DISCLAIMER: I own many things, but Merlin is not one of them.

"Álíefan mec æt lóclóca wiðinnan sé ætforanweall Camelot ond æalá sé æfteronfónd hátan Merlin." Morgana gazed into her scrying bowl and watched as the water rippled with magic, then cleared to show the serving boy she despised. She smiled. A spell this complicated would be tricky, but it would be worth it. Camelot would finally be hers. Morgana frowned as a thought occurred to her. What if Emrys didn't go after Merlin?

"He will," she said to herself. "He has to." She focussed on the spell she needed and glared at Merlin. Oh, how he would regret all the things he had done to her. Using the scrying bowl, she had witnessed Merlin throw himself in front of Arthur just a mace was about to hit him from behind, as he and a band of knights were fighting a group of bandits. She had enjoyed Merlin's pain then, but it had not helped her. If this spell worked, however, Camelot would kneel before her.

Morgana focussed on the now unconscious Merlin and began the spell.

"Æt sé cnyssung middelniht on þes dæg, álíefan hine æt béon áworpennes fram æðelcyning ond carseld, ond áfindan gig ánhaga beinnan sé ælfolc feorlic æðelcyning, feorlic Camelot, feorlic sy Merlin." She smiled. At midnight, Camelot was as good as hers. In her scrying bowl, Merlin woke suddenly, and although Morgana was concentrating on her spell and did not see, his eyes glowed gold for the merest second. Then sleep claimed him again, and he did not wake for a very long time.

oOo

Merlin had absolutely no idea where he was. The scene kept changing. He saw many unfamiliar lands, unfamiliar faces, and some faces he thought he knew, but everything was flashing by too quickly for him to be sure. Sometimes he even saw himself, as though he were somewhere outside his body watching himself do things. But it was all moving so fast. Eventually, it all swirled together, faster and faster, until Merlin felt like he was falling through it all.

He felt himself land. To his surprise, the scene stayed put, and everything seemed unusually clear. He was on a mountaintop, a barren, rocky summit surrounded by stormclouds. He could see someone kneeling in the centre of a circle of weathered stones, but he couldn't be sure who it was. Then the person looked up, and Merlin saw with a start that he was looking into his own face, smeared with tears and what looked like blood.

"I wasn't fast enough," said the other Merlin. "I couldn't save him…" Then Merlin looked down and saw what Other Merlin had been talking about. For in a sudden flash of lightning, the person Other Merlin was kneeling over was revealed.

It was Arthur.

"Arthur!" Merlin yelled, sitting straight up in his bed. He looked around him in surprise; he didn't remember getting into it. Then again, he didn't remember much of anything before the dream…

Merlin swung his legs over the edge of the bed, intending to get up and check on Arthur. Immediately, his head started to swim and a jolt of pain went up his left shoulder. Instinctively, his hand went to the spot, feeling a rough bandage tied there. When he pulled his hand away he was astounded to find traces of blood on it. What had happened?

"G-Gaius?" he managed, and he heard the old physician come rushing (well, I say rushing) to his surrogate's aid.

"Merlin? I thought I heard you cry out before…" Gaius trailed off. "You're awake!"

"What happened, Gaius?" Merlin asked weakly.

"Don't you remember? You were accompanying the king on his hunting mission when you ran into a group of bandits, or so Sir Leon tells me. He said Arthur was taking on eight men at once, and a ninth crept up behind him, seen only by you. Apparently, you jumped in front of the king and took a mace for him!"

"I did?"

"Well, I for one am not surprised. You're the only one I know who could be so foolish-" Merlin slumped in shame. "-and so brave-" Merlin sat up straighter. "-at the same time."

"Thanks… I think."

"Well, I'm just glad you're awake. It's been a trying three days."

"Three days?!"

"You had lost a lot of blood. I'm not surprised. Although I had hoped you would wake sooner, as I didn't have nearly enough time to tend to my other patients."

"Wait, why not?"

"I had to look after you. And make sure Arthur didn't sneak in again. I actually had to order him as his physician to go and get some rest. Besides, I didn't want him to be there after the first day was over… that's when things took a turn for the worse."

"Gaius, start from the beginning. What exactly happened?"

"Arthur came in here carrying you, and I didn't need the look on his face to guess what had happened. He had done his best to bind the wound and prevent infection, but try as he might, Arthur will never be a great physician. After I cleaned the wound and applied a poultice, I told Arthur that you needed rest and would probably wake in a few day's time.

"But he wouldn't go, as much as I urged him. He stayed all through the first night, and the next morning, he came to me and said you were calling out in your sleep. Sure enough, you were having a nightmare. I'm not going to ask what it was about, but I heard Arthur's name many times.

"I ordered him to go home and get some rest, for anyone could see that he was asleep on his feet. He argued, but I finally managed to get him to capitulate. He left, with the assurance that after a good night's sleep he could come back. But I am glad I sent him away, for the next night was the worst.

