dungeon, tortured or even executed for their acquaintance with the man who'd enabled the flight of the prince.

 He dreaded seeing their bodies lifeless and hung on the city walls, but he dreaded even more the not-seeing, the not-knowing, and wondering if they were all right while not daring to approach them.

 Arthur had confirmed the effectiveness of his camouflage spell, the product of several days of trial and error, and Merlin made himself look as generic as possible; a brown-haired and brown-eyed man, neither thin nor fat, tall nor short, handsome nor ugly. He wore his own clothes, only changing their color to a more monotone dusty brown and disguising the telltale glint of mail at neck and cuff, and air coalesced into the shape of a bundle on his back. He walked the last two miles to Camelot just as dawn was breaking over the eastern horizon, blending in with the small stream of country people heading to Camelot markets, and was as invisible as if he'd spelled it.

 Inside Camelot, he looked around like he'd never been there before. The streets were quiet and subdued, but not more than he'd expected. Arthur had always been popular among those of the lower city, and Merlin had heard stories of what the city guard had been like before Arthur had taken over their administration to make him understand why. Arthur could be harsh, but he was also unbendingly fair, and men no longer disappeared into Camelot's dungeons for days with their families pleading at the gate for news, only to return home with unexplained marks on their bodies and shadows in their eyes.

 Now, though, the guard were everywhere, more obtrusive than he'd ever seen them, and he found himself mimicking the people around him, staring at the ground as clumps of armed and armored men stomped past, faces unfriendly and hands on their sword hilts.

 He slipped away from the main body of the crowd and headed for the castle gates. He wasn't expecting to be let in, but the guard were interrogating a woman and her child--beggars, from the looks of it--and Merlin held his breath and slipped through behind them. The woman wailed as her child was struck into the ground, and Merlin gritted his teeth and kept moving. He began to murmur his concealment spell, no longer able to count on anonymity among a score of commoners, and his skin prickled as the magic enveloped him.

 The first person he saw was Gwen, filling a bucket at the pump. He studied her, and she looked tired and upset but not hurt, moving without hesitation or halt, and he felt a slow surge of relief almost overwhelm him. She shouldered the bucket and headed back across the courtyard toward Morgana's chambers, struggling a little under the burden. Merlin watched her go, wishing he dared stop her. But it was too public, and he couldn't let himself be distracted from his tasks.

 Now for Gaius. He slipped across the courtyard, through the doorway past the oblivious guards and up the stairs. Gaius usually kept his door ajar unless he had a patient with him, and it was open now. Merlin slipped inside and shut it firmly behind him.

 Gaius spun around, and his expression changed from angry to shocked, and then Merlin darted forward and caught him just as he was about to sink to the ground.

 "Merlin," Gaius breathed, and his eyes were wet.