Author's note: I have no idea if this is true in the show, or in the legends. But, Arthur's mother was just something that went with the story. It is not some random piece of information from the show (at least I don't think it is).

Merlin sighed and, after careful deliberation, flicked his king over. That was the seventh game, and it was the seventh time he'd lost. He was really starting to dislike chess.

"Come on, Merlin, don't be like that," Arthur smiled, enjoying his supremacy on the board. "You're getting better."

"Yeah? How?" Merlin asked, disbelieving.

"It's taking me longer to beat you," Arthur pointed out, as if it was that obvious.

Merlin smiled half-hearted, not impressed. He then proceeded to chew his lip as he returned the pieces to their staring positions. He had words that he desperately wanted to say, but had resolved to not speak of it.

Arthur felt a little irritated by Merlin's silence, but said nothing. He looked down at the board and moved his first piece, since he was playing white, he moved first.

They spoke casually during the games. They talked about their lives, their childhoods until Arthur spoke of how his mother had been killed by magic. Merlin quietened down after that admission.

"I guess you hate magic," he stated quietly, fearing Arthur's answer.

"I used to," Arthur replied offhandedly. "When I was a child, I was afraid of magic. I thought it was evil, and that it could do anything to hurt someone."

"You don't think that now?" Merlin frowned.

"When my mother died, Father became obsessed with destroying magic. And… eventually I just grew tired of being afraid of it, tired of his obsession. I just…" Arthur paused to decide the right words. "I just couldn't be bothered to care anymore."

Merlin said nothing. He thought about what Arthur had just said, and wondered how much of it he really meant. He had noticed Arthur's attitude changing over the time they had spent playing chess, and it wasn't the only thing that had changed.

He desperately wanted to speak to Gaius, but didn't know how to get away to speak to him. And, he had been ordered to stay at Arthur's side.

"Check," he stated as he moved his bishop.

Arthur glared at the tiny figure, trying to understand where it had come from, and why he hadn't noticed it. Feeling disgruntled, he moved a piece and blocked the check.

"Who's winning?" Morgana suddenly asked over Arthur's shoulder.

"Seven games and I've lost all seven," Merlin answered, pouting slightly, whilst moving the bishop again. "Check."

"Merlin, Merlin, Merlin," Arthur sighed dramatically. "Did you really mean to do that?" he asked, sliding his queen across to take the bishop

"You do know that you don't have to let Arthur win, right?" she chuckled.

"Hey," Arthur objected, turning to Morgana. "Merlin is merely a novice in the presence of a master."

"Check," Merlin stated quietly, moving his own queen to take Arthur's.

He managed to hold his smile down as much as possible while he saw Arthur glaring at the board again. As Arthur moved to block the check, he heard Morgana laugh quietly.

"What was that about Merlin being 'in the presence of a master'?" she taunted.

"You distracted me," Arthur retorted. "Go away."

Morgana smiled, but moved off. Seeing his chance, Merlin quickly called to Morgana and left the table. He could feel Arthur's eyes on his back, but ignored him.

"What is it, Merlin?" Morgana frowned.

"Do you know where Gaius is?" he asked quietly.

"In his study, looking for the poison," Morgan's frown deepened.

"I… know that I have no right to ask this, but… could you talk to him? I need to speak to him. It's urgent."

Morgana's face went blank as she went over the information in her mind. She frowned as her mind came up blank for a reason.

"Why don't you go there yourself?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"I'm not supposed to leave Arthur's side, and I'd rather he didn't hear," he explained, very quietly so Morgana had to strain to hear him. It was apparent that he didn't want Arthur to know what they were talking about.

Morgana's mind went straight back to breakfast in the hall, when Uther had ordered Merlin to stay close to Arthur, and report if something happened. She felt gratitude to Merlin, since he could have simply said this in front of Arthur, but clearly did not want to bring unneeded concern to the prince's attention. He had enough to worry about.

"Sure, are you staying here for the while?"

"As long as Arthur wants to play," Merlin answered, though he did not seem pleased at the prospect of losing more to Arthur. The young man may have been a servant, but he still had some pride that could be hurt by continuous defeats.

And with that, Morgana nodded and left the library. Merlin returned to the table and the game he was about to lose. He then noticed that Arthur's eyes hadn't left him from the moment he had left the table.

"What was that about?" Arthur asked tensely.

"Huh? Oh! Erm… Gwen was on about something earlier, and I just wanted to make that it had all been cleared up," Merlin lied.

