A/N: i know, i know, i'm late with this update! Blame coursework and exams, not me! :) Sorry, this chapter is a little bit shorter again. Outrageous hey, first of all i make you wait, and then give you something shorter-I'M SORRY! :)

Arthur felt himself slowly returning to consciousness. The last thing that he remembered doing was lying down to get some sleep, having just told Merlin to do the same. Yet here he was, the other side of the clearing, his fist raised back and stinging slightly. A cruel chuckle made the prince look up, to see three men standing watching him. One of them he recognised; it was the man with the magical voice. The other two Arthur had never seen before in his life, but just by looking at them, he instantly knew that these were the men who had hurt Merlin. Striding forward menacingly, Arthur felt his foot connect with something and he looked down. What he saw nearly made his heart leap out of his mouth. Lying at his feet, out cold, Merlin was motionless, a trickle of blood running down his temple, surrounded by the beginnings of an ugly bruise.

"What have you done to him?" Arthur yelled, the anger echoing through his voice.

"Nothing." The shortest of the men stepped forward as Arthur dropped to his knees by his servant. "You did it."

"What?" Arthur cried in disbelief. He would never do something like this to his best friend. But then again, he couldn't even remember how he ended up standing over this side of the clearing anyway. Setting his eyes on the man he recognised, Arthur glared at Tyson.

"It was you, wasn't it? Gaius warned me about you, that you were dangerous. Tell me what you did or I'll run you through where you stand." His voice was deadly quiet, a tone that Tyson had heard once before, although Arthur was not to know that. At the threat, he risked a glance at his master, who was watching the scene unfold with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, enough talk. Jackson?"

Arthur's eyes flickered from man to man, realising with a growing sense of dread that his belt was empty. He had dropped his sword over by the fire when Merlin had first come flying out of the bush; too busy trying to keep the servant quiet to worry about keeping hold of the sword. Swallowing, slightly nervous, as the largest of the men stepped forward, Arthur subconsciously tensed, preparing himself for the fight. He wasn't going to let them take Merlin again, not if he could help it.

The man strode forward into the clearing just as Arthur stood. He swung his fist blindly for the prince, but he was slow. Quick as lightning, Arthur ducked under the blow and bought his knee up sharply. Feeling an immense amount of satisfaction as the man dropped with a sudden 'whoosh', Arthur turned his attention back to the other two. After seeing their comrade fall, the remaining thieves had both drawn their swords, and had begun circling Arthur like hawks. Backing away in order to keep them both in his line of vision, Arthur let them approach, knowing that he could do nothing with them at a distance.

Allowing them to believe that he was giving up, Arthur tried not to give any movements away as they came closer and closer. Tyson was the first to reach him, stretching out his hand that held the sword. Before he had time to react, Arthur grabbed hold of the wrist and twisted upwards, causing Tyson to let go of the sword with a howl of pain. Two down, one to go.

The third man looked livid as Tyson dropped to the floor, cradling his broken wrist in his good hand. Arthur met his gaze straight on, squaring his shoulders as the two of them began to circle each other, never breaking eye contact. Arthur had just made it into the perfect position for an attack when things began to go downhill for the prince. Avoiding a blind lunge from the man, the prince stumbled backwards. Trying to regain his footing, Arthur took another step back, determined to correct his positioning. He had been so focused on the fight that he had forgotten his positioning. His step back – instead of helping him – only made matters a lot worse as he felt himself falling over the unconscious Merlin. Hitting the ground hard, Arthur had no time to react until the boss was upon him. As he placed the tip of the sword against the exposed skin of Arthur's neck, the prince dared not move, his body tensing where he lay. With a satisfied smirk, the man kept his menacing position as his two colleagues climbed back to their feet. The big man, the one who had been called Jackson, grabbed Arthur as the leader moved his sword, pinning the prince's arms firmly behind him, leaving him with no option but to stay still.

