"Where's Arthur?" Merlin asked, scanning the crowd. He told himself that everything was fine, that they were among friends so there should be nothing to be paranoid about. The group had split up. Elyan and Gwaine were off entertaining two women who seemed to be amusing the two knights and their outlandish stories with their attention more out of politeness than genuine interest. Percival and Leon had taken to watching their friends fail at a distance.

They smirked at each other as though sharing some inside joke. Percival set down his tankard. "He wanted some air."

Leon nudged Merlin. "Arthur's not going to get himself in trouble in a matter of minutes away from you."

"It's his one talent." Merlin joked and each of the knights laughed loudly; however, it may have had to do more from the influence of their now empty tankards than anything else.

Merlin caught sight of Arthur who was scanning the crowd. "My lord!" He called over to the king across the loud crowd.

Arthur's head whipped around and settled on the group. He jerked his head to point towards the exit.

"I better go see what he wants." Merlin pushed himself up using the table. "Save me a drink."

He left to follow, but not without hearing Percival say, "With Gwaine, no promises," after he was a few steps away. Merlin smiled as he heard Leon laugh in a carefree manner the knight rarely exhibited. Merlin continued to follow Arthur who walked past the crowd that had spilled out of the tavern. He took long quick strides that had Merlin struggling to keep up with him without running. Arthur continued down a side hallway for several paces before stopping so quickly that Merlin almost ran into him.

"I received a note last night." Arthur said suddenly in a jarring manner that Merlin attempted to shake off.

"Yes, I recall." Merlin fought a smirk as he thought of a good natured joke to throw at Arthur. "Have you drunk so much that you forgot I was there or are you really that much of a cabbage head."

"Merlin-"

"Because as you advisor I would suggest you stop using Gwaine as a point of reference when drinking."

"Merlin!" Arthur cut him off from continuing. Merlin's expression turned to not one of hurt but of immediate concern. He knew Arthur like the back of his hand. There was something serious he needed to discuss. His mind went back to Arthur's purpose for dragging him away from the party.

"What could Catherine have possibly written?"

"I lied." Arthur swallowed. "It wasn't from Catherine."

His eyes narrowed, but he made a point of keeping his expression passive. After all the anger he had been at the receiving end of for his own lies, Arthur had been quick to lie about something as trivial as a note. He swallowed his bitterness at the double standard because in that moment he saw something in Arthur's eyes that wasn't quite right. "Alright, who was it from?"

"I'm not sure." Arthur's gaze was turned away from Merlin, hiding his face from him.

"Arthur," When he didn't turn around, Merlin walked around to the front of him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "What did it say?"

Arthur reached for his belt and pulled a piece of paper out.

"You have it with you." Merlin hadn't realized he said it out loud at first. He had been startled by its sudden appearance. Strangely enough, it wasn't the only thing that gave him funny feelings. Merlin felt waves rolling off the note There was something in it, something that told him he shouldn't-

Arthur shoved it in his hand and Merlin found himself reading it without too much of a conscious thought.

Caelia 8 Ayleth 12 Carac 7 Fendrel 12

Elaine 10 Jarin 11 Malkyn 6 Catrain 8

Erwen 11 Agnes 4 Falco 10 Brom 9

Any possible concern for Arthur was replaced with a deep pang of guilt that sent ice through his veins. The writing on the paper was quick and messy, as if done in a rush.

Merlin focused on the numbers. Simply by scanning the paper he saw that all were below thirteen. He felt his stomach drop at the implications. Four was the lowest number. He couldn't tear his eyes away from it as it chanted of his failure. It was a reminder of his tardiness that led to the death of a child.

"What do you think?" Arthur asked as if the note were a list of goods needed from the marketplace.

"What do I-" His voice broke away at the end. "This is why you went off on me yesterday?"

The despondency in his voice was not subtle, but Arthur did not seem to notice or care.

"I didn't know what to believe."

Merlin stared at the paper, his fingers clenched it tightly, folding it to hide the words. His chest heaved several times before releasing a breathy laugh that had a sharp edge. Acid churched in his stomach, hot and burning. He turned away from Arthur and found himself pacing several strides away. Arthur closed in on him, forcing himself into the space Merlin had just created.

"I think there is someone here working against us."

He looked back to Arthur and raised an eyebrow in surprise. He would have laughed had Arthur not looked so serious. He held the note up and waved it. "Because of this?"

Arthur seemed taken aback. "Of course that's the reason. Why else would someone leave me a note like this?"

Merlin didn't give him any sort of response. Rather, he stared towards the ground working his jaw in an effort to keep him from saying the wrong thing.

