Disclaimer: Merlin belongs to someone who is not me. Any similarity to any real place or situation is purely coincidental

Sorry for the delays in updates. When I'm busy at work, the writing suffers. Thank you for all the reviews, alerts and favorites. Thanks to all who have encouraged me to continue with this story. You guys are great! Love you!

It is evident to Arthur that Gwen is completely exhausted by the time they get back to the hotel. On their way Gwen had spotted a park and had asked the chauffeur to stop for a few moments while they walked around hand in hand. It never ceases to amaze Arthur how despite her growing fame, Gwen seems to enjoy the simpler things in life. She had told Arthur once how gardens and nature in general seem to calm her down when she is stressed or tired. Late nights, rehearsals and performances were taking their toll on her. He vows to make her life better, making sure she is eating well and getting enough rest. The good thing is she is smiling and looks happy and though it sounds rather conceited, Arthur would like to believe that he is one of the reasons she is happy. From the moment he had met her, he had found that he rather liked her smile to be a permanent feature on her face. For someone so young, she had been through a lot and sometimes it felt like she carried the whole weight of the world on her shoulders. And yet he had also known times when she seemed more carefree and laughed easily. He was not ashamed to admit he was rather addicted to that laugh as well and would not mind hearing it all day every day of his life.

Gwen greets the bodyguard stationed at the door by name while Arthur only nods at him. He opens the door to the suite and allows her to get in first and she stumbles on a package that must have been slid under the door. Arthur manages to grab her hand in time to stop her from falling and after making sure she is all right, bends over and picks up the package.

"What is it?" Gwen asks, a frown marring her face.

"I'm not sure. It's addressed to you. Maybe it's fan mail," he tries to joke. "Let's open it and see." Arthur says, with a puzzled look on his face. Normally the hotel did not slide documents under the door. Any messages were either collected from reception or delivered by someone to their room. They sit on the couch and Arthur carefully opens the package. Gwen's heart is her mouth as she has already experiencing a sense of foreboding that this cannot be good. Her heart almost cracks when she realizes that the package contains several pictures of her and Arthur at the restaurant ; pictures of Arthur escorting her to their table; pulling a chair out for her, of them having their lunch, sharing a kiss, Arthur holding her hand and toasting each other. There is a folded paper inside and Arthur quickly decides not to open it, having an inkling of what it might say. Gwen gasps as a shiver runs down her spine. Arthur swears silently and quickly puts the pictures back into the envelope. He throws the envelope on the floor, reaching out to Gwen who seems dazed.

"Arth..ur he … he was there," is all Gwen manages to bring out in a squeaky voice.

Arthur is boiling with fury but has to curb his feelings as he realizes that Gwen needs reassurance and strength from him at the moment.

"I promise you Gwen, as long as there is still breath in me, I will not let him close to you," he vows fiercely, drawing her tightly to him. "We will find this person and put a stop to his attics."

Suddenly her fright turns to anger.

"You are right. We will find this-this person. What right does he have to follow us around and to frighten me like this?"

And there she is. Gwen the fighter and Arthur can only look on in wonder. This woman is not a victim. Yes, she is frightened, who would not be? But she will not let this maniac have it easy.

"You and I Gwen, we make a formidable team. This lunatic will not win as long as we are together."

They spend some time like that with Arthur rubbing her back. When they draw apart Arthur sits back on the couch and draws Gwen with him so that he has her head on his shoulder, speaking comforting words to her. He can feel her relaxing and eventually she starts drifting off to sleep. Although it has just gone past six, Arthur does not mind her getting her a bit of rest. He will wake her up to have her dinner if she does not wake up before then. Arthur does a lot of thinking while waiting for Gwen to sleep for a bit longer so that he can move her to their bed. Many questions run through his mind.

Who was this maniac? How did he know where they were going for lunch? Where was he when he took the pictures? What was in the note that was folded? How had he managed to get to this floor since access was restricted? How had he managed to slip the package under the door with the bodyguard just outside the door?

Gwen shifts her position in her sleep, lying on his lap with the rest of her body curled up on the couch. Arthur gazes at her face, wondering why someone as sweet as her would attract the attentions of a lunatic. Then again, maybe it was someone who recognized that innocence and sweetness and was twisted enough to think that he would have a chance with her. He keeps his adoring eyes on her, tracing with them every freckle, the only thing that mars her perfect skin. His stomach clenches when he imagines someone with bad intentions watching her, watching them in what they thought had been a somewhat private moment.

Arthur bends down a bit, trying to reach the envelope he had thrown down in anger thirty minutes earlier without disturbing Gwen. Much as he knows that Gwen would insist on being involved in the investigations, he also knows with the upcoming shows that would only make her even more exhausted and frightened. He cannot get to the envelope without waking up Gwen so he decides to carry her to the bed. He carefully manages to shift her and carry her and lays her down without causing her to wake up. She mumbles something in her sleep before she shifts to a comfortable position on the bed.

He returns to the couch and picks up the envelope, going through the pictures more carefully. He then opens the folded paper and reads it, and he sees red. He clenches his teeth until his jaw hurts. His phone vibrates in his pocket, thanking the heavens that he had put it on silent while they had been having lunch. He heart lifts up a little when he recognized the number.

"Merlin?" Arthur answers quietly, moving to the bathroom so that he would not wake up Gwen

"It's Morgana actually although I'm with Merlin. He told me what happened. How is Gwen holding up?"

"You know Gwen; she is frightened although she will not admit it. Actually earlier on she was very angry about the whole thing. That's my Gwen, never down for too long." Arthur sighs. "The worrying thing is this lunatic is getting bolder."

"What do you mean?" Morgana seems to be holding her breath.

"We had gone out for lunch to celebrate…."

"Yes Merlin tells me that you finally proposed. Well done Arthur. That was long overdue. But I interrupt."

"Yes, you and Merlin are rather alike in that way. But anyway, we had a lovely time. The restaurant is wonderful and I thought, private. When we got here there was a package under the door with pictures of Gwen and I at the restaurant."

"Arthu..rr, you mean someone was watching you?"

"They captured some intimate moments. In the envelope was a note." He feels sick as he says it.

"A note? What does it say?"

Arthur's ire rises in echelons causing every nerve in his body to tense, his hand that is holding the note shaking uncontrollably.

"Athur?"

He swallows willing his throat to work. It is as dry as a bone.

"Arthur?"

"It says, "Once a whore, always a whore," he hisses out.