Chapter 2
The knights who had been sent to help in the search for Merlin's daughter had return with the news that the search had been called off. Arthur was shocked by how well Merlin had taken the news. He was about to admit what he knew to his manservant when Merlin asked him to come with him to the Darkling Woods tonight. Curious, the king agreed.
That night, deep in the forest Arthur and Merlin watched as Gwen and Morgana greeted each other and begin discussing the levy that they wish to disrupt. From where he is hiding, the king starts to draw his sword.
"No, my lord! Morgana's too powerful. Now is not the time." Merlin states as he keeps his fiend from making the biggest mistake of his life.
"How could she do this?" Arthur asks, his heart is broken at the sight before him.
"She's not the Gwen you love. She has fallen prey to a dark and powerful magic." The servant explained, easing the king's pain.
"If I lose her, I lose everything." Arthur says, as he longs for comfort.
"We'll find a way to bring her back, Arthur. I promise." And Merlin meant every word of it.
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The next few days flew by for Merlin. The frantic research, the meeting with the Dochraid, making a new disguise, drugging and sneaking Gwen out of the castle, falling off the edge of the cliff, being joined by Mordred, Aithusa and Morgana showing up, Dressing up as the Dolma, and summoning the White Goddess. They had stopped for the night and Merlin was exhausted. Merlin was still weak from the poisoning and the fall weeks before, but he didn't want to admit it to Arthur. Even when the prat had forced him to carry all the supplies by himself, he kept his mouth shut. After the fall, Merlin was sure he had recracked his healing rib and him hitting his head again so soon after his concussion was not a good thing. On top of all that he had used three very powerful spells, which had drain him physically and magically.
He knew he didn't have the strength to heal himself, so he asked Mordred to help him rebind his ribs. Gwen was told what had happened while she had been drugged, and she then insisted that she examine Merlin.
She had worked with Gaius for years before she had become queen, so when she saw that Merlin had hit his head again she told him there was to be no sleeping for him tonight. The three took turns keeping the exhausted warlock awake. Gwen had the first watch and had managed to keep merlin awake by talking about what she had done while under Morgana's spell and what Merlin had done to stop her.
Mordred relieved the queen two hours before midnight. Keeping the Great Emrys awake was much harder than the young knight had thought it would be. After about three hours, Merlin admitted that he had hardly slept in days. Combining that with the spells, all of which individually would have drained even the most powerful of sorcerers, and the head injury it was surprising that he was even alive let alone lucid.
When it was Arthur's turn, he stated with asking what had happened when he had gone to find the Dolma. Merlin had thought hard about what he was going to say when confronted with this question. On the trek back to the horses he had come up with a story that wouldn't harden the king's heart to magic and wouldn't make himself look like an idiot. He was starting to tell the story when the king shushed him, saying he thought he heard something. It was nearly dawn and Arthur decided to check it out. That was when Merlin lost consciousness.
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The king returned stating it had been a lost faun. He looked at his friend and started cursing himself under his breath. He tried to rouse the exhausted man, but to no avail. He woke the other two and told them what had happened. Gwen lectured her husband in such a way that Mordred was sure both Merlin and Gaius would have proud.
After an hour of trying every possible way they could think of to rouse Merlin, Gwen declared that needed to get him to Gaius. Since they had three horses, Gwen, who had ridden with Arthur the previous day, rode Merlin's horse while the likely comatose servant rode in front of Mordred on the knight's horse. It took them a whole day of hard riding to reach Camelot. The sun was setting as the riders crossed the courtyard.
Their arrival had been spotted and Leon, Gwaine, Percival, and Gaius were there to greet them. The knights wished to know why the royals had left the castle with only Mordred as an escort. While Gaius wanted to see for himself if the queen's mind was once again her own. None of the four were expecting to see an unconscious Merlin and deeply worried expressions on the other three riders' faces.
The knights helped Gaius whisk their friend up to his chamber, while the royals eased to tension that had built in the court during their absence. Mordred explained what had happened once the other knights had been sent off by the elderly physician. Gaius was worried that Merlin might have fallen into a coma. After closer examination it was clear that Merlin was simply exhausted, but Merlin had been right about the ribs and he had managed to give himself yet another concussion.
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After sleeping for three straight days, Merlin woke to the voices of Percival and Gwaine telling Arthur the details of their search for the lost girl. They had searched for two weeks and others had been looking for an entire week before they had arrived. They fell silent when they heard a noise from Merlin's room. Gwaine was the first one up the stairs. He saw Merlin crumpled on the floor beside his narrow bed.
As he rushed help his friend to his feet he realized Merlin was crying. Arthur took one look at his weeping servant and realized the fact that Merlin had never really accepted the fact that his daughter was missing, he had simply worked to keep his mind off of it.
After Gwaine and Percival had helped Merlin to the table in the main room, Arthur sent them off. Gwaine to let the queen and Gaius know that the "Sleepy Raven" was awake and Percival to let Audrey know to send up dinner for six or seven to Gaius's chamber.
When the knights were gone Arthur admitted to Merlin the whole story of what had happened the night of the fever. He also explained what he had missed the last three days as he let the man who had always been there for him cry as he held him to his chest. At that moment Merlin was not his clumsy, idiotic manservant, instead he was a brother who just needed a hug.
Merlin pulled himself together just in time. No sooner did he finish drying his face than six people came pouring into the room. They all noticed the wet mark on front of the king's shirt and the red rims of Merlin's eyes, but chose not to mention it. Gwaine felt proud of Arthur for stepping up and returning the favor that Merlin always showed the king. He had no clue why his friend had been crying in the first place, but Arthur did and had comforted him.
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When the food arrived it dawned on Merlin that Arthur had requested food for seven people, but there were eight people in the room. While the warlock was trying to figure out who the clotpole had forgotten when Gwen handed his a bowl of thin soup.
The other had been watching Merlin and had figured out what he was thinking. They laughed when Merlin's face showed that Arthur knew what he was doing. It was a mix of pride and horror that look way too familiar on their friends face.
"It may take a while Merlin, but we will find her." Those were the comforting words Arthur had told his best friend, and he meant them.
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