"It's a decidedly damning accusation, Merlin."

Arthur almost seemed to be waiting for him to agree with him. Merlin shook his head, refusing to look back at Arthur. How could he only see this note as an accusation after Camelot's history? He wiped angrily at his eyes which had grown wet.

"Not if it's true, Arthur." Merlin said coldly and turned around to look back at Arthur who's features only sang of confusion. Anger he didn't know he was capable of feeling roared like a wildfire in his chest. He shoved the note against Arthur's chest firmly. Arthur held his ground despite the solid contact his palm had hitting his chest and reached for the note to keep it from falling to the floor.

"And you call me a cabbage head, look right here it-" As the king's eyes shot back to the note he froze.

"What is this?" Arthur's voice was low.

Merlin scoffed. "You seemed so confident about its meaning before."

His tone was mocking, and for a moment Merlin realized how quickly everything was spiraling. He knew he should be fighting to stop it and deal with it at a later time in a more secure place, but there was a gnawing force in him that superseded the control he had on his normal tightly trapped emotions.

"Merlin, I have no idea what this is." Arthur's eyes were still glued to the paper. He hands clenched it tightly. A small voice told him Arthur was being sincere, but he stomped it out.

"Names, Arthur." Merlin spat at the king's ignorance. "Names of children murdered by your kingdom."

Arthur continued to gawk at the note as if he had never seen it before.

"I get it." Merlin said coldly as Arthur reread the note. "You tend to interpret these things wrong."

"This-" Arthur pointed at it, finger landing in the middle of the list. "-was not the message I got."

Merlin laughed derisively. "I'm sure even you could have come up with a better excuse to reconcile with your inability to see your past sins."

Arthur's face darkened at his words. Merlin fought a smile of satisfaction knowing that he was goading Arthur. The man was never one to turn down a fight. Even now, he saw Arthur bristle as his anger slowly built and turned on him. His previous argument was seemingly forgotten in the light of Merlin's blatantly charged comment.

"Obviously, you are not in a place to discuss this opinion of yours civilly."

Arthur began to turn away from him, but another biting comment surfaced. His thoughts were on his lips before he could fully commit to saying it.

"A few days ago these weren't even children to you!-" Merlin spat out the sentence like it was fire on his tongue. "-An idea that seems to linger."

Arthur's face became pallid and his mouth opened slightly in shock before closing itself into a firm line held in place by a tightly clenched jaw.

"Everyone is here because of the purge." Arthur acknowledged. He took several steps toward Merlin who held his ground and glared unwaveringly. "They've lost family members and children. That hurt will last generations." Arthur pointed directly at his face in an incensed anger that had begun to blaze. "You of all people know I am more than willing to take steps to begin helping these people heal."

"Why would they even want your help, Sire?" He saw Arthur open his mouth and knew from years of being silenced that he was going to be told to shut up. His words came out quicker. "How many of these families here do you think you personally destroyed with a sword strapped to your hip?"

Merlin watched as Arthur's confidence in his prior statement collapsed. He looked like he had been punched in the gut and all the air had left him with the strike.

"Do you want me to tell you my guess?" He asked rhetorically.

"Hold your tongue, Merlin." Arthur's eyes were narrowed into glaring slits, and his voice was laced with venom. He spoke slowly, as if trying to keep his own words from lashing out. "If you know what's good for you."

"Or what?" Merlin continued despite the clear warning. "Are you going to hit me again? Knock me down when I try to get up? Because I won't let you."

"That's enough, Merlin!" Arthur spat out. "I don't know what has gotten into you, but it ends now."

"You're a coward, Arthur."

Never before had he ever regarded Arthur with such disdain. All the spiteful and vengeful thoughts he had ever conjured up in the dead of night and then regretted the next day came to a head in his mind.

Arthur's glare broke with a look of revelation.

"The note-" He broke off for a moment and shook his head. "You would never think of me as a coward."

Merlin scoffed and turned away.

"Just as I would never think of you as a coward."

Arthur had claimed time and time again that he lacked any bravery. Only when he was thought to have been dying had Arthur insisted the opposite. Most likely out of guilt and personal shame at the insults he hurled on the regular.

"Merlin, listen to me." Arthur's breathing quickened and he appeared more tense in that moment than before. "You're under an enchantment."

"If that were true I would feel it."

"It's the note, Merlin-"

"Again with that damn note!" Merlin felt his emotions spiraling as if they were tumbling down a hill and gaining speed and intensity. I don't know why I didn't see it before, but you are incapable of remorse- you lack no regret for your actions."

Arthur clenched his jaw. "I'm going to let that go for now until we talk to Catherine about fixing this."

