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A year after the last witchfinder turned out to be a liar, a new one found his way to Camelot.
Lancelot was well aware how that could potentially end for his friend. He spend days pacing, putting together and enacting a plan to save Merlin as something told him this witchfinder shared both the kings absolute hatred for magic as well as the cold cruelty that was so often publicly displayed in the courtyard.
No, he already had prepared the horses, they would only use them to get a headstart and later on they would switch to traveling by foot or cart. Even though this meant giving up a chance to be with Guinevere he knew it was the right thing to do.
The only thing missing now was Merlin, so when the midnight bell rang, Lancelot got out of bed heading towards Gaius' chambers.
_____
Leon cursed their luck. Of course another damned witchfinder would come looking for work in Camelot. And of course Uther wouldn't turn him away even after what happened last time.
With a sigh he folded the letter for Arthur.
It pained him to leave the prince to his own devices but Leon was a knight. Protecting people was his duty and his honor.
And Merlin needed any protection he could get with how horrible that man was at hiding his magic.
Don't get Leon wrong, he had not taken the revelation quite as easily as this now suggests but from the moment he had the suspicion he started observing the servant and found no evil whatsoever. Leon himself owed him his life many times over, if anything this would balance out the scale a bit.
As the night quietly descended upon Camelot, Leon opened the door and listened carefully for the familiar rhythm of the nightguards footfalls.
_____
If Arthur was honest he didn't have a plan BUT that only was because he genuinely thought his father would listen for once. Last time Morgana almost got kidnapped! And she was his favorite child!
It would be fine though. He was good at strategy, he had been trained for scenarios like this his entire life. For the last time he looked at his chambers, searching his brain for an adequate way to say farewell to his home and came up short.
He may have spend his life here but his heart was not attached to those walls nor did it long to stay here when the soul of this place was clearly missing. The same soul Arthur was determined to get to safety, far away from his fathers clutches and somewhere where Merlin could be himself without having to risk a death sentence. Maybe they could get a cottage, a small farm maybe and—
"This is really not the time, dollophead." Arthur muttered to himself and headed out the door.
Fortunately the castle was quiet and empty, which made it easier than he would have thought to get to the physicians tower. He paused at the wooden door, fearing the familiar protest of the old hinges, which could easily wake Gaius and he really hoped to avoid explaining this to the old healer.
Carefully, inch by inch he pushed it open reavealing total darkness only disrupted by faint patches of light where the moon spilled through the windows. But something was wrong...
Something was missing.
Whenever Arthur had come here in the middle of the night there had always been the sound of Gaius snoring but now everything was quiet. And a glance towards the narrow cot confirmed it: the healer was not here.
Could Arthur really be so lucky? A small grin spread over his face maybe this wouldn't be hard at all, maybe-
The creaking of the wooden steps interrupted his train of thought and he cursed his own thoughtlessness when he spotted a dark silhouette on the stairs leading to Merlins bedroom. At once Arthur unsheated his sword and only a few seconds later the blade rested against the intruders neck. His triumph was shortlived as someone came up behind him mirroring his own gesture with a dagger.
"What do you want? Who are you?"
Arthur demanded in a low voice. Two against one. He would manage as long as Merlin did not come bumbling out of his room, ruining the odds by being his clumsy, reckless self.
"Sire?" The man behind him asked, clearly confused. The title made the man in front of him turn around as well, almost forgetting the sword pointing at his throat.
"Arthur?" Lancelot, asked bewildered.
"What brought you here? Do you need the assistance of a healer?" The man behind him, Leon as it turned out, questioned.
Simultaneously they sheated their weapons but Arthur's heart kept racing, thinking about his next words. These were his knights, his men and more than brothers to him. He knew they would not betray him but were they willing to commit treason? To break their oath to the king?
"No, but I need you to go, both of you. When you are questioned you did not see me. I know this is a lot to ask, I cannot order you, but believe me when I say I do not ask for this favor lightly."
His eyes apparently got used to the darkness as he could see the frown on Lancelots face.
"You know...?" He said at the same time as Leon asked: "Are you here for Merlin?"
The prince pinched his nose. "You know as well?"
For a moment there was no sound as the three men processed this development. "So what was your pl-"
"God damn this gods forsaken shit-heap of a castle ouch!" Someone cursed, but the voice came from outside which made no sense, seeing they were in a tower so a passing man should have not sounded like he was just outside the window.
The knights collectively tensed as Arthur pressed his finger to his lips. Slowly he pulled the dagger from his belt, approaching the window without making a sound. With a swift move he opened the ajar standing window completely peering over the stone wall and down. His dagger was firm in his head ready to deliver a killing blow.
"Ah princess! Nice of you to show up! Would you mind helping a man in need?" The man who was currently climbing the castle wall mumbled as he held a glove between his teeth. Gwaine. Of course.
"What the hell are you doing?" Arthur wondered
"Helping a friend? What does it look like?"
"It looks pretty stupid if you ask me." The prince answered but offered a hand nonetheless. Shortly after and with surprisingly little noise Gwaine was in the room as well.
"Okay we need to get Merlin out of the city, we can talk afterwards. And we have to be quick or else-"
Suddenly the door to Merlin's room opened. The men focused on the dark spot, expecting a sleepy Merlin to emerge and ask what was going on but instead the man coming out of the small bedchamber was much larger and carried the warlocks sleeping form in his arms like he was holding nothing more than a pillow.
"Percy??" Gwaine almost sounded hurt
"Of course!" Arthur muttered ironically and threw his arms up.
Leon sighed and nodded towards the servant. "Is he asleep?"
Percoval nodded: "I put a sleeping portion in his drink."
Gwaine didn't seem to register the words and continued: "You would have left me behind?"
Percy: "Of course not! I would have gone to the rising sun to get you as soon as found some place safe outside the city walls to put him!"
Lance: "You put something in his drink!?"
But Percival defended himself: "He wouldn't have left Arthur willingly would he?"
Surprisingly enough the men agreed and Arthur's heart swelled inside his chest. The warlocks loyalty was absolute and they all knew it.
"Wait how do we smuggle a sleeping person out of the castle?" Leon asked, rightfully so.
When the answer came, it was not the voice of any of the knights, in fact it was not a male voice at all. "Through the servant corridors obviously. Are you coming? We don't have the entire night."
It was Guinevere who had entered without any of the knights noticing and now stood there in the middle of the room with crossed armes.
Arthur could not believe this! "You knew as well?"
Gwen's expression changed from determined to amused. "Of course I know and now hurry I already got Morgana out she's waiting for us in the woods."
"You got Morgana out? Wait are you saying Morgana is like Merlin? She has magic too?"
"Holy shit Merlin has magic?!" Elyan whisper-shouted from where he had appeared just now, dressed in his sleeping tunic and breeches.
"Yes, did you not come here to save him?" Percy answered easily
But Gwen's brother looked shocked: "No! I came to get a sleeping portion."