AN: So, it is recommended that you read I Used to Know before reading this story as this one builds off of that one, but here's a short summery:

A little more than a year ago, Arthur became king. He accidentally drank a goblet of rat poison which Merlin left sitting in Gaius's chambers, unaware that Arthur would go searching for him when he was late. In order to save Arthur, Merlin was forced to use magic. This lead to a cascade of events, including the discovery of his magic. Morgana, who had not yet been discovered as a traitor, decided to use this to her advantage. With the use of a spell that helped her control Arthur's mind, Morgana convinced Arthur to execute Merlin. Gwaine helped Merlin to flee the city, and for a year Merlin disappeared from Camelot.

During that year, Arthur searched for a new servant. Gwaine presented his cousin, Cuilén, a 16-year-old boy from Ealdor. Reminded of Merlin, Arthur hired the boy. Little by little, Morgana began to control Arthur more and more until she had full control of his mind and he began to rule as harshly as Uther had. Cuilén discovered that Merlin could talk in his head, and Cuilén told him all about what was going on in Camelot. They found out that Cuilén was an empath, which meant that he could feel other's pain, and heal other people. One day, Gwaine quit as a knight due to Arthur's harsh measures. This lead Arthur to throw Cuilén in the dungeon for being connected to Gwaine. Cuilén, frightened, contacted Merlin, who rushed back to Camelot. When Morgana found out about Merlin's return, she and Arthur went out to meet him in the forest. There, Morgana 'took care' of both Merlin and Arthur, hoping that they would not return to Camelot.

Gaius helped Cuilén to escape the dungeons and he went searching for Merlin and Arthur, healing them both. The three then returned to Camelot, met up with Gwaine and the other knights, and together they tried to fight against Morgana. Ultimately, Merlin beat her with magic. In the end, Morgana fled Camelot, Arthur was no longer being controlled, and Merlin found out that the reason he could talk in Cuilén's head was because they're cousins. Cuilén is Balinor's brother's son, and Gwaine is related to Cuilén from the mother's side. Arthur, Merlin, Gwaine, and Cuilén formed a sort of brotherhood and Arthur accepted Merlin's magic, beginning to rule as the kind of king he'd always hoped to be.

Merlin's magic has been accepted by many people (including Arthur and the knights), but magic isn't technically legal all over the kingdom yet. Uther is dead, so Arthur is the king. Gwen isn't in the story.

By the way, age wise Cuilén is about 17 give or take in this story, Merlin is like 22 give or take, so Arthur is like 25 give or take.

This story is co-written with Anna Davenport, the Arthur to my Merlin (hehe).Hope you enjoy!

Arthur sat on the stairs that led down to the courtyard. He had a distressed look on his face as he remembered the last year.

He could not believe what had happened after he had told Merlin to leave.

He had begun to rule the way his father had when Uther was still alive, that was one thing he had always promised himself he would never become.

He was such a failure to his subjects and to the kingdom itself. He had failed to keep them safe.

Arthur sighed and rubbed at his temples. How could he face his kingdom? How could he face his knights, or even Merlin? He'd been avoiding everyone, really, for the past few months. Sure Merlin, Gwaine, Cuilén and himself had been developing a sort of tight knit bond, but while Gwaine, Merlin, and Cuilén were extremely close, Arthur always reserved himself slightly. He'd been so terrible to all three of them, how could they forgive him? They pretended that they did, but if he couldn't even forgive himself, how could someone like Gwaine?

Arthur pressed his eyes shut with frustration. Even now he wasn't the kind of king Camelot deserved; would he ever be? Would he ever be able to make the right decisions for the whole of Camelot?

His head in his hands, Arthur sighed. At this rate, he'd be a terrible king simply due to his inability to do anything besides feel sorry for himself and everyone who had been around him during what he internally referred to as his 'dark days'.

"Hey, you alright?" Merlin's voice chirped, and moments later the servant was seated beside Arthur. Merlin's forehead creased as he saw the expression on his friend's face. "Arthur?"

"I don't deserve to be king," Arthur mumbled, his head still buried in his hands.

"What?" Merlin sounded more confused than anything else. "What brought this on?"

"I did all those horrible things..." Arthur started to say before Merlin interrupted him.

"Honestly?" Merlin actually laughed. "You were under a spell! It's not as if you had any choice in the matter. I certainly don't blame you, and I doubt many others do either."

"I could have fought harder against her," Arthur snapped.

"No one could," Merlin assured him. "Magic... It can be very powerful, and clearly not everyone chooses to use it for good, but many do use it for good! Like the Druids."

