Happy reading guys! A/N at the end.

Three days of Grace

"To hear complaints with patience, even when complaints are vain, is one of the duties of friendship" Samuel Johnson

The first day attempting to break the spell couldn't come to it's end soon enough.

"A vase? My Father has no idea of who I am because of a vase?" Arthur asked in his most pratish-obnoxious voice. The prince was bewildered and if we are being honest, a bit offended. A vase. He had expected something more—he didn't know, more dangerous? But no; a vase.

A freaking vase.

The golden object seemed to glorify on his anger as it sat on top of a wooden table. It didn't look more threating now than as it did in his father's room a few hours ago.

The vase; besides being crafted with the most elegant design and the fact that it was made of pure gold, was nothing special. For the simple eye, it looked like an ordinary object. It had no inscriptions on the sides or insides whatsoever; all in all, it looked like it was missing some flowers. The fact that it looked like a flower vase, of all things, is what upsets Arthur the most; it looked harmless! But then again Merlin looked inoffensive and that was the biggest understatement of the year.

"Are magical objects always this stupid, Merlin?" Arthur asked concerned. For years, he had thought that magic, evil magic, was found in the most horrid of things. He had had imagined cursed daggers, potions that could kill a man with just a drop, poisoned wine, he remembered Valiant, with his painted but quite alive snakes on a shield. In his mind, all of those were intrinsic objects that could lead men to their deaths. The vase, though, wasn't cooperating with this image.

Merlin shrugged, barely looking up from the book he was reading. Mirrors, necklaces, vases, goblets, books, daggers, clothes… Merlin was convinced that if you were smart enough, anything could be turned into a magical weapon, a concept that, apparently, Arthur was having trouble digesting.

Gaius and the sorcerer were sitting on a table nearby, books of all kinds scattered around them. From the moment Arthur and Merlin had managed to retrieve the object they had done nothing else but research; meal time had come and gone, Gaius cancelled his rounds, and now, with the sun dying on the horizon and dinner barely touched on another table, the day was soon to be over and so far they had found nothing that would lead them to a clue of what it was or how it worked. Now that they knew what the object was it narrowed the search down significantly, but that didn't mean it made it any less easy.

The prince felt incredibly useless and out his depth, he couldn't help them, he barely understood what they were talking about half of the time. A few times he had seen Merlin testing some theories, placing spells on the vase to see what happened, spells that apparently had no effect. How did Arthur knew? The grim look on Merlin's face afterwards was enough to go by. Therefore, as Merlin and the physician worked and researched and run different theories, the prince tested his own idea: Maybe if glared enough the bloody vase would feel his anger and suddenly break.

So, with nothing else to do and nowhere else to be, the prince stared at the bloody thing like it was the root of all his problems, which it actually was, so—a few feet away from it, just to be safe—he just kept glaring at it, occasionally poking it with the tip of his sword.

"You know, Arthur, no matter how long you stare angrily at it, it won't disappear—or break." Merlin said looking up from his book to stare at the prince with a sympathetic glance. Arthur shrugged histrionically and finally, tired from his position at the stool, went to sit on the windowsill, his eyes never leaving the vase for long. He had silently proclaimed himself the protector of the vase, he would be damned if they lost it or someone stole it.

"Can't you just burn it? Toss it on the ocean or something?" Arthur pressed. Arthur had attempted to slice it with his word the second Merlin placed the vase on a table to show it to Gaius. The result was having Merlin fixing his sword instead, and the sorcerer had to remind Arthur that magic was never that simple or easy. Again.

After his failed attempts at destroying the vase—and a scold from Gaius telling Arthur that if he messed up the magic could backfire at Uther—Arthur had finally given up. However, too much of Merlin's disgrace, he kept offering 'brilliant' ideas about how to deal with the vase.

It was driving Merlin crazy.

"Merlin, what if we heat it till the gold melts? Maybe we can mold it and break it into tiny pieces."

"What if we make Uther smash it?"

"Maybe Agravaine gave it to my Father as a gift, maybe if we convince Uther to gift it to someone else… the curse would pass along?"

"What if—no wait, this one is good— what if I take it to another kingdom, maybe the farther away it loses the effect?"

Each question was met with a roll of eyes or pointed glance, the sorcerer hoped against hope that Arthur would take the hint and let him work for once in his life.

"Can't you just blast the bloody thing, Merlin? You are supposed to be this great—magical.. human being." Arthur said unsurely as how to describe his friend and then scoffed. "You have to be useful… somehow!"