"What about?" Arthur asked with interest.

"I… don't really know, but it was bothering Gwen and I was just… checking to see if everything had been sorted," Merlin continued to lie, internally wondering why he'd chosen Gwen as his lie, despite the fact that she was Morgana's handmaiden.

Arthur shrugged his shoulders, apparently satisfied. Had this been a normal day, he would have been more persistent and would have teased Merlin over his 'crush' over Gwen. Instead, he turned his attention back to the board and moved a rook, smiling as he did so.

"Check," he stated smugly, glad to have finally gotten back at Merlin.

There was only Merlin's queen near the rook, and so he moved the piece, seeing that he had no other choice. He took the rook and observed the board. He frowned; this wasn't right. Arthur's pieces were positioned so, as were his own. But in this pattern they made…

"Checkmate," he whispered, astonished that what he was saying was true. He had just won the game.

Arthur frowned in confusion as he also examined the board. His eyes were blazing as he realised the mistakes he'd been making. Subconsciously, his hand began to curl into a fist.

"Morgana distracted you," Merlin stated quickly, hoping to calm the prince and diffuse the situation; there were a lot of things that Arthur could throw at him if given a reason. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken advantage."

Arthur looked at Merlin confused, wondering why his friend was apologising. Then, he noticed that his hand was clenched, and he quickly forced his arm to relax.

This had been a good time, and he didn't want to be the one to spoil it. He had enjoyed playing against Merlin and learning so much about his friend's past. This had been the most relaxed he had been for a very long time.

"Don't worry about it, Merlin," he laughed, trying to show that he was alright. "I should have paid better attention."

Merlin relaxed, breathing slowly out. Arthur was very much aware of how uneasy his friend was, and wanted to try and alleviate the tensions, however, he wasn't sure how.

They returned the pieces to their original positions to start another game. Arthur quietly hoped that Merlin hadn't noticed when he had nearly set up his pieces wrong, placing the bishops next to the rooks, rather than the king and queen.

He mentally argued with himself, half of him saying that he was only tired from not sleeping last night. But then, the other half of him was saying that the poison was messing with his concentration.

With this in mind, he debated about tow other things: whether or not to speak to Gaius, and if Merlin was noticing more than he was letting on, and was graciously not speaking about it.

They finished another game, where Arthur won, and were halfway through the next when Morgana and Gwen quietly walked back in. They quietly asked to watch and promised not to distract the pair.

A few minutes later, Gaius walked into the library. He walked up to the little group, realising that Merlin was winning the game. Only two more moves and he would checkmate Arthur. A shame he was about to ruin the young man's victory.

"Merlin, could I speak to you for a moment?"

"I can take over, if you'd like," Morgana offered.

Merlin nodded his head and stood up. As Morgana passed him to take his seat, Gaius heard, barely, Merlin whispering in her ear.

"Go easy on him," he begged.

They didn't pause; it was as if he hadn't said anything. As Merlin walked a short distance away from the table, Gaius noticed how Arthur's attention was completely on Merlin, the game almost forgotten. Then, satisfied that Merlin wasn't about to leave, Arthur reluctantly returned his focus to the game.

"What is it Merlin?" Gaius asked, though sure that he already knew.

"Arthur's concentration is slipping," Merlin whispered, careful to avoid Arthur's hearing. "And, he's less aware of everything."

"He's seems quite aware of when you move away," Gaius noted.

"I know, but I don't understand why," Merlin admitted. "Does any of this sound familiar to you?"

"No, the developments are too vague, Merlin. There are a dozen spells that could do this to someone," Gaius explained.

"What about a losing control of emotions? Arthur's nearly lashed out in anger a couple of times, but I don't know where the anger is coming from."

"It could be frustration, Merlin. He's not allowed to do what he usually does. But… lacking in emotional control is not something I would put with Arthur," Gaius admitted.

"Erm… Gaius…" Merlin spoke quietly, uneasily. "I… err…"

"Merlin?" Gaius asked with a hard voice, as he realised what the young magician had had done.

"It's only a defensive spell!" Merlin whispered urgently. "To… you know, lessen the effects of the enchantment on him!"

Gaius closed his eyes, a string of profanities raced through his mind, but he didn't utter one. He knew that he should not have been surprised, but he realised that he wasn't surprised, merely disappointed.

"And, to be honest…" Merlin continued, albeit reluctantly, "I think he would be worse than this if I hadn't done it."

