The young monarch observed sternly as Merlin's still unconscious assailants were taken to the dungeons before turning to face the physician.

The old man had just came back to his chambers after having been alerted of what had just transpired. Having previously left Merlin in Gwaine's care, he was concerned about the knight's whereabouts. Arthur agreed worriedly, Gwaine would never have left Merlin on his own.

"He appears to be exactly the same, Sire," Gaius pronounced, having examined his ward.

"When I saw him standing, I thought…"

Arthur fell silent, his lips pressed into a thin line. A glance at the physician told him he had held the same hope.

A faint scratching noise interrupted the gloomy silence.

"I have been having a problem with mice lately," explained Gaius, obviously not troubled. "I will have to set up traps later."

The noise came back, this time much louder.

Arthur headed to Gaius' closet, where the source of the noise had seemed to come from, and opened the door. To his surprise, he found Gwaine, tightly bound and gagged, with the remnants of a bloody nose.

"I found your mouse, Gaius. Ugly thing. Big and scruffy."

Gwaine glowered silently.

"Although I'm not sure you have a trap big enough for it," Arthur added with a grin as he removed the gag from Gwaine's mouth.

"Very funny, Princess," Gwaine grumbled. "Where is Merlin? Is he okay?"

"Merlin is safe, he's right here," Arthur reassured. "Gaius is examining him."

"Then get me out of this bloody closet."

Arthur smirked. "Only if you say please."

Gwaine clenched his teeth, glaring at his king.

As soon as Arthur had finished untying him, Gwaine brushed off the ropes to go check on Merlin, who was sitting a bit crookedly at his familiar place on the physician's armchair. If not for the mess in the room, it would have looked as if nothing had occurred.

"What the hell happened?" Gwaine asked.

"We were hoping you could tell us," replied Arthur, slightly disappointed. "Can you at least tell us what happened before you got to make friends with Gaius' closet."

Gwaine huffed. "These guys came out of nowhere. No idea how they got pass the guards, but I think it had something to do with magic."

"Magic?" asked Gaius "You're sure?"

"Pretty much. One of them even bore druid markings. Anyway, I was jumped by a huge beast of a man." Gwaine emphasised his point by raising his arms in a wide, menacing posture. "He had murder in his eyes, I can tell you that. I could have taken him on, of course, but I got paralysed by a spell."

The dragon had warned Arthur that people wanted Merlin's magic but he wouldn't have thought that people already possessing magic would still covet Merlin's. The thought of this vermin using his friend as their puppet infuriated him.

"They tied me up and threw me in there," Gwaine continued, pointing to the closet. "Next thing I knew, there was a bright flash of light under the door and I heard a great crashing noise. Then, for a long time, there was nothing until Arthur barged in."

"But did you see Merlin what happened with Merlin? Was he aware?"

Gwaine shook his head. "No, he was the same. Why do you ask?"

Arthur ignored him for the moment. "Gaius, what do you think happened?"

"It's only a hypothesis, but Merlin's magic probably reacted when they tried to grab him."

Gwaine looked disbelievingly between the messy room and his silent friend, a smile of wonderment slowly appearing on his face.

"Serves them right," the knight said. "But what did they want with Merlin?"

"That's why I'm back. The great dragon came to warn me that our enemies attacked the outpost at the same time to double as a diversion. Merlin's assailants were after him for his magic, but I guess they were wrong thinking they could use it for their own benefit."

"You spoke to the dragon?" Gaius eagerly asked. "Did you get to ask him about Merlin's condition?"

"I did." He hesitated, grim. He hated to be the bearer of such terrible news. "He told me that there is nothing we can do to help Merlin get better. I'm so sorry, Gaius."

Gaius lowered his head but Arthur could see the pain in the eyes of the old man who just seen his last hope crushed. He moved in front of Merlin, crouching. His wrinkly hands softly grasped his ward's blank face and gently turned it towards him.

"I'm so sorry, my boy," he whispered, his voice shaking. He leaned his forehead against Merlin's own as a tear rolled down his cheek.

Arthur and Gwaine stood in silence, their hearts aching along with the old man's. The already dim hope of seeing their friend restored was fading out, and the dragon had told him that there was nothing they could do to help Merlin. But he had entrusted Arthur with a mission.

