HI! I know I'm super late, but at least I found the motivation to write eventually! Now we're getting to the REALLY good part of the story! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

The moon was high in the sky, though not quite at its peak. The light shone on Camelot, bathing everything in a silvery glow. Two figures snuck through the castle, careful not to be seen.

Coming to the courtyard, the two figures split up, one heading back into the castle, the other down to the royal stables.

Merlin gathered each of the horse's things and led them to the old servant passageway to wait for Arthur and Will, worried that they would mess something up without him there to help with his magic. He hoped that the stone he gave Will would be enough.

Meanwhile, Will walked quickly to Arthur's chambers and knocked politely on the door. When he heard the prince tell him to enter, he came into the room and shut the door so that no one in the hall would hear their conversation.

"Are you ready, Sire?" Will asked.

Arthur grabbed his sword and belt to then tie it around his waist. "I'm ready. Let's go."

The two of them began the long trek to the dungeons. There was an ominous chill to the air as they sneaked through the castle, probably due to the fact that it was the middle of the night and very few fires or torches were lit.

Each time they came across a guard, Will would whisper the incantation, "dwi'n mynd heb ei weld," and both him and Arthur were able to slip by them with ease. Thankfully, they had not been in a situation where another form of magic had been needed.

As they got closer to the dungeons they ran across the guards far more often, and Will had to use the stone much more frequently. Once they descended the steps, he said the spell again, but the guards seemed to see them out of the corners of their eyes. There were four of them down there, and the stone didn't have enough magic left to give to each of them to make him and Arthur able to sneak past. It took the guards a minute to fully see them, but they did. It seemed that the stone had stopped working.

"Sire, what are you doing down here in the middle of the night, and with a servant, no less?" One of them said.

Arthur stood up straight and looked like the royal he was. "I am your prince. I do not answer to you." Will thought that they would let him through, him being the prince and all, but that did not seem to be the case.

"Sorry, Sire." The same guard said. "We are under strict orders from the king not to let anyone through; not even the prince. We're going to have to ask you to go back to your chambers, or we'll have to report you to the king."

Will felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of his neck, a physical representation of just how nervous he'd gotten while those few words were being said. He then realized just how dangerous this really was. If they were taken to the king, he would be searched, they would find the stone, and he would be executed. He hoped Arthur could talk his way out of this one.

As he was thinking, Arthur had pulled out his sword. "I'm sorry. We must get through without my father knowing." He lunged at the guards and knocked each one out as they came towards him.

Once they had all been taken care of, Will and Arthur quickly moved to an alcove a little further ahead of them.

"Why didn't your magic work on the guards? I was counting on not having to hurt any of them, especially now that they will be seen and the warning bell will sound."

"I'm sorry, Sire." Will started to say, but Arthur cut him off before he could say anything more.

"There will be time for apologies once we rescue the sorceress. For now, we must stay focused."

Arthur handed Will the keys to her cell and pointed him in the direction of where she was. Arthur stood watch, ready for any more guards to come their way. Will quickly found her cell and unlocked it. He gently led her out, and over to the edge of the hall where Arthur stood. When she saw the prince she froze, clearly worried that he was there to deliver a secret kill before her public execution.

When Arthur saw the look of terror on her face, he spoke softly and reassuringly to her. "I am not going to hurt you. Will and I are here to help you escape from the city. If you want to live and see your son again, you'll come with us. I promise that we will not hurt you."

She gave a nod, and before either Arthur or will could say anything else, the warning bells began to ring. Someone had found the guards.

Merlin was waiting patiently by the old servant's entrance with the horses, waiting for his two best friends to come running to safety with the sorceress. He had confidence in his friends to do this safely without him.

Merlin was waiting patiently by the old servant's entrance. He'd been there for a few minutes, wondering when his friends would come. He hoped that the Lehar stone would be enough for them to make it safely.

Merlin was waiting by the old servant's entrance. It had been about ten minutes already. He was beginning to worry that there had been complications and they would not be out quick enough.

Merlin was tapping his knees while he waited by the old servant's entrance. It had been over fifteen minutes since he'd gotten there. Arthur and Will should have been out by then. Something had happened. He knew it.

As he was beginning to worry even more, the warning bells began to ring.

Merlin was pacing by the old servant's entrance. It had been five minutes since the warning bells had begun ringing. It had been too long. He knew something was very wrong, but refrained from going in to help them because he knew that they would need to get out of Camelot as soon as they could, and Merlin needed to be right here when they came out.

Merlin was furiously pacing by the old servant's entrance. They had been caught. He knew it. It had been ten minutes since the warning bells had begun to ring. He had to go in and get them out. The guards were terrible. He knew that he'd be able to break into the dungeons easily and get the three of them out.

Just as Merlin was about to go rushing into the castle to rescue them, three figures came running out of the old servant's entrance.

Merlin could not contain the great relief he felt at seeing the three of them, proof of a successful rescue, unharmed and not locked up.

"What happened?!" Merlin exclaimed. He aimed his question at Arthur, but Will was the one to speak up as the prince helped the sorceress to the extra horse.

"There's no time to explain. We need to go. Now."

Merlin knew that every second counted when trying to escape the knights, so he let the lack of explanation rest and quickly made his way to the horses and mounted his. As soon as the four of them were on their horses, they took off out of the city and on to Ealdor.

Once they were far enough away from the city that they felt confident that they were not being followed, the small group slowed down. As they traveled, Merlin noticed the unusual silence. Arthur was not mocking him as usual. In fact, he had not said a word since he came out to the horses.

"Sire, are you alright? You've been awfully quiet," Merlin asked.

Arthur didn't even look at Merlin as he gave his cryptic response: "I'm fine Merlin. Let's just get to Ealdor."

"Are you sure?" Merlin was not going to let it go. His best friend did not look fine.

"I am."

"Arthur -"

"LEAVE IT, Merlin." Arthur snapped. "I am your prince and I do not have to discuss anything with you. We are about to cross into another king's land. That requires stealth and silence in order to avoid detection, so I suggest that you stop asking questions as soon as possible."

When Arthur got defensive like that, Merlin knew to leave him alone, but he wondered what had happened back in the castle to put him in such a foul mood. He let out a big sigh, and continued the journey in silence, just like Arthur had said to do.

Arthur hated pulling rank like that on Merlin, but he knew that it was the only way to get Merlin to stop talking to him and asking questions. After what he had just found out, Arthur wasn't sure he'd ever be able to speak to Merlin again…

So that was the chapter! I told you it got good! Don't worry, you'll find out what happened in the dungeons soon enough. I just hope that that wasn't too much of a cliffhanger!

I've realized that I should stop putting due dates on my chapters because I never follow them and I think I only end up disappointing you when I don't update when I say I will. So for the next chapter, I'm going to have it done as soon as I can, which should be fairly soon due to my coronavirus quarantine ;D.

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy, and I'll see you next time!

- Lia :)