A/N: This chapter is a little bit shorter than it was going to be, but I had to split the one I was writing into two because it was getting away from me! It is a pretty light-hearted section, but you could think about it as the light before the storm, because soon it will all be hitting the proverbial fan.

Thanks once again for the lovely reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 7. Enter Gwen

Gaius looked up from his work to see a dishevelled-looking Merlin walking through the door.

"What are you doing here?"

Merlin shook his head and walked quickly across the room, shrugging his shirt off as he went.

"That cot they put in Arthur's room may as well be made of stone," he grumbled, taking the stairs to his room in two strides. "I hardly slept. I needed to come and at least change my clothes before I had to put up with the cranky royal wizard again."

Gaius' mouth twitched into a smile as he turned back to his book and flipped through a couple of pages.

"And did Arthur sleep any better than you?" he called out.

"No." There were a few dull, thumping noises from Merlin's room and then he emerged, wearing a clean shirt. "I know he says they aren't dreams, but something was disturbing his sleep. He was crying out in the middle of the night."

Gaius frowned and closed the book. "Did he tell you what caused it?"

"I thought we could do without anymore 'revelations' right now, so I might have said just a little spell to help him sleep," Merlin admitted. "The 'dreams' didn't seem to bother him after that."

Gaius nodded his approval. "This knowledge that's coming to him while he sleeps is very dangerous. Whoever is sending it to him wouldn't be going to the trouble if they didn't have a reason to."

Merlin perched on the edge of the work bench. "Do you think it's linked to the magic he's using?"

"I think it would be a safe assumption," Gaius murmured, crossing the room and picking up a book Merlin didn't remember having seen before. "Originally I thought it could be something akin to Morgana's nightmares, but last night I read this."

Gaius opened the book to a page marked with a thin red ribbon. "It talks of an ancient form of magic where a connection is made between two people, one being the sorcerer and the other his victim. It allows the sorcerer to feed information to his sleeping victim in such a way that it passes from the victim's unconscious to his conscious thought without him knowing how it got there. It can be a very subtle way to exercise control over someone without their knowledge."

Merlin's eyes widened and he scanned the pages quickly. "Do you think Morgana is capable of something like this?"

"Morgana? No," Gaius murmured. "It is far too powerful a magic for Morgana to be able to command. It would take a formidable sorcerer to be able to carry this off successfully."

"Like Morgause."

Gaius nodded slowly. "Like Morgause," he agreed. "She has the magical ability and Morgana to supply the information she needs."

Merlin rubbed his eyes. "So Morgana told Morgause that she's Uther's daughter and Morgause is sending that knowledge to Arthur. But why would she be doing that? Surely it's better for her and Morgana if Arthur doesn't find out about Morgana being his half-sister?"

"I would have thought so, too," Gaius agreed. "They're losing an advantage by forewarning Arthur."

"And it still doesn't tell us how Arthur came by this magic," Merlin added.

"No. I spent much of the night reading and I still haven't come across anything that would explain Arthur's magic. And without an explanation, we have no cure."

Merlin looked over at the table at the other side of the room which held the belongings they had taken from Arthur's room yesterday afternoon. The three of them had spent a couple of hours going through Arthur's things and looking for anything that may have held an enchantment.

"Any luck with them?" he asked.

Gaius waved a hand at them in a dismissive gesture. "I couldn't find anything. Perhaps you want to try?"

Merlin slipped off the bench and walked towards the pile of ceremonial jewellery, gifts and weaponry. Arthur hadn't been too bothered to see the jewellery go but had kicked up enough of a fuss about the weapons to necessitate Merlin grabbing a shield to fend off the cups that had launched themselves in his direction. Merlin rubbed the spot on his head where one had made it through. The whole flying cups thing was getting a bit old.

He surveyed the pile and then straightened his stance, raising a hand towards them.

"Ríceiu æfterielda en déop ic bebodes ðu wiðertrodes."

After a moment or two, all of the objects still looked exactly as they'd always done. He turned to Gaius and shrugged.

"I don't think there's anything there."