Gaius opened his eyes, allowing them to flit over to the trio behind Merlin. Arthur was watching Merlin every other moment. He seemed almost anxious at the distance between him and Merlin.

"You're probably right," Gaius agreed. "I'll tell Uther what you've told me of his developments. I'll advise that Arthur dines alone, seeing as breakfast was not that enjoyable for him, and now that he's showing problems, it might just be that much worse for him."

Merlin nodded glumly. He felt the vial in his pocket, and remembered that he was supposed to make Arthur drink it tonight. He cringed at the thought.

"Hopefully Arthur will have a better night tonight," he stated wistfully.

"You'll be the one to know, Merlin," Gaius reminded him as he walked out of the library.

Merlin reluctantly turned round and rejoined his friends.

"What was that about?" Gwen asked before Arthur could.

"Eh, Gaius was just checking up on us."

"Us?" Arthur frowned.

"I mentioned to him that you two had been in here all day," Morgana admitted. "I had a pain in my hand so I went to see him, and I just told him in passing."

"Is your hand alright?" Arthur asked, frowning in concern, and not noticing the surprised looks on Merlin and Gwen's faces.

"Yeah, it was just a twinge," she brushed off his concern with a smile, feeling relieved when his face returned to a calm expression.

"Uh, I think it's nearly time for the banquet," Merlin stated miserably, wondering how on earth was he going to explain that Gaius wanted Arthur away from the Great Hall.

Arthur sighed, obviously not happy with the idea of eating in the hall.

"How about we sneak some food up to Arthur's room again?" Morgana offered. "There's no reason for us to go, and it'll be far more enjoyable."

Arthur's eyes glazed over as he thought about, then he looked at Morgana and smirked.

"Sure. Why not?"

Merlin had to admit, that was the strangest banquet he'd been to. Rather than sitting on opposite ends of the table, with a side to themselves, everyone sat on only two sides, Arthur and Merlin on one side, Morgana and Gwen on the other. They had talked, like they had last time, but somehow, everything seemed off.

He was ashamed to admit it, but Merlin felt sort of glad when Morgana and Gwen left. Gwen returned a few minutes later with five blankets, before disappearing again. She'd brought Merlin something to sleep on.

"What are they for?" Arthur asked.

"Uh, they're for me," Merlin stated. "Gwen brought them up so I didn't sleep on the cold floor."

Arthur frowned, confused.

"I…" Merlin trailed off, unsure of how Arthur was going to react. "I've been ordered by the king to stay by your side," he admitted when Arthur's expression didn't change.

Arthur's frown deepened as his confusion rose. He then shook his head as if to alleviate his puzzlement.

"I don't see why," he remarked finally. "But I wouldn't want you to get in trouble over this. Um, where are you sleeping?"

"I'll be fine in a corner, it'll probably be warmest," Merlin shrugged casually.

Inside, all alarm bells were ringing in Merlin's ears. He had noticed Arthur's demeanour was changing. Though he knew not to say so, Arthur seemed kinder, if not more childlike. There was an innocence in him, which was frightening Merlin to no end.

But Merlin said nothing. Instead he turned and found a corner that kept Arthur's bed in full view, since he didn't want to be accused of not doing his task properly, and was far enough away to give Arthur some privacy.

He was laying out the blankets, rolling up one for a makeshift pillow, and unfolding another for a cover, when suddenly…

There was a shout of pain and surprise along with the clatter of something metal hitting the floor.

Merlin whirled round to discover what had transpired. Arthur was cradling his hand, while his sword lay on the floor. Arthur's face was full of shock, pain and anger directed inwards. Merlin found it quite easy to piece together the event.

Merlin joined Arthur's side took the hand in question into his own. Sure enough, there was a shallow cut across Arthur's palm.

"I wasn't holding it properly," Arthur murmured sulkily.

Merlin pulled Arthur to the table and held the wound over the table, above a bowl. He took the nearby flask and pulled out the stopper. He heard Arthur hiss and tense up, but his hand remained flat. They both knew what was coming.

Merlin poured the liquid, wine as it turned out to be, over Arthur's cut. He felt Arthur shudder in pain, but he did not try to tear his hand out of Merlin's grip. Merlin then poured another liquid, water this time, over the cut and wrapped the hand in a tear of linen. Once he was done, he released Arthur's hand.

"Thanks," Arthur mumbled after a moment of silence.

"No problem," Merlin smiled, but it felt so false to him. "Arthur, why don't you get some sleep? You'll be a lot more alert in the morning."

