Sir Kay was nothing if not professional.

He had spent a large portion of his life training to be a Knight. He was the second son of Lord Edmund of Camelot, so he had been tutored from a young age on the ways of court. Whilst working tirelessly to perfect his fighting techniques since he had been given his first, proper, sword at the age of ten. Sir Kay prided himself for being a perfectionist and ever since he had been Knighted he had taken every criticism thrown his way by the Prince and used it to improve himself.

Nevertheless, even though he had been trained in the art of keeping a neutral expression, no matter the situation, he couldn't help the slight twitch of his lips at the expression on Prince Arthurs face.

As soon as it happened he looked away from the Prince, silently admonishing his behaviour.

The situation was not amusing in the least. A man had been kidnapped by a dangerous sorcerer. There is nothing funny about that.

Once he had his expression securely under control, Sir Kay looked to his Prince once more. His lip twitched. Again!

The expression on Prince Arthurs face was priceless.

It appeared that he had taken him so completely by surprise that his 'royal mask' had dropped, revealing his true emotions.

Prince Arthur was completely gobsmacked.

Sir Kay had never seen him be so genuine before.

A nervous cough from Tucker shook them out of their thoughts. They both turned to see him shuffling his feet awkwardly.

"…Tucker is it?" At the stable-hands nod, the Prince continued. "I need you to tell me exactly what you saw." Tucker nodded again. "…Alright. So, you were in the stables…" he prompted.

Tucker realised he was expected to reply and hurried to relay what he had seen to the Prince.

Arthur paced as he listened to Tuckers explanation, occasionally interrupting to ask a question or clarify an assumption. His mask was set firmly back in place.

It doesn't make sense. What would a sorcerer want with the Princes manservant? He stood patiently as ever for his next orders.

The Prince stopped his pacing as soon as Tucker finished his story. "Zabia?" The Prince pressed. "You're certain that is what he said?"

"Yes, Sire." The stable-hand assured. "Zabia, 'e said."

With a frown, Prince Arthur turned to his Knight. "Have you ever heard of a Zabia? It can't be a Kingdom otherwise I would know of it. Is it a Tavern? An establishment of some sort?"

Zabia? He was slightly disappointed with his inability to help and slightly intrigued by this new puzzle. To discover a place unknown to either the Prince of Camelot or one of his Knights was quite a feat. "I can't say I've ever heard of a Zabia, Sire."

The Prince raised his eyebrows and decided, "Tucker, you may return to your work. Sir Kay, we need to pay Gaius a visit." Then, with an uncharacteristic nod of gratitude to the stable-hand, he strode out of the room.

Guiding poor Tucker out of the Princes chambers, Sir Kay hurried to follow.

The physicians chambers had been empty, nevertheless, after a short search of the castle, they had found the older man in the library.

The healer had been searching through the many books available, however, after a brief description of what had transpired Gaius was soon in need of a chair to sit down on.

"Have you sent someone after them?" They were sitting at one of the two large tables available in the castles library. Open books littered the surface, implying that the physician had been there quite a while.

The Prince sighed before answering the greying mans question. "There would be no way of dissecting their trail from that of all the other people travelling throughout the city this time of day. There was no struggle so there tracks would be even more camouflaged. The only way we can rescue Merlin is to find out where this Zabia is."

Poor Gaius. Sir Kay had grown fond of the elder man over the years. After being cared for by the physician repeatedly, he couldn't help the trickle of affection that had developed. His friend grimaced at the Princes words.

After a moment of silence, in which Gaius seemed to be having an internal debate, the older man sighed and looked up to meet the Princes eyes. "That is precisely what I've been trying to achieve." Confusion coloured the others faces before he continued and told them of Merlins experience the day before and informed them that none of his research had rewarded him with any answers.

Now what will we do?

Even more puzzled than before; the Prince seemed to be thinking along the same lines as his shoulders rounded slightly. Just as Arthur straightened, ready to discuss the options left open to them, a gravelly voice drew their attention.

"Sire, if I may?"

They all turned to see a very pleased Geoffrey standing before them.

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