Boy From The Woods

Merlin

"Gwen, what is it?"

The serving girl put a finger to her lips and gestured outside the tent. Arthur listened. Shouting could be heard not too far away. It was accompanied by the crunching of leaves and the barking of dogs. Merlin whimpered and sprang to his feet. His eyes darted about the tent, settling on the bed. He ducked under it, ignoring the protests from Morgana. 

"Merlin, what are you afraid of? Who are those men?"

"I'm not waiting to find out," Arthur said as he unsheathed his sword and headed for the tent flap. "Wait here."

He ran out into the clearing and was pleased to see his men had been disturbed by the noise as well. They stood with their swords drawn in the center of their small camp. Arthur made his way to them. 

"Any idea what's going on? Who they might be?"

"No, my lord."

Arthur looked in the direction of the noise and saw torch light bouncing off the trees. 

"There's too many if we have to fight. Put away your swords. We have to try and settle this peacefully."

Arthur watched as the men dressed in chain and dark leather stormed into their camp. They held vicious dogs and torches along with their swords. The man in the lead stepped forward and held his sword to Arthur's chest.

"Declare yourself, boy!"

Arthur gulped. "My name's Tom," he gestured to the knights. "These are my brothers."

"What's your business here?" the man growled.

"We're just traveling. Our farm had an unsuccessful harvest. We seek a new life. We stopped to make camp for the night."

The grizzly man nodded. "We're looking for someone. A boy might have passed through here. Dark hair, rather gangly... you seen him?"

"May I ask why?"

"Order's from king Cenred."

Arthur looked around at the rest of the muscled men. Was Merlin running from Cenred? Why? If he was an enemy of Essitir did that mean he could be trusted? "Ummm... no I don't think I saw anyone like that. We haven't seen anyone since it got dark."

"Well..." the man signaled his men to move on. "If you do see anything, report it directly to the king. He's offering a high reward for any information, an even higher reward for someone who brings him in alive."

"Thank you, we'll keep a look out." The lead man ran after his men who had already moved beyond the camp. "Good luck with the search!" Arthur called after them.

When the trampling had faded to almost nothing, Arthur felt it was safe to speak.

"We were lucky Cenred's men were already looking for someone else. Leon was right to have us abandon anything bearing Camelot's crest. We should get some sleep for we have a long journey tomorrow. Sir Ronald," the knight stepped forward. "You'll take first watch."

Arthur pushed open the flap to his tent. Morgana and Gwen knelt on their knees, trying to coax the boy out from under the bed. 

"Merlin, they're gone... you're okay. You can come out." 

Agonizingly slowly, the boy poked his head out. He scanned his surroundings, making sure Morgana had spoken the truth. Gwen and Morgana backed up so he had room to emerge. Once he settled back on the bed, Gwen put her hands on his shoulders. Merlin flinched at her touch, but allowed her hands to stay.

"Merlin, why are Cenred's men after you?"

"Cenred's men?" Morgana asked alarmed. 

Merlin opened his mouth to answer. "I-"