Thanks for all the support! As suggested by guest NC, I'll put the majority of my AN at the end. I just wanted to say thank you for the amazing support you guys have given me.

TWENTY: DISASTER (290 days)

Kerenza jerked awake when she heard the door open and close softly. She'd fallen asleep on a chair beside Emrys's bed - a few of the knights, who'd come in to check on their friend, had moved him from the table to Gaius's bed. The physician was asleep in her room.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked up to see Queen Guinevere. She'd only met the queen a few times, but she liked and respected her. She was a very wise woman.

Kerenza inclined her head, standing to offer the chair to the queen. Guinevere took the seat, after a moment of hesitation. "Your Majesty."

The other woman smiled. "How is he?"

They both looked at Emrys. His breathing was steady, but he had yet to wake up. His magical barrier was still protecting him. It wouldn't allow anyone to even touch him.

Kerenza sighed. "It's difficult to know for sure. Every time I send out my magic to look him over, his magic pushes mine away. It doesn't stop me from trying, though. I know I can be a stubborn woman sometimes. He hasn't had any convulsions for several hours, though his body does tense up occasionally. I think his chest pains have stopped as well. He hasn't clutched at his chest recently, at any rate."

She'd woken every time he'd so much as breathed sharply, let alone moved in any way. It had been a long, sleepless night.

The queen stared at Emrys, her dark eyes full of concern. "Do you think he'll survive this? Is his magic strong enough to cure him? Arthur is clinging to that hope right now, but do you believe it?"

"Yes," she answered, without hesitation. She could see that he was improving, at least. That gave her hope that he would overcome this. "I believe he'll live. I don't know how long it will take. And he may remain unconscious, even after he's healed. A spell like this will drain his energy."

"I hate seeing him like this. It isn't the first time, either."

Kerenza frowned. "He's been poisoned before?"

Guinevere nodded. "Yes. A sorceress had fooled Merlin into drinking a poisoned goblet; he did it to save Arthur. Arthur then risked his own life to get the antidote, against his father's wishes. And Merlin, here on his deathbed, had managed to send a light to guide Arthur out of a trap. I know he's powerful. From what I understand, he can bend his magic in ways that most other sorcerers can't. But at least that poison had an antidote. Now, magic is his only hope. It's difficult, to know that there isn't anything we can do to help him. It's all up to him."

Frowning slightly, the queen pressed a hand to her belly.

"Are you feeling ill, my lady?"

"Only a little. It will pass."

Kerenza nodded in understanding. "Ah. The babe."

"How did you -"

"Ma. She's a seer."

Guinevere nodded. "Of course. I've only had the pleasure of meeting Treasa once myself, but Arthur has told me about her gift of foresight. Where is she? I thought she would be with you."

"She returned to the inn last night. She did come by, but she felt useless. I don't blame her. I feel useless myself."

The queen sighed, looking both sad and worried for her friend. It was obvious to Kerenza that the two of them were close. Not just by the concern Guinevere was showing for her friend, but by the few interactions she'd seen between them. "Hunith is supposed to arrive sometime today. She wanted to surprise him. Instead, she'll only find him on the brink of death. No mother wants to see that. She has done so much to protect her son. And now…"

Kerenza hesitated, but only for a tiny moment, and then reached out to grip the queen's hand. It probably wasn't the most proper thing for her to do, but…Well, she'd already called the king an idiot. She wasn't exactly known for being proper. She smiled in a way that she hoped was reassuring. "He'll be all right," she said, willing it to be true.

"I hope so. We would all be lost without our Merlin."

She thought about the knights, about the way they had looked the night before. "I had been a little surprised at the lengths to which so many people - noble knights, and even a king - would go for a servant. None of them had any knowledge of the prophesies that surrounded him. None except Mordred."

Guinevere's smile was full of warmth and fondness. "Merlin has a way of worming himself into the hearts of those around him. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Kerenza blushed slightly, as the queen's meaning became clear. The queen was more perceptive than she'd like her to be. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, my lady," she replied stiffly.

Guinevere laughed. "There are times, Kerenza, that you sound exactly like Merlin."

Arthur swung his sword fiercely, barely missing Elyan's shoulder. He really shouldn't have been training at the moment. It was too early - the sun was just barely starting to rise - and he was far too angry. He should have gone with Guinevere to see Merlin, but he just…couldn't.

He couldn't stand around and do nothing while watching his best friend possibly die.

So he'd come out to the training field, where he'd found Mordred and Elyan. "Worried about him?" Elyan had asked.

The king had scowled. "Of course. I worry about the idiot tripping over his own feet."

Mordred had smiled tightly. "He is much stronger than you realize, sire. He'll be able to heal himself, I'm sure of it."

Now, Arthur was pouring all of his worry and frustrations into his sparring match with Elyan. His new servant, Rolan, had dutifully followed him and stood to the side, ready to help with anything the king needed. Rolan, with his stupid small ears and stupid brown hair and stupid brown eyes and stupid beige tunics without stupid neckerchiefs.

Arthur didn't like him.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. The man was very efficient, and he had a decent sense of humor. He didn't trade insults with Arthur the way that Merlin did, but he wasn't entirely boring, and he was rather good at ducking. But he wasn't Merlin.