Merlin wanted to blast something, alright, but it wasn't the vase.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The second day, Merlin, around midday, was utterly done with Arthur's questions, remarks, and brilliant ideas. He understood, he really did, the vase was finally right there in front of them, of course, Arthur was eager to break the spell and, of course, Arthur was being his most annoying-prat-self in order to hide his insecurities concerning the whole ordeal. Merlin does understand but it does not mean he likes it. The sorcerer couldn't concentrate when he could feel Arthur's anxiety all over the room, even when Arthur was quiet. Gaius seemed to be immune to this, though, as he kept working and reading, blissfully ignoring Arthur's questions by being immersed in his job. Merlin wondered if that was an ability that the physician had gotten over his years of being subject to Merlin, Arthur and Uther's ideas.

Be that as it may, Merlin soon figured out that he had to take the matter into his hands, he took his opportunity when Gaius ordered Merlin to retrieve a few books from the library that might help. Merlin had left the room before Arthur had a chance to offer himself instead.

His first thought was Gwen, she would make a fine distraction for the prince, maybe they could go and have a picnic or run some errands in the lower town, but soon he remembered, with a heavy heart, that Elyan along other knights were lost in the woods, probably dead by now. Leaving Gwen and Arthur alone will undoubtedly lead to a dark scenario that Merlin didn't want to subject either of them.

Merlin made yet another vow, he needed to get stronger, practice and master his magic, and as soon as the spell was broken he would commit his life and time to plan a way to defeat Morgana. Right now, though, he needed to find Arthur something to do, before he accomplished Morgana's mission and Merlin killed Arthur instead.

Thankfully his prayers were answered. Rounding the corner, looking fresh from a bath, was Sir Lancelot. At the sight of Merlin, the kind knight waited for Merlin to catch up with him in the hall.

"Hey, Merlin, how is the—"

"I need your help, please say yes." Merlin cut him short as he came to a halt in front of the knight.

"Of course, Merlin, whatever you need, are you alright?" Lancelot blinked amused at the sight his friend.

"It's Arthur," Merlin said looking around. "He's restless, he needs to do something and its driving me mad. I'm much closer to find a way to turn Arthur into a toad, than to find a way to break the spell, I swear!" Merlin wickedly whispered looking back at Lancelot.

The kind knight chuckled and tilted his head. "Asking a lot of questions, then? Is he worse than me?"

Merlin smirked and shook his head, back in the day, when Lancelot had just found out about Merlin's magic, he had made a habit of asking everything he could think magic-related. Merlin had enjoyed it,—never before someone had asked him about his magic— he also enjoyed answering Arthur's questions, but right now Arthur seemed stuck in just one line of thinking.

"Yours were intelligent questions, Lancelot. Arthur just keeps asking— in different ways— if I can't either blow, explode, disintegrate, burn, slice, disappear, the vase." Merlin smiled against his will. "He is definitely worse than you."

"I have knights practice today, though, so maybe after that." Lancelot offered. You could only miss knights practice if you were injured or on duty, otherwise, there were little excuses left that could work.

"Already fixed it," Merlin smirked triumphantly. Merlin, after all, was the servant of the prince, and even if nobody noticed,— or cared— he does have a bit of power around the castle. All it took for Leon to give Lancelot the day off was saying that Arthur had demanded his presence for the whole day. "So, will you take him?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arthur, surprisingly, objected to the idea.

"Merlin, I can't very well leave you with this thing here." Arthur motioned for the vase after a few minutes of arguing, where Merlin didn't want to say that he just wanted him gone and Arthur didn't want to say that he just didn't fancy leaving.

"What—why? Are you going to protect me against the bad vase or something?" Merlin rolled his eyes as he purposely took the vase from the table—Arthur cringed at the bluntness in which Merlin treated such an evil artifact, it took all his willpower to not raise his hand and snatch the thing away from Merlin— and placed it on top of a shelve. "Off you go, look. If anything happens, anything at all, trust me you will be the first one to know."

Arthur had just glared and sat stubbornly on a stool, daring him to dismiss him again; that was until Lancelot showed up with Gwen in tow—Merlin smirked and shared a look with Lancelot, if a person could take Arthur away from here was Gwen. Even the great prince of Camelot couldn't say no to sword-training and a promise of a delicious meal at Gwen's, let alone when Gwen asked so nicely.

Arthur gave Merlin a significant look before he left.

