Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin! I only own my OC, and any other characters or plotlines I make up along the way!

AN: So sorry for the hiatus!

Enjoy!

"Are you sure you have to go?" I asked as I watched Merlin pack his bags in our room.

"I am Arthur's servant," Merlin said, as he had before when I asked him to stay. "If I'm not there, he will probably die."

"Then why can't I come with you?" I pouted.

"Because Arthur needs someone to look after the kingdom while he is away," he reminded me. "And with you getting further and further into the pregnancy, I don't like the thought of you travelling so much."

I put my hands on top of my growing belly. It was getting bigger and bigger everyday. Gwen even started making maternity dresses. "Are you sure you won't stay?" I tried again. "I am sure he is going to kick soon. Do you really want to miss the first time your son kicks his mother in her stomach?"

"Well, first of all, you were also sure that our daughter," I gave him a look at his implication that our son was going to be a girl. "was going to kick for the first time last week."

"I just got huge out of nowhere, Merlin!" I defended myself. "I thought that it meant something was going to happen."

"I won't be gone for very long," Merlin assured me as he came over to me. He put his hands on either side of my face and kissed me. "I'll be back before you know it. And then I promise, I will spend all of my time with you two." He bent down and rested his head against my stomach. "Well, as long as Arthur will allow me to come spend my time with you two."

"Oh he will if he wants to wake up with both of his eyebrows in tact," I grumbled as I rested my own head on top of Merlin's.

"Daddy will be home soon," Merlin whispered on top of my stomach. "So please don't kick while he's gone, or he's never going to hear the end of it from Mommy."

He turned his head so that he was looking up at me and said, "I love you."

I kissed him. "I love you too," I told him. "And if our son kicks while you're gone you know I will never let you forget it."

It was a boring couple of days, but I heard that the knights were back, I eagerly ran to council chamber, where I knew Arthur was going to be, and wherever Arthur was, Merlin was. I was going to give him an earful about not coming to see me first. Maybe I'd lie and say that our son kicked for the first time while was gone...

However, when the guards opened the doors for me and I ran in, I didn't see him anywhere. There were many knights, and Arthur and Gwen, but no sign of Merlin.

"Where's Merlin?" I asked as I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

Arthur hesitated, but then said, "He's alive. Last I saw of him, he was still alive."

I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. I started hyperventilating, and I could feel tears build up as I shook my head.

Arthur immediately ran over to me and took me into his arms. "Don't cry, Elizabeth," he pleaded as he hugged me to him. I stayed frozen in place. The only thing I was really aware of was the sound of rushing water in my ears.

Arthur turned to Leon. "Dispatch patrols at first light. Scour every inch of that forest."

"Yes, sire," Leon nodded, and he exited along with the rest of the knights.

Arthur turned his attention back to me and ran his hand along my hair. "We'll find him, Elizabeth. We will."

"I should've been there," I sobbed against Arthur's chest.

"No," Arthur shook his head. "Merlin would've never forgiven me if I had let you come."

"Then I shouldn't have let him go!" I cried.

Arthur pulled away from our hug, and he brushed my tears away. "I promise we will find him. That is a promise from a brother to his sister."

He then passed me off to Gwen, who hugged me to her. I watched as Arthur walked out of the council room, and then I turned and buried my face in Gwen's shoulder.

I busied myself with work for the rest of the day. Gwen and Gaius both tried to get me to relax and just rest, but I couldn't rest. If I was doing nothing, all I would be able to do was think about how Merlin was gone and that we had no idea where he was. I tried scrying for him, but my magic wasn't working. I didn't know if it had to do with how worried I was or if it was because of the pregnancy, but I couldn't get anything.

I sat next to Arthur during the council meeting. I held one of his hands tightly with both of my own as Agravaine and Sir Leon gave their report to us.

"We have scoured the forest," Agravaine said.

"Scour it again," Arthur ordered as soon as Agravaine had finished.

"Sire, there is no sign of Merlin," Agravaine said again. He came up to Arthur. "None but...this." He placed a scrap of Merlin's bloody jacket on the map in front of Arthur.

I felt like I was going to throw up. I was trying my best not to panic any more than I already was, because Gaius told me that it wasn't good for the baby for my blood pressure to be so high. I just squeezed Arthur's hand tighter.

Agravaine turned to me. "I am sorry for the loss of your..."

I held up a hand. "Not another word Agravaine," I threatened in a low voice.

