Hello everyone! Sorry for not posting for a long time, I was just really busy. Here's a new chapter, I promise the next chapter will be uploaded soon :}

-_-_-Chapter 9_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--

_-_-_-_-_What happened before_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Sir Leon entered the cell, closing the door behind him. Arthur stood outside, quiet, curious to see if Leon's plan worked.

Leon approached the prisoner. He was a tall, lean man, with bruises and scars all over his arms. He had short dirty blond hair, and bright green eyes. He was currently staring at Leon. Even though he was trying to appear tough, Leon could see the fear in his eyes.

Before he could say anything, the prisoner addressed him "Did King Arthur send you to torture me? "

"What makes you think that?" answered Leon.

"Our leader told us about the Mighty King Arthur. How he consorted with them magic folk, choosing them over us. And now that they've killed his filthy court sorcerer, he will try and torture us."

It took a lot of self control not to show the anger he felt when the prisoner spoke about Merlin in that manner. But Leon was a disciplined man, and he knew what he was doing. With his most nonchalant voice, he answered.

"I don't know what King Arthur is planning. I'm not one of his men. I'm one of King Robin's guards."

"So you're as bad as King Robin then. He and the Queen want magic back in our kingdom, don't they?"

"I don't like magic. I think it should stay out of our lives."

"So you don't support the King and the Queen?" asked the prisoner, with a surprised tone.

"Look" said Leon. He kneeled next to the chained prisoner, and looked directly at him "I'll tell you something, but you mustn't mention it in front of any other guards the come in after me. If you do, I will have you tortured."

"I will happily endure torture for our cause. I believe that magic is evil, and you won't change my mind."

"Well then, you'll want to hear this." said Leon, lowering his voice to a whisper "King Robin gave me a special task. I know you think he supports magic. He wants everyone, including King Arthur to think that. He wanted to invite him here, so he can imprison his sorcerer. He was only putting on an act."

"Why should I trust you?" asked the prisoner.

"You don't have to trust me. The king sent me here, because he wanted to know who ordered the attack on the sorcerer. He wants to know if you're willing to join him in his mission."

"What mission?"

Leon looked around for a moment, as if checking if anyone was listening. Leaning closer to the prisoner, he continued "King Robin plans to attack Camelot. He wants to destroy magic, and he is secretly gathering his allies. He sent me here to find out what you goal is. If you attacked the sorcerer because you hate magic, he would offer you to join him. If on the other hand, you infiltrated the castle with the intent to hurt him, or his family, you are as good as dead."

"No!" yelled the prisoner "We are all against magic! If his Majesty is truly a supporter of our cause, we will happily join him!"

"Yes, so you say" said Leon "But how could I know you are telling the truth? You could just be saying what I want to hear, so you can go and kill the King later. "

"I swear, you have to believe me!"

"I want to believe you" said Leon "But I am loyal to King Robin. He gave me permission to torture you, and I will do it if I have to…"

"No, wait! Wait!" yelled the prisoner ''I can tell you who sent us! I can tell you everything!"

"Are you sure? Can you swear you are telling the truth?"

"Yes, yes, I am! And tell the King I am his loyal servant in the fight against magic."

"If you give me the information I seek, I will tell him that." said Leon "Now, tell me. Who are you? Who do you work for?"

"We are a secret organization. We call ourselves the 'Peaceful Society'."

-_-_-_-_-_Now_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

A few hours had passed after Gwaine had arrived in Camelot. He was well rested now, thanks to Guinevere. She made him eat and drink, and she even insisted on him taking a nap. Even though he had protested, Gwaine had to admit to himself that he had needed the rest.

He was now sitting with Guinevere in her chamber. They were bent over a map, and Gwaine was explaining to her exactly where their camp was.

"All right Gwaine. It's all set then." Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, my queen. Although" paused Gwaine for a moment "I still don't think it's necessary for Thane and Alan to come with me."

"Of course it is. You are still not rested enough, and you might get ambushed on your way back. Besides, Arthur needs all the help he can get. I can't send more than two people with you, because you might get noticed. But you will take Sir Alan and Sir Thane with you."

"All right, all right" said Gwaine "Lovely Gwen, you are as formidable as you are beautiful."

"Thank you Gwaine." Said Gwen, smiling at the compliment. After a few moments, she looked at her friend.

"Gwaine?"

"Yes Gwen?"

"Do you think that Merlin will be all right?" Gwen asked him, a few tears forming in her eyes.

"Our mate Merlin is the strongest man I know, Gwen." said Gwaine, reassuring her "Besides, your husband is with him. And you know how stubborn he is."

