A/N: Thank you all for the great response to the first chapter! I really appreciate everyone's reviews! By popular request, this chapter is over 3 times the length of the first. Enjoy!

After Merlin left Arthur's chambers, he stood out side in the hallway for a moment, deciding which way to go. His loud breathing and fuzzy mind prevented him from hearing the clicking footsteps until someone tapped him on the shoulder. Merlin whirled around quickly and tripped over his own feet. He would have fallen if a firm hand had not grabbed the neck of his shirt and pulled him up.

"Thanks- Oh." Merlin stopped abruptly when he saw it was Lord Aggravaine who had stopped him from falling. "Thank you, my lord."

"Anytime Merlin, anytime." Aggravaine smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. Merlin wondered why no one else ever realised. He clapped Merlin on the back and laughed, as if sharing some private joke, so Merlin laughed too, hoping it sounded genuine. "Where are you going? Aren't you meant to be serving Arthur?"

"Arthur said to-" Merlin paused and tried to think of something before the moment grew suspiciously long. "Take the day off." There. Perfect. It wasn't a lie anyway, so if Aggravaine said something about him having the day off, Arthur wouldn't think twice about it.

"Excellent." Another false smile. "What were you planning on doing?"

Of course, he wanted to know. If Merlin was far enough away, Aggravaine might be able to get away with something he would not be able to do with Merlin in the room. Merlin needed to think of something close by, not suspicious, and with nothing to do with Gaius. "I'm going to go to the- tavern." No, NO! What was his mouth doing? Why would he say that? "Maybe have some mead on my- day off."

"Oh." Aggravaine said. Merlin could see his eyebrows twist upwards in slight surprise. "Enjoy yourself then."

"I. I will." Merlin started to leave, inwardly kicking himself.

"Oh, and Merlin?" Merlin turned back to face Aggravaine. "Perhaps you should catch up on your sleep. You look terrible."

"Yes. Of- Of course. Sire." Merlin stuttered and left. If Aggravaine had noticed, maybe he really was worse than he thought. After all, how many times does someone who'd probably rather see you dead tell you look ill? He needed a place to rest. Somewhere he could lie down without anyone noticing, not Arthur or Gaius or the knights.

Perhaps Morgana's old chambers. No one used them, no one ever even went inside those rooms. It had clean blankets on the bed, Arthur tried to act as though it were any other guest chamber. And Merlin could deal with the dust and cobwebs that resulted from never being cleaned if it meant a good nap. That's where he'd go then.

After the second flight of stairs, Merlin felt himself tiring. His muscles ached and he was fighting to keep his eyes open. But he was almost there. Just one. More. Step.

Gwaine was not having the best of days. Most days were not the best of days for Gwaine, but this number had reduced slightly since coming to Camelot. Today, however was not the best of days.

For one thing, he had went to the tavern in the morning, but according to the bartender he hadn't "paid" or something ridiculous like that. So he wasn't allowed any mead, beer, or other alcoholic substance in the building. He had taken so long arguing with the bartender over this that he completely forgot about Arthur's morning practice. So Percival had to come get him, and he's not exactly the talkative type. When they finally got to practice, Arthur was angry and made Gwaine run laps the entire time. The ENTIRE time. Arthur's morning practices were two hours long. Sure, he had gotten there about an hour late, but still, he deserved a break. Surely there was a tankard of mead somewhere in his chambers. Perhaps under the bed-

"Hey!" Gwaine shouted. He could see a collapsed figure at he bottom of the stairs. It looked like- but it couldn't be- "Merlin!" he called, and raced down the stairs to his unconscious friend's side. "Merlin, can you hear me? Wake up. Wake up!"

Merlin moaned softly, and Gwaine let out a sigh of relief. He held Merlin for a moment and then stood, hooking his arms under the boy's as to drag him back up the stairs.

"Hold on Merlin." Gwaine assured him, although he wasn't sure if he could hear him or not. "I'm going to get you to Gaius."

