CHAPTER 14 : FROM PAGE TO PAGE

Merlin carried Erik down to Gaius's. Rook had told Simon to find Sir Malcolm and tell him that Erik had been found in the lower corridors near the vaults.

Simon hesitated glancing at Merlin who nodded. He knew that the senior squire was uncomfortable with the situation. "Help the others find Robert. It's better for you to be involved. Chin up, try to think positively." Simon nodded and walked quickly away.

Rook glanced at Merlin who shrugged his shoulders saying, "There was an unsettling incident when he was a page. I think this is bringing it back to him."

They had reached Gaius's door and Mark was waiting for them, "Gaius is inside. He said to go right in. I'm going back to search unless you need me." Rook nodded at him as Merlin carried Erik into the room.

Erik fussed when Merlin tried to put him on the cot. Gaius told Rook to sit on it and Merlin was able to transfer him to his brother's arms. He looked up at Merlin trying the reach him so Merlin sat opposite him on a chair.

Gaius said, "What do you know?"

"Nothing. We found him walking around in circles in a pitch black corridor near the vaults. He screamed when I got hold of him but then he settled and has just been crying."

Rook added, "But he wouldn't allow me to carry him, he just clung to Merlin. I don't even know if he knew who I was. He seems alright with me now."

Merlin glanced at the boy who was snuggled in his brother's arms, not paying any attention to the conversation.

Gaius said, "Rook, I'd like to check him over. If you would rather, Merlin can hold him." Rook shook his head.

"So, which young gentleman do we have here?" said Gaius, taking hold of Erik's hand which surprisingly, he didn't pull away. "Do you know who these two people are?"

The boy nodded, "My brother and Merlin."

That was how the conversation started and Gaius once he had the boy's confidence proceeded with the examination. He finished and said, "No need, to go any further. His arms are bruised and his hands scratched, I surmise from hitting the walls as he kept walking around and around in a corridor. Other than that he seems fine... " Turning to the boy, he said, "So, did you get lost? Rook has been wondering where you got to?"

Erik nodded his head, opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again.

Merlin took his hand and said, "Did you get separated from Robert?" Erik nodded. "Where you alone?" Erik shook his head. "Who was with you?"

Erik reached over for him so Merlin leant towards him and the boy confided, "One of the men..."

Gaius glanced at Rook both of whom nodded for Merlin to continue. "Did you know the man?" Erik shook his head...

Slowly, they learned that the two pages were together when a man approached them telling him he needed them to help him with something that was in the dungeons. They had decided that that would be fun and went off quite happily with him. They had been trained to give help to adults who needed it, so as an adult asked both of them, they naïvely agreed.

Then the story got confusing as to what exactly happened but Robert was grabbed by the man and as he went to grab Erik, he took off and became completely disoriented and hopelessly lost. He had panicked. He was alone in the dark and had tried to find his way back up stairs.

He thought he had fallen asleep at some point but then when he awoke it was still dark. "I started calling for help and no one came and I was frightened and I knew that I was really lost and I heard voices and I ran away in case it was the man and then someone grabbed me." He looked at Merlin then down at his hands, "I remembered screaming and then you held me, talking to me. You patted my head and said it was you." He looked up and almost smiled at Merlin.

Rook was very upset. He was tense and this communicated itself to his brother, who struggled again to reach Merlin.

Gaius realising what was happening said, "You're safe here. I have a little something warm for you to drink and maybe a little porridge as you missed both your supper last night and breakfast today. Then you can stay here to have a little rest with Rook."

"...and Merlin?" a little voice asked.

Merlin leant forward and said, "I have to go to look after Prince Arthur but I promise, I will come back and see you before you go to bed tonight. Will that be alright?"

The boy nodded and turning to his brother said, "But, you'll stay with me the whole time while I sleep, won't you?"

Rook kissed him gently on the forehead and hugging him to himself saying, "Try and keep me away, Pudge!"

