A/N: Hi everyone, I'm sorry for the long wait, but here is the next chapter. As you may have already guessed, I'm kind of stuck with this story. I know what I want to do with it, but I'm just stuck. And besides that am I also busy with school. But even because of that it's a rather long chapter. I'm also not completely happy about the chapter, but besides that enjoy!

xxx

Merlin glared at the skinny man, he wasn't sure what that Rolf guy had put in that potion, but it was clearly not something good, he felt sick. A sigh left his lips, he wanted to go home... not that there was a home to go back too. He didn't even know how to get away, with his magic bond like that and his 'guards' around.

The thought of Gwaine spread in his mind, he missed his friend. He was devastated when he heard about his dead, but... he glanced once at the others around him, maybe it had been they that had killed his friend. They really wanted him and he had no doubt that they would kill to get to their goal.

He narrowed his eyes while looking at Rolf. First he had to do something about his situation. 'What was in that potion?'

The man looked up at him, scanning his face. 'You don't have to worry about that, I will give you the cure for it when we think you're ready.'

He sighed, 'so it won't wear off .' He closed his eyes and let his head hang, he felt so tired.

Then a hand was placed on his shoulder, looking up at a rather concerned looking Rolf. 'Is something wrong?'

Merlin glared at him and shock the hand off. 'Just leave me alone.'

The man let out a sigh and returned to his place by the campfire.

xxx

Arthur sighed, while looking up at the sky, it was almost dark and they should stop, but they couldn't stop now, right? Who knows how close they were in finding Merlin. He turned around to look at Gwaine, only a quick glance told him that the brunette thought the same. So Arthur let out another sigh, before pulling at the reins to stop his horse, they could do nothing as tired as they were now.

Both climbed off, the pace they were traveling was not as fast as Arthur had hoped it would be, but it couldn't be helped, they had only one horse to share.

They had created a fire and settled down around the campfire, both of them saying nothing to the other. His own mind wandered off to his home, trying to forget about the worry resting in his heart, his father, Morgana... even her. A blush spread over his face when his thoughts stayed by Morgana's maid, Gwen.

Gwaine, who had claimed all the alcohol for himself, probably drinking his fears away, mumbled something to himself and it brought Arthur out of his thoughts. The brunette placed the empty bottle besides him and lay down, Arthur soon following his example.

Arthur looked up, straight at the bright stars in the sky above them. The blond sighed, if only they could tell him where the raven was. He looked to his side, seeing that Gwaine was also still awake. The brunette wore a worried expression, one that showed how much he missed his friend. 'You okay?'

Gwaine looked startled at him, before answering. '... Yeah... you?'

'The same as you, worried about him.' He saw how the brunette nodded in response. 'Why do they actually want him?'

Gwaine let out a sigh. 'I wish I knew... there was always something about him, something that the other druids didn't have, but I could never place my finger on it.' He closed his eyes, like he was deep in thought, before saying. 'But I know that his magic is strong... maybe they wanted him for his magic.'

Arthur frowned, he knew that the boy had saved him with his magic, but was he really that strong? He didn't look like a strong person. 'He has powerful magic?'

The brunette nodded. 'Yeah, I heard the others talk about it, but I haven't seen it for myself, he normally only uses it for small things and entertaining the children... he's is a really great guy.'

Arthur sighed, he understood it even when he had known Merlin for such a short time. The prince yawned, it had been a long day and he just felt so tired.

xxx

Arthur was waken roughly and he groaned, a glance upwards showed him that it had been Gwaine that had so roughly awoken him. Besides that he also noticed how the man was already fully packed, his eyes showing how he wanted to go already. He looked away when he noticed the sun burning on his skin, it was already much later then he had wanted to get up. 'Why didn't you wake me?'

The brunette looked down at him, a small, but brotherly smile spread over his lips. 'Don't worry I already packed everything... you just looked as if you needed more sleep.'

The prince smiled, so the man had an bigger heart then he tried to show. 'Thanks.' Arthur stood up, putting his blanket away before he stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth and they left.