"Bring them both," the man commanded, sheathing his sword as he stalked off into the forest. Jackson pushed Arthur in front of him, allowing the prince a few moments of despair as Tyson slung Merlin over his shoulder, using his good hand to hold the warlock in place, sheltering the wounded one carefully in front of him.

*

Gaius sat with his head resting against the bench, snoring lightly. There were numerous pieces of parchment littered around him, nearly all of them screwed up. How many times had he tried to tell Hunith that what she had feared had come true, that Tyson had indeed returned for Merlin? He had promised to protect Merlin from his father, promised that he would keep him safe. And now he had failed in doing so. With Arthur vanishing as well, the king was bound to get suspicious soon. But this time, the trusted physician had no answers for his king, not without putting Merlin in even more danger. It seemed that Gaius was stuck; every turn he could have taken only seemed to lead to more trouble.

A soft knock on the door bought the troubled physician back into the real world. Opening his eyes blearily, Gaius pushed his spectacles back up his nose, rescuing them from falling after they had slipped in his sleep. He peered over to the door, the dim light making it difficult to tell who would come calling at this time of night. Lady Elizabeth stood framed in the doorway, the flickering candlelight from the corridor behind her sending swirling patterns into the room, both hypnotising and mysterious at the same time. Climbing stiffly to his feet, Gaius bowed his head, a reaction that was something automatic rather than any conscious effort to do so.

"Have you heard anything, my dear Gaius?" she asked, stepping further into the room. Her concern touched her old friend, showed him that not everything in the world was bad, however much the opposite seemed to be true at this moment in time.

Sighing, the old physician shook his head, the sadness in his eyes shouting out to Elizabeth how badly he needed someone to confide in. He bore more secrets than anyone else in the castle – than anyone that she knew, in fact. Everyone with a form of illness that they didn't want anyone to know about had taken advantage of how trustworthy Gaius was. Lying onto him all of their problems, as if that would make them go away, hoping that he had the power to banish their demons, most of them psychological. Most of the time, it did help the patient; Gaius always said that talking about something was the first step to curing it. But who was there to listen to him in a time like this?

"He's left with Tyson. Arthur told me himself. The prince has ridden out after them. Apparently he and Merlin had some kind of fight before they left – probably of Tyson's doing – and Arthur wanted to apologise."

Ignoring the look of incredulity that shot over Elizabeth's face at the idea of the previously vain prince wanting to apologise, Gaius continued.

"He told me that I had to carry out my duties as normal, or the king would get suspicious, which most likely would mean trouble for Merlin. He said…he said that he would bring him home again."

"Oh, Gaius! I'm so sorry. I know how much Merlin means to you." Swallowing awkwardly past the lump that had suddenly sprung unbidden into her throat, Elizabeth bought the matter around to the real reason that she had visited the physician so late in the evening.

"Gaius, John and I are leaving the country. We have family out there, and John tires of life at court. He is not as young as he used to be, and the pressures of maintaining his status are starting to get too much for him, the poor dear. If Merlin does not, or cannot return to you, I came to ask you, dear, dear friend, whether you would consider joining us. Escape from the pressures of court physician for a while, have some time to yourself."

"Dear Beth, your offer is more generous than anything. I promise you that I will consider it, if things do not work out. But for now, here I must be. I must wait for my world to return to me."

"Of course, Gaius. I expected nothing more. This is goodbye for now, old friend. I hope that we will be once more reunited before long." Extending out her hand, Elizabeth smiled sadly at the old man in front of her as he bent to kiss it. She knew, no matter what Gaius had said, that he would never leave Camelot, even if the boy did not return. He would never be able to call anywhere else home.

Watching her go, Gaius sat back down heavily and began to think again. But not about what he had promised to consider. Instead of thinking about the future life that could be waiting for him, away from the problems that were now haunting the old physician, Gaius instead turned his mind back to Merlin and the problem of trying to tell Hunith what had happened.

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