"The unhappy are prisoners of a single round of thought."-Mason Cooley

There was a flicker upwards across Nadia's eyes. Wait…was there? He couldn't be sure. It had looked as though maybe... No...it had to have been his imagination. Merlin was tired. His sleep had been interrupted by unwelcome sudden attacks of paranoia during the night, which had seriously been irritating when he had awoken to find that nothing had changed in Nadia' condition. She still lay on the bed, skin burning, eyes tight shut. Eventually, he had given up on sleep and resumed his attempts at healing her. He even retried the spells he had cast before. However, he had full confidence that the last spell would have been just like the others, null and void to her unwavering state.

But wait! There it was again! Her eyelids had twitched undoubtedly, just for a single moment. They squeezed shut even tighter, and then relaxed. Then again! Merlin didn't know if this was a good thing or not, so he took her hand and felt the temperature on her forehead. It seemed to have cooled down- still warmer than normal, but not scolding as it had been before. Taking it as a good sign, he tried again to enter her mind. Closing his eyes, he reached out.

When he broke through, Nadia's mind was still muddled, but she seemed to have regained some form of organisation. He prodded a bit, searching for something he recognised. He saw many fleeting images, including ones of him which surprised him. He stayed like this for several minutes, looking for a sign and then:

You could be a bit more subtle, you know.

Merlin almost jumped at the gentle sound, before smiling and opening his eyes. Nadia did the same, a lot slower, but they were still open. But that meant he had healed her, just like before when she had healed him. (Except that time his sleep was intentional and meant for healing purposes and not like the one that almost killed her.)

"How did you-" she began in a quiet and extremely hoarse voice, but Merlin interrupted her with a finger against her soft lips. He lifted the book up to her eye level, open at the same page it had been for several hours now.

"This one." He said, pointing a finger to the enchantment. She read it slowly and toughly, squinting her eyes to get a better view. He observed her whilst she did so, trying his best to adjust the book's position for her. When she relaxed, Merlin lowered it again and tied the cover shut.

"I'll get Gaius." he rose from his chair and walked into the next room, taking one last look behind him as he left, just to make sure he hadn't been imagining things. When he re-assured himself Nadia was watching him carefully, Merlin crossed the floor to where his guardian slept. The dawn lights were creeping in slowly through the windows, illuminating everything with a rose-gold hue, even the tiny particles of dust that was becoming far too common for his liking. Gaius was sleeping peacefully, eyes shut and head lolled to the side. Seeing him in this state, so calm and carefree, made Merlin not want to shake him by the shoulder, making the pyhsician jump and his eyes snap open. Merlin smiled at him.

"Oh! You gave me such a fright, boy! What is it?" he said, blinking his eyes to rid them off their weariness.

"It's Nadia. She's awake." Merlin said softly, turning his head back towards the open door- just to double check. Gaius rose slowly and walked towards where Nadia laid, her eyes transfixed on what she could see through the gap between the door and the wall. Merlin followed close behind him; still giddy from the first rush he felt when she opened her eyes. He stood to the side and watched silently.

Gaius examined her face with an expert eye. "You're regaining your colour…and it seems your temperature's normalising…" he observed, placing the back of his hand against her forehead, just as Merlin had already done-which he didn't point out, which on reflection might have saved time, time he was going to need. Gaius then held up three wrinkled fingers.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked.

"Three. And no, I haven't got any stomach pains, headaches or stabbing pains in my chest, just before you ask." Nadia said roughly, but still confidently. Gaius raised an eyebrow.

"You definitely take after your father." He said, before turning round to pick up a water goblet from a nearby table. He didn't see Nadia's face drop and her eyes dull as painful memories swarmed around her. Merlin saw, and felt a pang of great sympathy in his heart for her. Gaius wasn't normally this insensitive, which aroused his curiosity (naturally), but he had no time to think on the matter. Dawn was giving way to morning, and he knew that if he didn't wake Arthur up now, there would be hell to pay (also naturally, but wasn't there always?).

"I'd better go to work." He announced taking his jacket which was hanging over the chair he had settled in at night. "I'll see you later."

Gaius lifted his head and looked at him in acknowledgement and Nadia gave him a weak smile, which he could tell took a lot of effort. She looked tired, which was strange, considering she was almost sleeping for the whole night. But to let her rest now would take up time...

Giving his companions a last smile, he closed the door behind him and began his usual hurried walk towards Arthur's chambers, with one thing on his mind.

Well, four to be exact…

There was great work to be done.

…...

