A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed this story. I really enjoy reading all of your thoughts! Please keep them coming! Also thank you for all of the follows and favorites. They really mean a lot to me. Now enjoy Chapter 12!


Arthur marveled at how light Merlin was as he hurried along the corridors, carrying his manservant to Gaius as quickly as he could. A fear had settled over the King. How hard had Merlin hit his head? He remembered a similar scenario from a few years back, with Morgana. She, too, had fallen down a flight of stairs. And she had not been expected to survive.

Of course, Arthur couldn't help thinking to himself, Morgana had, unbeknownst to them all, had magic, which probably explained her miraculous recovery. If Merlin were to sustain an equally devastating injury, would he even stand a chance? Arthur quickly pushed the thought away. Of course Merlin would survive this. He had to. Clinging desperately to this thought, Arthur burst into the physician's chambers with Merlin, who had shown no signs of stirring since his discovery.

Gaius was standing ready in the center of the room. He immediately directed Arthur to place Merlin on the cot that was there. Standing off to the side was Nicholas, who was currently grinding some herbs into a paste at Gaius' request. Usually, it was Merlin who assisted Gaius with the injured. But now, he was going to need to enlist the help of others.

As soon as Merlin was on the cot, Gaius began his examination, his eyes immediately being drawn to the arm that appeared to be broken.

"His head, Gaius," Arthur said, his voice strained. "He hit his head hard."

Gaius moved to position himself in front of Merlin's head, and leaned down to examine it, blocking Arthur's view. A moment later, he stood up and hurried over to one of his shelves, moving aside several remedies in search of the one he needed.

"How can I help?" Arthur asked.

Before Gaius could respond, however, the door was flung open again.

"Sire, there you are." It was Sir Leon. "You're needed in the throne room at once."

Arthur suppressed the surge of annoyance that threatened to show on his face. "For what?" he asked.

Leon then caught sight of Merlin lying on the cot, pale and still.

"Leon?" Arthur pressed, not in the mood to explain Merlin's condition just now.

Leon snapped his attention back to Arthur. "There's a couple here from one of the outlying villages, Sire. They came to report an incidence of sorcery. Apparently it nearly destroyed the village."

Arthur rubbed a hand over his face and sighed deeply. This was the last thing he needed right now. He turned back to Gaius, who was currently working on Merlin. The physician met Arthur's gaze.

"I'll do everything I can for him, Sire."

Arthur nodded. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He turned to follow Leon from the room, but then turned back, his eyes falling on Nicholas. "Stay here with Gaius," he told the boy.

Gaius raised his eyebrow, but Nicholas simply nodded. Satisfied, Arthur left the room with Leon. He would talk to the boy later. He wanted to know exactly what Nicholas had seen. He already had suspicions of his own.


When Arthur entered the throne room, with Sir Leon close behind, he was met with the sight of two villagers, a man and a woman, standing before him. The man was large and muscular, with dark hair and bright green eyes. The woman, on the other hand, looked small and fragile, and wore an expression of absolute terror. They both bowed at the sight of the King.

"My lord," the man said. "I thank you for seeing us. My name is Jacob, and this is my wife, Sarah."

Arthur nodded in acknowledgement. "I understand that your village was attacked by sorcery?"

The man nodded. "Yes, sire. A sorceress nearly burned the whole village down."

Arthur's stomach clenched in fear. A sorceress? Morgana?

"She had a message, though," the woman spoke up timidly. "For you, Sire. She is targeting Camelot."

Arthur grew even more uneasy. "Who is this sorceress? Did anybody recognize her?"

To his surprise, the woman nodded. "She's a young woman, Sire. She grew up in our village. She disappeared a couple of years ago, however, when her parents were killed. I expect she came back to seek revenge for their deaths."

"How did they die?" Arthur asked, although he feared that he already knew the answer.

"They were both sorcerers," the man said scathingly. "They were burned at the stake."

Several emotions went through Arthur's mind at this news. Sorcery was against the law, and he still firmly believed that it should be. Arthur had seen so much evil as the result of magic. His own half-sister, who had been so kind and generous in her childhood, had been corrupted by such power. Magic could not be allowed in Camelot.