Merlin smiled, "Pudge?"

"That's what we called this young man as a baby because he was a little butterball." Rook kissed the top of his head and Erik cuddled into him.

"Well, Erik, I think that's a lovely name." Merlin went to walk out of the room and turned to say, "See you later, Pudge..."

The boy giggled and Rook smiled appreciatively.

-0-0-

Merlin checked into his chamber and Arthur was there, so he brought him up to date on the day's events. He had heard from Simon that Erik had been found but had no other information.

The search continued with emphasis on the lower level corridors and the dungeons. Robert had now been missing for over eighteen hours. The general hope was that he had been abandoned in the dungeon area upon Erik's escape as the person who took them, would not realise that Erik would be unable to raise the alarm.

Arthur had insisted on accompanying Merlin when he asked to return to the search. They met up with Sir Malcolm and some of the knights. Guards were patrolling with flaming torches but the problem was that if Robert had been attacked, strange voices would not entice him to reveal his whereabouts. Sir Malcolm led one group and he was almost hoarse from calling his grandson's name. Sir Matthew who also had dealings with the pages also searched with another group frequently calling him. His brother, the fifteen year old squire called Kirk was with Spenser in a third group. He was continually calling for him.

Finally, it was the grandfather's group which had success. They would stop, Malcolm would call; they would wait and then walk a little further repeating the whole process. One of the senior squires called Roger, heard something, he motioned to the others and they stopped. Sir Malcolm called, "Robert, it's Grandfather. Can you hear me? Yell back at me."

Roger hadn't heard a yell more a whimper. They listened and then Roger heard it again and turned off the corridor into an alcove. There at the far end of an adjoining passage was an iron ring solidly driven into the wall and hanging from it by one arm was one very frightened little boy. His grandfather lifted him up...the boy limp in his arms, as another knight cut through the rope.

"Bastard!" was all Sir Malcolm could say as he whipped off his cloak and wrapped the cold boy in it. "Roger, notify Gaius that we are on our way. Run!" Roger took off.

Sir Rawn left the group to notify Arthur that they had the boy and he was on his way to Gaius's. Another went to find Kirk's group and tell him his brother was safe.

As Sir Malcolm strode along the corridors with his grandson in his arms, people stood back in silence to let him through.

Kirk caught up with his grandfather and hanging onto his little brother's leg, the three of them reached Gaius.

Gaius took over making Kirk sit by the fire. He asked Rook to put on a kettle. He asked Sir Malcolm to sit on the bed holding the boy and he began his examination. Robert was only half dressed, his arms bore the bruised imprints of a large hand, one shoulder was dislocated His trousers were ripped, his legs scratched and bleeding and his boots were missing. It hurt Gaius to see a child so injured, not in an accident but voluntarily by a sick mind. He concluded his examination and gave Malcolm a little smile, "He's going to be very sore and stiff. He took a hit to the head but he wasn't interfered with."

Malcolm had tears running down his face, "Gaius when I saw him, I was so sure it would be worse. Will he get over it?"

"In time, his body will heal quickly as will Erik's but his mind will take a little longer. Erik escaped but we won't know what happened to Robert until he can tell us."

Rook breathed a sigh of relief, both the boys were going to survive the ordeal. He walked over to Malcolm and put his hand on his shoulder and then turned to the cot where his Pudge lay and sat beside him, holding the sleeping boy's hand.

True to his word, Merlin dropped by with Arthur before supper. Kirk sprang up, immediately he saw the prince. Arthur smiled, 'I'm so glad, your brother was found, have you had any supper yet?"

"Yes, Sire, Gaius made sure that I ate after Robert fell asleep. Thank you for allowing all the knights and the guards to help us find him. My mother would have been heart-broken if anything had happened to him."

"Well," said Arthur, "I think that you could take some time off your studies to return home with him for a couple of weeks. You'll have to promise that you will study extra hard when you return, to keep up with the squires in your level."