Gaius nodded resignedly. "I didn't think so. Now, I have to see Uther and you should be getting back to Arthur. It isn't safe to leave him alone for too long."

Merlin let his head fall back and emitted a long groan. "I know. I'm going. But if he throws one more thing at me I'm going to throw something back."

Arthur was still sleeping when Merlin walked back into his rooms. For a moment it was easy for Merlin to slip back into their usual routine. He walked across to the windows and flung the curtains open with a flourish.

"Rise and shine."

The Prince rolled over without even opening an eye and turned his back on Merlin and the bright morning light. Merlin sighed and walked over to the bed.

"Come on, we need to get back to work trying to figure this out," he encouraged.

When he still received no response, Merlin reached out a hand to shake Arthur. His hand had only just settled on his shoulder, however, when the curtains which hung around Arthur's bed untied themselves and flew closed with enough force to knock Merlin backwards.

Sitting on the floor, Merlin looked up at the bed which was now completely enclosed. He pursed his lips tightly and took a moment to calm himself down before he did anything else. Trying to deal with Arthur Pendragon these days was like being servant to someone with the attitude of a teenager and the self-control of a two year old. In some respects, Merlin reflected, that wasn't much of a change from usual, but at least he'd been able to see Arthur winding up to throw something at him before he got this magic. With a deep sigh, Merlin lifted himself off the floor.

"You know, Arthur," he spat, pulling one of the hangings aside brusquely. "I know I said I wasn't going to turn you in to your father, but right now the idea of watching you burn at the stake isn't entirely unappealing."

Arthur turned over onto his back and squinted up at Merlin. "If I go, I'm taking you with me, Merlin," he snapped. "For conspiracy to conceal a sorcerer."

He glared up at his servant but when, after a few moments, Merlin was still standing with arms folded, glaring right back at him, Arthur groaned and pulled back the covers.

"Fine. I'm getting up."

Merlin nodded briefly then turned to pour the Prince a drink, before setting out the water and cloths for him to wash.

"Merlin," Arthur began after a moment.

Merlin turned to see Arthur standing near his bed, the cup still halfway to his mouth and his forehead creased into a frown.

"You remember when Morgause tried to trick me with that image of my mother?"

Alarm bells started ringing furiously inside Merlin's head. He directed his attention back to his task and tried to keep his tone casual. "Yes."

"I've been wondering," Arthur continued. "What if it wasn't a trick?"

"What would make you think that?" Merlin asked, quietly.

Arthur shrugged. "I don't know. Last night I..." he pulled up short and shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

Merlin could practically feel Arthur working his way through the fog in his mind to retrieve the knowledge Morgause must have been trying to get through to him last night before Merlin cast his spell. He turned to face him and found he had to work hard to force a smile onto his face. "It won't do you any good to dwell on it," he heard himself saying, somewhat inanely. "Besides, your father said..."

Arthur snorted with harsh laughter. "Actually, Merlin, my father's word isn't holding all that much weight with me, right now."

Merlin nodded and decided distraction would be his best idea right now. "I'll get you a fresh bed-shirt and britches," he announced, walking towards the chest of drawers. "You're starting to stink."

"Why can't I get properly dressed?" Arthur asked in annoyance, pulling his shirt over his head and turning to the bowl of water. "I'm sick of lounging around."

Relieved at the change in conversation, Merlin rolled his eyes at Arthur. "You're supposed to be sick, remember? If anyone comes in you need to be ready to look like you're at death's door."

"Considering I'm highly likely to knock them over the head with a chamber pot before they've even laid eyes on me, I'm not sure that's really a problem," Arthur countered. "And while we're talking about it, I'm not going to be able to avoid seeing people for very much longer, am I? What am I supposed to do with all this magic going on at random moments?"

"Well, I hardly think it's 'random'," Merlin said, holding out Arthur's clean shirt for him to put on.

"What do you mean?"

Merlin laughed. Trust Arthur to need the obvious explained to him. "Your magic," he said patiently, "well, it's all got to do with your feelings, hasn't it?"

"Feelings?" Arthur sneered, as he sat to pull on his socks. "Merlin, girls have feelings."

