Sadly I do not own Merlin. It belongs to the BBC

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. :-)

Arthur was storming down the corridors with Gwen following not that far behind 'Please Arthur calm down,' she was pleading 'no Guinevere I will not, this has gone on long enough now,'

'look Arthur, just because we haven't seen Morgana for three days it doesn't necessarily mean that she isn't alright,' when Arthur didn't reply, Gwen quickened her pace and reached out to grab his arm but he shrugged it off 'no Guinevere.'

Gwen lost all of patience 'that's it Arthur Pendragon, King or not, if you don't stop right now, so help me I'll trip you,'

'you wouldn't dare,' he challenged

'you just try me.'

Knowing Gwen is as good as her word, he stopped and turned to face her. Stopping so suddenly she bumped into him and her grabbed her as she started to lose her balance 'thank you. Now, before you go storming to Morgana's and Merlin's chambers demanding to know why she hasn't shown herself, aren't you best to ask the person who was her maid for over ten years and knows practically everything about her and who also knows why she sometimes shuts herself in, not wanting to see anyone?'

Arthur sighed 'I'm sorry Guinevere. Why does she shut herself in her room sometimes?'

'The main reason is when she wants to do something and can't or she's worried or scared. Recently it's when Merlin has gone away for a few days and she misses him.'

Just then a maid came running up to Arthur and Gwen 'my Lord, my Lady,' she said curtseying to each of them in turn 'Anne, what's the matter?' Gwen said looking from Arthur to the maid 'it's the Lady Morgana, I deliver her food, she instructs for me to leave the tray outside her door and to return to pick it up thirty minutes later. I did this this morning, at dinner and at supper, and all three times I've heard her crying, as though she's really heartbroken about something.'

Arthur gave the maid a small smile 'thank you Anne,' curtsying once more she hurried off 'that's it, I can't take this anymore,'

'Arthur there is nothing you can do, she has her door locked, you can't break it down and if you try and talk to her through the door and she doesn't give you answers both you and I know you will lose your patience very quickly,'

'that is where you are wrong Guinevere,'

'I don't think so, you've not long proved that you have very little patience,'

'oh I know that I don't have much patience, but I wasn't talking about that,' Gwen frowned 'what was you talking about then?'

'There is something I can do,'

'what's that?'

'I'm going to ride out to Ealdor and bring Merlin back, if anyone can get her out that room, Merlin can,'

'Arthur, you can't just ride out to Ealdor and bring Merlin back. His mum is still ill, he will not leave her,'

'then I will take a few men and a carriage and bring Hunith back with me, he will not leave his mum whilst she is still ill, but when he hears about Morgana he'll want to come back to her, so Hunith can come back and stay in the castle and be looked after and cared for by our court physician, that way Merlin will know she's being well looked after and he can still see her, which is what should have been done in the first place. I'll take four knights with me and we'll be gone for about two days, three maximum,'

'when will you leave?'

'Immediately. Will you be alright running things here?'

'I'll be fine, just bring Merlin back. You go and gather the knights you'll be taking and I'll get Alex to pack you some things,' Arthur kissed Gwen on the cheek 'thank you Guinevere,' he said before turning to walk away.

Arthur was just about to get on his horse when he saw Gwen walking towards him 'Guinevere?' ignoring him, she walked up to him, wrapped her arms around him and whispered in his ear 'hurry back,' before kissing his cheek and letting go of him 'I will,' he said smiling at her. She took hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly then let go, she smiled at him before turning to walk away.

'Right then men, lets get going, sooner we get to Merlin the sooner we will be back.'

Merlin was kneeling on the floor beside his mums bed feeling her forehead with the back of his hand

'you're getting warmer mum,'

'it's just a summer flu Merlin, I'll be fine, you should go back to Camelot, I bet Morgana is missing you,'

'she'll be fine, you're still not well, if anything you're starting to get worse. I've been here for three days now and I haven't seen you any better,'

'Merlin son, I get summer flu every year,'

'but never this bad,' Merlin interrupted 'well no, but I'm getting older Merlin, I'm not as strong as I used to be, it's just going to take longer for it to shift, that's all,' not wanting to argue with his mum any further, he sighed and stood up 'I'll open the door for a bit, get some fresh air in and cool you down,' Merlin opened the door and started looking around just outside the door to find something to wedge the door and keep it open when he heard a farmer shout 'LOOK, IT'S KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS,' looking in the direction where the farmer was pointing he saw Arthur riding up to him and jump off his horse just before it stopped, he walked up to Merlin who just stood there staring with a confused look on his face.