Arthur interrupted by saying, "The mercenaries, what news of them?"

"We found no trace," Leon reported.

"Surely sent by that snake Alinor," Agravaine added.

"It can't be." Arthur shook his head. "How? Our route was known only to a few within Camelot."

"Then there's only one conclusion we can draw," Leon deduced, and we all turned our attention to him. "We have a traitor in our midst."

Instinctively, I looked over at Agravaine. Thankfully, he and the rest of the council didn't seem to notice, but when I lowered my gaze I saw that Gaius was looking at Agravaine too.

"Check the forest again," I spoke up.

"Elizabeth-" Agravaine started in a voice that I swear sounded condscending.

I lost it. I shot to my feet. "My husband is missing!" I practically screamed in his face. "I don't care what has to be done to find him!"

Arthur stood up and put his hands on my shoulders. "Elizabeth, calm down," he soothed, and I tore my gaze away from Agravaine to look at Arthur. "Maybe you should go get some rest." He turned to Gwen, who was dutifully standing in the background. "Guinevere, will you please take Elizabeth back to her chambers?"

Gwen nodded as she stepped forward and put her hands around my arms. I let myself be led away, wrapping my arms around my middle.

We'll find Daddy, I promised my child. We'll find Daddy.

The next day, Arthur himself went out with Gwaine to find Merlin. The sneaky bastard left while I was still asleep, so that I wouldn't be able to insist on going with them.

I spent the whole day with Gaius. I didn't want to be alone, and I felt comforted with the only other person who loved Merlin just as much as I did.

Towards the end of the day, the front door to Gaius's chambers opened, and I expected to see Arthur. To my eternal relief and joy, it was actually Merlin, covered in mud.

I choked out a sob as I scrambled out of my chair and ran over to him. I jumped into his arms and clutched at him as I cried. I didn't care that I was now just as covered in mud as I hugged him.

When I pulled away from him, though, I punched him in the arm. Hard.

"Ow!" he cried out as he rubbed at his arm.

I punched him again. And again. And again. "Stop hitting me!" he said.

"That pain you're feeling?" I asked. "Yeah, I felt that same pain, though a million times worse!" I grabbed a hold of his shirt and brought him close to me. "Don't you ever do that to me again, do you understand me?!"

He nodded slowly, and I sighed in relief. Then I stepped onto my tip toes and kissed him, mud and all.

But this kiss, it felt...weird. Different. Not how I normally felt while kissing my husband.

Something was up.

After Merlin and I had gotten cleaned up, we decided to celebrate with dinner in Gaius's chambers. I didn't mind Gaius's cooking. Sometimes I got sick of the rich food of the palace kitchens and came here for meals that were more like how I ate back when I was in university. Also, I really craved his food. Sometimes it was all I ate for days.

"Don't do that again, Merlin," Gaius instructed as we sat down to eat. "My heart cannot take the strain."

"Yes, well, you are getting on a bit," Merlin insulted, and Gaius and I looked at him in surprise. That was rather rude.

Merlin didn't seem to notice as he turned to what was in his bowl. "What is this?"

"It's a special welcome home. Your favourite," Gaius smiled.

Merlin took one sip of the soup and gagged. "I think that you should stick to cooking up potions, Gaius. This tastes like the bog Arthur found me in."

Gaius looked like he wanted to be insulted but didn't know if he should, so I stepped in. "How did you manage to escape, Merlin?" I asked.

"With great skill," he responded. He turned to Gaius. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course," Gaius nodded. "Anything."

What Merlin asked was the last thing that I expected. "What is the strongest poison that you possess?" At the looks on our faces, Merlin kept going. "I had this great opportunity to lace the bandits' food with poison and nothing to do it with."

Merlin got up and walked over to the table filled with potions as Gaius answered, "Well, that would be aconite."

"Ah-conite," Merlin repeated as he found the bottle. He picked it up. "Well, I think I should take some of this with me from now on. You never know when you might need to kill someone."

Merlin raised the bottle in our directions in goodbye and took off. I watched him leave, and then turned around to face Gaius. "That was strange. And stranger than Merlin normally acts."

Gaius nodded. "Indeed."

Apparently, one of the pigs had died after eating from a plate of food that was meant for Arthur. Gwen brought it to Gaius in hopes of finding something out.

Gaius sniffed a bit of the chicken. "Aconite," he determined. At the confused look on Gwen's face, Gaius elaborated. "Wolfsbane to you. The most deadly poison known to man."