"Well, you seem to be full of them," Merlin muttered.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Merlin sighed and pulled up a chair opposite Arthur. "Think about it. Every time you've used magic, it's been when you've had strong feelings about something. Somewhat predictably, it's usually anger, but there have been other things too."

When Arthur didn't respond, Merlin continued on. "The flying objects, the red light, the choking your faithful servant; they all happened when you were angry. Burning Gaius' finger and shutting the curtains on me were when you were annoyed. The room turned absolutely freezing when you were worrying about this whole situation yesterday."

Arthur nodded, silently adding to the list the incident yesterday where he'd been so disgusted with himself that he'd pelted himself with books. "So, it's not the magic that's completely out of control, it's my feelings," he summarised, sounding anything but pleased.

"They might me a little highly strung right now," Merlin conceded. "But they're not out of control. It's just that whenever you feel strongly about something the magic acts on it whether you want it to or not."

Arthur let out a long sigh. "My head hurts."

Merlin got to his feet. "Gaius left something yesterday in case you needed it."

Arthur watched as Merlin retrieved the tincture and then downed it in one as soon as it was passed to him. Once he'd handed the small jar back to Merlin he let his body slump back in his chair and gazed up at the ceiling.

"I wish I could go outside," he sighed after a moment. "I'd feel better if I could go hunting."

Merlin couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips. "Yeah, you with a spear. That sounds like a great idea right now." Merlin put on his best 'Arthur' voice: "'Merlin, you just tripped over and scared our prey away, you idiot. Merlin? Merlin? Why are you lying around with a spear through your stomach?'"

Arthur barked with laughter in spite of himself.

"So you can forget that," Merlin grinned. "I'm not letting you near anything that pointy."

Arthur kept his head tipped back and closed his eyes. "It'd be so good to be outside, though, instead of couped up in here. Some fresh air, the sun on our faces, wind blowing..."

"Arthur?"

He pulled his head back up and opened his eyes. The entire floor or his chambers was covered in grass.

"Damn."

Merlin chuckled and shook his head. "You'd better be able to get rid of this. Try thinking angry thoughts about grass and see what happens."

Arthur scowled in return for Merlin's smirk. "Why don't you make yourself useful, Merlin, and go get me something to eat?"

Merlin pushed himself upright from his spot leaning against the post of Arthur's bed. "What do you fancy?" he asked, still grinning from ear to ear.

Arthur thought for a second and then his eyes settled on a spot just behind Merlin. Frowning, Merlin turned and nearly jumped in shock when he saw a deer standing in the middle of the room, its big eyes watchful but apparently unconcerned by its sudden arrival in the castle. He looked back at Arthur who was still staring at the deer with a face expressionless other than for slightly raised eyebrows.

"I'm guessing...venison?" Merlin asked.

Arthur groaned and sat forward to rest his head in his hands. "This is ridiculous."

Merlin swatted at the deer as it made a move to nibble Arthur's bed sheets and then began edging towards the door. "Well, I won't be long."

Arthur leapt to his feet. "Merlin! What do you think you're doing? You can't leave me here like this. There is a deer in my chambers," he exclaimed.

Merlin shrugged and took another step towards the door. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Get rid of it!" Arthur shouted.

"Your magic deer – your problem," Merlin said, holding up his hands and shaking his head.

"Merlin," Arthur began, walking quickly towards Merlin, watched all the while by the large eyed doe which was now grazing near the bed. "Do I need to remind you that you are my servant and, therefore, my problems are your problems?"

Merlin tried to take another step towards the door but found his feet being pulled out from under him. In seconds he was hanging upside down in the air, his head about two feet from the ground.

"Arthur, this isn't funny!"

"Oh? A moment ago you seemed to be finding it all rather amusing, Merlin," Arthur protested.

That was when the door opened.

"Hello? I know I shouldn't be here but I..."

"Guinevere!"

The next moment Gwen screamed, Merlin tumbled to a relatively comfortable landing on the turf, the deer bolted across the room and Arthur felt his stomach sink into his socks.

More to come really soon. Thanks for reading!