After riding through that night, the group took a rest at dawn. They remained quiet most of the time, but when Gwaine and Leon took first watch, the former broke. He seethed in anger, twirling his sword to occupy time. While the other slept, he paced.

Leon finally whispered to him. "You're going to hurt yourself swinging that."

"How did they know?" Gwaine turned around, not heeding Leon's warning. "How did Morgana know we were coming?"

Leon sighed and stood too. "I don't know. I've been giving it a lot of thought."

"It was a well planned, targeted ambush." Gwaine sheathed his sword and leaned against the nearest tree. "It's only goal was to get Fira."

The other knight nodded in agreement. After a pause, he finally shrugged. He had no idea. "The only people who knew about this patrol were the knights, Merlin, and the Queen. Only the Round Table knew the specifics."

"Morgana has to have a spy in Camelot," Gwaine said with a glare.

"I know." Leon frowned. "But who?"

-*-

The day dawned bright in Camelot City. The Citadel bustled with the usual hum of activity, a living, breathing community of servants running to and fro. In the kitchen, a woman of eighteen years found the tray destined for the Queen of Camelot.

She picked it up quickly, letting her eyes dare the rambunctious male servants to get in her way. She could deal with them later if they tried anything, and she didn't even need her magic to help. The young woman made her way to the Royal Chambers. Once she reached the door, she knocked before entering. Coming behind her ran the man named Merlin, her male counterpart. He scooted inside with the King's breakfast right behind her.

"Good morning, my lady." She smiled with a bow as Merlin dropped his food on the table. She much more gracefully deposited hers.

She looked at the the monarchs. Hatred boiled up inside her heart. She forced her eyes to betray no unwelcome emotions, putting on a facade of kindliness.

She couldn't decide which ruler she despised more. Probably the King. The Pendragon king, usurper of her Lady's throne, was detestable. He deserved the same treatment her own kind had gotten: execution for being himself. Just the name Pendragon should've meant death for him.

No matter, she thought. At least I have done a service to the Lady by betraying the knights.

Everyone in Camelot was an enemy. She wasn't sure why the Fira woman, the girl who was the Physician's assistant, was necessary for the war effort. But Morgana had asked for her. And getting the Knights of the famous Round Table destroyed in an ambush at the same time, well, it was simply delightful.

The Queen smiled back at her. "Good morning, Kara."

-*-

By noon they got moving again. It was then that the question the knights had waited for finally came up.

Mark broached the topic first. "You knew?"

"Knew what?" Galahad faked as the horses trotted during a rest.

"That Fira practices magic!" Michael burst out.

Elyan nodded. "About a quarter of the knights know. We all know, as do Sirs Mordred, Gareth, Gaheris Tor, Morholt, Tristan, and Bedivere."

Percival jumped in, "The King and Queen both know, as do Merlin and Gaius."

The twins fell silent in shock. They grew up during the years following the Great Purge. All they knew was a hatred for magic.

"Why does she still live?" Mark asked innocently. "Surely the King himself would execute her."

Gwaine dropped back to them. He shook his head. "It's a long story for how we got to this point, but her job is to help us against Morgana."

"You need magic to fight magic," Michael reasoned with a nod.

"Exactly," Gwaine agreed quickly.

They urged the horses faster again. Into a brisk canter they went, speeding across the fields and through small forest outliers. Gwaine and Leon led always, pushing harder and faster until they finally reached Camelot around midnight. They'd skipped dinner.

The knights asked the three recruits to deal with the horses. They needed to find the King. Gwaine flagged down a servant and ordered him to find Merlin and send him to the King's quarters. The knights rushed up the citadel and to that very place.

Leon knocked forcefully on the door. He felt a little guilty for waking his king and queen at such an early hour, but they had no choice. When a tired Guinevere opened the door, she started in confusion.

"You aren't due back for days!"

From inside, Arthur muttered something inaudible. But Gwen snapped at her husband in fright. He was awake instantly.

"Enter!"

The knights rushed inside, followed by Merlin who caught up to them just as the door closed. He used his magic to instantly light all the candles in the room. Now they had light.

"Where's Fira?" Merlin demanded. "Surely she should be here."

Leon looked to Gwaine. But the man just looked forlorn. The former spoke quietly.

"We were ambushed, sire." He directed his response at his king. "Morgana knew our plans."

"Where's Fira?" Guinevere whispered in fright.

Gwaine glared at the floor. "Taken. They were after her in particular."

Galahad quickly chipped in some more information, aiming it at Merlin as well as the monarchs. "The spell their sorcerer used to knock her out was aimed to knock any with magic out. Including myself. Very potent."

"She's gone?" Merlin looked destroyed. Fira was like a sister to him, and the only one who truly understood his struggles. "Is she dead?"

Leon shrugged. "We don't know. We were unable to go after them."

Arthur, who had remained silent thus far, stood from his bed. "You do realize what this means."

"There's a traitor in Camelot," Gwaine spat. "Someone close to us."

"It has to be someone who has a reason to hate us," Elyan sighed. "Who would that be?"

Merlin's face went white. He thought he knew. But if he betrayed her, he betrayed him. And that was dangerous.

"Merlin," Gwaine warned. "You know something?"

"What do we know of Kara," he murmured softly.

Gwen stood in shock. "My maidservant? She's a wonderful girl! Very smart and knows when to put boys in their place."

"She's also Mordred's lover," Gwaine added quickly. "Why?"

"She was in here." Merlin sighed and looked at Arthur. "When you gave the orders."

The others straightened up. They hadn't thought of that. Gwaine suddenly didn't like where this was going. He'd not wanted it to be someone any of them cared for.

"And," the warlock paused. "She practices magic. She was a druid, her entire clan wiped out by Uther."

Arthur put his head in his hands. That certainly was a motive. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Sentencing one of his knight's lovers to death was not something he wanted to do.

"Elyan, Percival, arrest her." He stood up more fully. "Galahad, find Mordred and bring him to me." Arthur turned to Gwaine. "The only request I have of you tonight… don't drink yourself to death."

Gwaine nodded. "Don't worry about me Princess. Worry about the traitor."

Gwaine turned and left the room after the other three. That left Leon, Merlin, Arthur, and Gwen. The king turned to the other men.

"I need the two of you to search Kara's room. Look for anything suspicious. We need to get to the bottom of this." He frowned. "We need this over fast."

Merlin spoke up quietly. "What about Fira?"

What about Fira? Arthur didn't know. He wanted to send men after her, mount a rescue. But they remained hard pressed on both borders as it was. And now that they knew a spy was in the citadel, the king felt concern that there might be others.

"I'll think on it."