"What was it doing on Arthur's food?" Gwen wondered.

I finally remembered where I had heard the name, and I looked over at Gaius. "Wasn't aconite the poison that Merlin took from here earlier?" I asked.

"He was really angry when he realized Arthur wasn't going to eat it," Gwen told us.

"He has been behaving very strangely," Gaius thought aloud.

"But that doesn't make any sense," I said. "Why would Merlin want to kill Arthur?"

"Merlin wouldn't," Gaius said. "Not if he was in his right mind."

Gaius, Gwen and I decided to go find Merlin, and as we were walking down the corridor, we ran into Leon.

"Have you seen Merlin?" I asked him.

Leon nodded. "He was in the armoury."

"What did he want in there?" Gaius wondered.

"A crossbow," Leon chuckled. "I think Arthur must be getting on his nerves."

"Why?" Gwen asked cautiously.

Leon pretended to check the corridor, and then leaned in to whisper, "He said he was going to kill him."

Then he burst into laughter, but the three of us shared anxious looks. I didn't waste another second as I took off for Arthur's chambers.

I burst into Arthur's room. The first thing I saw was Arthur standing ahead of Merlin, and Merlin was behind him. He was holding a sword in his hand, and just as he rushed forward to attack Arthur, Arthur moved and Merlin instead crashed into the column beside him. Merlin turned and fell to the ground, dropping the sword as he fell unconscious.

Arthur turned around and frowned when he saw Merlin on the ground. However, he just leaned down, picked up the sword and then walked out. We all gave Arthur fake smiles, but once he was gone, we turned back to Merlin.

Merlin slowly began lifting his head, and before he could get up, I quickly grabbed a metal pitcher on the ground and whacked it over his head. The smash knocked him unconscious again, and I dropped the pitcher next to him.

I hoped he would forgive me for that when he woke up.

We moved him to Gaius's chambers, and Gwen and I set Merlin up in a chair as Gaius grabbed a book from his shelf. He looked through the pages before settling on an entry. He came over and showed it to us.

"I feared as much," he said, but I wasn't paying attention as I noticed a small thing slither underneath Merlin's neck. What the hell was that?

"What is it?" Gwen asked, and I turned my attention back to them.

Gaius handed me the book. "It's a Fomorroh," he said, and judging by the picture in the book, it looked like the snakes that were on Medusa's head.

"Whoever put it there was very highly skilled," Gaius deduced.

I thought of Morgana immediately, but I didn't get the chance to voice my thoughts out loud as Gwen asked, "What does it do?"

"In the days of the Old Religion, they were used by the High Priestess to enslave the minds of their enemies," Gaius explained. "Once a thought was planted, the victim would not stop till they'd accomplished it." He turned to Merlin's neck. "First we must paralyse the serpent."

I handed Gwen a bowl, and she handed it to Gaius. Gaius grabbed the small saturated pouch that was in the bowl and dabbed it onto Merlin's neck. The Fomorroh stopped moving as soon as he had.

"Is it dead?" I asked.

"Sadly not," Gaius answered. "Merely dormant. Now for the tricky bit. Pass me the blade."

Once again I passed the blade to Gwen, who then gave it to Gaius. I looked away as Gaius cut the Fomorroh out of Merlin's neck, and then tossed it into the fire that he had started.

"That's it?" Gwen wondered.

"I believe so," Gaius replied.

I sighed in relief as I ran my hands through Merlin's hair. "Thank goodness. We have the old Merlin back and Arthur is safe again."

"Let us hope so," Gaius thought as he regarded Merlin.

The next morning, I reached out for Merlin in our bed while half asleep. He hadn't woken up yesterday, so we just moved him back to our chambers. He was still unconscious when I went to bed last night, but when I felt for him under the covers, I came up with nothing. I opened my eyes fully and sat up.

He was walking about the room, getting ready for his work day. He looked over at me as he realized that I was watching him, and he flashed me a smile that warmed my insides.

I returned the smile as I felt relief flood me. "How do you feel?" I asked.

"Never better," he responded as he filled a cup with water to drink.

"It's good to have you back," I told him as I leaned back in bed.

When he looked over at me and gave me a confused look, I furrowed my eyebrows. "You mean you don't remember anything?" I wondered.

"About what?" he responded as he turned around to grab a coat from our closet.

