Chapter 2: Missing

"Where is he?" The Prince thought to himself as he paced up and down the length of his chambers, clumsily shoving objects into a bag that would be needed for his upcoming adventure. He knew it was wrong to be thinking about Merlin when his father was so worried about the safety of the kingdom, but he couldn't help it.

Merlin was the most important thing to him. The two of them had been through so much together in the past, and after Gwen had left with Lancelot all those years ago Merlin had been the one who had picked Arthur back up again.

He was the one who had fixed him, who had made him the man he was today.

Of course if the King was ever to find out that his son, the future King, was not only in love with a servant, a commoner nonetheless, but a man. He would probably have the pair of them executed without even the slightest of hesitation. The pure shame it would bring upon Camelot and its people. Not to mention the fact that Arthur would produce no heir to the throne once the King himself had passed on.

It was unthinkable, in fact the very thought of his love for Merlin being public knowledge made Arthur feel week at the knees, forcing him to sit down.

As the Prince sat on his throne like chair fidgeting, trying to get comfortable, he remembered how oddly Merlin had acted the night before.

He had dismissed him from his duties and asked the young manservant to spend the night with him in his warm chambers, instead of in his own which were dark and lonely.

Arthur hated the fact that Merlin had such little luxuries in Camelot. He would sometimes lie in bed at night and think about how cold and alone Merlin must feel in his neglected room - once used as a place for Gaius to store his potions and books before Merlin had arrived all those years ago.

One night Arthur had actually managed sneak past a sleeping Gaius and climb into Merlin's small, rigid bed. He knew that if anyone was to catch him there they'd have both been in serious trouble, but he just couldn't resist it. The adrenaline, the excitement, the dangerousness of the situation, and above all the sheer fact that he just wanted to comfort Merlin, to hold his fragile pale frame in his stable and masculine arms. And he knew that it would be extremely unlikely that the King, or any man of noble standing would come to the Physicians chambers in the middle of the night anyway.

Arthur had always felt like he had to protect Merlin, keep him safe from the world. Probably because of how timid and perfectly useless Merlin was with a sword, and therefore incapable of defending himself, but also because if anything was to happen to him Arthur would never be able forgive himself, he'd feel pain unlike any other.

Unfortunately however, danger was often a theme in both boys' lives. They both knew how likely it was that one of them would be left alone in the world without the other. And even though it was too painful for them to talk about, they often took every little opportunity they had to be with each other. So last night when Merlin had turned down the offer of spending the evening with his beloved Prince, there was clearly something bothering him and quite rightly, Arthur was worried.

He'd decided to go and look for Merlin himself rather than wait for him to show up. So without further hesitation or even bothering to eat his breakfast that a stand-in-servant had kindly laid out for him whilst he'd been deep in thought, Arthur almost like a dog that had caught sent of something in the air, jumped to his feet and hastily left for Merlin's chambers.

Running his fingers through the thick mop of soft blonde hair that was currently standing on end at the top of his head, Arthur made a quick attempt at trying to appear normal. He smoothed a hand over his crumpled tunic and took a good few moments trying to regain his breath – not that he had been running of course – When his fist unknowingly knocked on the wooden door that separated him from what he hoped was Merlin on the other side.

Again Arthur's body was taking action and ruling his head once more as he barged into Gaius's chambers unannounced.

"Sire" Gaius squinted, clearly a little shaken by the sudden presence in his once empty room.

"Ah, Gaius, I don't suppose Merlin is in there?" Arthur said, gesturing towards a little door at the far end of the room, his eyes beady and darting all over the physicians's work place.

Gaius shifted uncomfortably on the spot, almost as if he had just been caught red handed doing something terrible.

Not that Arthur had noticed, he'd walked straight into the room and hadn't stopped until he'd reached the wooden door that he hoped divided him from his missing servant. His eyes narrowed, his hands reached out and his stomach flipped, the idea of seeing his manserverant clearly making an impression on the young Prince.

"Merlin?" He didn't knock nor did he wait for Gaius's reply. Barging into the back room, heart full of hope, his eyes told their own story and by the looks of the smile that had now taken up vacancy on Arthur's face, he'd found what he had been looking for.

Merlin.