"Your wound was worse than I had first thought, Merlin, and went deeper than it appeared. For someone else, it might have been fatal, but your magic reacted strongly against it, trying to keep you alive. Your nightmares seemed to get worse, and that and your magic making things whizz around the room made it especially essential that I keep everyone out. Especially Arthur.

"He tried to get in, but I posted Gwen at the door to turn him away. As much as he might like to, I knew he couldn't refuse her. And on the third night, you seemed to calm down enough for him to return, but I wasn't going to take any chances. I'm glad I didn't let him in, for although your accidental magic was lessening, your nightmares got so bad that I had to get Gwaine to tie you to the bed, so you wouldn't thrash and make your wound worse.

"Needless to say, Gwaine wasn't very happy when he left, as he got quite a kick to the jaw from you, and he asked me never to tell Arthur, seeing as he would never let him live such a thing down."

"I kicked Gwaine in the jaw? Wish I'd been awake for that…"

"I'm glad you weren't, considering all the profanities that kick got out of him." Merlin laughed. He could just see Gwaine hopping around in fury and cursing his ill luck. Then the young sorcerer paused. Something was niggling at the back of his mind.

"Gaius?" Aware of Merlin's sudden change in mood, Gaius prepared the 'eyebrow of doom'.

"Yes, Merlin?"

"My nightmare… I don't think it was a normal dream, it was… it seemed important…" He frowned, trying to remember. Then, suddenly, his dream came crashing back to him. "Gaius!" he half-yelled. "I remember! I was there… and Arthur… Oh, Gods, Gaius, he was… I couldn't…"

"Merlin," Gaius said in his I'm-sorry-but-I-need-you-to-explain-more voice.

"He was dead, Gaius." Merlin's voice cracked with the strain of holding back his sobs. It had seemed so real.

"Now, Merlin," soothed Gaius, "it was only a dream. Arthur's fine."

"That's… that's what you told Morgana," said Merlin, "and look what happened to her!"

"You think it was a vision of the future?"

"That's what it felt like."

"Now, Merlin, we need to deal with this rationally…" The physician trailed off as he realised Merlin was in the process of leaving the room.

"I'm going to find Arthur," said the warlock. "I've got to warn him."

"And how will you explain to him that you had a dream of the future? You'll be accused of sorcery before you know it!"

"I'll find a way," said Merlin with more confidence than he felt.

"Merlin, wait!" cried Gaius, but the young sorcerer was already gone.

oOo

The door was thrown open with a crash. Arthur looked up at the sound and automatically said,

"Don't you know how to knock, Merlin?" before he remembered the last time he had seen Merlin. The already pale servant had looked so bloodless that Arthur at first feared he had to be dead. But Gaius had reassured him that Merlin still lived, and he would do his best to keep it that way.

Arthur had stayed with the boy all night, and had almost fallen asleep by Merlin's bedside when the servant unexpectedly yelled,

"Arthur!"

Arthur sat bolt upright.

"Merlin! What…"

Then he saw that the boy still slept. He must be having a nightmare.

"Arthur…" cried the servant once more, and his face showed so much anguish that Arthur found himself choking back a sob on behalf of the poor boy.

"I'm fine, Merlin," he said, his voice shaky. "I'm right here, and I won't let anything happen to you."

Merlin seemed to calm down, and no longer cried out in his feverish dreams. But Arthur vowed then not to leave his side until the boy had recovered. Unfortunately, Gaius had gotten him to leave by invoking the 'eyebrow of doom'. No matter how much Arthur tried, that eyebrow always freaked him out in the end and he would follow its owner's orders.

Now Arthur wondered why Gaius had allowed Merlin to leave so soon after waking, for the servant had clearly not fully recovered yet. His face was still unnaturally pale (even for Merlin), and every movement of his left shoulder was followed by a small gasp of pain.

"Merlin," Arthur asked, "What do you think you're doing here?"

"I was… checking to see if you were alright," Merlin sounded like there was something he wasn't saying, but Arthur dismissed it; the boy had only just recovered, after all.

"I'm fine, Merlin." Arthur paused. "Is this about your dream?"

"W-what?" If it was possible, Merlin went even paler. "How…"

"How did I know? I was… checking to see how soon you would be back at work," Arthur lied, "and I heard you call my name. I figured you were having a nightmare."

"Oh," said Merlin, and a bit of colour returned to his face. "Em…"

"What?"

Merlin opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again. "Nothing. I just wanted to know when you wanted me back at work."

Arthur frowned. There was something Merlin wasn't telling him.

"Well," he considered, "you can't very well polish my armour with an injured shoulder, so why don't you begin work after it's healed enough for that, in about… eight days?"

Merlin gaped.

"It's just that I don't want you making an even bigger mess of things than you usually do," Arthur said quickly.

"Eight… days?!"

"Shut up, Merlin."