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With Elyan's help, Arthur managed to get Merlin onto his horse without too much jostling. He carefully tied the man's legs to the saddle to keep him from falling off. He released Merlin and took a step back, inspecting his work. He saw with some apprehension the way Merlin's limp body flopped when he wasn't supporting it, so just to be safe he tied Merlin's hands to the saddle as well. He tied Merlin's horse to his own and then mounted himself. He did not have to wait long for the others to get ready so soon they were off.

They rode as fast as they could on their nearly fresh horses and they were making good time. They were anyway, until Arthur heard Merlin gasp. When asked later how he had heard the small sound over the pounding of the horses' hooves, he would be unable to answer, but he definitely heard it.

It was lucky he did hear it, because it was the only warning they would get of what would soon happen. Arthur pulled both his horse and Merlin's to a sudden stop. "Get down!" he yelled to the knights who obeyed him without question and pulled Gwaine down as well. Arthur leapt from his horse and cut the cords holding Merlin's legs to the saddle. He tried to pull the man down quickly only to be stopped by his own bright idea of tying down Merlin's hands.

In a panic he pulled out the knot and yanked Merlin off the horse, no longer bothering to be gentle. He laid Merlin on the ground a ways away from the horse and then lay on the ground himself, his head just high enough for him to keep an eye on Merlin.

Merlin tensed and then his back arched. The magic began to swirl around him again. Arthur looked around to make sure the knights were all on the ground in case Merlin's magic exploded outwards a second time.

Merlin sat up with a start. His eyes were wide open and gold, but he saw nothing. A ghostly image of a pyre appeared between them and Arthur realized that Merlin was having a nightmare. In a way he was slightly hurt that Merlin would still fear being burned alive after all Arthur had done to change things but he understood that years of fear didn't disappear in a month. He knew that he should go and try to wake Merlin up or at least do something to get rid of the nightmare, but how could he when getting up could mean Merlin accidentally killing him?

Eventually the image slowly faded away and Merlin lay back down and returned to his former limp and unmoving state. Arthur got up and signaled the others to follow suit. "I am going to take Merlin with me on my horse so that I can keep him on without having to tie him down. I want you all to take his horse with you and ride ahead to Camelot."

They all started protesting at once but he cut them off. "It is for your own safety," he said, then added before they could begin protesting again, "It is not a suggestion, it is an order, now go!"

No one else in Camelot would have dared to give him the glares that his men gave him then, but none of them voiced another word of protest as they got Gwaine onto his horse, remounted their own, and rode off towards Camelot.

"Now Merlin," Arthur said to himself, "time to get you to Gaius so we can figure what the hell is wrong with you."

With some difficulty Arthur got Merlin onto the horse and mounted after him. Twice more they had to stop so he could avoid Merlin's out of control magic. When night fell, he continued riding. Merlin's condition was too uncertain for him to risk making camp for the night. It was several hours past sunset when they arrived back in Camelot, but they had a small entourage waiting for them.

A pair of guards helped get Merlin off the horse and onto the stretcher Gaius had waiting. Arthur hopped off the horse and handed the reins off to a waiting servant. "Any idea what is wrong with him Gaius?"

Gaius shook his head. "Based off what the knights told me, I have no idea. Do you have anything you can add?"

Arthur shook his head. "I doubt there is anything they didn't already tell you."

Gaius turned to the guards. "We will take him to my chambers now."

Arthur began to follow but saw Gwen crouching behind a cart and motioning to him. "I will be there in a few minutes," Arthur told Gaius, but the man was too busy fussing over Merlin to do more than mumble a response.

Arthur turned away and walked to where Gwen was hiding. As soon as he was close enough she pulled him behind the cart with her and kissed him fiercely. Once she broke it off he was left to gather his now scattered thoughts.

"Why are you hiding back here?" he asked on a breath.

"Gaius ordered me to bed but I…I had to be sure…I mean, Elyan said…but I…I had to see for myself." She said uncertainly, not entirely sure of how to explain.

Arthur understood exactly why she was there. "You felt them too didn't you, you felt his emotions?"

She nodded. "And then they stopped. I was worried that…" her sentence tapered off. "Don't worry," Arthur told her. "He is still alive, merely unconscious. Gaius will take care of him." She nodded. She was still worried but her greatest fears were muted. "You should really do as Gaius instructed," he told her.

She nodded, gave him another quick kiss, and then began the walk home to the small house she and Elyan shared.

Arthur watched her go longingly. They still hadn't announced their betrothal. There were only so many changes the people of Camelot could process at once, so they had put it off until the cacophony over Arthur legalizing magic had gone down.

With a sigh he turned on his heel and walked through the dimly lit and nearly deserted streets and corridors on the short journey that would ultimately lead him to Gaius' chambers.

He entered the room to find Merlin lying motionless on the cot. He looked more like he was sleeping now than earlier when he had simply looked dead. Gaius was rapidly flipping through a book with a desperate look on his face.

"Anything?" Arthur asked, already knowing the answer.

Gaius slammed the book shut and leaned against the back of his chair. "Nothing at all. There is nothing in these books that describes anything like this."

Arthur sat in a chair next to Merlin. "Could it be because he is Emrys?" he asked cautiously.

"It very well could be, but if so we are on our own as to what to do about it."

"Why?" Arthur asked.

Gaius gave him a withering look. "There is no one else like him. He is completely unique and if that uniqueness is what is causing the problem than no one has ever had to deal with it before."

Arthur felt foolish, but he was tired so it was excusable. "Right. Of course." He looked down at Merlin. The man did look notably better than he had before. That had to be a good sign. "So what do we know?" he asked.

"Nothing that give us answers, only more mysteries."

"Such as?"