"As if I could," Arthur sulked, walking back to his bed and collapsing on it.

"What do you mean by that?" Merlin frowned, worried about what could be denying his friend the blissfulness of sleep.

"I'll dream again," Arthur whispered, almost afraid to speak of it.

Merlin contemplated this while he walked to his friend and sat on the edge of the bed, not wanting to go too far with his presence. He looked at Arthur, a confused frown on his face.

"Don't worry about it, Merlin," Arthur smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes.

"How about the tonic that Gaius made? I'm sure that could help," Merlin suggested, bring out the vial.

Arthur stared at the tiny bottle, his eyes glazed over as he considered the option. He then sat up, took the vial from Merlin, removed the stopper and swallowed the whole thing in one gulp. He scrunched up his face as the sharp taste hit the back of his throat.

Arthur handed the vial back wordlessly, and Merlin took it back without comment. Merlin picked up the sword and took it with him to the other side of the room. He finished sorting out his makeshift bed and turned round.

Arthur looked half gone to him. Exhaustion from the day and Gaius' tonic were making quick work of Arthur, pulling him quickly to unconsciousness.

Merlin returned to the bed and pulled off his friend's boots; Arthur didn't resist, probably too tired to. Merlin then helped Arthur reposition himself better on the bed, so that he didn't slid or fall off halfway through the night, which would have been embarrassing for both of them.

Merlin extinguished the torches until all but one was left still alight. Taking that torch to Arthur's side, the young magician held onto Arthur's injured hand.

A quiet murmur of incantation filled the room and Merlin sent a small amount of magic out to Arthur's hand, healing as much of the cut as he dared. He knew that, despite how much he wanted to, he couldn't heal all the injury, but he was determined to make it as small an injury as possible.

The dragon wasn't there this time. It was just Arthur, standing alone on some barren land which spread out as far as the eye could see. His sword was by his side, and he felt the need to have it in his hands. But when he held it, the sword felt wrong: it was too heavy, it was shaped wrong, and he couldn't hold it properly. As he looked up from his sword, he saw her, the sorceress. He tried to raise the sword to defend himself, but a quick invocation sent the sword flying out of his hands and into hers. She twirled it around, as if it was as light as the air, before bringing it downwards, swiping across him. Arthur stretched out his hand to protect himself, and the sword ran deep into his hand. He could feel himself falling, falling down to the ground, defeated. He was at her mercy, and she was about to strike.

Then, gentle words floated over to him, as if living on the wind. The sorceress snarled and dropped the sword at his feet, but he could not move, even as she retreated. Arthur turned his head to find the source of the words. Sure enough, Merlin was walking towards him. Merlin was smiling that same friendly smile that he always wore. Grass rose from Merlin's footprints, spreading out in all directions from there. When Merlin reached him, his friend took his mutilated hand. He was still speaking the words… foreign words… magic words. Arthur could feel a small warmth dispersing through his hand. And, as he watched, the deep cut on his hand gently closed up and healed without a scar. Merlin's hands almost seemed to be glowing, and when he looked into the young man's face, his eyes were a glowing gold.

"Thank you, Merlin," he murmured, too awed to speak any louder.

Merlin smiled at him, shaking his head slightly.

"Don't mention it," Merlin spoke softly. "You should try to sleep, Arthur. You have to rest to be strong enough to fight this; I can't help you this time."

"You do enough, Merlin," Arthur assured his friend. "You do more than enough," Arthur was vaguely aware of how quiet his voice was getting.

"Sleep, Arthur," Merlin's voice was gentle, and yet, could not be resisted. "We'll talk more later."

Arthur nodded to his friend and felt the world slip from beneath him. Then before he knew it, the dragon was staring at him with calculating eyes, drawing in breath to exhale a spell that came from the sorceress. But these two were forced away from him when Merlin once again appeared, sending all evil away with his own spell.

Arthur inhaled sharply. His eyes were wide open, as he stared into the absolute darkness of his room. It took a few moments for him to realise that I wasn't completely black, and he could see silhouettes in his room.

One moved suddenly and Arthur caught his breath, before sighing out in relief as he realised that it was Merlin's sleeping figure.

He knew that it was unfair to wake the young man, he had looked fatigued all day, and it was unfair to disturb his peace.

And so, reluctantly, Arthur closed his eyes. He still felt groggy from Gaius' tonic, and after a few moments, he was asleep again, dreaming of dragons, sorceresses, and a friendly, loyal, protective face.