A/N: Hello all. Sorry its been a while, life does just get in the way sometimes. Here i have for you another chapter. I have to thank my lovely beta April29roses for this as she has helped co write a few bits in this. : ) As always, let me know what you think. Enjoy...

Chapter 4

"What's this about Gwaine?" Arthur bellowed, bursting into the physician's chambers. He had spent much of the night brooding, and dawn was beginning to break. His angry stance in the doorway soon melted away as he noticed the old man crouched by the bed. Merlin was in the midst of another convulsion, body tensing and twitching again. To the King's relief the episode lasted but a few seconds, he watched worriedly as Gaius eased the young servant back onto the cot. Merlin's face was streaming with sweat, his black hair sticking to his forehead. Impossibly, he was actually paler than the night before

"What's happening?" Finally realizing he was still frozen to the spot, the King hurried over to greet the physician.

Gaius looked to at his ward painfully, then back to Arthur. "His body is fighting the poison, my lord," he answered simply. He shifted stiffly to the work bench to prepare more medicine.

"But, he'll be ok?" Arthur reiterated, more to himself. When no immediate answer came he began to panic. "Gaius?"

"I cannot say for sure."

"This is Gwaine's doing isn't it?" Arthur's face almost turned a deep purple as his anger rose, "I'll kill him!" His fists clutched tightly as he turned to look at his friend's form on the bed. The tension surged between the two men against the terrible background of Merlin's ragged breaths from across the room. He was fighting for each gulp of air, his throat swollen.

"No." finally Gaius answered. "This is not Gwaine's doing at all."

"What?" the King could only twist his face in confusion, lip curling up, brows tightening. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm not sure I am the one to be making allegations right now Sire," the physician kept a poker face, giving little emotion away to the other man. He dropped his voice low so that Arthur was forced to move closer "And I also suggest you refrain from shouting. Any excessive noise or sudden sounds seems to send my boy into another fit. I simply dropped a pot earlier and you walked in on the result."

Arthur's face dropped to the floor, as guilt washed through him. After all, he was here for Merlin. Whether he admitted it or not, he was seriously worried about his friend. He made his way over to the bed, letting himself drop onto the stool beside it.

Merlin's face was still cascading with sweat, his tunic was clinging to his chest as it rose and fell unevenly. Arthur watched painfully as his servant took each labored breath as if it were his last, he watched intently, holding his own exhale between his friends. "I'm sorry." he finally stuttered out, wringing his hands in nervousness. He wasn't sure if he was apologizing to Merlin, himself or the physician.

"Please." The warlock gasped out, drawing both men's attention. His face suddenly pinched in pain, his body shuddering as if his agony was building. Gaius rushed forward, and tried to ease him, gently shaking the servant's shoulders. Merlin only responded by moaning, his voice straining hoarsely. "Please, just kill me, please."

The warlock turned quickly, retching over the side of the cot, Arthur shot back out of his seat. To the physician's dismay, the servant brought up what little water he had managed to get down the man not long ago. But the amount of blood he had seen before was clearly lessening, the medicine the physician had put together earlier seemed to have done the job.

"Is there nothing we can do? No remedy or cure I can go and get for him?" The king looked to Gaius for reassurance, but found very little. The old man's face had melted into despair and Arthur was sure he had never seen the physician so desperate before. For a moment, the King thought the old man had aged overnight; clearly he had got little to no sleep while tending to his ward.

"This isn't like when he was poisoned at the feast with Lord Bayard." The physician shook his head.

"No" Merlin's voice broke the Kings concentration yet again, and both men stepped back toward the bed. "No, no, no," whispered Merlin brokenly, still fighting to breathe as he tossed his head from side to side, as if he faced some horror. Arthur pulled his friend's hand into his own, clasping it tightly. "Please no, not the fire." The warlock's voice was weak and croaky; tears seeped from the corners of his tightly shut lids. He let out an agonizing screech and jerked, his eyes flashing open.

"Merlin?" Arthur rubbed the young man's hand, trying to draw his unseeing gaze from the ceiling. The warlock did not move, but simply stared.

"Merlin?" Arthur grasped his friend's shoulder tightly and the servant turned to him. He gasped, whether in fear or recognition, Arthur was not sure, but the warlock shrank back into the bed. "What's wrong with you?"

"Are you here to kill me?" Merlin squeaked trying to pull away from the Kings grip. His eyes flared in panic from their sunken darkened sockets.

Arthur released his hand as if touching a burning pot, he stepped back. "What?' Why? Merlin, it's me, you idiot."