Arthur began to walk away, but Merlin refused to follow. The king huffed and he grabbed Merlin's arm roughly in an attempt to get him to follow.

Merlin responded immediately. His magic propelled Arthur backwards and into the wall harshly. Merlin stepped forward, watching as Arthur struggled to gather the breath he had lost from the impact. The king tensed and straightened up as he approached. He didn't move as Merlin brought his hand to hover over where his heart was. His gold eyes did not fade, and he saw them reflected in Arthur's wide blue ones. Arthur remained silent, and Merlin could have sworn he was barely breathing as if he didn't want to wake a dragon during a drought for fear of the destruction of the forest. Merlin almost smirked at the irony.

"You're afraid of me." Merlin heard himself say without being fully conscious of his decision to speak.

Arthur continued to say nothing. Merlin took that as a confirmation. He wanted Arthur to feel the fear that had cycled through his life from the moment his mother first described a pyre to him. For years he had been terrified by the thought of someone finding out and turning him in. It seemed laughable now as he felt the strength of his magic at his fingertips. For the first time in his life he felt inclined to not just scratch the surface of his enormous power, but to fully submerged himself in it. He wanted to bask in his own intoxicating power.

His ears picked up Arthur's rapid heart beat as his burst of magic sharpened his senses. He brought his hand to his chest and felt his pounding heart.

He also felt Arthur recoil at the contact.

In an instant the magic he had called to his fingertips melted away. Arthur slid down the wall gracelessly. The delight he had taken in his power over Arthur was batted aside and replaced with shame.

"You're afraid of me."

The victory in his voice had extinguished alongside his magic.

"Merlin-" Arthur began, but didn't move past that. He appeared at a loss for words.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." With that he stepped away from Arthur and turned quickly on his heel.

"Merlin!" Arthur called after him. Merlin could hear him struggle and stumble to his feet behind him, but wasn't quick enough to catch him before they rounded the corner into the courtyard. Merlin who didn't want to draw any attention to himself from the celebrating Druids shifted to a quick walk.

"Lord Emrys," Merlin heard a recognizable voice. "I do hope you are enjoying the feast and-" Merlin rushed by the man he remembered to be named Steven.

"Sire." Merlin glanced back and saw that Steven had intercepted Arthur, and bowed his head at the king. He almost stopped for a moment as he caught Arthur's gaze, but then he heard the hideous thoughts, insidiously snake in his mind. Thoughts that had incited violence towards Arthur just moments before.

He turned away and walked into the crowd and to the nearest hallway where he broke out into a sprint, not knowing where he was or where he was headed. His certainty laid in the fact that despite everything he had done for Arthur to keep him alive and well and leading the people of Camelot, in that moment he was the person who posed the greatest threat.

Arthur craned his neck, but had lost Merlin in the crowd due to Steven blocking him suddenly.

"Sire, I apologize for my impertinence, but there is a strange magic surrounding you."

Arthur nodded. "I know."

"You're aware?" Steven said with a genuine shock.

"Sire," Came Leon's voice. "Is something the matter." In his searching for Merlin he had not seen the knights approaching.

"My lord, we saw Merlin leaving in haste." Percival spoke when Arthur did not respond immediately. Arthur was one to take charge in a situation as thus; however, his mind was spinning with what just occurred with Merlin's response to the note and subsequent near attack on him.

"Sir, if I may?" Steven asked and continued following the nod of Leon's head. "There seems to be an enchantment of sorts surrounding King Arthur.

"An enchantment?" Leon was immediately on the defensive. Arthur saw in his periphery the knight move his hand to his sword.

"It is of the utmost importance that we find him." Arthur felt antsy, wanting already to follow Merlin and fix this enchantment rather than waste time catching his knights up. "He has fallen to it as well."

"Merlin is enchanted?" Gwaine spoke up. "He does not fall to magic easily. He was the only one not compelled by Lamia."

Arthur considered this for a moment. A creature of magic who was able to ensorcel several of his finest knights at the same time had not caused the slightest behavioral change in Merlin, yet a small piece of parchment had. The thought troubled him a great deal and it seemed he was not the only one.

"What are we waiting for? We must go after him." Gwaine said, but Arthur caught his arm.

"He is not himself at the moment." Arthur lowered his voice, but he was certain that Steven would still pick up on his words. "He used his magic against me."

"Are you alright, Sire?" Leon jumped in.

The memory of Merlin's glare burning with gold with a hate dedicated to Arthur surfaced.

Arthur waved the question off as Gwaine pulled out of his grip. "Merlin would die before he ever hurt you."

"I know, and he certainly did not let the spell overcome him for long."