'Merlin,'

Merlin didn't answer right away, he looked past Arthur at his knights and the carriage 'have you brought Morgana with you?'

'No Merlin, the carriage is for your mother, we have come to pick her up and take her back to Camelot, where she will stay in the castle and be treated by the court physician,'

'why?'

'Cleary your mother is still unwell because you haven't wrote saying otherwise, you are needed back in Camelot and I knew you wouldn't leave whilst your mother is still unwell. That's why we have brought the carriage, so your mother could travel in comfort,'

'why am I needed in Camelot?'

'It's Morgana. On the morning you left she seemed fine at first but that night she retired to your chambers early and….'

'and?'

Arthur sighed 'no-one has seen her since, she has just locked herself away, she not talk to me or Guinevere, the only person she has talked to is her maid, and that was only to tell her to leave her tray of food outside the door and pick it up in half hour, but the maid said that when she has done this, she has heard Morgana crying, as though she is really heartbroken about something,' Merlin's face dropped 'oh god, I need to get to her, I must see her, I think I know what's the matter, I just hope I'm wrong. Can the knights get my mother into the carriage whilst I pack her things up?'

'Of course,' Arthur instructed his knights to do as Merlin asked and twenty minutes later, with Merlin in the carriage with his mum, they all set off back to Camelot.

A maid came around the corner and saw Gwen sat on the floor, thinking she had fallen, the maid rushed up to Gwen and knelt down beside her 'my Lady are you alright?'

'I'm fine thank you,'

'do you feel ill? Would you like me to fetch the court physician?'

'I'm fine Mary, there's nothing wrong with me, I just wanted to sit down,'

'would you like me to fetch you a chair my Lady? A Queen should not be sitting on the floor,'

'no Mary, I do not want a chair, and a Queen can sit on the floor if she wishes, leave me be,' standing up the maid curtsied before walking away.

As soon as she disappeared around the corner Gwen turned and faced the door once more 'Morgana, I know you will not talk to me, but please, just tap the door or something so I know you're alright,' after a few minutes Gwen heard a light tap on the other side of the door, Gwen sighed with relief 'we're all worried about you, we don't even know why you've shut yourself away, but Arthur has rode out to Ealdor to bring Merlin back, hopefully they should be back today because Arthur said they would only be gone for three days maximum and today is the third day.'

Gwen was about to say something else when she heard Morgana speak for the first time in six days and noticed that her voice was breaking and that it sounded hoarse 'I want Merlin.'

After settling his mum in one of the chambers with the physician looking her over, he promised he would come back and see her later before hurrying out the room with Arthur by his side.

'What is it that you think is the matter with Morgana?'

'I'd rather not say until I know for sure,' Arthur nodded and said no more.

As they both turned the corner to where Merlin and Morgana's chambers were, Arthur saw Gwen sat on the floor 'Guinevere?' Gwen looked up to see Merlin and Arthur looking at her. Standing up she walked over and hugged Merlin 'oh Merlin thank god you're back,'

'no, thank me he's back, and why are you hugging him for I'm your husband, not him, and why were you sat on the floor for? A Queen shouldn't sit on the floor,' Gwen let go of Merlin then hugged Arthur 'don't you start, I've already had someone else telling me that, but I can sit on the floor if I want to, Queen or not,'

'Gwen it's been six days now, has she come out of that room?' asked Merlin

'no, I've been asking her to tap on the door or something, just to let me know that she's alright. She's done that a couple of times, but about ten minutes ago, she spoke to me, her voice sounded hoarse and it also sounded as if she was on the verge of tears,'

'what did she say?' Merlin said looking up from Gwen to his chamber doors 'she said "I want Merlin"'

Merlin walked towards the doors and knocked on them gently 'Morgana, sweetheart, it's me,' as soon as Merlin stopped talking, Arthur and Gwen heard the doors unlock. Merlin waited a few seconds before entering, with Arthur and Gwen not that far behind.