"Well, he is in perfect health." Gaius said with a shrug.

Arthur was confused. "Why wouldn't he be?"

Gaius shook his head. "I mean that there is absolutely nothing wrong with him. I can't even find the reason he is unconscious. We should be able to wake him, but nothing I have tried has worked so far."

Arthur, attempting to lighten the heavy mood since there was clearly nothing to be done at present said, "Let me try something." He leaned over and said loudly in Merlin's ear. "Merlin, you idiot, you're late!"

To both of their surprise Merlin sat up immediately, eyes wide open and awake. Arthur was knocked backwards out of his chair by another wave of magic, but luckily Gaius was far enough away to not be affected.

Arthur was trying to disentangle his feet from the chair legs when he heard Gaius gasp. Jumping up quickly and barely keeping from falling over again in the process, he saw what had surprised Gaius. Merlin's eyes were again that brilliant gold of when he was casting a spell instead of their normal clear blue and the colour was not fading away.

"Merlin, are you alright?" he asked quietly.

"Of course," he replied, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Arthur could think of quite a few reasons of why Merlin should definitely not be all right, but he knew better than to voice them aloud.

"Merlin," Gaius said, "Are you using magic right now?"

"Right at this moment? No, I'm not, why?"

Arthur and Gaius shared a glance. Neither of them knew what was going on, but whatever it was, they didn't like it. Arthur laid a hand on Merlin's shoulder. "Perhaps you should get some sleep," he said gently.

Merlin flinched away from his touch. His eyes hardened and his face twisted in pain. Arthur felt those spinning emotions again, but this time he knew for sure that they were Merlin's and not his own. Merlin had remembered what had happened.

Items began flying around the room and the fire flared and did not go down. Gaius was trying to dodge what he could but couldn't move anywhere near fast enough to avoid most of the magically propelled objects. Arthur saw the book case tip over and realized it was going to land right on Gaius. Arthur leapt out of his chair and dived at Gaius, knocking him off his chair and out of the path of the falling bookcase. He hoped he hadn't hurt the man, but there hadn't been time to do anything else.

Arthur jumped up and tried to avoid flying potion bottles and candle sticks and get back to Merlin. He grabbed Merlin by both shoulders and shook him until the man's still eerily gold eyes met his own. "Merlin, I know you're hurt, but we will get her back. We will get your mother back and we will punish the witches who did this, I promise, but this isn't helping!"

Merlin's eyes faded to their normal blue for the first time since he had tried to heal Gwaine in Ealdor and he began to cry.

Arthur glanced over to the now standing Gaius who understood Arthur's unsaid words perfectly. He grabbed a potion out of a closed cabinet whose contents had been spared Merlin's magic thanks to its sturdy doors and handed the bottle to Arthur. Arthur uncorked it and placed it in Merlin's hand then helped him lift the bottle to his lips so he would gulp it down. A few minutes later Merlin was sound asleep, but there was still a problem. The occasional item was still flying across the room, not all of them small or easy to dodge.

While Gaius attempted to straighten the bulk of the mess out, Arthur righted the bookcase then went up the stairs to Merlin's small room and began taking every item in the room downstairs. He wished he didn't have to do it alone but he couldn't risk what was happening to Merlin becoming known around the castle. After working at it for some time he looked around the room that was now empty of all but Merlin's bed. He allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction at the job well done. Suddenly he remembered something that Merlin had once mentioned to him in passing. He knelt down beside the bed and lifted up the loose floorboard. He lifted out the items hidden in there, smiling to himself at Merlin's less than creative hiding spot, and removed them as well.

Carefully, so as not to wake him, Arthur lifted Merlin from the cot in the main room, brought him up the narrow staircase, and laid him on his own bed. He pulled the man's boots off and pulled the blanket over him. He ruffled Merlin's black hair before leaving the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Gaius was again flipping through a book, looking more determined to find an answer than ever. Arthur noticed it was one of the few magic books that had been spared the pyre in the great purge and locked away in a vault in Camelot's library. He had given Gaius permission to take them for his own use. He only hoped they would now be of some good. Arthur sat in a chair across the small table from him but said nothing.

After a few minutes Gaius glanced up from the book. "You should get some sleep Arthur."

"Not until Merlin is better," Arthur said stubbornly.

"Arthur that could be days or even weeks from now and it most certainly will not be within the next twenty-four hours. You need sleep. I will keep looking for answers." Arthur made no response, nor showed any sign of leaving for his own chambers. After a while Gaius sighed and closed the book. "How are you Arthur? Has the voice quieted down?"

Arthur's eyes widened a degree in surprise before he realized what had happened. "Gwen told you about last night, didn't she?"

Gaius nodded. "She was very concerned about both you and Merlin."
"I'm fine. I've figured out a way to sort of muffle it. Merlin seemed to be doing better before all this happened as well."

"So it's still there?" Gaius asked suspiciously.

"Yes," Arthur said, furrowing his brow, "But what it is saying makes a lot more sense now."

Gaius looked not only surprised but somewhat fearful. His voice however, was unwavering. "What do you mean?"

Arthur closed his eyes. "It has been telling me to go after Morgana and Morgause, to kill them for what they had done. I hadn't known what they had done at the time, but now I do and I agree with the voice, they should pay for it." He reopened his eyes. "It is as if the voice knew exactly what was going to happen."

Gaius appeared thoughtful. "Interesting, very interesting," he muttered. Then he seemed to realize that Arthur was still there. "You really should get to bed. There is no way Merlin is going to be better by tomorrow with the way things are going."

This time Arthur took the physician's advice. He rose from the table to find he was still sore from his earlier encounter with the wall, and left the room to his own chambers to get some much needed sleep.