"You're right about that." said Gwen, smiling again. "Shall we go over the plan one more time, while we wait?"

"Good idea" said Gwaine. They talked about their plan for a few more minutes, until they heard a few knocks on the door.

"Enter" said Gwen. The door opened and a middle aged woman entered "Your Majesty, Gaius sent me. He said that the potion is ready."

-_-_-_-_-_What happened before_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Arthur knocked on the wooden door in front of him. His thoughts were still on what Leon had found out from the prisoner. He was proud of his knight, and of the clever way in which he had extracted the information from the prisoner. He was also feeling scared. Scared of what he had found out. And scared about how Merlin was going to react to the news.

He hadn't seen Merlin since he found out he had been poisoned. Gwaine had told Arthur about how Merlin had reacted when they had told him about the poison. Arthur was worried that the new information was going to be too much for Merlin.

Arthur heard footsteps, and a few seconds later, the wooden door in front of him opened. The physician, Kenelm, welcomed him inside.

"Good day, your Majesty."

"Good day, Kenelm. How is he?"

"He's… as well as could be expected, your Majesty. He was awake before, when Sir Gwaine was here. He's been asleep since, although I think he'll wake up soon. You're welcome to sit next to his bed if you like."

"Thank you." Arthur said down on a wooden chair next to Merlin's bed. Merlin was sleeping, unaware of what was going on around him.

"Can I bring you something your Majesty? If you permit it, I would like to go and help Ella with the potion for Merlin, Sire."

"Yes, of course Kenelm. Thank you for everything you are doing for Merlin. You and Ella."

"No need to thank us, you Majesty. It is our duty, as well as our Honour. We will do everything we can."

Kenelm left the room, leaving Arthur alone with Merlin. Arthur sat there for some time, waiting for Merlin to wake up. He hoped that his friend was going to be all right.

Finally, Merlin woke up. He was confused when he woke up. "Arthur?" he asked when he saw Arthur's face "What, where..?"

"Do you remember what happened?"

Merlin was confused for a few moments. Than it all came to him. The attack, the fight, what he found out after he had woken up…. It crushed his spirit all over again. He looked at Arthur, trying to look composed and calm, and knowing he was failing miserably at that.

"Did they tell you?"

"Yes, they did." said Arthur, looking away from Merlin. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up, Merlin, I should have been."

"It's all right Arthur, Gwaine told me where you were." said Merlin. He wasn't upset with Arthur. He was, however angry at the people who attacked them. They did this to him, and they could have hurt his friends. He had to find out who they were.

"Did you find out anything?"

"Yes, we did. Leon tricked one of the prisoners, and he told us everything."

"Well?"

Arthur looked questioningly at his friend. Merlin was pale, and tired. He could barely move without hurting his wound. Arthur wasn't sure if he should tell Merlin what he had found out. It might upset Merlin, and that might make his condition worse.

Merlin saw the way Arthur looked at him. He knew why Arthur was hesitating.

"Arthur. Please, tell me. I'll be all right."

Arthur hesitated for a few more moments, throwing worried looks in Merlin's direction. But Merlin deserved to know.

"The men who attacked us" Arthur started "are a part of an organization that is against magic. They call themselves the 'Peaceful Society'. They believe they are fighting for the peace of all the kingdoms. They believe the only way that peace can be achieved is if magic is destroyed."

Merlin nodded at this. "I've fought so many battles against people who hate magic. And yet, there are always more battles to be fought." His eyes became teary, and he closed them for a few seconds, trying to compose himself. When he opened them, he had regained some of his composure. Arthur was looking at him, with worry and fear in his eyes. 'Fear for him', Merlin realized. It reminded Merlin of that awful moment, when he had told Arthur about his magic. Then Arthur had looked at him with fear in his eyes, fear from him. It was one of the most terrible moments in Merlin's life. It was comforting, to see Arthur worried and with fear for him, and not fear from him.

"Merlin" said Arthur then, the worry evident in his voice as well "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything…"

"No Arthur" said Merlin, his voice calm now "I'm all right. Please, continue."

"Are you sure? I can come back later…"

"It's all right Arthur. Please, go on."

Arthur looked at him in silence for a few more moments, but then he continued "The group that attacked us tonight had 10 people, but the society itself is bigger. The prisoner didn't specify how many members are there, but from the way he described the organization of the society, the numbers are somewhere around one hundred. There are some fighters in the society, but most of the members aren't fighters. When they need more fighters for a certain mission, they hire mercenaries."

"So then" said Merlin "did the prisoner say where their leader is?"