"But I killed people, children!" Arthur protested.

Merlin hesitated, however he swallowed hard and shrugged.

"You couldn't help it," he told Arthur adamantly. "And, I mean, it wasn't that long I was gone. You couldn't have have killed all that many."

"Anyone who Morgana felt was a threat." Arthur whispered, shame laced in his tone.

"But, I thought she supported magic users?" Merlin was confused.

"She was supportive of some of them, but there were a few who didn't like her," Arthur explained. "Anyone who didn't was a threat. I did many raids on some of the Druid camps who said they would follow you. She hated you."

"You raided the Druid villages where they followed... Me?" Merlin paled.

"Yes," Arthur said slowly. "Morgana was determined to... To wipe out every alliance you had. She made me do a lot of it."

"Oh..." Merlin paled further, but then he forced a weak grin on his face. "But, she made you do it. It wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself. I left, you know. I could have stayed and protected them, but I fled."

"But I didn't even fight against her! I just did what she said, with so much as a word! And I pushed you away! How could I do that?"Arthur's features were tight with worry.

"It wasn't you, it was her. And besides, you were her brother, of course you didn't fight against her. You trusted her, and she broke that trust. I let you know about my magic; what were you supposed to do? Just accept it after being told since you were born that magic is evil? Rather than fight against her, I ran. It was a poor decision, but I did it anyway. Maybe we both did things we regret, but I think we should let it be in the past and move on so you become a half decent king and not a prat!" Merlin grinned at Arthur humorously.

Arthur shot a small smile at his friend and slowly got to his feet.

"I am not a prat," he said, his smile growing wider at the familiar banter.

"You're right, you're much more of a dolluphead these days," Merlin replied mock seriously.

Arthur gaped at the younger man, "You can't talk to me like that!" He protested loudly.

"You're right, I'm so sorry, your royal pratness. You're much more of a dolluphead these days, my lord," Merlin grinned innocently.

"That's better," Arthur started to say before he fully took in what Merlin had said. He quickly reached out and gently hit the back of Merlin's head. "Merlin!"

"Come on inside. Didn't you say the other day you wanted to plan a trip of some kind out to the forest or something? I'm sure Gwaine and Cuilén will be up for a quick ride," Merlin told Arthur.

"Alright," Arthur said before turning away from Merlin and walking up the steps to the door. "Oh, and Merlin?"

Arthur turned back around and waited until he was sure the servant was listening. "Thanks."

Merlin hesitated, before smiling warmly.

"What, for telling the truth? I've decided that's my new policy. The truth and only the truth, I promise," Merlin smiled, and then hurried inside.

Arthur smiled. Merlin didn't seem to understand what he had done for the King, Arthur no longer felt any of the worries he had had ten minutes ago. Or at least he didn't feel them as strongly. He sighed and quickly walked into the castle, but smiled once again as he thought of how much fun he would have with Merlin's vow to tell the truth later. Questions would be answered, and he and the knights would have a lot of fun doing it.

MMMM

The day was hot and muggy, which made Merlin want to curl up inside the cool walls of the castle and bask in the relief from the heat that the stone brought. Instead, however, he was doing quite the opposite.

"Are you ready yet Merlin?" Arthur demanded. "Honestly, how long does it take you to saddle a horse?"

"Longer when it's so hot I can barely breathe," Merlin muttered as he finished strapping the saddle in place. "Besides, Gwaine and Cuilén aren't even here yet!"

"It doesn't matter," Arthur said. "We can be ready to go on time."

Merlin rolled his eyes and muttered something about Arthur actually being a half hour early due to his over enthusiasm about killing innocent little bunnies or some such thing, however Arthur tactfully ignored him.

"Why can't we go on a nice little ride rather than a hunt?" Merlin sighed, and Arthur playfully his him over the head.

"Because you claimed this ride was meant to cheer me up, and I feel like going on a hunt!"

Merlin sighed and rolled his eyes again. A few moments later, cousins Gwaine and Cuilén made their way into the miserably hot stables, Cuilén using his hand to fan himself.

"Finally!" Arthur exclaimed. "Where have you been Gwaine?"

"We were getting supplies for the hunt," Gwaine said. "Like you told us too."

"You took longer than Merlin does!" Arthur complained. "Now come on, the horses are getting impatient."

"They're not the only ones who are getting impatient," Merlin whispered to Cuilén, who giggled softly.

"I heard that Merlin!" Arthur yelled. "Hurry it up!"

