Wow. I am utterly, totally, completely stunned. 21 reviews within the first day? You guys are amazing! It was the best birthday present ever! I swear, I kept checking my email all day and every time I did there was another review, or favorite, or follow. You guys are the best!

I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. It's not as suspenseful as the first one, but it's starting to set up the rest of the plot. :)

Enjoy!


Chapter 2: Magic is Evil?

There was a moment of stunned silence.

"What?" Arthur said, not quite believing it. "But you're just a servant! You'd carry no ransom!"

Merlin looked away from Arthur and shrank back a bit. His lips had sealed again in a tight, white line. They weren't getting anything else from him tonight.

Gwaine growled. "Wait, Arthur, you're telling me that if the kidnap had been successful, and a ransom had been asked of you, you wouldn't have paid it? You would've let them keep Merlin?"

"I don't know what I would've done!" Arthur snapped. Now that some of the adrenaline from the situation was beginning to wear off, the king was remembering how tired he was and how unhappy he was to be out of bed. He REALLY didn't need Gwaine yelling at him right now.

"Arthur is the king, Gwaine," Leon interjected. "He can't show his weaknesses by giving in to villains, no matter what is at stake."

Arthur was grateful for Leon's support, but despite what he'd said he knew he would have paid the ransom. Just the idea that someone had attempted to kidnap his servant sent bolts of nervous anger into his stomach. Gwaine didn't look happy at being told off, but he settled for simply glaring at Leon instead of arguing further.

"Look, everyone, this isn't helping anything," Gwen said pleadingly. "It doesn't matter what Arthur would've done, because Merlin was not kidnapped. He's here. He's fine. And he's probably very tired and shocked. He needs rest."

"Gwen is right," Gaius added. "We need to find somewhere Merlin can get some rest before we discuss this further. In fact," he said, looking at all the fatigued faces around him, "it seems to me we could all use some rest."

Arthur's head was whirling with questions, but he knew Gaius was right. Everyone was too tired and upset right now for anything to be made clearer. And Gwen was right as well. Merlin was still here. The intruders were not successful. Tomorrow they would gather again and go over details to try to solve this mystery, but for now all they could do was rest.

Gwaine and Gwen helped Merlin to his feet, but it seemed he could walk just fine once he was on them. Gwen still clung to him though, as if her grip was the only thing keeping him safely here in Camelot. They decided that Gaius and Merlin would stay in one of the empty guest rooms for the time being. On the way there they bumped into Elyan, and they explained what they understood of the situation to him. He seemed shocked to hear of the abduction attempt, but relieved to hear both Gaius and Merlin would be fine.

Once they were settled into their new room, the knights left Merlin and Gaius to return to their own chambers. Gwen helped Merlin into bed, and then began to head back to her room. She stopped when she saw that Arthur was still lingering in the doorway.

"He's alright, Arthur," she said softly, wrapping her arm around his waist. Arthur nodded, but didn't move. Gwen stayed where she was, watching her husband quietly. "What's wrong?"

Arthur's face had softened with a concern that Gwen knew he would only show in private. He sighed and rubbed his face with one of his hands.

"I just…never thought about this before. That Merlin could be targeted like this. He always seemed so… safe."

Gwen lifted herself on her tiptoes and kissed Arthur on the cheek. "We'll figure it all out in the morning. Merlin's safe now, Arthur. There's nothing more you can do."

Arthur nodded once, and then turned away from the doorway, closing the door behind him. He slipped an arm around his wife and together they walked back to the royal chambers.

Inside the guest bedroom, Merlin lay awake, listening as the king and queen slowly walked out of earshot. Once their footsteps had disappeared down the hall, a small, guilty frown found its way onto his face.


"Is everyone here?" Arthur asked, looking at the people gathered around him. They were all seated at the round table, Gwaine, Elyan, Percival, Leon, Gwen, Gaius, and the two guards that had been knocked unconscious. Merlin was there too, his face a little more colored than it had been the night before and looking much more like his old self. Arthur was relieved to see Merlin was coming back, but had still told him to take a day or two off so he could recuperate fully. Despite what Merlin had told them the night before, Arthur had a feeling his servant was still hiding something. It didn't make sense that he would react in such a way, even after an attempted kidnapping. And that worried Arthur. What could possibly have happened that Merlin didn't want to tell anyone?

"I believe so, sire," Leon replied, doing a quick head count.

"Good," Arthur said. He took a deep breath. "We all want to understand in full what took place last night, and so we must hear the truth from everyone who was a witness to some part of the intrusion. If we can, we will begin with Gwaine and Percival."

Even though nearly everyone at the table had already heard Gwaine and Percival's story, it was important that all the facts were laid bare once again. The two knights said what they had observed and done, and then it moved to Leon and Elyan. The guards were next. Their story was very similar to Gaius's. They had heard voices and saw two men approaching, but before they could do anything they were knocked out by the drug. Gaius told his story after they were finished, and finally they came to a stop at Merlin.

Throughout the entire process Merlin hadn't said a word, staring at the table. It reminded Arthur of how he'd acted last night, and that made his stomach clench uncomfortably.

"Merlin," the king said carefully. "I know this may be difficult, but we really need to know what they did to you."