"Anything happens, Merlin, anything at all and you send for me." Arthur demanded still hesitating at the door. Merlin nodded tiredly and waved a hand in his direction, ushering him away. Arthur looked aghast and opened his mouth to say something that probably went along the lines of 'Since when you dismiss your prince, you idiot?' but Lancelot sighed and closed the door behind them, shepherding Arthur away before he had time to put his thoughts into words.

When Arthur came back, late at night, beaten and sweaty from working out with Lancelot, Merlin felt a pang of sympathy. He knew, from the redness of Arthur's face, that the moment Lancelot had let him go, Arthur had run to see if there had been any changes. Merlin bit his lips together as he shook his head. Arthur nodded tiredly before he looked around, different emotions swirling on his eyes.

Gaius was busy working on a potion by the other side of the room, so he missed the look that flickered on Arthur's face for a second before it was gone, but Merlin had been paying attention and he narrowed his eyes as Arthur gave another vague nod and excused himself for the night, telling Gaius and Merlin to get some sleep too, before he closed the door softly behind him.

Merlin stared at the spot he had been occupying for a few minutes, he began wondering if Arthur knew something Merlin was not aware off. The sorcerer looked towards the vase and his eyes shined gold. Nothing happened. Merlin looked towards the door again, an uneasy feeling growing inside of him.

After an hour or so Gaius told Merlin that they should probably go to sleep and get some rest if they were going to be working at this the next day. Merlin had agreed and helped Gaius with blowing the candles off, however, Merlin stayed awake longer after Gaius had gone to sleep, the vase on his hands and the look on Arthur's face on his mind.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The third day, even Merlin began to think that something was off about the vase. It was not normal the way the vase had barely reacted to any spells or potions, now that he was aware of it, Merlin could sense a layer of magic around it, tingling in the air when he gets near enough. From the moment he had seen it shine in Uther's room he got a funny feeling that he quickly linked it to the fact that it was an object that was being used for evil.

Now, though, seeing nothing had worked so far, Merlin began pondering if the nagging feeling he gets from the vase had something to do besides it being a magical object. He didn't know what exactly it was, but the more time he spends with the vase in the room the more he was convinced that something was escaping him, what he didn't know but so far he was not that preoccupied, worse things had come into this chambers or into his hands and he would find the solution, all that he was worried about was the time it was taking.

Merlin scrubbed his face tiredly, closing his eyes and pushing the book he was reading out of his vision to give himself a break. Arthur—who was once again stuck with Merlin, seeing that Lancelot had duties to attend— smiled knowingly at the sight of Merlin, he felt the same after reading books, over books, over books, of Camelot's laws or endless parchments of treaties he had to oversee. Gaius was the only one who kept doing his self-assigned job, reading page after page in silence, occasionally scribbling something down on a piece of parchment.

Merlin looked at Gaius across the room, then at Arthur perched on the windowsill, and dropped his head unceremoniously to the table, winning a scoff and chuckle from Arthur. Merlin tilted his head to the side to look at Arthur with the face he always wore when he was done with something—that something was almost always Arthur— but in this case, he was done with the research. "God, I feel like I have been reading for years. I don't even remember where I saw anything; everything is just a mess in my head. If you asked me where is the spell that makes you unavailable to lie for a day, I wouldn't know!"

"You will find it again, Merlin." Arthur mused, quietly.

That was another thing that was off today; Arthur had barely spoken at all. He was unusually quiet, reading a book of the history on Camelot, only once or twice asking Merlin something a about magic of the old religion, trying to link in his head what he was reading with possible statements about magic around England, when he was sure that magic had helped to save different kingdoms or towns.

Merlin looked at Arthur attentively from his spot on the table before he closed his eyes, giving himself a five-minute rest, he knew why Arthur was so quiet, he was sure that if Arthur was behaving was because Lancelot must have given Arthur quite a scold yesterday. About what exactly, Merlin didn't know or mind as long as he could enjoy this peace for a few minutes.

As Merlin closed his eyes, Arthur closed his book and looked out the window, replaying the conversation Lancelot and him have had yesterday.

Lancelot was an observant man, he knew something was off with Arthur the second Arthur refused Gwen's dinner and invented some excuse to avoid going to her house. Gwen had been slightly put off, of course, but did not press the matter, so when Arthur turned on his heel leaving for the lower town, Lancelot declined her offer too, choosing to follow the prince out the castle.

Arthur didn't want to admit it, but since his Father did not demand anything from him any longer he had neglected his duties, now, stepping outside the palace he realized there were bigger things to worry about. Not more important, in his mind nothing was more important than Merlin finding a cure for his father, but surely there were more pressing matters to attend.

