A/N: Holy crap! Woke up today with six new reviews, thank you so much! It makes me so happy to see you guys are enjoying the story, so thank you again!

Gwaine was walking towards the tavern on one of the few days which didn't require him to man either of the gates he was usually assigned to, and Percy had joked that he was thankful, as it meant the stench of Gwaine's socks was further away. Gwaine made a point of hiding one of his by the gate which Percy would be standing by and, for the few minutes he hid and watched, could see Percy searching for as he held his noise and scrunched up his face in an expression of disgust. With a few poorly stifled snorts, he quickly ran away laughing, ready to spend the rest of the evening at the tavern and plop the check on Arthur's desk the next morning.

"Gwaine!" Arthur called. Gwaine almost laughed harder at this, as he mused that perhaps he summoned Arthur to him with talk of charging him with the tavern fees.

"Ah, hello Princess. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Arthur did not laugh, nor did his expression of almost anger soften. "Gwaine, I need to talk to you urgently. Is wherever you're going somewhere important?"

Gwaine sighed. "I suppose not. What's wrong with you?"

Arthur leaned up against the wall, shooing away two guards that were posted nearby. "I need you to tell me what you know about Merlin. What did you find when I asked you to follow him?"

Gwaine had not expected this. He didn't respond instantly, thinking of something to say that could reasonably explain the two's newfound closeness without revealing Merlin's true secret. "I dunno, nothing specific. He seemed sad, I figured I'd ask him to come with me on a few rides, we got a bit closer and he seemed a bit happier. There's nothing to it."

Arthur punched the wall he was leaning on in frustration, leaving his knuckles red and two split, but he didn't care. Merlin, Gaius, and now Gwaine were all hiding something from him, something they all seemed to all refuse telling him. Except Gaius, who he hadn't asked yet, but he doubted it'd be much different.

Gwaine lifted up his hands as if to calm a horse. "Woah, woah, Princess, do you want me to talk to him again? I can see if I find anything else, I suppose I could've just not seen anything."

Arthur nodded, less angry now that he saw an opening with Gaius. "Yeah, sure, do that. I've got to go and speak with Gaius."

Gwaine frowned a bit, concerned that Arthur clearly knew that Gwaine, Merlin and Gaius were hiding something. How would he get out of this if the truth came out? Arthur would be furious, he may be imprisoned for lying to his king. Merlin might be in grave danger. He forgot about his previous destination, now setting out to warn Merlin of Arthur's suspicion.

Arthur walked over to Gaius's chambers, marked by a gold plate reading "Court Physician" which was also present at the beginning of the staircase one took to get there. Knowing Merlin would be out helping Gwen deliver rations to the lower towns, Gaius would be alone and therefore easier to question without the presence of Merlin.

He knocked thrice on the door and waited a moment before Gaius opened it, a bit surprised. "Sire, to what do I owe this visit?"

"Nothing ails me Gaius, but I needed to ask you about Merlin under the pretense that you will tell me the truth as you always have. What is he hiding from me? He has scars like that of none I've seen before on a seasoned knight, he visits the grave of a woman named Freya and cries, he forgets to eat routinely, he's skinnier than some prisoners I've seen from the most wretched of conditions, he has dark circles darker than his own hair sometimes. What is he hiding from me?"

Gaius looked shocked, not at the things that Arthur listed but at the fact that he'd noticed them enough to confront him about it. It was clearly not something to be explained away and by the state of Arthur's hands, someone had made that mistake.

"Sit down, let me tend to your hand, and I will explain what I can without invading Merlin's privacy. After all, the secrets he holds are not mine to tell."

Arthur nodded, sitting down and resting his hand on Gaius's table where Gaius sat adjacent to him and began to clean his hand.

"Arthur, you and Merlin have grown close, closer than anyone I believe I've ever seen Merlin associate himself with. You truly are his best friend, and I believe that if he felt he could tell you, he would. So if he hasn't already, it is likely only the fault of him believing he will receive some grave consequence if he does.

But what I can tell you is this; Merlin is not simply a servant. His destiny is intertwined with yours, and is greater than himself. He has the scars that he does because he received them helping to further both your destinies, and his dark circles come from the nightmares he has from the things he has seen doing so. He forgets to eat from his preoccupation with other things, and Freya's death brought him a great deal of grief I believe he has yet to sort through. He is not hiding these things from you because they are suspicious or because they should warrant mistrust, but because he is afraid to tell anyone. He believes strongly that it is necessary for him to carry his burden alone, and that is partially true. Trust in this Arthur: If Merlin was planning something sinister or necessary for you to know, you would know."

Arthur was left a bit puzzled, but at least thankful it seemed Gaius wished to tell him something. He understood Gaius' reservations about telling him Merlin's secret, after all, Merlin's secret was his own and not Gaius' to divulge. It seemed clearer to him now that something he was doing was leading Merlin to believe he could not tell Arthur his secret, and that he would have to rectify his behavior to ensure Merlin felt safe enough to do so.

Gwaine grabbed onto Merlin's shoulder, nearly giving Merlin a heart attack before he noticed it was Gwaine. "God, Gwaine, you really must warn me before you come barreling over. What's the matter?"

Gwaine's expression was not one of amusement. "Arthur is suspicious. He's gone to speak to Gaius. Be careful."

With that Gwaine smiled at Gwen, who approached them with an empty bucket of grain ready to deliver more to the other part of town. "Ah, Gwen. I was just leaving, but very nice to see you two!" Gwen waved, "You as well!" As Gwaine hurried off into the distance, leaving Merlin stunned and with a pounding fear in his chest.

"Merlin, are you alright?" Gwen asked.

Merlin turned with a fake but convincing smile. "Yep, all ready - where to next?"