Noon had just past and they entered a darker part of the forest, something about it made shivers run down his back. He looked at the brunette, the man probably had traveled many times through woods like this, but he as a prince of Camelot never had to travel through this kind of places, at least not without his knights.

He opened his mouth, but was stopped by Gwaine. Arthur blinked in surprise, but then he noticed what the other had heard, soft voices. He nodded to Gwaine and they went on by foot, sneaking towards the voices.

Arthur frowned when they came closer, recognizing one of the voices, it could only be that Alice woman, right? One glance at Gwaine told him that he was right. He slowly reached for his sword, but Gwaine's hand stopped him and Arthur turned his head to the other. The brunette put his finger to his lips and pointed in the direction of the voice, Arthur nodded, he understood what the other wanted, they first had to find out what was going on in the camp.

'What do you mean by that?' Alice asked, her voice clearly showing how irritated she was.

In response a man replied to her words. 'Like I said, I didn't expect him to react like that.' He fell silent for a moment. 'I have to make the antidote, but it will take a while before I will have gathered all the right herbs.'

'How long?' She hissed to him.

His voice went small. 'Two days...'

'Do it in one!' The cold woman growled at him.

'Yes.' Was his only reply and he ran away. Arthur could hear Alice sigh in response, before walking off.

Arthur looked to his side. 'She will probably lead us to Merlin.' Gwaine nodded and the two of them started to follow her.

The prince narrowed his eyes, what had they been talking about... it probably had something to do with Merlin, what had they done to him? How he felt the anger rise in his heart, he wanted to tear those kidnappers apart, limp by limp, for even touching the raven.

His eyes widened when he realised what he had been thinking. He looked at his hands, why did he want to protect that boy like this, he had never felt such a strong bond with someone else like he had with Merlin... and he had known the boy only for a few days. He was sure that Gwaine felt the same, there was something special about Merlin, but he just couldn't place it.

They stopped at the edge of a clearing, hiding behind some bushes. His eyes lit up when he recognized the raven boy sitting by the campfire. The same joy appearing in the brunette's eyes, but at the same time there was worry. Merlin just looked so tired, there was defiantly something wrong with the boy.

'What will we do?' Gwaine hissed to him.

Arthur narrowed his eyes, they were up against Alice and her group and he didn't want to admit it, but they were too strong for them, especially considering there were probably more of them nearby. 'We wait, until it becomes dark.'

xxx

Arthur glanced at the camp, before winking Gwaine, it was time to rescue their friend. The one on lookout was a small blond woman, Arthur wasn't completely sure about it but he figured it was probably the archer he wounded at their fight before. She looked fine now, but that was probably the cause of magic or something like that.

'You take out the woman, I go to Merlin.' He wanted to go, but stopped and looked at the brunette. 'Make sure that everything goes quiet, we don't want the others to wake up, we're no match for all of them.'

Gwaine gave him a quick nod and they crawled forward. Arthur's eyes focused on the sleeping people on the ground, totally trusting Gwaine to take out the lookout. He glared at Alice, her expression even ice cold when she slept, but then he turned his attention back to Merlin. He kneeled down next to the raven, his hand covering the boy's mouth. Merlin eyes shot open, his expression showing total panic.

'Ssshhh... it's me.' Arthur softly whispered to him, but still he held the boy to the ground, he couldn't have Merlin scream in surprise, but still it didn't felt good to scare the other like that. He saw how the raven's expression turned from fear to surprise, but somewhere he also saw relief.

The prince glanced once back, seeing that Gwaine had taken out the woman and signaled to him that they should retreat. He looked at the brunette returning from where they came from and he quickly helped Merlin up, guiding him to away.

They ran, he and Gwaine had agreed that they should regroup by the horse. He took one glance back at Merlin, worry spreading through his mind when he looked at the raven. The boy wasn't going as fast as he had hoped, even after some sleep he looked tired, Arthur could only feel that something was totally wrong with him.

He smiled seeing that Gwaine was already by his horse, not that he had expected otherwise, it seemed like they hadn't been noticed. He stopped and looked back at Merlin, the boy's eyes growing wide with surprise and pure joy when he saw the brunette, the raven threw his arms around Gwaine, holding him tight to his body.