"I see what you mean," Cuilén smiled, leaping onto a horse before Arthur could playfully hit him over the head.

"Both of you stop it," the king ordered, mounting his own horse.

"Don't make Queenie too angry," Gwaine told his cousins. "You might find yourself walking instead of riding."

"Even I'm not that much of a prat, though keep it up much longer and Gwaine's theory might come true," Arthur glared at the two younger brunettes, who simply grinned back at him. Arthur sighed and gently kicked his horse, enjoying the cool breeze that came past his face as he rode. The other three fell in line and followed him out of town.

Arthur, Cuilén, Merlin, and Gwaine had grown quite close over the past months, and finally Arthur seemed to have forgiven himself a bit more for the time he spent as a tyrant over his people, rather than the kind and just king that he hoped to be. Merlin's magic had been accepted by almost all, and tales of Cuilén's ability had traveled throughout the kingdom. Merlin continued to encourage Arthur to allow everyone to do magic, however the council was still wary, and Arthur knew that pushing too hard to get him own way would cause rumors to fly about him being enchanted by Merlin or some such nonsense. Still, Arthur listened to the council's words and didn't overrule them because he feared he would remind himself of the time when Morgana had ruled his life.

"Hurry up, Prat!"

Arthur jumped as he realized he had fallen behind the group and Merlin was yelling at him.

"Shut up Merlin," he said, then moved to be in front again. "Besides, I set the pace."

"I thought you were in a hurry?" Merlin grinned.

"I can change my mind can't I?" Arthur asked as he and Gwaine exchanged a look and suddenly sped up. "Come on Merlin, we don't have all day!"

"See what I've told you? Prats, the both of them!" Merlin told Cuilén, before nudging his horse ahead. Cuilén smiled and hurried to catch up as well. He hated hunts, however usually he just healed the animals when Arthur wasn't looking, leaving Arthur very confused because he was always sure that he hadn't missed. It was Merlin's and Cuilén's secret. Gwaine knew how Cuilén felt about the hunts, and though he always told his cousin that he was free to stay home, Cuilén said that he didn't want to miss out on time spent his his suto-family, and so he always dutifully trailed behind, enjoying the sound of the birds in the trees. It wasn't until the group was deep within the forest that he noticed the birds seemed to have quieted.

Arthur held up a hand and motioned for the group to stop.

"Quiet!" He said. "Listen."

"I don't hear anything," Gwaine shrugged.

"That's the point," Arthur assured him. "It's too quiet."

"I think you're too paranoid," Gwaine rolled his eyes, until he glanced at Merlin and frowned. "You okay?"

Merlin glanced over a Gwaine skittishly, not giving a response, before he looked quickly at the treeline.

"Merlin!" Arthur hissed, "What is it?"

Merlin heart beat quickly, and he shrugged uneasily. Silently, he nudged his horse forward a few steps, continuing to look intently at the treeline. A noise in the brush made Merlin spin his head almost 180 degrees, before turned quickly to Arthur.

"Something's wrong, I can feel it, there's something bad, it's right there, but I can't see it, but I know it's there. Come on! We have to go! Go on, Arthur! I'll be right behind you."

Arthur was about to protest when he saw the look in Merlin's eyes. He quickly motioned to Gwaine and Cuilén and they went back the way they had come. Arthur knew Merlin could take care of himself, he'd learned all about Merlin's supposed legend, and so if he said for the others to get out of there, Arthur wouldn't argue. They had made it a fair way down the path when Gwaine let out a shout of warning to Arthur, who immediately saw the figures emerging from behind the trees.

"Come on!" Arthur shouted, kicking his horse, however it refused to budge. The other horses were in a similar condition, and Arthur right away knew magic was involved. Leaping down from his horse, Arthur drew his sword. The head of the group, a man in a dark cape who seemed to be the leader, merely laughed.

"Put your sword away, it can do nothing against us. We've come for the boy, Cuilén; hand him over and there need be no bloodshed."

Gwaine clearly did not like this idea for he leaped off his horse and immediately skewered one of the sorcerers. The others reacted quickly.

Cuilén's horse suddenly reared on his hind legs, sending the boy from the saddle. All three horses then bolted in the direction of Camelot leaving the group stranded.

Gwaine and Arthur surrounded Cuilén instinctively, swords held in the air as the sorcerers advanced slowly.

"You can simply hand him over, and there will be no violence," the leader spoke again, his voice calm and yet sinister.

"We don't even know who you are, there is definitely a need for violence!" Gwaine shouted.

