*AUTHOR'S NOTE* I know I said I wouldn't neglect you, but something came up and I just haven't felt like writing much. I might not update again after this for a while because I'm studying for my final exams in a few week's time. Sorry again and in advance. I hope you are all still following and enjoying my story

"So, this werewolf. Is he slain?" Uther sat on his throne, looking at his son with an intense gaze.

"No." Arthur looked at his father. "He lives. Just."

"He must be executed. You know that."

"No!" Arthur glared at Uther. "No. He is a good man."

"He is a monster and fraught with danger. He must be eradicated from Camelot."

"I refuse to slaughter him. He is…" Arthur stopped himself, he had almost revealed Merlin's predicament.

"He is what?"

"He has a family!" Arthur thought on his feet, but he knew it was useless. Uther was a cold hearted man when it came to magic.

"He must be dealt with. I will give his family compensation. It is three weeks until the next full moon. He mist be slain by then or I shall do it myself."

Arthur looked at Uther, and struggled to comprehend that this man was his father. "You can't…"

"I can. It must be done."

"No." Arthur stood his ground. "I cannot let an innocent and good man be slaughtered for your own satisfaction. You have become a cold hearted king."

Anger flashed in Uther's eyes at his son's defiance, but he said nothing.

"I will banish him." Arthur forced out the words, despite the pain in his heart. Losing Merlin was more than he could bear.

"Very well." Uther said nothing more, and Arthur took that as his que to leave. He turned and retreated from the room with long strides, a sadness now settling deep within his heart at what he was to do.

"Arthur! Arthuuur!" Merlin writhed in his sleep, reaching blindly out for his prince.

"Hush, Merlin." Gaius pushed Merlin's arms gently to his sides and soothed his burning brow with a cold cloth.

"Gaius?" Arthur's voice sounded from the workshop.

"Here, Arthur." Gaius called back.

"Arthur!" Merlin moaned again and shifted. "Nooooo"

Arthur swallowed the lump in his throat. Merlin's sub consciousness seemed to know the task set upon his shoulders.

"What brings you here at such a late hour?" Gaius got up and pulled the spare stool alongside Merlin's bed.

"I couldn't sleep." Arthur sat down and rubbed his eyes. "I thought I'd check on Merlin."

"Lupus." Merlin almost barked, taking both prince and physician by surprise. "Lupus! Merlin! Arthur! Lupuus!" Merlin shuddered and took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly and returning to a normal breathing pattern and silence.

"What's wrong with him?" Arthur asked, worry now staining his voice.

"He has a fever. He keeps coming out with these outbursts in his sleep." Gaius smoothed back a lock of escaped hair from Merlin's crown and sighed. "I've given him everything I could think of and it hasn't cleared. The wound isn't putrid either so it isn't that."

"Oh, Merlin…" Arthur took his manservant's hand and choked back a sob.

"Shouldn't you get back to your chambers? I hear you have duties in the morning."

"…yes." Reluctantly, Arthur got to his feet.

"Would you like me to make you a sleeping draught?"

"Please."

"You wait there; I'll just fix it up now." Gaius yawned and disappeared into his workshop. Arthur sat back down on the stool and watched Merlin sleep, secretly envious of him for doing so seemingly effortlessly. Gaius appeared several minutes later with a small glass vial and handed it to Arthur. "Here, this should help you drift into an easy sleep."

"Thank you, Gaius." Arthur took the vial gratefully, even though he knew it would not aid his troubled mind. He looked to Merlin and sighed, and secretly hoped he would stay ill for longer, so that he could keep him closer. He shook his head and left the room, bidding Gaius goodnight as he went.

Morning dawned, heralded by a chorus of birdsong. Arthur roused from a light and uncomfortable sleep and blinked back the light that had escaped in from a gap in the shutters. He sighed; his thoughts already upon Merlin. He couldn't banish him; he had proven to him that he was safe. There had to be another way.

A soft knock at the door broke his thoughts. He turned and called "who is it?"

"Me" Morgana's voice came back through the wood.

"What do you want?"

"Let me in and I'll tell you."

"Go away, Morgana." Arthur was in no mood for her snide remarks.

"No" She replied smugly, and knocked again.

Arthur rolled his eyes, got to his feet and opened the door. He turned and sat back on his bed, arms locked around his legs and blue eyes boring into Morgana's. "What is it?"

"You've been slouching around since last week. You've been quiet and withdrawn and everyone's noticed. It's Merlin isn't it?"

"No it isn't. Gaius as treated him and he is recovering."

"Is that why you were there last night?"

"I wasn't."

"You were. I saw you." She picked up the vial of sleeping draught from the table and examined it. "Why do you have this?"

"To help me sleep, obviously." Arthur blinked against the light as Morgana threw open the shutters. "Morgana!"

"Arthur, you can't sit in the dark and mope all day just because your manservant is ill."

"It's not Merlin!"

"It so is" Morgana took in a deep breath of the clear, fresh air.

Arthur sighed and got to his feet. "I have duties." He shrugged on his long coat and swept out of the room, leaving Morgana contemplating his mood.

"Merlin?" Gaius gently shook the sleeping warlock, a frown of worry on his face when he didn't wake. "Merlin?"

"Arthur." Merlin shifted a little, a grimace of pain on his face.

"Hush, Merlin." Gaius smoothed back his hair, worry now gone; Merlin was alive.

"Gaius?" Arthur strode into the room, shoulders drooped. Sleep was still collected in the corners of his eyes and his hair still moulded into spikes by his bed.

"Arthur." Gaius turned to the prince. "Whatever is the matter?"

Arthur looked at Merlin and sighed. "How is he?"

"He is healing well, and he is very lucky to have survived."

"I know." Arthur sat down heavily and sighed.

"What's wrong, Arthur? It isn't usual to see you in such a downtrodden mood."

"It's Merlin." Arthur sighed.

"What about him?" Gaius sat down on the other stool, the worry now returning.

"Uther knows… about what he is." Arthur swallowed back a sob. "He wants him executed."

"No…" Gaius instinctively grabbed the warlock's hand. "He knows his secret?"

Arthur nodded. "He thinks he's a monster. He doesn't understand."

Gaius' heart felt like it had fallen through the floor. He had fought so much to keep him alive. "He can't…"

"I tried to argue." A tear slid from Arthur's eye and his voice cracked a little. "He wouldn't budge. He wants Merlin out of Camelot." Arthur looked at his sleeping manservant and sighed. "We could come up with a plan…"

Gaius looked at him and a spark of hope leapt inside him, mixed with anticipation and fear. "What sort of plan?"