And yet, burning at the stake was such a cruel way to die. Arthur knew that his father had utilized this execution method when he had ruled. Arthur had witnessed many such burnings growing up. The screams that could be heard as the sorcerers' bodies were consumed by flames had been enough to give him nightmares as a child. He couldn't imagine condemning anyone to such a fate himself. There were far quicker, less painful ways, to carry out a death sentence.

Arthur sighed. "What is this woman's name?"

"Leah," the woman spoke.

"And she is now planning to target Camelot?" Arthur asked wearily.

The man nodded. "I believe so, Sire. She said that Camelot must fall for her people to thrive."

Arthur was silent for a moment. "Thank you," he said at last. "I will see to it that your village receives the aid it needs to recover. You will also have a place to stay for the night."

The man and woman both thanked him for his kindness, and were then shown the way out by a guard at the door.

Once alone, Arthur turned to Leon. "We must gather information on this sorceress. Find out exactly where she is. She cannot be allowed to reach the city."

"Of course," Leon said. "I'll gather a group of knights to conduct a search. We'll head in the direction of the village that was attacked."

"Good. Also see to it that security is increased around the city. Double the guards at every gate."

Leon nodded. "Yes, Sire."

"Now, I need to get back to Gaius."

"What happened to Merlin, Sire?" Leon asked then, remembering the sight of the unconscious young man lying on the patient's cot.

"He fell down the stairs," Arthur replied, sighing. "I don't know how he is though."

"Was it an accident?" Leon asked, suspiciously.

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "I don't know. It could have been."

"You don't sound convinced."

Arthur just shook his head. "I just have this funny feeling." That was something Merlin would say, he realized. He quickly turned and headed for the door.

"Arthur?" Leon called.

Arthur looked over his shoulder at Leon.

The knight took a few steps closer to Arthur. "I wasn't going to say anything, but-"

"What is it?"

"This morning, when I found Merlin-" Leon said, "He had just been talking to Prince James."

"What?" Arthur's voice quickly rose in volume, and he turned all the way around to look at Leon. "Why would he be talking to James? And why would you keep this from me?"

"Merlin asked me not to say anything," Leon said apologetically. "He claimed that he had just run into James on accident. The Prince sounded angry. He had left by the time I reached Merlin, though."

Arthur clenched his fists at his sides. "I told that idiot to avoid James at all costs. I told him to run away if he had to."

"You don't think James would have done this to Merlin, do you?"

Arthur didn't want to believe it. He wanted so badly to believe that it had simply been Merlin's clumsiness that had caused him to lose his balance and sent him tumbling down the stairs. But he had known James for years. And this was exactly the sort of thing he would do.

"I need to talk to Nicholas," Arthur said, once again making his way for the exit.

"James' manservant?" Leon asked, only a few steps behind the King.

Arthur nodded. "Yes. He's the one who told me about Merlin. Perhaps he saw what happened."

At the end of a corridor, Arthur and Leon parted ways. Leon went to go command the knights and guards, while Arthur continued on to Gaius' chambers, hoping that the physician would have good news about Merlin's condition.


When Arthur reached the physician's chambers, he immediately sought out his manservant from the doorway, half-hoping that the man would have awoken by now. But Merlin lay just as still as he had when Arthur had left, the only difference being that Gaius had managed to get Merlin out of his jacket and shirt.

"How is he?" Arthur asked from the doorway.

Both Gaius and Nicholas jumped at the voice, not having heard the King approach the room.

Gaius turned away from his workbench, where he had been putting together some kind of concoction. He met Arthur's gaze.

"As well as can be expected," the physician responded. "I've set his arm. It should heal in time. I also managed to stop the bleeding from his head wound and stitched it closed. It's impossible to know the extent of the damage, however."

Arthur sighed. "He will recover, though, won't he Gaius?"

Gaius stared back at Arthur, a look of determination set on his face. "I'll do everything I can for him."

Arthur just nodded, not trusting his voice enough to speak.

"There's something else, Sire, that I think you need to see."