Arthur caught from his peripheral a form walking swiftly towards him, Catherine held a stiffness in her face barring her emotions that Arthur was certain he mirrored. Arthur began to move forward and met her halfway.

"Merlin sent me."

"Where is he?" Arthur asked.

"I am unsure." She admitted. "He was not around when he told me to find you."

"Right." Arthur said, waving his hand and looking away from Catherine. "You can all talk without speaking."

"I sensed a great deal of shame in his words." Catherine hovered a hand over Arthur's arm. "As I sense in you now. He mentioned there was a note. Show me."

As had Catherine with her quick request, Arthur wasted no time in procuring the note. She refrained from touching it, opting to hover her hand over the innocuous paper. Arthur watched her closely as her face shifted to a look of concentration. Her eyebrows furrowed, darkening her grey blue eyes.

"I can feel strong magic within this."

"It changed." Arthur said. "What is written there now was not the original script."

Catherine's gaze sharpened on the note as she read. It took her not even a moment to understand the implications. She struggled to school her expression as a range of emotions flooded her expression. Arthur heard her take a shaking breath that deepened his shame further than before. There was a word of the old religion cast and Arthur glanced up just in time to see her eyes dull from the golden hue of magic.

"This has a similar magic to that which was cast on the wyverns." Catherine stated, her voice and words were cautious and void of emotions Arthur knew she was attempting to hide. She glanced at Steven who nodded in agreement. "Both are monumentally strong in magic and could only be cast by someone of like power."

"This is new knowledge to me." Arthur started feeling a flush of anger in his belly. Steven glanced to Catherine who still appeared lost in thought. Arthur knew she was turning over the names and correlating ages she had just read. Steven took a step forward and answered in her hesitation.

"We have an ongoing investigation as to why they did not yield to Emrys. They are a wild creature, but easily swayed by a dragonlord's orders. By all accounts they should not have been able to disobey him. We discovered there were heavy enchantments on the beasts."

Arthur swallowed his frustration and took a moment before speaking. "Why did we not hear of this sooner?"

"I did not want to distract Merlin from working until we were certain." Catherine said cooly and in a brisk manner before Steven could offer a different excuse.

Arthur bristled at the implications. Merlin had kept how Arthur reacted to his secret, another secret from the Druids. Catherine had been present to see the changing dynamics and emotions- emotions Arthur felt were justified at the time. Now they were reminders of his own shortcomings and recurring difficulty in trusting anyone completely.

It's what the note had targeted as well. Enchanted or not, it would have caused his mind to spin into thoughts of betrayal. His father's countless lectures that a real king can only trust himself in the end would have surfaced just as they had the previous night. His thoughts would not have turned violent and his temper with Merlin would have been better contained.

At the very least, that was what Arthur needed to convince himself.

"What we held from you would not have been in perpetuity. I trust you will understand that, King Arthur."

"I apologize, Catherine for any conclusion I drew." The shame did nothing to lift itself in light of the apology. Arthur's mind flashed to what Merlin would say if he had been present. He would have netted the tension in the air and let it go elsewhere with a simple blithesome comment that would both irritate and encourage Arthur.

"As far as I am concerned, we do need to focus on discovering who is behind these spells and put a stop to it." Catherine drew herself up and held her head up reminding Arthur of the strong leader she was. "However, Merlin is alone and seemingly unsure of his actions. Our priority should be finding him and ensuring that you are all safe from this insurrection before we search for further answers."

"I will go." Gwaine assured. "His quarrel lies not with me."

"I'll go with you to keep you heading the right way." Steven offered. Gwaine accorded him a grateful nod.

"Unless King Arthur has any objections, we keep this quiet until we know Emrys is safe." Catherine ordered Steven.

"I believe that would be the safest option." Arthur agreed.

"We best be off then," Gwaine offered his hand to Arthur who shook it. He felt some of the tension melt knowing that Gwaine held no bad blood towards him. Steven inclined his head toward Arthur and followed the knight.

"We will set off for my chambers for the time being." Catherine said and turned on her heel. Arthur followed closely behind for several paces before gaining momentum and falling in step side by side with her. Their time spent in the complex had given Arthur a deep respect for Catherine as a leader, but a small part of him had begun to seek out her warm candor and kindness that filled a void he had never known needed filling in his lifetime. To see that affection she seemed to have for Merlin and himself be pulled away stung.

"Will you allow me an answer to a question I am struggling with." Arthur spoke in a low voice.

"Anything, Sire."

"Were those names written on the note fabricated for the enchantment or real?"

Catherine kept her face forward and cleared her throat.

"Real."