Title: The Curse

Authors: Cassy27
Words: 1684
Characters: Arthur, Merlin, Gwen
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Merlin, sadly enough!
Spoilers: No spoilers in this post
This story takes place somewhere in season 1

AN: First of, I wanted to thank everybody who took the time to review, THANK YOU! It is always so nice when people leave a quick message.
Second thing I wanted to tell you was that I loved writting this chapter, it nearly wrote itself =) I can only hope you guys will like it as much as I liked writting it. Well, I am not going to keep you waiting much longer...here it is. ENJOY!

Chapter 4

Previously

As she ran through the halls, a tear escaped the corner of her eye. Gwen quickly stroke it away, not wanting to see Merlin in this condition, no, she couldn't appear upset and crying, that would only make things more difficult.

* * *

Just as Merlin reached the hallway that lead to the great hall where Arthur and Uther always discussed important matters, the Prince exited the room, carefully closing the doors behind him. He appeared to look annoyed and Merlin could already guess why. Arthur always had this look when he had been send to his chambers by his father.

"Arthur," he called out, walking over to him. He was surprised not to feel short of breath, or at least not very short of breath.

"Merlin," Arthur seemed surprised to see him here, "how are you feeling?"

"I've been better," Merlin answered, still sure that he wasn't going to tell Arthur the complete truth, but that didn't mean he should lie. "What are the plans? Can I help?"

"You should rest, Merlin," Arthur said, starting to walk towards his chambers, "you still don't look very good."

"I'll be fine." Okay, that was a lie, but otherwise Arthur would never accept his help. "Are you going to find Ava?"

"The knights are," Arthur said, anger rising up in his voice, "I have been ordered to stay in my room until the curse is lifted."

"But you're not going to do that," Merlin grinned. When Arthur looked at him, he too started grinning.

"Waw, Merlin," he laughed, "you know me better than I thought."

Merlin laughed along until a sharp pain in his chest erupted again. He couldn't help but gasp and grab for his heart again. Coming to a stop, he leaned forward again, trying to catch his breath. Again that stabbing pain as if someone was trying to crush his heart with his bare hands.

"Merlin!" Arthur lay his hand on Merlin's shoulder, touching some bare skin, but nothing happened. He realized his mistake immediately and pulled his hand back until he saw that Merlin wasn't in more pain after his touch. "Are you alright?" he asked while stretching out a finger and touched Merlin's arm. Again, nothing happened. Merlin, who was starting to gain back control over his body, straightened his back and threw Arthur a questioning look as he didn't understand what he was doing.

"I touched you," Arthur said, faint joy visible on his face. That soon vanished though when he saw that Merlin was still in pain. "You're not alright, Merlin."

"I didn't feel more pain when you touched me." Merlin knew he had to distract Arthur's mind. Too many questions would lead to him making a mistake and revealing the truth and that was the last thing he wanted.

"I know!" Joy filled Arthur's face again. "So this means that after I touched you once, you no longer feel pain because of me."

"Trust me, I can still feel the pain from the first touch." Merlin said.

"But this means there is hope," Arthur smiled, "after a while, you'll stop feeling that pain and then everything returns to normal because Ava will undo this once we find her."

"Oh, I'll stop feeling the pain eventually," Merlin said, starting to walk now. Arthur frowned at his words, not sure if he understood why Merlin said them, but he too started walking and focused on finding Ava again.

"The knights will by now be discussing a strategy to find Ava with my father," Arthur said, "this is the perfect opportunity for us to sneak out of the castle and plan a search of our own."

"Merlin!"

Both Arthur and Merlin turned around at the sound of a voice calling out. It was Gwen who came running towards them. She seemed panicked and sad and Merlin knew Gaius had told her. He only hoped he had told her as well that Arthur couldn't know about the truth, not yet at least.

"Guinevere," Arthur was surprised to see her, "what is wrong?" He too noticed the distress she was in.

"Here," Gwen said, handing over Merlin the bottle with medicine, "Gaius said this is for you."

"Thank you," Merlin smiled, gladly accepting the medicine. He only hoped it would have a proper effect. He drank the bottle empty within a second and pulled a funny face when discovering how horrible it tasted.

"All good to go?" Arthur asked, watching Merlin with a smile.