Gwen shifted in her seat, glancing between her husband and her best friend. The knights looked anxious, especially Gwaine. Everyone was hanging on what Merlin would say.

"Please, Merlin," Arthur added, almost as an afterthought.

Slowly, Merlin lifted his head and looked at his friends. "I know. I'll tell you what happened to me." His voice was strong and his eyes had some of their old fire in them. He took a deep breath.

"I was asleep in my bed when I heard some voices outside my door. Then I heard Gaius calling out, and then a scuffle and Gaius was silent. I opened my door to find out what was going on, and I saw two men in dark cloaks. Gaius was lying unconscious on the floor. I yelled at them, asked them what they had done to Gaius and what they were doing in here. They didn't say anything, but then one of them lifted his hand and spoke some strange words at me, his eyes turning gold. He was using magic, Arthur," Merlin said, his voice trembling.

Arthur clenched his hand into a fist. Once again sorcery was responsible for hurting those he cared for.

"I've never been more frightened in my life," Merlin continued. "I've never had to face such a direct attack from magic before. I had no idea what to do, and we all know how evil magic is."

Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur thought he saw Gaius give Merlin a surprised and confused look, but the king thought nothing of it. There were more important things to think about at the moment.

"He flung me against the wall, where I hit my head. Things got a bit fuzzy then, but I remember trying to get away. I couldn't. The sorcerer used magic to hold me down, and he destroyed all of Gaius's things. I couldn't understand what was going on. I thought they were going to kill me. But then the one without magic stopped the sorcerer, and said something about not making too much noise, and to hurry up and put me to sleep so they could take me. The sorcerer came towards me, his eyes glowing gold, and placed his hand on my forehead. I could feel myself slipping away, but then something stopped the sorcerer. I didn't understand what was going on at the time, but now I realize it was the alarm bells."

"The sorcerer stepped away from me and he and the other man fled from the room. I was so exhausted and I think some of the sleeping spell was still lingering on me, and so I passed out. The next thing I remember is Gwaine waking me." Merlin's eyes flashed toward the knight, who gave him a warm smile.

There was a moment of silence as everyone let Merlin's story sink in.

"I don't understand," Elyan said suddenly. "If one of the men was a sorcerer, I'm sure he could have used magic to escape with Merlin in tow, alarm bells or not."

"It doesn't matter," Gwen said quickly. "We should all just be grateful they didn't take Merlin."

Everyone nodded and muttered in assent. Merlin's gaze had returned to the table. He was shaking slightly, as though still disturbed by the memory. No one seemed surprised to learn a sorcerer had been behind the whole thing. No one, that is, but the court physician. Arthur could see that Gaius was still frowning at his ward as though he'd just pronounced that his favorite pastime was pure evil.

"Is something wrong, Gaius?" Arthur asked. Gaius looked startled at the sudden attention, but shook his head.

"No, nothing sire, I just have worries about the implications behind this attack. While it is now clear that two men, one a sorcerer, broke into the castle last night, ransacked my home and attempted to abduct my ward, it is still a mystery what their motive was." Gaius's smile didn't meet his eyes.

"Merlin, did the men say anything about why they were trying to kidnap you?" Percival asked kindly. Merlin shook his head.

"No, at least not that I remember. Everything I know I have just told you."

"Could Morgana be behind it?" Leon suggested. Arthur stiffened at the mention of his half-sister, but shook his head.

"I don't think so. What could she possibly gain from taking Merlin?"

"I don't think we can rule her out just yet," Gwaine put in. "I mean, it's just as likely she's behind it as anyone else. More so, in fact. How many times has she tried to take over Camelot? And how many times has she succeeded?"

"But we haven't heard from her in over a year-" Arthur started.

"All the more reason for her to be a suspect. Come on princess, do you really think she's just going to disappear forever?" Gwaine said, raising his eyebrows incredulously.

"Maybe it was one of Camelot's other enemies. Odin was responsible for many assassination attempts in the past, why not this?" Elyan said.

"Because Odin has always targeted me," Arthur explained. "Never my servant."

"Listen, everyone," Gwen said. "This arguing isn't going to get us anywhere. The first thing we need to do is find the men who broke in. We can discover their motives and who is behind it all from them."

Arthur gave Gwen's hand a squeeze. "The queen is right, of course. Who is willing to head an investigation to find these men?"

Arthur was not surprised to have Gwaine volunteer loudly. The other knights agreed to as well, and the meeting was adjourned. Arthur tried to convince himself that he was satisfied with what they had, but the truth is that he wasn't. He watched as Merlin and Gaius stood up and left the room together. A strange, uneasy feeling was settling in his stomach. Arthur still didn't think Merlin had told them everything, but he had no idea what more Merlin could be hiding. Or even why he would hide it. The shocked expression on Gaius's face when Merlin had stated that magic was evil kept replaying in his mind. Something certainly wasn't right here.

That, and honestly Arthur missed his care-free, talkative servant. It had been strange not having him wake him and Gwen up that morning. Later, Arthur promised himself, he'd go talk to Merlin. Alone. He had the feeling Merlin would reveal more to the king in private than he would in such a public place.

At least, Arthur could hope that.


Merlin said whaaaat? Crazy, right? What on earth's wrong with him? You'll have to keep reading to find out... ;)

Review please!