As the last of the Saxons run from the city shouts of joy start to erupt from the crowd. Some knights pat their friends on the back at a job well done, already planning a trip to the tavern while others mourn for their fallen comrades, holding their limp bodies in despair.

The king himself is tackled into a hug by his friend, or by Gwaine to be exact, who is quickly pried off by an irritated Percival. Leon, Lancelot, and Elyan appear a moment later, all looking relatively unharmed much to Arthur's relief.

"Are you injured my lord?" Leon asks, always the concerned one.

Arthur gives him a smile. "I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about."

Gwaine pokes his head in between the conversation, a wide grin on his face as he leans in close to Arthur, making the latter rather uncomfortable at the close proximity. "I heard from Leon," he says with a grin.

Arthur shuffles back, trying to place some distance between them. He raises an eyebrow at the knight's odd words. "Heard what?"

"You," he emphasizes the word by jabbing a finger to the king's chest, "kissed Merlin on the battlements."

Immediately, Arthur's face flushes red at the words. He looks away, not wanting to see the amused grin on Gwaine's face, but no matter where he tries to look all he can see is his friends faces breaking into grins. "Did not."

"Now, now, Arthur," Elyan says, throwing an arm around his shoulders, "No need to lie. We have a witness after all," he points towards Leon.

Arthur frowns, sending the man a death glare. Leon quickly averts his gaze, trying to act as innocent as possible.

Gwaine soon joins in beside Elyan, wrapping an arm around Arthur's other shoulder. "See, we understand if you love him mate, but was there really a need to fake his death? Quite selfish of you to try and hide him all to yourself."

Arthur flushes again at the accusation, his embarrassment growing even stronger when he hears Percival and Lancelot trying to cover their snickers. "That's not why we faked his death! There was Agravaine and Morgana and-"

His explanation is cut off by Gwaine shoving a finger against his lips. The man smirks at him again, "No need to make excuses, princess. We won't tell a soul what really happened."

Elyan starts to laugh beside him and Arthur quickly pries the two knights off his shoulders. He turns away, still covering his face with a hand as he looks to Leon. "What's the status?"

Leon clears his throat, wiping the grin off his face as he returns to seriousness. "As of now the fires appear to have been put out through most of the lower town. There was not much significant damage other than the areas around the immediate vicinity of the citadel and city gates. Though there are plenty of injured knights, civilian casualties are minimal as very few of the skeletons and Saxons had managed to breach the castle."

Arthur gives a nod. "Good, then see that the injured are treated. Send any knights that are able to work to begin rebuilding as soon as possible."

"Yes sire." With that the knights disperse, moving out to complete their various tasks and leaving the king alone.

Arthur sighs, slumping down on a nearby crate and finally giving his body a chance to rest. He looks at the scene around him, pained at the amount of destruction yet happy that it hadn't been as bad as it could have been. After all, Morgana could be on the throne right now.

He glances towards the open gates, waiting to see a familiar lithe figure walking into the city but it never appears. With another sigh he gets to his feet, rubbing at his temples as he tries to calm his overly active mind. Merlin will be fine. He'll come home as he said he would. 

Arthur continues to repeat the mantra in his head as he heads towards the castle, hoping to distract himself with business as he waits for his idiot to return.

-----

Arthur heads out early the next morning, claiming to be overseeing the lower town's reconstruction, but ends up spending the entire day sitting by the gates. The workers all pass him by with curious glances though none are brave enough to question their king so they leave him be. Arthur pays them no mind either, choosing instead to keep his gaze locked on what lies beyond the gate. Gwen finds him there later that afternoon, still staring out into oblivion. She approaches him cautiously, wondering what could have gotten into the man. When she's close enough she leans down in front of him, poking his forehead to catch his attention. "How's the construction going?" she asks with a smile. 

Arthur turns to glance at her then looks away just as quickly. "It's fine," he replies, hands reaching down to fiddle with a blade of grass.

Gwen follows his gaze before heaving a sigh. "You're waiting for Merlin, aren't you?" She asks, having heard about what happened with the boy from Lancelot the previous day. She had to admit, she was surprised to hear the news. She had watched the boy die with her own eyes and suddenly, he's back as though nothing had happened. At first, she felt betrayed at having not been told about the king and warlock's ruse, but eventually, the sheer happiness from the fact that Merlin was alive overpowered that negative feeling. She had wanted nothing more than to run up to hug the boy and would have had Lancelot not stopped her, explaining how he was currently still out probably facing Morgana. The sheer thought of her previous master sent an uncomfortable feeling to her gut and the idea that Merlin could possibly be fighting her at that moment only made the feeling worse. She could understand Arthur's worry, she was worried too after all, though sitting around and doing nothing was not going to help.

Arthur sighs, finally turning to face Gwen as he tosses the piece of grass away. "He should be back by now. Something must have happened," Arthur stands, already heading towards the citadel, "I'm going to go search for him."

Gwen turns to follow, expression filled with worry as the king starts to make his way through the lower town. The man has already ordered the stable boy to prepare a horse by the time the she catches him. "Arthur, it's dangerous! Morgana could still be out there!"

