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When Arthur slowed his horse, so to did Merlin. While his horse walked beside Arthur's, Merlin turned his attention to the trouble prince. It surprised Merlin how much he had grown to care for the man, and how much he had changed, since they first met. It was actually a surprise, or really it shouldn't of been. First he had absolutely detested Arthur, and now he gladly, willingly, went into danger and others with him, and would even if the prince didn't want him to.

A grin crossed his face, and he decided to break the silence with his usual barrage of talking -- he seemed to do it a lot when they traveled. "You worried?" he asked in a light tone. "I think it's brave of you to go in search of her, even when you aren't supposed to, being the king's son and all. You're still a prat, but you've become less of one." Where usually that would be an insult, in this, it was just a lighthearted jibe. He didn't mean anything about it.

In fact, the one person, amazingly to even himself, that he wouldn't spare a second thought about going into battle with (though he wasn't much of a help), was said prat. He hoped to draw Arthur's attentions away from any silent contemplations he had, and break the silence. Even an angry Arthur was better than a troubled, silent Arthur.

Merlin jumped a little when a hand was placed on his shoulder, but turning around, he saw that it was only Arthur. Following the prince's silent orders, Merlin mounted the horse next to the one Arthur took. Grasping the horse's reins in his hands, he looked over at the other man, thoroughly worried for him. He was taking a great risk in this journey. Not only were they going to a foreign kingdom to rescue Gwen, but, perhaps more worse, were doings so without the king's orders.

However, even if he had been asked what he would do, he wouldn't choose any differently. Guinevère was their friend, and Merlin would gladly risk his life for her if it meant her safety. When Arthur told him to come on, he also kicked the sides of his horse and followed him. It wasn't long until they came into view of the gates, and the guards. He'd speed his horse up to, following the prince, and wouldn't stop until he stopped...

[Lol, fine by me! Staying at the castle too long probably wasn't such a good idea anyway!]

It appeared that Merlin couldn't do anything. He couldn't use magic to help because Arthur didn't know he had magic, and there wasn't any rope left for him to do much else. So, what then? It appeared it didn't matter, because as he thought, he felt the rope begin to tear. His eyes went slightly wide. Bitting his lip, he pulled tighter on the rope, thinking that maybe he could pull the prince back in (yeah, right), but it tore before he could do much.

As soon as the ropes tore, he looked out the window and cringed as Arthur fell. It wasn't a pretty fall. "Sorry!" he called down loud enough for just Arthur to hear him. He pulled away from the window, then, and took his half of the torn rope, shoving it under Arthur's bed's pillows - he'd have to untie them and all that later. Quickly leaving the room, he quietly shut the door behind him after glancing down the halls and made his way out of the castle, successfully managing to avoid guards and suspicion.

Keeping away from any guards in sight, Merlin made his way to where the horses were stationed, hoping Arthur was already there. "Arthur?" he called softly almost as soon as he got there.

Merlin gave Arthur a curious stare, as if he didn't know what the prince was talking about, and that he was quite capable of holding onto that rope. Arthur was right, of course, though. Merlin probably didn't have the strength to hold onto the rope if it was required of him. He just hoped for Arthur's sake that the fall wouldn't be that rough...

"Don't worry, Arthur, I wont let you fall." he assured. Or rather, he tried to assure. He'd give it his all on holding the rope. Beyond that... he couldn't promise much. "I won't be late," he replied. He didn't have any reason to this time, after all, he couldn't forget that fast or suddenly have something else to do this time.

He watched Arthur climb out the window and begin to descend down the makeshift rope. Like he could have predicted, something went wrong a few moments later: The rope had run out. Just his luck, now he had to lower the rope and manage to do so with Arthur's weight added. He rushed over to the bed post and untied that end of the 'rope'. Upon doing so, he was nearly yanked over from the weight, but managed to retain his hold on it. He inched forward slightly, using all his 'strength' to pull back at the same time (so he wouldn't go flying out the window too). It was then that he came to the base of the window, not having moved much further.

"Uh, Arthur? Are you almost at the ground yet?" he grunted out, bracing himself by pushing with a foot away from the wall. He looked at the rope one more time and added in a subdued voice, "There is no more rope."

Thankfully Arthur ignored his comment, at least for now. He couldn't help but wonder if the prince had even heard it at all, if not, he might get away with it, if so... well, Merlin didn't know how he would react to that comment. He'd have to worry about that later, if at all. It was even likely that if he had heard it, he would forget about it in his worry for Guinevère.

He already could pretty much figure out what Arthur intended to do even before he said anything. It was dangerous enough to be sneaking out of Camelot without anyone knowing, but actually through the castle and with guards around it was even more so. Now, Merlin himself wouldn't have worried much about it, he could distract the guards with magic, but Arthur didn't know that he had magic, so he couldn't use it like that.

Personally he thought going out the window wasn't too smart, but hey, when it was the only way, it worked. Merlin stared at the tied together sheets that Arthur planned on using as a rope. He watched the prince expressionlessly, than nodded to the question, grinning innocently. "Of course I'm ready." he answered. "Don't you trust me?" A more proper question would be "Should you trust me?"

Arthur seemed more frustrated than usual to the young warlock. Or maybe it was just the awkward angle Merlin was staring up at him from. Either way, it didn't seem to matter that he was out of breath, though that didn't bother him much. After all, Arthur was correct, though he didn't actually say anything. The sooner they left, the sooner they could save Gwen. Merlin had no intention of staying behind, so he would have to keep up with Arthur.

"Of course, who would notice the Prince sneaking around anyway?" he mumbled, standing up as he was a little less exhausted. It appeared that this would be a pleasant journey - all sarcasm intended, of course. If Arthur was more grumpy than usual, obviously Merlin was the only one there to take the anger and cruel remarks... He was mostly used to them though. He just hoped Arthur wasn't too grumpy, although he would understand, he was just worried for Gwen.

He watched Arthur as he moved around, and leaned against the door to catch his remaining breath. "A few on my way up here, but not so many that we can't avoid them, I think. But that was a few minutes ago, who knows how many guards have come since then? He doubted that many more guards would be there, but you could never be too cautious... Especially when you were sneaking out of Camelot with the Prince to go on a rescue mission you weren't told to...

When Merlin had been instructed to get the things they would need for the journey to rescue Guinevère, he had wasted no time in rushing off to do so. He had no intention of staying behind while Arthur went out and risked his life to save their friend. Though he must say that he was rather curious as to why Arthur was so concerned with Gwen... He just passed it off as a general worry for a friend. After all, Gwen was his friend, he couldn't deny that much to Merlin.

He knew they were in a hurry, with every second, Gwen got further away, or was put in more and more danger. She could also be... No, he wouldn't think of that, that wouldn't happen, not to Gwen. Besides, he felt bad for whoever managed to get Arthur as their enemy - he knew he wouldn't want to be up against him, except for those few occasions when he had no choice, or when they had first met (though... that didn't mean he wanted to).

Hurrying, he grabbed the bag he usually carried with him in such situations and stuffed many things in it. Thankfully Gaius never came in on him, so he didn't have to explain. He had already prepared the horses, and they were waiting, so he rushed up to Arthur's chambers. Knocking softly on the door, he was relieved to see that Arthur was still in there, even as he was yanked into the room.

Could have just asked, I would have come in on my own... he thought, resting his hands on his knees and gasping for air - he had run up the stairs and through the castle as fast as he could. "Yes, everything is prepared, including the horses. I think we should hurry, though," he informed, taking deep breaths still, "It can't be long until someone just notices two freshly prepared horses ready for travel with no one around."