Hearing Gwen asking about when Elyan was due to come back made his heart tighten. She had lost his father and now her brother too? And both because Arthur had not been paying attention. He dreaded the moment where he would have to face her. To tell her. As the prince walked around and people called for his attention the prince realized that being stuck in a room doing nothing was doing exactly that for the kingdom: Nothing. He had to leave and trust Merlin to work on the vase, and while Merlin worked in what he was good, Arthur would work in what he was good: His people.

Lancelot followed him around, not asking once about the change of plans, staying respectfully back when Arthur was talking to a seller or trader. Once or twice Arthur asked for his opinion on whatever matter, and the knight waited patiently when people drew near to either talk to the prince about their recent problems or offer their condolences of Agravaine's loss. Lancelot didn't know how Arthur could stand it, but he did.

After a few hours in the lower town—where they evaded the tavern, or the places the knights off-duty frequented— Arthur and Lancelot left for training. It was only then, in the desolated training ground, that Lancelot finally dared to talk about the only thing that had crossed his mind recently.

"So, any luck with the vase?" Lancelot asked as he aimed for Arthur's chest, Arthur blocked it effortlessly and shook his head.

"Nothing so far. Merlin is working on it." Arthur grunted before he pushed the sword away and went for a jab of his own. Lancelot raised his shield just in time.

"It might take a while, but Merlin will figure it out," Lancelot said before he ducked the sword aimed for his head. "He always does."

Arthur grunted as an answer as they battled for a few more minutes, they had been sparring for almost an hour now and both of them were exahusted, finally a few minutes later, Lancelot took a few steps backs and raised his sword over his head, indicating time off.

Arthur pushed himself straighter, breathing heavily and nodded, dropping to the floor to rest for a moment and catch his breath. Lancelot sat in front of him, arm propped on a leg before he stared at Arthur up and down.

"What is it, Lancelot?" Arthur managed to ask between breaths.

"Something happened, isn't it? With Gwaine." Lancelot said and stopped Arthur from commenting with a raised hand "It's alright, Merlin told me not to ask, so I won't. However, there is something I think you should know, though I don't know if Merlin told you, with all that has been going on with the rock and the vase."

Arthur closed his eyes and nodded, bracing himself for what was to come. That was how Lancelot told him about Merlin's letter interception, the way Arthur looked alarmed over the news indicated that Merlin had yet to utter a word about it. As usual, wherever Arthur was concerned, he cared more for Arthur's problems and well-being than his own.

Both knights discussed for a long time. They knew that the in-and-out of mail was a duty for the knights, most of the time the shifts were not jotted down in any book, however, Arthur agreed that Gaius's mail was confidential, no knight would open a letter of his in his right mind. Uther would have them hang. Arthur scrubbed his face and jabbed the sword beside him, for a moment, tiredness overwhelmed him.

"That means Agravaine was not the only infiltration in the castle." Arthur said with a suffering sigh, Lancelot nodded in agreement, he himself had feared the same but the question remained. Who?

They tried to start a list of suspects, but the as they began naming knights the more farfetched it looked. Arthur trusted each knight with his life, and so his heart refused to cooperate or assimilate that one of them had betrayed him. In the end, no matter how perceptive they were, neither could come up with an idea as to who could have done it.

They were silent after that, each of them dragging conclusions out of this. Then Lancelot pressed about his change of attitude this afternoon, or why he had so bluntly refused Gwen's company. Arthur's guilt made the prince bent, and so he told Lancelot about Elyan's search party, along with the decision he had made concerning his friends. Unlike Merlin, who was no strategist and trusted Arthur just by blind faith, Lancelot understood his point of view by the logical, strategist way. Arthur had been so relieved to hear someone agreeing with him, that had he not been sitting on the ground he would had fallen from the relief.

"There's a reason Merlin doesn't want you to go after Morgana on your own, the same way he didn't want me to go after you, back when you went missing," Lancelot said as he looked down at his sword, twisting it on his hands. "Merlin is the only person that can defeat Morgana, anybody else who tries ends up dead. You did the right call, Arthur."

Lancelot was quiet after that, even though he knew it was the right thing to do, it pained his heart, now he understood the hastiness in which Arthur had refused Gwen's invitation. Lancelot himself didn't know how he would approach her now, usually, a week must pass before a search patrol is considered missing on duty.

"Gwaine does not think that," Arthur said slowly, almost with a scoff. "He knows about Morgana but I don't think he understands how powerful she is, or how close she was to take the palace once in the past."

"That's why he's not talking to you."

"I should call that an improvement," