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Knight in shining armour
"The information was accurate. They have crossed the border.”
The midday sun fell right in his eyes, and Merlin made a visor with his hand to peer into the distance.
"There are many of them," he observed, and Arthur nodded silently beside him.
"Are we sure it's Caerleon?" asked Leon cautiously.
"All evidence points to it. And he's sent a whole garrison," Agravaine noted, and Merlin had to make an effort not to grit his teeth. "They have entered Camelot without warning. Their intentions are clear. We cannot let them advance any farther.”
"We've come with a small party, they outnumber us two to one," Leon said with a frown.
"But we can't let them reach the citadel," Agravaine insisted.
"I don't think they intend to attack Camelot, at least not yet," Arthur said slowly. "Caerleon has never been an allied kingdom, but neither has it been an enemy."
"Then what do they intend?" asked Gwaine.
"They're testing the waters," Arthur answered grimly. "See how far they can go without consequence."
"They are challenging Arthur," Agravaine clarified with a smirk. "Camelot has a new king. Uther was known to be ruthless when it came to defending his kingdom, and that's why the other kingdoms made sure to leave the borders alone. But they still don't know what Arthur is like."
"We can't let them advance any farther," Arthur decided.
"Indeed, sire," Agravaine agreed. "You must make a show of force, my lord, or the kingdom will be severely weakened."
Arthur nodded sombrely. Merlin wanted to scream. Agravaine certainly wouldn't pass up an opportunity to put Arthur in danger, it would be out of character. Him being so intent on attacking right away was not a good omen. But Merlin could not question Arthur's decision in front of all his knights. Sometimes he felt as helpless as if his hands were tied.
Fortunately, Arthur made a gesture to Sir Leon and turned away from the group. The knight nodded and joined him promptly, and Merlin hurried to follow them, seeing his chance and not willing to miss it.
"Arthur," he said breathlessly, running to catch up with him. "Going out there is suicide. We can't go out to meet them just like that."
Arthur didn't answer, just looked around for Gwaine, Percival and Elyan and beckoned them over as well.
"Wouldn't it be wiser to go back to Camelot, for reinforcements? And who knows, by the time we get back they might be out of our territory already," Merlin continued, shrugging and making an effort to smile. "Maybe they haven't even realised they've trespassed the border."
There was a time when optimism had come naturally to him, but life had dealt him too many blows to believe that luck would shine on them for once. He'd die before letting Arthur lose hope too though.
"No," Arthur said simply. The knights formed a circle around him. "Caerleon is defying us, entering Camelot in broad daylight and with so many men. We must answer at once." Merlin sighed. "But Merlin is right," Arthur added, and Merlin almost jumped in surprise. "We can't just go and meet them out there. As Leon pointed out, they outnumber us two to one. It would be suicide."
"What do you propose then?" inquired Leon curiously.
Arthur smiled.
"Here, we have the advantage. We are in a high position. If we could lure them to the bottom of this ravine, we could surprise them from both sides."
The knights frowned, weighing the plan and calculating their options.
"And how are we going to lure them here?" asked Gwaine at last.
"We need..."
"...a bait," completed Agravaine's voice behind Merlin's back.
Merlin could have sworn his own annoyed expression was mirrored on more than one face around him.
"Exactly," Arthur nodded however, as if his uncle hadn't just invited himself into the conversation.
"What kind of bait?" asked Percival with concerned eyes.
"Human, no doubt," smiled Agravaine, as if the idea pleased him greatly.
Arthur gave him a strange look, and Merlin had to make an effort not to exclaim Can't you see that there’s something horribly wrong about your uncle?
But, well. Like innocence and hope for the best, he counted that battle amongst the lost things.
"We need someone to go out, get their attention and lure them here."
"But why would they follow any of us?" posed Elyan.
"For a variety of reasons," Arthur answered. "They may not want witnesses of their invasion, though given the brazen way they've trespassed the border that’s unlikely. A hostage to extract information from would be valuable, however. They could torture him, even, and then release him so that on his return to Camelot his condition would inspire fear."
An uneasy silence fell among the knights, and Merlin almost felt like laughing.
"I'll do it," he announced calmly. Sneaking out of sticky situations was, after all, just part of his routine.
The knights all looked at him at once. A muscle appeared under the skin of Arthur's neck.
"No," he said flatly, without even looking at him.
Merlin rolled his eyes.
"Come on, it's the best option. And you know it."
"No."
"Arthur, you said it. We're outnumbered. You can't spare a single man if you want any chance of winning this battle."
"He's right, Arthur," Agravaine chimed in. He seemed to relish the idea, which meant that what he was really relishing was the chance to get rid of Merlin if anything went the slightest bit wrong. In return, Merlin gave him an unimpressed look.
"Merlin is not a knight," Arthur insisted. His jaw was tense. "They would have no reason to want to catch him."
"He's bait. We can dress him in the colours of Camelot," Agravaine suggested.
"If he did this, the reasonable thing to do," Leon interjected, glancing sideways at Agravaine, "would be for him to wear full knight's attire."
"Yeah, with chainmail included, so that he is well protected," Gwaine pointed out. "He would be too easy a target."
"No," Arthur repeated, stubborn as a mule.
Merlin was beginning to run out of patience.
"And why not?" he asked, folding his arms.
"Because you're not a knight, Merlin!"
"Precisely!"
Arthur sighed in exasperation.
"I don't have time for this," he mumbled.
"No, you don't," Merlin agreed. "And I'm your best chance."
Arthur looked him in the eye.
"Merlin, don't be stupid. It's suicide."
"Oh, come on, have a little more faith."
"In you?" Arthur cocked a sceptical eyebrow.
Merlin put his arms in his hips.
"I'm fast," he said, lifting his chin defiantly. He was, and Arthur knew it. He had beaten him more than once on the rare occasions the two of them had raced in the forest, though Arthur would never admit it.
Arthur nodded.
"Yes, and pathologically clumsy."
"Only sometimes."
Arthur sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Look, Merlin. It's dangerous, and you're not a knight. It's not your duty to put yourself in danger for Camelot."
Merlin almost laughed.
"But it is my duty to look after you. And apparently this is the best I can do to try to keep you safe." He shrugged.
Something warm flashed in Arthur's eyes.
"That does not fall within your responsibilities as a servant," he said more gently.
"Like so many other things," Merlin replied, rolling his eyes. “Besides, I am also your friend," he reminded him, lowering his voice.
It was a new word between them, one that still tasted unfamiliar on his tongue. Merlin had considered Arthur his friend from the beginning, but Arthur, from his position as the crown prince, had always avoided acknowledging him as such. After a bad experience many years ago —I am your friend; No, Merlin, you are my servant— Merlin had always been careful not to use it in his presence. But a few weeks before, with Uther's body still unburied and a few hours away from being crowned king, Arthur had called him friend, as solemnly as he would have bestowed a title. And, frankly, Merlin could not have dreamed of a better title than that. Friend of the king. Friend of Arthur.
His lips still faltered at the word, though, and it always left him breathless. His heart trembled, as if waiting for Arthur to tell him that he had no right to address him that way, that he was only his servant and nothing more. To say that word aloud was to offer Arthur his heart on a platter to break if he so wished.
But Arthur was no longer the arrogant, insecure prince he had once been.
"I know," he said simply, softly, in front of all the knights and Agravaine —who shifted his feet impatiently behind them— and Merlin felt a warm, honey-sweet sensation flowing inside him.
"All right," Arthur decided. "Bring him a chainmail in his size."
***
It was all a bit of a blur, after that. Gwaine appeared with a padded jacket, and then someone hurriedly slipped a chainmail over his shoulders. Arthur shouted something about a weapon —not a sword, he doesn't know how to use it and it would slow him down— which in the end turned out to be a dagger.
"I don't need a weapon," Merlin protested.
"It's just a precaution. In case something goes wrong. So you can defend yourself until I get there."
Arthur spoke in short sentences, which meant that he was nervous. Merlin didn't think a dagger would do him much good, but he was touched to think that, perhaps, Arthur was a little worried about him, so he accepted it without further complaint.
"It's going to be alright," he told Arthur confidently. He didn't fear for his safety; he had his magic to trip up the soldiers who got too close to him.
Arthur gave him a strained half-smile.
"You know, sometimes I wish you really were a coward," he said quietly, shaking his head.
"Oh, does that mean you don't really think I am?" joked Merlin, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't run in a straight line," Arthur warned him, looking him up and down with a frown and ignoring his question. "You don't want to be an easy target for archers. And watch your step. A fall could be fatal."
"Yes, sire," Merlin replied mockingly, squaring his shoulders, and Arthur sighed.
"You are an idiot."
“And a brave one it seems," Merlin said with a grin.
Arthur smiled more genuinely, more brightly, maybe reminiscing the very first time he had complimented Merlin, when they still weren’t master and servant, let alone friends. He was about to say something when Sir Leon cleared his throat.
"He should wear a cloak as well to get their attention, sire."
"And let there be no doubt that he is a knight of Camelot," Elyan pointed out.
"Right," Arthur muttered.
The knights stepped back, perhaps to give them some privacy or, more likely, to fetch a cloak, but there was no need. Arthur reached around his neck and unbuttoned his own with nimble fingers. Merlin gasped as Arthur slung it over his shoulders and leaned forward slightly to carefully fasten it.
"Your cloak?" Merlin whispered, swallowing hard.
"Hmm." Arthur finished fastening the cloak and stood up straight to look him in the eye. "You’ll have to wash it yourself, so I trust you'll be extra careful not to stain it."
Merlin chuckled softly.
"Seriously now," Arthur said, putting a hand on his shoulder. His voice wavered slightly. "Be careful, Merlin."
Merlin nodded.
"Decent servants are hard to come by these days," Arthur added, wrinkling his nose, and Merlin smiled.
"Of course."
