Once again shout out to Moon Fox for all her help and being pretty much a beta for me as her corrections on my horrible use or lack thereof of commas and watching out for redundancies has been a godsend and helps make me look like a good writer :) thanks moon :D

Edited 6.14.2013 with a TON of help from Moon Fox, I think we have made it much better now :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, it would have been way different if I did.

As the first rays of sunshine pierced his window and the town awoke, Merlin was pacing in his room blissfully unaware of the just how much his world would change today. After eating breakfast Merlin made his way to the kitchens to retrieve the king's breakfast while still struggling to contain the rage in his heart. Merlin's annoyance grew as he hurried through the castle doing his best to ignore the odd looks he was receiving. After reaching the king and queen's door Merlin took a minute to calm himself with a few deep breaths. Merlin knocked on the door of the King's chambers and stood fidgeting nervously until Gwen said, "Come in."

"Good morning, sire. Good morning milady", Merlin responded.

"What have I told you about calling me that?" Gwen chides rolling her eyes.

"Sorry... Gwen," Merlin corrected with a tense smile while shuffling his feet.

With a kind look in her beautiful brown eyes Gwen placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder and asked, "What's wrong Merlin and don't tell me nothing, I can tell something is bothering you."

Bless Gwen and her observational skills; she would always be a close friend thought Merlin. "Um... well ... I need to go to Ealdor for a while, my mother is ill and I need to help her prepare for the winter while she rests and heals."

Gwen immediately said, "Yes of course you can please give her a hug for me while you are there," then turned to give her husband a pointed look.

With a look of concern Arthur said, "What are you still doing here then? She is your only family of course you may go. Do you need any knights to accompany you?"

Merlin responded quickly, touched by Arthur's concern, "Thank you sire, but I will be ok and I will try to return as soon as I am able."

"Nonsense Merlin, stay as long as needed to get everything taken care of. I owe Hunith a debt for taking Gwen in and you are my ...friend." Gwen nodded in affirmation with a look of love and pride for her husband.

At times like this Merlin truly understood why Arthur was the Once and Future King and felt immense pride in serving him even as he felt a bit guilty for once again lying to his friends.

Merlin was nearly knocked off his feet as he walked back to his chambers when Kilgharrah shouted into his head with much more force than necessary, "MERLIN WE MUST LEAVE IMMEDIATELY AITHUSA IS BEING HELD CAPTIVE IN AMATA BY THE SARRUM"

Instantly the rage Merlin had been feeling earlier that morning returned and he responded, "I'm on my way." Merlin ran to his room, startling Gaius almost causing him to drop the potion he was working on and retrieved the Sidhe staff from underneath the floorboard. Merlin spoke a couple of words in the old tongue and his eyes turned gold making the staff look like a harmless walking stick. Merlin turned around to walk out of his room and found the door blocked by Gaius, wearing a stern look.

In a tone that demanded an answer Gaius asked, "Where might you be going with THAT?" pointing at the disguised Sidhe staff.

Merlin looked sheepish as he said, "Um... well I have to go help my mam and I needed a walking stick ..." mentally cringing at his horrible lie.

With his infamous eyebrow raised Gaius snapped, "Don't lie to me, my boy! You would not be using that to take a stroll and I have heard nothing from Hunith." He pinched his nose in frustration, "I have no idea how you have kept your secret for so long considering what a terrible liar you are. Now where are you going... the truth?"

Merlin shuffled his feet and said in a serious tone, "I had a dream that Aithusa was in trouble and Kilgharrah hasn't seen her for a couple of months. I sent Kilgharrah to find her. Now he has found her so we are going to rescue her!"

Merlin was expecting an argument so was shocked when Gaius simply stood aside saying, "Do be careful my boy you have quite a knack for getting yourself into trouble."

Merlin smiled innocently with a twinkle in his eye and a childlike tone to his voice said, "Who me?" His bond with Kilgharrah created a constant struggle to control his magic as he felt the dragon's escalating rage. Merlin sprinted out of the gates of the castle and made his way to the clearing where he always met his friend.

"What took you so long? Let's go!" Kilgharrah said in an annoyed voice as soon as Merlin arrived at the meadow.

AN: In an effort to improve my writing style I asked my mother, who helped me with every paper I wrote in high school two and a half decades ago, for suggestions/advice and I was apparently using a lot of passive voice which was making my sentences run ons and interrupting any sense of action. So this chapter I made a concerted effort to only use active voice and I would love to hear any thoughts you might have. I would especially like to know if this chapter flows a little better than chapter one. I think it does. Once again any comment is greatly appreciated and I love constructive criticism because I am always looking to get better.

I apologize that this one is a bit shorter than the last and that it is basically a filler chapter but I couldn't really skip from the discovery to Merlin and Kilgharrah showing up in Amata so this chapter bridges that gap. The next chapter is going to be the pivotal chapter for this story and will make up for the lack of real action in this one I hope as I have been working on it off and on since I started with writing the story. It will be very tense and hopefully exciting for you guys and everyone will see another darker side of Merlin.