AN: Hello everyone! I'm so happy to have this next chapter for you! Hope you enjoy it!

Arthur could tell Merlin was tense, and if he was honest with himself that made him tense as well. He seriously hoped all that Gaius had said was nothing more than spooky legends meant to frighten children, but if Merlin was nervous perhaps that meant there was something more to the stories than they both hoped.

"What's that noise?" Merlin asked breaking Arthur from his musings as they moved through the castle that had not been entered for a long time.

"What noise?" Arthur asked absent-mindedly.

"A sort of… trembling sound." Merlin replied.

"That's your knees knocking together Arthur responded without thinking.

The creaking door pierced the silence of the castle loudly. It seemed wrong to break a silence so still. Not a thing moved, it was wrong, everything about this place felt wrong and dead. Despite all that Arthur tried to stay positive minded and skeptical.

"It seems part of Joseph's story was true." He said examining the fresh ash. "Probably just travelers passing through." As much as he wanted to believe that he knew travelers tended to avoid this place and that it was unlikely, so when he heard Merlin's proclamation he really was not that surprised.

"Or maybe not." He sounded far too smug.

Alright… maybe he was a little surprised to turn around and see seven full clad knights. The fact that they had gotten there so silently seemed to prove their magical nature. His suspicions were confirmed when he first stabbed one and then another without either of them seeming the worse for wear. Surprised enough to lose his sword he managed to pull away far enough to duck out of an oncoming blow.

Now though he had nothing to defend himself with and was forced to dodge one blow after the other. "Arthur!" Merlin cried, the knights leaving him alone for the most part. Perhaps because he was unarmed and Arthur was more danger at the moment.

Arthur turned and grabbed the sword Merlin had tossed at him. Glad that the secret sorcerer always had his back. Still this was bad, the knights could not be killed, most if not all of Arthur's own men were down, and it was only a matter of time before the knights turned their attentions from Arthur to Merlin.

"Run Merlin!" Arthur shouted.

Merlin spun around. "No!" He shouted running at Arthur to push him out of the way. Arthur deftly ducked under his manservant, simultaneously knocking the knight he was fighting out of the way.*

Merlin stalled as he reached the other side of Arthur, seemingly surprised that Arthur had managed to avoid him. "Will you do as I say?" Arthur screamed exasperatedly pushing Merlin towards the door.

Escaping from the last of the knights for the moment Arthur spun towards the door so that his back was facing it and Merlin and his front was facing the knights, ready to defend himself. He had no idea how they were going to get away or defeat them.

His mind was racing with ideas, his eyes searching the room for anything that might help, when he heard Merlin speaking those foreign words and suddenly the ceiling started to cave. Great Merlin, just bury us with them! He thought sarcastically before Merlin's hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him from the room.

~.~.~.~

They ran as far as they could which was about the same for both of them. Even though Arthur was in better shape he had the armor slowing him down so when Merlin stopped for a breather he did not complain.

As they leaned over, hands on their knees and breathing hard, he happened to notice the tear in Merlin's jacket, as well as the blood slowly soaking into the fabric.

"What happened to your arm?" Arthur asked, slightly alarmed. Of all the times they had gotten into trouble he did not think he had ever seen Merlin injured. Arthur was not sure if that was because his magic protected him or maybe he healed himself whenever he was injured… Arthur really did not know what the limitations of magic were.

Merlin looked at the arm, fairly unconcerned. "Oh it must have caught on something."

Arthur frowned. "Let me see." He told him. He threw his sword down to keep it out and close but free up his hands at the same time.

Merlin had already taken his jacket off and was inspecting the wound. Arthur grabbed his arm a little roughly. The cut was minor at best, but it was still important to tend to it.

"You're first battle wound!" Arthur exclaimed like a proud parent. "Here."

By the time Merlin was protesting Arthur had already torn the shirt. "No, don't…" Merlin started and then became resigned as he heard the tearing sound, "You'll ruin it…"

"Don't worry." Arthur joked back, still breathing hard, "You can mend it."

Now that that was taken care of Arthur turned his attention back to the castle. "Did anyone else escape?" He asked, Merlin had been more aware of what the other knights were doing while Arthur had been fighting.

Merlin did not respond just shook his head somberly in response.

"We need to get back to Camelot and gather reinforcements."

~.~.~.~

Seeing everyone asleep on the ground, on the stairs, in the hallways, was more than disconcerting. Arthur began to panic as he could not find his father. They stopped by the physician's chambers only to find that Gaius was asleep as well.

"This must be the work of magic." Merlin stated causing a new surge of fear to course through Arthur's heart.

"We have to find my father!" He stated urgently. If some magic user had caused this, they had done it with the intent to harm, and Uther would be at the top of their list.

Morgana's chambers were on the way to the king's, but they found Guinevere first. Arthur quickly lifted her onto the bed, tenderly brushing a strand of hair away from her face.

He was relieved to see Morgana awake, but frustrated that she could not give any answers. How could she not have any answers when she had been awake the whole time, and who had she been hiding from?

He was tense and on edge and feeling very skeptical and suspicious. Merlin was defending her, did he know some secret that Arthur did not? He heard them speaking behind him as he ran towards his father's chambers, but did not try to listen in. He hoped that Merlin was trying to get more answers and that when he did he would share them with Arthur, but if he did not then Arthur hoped that he would be able to use his magic to get them out of this mess.

As it turned out Merlin did seem to have more answers. Arthur was skeptical when Merlin explained to him what had happened to Morgana, but he had no reason to distrust either of them. If Gaius had found a cure, Merlin might be the only one to find it.

