CHAPTER FOUR: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Merlin burst into the room, spectacularly tripping over his own feet and falling head first. He caught himself just in time, letting out a loud "Whew! That was close!" When Arthur didn't comment on either his lateness or his clumsiness, Merlin peered at his master curiously.

Merlin snickered, the regal prince was splayed out on top of his sheets, face down and still wearing yesterday's boots and clothes.

"Good Morning Arthur!" Merlin grinned, taking too much delight in ripping open the curtains and bounding around the room.

Arthur groaned from his unflattering position on the bed, a bold ray of sunshine was highlighting the lines in his face and probing at his eyes. It illuminated the dust in the air, which swirled as if it hadn't been disturbed for a long time.

Merlin stood over him, smirking. "So, how'd your night with Gwen go?"

The prince frowned at him whilst slowly twisting into a sitting position "What are you on about, Merlin?" Arthur clutched his head, wondering why it was thumping.

Merlin laughed "Did you drink or something?"

The other man scowled, not in the mood for Merlin's nonsensical ramblings right now, let alone his unrestrained laughter.

"Just get me breakfast." Arthur snapped, staring daggers at the boy until he obliged and made for the door "and something for this damn headache whilst you're at it!"

~o~

"I'm not sure you should go to training until you get that headache cure." Merlin scuttled after the Prince. "Gaius said it'd be ready soon."

"It's just a headache Merlin, it's not fatal." Arthur snapped. "In fact, it's even getting better on its own." He marched through the courtyard, eyes ahead and face set.

"Good morning, Arthur" Gwen jogged slightly to catch up with him, smiling her usual smile.

He stopped abruptly and stared at her "Excuse me?"

She looked at him blankly, curls lifting in the breeze "Good morning?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?!" When she looked set to reply, he carried on "oh, I dunno, that I'm the prince. And you should address me as so?"

She stares, lips parted. He looks at her incredulously "I could have you thrown in the stocks for that."

Something snaps behind her eyes and she stares at her feet. "I'm sorry, sire." She chokes.

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again." There was no pity in his voice. He just walked away.

~o~

"What the hell was that!?" Merlin gaped, running after him to the training grounds.

"What was what?" Arthur replied, nonplussed.

"That, back there, with Gwen!"

"Gwen?"

Merlin threw his hands up in frustration. "You know, Gwen. You never talk to her like that!"

The Prince laughed shortly "I don't have a clue what you are talking about Merlin, you really are more stupid than you look. And that -" he regarded his servant's lanky frame and overgrown ears "that is saying something."

Merlin stared peculiarly at Arthur, ignoring the laughter on the other man's face. "I don't get it. That was Gwen you were talking to."

"I'm not really sure what the problem is."

His servant yelped "What was the problem?! You-"

"Ohhh…" Arthur stopped, mockingly stroking his chin "I get it now."

Merlin stared, deadpan "You do?"

"Yes!" The Prince smiled, his voice dangerously light and easy as he wrapped an arm around Merlin's shoulder "You're in love with Gwen!"

"What?! No!" Merlin pushed out of his grasp. "I'm not in love with Gwen, you are!"

There was an awkward pause as both parties realised they were surrounded by confused looking knights of Camelot.

Arthur shook his head. "You really are delusional. I don't even know who she is." He turned away, motioning for the knights to stop gawking and start warming up "Go tidy my room, Merlin. And when you're done with that, I'm sure the stable boys could do with a hand."

Merlin stood for a moment, his face grappled with pure horror. He didn't even know who she was?

~o~

Gaius didn't look up from his work at the sound of the door, presuming it was Arthur finally collecting his headache medicine. "Ahh, finally decided to think of your own well-being for once, sire. Ever the curse of the knight."

When he heard loud sob, he looked up to see a shell-shocked Guinevere floating in his doorway.

"Gwen, my dear, what happened?" He put his work aside and moved forward to encompass her in a hug. She clung gratefully to him.

"He just yelled at me! He's never spoken to me like that before!" She almost plead, staring up at Gaius with tear filled eyes. "I mean, its how he should speak to me, I am a servant but…"

"I know, I know" Gaius soothed, taking a guess that she was talking about Arthur. The door opened again, and Merlin flew in.