Merlin felt so proud of Arthur, he had put himself into Kirk's position and understood his worries. Then he remembered what Arthur had experienced years ago, at the hands of a knight and it explained Gaius's concerned look when Arthur had first walked into the room.

Arthur nodded at Rook. Merlin went over to Rook and said, "Tell, him I was here and that I will come to see him in the morning. Gaius thinks that he will probably sleep right through."

The two of them went to leave but Gaius called Merlin back asking him to help him with Robert's dislocated shoulder. Arthur's stomach churned and with a smile to Gaius and Sir Malcolm, he said, "I think this is where I leave you!"

Gaius smiled, "I think maybe you should as apart from the little cot up the stairs, we have no where to put your body when you keel over!" Arthur put his fingers in his ears and quickly left the chamber, as Merlin kept making popping sounds with his finger and his mouth.

"I'll deal with you later, Merlin!" he said with a threatening scowl which relaxed into a grin.

-0-0-

Robert spent a couple of days in his grandfather's chambers. He was subdued and liable to jump at the slightest thing. They got very little information out of him. Gaius felt that he had been belted across the head and fallen unconscious once Erik had left. Neither boy could describe the man except that he knew his way around the castle and had worn a cloak but not a red one.

Erik wanted to return to the dormitory after being with Gaius one night. He bounced back quickly. He had been taken to visit Robert as he kept asking after him and he had gingerly put his arms around him and given him a big hug. Malcolm smiled as Erik patted Robert carefully telling, him that he was going to be alright and soon they would be back together.

"Rook, why is Robert allowed to go to visit his parents with Kirk? Can't we go to visit Mother and Father?"

"Well, for one thing Robert was seriously hurt and Prince Arthur felt that some time at home might help him get better faster and secondly, our home is even further away and I need to be here at the castle. Merlin also felt that you were stronger and could manage quite well staying here." That did the trick. Erik's hero at the moment was Merlin and whatever Merlin said, Erik was willing to agree with without exception. Rook laughed as Merlin still called Erik, Pudge if there was no one else around.

The man in the cloak was never found. Two guards remembered seeing someone coming up the stairs from the dungeons. By his confident demeanour, they assumed that he knew where he was going and what he was doing and they had not challenged him. Both of them were called on the carpet and severely reprimanded.

Lady Catherine and Ladies of the Court became stricter, impressing upon the pages that they must only deliver specific messages and not become free agents willing to help anyone who asked. Neither Erik nor Robert was punished as they had experienced enough to have learned that lesson.

Sir Matthew explained to all of them, that as squires they would have to make decisions but while they were pages, they had to obey their tutors and the ladies in charge of them. They were still seen scurrying around, but were limited to dealing with knights and members of the royal household and were always seen in pairs, at least until their final years as pages.

At the next council meeting, Uther spoke about the fact that the young pages were Camelot's responsibility. They had been entrusted to Camelot by their parents and he wanted them and the squires to feel safe and protected in the castle. He told Sirs Malcolm and Rook publicly that he was sorry that their family members had been hurt.

Merlin smiled. Arthur had told him, that during a private supper in the king's chambers, he had had an argument with the king over his lack of involvement in the affair.

"Father, you have to say something. Rook and Malcolm are valued members of the knights of Camelot. You must acknowledge the stress they have experienced."

"If you feel so strongly about it, why don't you say something?"

"It is not my position. You are the King, the statement must come from you."

Uther could see his son's point and he felt uncomfortable. But he didn't like being shown his shortcomings and he growled, "Since when does a king listen to a crown prince. I am the ruler, I know what is best for the kingdom, its residents and knights. Get out!"

Turning, Arthur bowed saying, "Goodnight, Sire!" and left.

-0-0-

The weather was once again more spring like. One afternoon, they had gone riding, just the two of them. They had taken Mulgan with Arthur insisting that Merlin should ride Iago who as usually behaved like a real gentleman for him.