"Actually, we have their leader in our dungeons" answered Arthur "Or, one of their leaders at least. Apparently, they have five members of the highest rank, and they serve as co-leaders together. We actually tried to interrogate the leader first, but… he wasn't the most cooperative person. The other prisoner, on the other hand, was very helpful. He's one of their lower ranking members, so he didn't know everything. But he did know that this attack wasn't originally planned by the Society. Someone else hired them to do the job."

"Someone else?" asked Merlin "Who?"

"We don't know that, yet, unfortunately. But we did found something on one of the prisoners. We found a small pouch, with an emerald in it. King Robin has it now, but he'll return it to me later, and I'll show it to you."

"An emerald… that's peculiar." said Merlin

"That's exactly what Robin said." continued Arthur "Anyway, Leon is working on an interrogation plan, and we'll soon interrogate the other prisoners as well. I'm sure we'll know more soon."

"Yes… That's good." said Merlin, absent mindedly. He was lost in thought, and seemed to forget that Arthur was there with him.

"Merlin?" asked Arthur "Are you all right?"

Merlin just nodded his head. The room was silent for some time after that. Merlin seemed concentrated on a spot on the ceiling, and didn't show any interest in making conversation. Arthur wanted to ask if there was anything he could do, but he didn't want to bother Merlin. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity for Arthur, Merlin spoke to him.

"Arthur" he started "Do you have any idea who ordered the attack?"

"I'm afraid I don't. But we will find out something soon, I am sure of it…"

"Yes, soon. Maybe." said Merlin, cutting him off "But for now, we know so little. And the poison will spread, and it will affect me, and I won't be able to help…"

"Merlin, don't…"

"I'm sorry, Arthur, I just…" said Merlin, gasping when his wound caused him pain. He waited a few moments for the pain to pass, and then he continued "There have been many difficult situations. But almost always, I've had my magic to help me. And even in those few times I couldn't rely on my magic, at least I wasn't hurt… Now, I can't do anything."

Arthur almost started protesting again, but he managed to stop himself in time. He could see that Merlin wanted to say something. Arthur could remember at least a few times when Merlin had been there for him. Merlin had listened, and Arthur would return that favour now. So Arthur sat there, and waited until Merlin was ready to talk again.

Merlin was struggling. So many emotions and thoughts were battling inside him, and he didn't know which one to feel or express first. He looked at Arthur. His friend was sitting there, patiently waiting for him, a supportive look in his eyes.

"I'm scared Arthur… I'm scared that I'll fail my destiny. All that we are meant to do together… I won't be here. I won't be able to protect you, Gaius, Gwen, the Knights, and even Camelot. I'm afraid… I'm afraid of dying."

Arthur continued looking at him, patiently listening to him.

"I know it's silly. You know what I've been through. You know that I've been ready to die for you, or my mother, or Gaius, in the past…. And it's silly that I am afraid of death now, when I've already faced death several times."

"Merlin, listen" said Arthur then "First of all, your fear isn't silly. I fear death every time I go into battle. And you know I've faced death many times. But I continue fighting. And when I am too afraid, you, or Gwen are always there to give me courage."

"And so Merlin, you idiot" said Arthur, smiling a bit "don't forget. We are going to fight them. We'll save you, and you'll go back to cleaning my boots with magic in no time."

Merlin smiled at this. And even though his smile was a mere ghost of Merlin's usual cheeky grin, Arthur was satisfied with it.

"Thanks Arthur. Who knew that a dollophead like you could be so wise."

"I knew that Merlin. And I've been telling you for years, you should know that by now." said Arthur, smiling as he stood up. "I'm going to leave now, because you need your rest. I'll be back soon, and you can babble on again then, if you want."

"Prat." said Merlin, his eyes slowly closing. Arthur watched as his friend fell asleep with a smile on his face. He was happy he could make his friend smile. He hoped he would have that opportunity for many more years to come.

-_-_-_-_-_Now_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

After talking with Leon and Percival, Arthur walked back to the cave. He wanted to talk to Merlin. The last time they had really talked was before the attack on the road. And that was two days ago. He walked to Merlin, who was currently lost in thought.

"Don't think too much, Merlin" said Arthur, using the same joke Merlin had once told him a few years ago "I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

"There really are no limits to you wit, Arthur." answered Merlin, as a small smile formed on his lips.

"Well, of course." Said Arthur, as he sat down next to his friend. "Merlin" he said then, his voice completely lacking the joking tone it had only moments ago "how are you?"