"So be it," was the reply, and the next moment Gwaine found himself hurled into a tree where he hit his head and fell unconscious. Arthur immediately attacked, and moments later there was a blast of magic that sent three sorcerers flying through the air.

"Glad you could make it," Arthur hissed to Merlin who suddenly rushed toward his king. "Watch out!"

Merlin barely missed being hit by a blast of magic, and he sent his own back in return. The sorcerer shielded himself, and Merlin was quick pressed to block three more volleys of magic.

All out chaos reigned then as Arthur resorted to merely shielding Cuilén from the magical battle. Of course, Merlin was incredibly talented at blocking spells and returning other ones, however he was outnumbered six to one, and so when suddenly a shot of something-or-other hit Merlin in the back, Arthur was hardly surprised. He was, nevertheless, horrified as Merlin fell to his knees with a scream.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted as Merlin attempted to stagger to his feet and failed miserably.

The leader of the sorcerers, who was still standing, hurried forward and snatched Merlin in an iron grip. Rather than running off with him, or worse yet killing him, the sorcerer shoved Merlin toward Cuilén.

"Heal him," the sorcerer demanded. "Now."

"Don't, I'll be fine," Merlin gasped out, however the sorcerer's eyes flashed and Merlin let out an involuntary whimper.

"Now," the sorcerer glared at Cuilén, who was already wincing slightly as his hurting cousin was brought closer to him.

Cuilén hesitated for only a moment before he fell to his knees beside Merlin.

Don't do it, don't you dare! Merlin's voice echoed in his head, however Cuilén simply averted his eyes and placed his hands on Merlin's back. A second later, Cuilén gasped and arched his own back slightly, however his hands remained and a few moments later, Merlin seemed to relax. Cuilén's eyes were shut tightly as he continued to draw the injury from Merlin and take it on himself. After a minute or two, he forced his eyes open and glanced at the sorcerer.

The sorcerer's eyes shone, clearly amazed by what he'd just witnessed, and he nodded abruptly.

"You are coming with us now." He commanded, grabbing Cuilén's arm in a tight grip.

Cuilén hissed in pain as the sorcerer dragged him back a few feet.

Arthur sank down next to Merlin and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Merlin!" He hissed, "You need to wake up!"

Merlin murmured something softly, however he did not awaken. Arthur glared at the man dragging Cuilén, enraged.

"Let him go!" Arthur shouted. "What do you want with him? He is just a servant!" Arthur hoped Cuilén wouldn't be offended by the term but he didn't want them to take the boy. "As the King I would fetch more of a price."

"You think we are doing this for money?" The sorcerer laughed, "If that were to case then yes, you would be the better pick. However, the Lady has told us to bring the boy to her. No one else."

"Who are you working for?" Arthur asked, feeling Merlin shift and hoping the warlock would wake up soon.

"You know who she is," the sorcerer said. "Do not follow us, not that you could."

There was a flash of light and the sorcerers teleported away, leaving Arthur kneeling in the middle of the clearing next to his unconscious companions.

MMMM

Merlin shivered when he awoke; the air was cold. He was confused when he realized he was on the hard ground rather than in his almost equally hard bed. He shot up, eyes flicking about and landing on a small campfire a few feet away. Arthur knelt in front of the fire, warming his hands.

"Arthur!" Merlin declared, and Arthur spun around.

"Merlin!" The King walked over to his friend, who was looking around. "You're awake!"

"Where are we?" Merlin rubbed his head.

"We are..." Arthur rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "We are still in the forest."

"What are we doing there? Wait, the hunt! Cuilén! Where's Cuilén?!"

Before Arthur could answer he heard a loud moan from the other side of the camp and he spun around. "Gwaine!"

"Shut up," Gwaine moaned, clutching his head in his hands. "My head hurts."

"Where's Cuilén?!" Merlin shouted, ignoring Gwaine's request.

"They took him, Merlin," Arthur said quietly, wincing as Merlin's face lost what colour it had.

"They... They what?" Merlin's voice was but whisper.

"Wait, who took who?" Gwaine glared, eyes flying between the two.

Merlin locked eyes with Arthur, before he shook his head in horror.

"They can't have..."

"Who took who?" Gwaine shouted. "What's going on?... Where's Cuilén?"

Arthur averted his gaze, causing Gwaine's heart to speed up dramatically.

"Where is he? Where's my cousin? Tell me Arthur!"

"The, uh, the sorcerers... They took him." Arthur felt horrible but he couldn't do everything at once.

"They what?!" Gwaine shouted, leaping to his feet despite his headache.