"Gwen, I'm so sorry, I can't believe he said that to you but I think I know why." He jabbered. "He's forgotten who you are."

Gwen just stared "What?"

Merlin continued tactlessly "He told me he didn't even know who you were."

"How is that possible?" She exclaimed.

"Magic." Gaius interjected. The other two briefly looked alarmed, forgetting he had been there "If he appears to have forgotten only…" He glanced fleetingly at Gwen's worried face "Then it was most likely due to magical tampering. I suspect a memory editing spell -"

"- Aimed to eradicate the one he loves" Merlin finished absently, his mind already five miles ahead of the rest. Gwen looked momentarily disarrayed, still not used to being referred to as 'Arthur's love'

"Indeed." Gaius finished gravely. Then the door opened again.

Arthur stood, seemingly lost his momentum as his eyes flickered over his servant. "Merlin? Why aren't you cleaning my room?"

"Is training over already?" His manservant looked over curiously. Gwen hurriedly wiped her eyes and busied herself tiding Gaius' desk.

"No…" Arthur narrowed his eyes "Are you telling me you were planning on slacking off until training was over so it looked like you'd done work?"

"I have cleaned your chambers actually, I happen to be here inquiring about your headache medicine." Merlin matched the future king's stare straight on. "How come you are out of training early?"

Arthur shrugged, walking over to Gaius. "I've been feeling odd all morning. There's the thumping headache and -" he paused, briefly looking at Gwen "- I just… feel like something's missing?"

Gwen's back straightened and Merlin coughed quickly "Well, I hope it's not something important, like a limb!" He pretended to look over Arthur quickly. "Nope, two arms, two legs and a head, I think you're set."

"Shut up Merlin." The Prince reprimanded humourlessly. "Well Gaius?"

"I'm sure it's nothing." Gaius defined quickly. At least two people in the room knew it was the sure sign of a spell "It's possible the feeling might go away with the headache."

Arthur nodded, accepting the vial handed to him. "Great, now I can go back to training."

"And I can go back to my… servant duties!" Merlin added elaborately, a fake smile plastered on his lips. Arthur gave him a look that clearly said 'you better' and stalked out, downing the potion as he went.

The room gave a collective sigh. Gwen wiped her eyes tiredly. "What can we do? If it's magic then who would do such a thing?"

Merlin grinned. "Luckily who would do such a thing is the easy part." Gwen shot him a look. He continued "If the goal is simply to remove you from his memory, then it's bound to be jealousy. Someone must have seen you together last night and acted accordingly."

Gwen flushed. Gaius shot her a curious look. "We were just talking, it could have been interpreted as anything" She disregarded, trying to ignore the growing feeling of dread in her.

"Well." Merlin snapped his hands together. "I have a feeling trying to track down and question all of Arthur's admirers will be a waste of time, especially as we are looking for one that also happens to be a sorcerer in a kingdom that bans sorcery. So I guess it's time to hit the books." He made for the library.

"Merlin." Gaius interrupted him sternly. "You certainly will try and track down the person behind it, Arthur is the Prince and there is always the possibility everything is not as it seems. Me and Gwen will search for a cure. You will go back to your servant duties."

Merlin opened his mouth to retort, but Gaius glared at him, challenging him to defy. "I suggest you listen to hearsay about particularly… motivated admirers of Arthur." His voice was delicate, but there was no need as Gwen tried not to think too much into it. So, a jealous witch had enchanted the prince to forget about her. That was fairly ordinary, right? They would have to work without the assistance of any authority, of course, as King Uther would not have any reason to believe his son was under a spell. Or missing anything. Or anyone. Her heart swelled and she smiled to herself coyly. Anyway. Stay focussed, and this bad dream will all be over soon.

The manservant left begrudgingly, the excitement in his eyes (insensitive and flourished as it was) had dulled and he had sloped out of the door, leaving them to it.

"Gwen. Are you okay?" Gaius queried, softly. Gwen wondered if she could make at least a chapter without someone asking her that.

"Yeah. I'm okay."

It killed me, writing this :( I already have the ending planned out, and frankly i can't wait to gouge on it's amazing...ness. It's just getting there that's going to be the problem.

Another thing, school is starting up come monday, and conveniently i'm supposed to be revising etc, so... *grimace*