Damnit.

Of course he wasn't Merlin, because Merlin was currently lying in Gaius's chambers near death.

Arthur angrily threw down the sword, calling off the match. He yanked off his helmet and threw that, too. He kicked it for good measure. Nobody moved. Elyan, Mordred, and Rolan stared at him.

Then, without a word, Rolan picked up the helmet and sword. He placed them on a nearby bench.

Arthur looked up when he heard someone running onto the field. Gwaine. And he looked serious, which was rarely a good thing. Fear clenched his heart. "Is it Merlin? Did something change?"

The knight shook his head. "Sire, I think we need to speak to Ennis again."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Why?" he asked. He was worried that if he spoke to the servant again, he'd do something rash.

"He might not have poisoned Merlin. I left the dungeons right after you did yesterday, but something that Ennis said has bothered me all night. He said, 'Sire, he wasn't even in the room.' I think we need to find out exactly what he meant by that. Because if Ennis didn't do it, then whoever did could try again."

Arthur hated it when Gwaine was right.

Arthur and Gwaine entered the dungeons. Ennis sat in his cell, his back against the wall. He had his head in his hands. His blonde hair was dirty and disheveled.

He scrambled to his feet when he heard them come in. His green eyes were full of panic. "Sire, I -"

Arthur held up a hand, cutting the servant off. "I want you to tell me exactly what happened yesterday. Every detail, Ennis."

The man nodded. Then he told the king what had happened. Arthur paced as he listened.

Ennis had arrived on time that morning, because he didn't hate Merlin. Not anymore. But he also didn't want to make the king angry enough to extend his punishment - he still didn't really trust magic and did not enjoy being surrounded by it all day.

He and Dera had spent the morning cleaning while Merlin read one of his many magic books. The sorcerer was always reading, it seemed. And then, near lunch, he had rubbed his eyes and put the book in his library. He'd obviously been tired - he'd been like that every day, though.

Merlin had asked Dera to bring him several more candles from the castle's storeroom - he'd been using a lot of candles. Ennis assumed it was because he was staying up late every night to read. Merlin had told her to take the rest of the day off, once she'd brought the candles back. Though if anyone asked, she was supposed to claim that she was running errands for the sorcerer.

Then Merlin had asked Ennis to bring him some lunch from the kitchens, something simple. He'd given Ennis the same dismissal.

So he willingly got the food and took it back to Merlin's rooms, only Merlin wasn't in there. He waited for a few minutes, then placed the plate and goblet on the table and went to his home. A little more than an hour later, Sir Gwaine had come and arrested him.

Arthur stopped pacing, his ears picking out two very important words. If Ennis had truly done it, there should have been three words. He looked sharply at the servant. "Plate and goblet?" Ennis hadn't mentioned a bowl at all. Gaius had said that there was no trace of the poison on the plate or the goblet.

Only the bowl of blueberries.

Ennis seemed a little confused. "Yes, sire."

"What did the lunch include? What kinds of food?"

"It was simple, as he'd requested. Bread, cheese, chicken. And a bit of wine."

"Nothing else? No fruit or vegetables or berries of any kind?"

Ennis frowned, shaking his head. "No. Wait." Arthur tensed as the servant thought. "There were a few small tomatoes."

"You're certain there was nothing else?"

The servant nodded. "I'm certain."

The king sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. This entire situation was a disaster. He believed Ennis, though. It had seemed odd that the servant would poison Merlin, and then stay in Camelot. Not only in Camelot, but in his own home. A guilty man would run, especially when it would be obvious that all the evidence would point to them.

Which meant that someone else had realized who the evidence would point to, and was hoping that Ennis would be blamed for their crime.

"Was anyone else in the room? When you brought the food in?"

"No. Dera had already put the candles on the bedside table and left. The room was completely empty."

Arthur cursed. "Someone else put the poisoned blueberries there. And we have no idea who."

The real culprit was hoping that Ennis would be executed for the crime. If Arthur released Ennis, the true culprit might disappear into the night. Perhaps Arthur could use Ennis to draw the would-be murderer out. He looked back at the servant. He only hoped the servant would be willing to go along with it.

Okay, so I realized earlier than I never put any kind of descriptions in here for Ennis or Dera. Sorry about that. I'll try to add more descriptions of them, as well as any other OCs I might add.

Again, thank you all for the support. Like I said, it doesn't bother me if someone doesn't like one of my characters. But I am glad that so many of you like Kerenza. That particular review just felt like someone lashing out because I didn't put Merlin and Mithian together, which is the wrong reason to dislike another character. But I felt like I had solid reasons for not letting that ship sail, which I explained through Gwen.

To one of the guest reviews: Yes, the poison was similar to aconite. I thought about using it, but it didn't quite fit my needs. It was close, though.

And to NerdGirlAlert: Bravo. You took the words right out of his mouth. And don't worry, I'm not taking any of it to heart. That was the only bad review against Kerenza, so I don't feel the need to modify her in any way.

She might need more of a backstory, though...I just have to figure out how to integrate it properly. Anyway, enjoy! I love getting the reviews from you guys (even the ones with suggestions - in fact, those are some of my favorites). If you have a thought, throw it out there. I'll at least consider it. I may not use it, but I'll consider it.