Author's Note: I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I updated. I had this chapter already done, like, forever ago, but I lost it (I'm honestly not sure what happened to it; it wasn't there and then it was), but then I found it again, so it's all good! I should be updating more regularly (unfortunately I have a bombardment of homework, so we'll see). Anyway, here's the next chapter, so read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I haven't put a disclaimer for the last couple of chapters, so the characters aren't mine and the idea for the story is from: it's a crazy-kept secret.

PS: I've barely ever, if at all, written from Gwen's point of view before, so bare with me.

GGGGGG

Gwen was exhilarated for this trip into the woods. Arthur, Merlin, Morgana and Gwen were spending the next three days traveling to a spot that Arthur and Morgana had found as kids. They were stay there and go back all in the three days. The two royals insisted that the place was beyond beautiful. Quite frankly, Gwen didn't care. She just cared about a few days away from the stifling atmosphere of the castle with her friends.

The maid didn't know when she started considering Morgana her friend. She had served the beautiful princess since they were almost twelve and it seemed as if they got close very fast. It was partially because Vivienne promoted it and tried to get them alone all the time, but it was also because they were so similar.

It was easy to figure out when Gwen became friends with the prince's Shadow. It was the first time she met him. He was so charismatic and sweet and endearing. From her trips to the marketplace with or for Morgana, Gwen had learned that practically everyone there loved him and wished that he would be there more. It was almost awe-inspiring how amazing he was.

Then there was Arthur. Gwen decided that she started to like him as a friend around the same time that Merlin became his Shadow. In the month and a half that Merlin had been in Camelot, the eldest prince's attitude towards life in general had taken a dramatic shift in a good direction. It was obvious how much of a benefit Merlin was to him.

Gwen was broken from that line of thought when Arthur and Morgana announced, at the same time, that they were close to the spot. The siblings glared at each other for a moment before grinning and setting off on a race. Gwen turned to Merlin with a smile, but it froze when she saw his face. There was a look of such intense concentration and… concern almost as the Shadow stared after Arthur's retreating form.

Before she could react to that, however, there was a rustling to their left in the bushes. Gwen's eyes flew open and her horse skittered back a step before another horse stepped out, carrying a man with long, thick, brown hair that he flipped to the side almost unconsciously. Merlin cried out, "Gwaine!"

"Merlin, mate! How is my favorite drinking buddy?" Gwaine grinned in response.

Gwen gasped out, "Gwaine?!"

The rogue drunkard turned his grin on her and did a deep bow, still mounted, "My lady Gweneviere. It is a pleasure to see you again."

Merlin smiled between the two of them and said, "You two know each other?"

"It seems as if all of us know each other. Um, Gwaine and I know each other from when we were kids and I guess you guys know each other from… the tavern?"

The oldest prince's Shadow put a hand to his heart and gasped in mock pain, "What? You don't think that I can have a drink in the tavern? You don't think that I can keep my ale down like those rough, tough, save the world kind of men?"

Gwen glared furiously at Merlin, her cheeks heating up again. She seriously regretting saying that to him, but it was too late to change now. Gwaine just laughed and said, "Were you guys planning on just camping here, or were you actually going somewhere?"

"Oh! Yeah, we were going somewhere! Where's Arthur?" Merlin practically shouted, his head whipping up and looking around. He set his horse into a gallop, once again watching the area where Arthur and Morgana disappeared with that intense concentration. Gwen just laughed at his antics and Gwaine raised his eyebrows at him.

Then Gwen smacked Gwaine's arm and said, "Now look! You've gone and upset him! He's not supposed to exert himself for the next week or so and you've got him all upset and galloping through the woods!" She giggled and gave her childhood friend an awkward side-hug-whilst-on-a-horse and then continued, "It's been so long since I've seen you. Elyan and I have missed you. Do you… do you still do the Diamond of the Day?" She lowered her voice and glanced around conspiratorially.

Gwaine lowered his voice somewhat as well and leaned in, saying, "Yeah. And it has been a while. My father… he was killed in battle because Caerleon sent him off to his death. We'll need another backer for the operation, but that can be arranged later. It's good to see you too, mate!"

Gwen smiled uncertainly at him, unsure if she should say this yet or not. She decided to risk it, "You've seen the Lady Morgana, right?" She waited until he nodded to continue, "Well, um, she kind of became the backer and one of the most active members of the Diamond of the Day…" Her voice got quieter as she continued, wincing in anticipation of his reaction.

The drunkard narrowed his eyes at her for a second before saying, slowly, "Merlin had convinced me that Prince Arthur, Princess Morgana, and Prince Mordred can be trusted and are great people and royals. I'll believe him until he's proved wrong, so I guess that's alright that Morgana's a part. But why haven't you guys gotten Merlin to join yet?"

Gwen sighed and wrinkled her nose, quickly explaining why they had been waiting and then telling him about the whole poisoned chalice ordeal and about the near miss with Arthur. The two had decided that it was probably better to go back to waiting for the other member's opinions before deciding to invite him. Gwaine agreed with her and they finally came upon the rest of the group. Merlin was flat on the ground, breathing hard with Arthur yelling at him and glaring (although Gwen could see the soft light in his eyes) with Morgana standing to the side alternating between admonishing Merlin and yelling at Arthur for yelling at Merlin. It was overall a strange sight to come across.