When Merlin left, there was a sudden…awkwardness, between Nadia and Gaius. She wanted to say something, well not just something, there were many burning questions she yearned to ask this man who claimed to know her father, but she couldn't quite bring herself to speak. It hurt anyway. Her throat was painful -probably from Jugulum Ignis due to the lack of water- and she had no wish to make it any worse.

Gaius handed her the water goblet, which she took gratefully and drunk from in long draughts. She felt its cold touch run down her burning throat and down the sides of her heavy ribs that pushed down on her chest, making it difficult to breathe. With each eager gulp, the pain relieved slightly, which was most appreciated across her arms, collar bone and back on her tattoos that felt like untamed wild fire running across her skin. Why The Creator had made them so beautiful yet so sensitive she would never understand, but it was not her job to question that.

Best leave that to those damn sceptics… she thought darkly.

The tension was eventually broken by the physician, who wasted no time in getting to the point of the thing-something she tended to like in people(what was the point in meaningless chit chat when there was things to be done?). It was a simple statement, nothing complex about it, but it would change the way she saw things forever.

"He's not dead."

It was said with the same simplicity as it's words and context, in an uncomplicated plain monotone, as if what he said was on the same wavelength as "I got some bread this morning", but it was the exact opposite. Those three words changed her life. They were greeted first with a splash of confusion, then a world of disbelief, but on seeing Gaius' expression, that changed to shock, then unstable doubt.

"Wh-What d-do you mean?"She stumbled over her words, still trying to grasp what had been said.

"I mean your father of course. He's alive." He replied, voice slightly sigh-like.

Nadia tried to respond, but she was cut off.

"You've seen him yourself, girl! Don't you recognise your own father? Then again, you haven't met him…"

Again, she tried to speak, but Gaius went on, almost oblivious (or inconsiderate) to the fact she had something to say.

"Twenty years ago at the Battle of Avalon-yes, I know of it-, your father, Abandius Silverback, was taken hostage by the King, and a replica of his body was left on the battlefield so that no-one need know. Uther decided death was not enough for Abandius and locked him in a single cell in Camelot's prison- just as he had with you. He is taken for torture every night and replenished every day in submersion."

"What's submersion?" she asked, this being the only question she could actually put into words.

"The quickest way to heal a nymph from battle or torture injuries. By submerging them completely in water. They subconsciously heal themselves, you see. I was going to do the same with you if you made no recovery in the next day or two, but it seems you have no need…"

Nadia was sure she heard another word muttered under his breath, but she couldn't make it out. Gaius continued with his narrative:

"It's a wonder your Elders never noticed the difference between the real Abandius and the replica body, but they had many fatalities that day, as did we. For such a small victory, there was a great presence of death on both sides. In fact it was barely a victory. The only reason the King went to Avalon was to capture your father, which he did, yet he couldn't help himself from killing others."

Nadia said, "If this King is as wicked as you make out, why do you still serve him?"

Gaius thought over this for a few moments before replying, "Because there is a greater purpose behind Uther and his reign. One that I will find most interesting to discover when it ends."

"So you stay out of curiosity?"

"Amongst other things yes. If I didn't, your father wouldn't survive in those cells. Often, the poor man needs more than just submersion to heal properly."

An idea struck Nadia, one that was too intriguing to resist. "So you…have access to him?" she said, pausing to catch her breath.

Gaius raised an eyebrow. "Of sorts. Why?"

"Could you take me to him?"

There was no reply for a long moment. Gaius' thinking seemed to last forever, but when the answer came, she wished it had taken longer.

"No. No, I couldn't risk it. His guard is too heavy and if you get taken down there, you'll get put back in your cell. It would be best to wait."

The last part of what he said confused her, but she never got a chance to voice it, because there was a loud knock at the front door to the chambers. Gaius left to answer it, leaving Nadia slightly deflated in feeling and disappointed. She heard voices, then the door in front of her swung open to reveal Arthur, followed by a slightly perplexed (but focused) Guinevere and a rather determined looking Merlin.

"You're awake!" Arthur exclaimed, striding across the floor to the chair beside her where Merlin had sat before.

"Yes, but I'm guessing by the looks on everyone's faces that isn't the reason you're all here?" she asked.

Arthur sighed. "No, unfortunately. We've had reports from our scouts in Mercia that Morgana's forces are on the move again."

A stab of worry pained her heart. "What? Why would she attack now?"

"I don't know, but we have to stop her." He said, steel-like determination in his voice.

"That still doesn't tell me why you're here."

Arthur seemed to be unable to choose the right words, so looked his shoulder to Merlin, who took several paces forward to stand directly beside Arthur.

"Can you walk?" he asked, eyes shining with great happiness. Nadia knew what this meant.

It was to begin.

…