"Gwaine!" Arthur exclaimed, "Sit down! I don't know how badly you're hurt!"

"Who cares? We have to save him!" Gwaine suddenly swayed on his feet, almost ready to fall over again.

Arthur grabbed Gwaine's arm and sat him down.

"Sit! We don't need you fainting. Merlin, how are you feeling?"

"I'm... Much better," Merlin murmured, his eyes holding a far away look. "I... Who were they, Arthur? Was there any hint? Any clue?"

"No," Arthur shook his head. "They teleported you sure you're alright?" He asked again seeing the look in Merlin's eyes.

"I... I think so... I feel sort of strange, but I can't think of any reason why..."

Arthur walked back over after sending a glare at Gwaine to stay put. "What's wrong?" He asked, "I can't help unless you tell me."

"I think... Perhaps... It's like a sort of headache I've gotten before when Cuilén tried to contact me, but was unable to, only it isn't stopping. I remember a couple of times we tried to contact each other and were unable to because we got headaches, and we stopped, but now it's just continuing."

"What caused them?" Arthur asked.

"Well, it was a long time ago actually, when Morgana was still in Camelot. It was then that we discovered we could speak in each other's heads, but she blocked us."

"That's who he was talking about!" Arthur exclaimed, slapping his forehead in frustration causing Merlin and Gwaine to stare at him.

"What?" Merlin asked, rubbing at his temples.

"The sorcerer who took Cuilén!" Arthur said.

"It's Morgana?" Merlin's blood ran cold.

"Yeah," Arthur frowned as he struggled to remember what the sorcerer had said. "He referred to his boss as "the Lady". He said I knew who it was but I didn't get it till now."

"That witch took him? What does she want with him? What is she going to do to him?" Gwaine asked questions when he saw Merlin's reactions to the realization of who Cuilén's captor was.

Merlin ran his hands through his hair, his breath speeding up dramatically as he shook his head in horror.

"I couldn't know, not really, but that sorcerer, he wanted Cuilén to heal me! He... He made him heal me! What if... She can't force him to heal people, can she? She can't do that! Why would she want him, though? Arthur, we have to get him back!" Merlin's voice turned into almost a wail. "We have to save him, now! Come on, Arthur, we have to save him! Please! Please Arthur!"

Arthur watched as Merlin tried to stand up, and he pushed the boy down. "Calm down Merlin and slow your breathing." He commanded, "You are going to make yourself sick!"

Merlin nodded and tried to do as Arthur asked.

"We will go get him," Arthur assured the two panicked men. "But we cannot do it alone. Let's go back to Camelot and get the other knights to come with us."

"Who knows what she will do until then, we have to go now!" Merlin argued. "You don't understand, if I'm right..." Merlin trailed off for a moment. "I hope I'm wrong."

Arthur hated seeing his friend like this but he knew they would need the other Knights. "Merlin," he began, "I know you want to go rescue Cuilén right now but..."

"But..." Merlin interrupted.

Arthur held up his hand, "But we need more than just the three of us."

Merlin's eyes were wide, however after a moment, he nodded slowly, though he still seemed panicked. Again, his hands found their way to his head and he closed his eyes tightly.

"So we're just going to leave him with her?" Gwaine demanded.

"For now we must," Arthur sighed, before looking over at Merlin. "Merlin what is it?"

"I don't know, I'm worried about Cuilén, which makes sense, but there's something else, something more. It's like, this never ending sense of panic..."

"Does it have anything to do with Cuilén?" Arthur asked. "You mentioned being able to talk with him and aren't you both empaths to some degree? Can't you feel each other? He is probably scared, anyone in their right mind would be."

Merlin's face fell at this revolution, and he shook his head in horror.

"I... You could be right... Oh, Arthur, he is so panicked! So scared!" Merlin almost had tears running down his cheeks as he took in Cuilén's emotions.

Arthur gently sat down next to Merlin instead of kneeling in front of him and motioned for Gwaine to come over. "As soon as we get back and gather the knights we will look for him." He told Merlin, trying to reassure the young warlock.

"It'll be okay, Buddy," Gwaine promised.

Merlin nodded once, wincing when he recognized Gwaine's familiar nickname for their cousin. He wished he could talk to Cuilén.

"Let's get going," Merlin forced himself to his feet. "Come on, let's go now!"

Arthur nodded, knowing not to tell the man to wait and, after putting out the fire, they mounted their horses as rode off toward Camelot.

AN: So, what do you think? What does Morgana want with Cuilén? What will Arthur, Gwaine, and Merlin do? Please review!