At Gwaine's hesitant cough, they all stopped and turned to look at Gwen and Gwaine. The maidservant giggled and Morgana soon joined in. Merlin dropped his head back down to the ground and huffed out a laugh. He was still breathing hard. Gwen felt bad for him. He was always so thin and pale and the poison just accentuated all of those attributes, making him weaker and less exuberant.

Arthur glared around at all of them and finally ground out, "Who's that?"

Gwaine snapped off a salute and answered mockingly, "Your eternal servant, sire!"

Merlin snorted and the two carefree men grinned at each other. Arthur leaned down and smacked his Shadow upside the head, hard enough to be a threat, but not hard enough to damage him. Gwen noticed that Arthur always pulled back when he was around the black haired man, except when Arthur was training. Gwen theorized that Arthur was truly concerned about the younger man and wanted to actually help him get stronger. She was broken from that line of thinking when Arthur politely hinted that Gwaine should leave. The maid noticed that only she and Merlin saw the slight glare that the drunk threw over his shoulder as he left.

LLLLLL

The noble man and his friend walked through the streets of Camelot, glad to finally have gotten here. They had met up in a nearby town and traded stories before deciding to come here. Based on the word that had gone around, Gwen and Elyan were still in the city, with Elyan running the smithy after their father died. They had also heard (through the local taverns) that Gwaine had made it to Camelot. The mountain of a man that walked through the streets with the noble man felt a little miffed that the drunk had beat them there, but the other only cared about seeing his friends again.

They found the tavern and he looked up at his quiet friend, who simply shrugged and nodded his head towards the door. He shrugged as well and they walked in together. The big man laughed quietly when he looked in the corner where Gwaine was sitting and loudly boasting of his conquests to an incredibly thin man with unruly black hair falling into cerulean eyes. The two walked forward and stopped right in front of their old friend.

Gwaine stopped talking and looked up, his face splitting into a grin as he stood up unsteadily and hugged them broadly, shouting, "Lancelot! Percival!" The man in the booth with him just raised an eyebrow and grinned at the group. Lancelot didn't know why, but that black haired man made him feel safe and warm and happy, like he could give all of his secrets away to him and it'd be fine. It was a strange thing to feel and Lancelot's grin turned into a frown.

The man frowned back for a second before smiling again, seeming to ignore him. Gwaine grabbed the man around the neck and pulled him up, keeping his arm slung around him, "This here is Merlin! He's been a great drinking buddy, even though he never drinks!" Gwaine paused to drunkenly focus on Merlin and send him an exaggerated frown before continuing, "We're like best friends by now! He's awesome! Merlin! Meet Lancelot and Percival!"

Merlin laughed and carefully removed the arm from around his neck, saying, "I have a perfectly legitimate reason to not drink and there is no reason for you to shout. All of Camelot can hear you by now. Anyway, hullo!"

Percival nodded to him seriously and Merlin gave him a smile that almost seemed to say that he was going to get him to talk more. Then Merlin turned and gave Lance a guarded smile.

Percival and Gwaine sat down and started to drink their ale, but Lance motioned to Merlin that they should go out into the street and take a walk. Merlin nodded and they left the building. Lancelot started talking first, "I'm sorry that I frowned at you earlier. It wasn't really at you, it just happened to be in your general direction. And, um, yeah…"

Merlin suddenly laughed and said, "Do you happen to know a girl named Gweneviere because you sound a lot like her when you're apologizing? Anyway, it's alright. It really is a pleasure to meet you and I'm sure we'll become great friends."

That night, as Lance reflected on the day, he realized that they really had become great friends in just a couple of hours. Merlin was an amazing person.

MMMMMM

The young Shadow flopped onto his bed and sighed quietly. The past three days had been exhausting with the poison still draining his strength. He kind of regretted going down to the dragon that night, but on the other hand, if the dragon hadn't told him that the chalice was poisoned then Arthur would be dead and there would be a huge hole in his heart.

Merlin was startled out of his thoughts when he randomly heard his father's voice call out, "Merlin? Merlin, how are you? Are you alright? Gaius told us that something happened and you were injured!"

The black haired man grinned broadly at his father, step mother, and step sister. It had been almost a week since he had last seen them. Actually, the last time had been the night before he was poisoned. After that he had been too sick or there had been too many people around for him to take out the crystal. Merlin answered back, "Yeah, I'm fine. The poison is pretty much out of my system for now and I'm feeling a lot better. I don't really have a lot to report since the last week has been spent in bed, in the tavern with some friends, or horseback riding with Arthur."

Balinor, Nimueh, and Morgause all responded at the same time. Balinor cried out, "You were poisoned?!"

Nimueh frowned, "You know Arthur well enough to go riding with him?"

Morgause guffawed, "You went to the tavern!"

Merlin laughed, but it died out quickly as he looked at Nimueh. A frown creased his brow and his head tilted to the side as he thought. Those eyes… they looked so familiar, but not in the way that he had grown up with them. It seemed as if he had seen them recently. Then it all clicked into place: the eyes of the serving girl named Cara, Nimueh's eyes, Gaius's discovery when Merlin defeated the Afanc, his warden's silence when Nimueh was mentioned, the furious glare his father was giving her at that very moment.

Nimueh had poisoned him.