Arthur gave Gaius a questioning look, but walked further into the room as Gaius motioned for Arthur to come closer to the patient's cot. As soon as Arthur was close enough to get a better view of Merlin's torso, his jaw clenched in anger.

Merlin was covered in bruises. His chest and arms were decorated with an assortment of blue, purple, and yellow contusions.

"These aren't from the fall, are they?" Arthur said after a moment. Merlin had landed on his back after all, and these bruises did not look fresh.

Gaius shook his head. "No. These bruises are a few days old." Then, Gaius held up Merlin's jacket. There was a stain on one of the pockets. "I believe he had been carrying a bottle of liquid around with him at the time he fell, and it broke when he hit the ground."

Arthur remembered the broken glass on the floor where he had found Merlin.

Gaius continued. "There are several bottles of pain medicine missing from my stores. "Merlin must have been secretly taking them for days."

"That's why he's been acting so strangely," Arthur said quietly. "He's been in pain."

"But what-?" Gaius started to say, but Arthur suddenly turned to look at Nicholas, who was looking on at the scene before him with sadness in his eyes.

"Did James do this?" he demanded of the young boy.

Nicholas jumped slightly at Arthur's tone.

"Arthur," Gaius said, trying to calm the King, who looked as though he were about ready to fly into a rage.

Arthur tried to calm his voice when he spoke again. "Did he?"

Nicholas was terrified. He had seen James push Merlin down the stairs, and there was no doubt in his mind that he was probably the cause of all those bruises as well. But if he were to say anything…if he were to betray his master…Nicholas didn't even want to think about what James might do to him.

Arthur sensed the fear radiating off of the young boy, and he reached out a hand to place it on Nicholas' shoulder. The boy flinched slightly under the touch, but Arthur gripped him firmly.

"It's alright," he said gently. "No harm will come to you, I promise. Just tell me. Did James hurt Merlin?"

Nicholas bit his lip as he looked up into the face of the King. Then, he slowly began to nod. "I-I saw him-push Merlin-down the stairs." His voice was barely more than a whisper.

Arthur stood up straight, the anger clear on his face. He strode quickly towards the exit.

"Arthur, what are you going to do?" Gaius called out to him.

Arthur turned around. "I'm not going to let him get away with this, Gaius. Not this time."

"You need to tread carefully, Sire," Gaius warned. "You cannot risk losing your friendship with King Phillip."

Arthur simply turned on his heel and left without another word. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do yet. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to give James his own set of bruises. But he was the King, and Arthur knew that he couldn't. He needed time to think, to cool down. He headed in the direction of his chambers.

He stopped the first guard he met.

"Sire," the guard said, bowing respectfully.

"I need you to do something for me," Arthur said.

"Of course."

"Find Prince James. He is likely in his chambers on the other side of the castle. If not, escort him there. He is not to leave his chambers under any circumstances. I want guards on his room."

The guard gave Arthur a puzzled look but did not question him. He simply bowed again and then left to carry out his orders.


Merlin was in a strange dreamlike state. None of his senses seemed to be working properly and he was surrounded by nothing but darkness. He tried to move, to turn his head or wave his arm. Anything. But he couldn't feel his body. A fear washed over him, then. He couldn't speak, or hear, or see. He was trapped. He wanted to scream, but he had no voice. He wanted to use his magic to conjure a light, but the familiar warmth just wasn't there. He willed himself to push through the blackness that was all around him. He needed to get out of this place.

It was the sound that came back to him first. He heard a clinking noise, as though Gaius was sifting through the hundreds of vials that were housed on the shelves along the walls. Then a warmth spread through Merlin's entire body. He could feel his body again. The sweet smell of herbs then filled his nostrils, and Merlin suddenly felt relieved. He was going to be okay. All that was left to do now was to open his eyes.

And so he did. But he immediately closed them again. He tried once more, but it was the same result. Merlin blinked several times, but it didn't seem to matter. Because whether his eyes were closed, or whether they were open, Merlin saw nothing. He was in complete and utter darkness.


A/N: Please let me know what you think, and I'll try to update again soon. Until next time! :)