With a heartbroken sigh, Gaius unhanded his inexpressive ward and slowly got up.

"Gaius," Arthur said, "I'm sorry but I have to ask. The dragon told be a peculiar story. One about a wizard called Emrys and a prophecy. "

Gaius raised his eyebrow.

"And did the dragon also tell you who the prophecy referred to?"

"He did. Apparently, it's about Merlin and myself. Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"I admit that the idea had crossed my mind but you had just lost a friend and I did not wish to trouble you with it. Destiny had seen fit to place the burden of prophecy on Merlin alone, I am uncertain if it could still come to pass without him."

"Well, the dragon had no such qualms. He told me it was up to me now. I owe it to Merlin to finish what he started," Arthur stated, his voice now clear and confident. "Apparently, I have a lot of work ahead. Will you help me?"

The physician nodded. "I will gladly provide any assistance you require."

"You can count on me," added Gwaine with a slight grin. "So, where do we start?"

King Arthur stood tall.

"With the legalisation of magic."


Arthur groaned in frustration. His eyes narrowed as he read yet again a draft of the new and improved law on magic. He had been sitting at his desk for hours, working on it, a painful headache now drilling holes in his head.

The legalisation of magic. It had seemed so straightforward when he had publicly announced it, more than a fortnight ago, by simply lifting the ban.

Until he realised what a mistake that had been.

While his decision had not been met with the general outcry one could have expected, there still had been a choir of protest and disagreement. Even those who received favourably the return of magic agreed that it's use in Camelot needed clear guidelines of the "don't cast a spell on your neighbour's bratty child" kind.

They quickly got the preliminary law on magic out as a way of appeasing Camelot's citizens, which included rules that should have been obvious. Don't use magic to do harm. Don't do anything usually forbidden without magic. No love spells were allowed. They learned the hard way that this clause would have to be extended to any mind-altering spell in the new version of the law.

The first version also stated that magic could not be used for personal gain but Arthur soon realised that was not feasible, especially if they wanted to attract healers. Without attracting charlatans, he noted, letting out a long sigh.

Working on fixing the loopholes and the ambiguities in the law on magic seemed like all he had been doing lately. It was tedious work. Since almost all expertise on magic had been lost during the purge, Gaius had reached to the druids for help. The physician had also been informative, explaining that while it might seem like a good idea to prohibit the use of destructive magic, there were a lot of situations where it could prove beneficial.

More than anything, Arthur would have wished to get Merlin's input. Not even because he was a magic user himself, but because of his invaluable advice. As much as the king had enjoyed mocking the servant about his supposed mental affliction, Merlin had always been so bright. Peculiarly insightful as well, although he now knew why.

Arthur massaged his temples with his palms. He would never have thought that allowing magic back would have been so complicated. A knock on his door interrupted his musings.

Leon and Percival marched in, their features grave. "Sire, Merlin is missing."

Arthur swiftly got up, documents forgotten. "Did anybody see who took him?"

"No," replied Percival.

"What about the people who tried to take him before?"

"Still in the dungeons. They claim they had nothing to do it."

"Percival, have a search in the castle and the city launched," Arthur ordered. "Speak to the guards and the servants, ask if they saw anybody or anything unusual."

"Yes, Sire." The strong knight nodded, promptly leaving to follow his king's orders.

"Leon, how could nobody have seen what happened? Why was Merlin left alone?"

"That's the strange thing. He wasn't. Gaius swears he never even left the room."

Arthur rushed to the physician's chambers to investigate, closely followed by Leon. The sight of a frazzled Gaius pacing across the room greeted them as he entered.

"Gaius, what happened?"

"I don't understand. I was with him the whole time." The old physician's voice was shaking. "I turned his back on him only for a minute, researching about a rare disease. When I looked back, he was simply gone."

"He can't have just walked out!" exclaimed Arthur.

So it had happened after all. Arthur ran his hands through his hair, mind racing, furious at his own negligence. The dragon had warned him that ill-intentioned people were after Merlin but he had felt so confident when they failed the last time that he hadn't even thought of reinforcing the security around the warlock. How did Merlin's abductors manage to take him? Had they found a way to stop his magic, leaving him vulnerable?

There was not a single shred of evidence of what had occurred anywhere, except for the fact that Merlin's blasted armchair was still warm.