Arthur squeezed his shoulder, and Merlin allowed himself to look him in the eyes for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and starting to walk towards the edge of the ravine. The knights wished him well as he passed by them, and he pointedly ignored the wicked curve of Agravaine's thin lips. Before leaving to meet Caerleon's men, Merlin turned his head to give one last encouraging smile to Arthur, who nodded solemnly. His face looked stony, as if carved out of marble, but even in the distance Merlin could see a storm brewing in his eyes.
Arthur's cloak felt like a warm one-armed hug around his shoulders, and Merlin set off on his mission.
***
It was all very quick. The men caught sight of the red of his cloak right away and rushed after him, shouting wildly. Merlin turned and ran in the direction of the trees, trying not to follow a straight line and pretending to be desperate and disoriented. He used his magic to make sure that no arrows hit him, though not too many were fired, and soon he was running down the ravine, breathless. An axe then fell between his legs, tripping him, and Merlin perhaps imagined the gasp that sounded somewhere above his head. He picked up the axe and leaped to his feet ready to run again only to find himself at the end of the ravine. He looked upwards, but there was still no sight of Camelot’s knights, so he turned around to face the enemy and swung his newly acquired axe menacingly. There was no way out for him, apparently, and a man stepped forward with a triumphant smile.
"Trapped, are we?" he sneered.
Behind him, the others smiled menacingly, and Merlin couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. If Arthur didn't launch the attack soon and the enemy was quick... He couldn’t use his magic, he could practically feel the eyes of Camelot’s men hiding in the shadows on him. The man took a step forward, ready to lunge at him, a wild look in his eye…
The whoosh of an arrow and a pained gasp. Confusion. Familiar faces showing up at last from above.
"That's the idea," Merlin told the man with a wry smile.
Then there was a yell —on me!— and a shadow blocking the sun. Merlin looked up and, when he saw a man flying above them, for a foolish moment he thought it was an angel coming to his rescue. It was a sight to behold, a holy figure engulfed in the shine of an armour and a sword cleaving the air with a deadly gleam, but his saviour's golden hair gave him away. It wasn't an angel, but it was the closest thing. It was Arthur.
He was soon followed by the other knights, and Merlin retreated into the background to let his heart regain its normal rhythm. The battle was short, the surprise factor and the advantageous position soon tipped the balance in favour of the knights of Camelot. Merlin did not even have to lend them a hand with his magic.
***
"Good job, Merlin," Leon told him when it was all over. They had caught none other than Caerleon himself, who turned out to be the man that had been about to attack him.
"Arthur should knight you," Elyan said with a wink.
"Certainly, the uniform suits you beautifully," Gwaine pointed out with a crooked smile. "But I don't know if Arthur's heart could take it."
"What do you mean?" Merlin laughed.
"He means Arthur was very worried about you," Percival told him calmly, sending Gwaine a warning glance.
"Yeah, that too," smiled Gwaine, raising his eyebrows suggestively, and Merlin snorted. "Did you see the way he jumped on Caerleon when he tried to attack you?" He chuckled. "Though, to be fair, he wasn't the only one who was a little worried. Thank goodness you're all right," he said to Merlin, patting him on the back.
"I wasn't worried," Elyan clarified. "I knew he wouldn't get caught. Merlin is our one-man army."
He gave Merlin a friendly punch on the arm, and the others followed suit, coming up to nudge him, pat him and, in Leon's case, ruffle his hair before moving away to start setting up camp.
"Merlin."
Merlin turned in search of the voice, and saw Arthur approaching him.
"Why are you still dressed as a knight?"
"Ah, yes. I was going to take it off." He unhooked his cloak and held it out to Arthur. "Thank you."
Arthur took it and frowned.
"You know, it looks worryingly good on you." He eyed him up and down appreciatively. "You don't look as ridiculous as I imagined. It almost makes me want to knight you."
"Oh, no, please, my lord, have mercy on me,” Merlin gasped, clutching a hand to his chest.
"Nah, you're right. You probably wouldn't last a day."
"Of course not. This chainmail weighs a ton."
"You're just a weakling, Merlin."
Arthur smiled at him then, a small, private thing laden with affection.
"Thank you, my friend," he said softly.
"You're welcome," Merlin smiled back, that blessed word echoing once more in his mind and heart.
"Camelot owes you one,” Arthur told him in earnest.
I have done it for you, Merlin thought.
"Just one?" he joked instead. He was sure Arthur knew all too well anyway. "I have to put up with you every day. Not just anyone could do it."
Arthur laughed heartily and gave him a friendly shove on the shoulder. Merlin giggled in return, suddenly feeling very light. Arthur looked at him, still smiling broadly, and his blue eyes shone with such a palpable feeling of affection that Merlin had to look away, for it was almost like staring directly at the sun.
He hastened to remove his chainmail for something to do with his hands, and when he pulled it off over his head his eyes met Agravaine's, who was watching them from a safe distance with a thoughtful expression. He did not look pleased, Merlin thought complacently.
"Ah," said Arthur, following the direction of his gaze. "We have a bit of a problem now. We need to decide what to do about Caerleon."
Merlin finished removing his padded jacket. He was himself again, in his usual clothes.
"Are you coming?" asked Arthur, who had already started walking towards where the rest of the men were resting.
"Of course," replied Merlin, following him, always.