"See if you can find this potion." He ordered. "I'll search for signs of life in the lower town. Morgana, you stay here and keep my father safe." He picked up a sword and handed it to Morgana, "Here, you protect him with your life, you understand?" Morgana nodded weakly.

~.~.~.~

Merlin looked up at Arthur with a smirk… a smirk! Seriously how could the man be smirking at a time like this!

"It is not funny, Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed. Nothing about this situation was funny. Camelot was under attack with no one to defend her, this was no time to be laughing at the expense of the king.

Arthur realized as he stood up that Merlin's reluctance to life the king onto the bed was more than just laziness. Sweat beaded both their brows and Arthur could feel the weakness in his limbs and the tiredness behind his eyes.

"You alright?" Merlin asked.

Arthur looked at him. "You feeling the same?" he asked.

"We're getting sick." Merlin stated seeming honestly surprised.

"We cannot let that happen." Arthur stated. "We must keep my father hidden."

"Why don't we disguise him?" Merlin suggested.

Arthur lifted a finger. "That just might work." He said, but did not have the energy to express the surprise he felt at Merlin's good idea.

"We could dress him as a woman." Merlin said.

Arthur frowned at Merlin… so much for his surprise. "That, on the other hand…"

Merlin backpedaled and started over. "We could dress him as a servant." He tried again.

"That's better." Arthur stated, it was very easy to forget that Merlin was a powerful sorcerer when he often acted like such a dollophead.

~.~.~.~

It took far too long for Merlin to return and honestly, Arthur was worried, so when he grabbed Merlin from the hallway he may have let some of that worry show… in the form of anger of course.

"What took you so long?" he demanded.

"I didn't know Uther's size." Merlin lamented.

Arthur did not really believe that for a second, but hopefully whatever Merlin had really been doing would help lift this sleeping curse.

When they finally got his father to some place a little safer they were finally able to sit down for a moment's rest. It was during this that Arthur saw Merlin glaring at Morgana suspiciously, or was it jealously? Was he envying the fact that she was not feeling the sickness as Arthur and Merlin were?

"Must be the potion Gaius gave her." Arthur stated, wondering if Merlin had been telling the truth when he said that.

"Yeah," Merlin agreed, though not very convincingly, "Must be the potion."

Arthur sighed. "We can't keep this up much longer." He said, hoping Merlin would say or do something that would help.

"I know." Merlin agreed dashing Arthur's hopes, Merlin turned his head as though he had an idea, "We're in servant's quarters. If they see him in here they'll just think he's a servant." Merlin said.

Arthur shook his head. "Not if Morgause sees him. We need to get him out of Camelot."

"When we arrived there was a cart in the main square. Remember?" Merlin suggested.

"You are full of good ideas today, Merlin." Arthur wasn't really sure why he was complimenting Merlin, he blamed it on the sickness, Merlin beamed at him proudly… that wouldn't do… "You go and look." he suggested successfully wiping the pleased smile from Merlin's face.

~.~.~.~

Why could plans never go right? Somehow they ended up locked in the throne room, with no ideas and no hope. Morgana could not remember anything of the potion Gaius gave her. The only chance they had was to get out of Camelot and the only way they were going to do that was if Arthur could get the cart under the window.

Merlin wanted to go with him, he was probably right, going out there was suicide, if nothing else it would give them more time to save the king. They stood staring at the door, listening to the strange growling noises the knights made.

"That your knees again?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shook his head and huffed a laugh before they pulled the bar off the door.

Arthur leaned against the doorway. "If I need a servant in the next life—"

"Don't ask me!" Merlin replied quickly, and Arthur laughed, because what else could you do when you were about to rush off to your death and would probably never see your closest friend again? Merlin laughed as well and then Arthur grew serious before charging out the door. Merlin shutting it closed behind him.

Then there was fighting and it went on for what felt like forever, till his arms ached and he felt as though he would fall over. There was no way he could fight his way past them, the best he could do was distract them until Morgana and Merlin escaped.

He fought with vigor and determination and then finally… the knights fell over and Arthur's guards awoke. Arthur ran back to the throne room, men following quickly behind him. Morgana lay in the arms of Morgause and Uther was nowhere to be seen.

"What have you done with my father?" Arthur demanded.

"He's safe." Merlin called. Just then Uther groaned and sat up from behind the throne.

"Morgana?" Arthur called, looking at the unconscious figure in Morgause's arms.

"Keep away from her!" Morgause demanded and Arthur hesitated.

Morgause murmured magical words, her eyes lit up and then they were both gone. The attack was over, Camelot was safe, but Arthur got the distinct feeling they had lost.

~.~.~.~

"What happened?!" Arthur yelled at Merlin as soon as they were in private. He could not help it, he was angry, Merlin had magic, he should have been able to protect Morgana.

"Morgause used her magic to knock down the doors, she came in and knocked Morgana out and then… she left?"

"Why?" Arthur asked. "Why did she stop her attack, she had us on our knees!" He was angry, Merlin knew something that Arthur did not, he could tell by the way Merlin would not meet his eyes.

"I don't know." Merlin said staring at the ground.

Arthur breathed in through his nose angrily, staring at Merlin who continued to stare at the ground subserviently. "I must speak with my father. Go home, Merlin." Arthur said roughly, he was not going to get any answers out of Merlin, but he would have to find some eventually, they had to find Morgana, and anything Merlin knew might help.

As Arthur spun on his heel to leave the room he heard Merlin mutter, "I'm sorry."

He hesitated only another moment before storming out of the room. He was beginning to think Merlin would never trust him.

AN: I wasn't as happy with this chapter as I hoped to be, hopefully the next one will be better. The next one will be The Last Dragonlord so it promises to be emotional! Until next time. As always leave a review!

God bless!