Following Merlin into the room, Arthur noticed how dark it was, walking over to the window he pulled the drapes open and turned around noticing several plates of food that had been delivered to her that hadn't been touched.

Merlin looked at the table and saw the plates of food that clearly told him that Morgana hadn't eaten for at least two days, looking over his shoulder to behind the door he saw Morgana leaning with her back to the wall, her hair was all knotted and messy as though it hadn't been brushed for a while, she had a couple of stains on her dress and tear stains on her cheeks as fresh tears were building up in her eyes.

Seeing Merlin, she started crying 'I'm sorry Merlin,' she said as she started to slide down the wall, Merlin rushed forward, caught her and pulled her back up wrapping his arms tightly around her and stroking the back of her head as it rested on his shoulder 'you have nothing to be sorry for,'

'I do, it's my fault,' Merlin pulled back and held her at arms length 'Morgana, don't you even start thinking that, this is in no way your fault. This is just natures way of saying the time wasn't right,' Morgana continued to cry and pulled herself back into Merlin's embrace. Arthur looked at them both 'what's going on? What's Morgana blaming herself for?'

'Morgana has had a miscarriage,' Gwen gasped and started to cry herself 'Morgana, Merlin, I'm so sorry,' Arthur walked up to Gwen and put his arm around her 'what? Miscarried?'

Merlin sighed 'We found out that Morgana was pregnant a few weeks back, we was going to tell everyone, but then I got a letter saying that my mum was ill, so we decided to wait until I returned to tell everyone, the day before I left Morgana said she felt tingling in her tummy, we didn't think nothing of it, then a few days later you come to me in Ealdor and tell me that Morgana has locked herself in this room and is refusing to see or talk to anybody, then when you told me that she had been heard crying as though heartbroken I immediately knew that she must have miscarried because we were over the moon when we found out.'

'I'm so sorry you two,' Arthur said looking at Merlin who seemed to have tightened his hold on Morgana as she seemed to be crying more and shaking 'would one of you be able to get a maid to run Morgana a hot bath, then have the court physician come and see her later?'

'of course Merlin, I'll see to it right away. Come on Guinevere,' keeping hold of Guinevere's waist, Arthur walked out of the room closing the doors behind them.

A while later Arthur knocked lightly on Merlin's and Morgana's chamber doors, after a few minutes Arthur thought that they must both be asleep and started to walk away when the doors opened to reveal a tired looking Merlin 'is anything wrong?'

'No, no, I just came to see how you both were, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you,'

'I wasn't asleep, I'm trying to stay awake because she's very restless, that's why it took me a few minutes to answer the door, she fell asleep on me, I had to be careful in moving in case I woke her up,'

'I'm sorry,' Arthur said again 'are you alright?'

'I'll be fine, now I know that my mum is on the mend my only concern now is Morgana,'

'and my concern is you Merlin, if you stay awake you're going to make yourself ill and Morgana not want that, none of us do, so even if she is restless, try and sleep when she's sleeping, she knows you're there for her if need be, promise me you'll get some rest otherwise I'll get the court physician to give you a potion that will make you sleep,'

'King or not, you can't make me drink anything,'

'no I can't. but I can and will pour it in your drink if it comes to that, you need sleep to keep strong and be there for Morgana as I'll try my best to be here and support both of you, as will Guinevere,' Merlin smiled 'thank you Arthur, you're a true friend,'

'you're welcome. Get some rest,' Arthur replied smiling and walked away.

Arthur entered his chambers and saw Gwen sat at the table who looked up at him when he entered 'how are they both?'

'Morgana's restless, Merlin was refusing to sleep in case she wakes up, but I told him that he needs his rest to be strong for Morgana and staying awake all the while will only make him ill, so, I told him either he got some rest or I'll get the court physician to give him a potion that will help him sleep and if he refuses, then I will just slip some in his drink when he's not looking,'

'you didn't say that did you?'

'Too right I did, it made him smile, not much, but it was there, then I told him that you and I will try our best to support them in any way we can,'

'they'll be alright wont they?'

They'll be fine, it will be a while before we see the old Merlin and Morgana again but, they'll pull through, it's just going to take time, that's all, just time.'

Hope you liked it. x

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