'Merlin?' Gwaine asked confused, but at the same time he was clearly relieved and he placed his arms around the other.

Merlin let out a soft sob. 'They said that you were dead.' He whispered against the brunette's shoulder.

Gwaine gave Arthur a sad smile, before turning back to the raven. 'I'm still here.' He rubbed the boy brotherly on the back. 'Why did you think that I was dead?'

Merlin looked up. 'Alice said that you were dead...' He gave him a sad grin. 'I shouldn't have believed her.'

'You should have known better, I don't die that easily.' Gwaine grinned at him before he looked at the prince. 'We should go now, before they notice that he isn't with them anymore.'

The blond nodded, but before they did anything Arthur lay his hand on Merlin's shoulder. 'Are you okay? You look tired.'

Merlin looked at him, his eyes tired. 'I don't know... they gave me something and it kind of hurts.'

'We will look at that when we're safe, but now we have to go.' Gwaine stated and the Arthur and Merlin nodded, now wasn't the time to discuss those things.

They quickly started to move, it was when they had been on the way for about ten minutes when Merlin nervously asked. 'Where are we going?'

Arthur bit his lip and looked at the raven, Merlin wasn't going to like his answer. 'Camelot.' He saw how Merlin froze in shock. '... Don't worry, I will make sure nothing happens to the two of you.' The druid nodded, but he clearly didn't trust it completely.

They fell silent again and Arthur looked up at the dark sky. He let out a soft sigh, it was going to be long night. They were about one day away from Camelot, if they hurried then he was sure they would reach the castle before tomorrow nightfall.

xxx

Arthur smiled when the castle walls came into sight, he may be happy, but one glance at both Gwaine and Merlin told him that they thought differently. The prince couldn't blame them, they probably had learned to stay away from Camelot and its king, just like he had learned to hate magic.

But how closer he came to the walls how more nervous he became. He had been away for more than three days, his father would probably kill him for leaving without his permission.

Gwaine started walking next to him. 'What will we do when we get inside?' He glanced once worriedly back at Merlin, who was currently sitting on the back of the horse.

'There is someone I think you can stay with for now.'

'If you say so.' Gwaine said nervously and both men turned to Merlin, which they helped off the horse.

They reached the gates, a gently smile spread over his face when he recognized one of the guards. Leon looked rather relieved at him. 'Sire!' The man jumped up and told the other guard to stay at his spot, before hurrying to the prince. The man stopped in front of them and glanced once at Gwaine and Merlin before whispering to the prince. 'What happened? Are they?...'

Arthur looked once back before nodding at Leon. 'Yes, but you can't tell my father.'

'What are you planning to do with them?'

The prince bit his lip. 'I hope they can stay with Guinevere for awhile.' Arthur grabbed the knight's shoulder. 'They are good men, I promise you.'

The man sighed, but nodded. 'I thrust you.' Leon turned around and they followed him inside the walls.

Arthur looked at the small house where he knew Gwen lived on her own. Her father had died by a strange illness created by an evil witch.

He gulped, hoping that the woman would help them and he knocked on the door. He heard rumbling from inside the house, before the door was opened and a rather irritated Gwen stood in the opening. Her face immediately softened when she recognized the person standing in front of her. 'My lord!' She quickly bowed for him. 'The king and lady Morgana have been so worried.'

The prince sighed. 'I know and I will see them, but first I have to ask you something.' He turned around and winked at Merlin and Gwaine that they should come closer. 'Can you look after them for a few days?' She narrowed her eyes and he quickly added. 'They are good men, I promise you!'

Gwen let out a deep sigh. 'Okay.' She smiled at the two men behind the blond. 'Nice to meet you, I'm Guinevere, but you can call me Gwen.'

He looked back at the two men and smiled seeing how Merlin's eyes lit up and he walked to the woman. 'Hi, I'm Merlin... and this is Gwaine.' The brunette gave her also a hand.

Arthur smiled at them. 'Then I will take my leave. I will try to be back as soon as possible.' They nodded and he turned around to follow Leon to his father. He didn't like the thought to go to his father, but he had no other choice.