Gwen turned confused when seeing how...cheerful Arthur appeared. Or was he simply that good at hiding his emotions? She turned to Merlin when she noticed he was slightly shaking his head. The thought hit her. Arthur didn't know! She frowned, hoping Merlin would get her message as well. Arthur deserved to know so why would Merlin keep this from him?

A pleading gaze now filled Merlin's face and Gwen pressed her lips together. She thought this to be wrong. Arthur had to know this, how else would he be able to live with himself should something happen to Merlin. Gwen still believed there was hope for him, but they had to be prepared for everything.

"We have to go, Gwen," Arthur said, not having noticed the silent conversation she was having with Merlin.

I'm sorry, Merlin mouthed to her.

"Don't go," she said. She could no longer hold in her words. "Merlin, stay here."

Arthur frowned, he didn't understand why Gwen would say this. "What is going on?" he asked, demanding for the truth.

"Nothing," Merlin quickly said.

"He has been lying to you," Gwen told him. She didn't care what Merlin wanted, Arthur deserved to know, he needed to know.

"Gwen, please," Merlin was nearly begging her.

"He needs to know," she said with a strong voice, "Merlin, he has to know." Her voice was softer now.

"What do I need to know?" Arthur was growing impatient.

"Wouldn't you want to know if this was happening to Arthur or would you be okay with it if he lied to you and then suddenly left you behind?" Gwen knew her words would hit Merlin hard, she could see it in his face.

"Tell him," she encouraged him.

"Merlin," Arthur said, his voice hard.

"I can't," Merlin sighed, feeling how tears were filling his eyes. He couldn't do this, not here, not now. Maybe Arthur did deserve to know this, but Merlin simply couldn't. Telling Arthur would make it real, telling him would be like admitting that he had been killed by him while he wasn't even dead yet.

"Gwen?" Arthur now turned towards her, hoping she would finally tell him what this was all about.

"Your touch," she whispered, not believing how hard this was to say. They were simple words, but somehow they managed to get stuck in her chest. She couldn't get them out.

"I'm dying," Merlin said. He nearly yelled the words, needing to get them out. There, he said it. Arthur knew. "Your touch is lethal, Arthur, I will be dead within a few days."

Arthur's mouth opened as if he was about to say something, but then he closed his lips again. Swallowing heavily, he watched Merlin in horror. He couldn't believe this, he didn't want to believe this. He had killed Merlin? He started breathing heavier until he took a step back, still not removing his gaze from his servant, no, his dying servant.

"And you weren't going to tell me this?" he asked. He didn't know if he felt sorry for what he did or if he felt anger because of it.

"I was trying to protect you," Merlin said, "you needed to stay focused. You have to find Ava and make her undo this."

"So you were just going to die on me and not even tell me about it?" Arthur now knew for sure that he was angry. Yes, he was definitely angry with Merlin for lying.

"I'm sorry," Merlin said. He blinked his eyes, trying to force back the tears that were invading them.

Arthur started laughing now. Gwen and Merlin exchanged a quick worried gaze before looking back at the Prince again.

"You're sorry?" Arthur laughed, "You are apologizing to me?" Arthur took another step back and started shaking his head. This wasn't a good sign. "I touched you, Merlin," he turned dead serious again, "I condemned you to death and you're sorry?" For a moment, he stopped breathing at all and Arthur turned red in his face. "I will not let this happen," he said eventually, "I will find a way to undo this, you will live, Merlin."

Arthur turned around and walked away. Neither Gwen nor Merlin knew what he was planning on doing, but they were both certain of it that it couldn't be anything good.

"Arthur," Merlin called out for him, "wait!"

"Stay here, Merlin," Arthur called out without looking back, "and don't die while I'm gone." And then he was gone.

Gwen and Merlin exchanged looks again and could read each other's thoughts, no magic was needed for that. They both knew Arthur had to be stopped because if he went up against Ava like this, he would most certainly end up dead as well.

"I never thought I would say this," Merlin said, "but we have to tell Uther about Arthur leaving, he is the only one who can stop him."

"Are you sure about that?" Gwen asked. Merlin could only take in a deep breath.

"I'm not the only one that needs saving," he said, "Arthur needs us right now."

Gwen nodded and then they quickly turned around and walked away, heading out to find the King.

AN: That was it for today, I'm sorry it already ended, but don't worry, I will try and update as soon as possible. =)

In the mean time, you can let me know what your thoughts are right now...