"And that's precisely why I need to go find him."

Gwen grabs the king's arm, successfully forcing him to stop and spinning him around so that he's facing her. "And you're planning on doing this alone? What if something happens to you?" 

"I can't just leave him!" Arthur is furious now, the look in his eyes forcing Gwen to let go and take a step back. "I almost lost him once before and I'm not going to allow that to happen again."

Gwen sighs. "I'm not telling you to leave him. I'm telling you not to go alone."

Arthur seems to calm down, feeling slightly ashamed at his outburst. "The knights are needed here. I can't be sending them out on-"

"Nonsense," Gwaine suddenly says, popping out from behind the king, "if it's to search for Merlin I think we can spare a few men."

Arthur turns around, finding Leon, Elyan, Percival, and Lancelot all walking up to him. "I'm sure Camelot will be fine missing just the six of us," Lancelot adds.

"I can speak with Sir Galahad. Let him know what to do in our absence. There is nothing to worry about, sire," Leon says with a smile.

Arthur looks between his friends, seeing all of them with wide grins of reassurance on their faces. He sighs to himself more out of exasperation than anything. He knows full well how stubborn they can be and sees no point in arguing with them. Besides, they're only worried about Merlin. He's their friend too after all. "Alright, then we'll head out in an hour. Gather enough provisions for at least a few days. We won't know how long we'll be searching for."

"Yes, sire!"

-----

Arthur's about to mount his horse when he hears footsteps run up behind him. He turns to find Merlin's friend, Will, standing behind him with a bag and sword in his hands. "I'm coming with you," he says.

Arthur walks over to him, glancing towards his knights who all shake their heads in disapproval. "No, you're staying here. It's too dangerous," he says, trying to use his most commanding voice. 

Will grows furious at the response. He takes a step closer to the king, trying to intimidate the man as he shouts, "He's my best friend! I'm not about to leave him behind because it's too dangerous!"

Arthur sighs, "We'll bring him back. You have nothing to worry about."

Will scoffs at him. "Like I'm going to leave him in your hands. Last I remember you tried to kill him."

The king stiffens, looking away in guilt momentarily before turning back. "I won't harm him."

Again, Will doesn't seem to believe his words. He sneers at the king, clearly not satisfied with his answer, "You've already hurt him plenty. He wouldn't even be in this situation had you not shown your ugly mug in Ealdor."

Arthur turns his gaze down to the ground, knowing that Will is right. He did put Merlin in this situation. Had he not decided to go to Ealdor then Morgana would never have found out and attacked. Ealdor wouldn't have been destroyed and Merlin would be in his home, safe and sound with his mother. Instead, he's thrown him into his world. A world filled with war and bloodshed. 

Arthur takes in a deep breath, pushing the guilt away long to force himself to speak. "I know, and that's why I can't let you go. You'll only hurt him more if you get yourself killed. I will bring him back, I promise."

The scowl remains on Will's face, but his gaze seems to soften.

"Trust me, I won't allow anything to happen to him," he says, hoping he sounds sincere. 

Will eyes him again then eventually sighs. "You better hold to that promise."

Arthur smiles and gives a nod. With one last glare Will turns and walks away, heading towards the physician's chambers to help out Gaius. 

The king returns to mounting his horse. He gets himself comfortable before turning to look towards his knights. Leon is already ready and waiting as usual. Percival seems to be helping Gwaine calm his horse as Elyan shakes his head in disappointment while he climbs onto his own. Lancelot is mounting his horse now as well after having given Gwen a small kiss on the cheek in farewell. 

When they're all ready Arthur turns his horse towards the gates and with a click of his tongue they head out into the forest. 

------

The moon is already up high in the sky by the time the ruined castle comes into Arthur's view. He stops his horse in a small clearing, eyes trailing the tracks they've been following since they entered the forest and judging by the direction they seem to be going, it seems the palace will be their destination.

His knights come up behind him, all eyes pointed towards the castle in the distance. "That's the place huh," Gwaine states.

"Seems so. A deserted castle would be the perfect place to hide an army. I don't doubt Morgana is in there," Arthur says, already preparing to head towards the citadel when he hears Leon speak up from behind him.

"Are you sure this is wise?" the knight says, his brows scrunched, "There could be a trap. The trail leading here was much too easy to find. Almost as if-"

"-it were planted on purpose for us to follow," Elyan finishes, "I think Leon's right, sire. It's almost certainly a trap."

Arthur turns his horse around to face the group, seeing the others nodding in agreement. He doesn't doubt their words, after all it was the first thing he considered when they found the trail. Morgana is, and has always been, careful. She's only ever found when she wants to be. For her to leave such an obvious trail means that she wants them to find her and if she wants to be found then that must mean she has something planned. "I know its a trap," Arthur says, "but I'm not going to abandon Merlin because of it. We'll be cautious and if anything happens we'll retreat and regroup here."

The others nod in agreement as none are willing to leave Merlin either and if they have to face Morgana's trap to save him then so be it. Arthur flashes them all a smile then turns his horse around, heading through the forest and towards the castle.