Chapter 11- Go after him!

Disclaimer – Don't own Merlin blah blah blah...

A/N: Thank you everyone again who took the time to review, alert or favourite this story, it means a lot :D

Merlin rode his horse in the only direction he knew he could find any comfort. His mind was still whirling from his fight with Arthur.

"Why did I leave?" He asked to no one in particular. "I could have stayed; we could have worked it out!" His horse chucked its head about as if in agreement with Merlin's stupidity. "But I can't go back now, that would be like letting him win, and plus he was very out of order with what he said. Come on." He nudged his horse in the side to get it into a collected trot, hoping to reach Ealdor by nightfall.

He entered the small village just as the sun was setting and rode straight over to his old home. He knocked on the door twice and was greeted by him beaming mum. Her smile faltered as she saw who was at her door; of course she was amazingly pleased to see her son after such a long time but knew that he must be here because something bad had happened.

She ushered him inside and sat him down at the table only then noticing the tear streaks that ran over his cheekbones and down his face.

Arthur had begun to feel drowsy over the last few hours and had developed a headache, but was determined to sort this mess with Merlin out. He made his way slowly to Gaius' room, but as he entered he saw no one was there. As his head was spinning he decided to take a seat next to Gaius' workbench, wishing Gaius would hurry up before the banging in his head got any worse. About five minutes after taking a seat and a considerable amount of pain in his head later he noticed a small scribbled note next to his left hand.

He picked it up out of curiosity and read 'Gaius, had to leave quickly visiting my mother, not sure when or if I will come back. Thank you for everything, Merlin'.

He put down the note, trying to process the fact that Merlin had left because of HIM, when Gaius came through the door. He jumped up, rushing over to him as quickly as his dizzy, pounding head would allow.

"He's gone Gaius! He's gone, he has left and it's my entire fault! WHAT SHOULD I DO?" He shouted at Gaius, slightly shaking the old man in his desperation.

"Calm down! Explain slowly, and stop shaking me I'm old and might just break!" Gaius walked over to look at the note left on the desk as Arthur muttered his 'sorrys'.

"What did you say to make him angry enough to leave?" Gaius queried.

"Well we started off with our normal banter and I don't know, it turned into a row, I said things I instantly regretted but couldn't stop him before he ran off!" Arthur said almost hysterically. "What do I do?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Gaius asked slightly exasperated. When Arthur looked at him with a puzzled expression (the Prince was obviously more stupid than he'd realised) he added "Go after him!"

"Oh right, yes, of course. Gaius, what about if he doesn't want to come back, what about if he never wants to talk to me again?" Arthur asked, bowing his head.

"That will never happen Sire, he cares too deeply for you, you must see that!" Gaius soothed looking up at Arthur as he raised his head. He noticed a single tear fall from those blue eyes that normally held so much strength and determination.

"Right, if you are sure. Thanks Gaius" The prince nodded his head in appreciation. Seeing the prince in such a broken state made Gaius not only worried himself, but also gave him hope that the young prince would not follow in his father's cold hearted footsteps.

Arthur turned to leave put a sudden shooting pain made him cry out and hold his head and clutch at his chest in agony. He dropped to his knees, screwing his face up and biting his lip in an attempt not to let the pain through.

Gaius rushed to his side. "Sire, what's wrong?"

"I really don't know" Arthur grunted through his gritted teeth. "It started a couple of hours ago, maybe one or two hours after Merlin left my chambers." Both were silent for a moment (well unless you count Arthurs occasional whimpering and grunting) until something seemed to dawn on both of them... (Admittedly, it dawned on Gaius a bit before Arthur's tiny mind caught up)

"The bond?" Gaius thought out loud.

"Do you think so? What does this mean? Merlin is injured or something? Am I feeling his pain? I must go and help him, quick!" Arthur rambled, not stopping to take a breath.

"No, no stop! I believe I have read about this sort of 'illness' before in a section about the bond you and Merlin share. If you get too far away from each other, the bond can cause each man's health to deteriorate rapidly; this prevents you from leaving each other before the bond is broken!" Gaius paused to think, and Arthur let out another cry of pain. "I think the best thing to do now would be to give you some pain killers and let you go and find Merlin. The sooner you find him the better. If I try and treat this, which is probably impossible anyway, you will just get worse." He pulled a jar from the cabinet next to him and shoved it into Arthur's hand. "Drink all of this and then go, straight away. Don't worry about Uther, I will deal with him for you."

"Thank you Gaius." With that (and the downing of the medicine) he was gone, feet thundering down the castle corridors hoping and praying that no one would notice him.

By the time he had reached the stables and saddled his horse up, the sun had sunk low beyond the tree line so darkness (and pain) was approaching faster and faster by the minute.

"I am sorry, but Arthur had to dash off, it seems that a magical creature has been attacking towns inside of Camelot and the beasts hiding place has been found, he will be gone for a few days though as he is going round to check the villages after killing the beast." Gaius was stood in front of the king in his thrown.

"Very well Gaius, thank you for informing me." With a nod of his head Gaius began to walk back down the hall, arms folded behind him, hoping that Arthur would get to Merlin before it was too late for either of them.

A/N: I hope that wasn't too angsty! R&R pretty please :D Thank youuu