Really, if Merlin had known that helping out the barmaid who'd shyly tugged at his sleeve that evening would lead to being tied to an alter in only a few gauzy bits of cloth waiting to be sacrificed to the "Great Spider-God Yezud, fo'ever praised be She of the eight-thousand eyes," he certainly would never have agreed to meet her in the nearby cave, no matter how low her blouse had slipped.