At this, Merlin moaned again, louder, and started to fight Gwaine. Semi-conscious and with a bleeding head wound, Merlin threw himself back and forth in the knight's grip, resisting as well as he could.

"Shh, shh." Gwaine tried to calm him, but Merlin would not stop his desperate moves to get away. "It's alright. I'm taking you to Gaius. You're okay."

At this, Merlin only fought harder. He must have been out of it, then. Perhaps he thought he was in some kind of danger, or didn't realise he was still in Camelot. Gwaine knew Merlin sometimes had nightmares, he had heard the boy talking in his sleep on various patrols and hunting trips. Maybe, in his wounded state, his dreams had become a reality.

"Up you get." Gwaine groaned at Merlin's weight. The boy was skinny, but lugging his fighting form up the stairs was still difficult. "Hey!" Gwaine cried, knowing that there should be guards close by. "Hey!" This time he heard clinking, and pushed forward with a sense of relief. A few moments later, Merlin was being lifted out of his arms and carried up the rest of the way by two buff looking men.

Gwaine paused for a moment to breathe and then ran to catch up with them. "Take him to Gaius's chambers." he directed, and then realised that these men probably had no idea who Gaius was, or where his chambers were. "The court physician." he explained. "That way."

The guards followed his pointed finger without remark. Gwaine could see they were holding Merlin quite firmly, but he couldn't really protest. With the way he was wriggling around in their hold, Gwaine knew that if the guards loosened they're grip they would drop him.

"It's alright." Gwaine soothed from the side. "Everything's going to be fine, just as soon as we get you to Gaius."

For some reason, this only made the boy fight harder.

"King Arthur!" The squire pushed open the door without bothering to knock. Gwen was looking at papers with Arthur, and one of his arms was wrapped around her waist. Their eyes snapped up at him, and the boy realised his mistakes. "M'sorry." he mumbled, embarrassed. "My lord. I'll come back."

"No, of course not." Arthur wasn't annoyed. He had grown far too used to being barged in on since Merlin had become his manservant. Far too used to it, now that he thought about it. "What is it?"

The squire swallowed, sweat pouring off of him both from running the distance of the castle and nerves. The king would not be happy about this news. "It's about Merlin, sire. Your manservant."

"Yes?" Arthur jumped up off of his chair, practically running over to the shaking boy. Gwen stood just behind him. "What is it?" Had Merlin's illness worsened? It had looked like just another cold, albeit a bad one. Nothing that some sleep and a day off couldn't cure. That's why Arthur had relieved him for the day. What had his manservant gotten himself into? "Is he okay?" Arthur asked, hating the fear that was so prominent in his voice.

"He- he fell." The squire informed him curtly. "Down a flight of stairs."

"WHAT?"Arthur screamed, and shoved the boy up against his wall, not caring that it wasn't his fault, or that he was being to rough. "What did you say?" he demanded.

"He fell, sire." the boy was crying, scared to death of Arthur in the way servants used to fear his father.

Arthur quickly released him.

"I'm sorry," he apologised, his voice rough. "I'm sorry. What's your name?" Arthur asked, feeling like he might just through up all over the sniveling boy.

"Ashton." the squire whispered. He rubbed at his shoulder, still sobbing despite his clear attempts to try and stop.

"I'm sorry, Ashton." Arthur tried to keep himself calm. "Could you tell me what happened to Merlin?"

"He fell down a-"

"I know." Arthur interrupted, and then mentally kicked himself. Ashton shrunk down lower, expecting to be beaten, or worse. "I know." Arthur said again, softer this time. "How is he?"

For a moment Ashton just stared up at him, and Arthur had to wonder if he had heard the question. Just as he was about to repeat himself, the squire looked up at him.

"You better go see Gaius." the boy said weakly. Arthur was out of the door in a heart beat.

"Hey." Gwen said kindly. "Ashton, isn't it?" he nodded, still petrified. She helped him into a chair, he was clearly in shock. "It's okay. He'll be alright."

Ashton just shook his head. "I saw him. He won't be alright."

Gwen frowned. "I meant Arthur." she explained.

"So did I."