Merlin watched from behind the shrubs to the surroundings in front of him. This was Jarl's lair, he knew it. The ramshackle fortress looked even more in ruin than the last time he saw it.

In front of the fortress he saw some of Jarl's men cavorting about, acting like there was no care in the world. Merlin scanned the grounds some more. There were five men, three of them with knives on their hips. He didn't saw any weapons on the other two from where he was, but he just had to assume they had something.

The best chance of him getting to know whether his mother and sister were there was if he would enter quietly and unseen. He breathed in, feeling his magic flittering under his fingertips. "Onslæp nu." Merlin breathed the spell out, and saw almost immediately the five men flop down on the ground in deep sleep. He waited a few more seconds to see if his spell held before moving towards the entrance.

~oOoOo~

Uther surveyed the grounds. Arthur sat kneeled down next to one of the bandits on the ground and felt for a pulse. After a few seconds he stood up. "This must be Merlin's doing. I can't see any injuries and they are still breathing. If I didn't know better, I would say that they were asleep."

Uther just hummed in response, his fingers wrapping tightly around the hilt of his sword. He addressed two knights close-by. "Bind them and keep watch. Everybody else, follow me."

The party moved in silence towards the entrance, the door was ajar and Uther drew his sword. The rest followed. Then he gave a nod to Arthur who as quietly as possible pushed the door even more open, his sword pointed out in front of him. They waited several seconds, but when they didn't hear anything and nobody exited, Arthur moved inside. His father and the rest of the group followed suit.

There hung an eerie silence and the place smelled horrendously. Arthur gave a two-finger signal for a few knights to go into the multiple room. He and his father took a door at the far end of the corridor.

"There," His father whispered and pointed at a strip of light coming under one of the doors. Arthur gave a silent nod and both of them moved to the door, each of them taking a side of it. Uther counted down from three with his fingers and then Arthur barged through the door.

He stopped in his track, his mouth far open.

"Merlin…" He said breathlessly. He sensed his father behind him. "No." He was nailed to the ground. His brother lying motionlessly on the ground with his eyes closed. Jarl lying not far from his brother, eyes open but empty of life.

"No!"

Arthur blinked after the horrified scream of his father, who moved past him and kneeled down on the ground and touched his son's face, trying to coax him awake. He saw Merlin's chest rise but only just.

"Merlin, come on, open your eyes. It's us, Arthur and I." Uther cradled his son in his arms after the short survey of his son's frame, and was now keeping him close to his chest. "He doesn't seem to be physically harmed." Uther mumbled, eyebrows creasing in deep thought.

Arthur shuffled forward, kneeling down on the other side of his brother. He didn't know what to do. He wasn't a trained physician." His fingers ghosted over his brother's body. "Father, what can I do?"

Uther frown deepened and then his eyes caught Arthur's waterskin. "Your waterskin, give it to me."

Arthur immediately hurried to pull the bag from his hip and handed it over to his father.

Uther pushed the nozzle into Merlin's mouth. "Merlin, drink." He tilted the bag. A small stream of water slipped out of the corner of Merlin's mouth and Uther prayed to every god that could hear him. Praying that he wouldn't be too late.

Moments later, Merlin's throat bobbed and he began drinking. "It's working!" Arthur nearly yelled in wonder. After a short time, a few knights entered the small room and saw the King and two Princes, and the dead leader of the bandits. The stood silently, watching what was happening with the youngest Prince.

A few seconds later Merlin spluttered and coughed. Uther pulled the waterskin away and threw it next to him. Merlin looked up to his father through half lidded eyes. "Did I do good?" He whispered.

Uther barked a laugh and grabbed Merlin in a tight hug after.

"Father." Arthur said and it made his father look up to his other son. Arthur pointed his head down to show that Merlin had brought his hand up a small bit and was pointing towards the other side of the room.

Uther moved his son in a sitting position, watching him carefully. His son's eyes were half lidded through exhaustion. "Merlin, what is it?"

"I-in th-there." Merlin rasped, before falling against his father's chest in exhaustion.

Uther gave his son a kiss on his head before placing him gently down on the ground and motioning one of the knights forward to keep watch of his son. Together with Arthur he moved slowly to the other side of the room, towards the door. His sword firmly in his hand.

Just like before, he gave Arthur the signal to open the door on the third count and they held their sword in front of them, ready to attack what was to come.

They both gasped, their swords falling onto the ground when their grip on it lessened.

Uther shook his head. "T-this can't be." In front of him he saw his daughter and his wife. One of Morgana's hand was bound above her and her other hand laid softly of the ground. His wife was lying with her back towards them, but he recognized her immediately.

Arthur recovered more quickly from the shock than his father and hurried inside. He threw his arms around his sister who was barely awake. She startled awake, her breathing erratic. "N-no, don't."

"Morgana." Arthur's voice cracked when he said her name.

Morgana blinked sluggishly, her eyes burning from the sudden light. But she heard it right, she felt it right. This was her brother. A tear trickled down her cheek. "A-Arthur."

"I'm here." Arthur said, letting his own tears fall. "We're all here."

Morgana winced when she swallowed. "Go, go to mum. She's not well."

Hearing that brought Uther into action, immediately taking the few steps towards his wife and turning her onto her back. He gasped softly as his eyes fell onto his wife's stomach, it protruded from under her dress. His hand went to the bump but he stopped when he heard a cough. His eyes snapped to Hunith's face and his fingertips brushed lovingly against her cheek as Hunith's eyes slowly fluttered open. "I'm here, love. I'm here. No one will hurt you now."