"I'll take that to mean nothing," I thought aloud, and just as I was pushing the covers off to get out of bed, I stopped as I noticed the familiar little serpent slither under Merlin's neck.

The Fomorroh? It was back?

Merlin pulled his coat on, and the Fomorroh disappeared underneath it. "I got a feeling today is going to be a good day," he declared, and he left before I could stop him.

I looked down at my stomach. "Time for Mommy to save Daddy," I said as I scrambled out of bed. "Again."

I took five minutes to pull on the simplest dress and ran to Gaius's. Once I told him of my suspicions, we took off for Arthur's chambers.

I pushed the doors to Arthur's room open and ran inside. To my shock, Merlin was standing in front of a washing basin, admiring a deformed sword.

"It feels like I can trust no one anymore," Arthur said from behind the changing screen.

Without giving it another thought, I raced forward, grabbed the same pitcher from yesterday, and slammed it against the sides of his head. Merlin fell backwards, and Gaius caught him as he hid him behind the column.

Before we could drag him out of there without Arthur noticing, Arthur stepped out from behind the screen.

Completely, utterly, naked.

"Is that how you see it, Merlin?" he had started, but when he turned and saw that it wasn't Merlin there but me and Gaius, he nearly choked. "Elizabeth!" he screeched as he covered himself.

"Arthur!" I replied in the same voice, making it a point to look anywhere but Arthur.

Never had I thought I'd see so much of Arthur. He thought quick and grabbed a pillow from his bed to cover himself more effectively. To his credit, he tried to act dignified. "Gaius," he nodded at the old man. He then looked over at me. "You're not Merlin."

I shook my head. "No, I am not." I looked down at the washing basin. "There was...um, a problem with the water," I offered, pointing down at it. Merlin must have put something in it for the sword to become deformed like that.

"Really?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah..." I nodded. "It's, um, cold!" I offered. "Yes, very, very cold. Merlin's gone to fix that."

Arthur leaned forward to look at the water, and I stopped him by raising my voice, "You can't have a bath today!"

Arthur looked up sharply at me, and I clamped my mouth shut as I offered an awkward smile. Arthur leaned back. "Right... Good job I'm not very dirty, then."

"Yes!" I agreed quickly.

Arthur nodded awkwardly before side stepping behind his dressing screen. As soon as he was out of view, I grabbed one arm of Merlin's, Gaius grabbed the other, and we dragged him out of the room.

"So, let me get this straight," Gwen started. She had run into us on our way back to Gaius's chambers, and she helped us the rest of the way. I held on to one of Merlin's hands as I ran a hand through his hair while he lied down on the middle of Gaius's table. "If you kill one, another grows in its place."

"I've heard such stories in the past, but never thought they were true," Gaius confirmed. He dabbed Merlin's neck with the same paralyser concotion from before. "That will silence it for a while."

He then opened a smoking canister and held it under Merlin's nose. Within seconds, he jerked away, coughing as he sat up.

"What is that? Arthur's socks?" he choked as he tried to shake the smell from his head.

I smiled as I stood up. Now that was something that my Merlin would say.

He looked at the three of us and then back to me. "She kicked, didn't she?" he asked, and I looked at him in confusion. He crawled forward and put his hands on my stomach. "She kicked while I was gone! I can't believe I missed it!"

Now I knew he was back. "No, he hasn't kicked yet," I assured him.

"Then what is it?" he asked as he sat up. "What are you trying to do to me?"

"I'm trying to stop you from killing the king!" Gaius exclaimed.

"Heh. Ooh," Merlin staggered backwards.

Gwen left, and I sat and watched my husband stuff his face with berry after berry. He held my hand tightly in his as he used his other hand to alternate between eating and flipping between the pages. Every handful or so, he would force me to eat a couple of berries.

"So, you don't remember anything?" Gaius asked after we got a recount of what happened. As it turned out, it actually was Morgana that had done that to him. Of course it was.

"I remember Morgana conjuring the snake, but...nothing more," Merlin offered. "No."

"Lucky for us you're such a bad assassin," Gaius joked.

"Well, all is well now. I feel fine," Merlin assured as he flipped through a book.

"For now," Gaius reminded him. "The serpent is dormant and when it wakes, your mind will be Morgana's once more and nothing will stop you from killing Arthur."

"But how do we get rid of it, if it keeps growing back?" Merlin asked as he paused in his eating.

