7

The Story of A & M

Part I

The Search for Merlin

Sir Gwaine was lying in his bed unable to sleep, earlier he had gone to the armory and when he entered the other knights were in there and they stopped talking when he had entered the room.

"Sorry, did I interrupt?" he asked when he noticed the others had stopped talking and were staring at him.

"We were just talking about rumor's we've been hearing" Percival said. Gwaine said nothing he just arched his eyebrows and waited for more details.

"People are beginning to question the king's mental status and his ability to rule" Elyan said.

"You all realize you are talking treason and could find your heads on the chopping block for it" Gwaine said to them all, not hiding his annoyance.

"Gwaine he never leaves his chambers, he barely eats and his servants have a hard time getting in most of the time to bring him food and clean his room and it's not us, we are not plotting anything we are just discussing the different rumors we've been hearing" Sir Leon said.

"Gwaine don't think we agree with what we've heard and Arthur's subjects are devoted to him until the end, but it's the other kingdoms that are the problem, the rumors are coming from them and we fear that some, if not all of them, may take advantage and try to launch an attack" Percival said and Gwaine just looked at them, knowing in the back of his mind they were right.

Gwaine finally got out of bed and started pacing his room, he had to do something; they all had to do something before Camelot was lost completely. He looked out his window and could see dawn approaching and it was then that he knew what he had to do.

He got dressed and rode out of the castle, just as the sun came up he arrived and the village where Merlin was born.

"Excuse me but could you tell me where I might find Hunith?" Gwaine asked when he entered the village, the man he asked looked at him and Gwaine could tell that the people here were very protective of one another. "She is not in any trouble or anything and I am not here to cause her or anybody else problems I just need her help. It's about her son, Merlin" Gwaine explained. After a few more moments of consideration the man pointed Gwaine to Hunith's home. He knocked on the door gently, it was still pretty early and he didn't want to startle her if she was sleeping by pounding on the door. She opened the door and was taken aback by seeing the man at her door.

"Can I help you?" she asked hesitantly.

"Good morning Hunith, I'm sorry to disturb you so early but I need your help, my name is….."

"You're Sir Gwaine aren't you?" Hunith asked cutting him off.

"Yes I am, you've heard of me?"

"Yes Merlin spoke quite highly of you. Won't you come in?" She asked smiling as she stepped aside.

"If you've come looking for Merlin I'm afraid you've wasted your time, he is not here. He wasn't here five years ago when a bunch of Arthur's men came looking for him."

"I didn't think he was here but I was hoping you might be able to tell me something about where he is?"

"Sir Gwaine, this village is not within the realm of Arthur's kingdom, I don't mean to sound rude but if my son felt the need to run away and go into hiding I am not going to risk his life by telling anybody where he is, even if I did know I'm sorry."

"Hunith five years ago Merlin left in the middle of the night, no reason, no note he just vanished. Arthur was devastated, he had all of Camelot turned upside to find him, sending men here was his last desperate attempt to find him. Did you know Gaius passed away?"

"Yes I did hear that, he was a long time family friend I was very sad to hear he had died."

"I assume you heard about the queen then?" Gwaine asked and judging by her reaction he realized she had not heard.

"No what's wrong?"

"She died two weeks ago?" Gwaine said and Hunith immediately began to cry.

"Hunith, Arthur never leaves his chambers anymore and there are rumors and fears that the other kingdoms may be plotting to attack and take over. First Merlin mysteriously disappears, then Gaius dies and now Gwen. Arthur is a wreck and I want to find Merlin, no I need to find Merlin because at this point I think he is the only one who can help."

After she composed herself Hunith looked at Gwaine and considered telling him where to look, she was not sure herself if that is where Merlin was but it was the only place she could think of at the moment.

"Head east towards the mountains, there you will find a lake with a small island in the middle. There will be a dock with a small boat there waiting, get in the boat and it will take where you need to go. I am not promising you that Merlin is there, but that is the only place I can think of where he could be."

Gwaine smiled and reached across the table and kissed her on the cheek, "thank you Hunith you may have just saved the kingdom" he said as he got up to leave.

"Sir Gwaine, before you go, what exactly happened to the queen?"

"Arthur has been depressed since Merlin left, and then two days before Gaius died he asked to speak with Arthur privately. I don't know what he said but Arthur was very upset after that meeting. Gwen had planned a picnic to try to get Arthur out of the castle to cheer him up and while they were riding something spooked her horse and she was thrown off. She landed on a large rock and broke her neck, she died instantly" Gwaine said and Hunith put her hand over her mouth and started to cry again. Gwaine went and held her until she calmed down before leaving.