"Please, no, " he moaned again. He gagged as he fought for another breath. He heaved again, his body jerking painfully, slightly bloody foam pooling and running from his mouth. Even as Gaius reached past Arthur to clear his airway and reposition his ward on the bed, the warlock rolled sideways, curling in on himself as he closed his eyes. He mumbled incoherently and his arms and hands twitched spasmodically, even as he faded from awareness.

"What's wrong with him?" Gaius took his time answering. He cleaned his ward's face and moved soiled bedding aside, as Merlin continued his labored, twitching slumber.

"I'm not sure." Gaius covered his boy with a thin blanket and studied his face for a moment. "It seems he is becoming delusional, it may be the fever, but I'm not convinced. I'm not sure he actually recognized us." The old man looked up at Arthur with a fear in his dark eyes that was as unfamiliar as it was unsettling. Gaius opened his mouth to add something, but after looking at his king, he simply closed his eyes in pain, turning away, and the old man did not speak again. For some reason, Arthur remembered Guinevere's face as she sent him away, leaving Merlin to her care. He felt his unease grow into a swell of disbelief and a sinking suspicion. There was something not ringing true about all of this.

Arthur paced then, backward and forward. He rubbed his brows in frustration. No matter where his thoughts turned, they encountered only horror and confusion.

Gwaine counted the drops of moisture as they dripped from the wall, plopping gently onto the stone flooring in the corner. He pulled the threadbare blanket around his shoulders and shuddered. It would soon be at least half a day he had spent in the cells. He was oddly patient now; it wasn't the first time the knight had spent behind bars.

He'd spent the majority of the night in the prison kicking up a fuss. He was desperate to know how his friend was. There was an untrustworthy Queen roaming the castle with the will to clearly end the young servant's life. Gwaine was jittery. He was thankful to have seen Gaius on his journey that night. He knew the old man would protect his ward without fail. After hours of shouting, he'd finally quelled his urge to hit the next guard who told him to calm down. All he could do now was wait and hope. As he let out another shudder he heard the dungeon doors open. It wasn't time for a guard change yet. The knight looked suspiciously up to see the King stride into his view.

"I expect you have some kind of reasonable explanation for this!" Arthur stopped at the door and crossed his arms, looking more than a little bit angry.

Gwaine had already thought it over enough times. He could have used the excuse of having one too many at the tavern again, but he was certain he wasn't going to let this one slide, not when Merlin's life was at stake. And besides, he had come to one almost certain conclusion. "The Queen is enchanted," he said after a long and uneasy pause.

Arthur sighed loudly, shaking his head. "And exactly how does that explain why you tried to kill my servant?"

The knight let out a short laugh. "I didn't, I saved him!" Gwaine pulled the blanket off his shoulders and stood. "When I arrived at Gaius's chambers, your good wife was trying to poison Merlin, not the other way around."

"You would do well to take care who you're accusing here, Gwaine." Arthur's face turned more serious, if it was possible. The King paused again for a moment. Gwaine could almost see the two different sides of the story begin to conflict within him, his face tensed. "However, I do know there is something about this that isn't adding up."

"Then you believe me?" the knight stepped forward, curling his calloused hands around the rusty metal bars.

"I'm not sure." Arthur stalled for a moment. Gwaine saw the doubt cross his face once again, pinching in frustration. As a knight of Camelot would always do, he seized the opening as soon as he found it.

"Then answer me this one, Princess," Gwaine shot , "How did Sarrum's assassin not only get up to the locked balcony, but also know when you were to be meeting in the great hall? Something tells me Merlin knows a little more about this than he's letting on!"

"It would be helpful if Merlin could actually talk sense." Gwaine's attention intensified as he looked at the king, following his mention of his servant. The knight's heart sank with every word of Arthur's that followed. "The poison seems to have taken hold, he's overtaken with fits. The idiot seems to be making less sense than his usual senseless self." Gwaine could hear the affection in the Kings voice, yet all he could see was Gwen's form bent over his best friend's mumbling and incoherent form.

"Then make him make sense!" Gwaine's voice rose, but he didn't shout, his frustration growing with each worried pound of his heart. "Don't you see Princess?" he growled, "Someone wants your servant dead because he knows something. And something tells me either Morgana or Gwen have something to do with it."

Arthur only nodded in response, pursing his lips together in deep thought. "Thank you Gwaine" was all he managed, turning to leave abruptly. He paused at the door, but he did not look back.

The knight stood perplexed for a moment, his heart thundering in fear for Merlin's health, hoping that Arthur could admit what was he saw in front of him. He watched silently as the King left, the iron doors creaking and crashing as they were slammed shut behind the monarch. The he was alone again, with nothing but his thoughts and his fears to keep him company.