"I feel fine, Arthur, I told you the same thing when you were here before, with Percival…"

"No, I know that." Arthur topped him "I know that you feel fine at the moment, physically. And I'm glad. What I meant was, how are you?"

"Are you asking me about my feelings Arthur?" said Merlin surprised "what's next? Are you going to start reading me your poems?"

"Merlin" said Arthur, slightly annoyed, but still patient "I'm serious. The situation is serious, and you know it. And I know you know it too, so stop pretending that you don't know that I know it as well."

"So eloquently put, Arthur. And yet, you still ask me to write your speeches."

"Merlin…"

"I know, Arthur" said Merlin. He had raised his hand to stop the annoyed Arthur from saying anything else. Merlin's face was now serious, the smile gone from his face. He then continued, his tone now calm, with no traces of humor in it.

"I know what you meant when you asked how I was, Arthur. I know the situation is serious. And I appreciate you asking Arthur. I really do. It's just…"

"I know" said Arthur then "It's easier to just call you an idiot, believe me."

"Yes, I suppose it is" said Merlin. There was silence for a few moments, before Merlin spoke again.

"I meant what I said, you know. That I was fine. And I didn't just mean physically."

After getting a puzzled face for an answer, Merlin continued "The wound hurts, and I'm tired. I don't feel that bad at the moment, but I know it's only going to get worse. Even though I know that, I feel calm."

Arthur looked sadly at Merlin for a few seconds, before opening his bag. He searched through it, and took out the crystal bottle. The small amount of precious liquid that was in it shined from the light of the fire.

"I didn't want to show you this." said Arthur, looking at the bottle in his hand. "I didn't want you to lose hope, so I contemplated lying to you. But I couldn't. This is all we have, Merlin."

He then put the bottle in Merlin's hand. "I'm sorry."

Merlin looked at the bottle for a few moments. Arthur looked at his friend's face. He expected Merlin to be sad, scared, or even angry. The one thing he didn't expect was to see Merlin smile.

"Thank you, Arthur." said Merlin as he looked in Arthur's eyes. "There have been enough lies between us. Most of them told by me." He stopped for a bit after this, feeling a small amount of guilt and shame. "So I thank you for telling the truth."

"Aren't you worried Merlin?" asked Arthur. He was shocked at how calm his friend was. "I thought you would react differently."

"Yes." said Merlin, nodding his head "This bottle is all we have left. And there isn't much left. And I am worried, of course. But I'm not afraid."

"You're not?"

"I know the chances of surviving this are small, Arthur. And even though I panicked when I found out, I've had time to think about everything. I don't want you risking everything for me, in some foolish attempt to rescue me, as I know you would."

"No Merlin" started Arthur, nervous and angry "You're not going to do this..."

"Arthur…"

"No!" yelled Arthur, who was now standing up "I won't let you give up, we will…"

"Arthur!" yelled Merlin then, his hand raised again "I never said I was giving up."

"Yes, and… what?"

"Sit down, please, and let me finish what I have to say."

The nervous king sat down again, waiting for his friend to explain himself. After making sure that Arthur was going to keep quiet, Merlin continued.

"I am calm, Arthur, because I've accepted that there is a possibility that I might die. The wound hasn't completely healed, and I'm weakened by the blood loss. I've used magic, and that has caused the already strong poison to move more quickly. And even if those things hadn't happened, we know that the poison has a much greater effect on me because of my strong magic." He looked at the small bottle in his hand now "There is barely anything left. You'll have to use it again soon, I'm sure of that. And then we'll have no more left. The enemy could send more soldiers any moment now, and we may not be able to defeat them."

"Why are you saying this Merlin?" asked Arthur, his voice now quiet, almost a whisper.

"I'm saying this because I have to." answered Merlin, his voice strong and confident "I'm saying this because we have to face the facts. I'm saying this…" and now his voice changed to a more gentle tone "Because you know this to be true. And I'm afraid you'll ignore the facts and do something stupid just to try and save me."

Before Arthur could say anything, Merlin continued "I know you would do that Arthur. I would probably do the same." He sighed, before continuing.

"I haven't given up Arthur. I want to live, and I will not give up until my dying breath. And I know that you and the knights want to help me. I cannot tell you how grateful I am. I won't ask you to stop trying to help me. I will only ask you to think logically and not risk everything for me. If a moment comes, when you know that there is nothing more you can do for me… If that moment comes, accept it, and save everyone else."

"I won't give up."

"I know you won't Arthur. But please, think about what I said."

"I promise." said Arthur, his voice quiet and serious "And Merlin. Promise me you won't lose hope."

"I promise, sire."