Gwaine followed Hunith's directions and quickly found the lake she was talking about and there was a boat sitting there waiting. He looked out over the water but at first didn't see any island but then some of the mist parted and then he saw the island in the center of the lake like she said. He got into the boat and looked around for the oar "how am I supposed to get there, use my hands?" he asked himself out loud but then the boat started to move and he fell back. "Well that answers that question" he said to himself.

The boat stopped at a stairway that Gwaine followed into and open area, he looked around at the ruined castle and listened but there was nothing here to indicate that anybody was here, in fact it seemed like nobody had been here in a very long time. The tiniest bit of hope he had in finding Merlin here had left him and his shoulders dropped at the realization that this was a dead end. He dropped to the ground where he stood and sat there with his head down trying to think of where he could go next, but one thing he was sure of, he would go as far as he had to go in order to save Arthur and Camelot, he buried his face in his hands.

"Gwaine?" he heard somebody say and he looked up, across the way he saw him, Merlin, and his he wiped a tear from his eye and jumped up smiling but Merlin looked afraid he was looking around.

"Merlin I'm alone" Gwaine said when he realized Merlin was looking for other knights and guards. Gwaine wanted to run and hug him but knew instantly that that would be a bad idea.

"What are you doing here, how did you find me?" Merlin asked, sounding very nervous and still looking around.

"I came just to talk to you that's all."

Merlin said nothing he just stood there looking at Gwaine and Gwaine could tell if he made one wrong move Merlin would run and Gwaine had seen enough of this place to know that it was large and there were plenty of places to hide.

"I can't go back Gwaine; I won't go back so you might as well leave."

"Merlin the kingdom is in peril. I don't know, nor do I care why you left, but you are the only hope we have left."

"What do you mean?"

"Arthur was devastated when you left, he had every knight, every guard, and every servant tear apart the entire castle looking for you. When that didn't work he sent us all out to search the entire kingdom, no home was left unchecked, no cave in all the forests was left unsearched, he even sent men to your mother to see if you were there. He slipped into a depression when we couldn't find you. Then a few months after that Gaius became ill, did you know Gaius died?"

"No I didn't know that I'm sorry to hear it" Merlin said in a dead voice, not looking at Gwaine but staring off in another direction.

"Gaius had summoned Arthur one night and they spent hours behind closed doors. All I know is that Gaius had something to tell him but no idea what it was, and whatever he told Arthur only saddened him more and then Gaius passed two nights later and now that Gwen is gone…."

"What, what do you mean Gwen is gone?" Merlin said suddenly.

"Merlin she's dead" Gwaine said quietly.

Merlin's eyes went wide, and the color drained from his face and then he dropped to his knees. Gwaine took the opportunity to move closer but didn't run because he didn't want to scare Merlin.

"Two weeks ago Gwen wanted to get Arthur out of the castle to try and cheer him up; she had planned a picnic by the lake. Something spooked her horse and she fell off of it, she landed on a rock and broke her neck, she died instantly. Arthur was behind her and saw the whole thing. Ever since then he has been locked in his chambers refusing to see anybody. His servants get in once in awhile to clean his bed clothes, take him food but most of the time he doesn't eat a bite, they say he just sits in a chair staring out the window. But now there are rumors, word has apparently spread of Arthur's condition and we are starting to fear that somebody might take this opportunity to attack."

Gwaine stopped and just looked at Merlin and realized he probably didn't hear anything he just said so he took a chance and slowly walked over to Merlin.

Merlin was in such shock at what Gwaine had just said, he didn't even see Gwaine approaching him, in fact he wasn't aware of Gwaine until he dropped to his knees right in front of him and hugged him.

"I can't believe she's gone" Merlin mumbled.

"I know we are all in shock" Gwaine said.

For the longest time neither said anything, Merlin just rested his head on Gwaine's shoulder as he held him.

"Look Merlin I am not going to drag you back home I only came to find you and talk to you. I left the castle before dawn so nobody knows where I am or why I left in fact I didn't expect to find you at all let alone this quickly. I feel I am the only one who thinks this Merlin but I truly believe that you are the only one who might be able to snap Arthur out of this, you are our last hope so please just think about it" Gwaine said and then he got up, helping Merlin back up to his feet in the process and with one final hug Gwaine left to return to Camelot.