"Arthur, Gidun, isn't going to be happy about this."

"Merlin, Gidun would much prefer to doze all afternoon in his stall. He told me himself. He said, 'Arthur, I do love Merlin but you know what they say, 'too much of a good thing'..." He saw the look of disbelief on Merlin's face.

"He never did! But that can go two ways, Arthur... Are you too much of a good thing? Will you eventually be my downfall? Maybe, I should consider limiting the time I spend with you. I would hate to..."

Arthur was blown away by Merlin's last statement. Would he...eventually be his downfall? Did he expect too much from him, dragging him into danger after danger and putting his life at risk each time. He was ill-prepared for the ambushes which often happened and once the fighting died down, Arthur knew that his heartbeat did not stop racing until he caught sight of Merlin still on his feet. He would do anything for him and the thought that he might be the reason for Merlin's being hurt made him cringe.

Continuing in a lighter vein, Arthur said, "You're right, he didn't say that, he said, 'The days when I do not see Merlin, there is no sunshine only clouds'..."

"You know, if you are no longer able to be a Crown Prince, you might apply for the position of Poet Laureate. You have a certain way with words...and Arthur... Catch me if you can!" Merlin put his heels to the chestnut stallion and got a couple of strides lead on Mulgan as they raced down the path.

As they came to a turn in the path, Merlin asked Iago to stop, pivot and go into the trees and stand perfectly still. He was certain that Mulgan would hear his stable mate's heavy breathing and slow down but he didn't and Arthur sailed merrily past Merlin's hiding place. Merlin waited until he could no longer hear Mulgan and patting Iago, complimenting him upon being so clever, he stepped leisurely onto the track and walked on a loose rein in the direction which Arthur had taken.

Half a mile on, he met Arthur returning from his futile chase. "Arthur, where were you? I have already been right around the circuit and you are only meandering along here. Did Mulgan run out of puff?"

"Very clever! You are teaching Iago bad tricks, hiding in the trees and letting his owner worry that his favourite person might have had an accident."

Merlin walked up to Arthur and managed to get Iago at a good angle so that he could lean over and plant a kiss on Arthur's lips, before Mulgan pulled away. "Ride double with me, Merlin."

"Do you think that is such a good idea so close to Castle Farm?"

"We'll tell anyone we meet that Iago went lame."

Merlin slid off Iago and Arthur was all for having him mount in front of him but he refused knowing that that it might just get out of hand. He did however, agree to riding double behind Arthur and he managed to slip his hands up his tunic to clasp him around his waist.

Twice, Arthur had to say, "Merlin...!"

Merlin just returned his hands to Arthur's waist and blew on the back of Arthur's neck or purred in his ear, both of which actions almost drove Arthur crazy. He slipped off and mounted Iago before they turned into the open stretch to the farm.

-0-0-

"Good ride, boys?" said Gaius as they walked into him as they entered the castle. Merlin's blush made Gaius laugh. "Arthur, as long as Merlin's with you, I have no reason to further question the two of you?"

"What can I do with him Gaius? He can't help it and anyway I think it is adorable!"

"Rupert has been looking for you...asked me to let him know once you had arrived back."

"I'll go, see what he wants," Merlin offered.

But then a squire walked by and Arthur told him to find Sir Rupert and notify him that the prince was now back in his chambers. He grabbed Merlin's elbow and dragged him away up the stairs, calling, "Gaius, see you later."

With the door to the chamber locked behind them, he held Merlin against the door and kissed his forehead, his ears and his chin, managing to out manoeuvre Merlin who tried to reach his lips. "That's not fair, Ar..."

"Yes, it is! This is payback time." He continued to kiss Merlin's neck and as there was a knock on the door, he gently nipped him, saying. "That's, where we'll start off once Rupert leaves..."

Merlin straightened the collars of his jacket and tunic, ran his fingers through his hair and opened the door...