"There's only one way, I'm afraid," Gaius informed him. "You have to kill the mother beast."

"You meant the creature that lives in Morgana's hut?" I asked in disbelief. When Gaius nodded, I shook my head. "No." I looked over at Merlin. "You can't go back there."

"I have no choice," he said, and he looked over at Gaius. "How long have I got? How long before this thing wakes up?" He pointed at the back of his neck.

"A day, no more," Gaius deduced. "And I wouldn't face her alone."

"Don't worry, I won't be there at all," Merlin said as he let go of my hand and pushed himself up from the table. "Well, not exactly."

I had a bad feeling about what he was implying. He searched through the potions on the table before he found the one he was looking for. "She won't recognize me if I'm eighty-years-old."

Not this again, I rolled my eyes, but I knew there was no dissuading him from his decision.

"Well, what should I say if Arthur asks for you?" Gaius wondered as Merlin grabbed his coat.

"Er, tell him I'm anywhere," he answered, and he leaned down to give me a quick kiss in goodbye. He was halfway out the door before he popped his head back in. "Anywhere but the tavern."

Merlin came back sometime later, and thankfully, he had killed the motherbeast. According to Gaius, all that was left was to kill the Fomorroh that was in Merlin's neck.

I held on to his hand as Merlin sat backwards in a chair so that his neck was exposed to Gaius. He pressed a kiss to the back of my hand as Gaius said, "This is becoming something of a habit."

Merlin chuckled as Gaius got to work. "I hope not."

"Me too," I threw in. "I don't know how many more times I can find it in myself to hit my husband with a pitcher."

"Yes, like it hurts you so much," Merlin said sarcastically as Gaius finally extracted the dead Fomorroh.

"Don't worry. It cannot grow back again," Gaius assured him as Merlin rubbed the back of his neck painfully.

When Gaius had his back turned, I pulled Merlin's shirt down a little more that his neck was exposed and pressed a quick kiss to the spot where the Fomorroh was. I smirked when I sat back down properly and saw him blush. "Does it feel better?"

He was still blushing, but he nodded. Gaius still had his back turned, so he leaned forward a little and kissed me quick. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," I told him.

The door opened, and Gwen walked in with a smile on her face. "Merlin! You're back." She chuckled in relief. "Dare I look?"

"Oh, it's- don't worry, it's completely gone," Merlin said as he gestured to the back of his neck. "I've no desire to kill Arthur."

"That's great news," Gwen said "Although, I'm afraid right now he does want to kill you."

Merlin's smile turned into confusion, and he turned his head to look at me for an answer. Just as I opened my mouth to answer, I felt a strange punch in my stomach, and the feeling surprised me so much I said, "Whoa!" out loud as my hands went to my stomach.

"What?" Merlin asked as he immediately got out of his chair and pushed it away from him so that he could crouch down next to me. "What happened?"

The punching feeling happened again, and I looked up at Merlin and burst into a smile. "I think... I think it was a kick!"

"What?" he grinned widely as he put his hands on top of the spot where my hands were. "Do it again! Do it again!"

As if answering his father's request, the baby kicked again, and Merlin's face contorted into one of surprise as he felt it against his hand. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed as he looked up at me.

For one quick second, Merlin and I both forgot that Gaius and Gwen were also in the room. For that one second, the only people that existed in the world was us and our baby.

Merlin brought me into a hug, and I clutched at him tightly as he swayed us gently from side to side. "I'm so happy right now, that not even Arthur's punishment can change my mood!"

TBC...

Until next time!

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THE ADVENTURES OF ELIZABETH MALINOR CONTINUES...

Alator presses his hand over Elizabeth's mouth, and before she has the chance to scream, she lulls into unconsciousness as she falls back into Alator's arms.

"I know everyone thinks she's a traitor, but she's not!" Merlin insists to Gwaine. "This is Elizabeth we are talking about. She loves Camelot more than anyone. She's been abducted. She may even be dead."

Elizabeth tries not to panic at the rising fire around her as Alator presses, "Who...is...Emrys?"

Merlin and Gwaine ride out to find Elizabeth.

"Merlin's on to us!" Agravaine reports to Morgana. "He's out searching for Elizabeth even as we speak.

"So you know who Emrys is?" Morgana asks Alator.

"Indeed I do," Alator replies.

Gwaine waves a torch to keep Alator's accomplice away from him and Merlin.

"Then tell me!" Morgana demands.

Until next time!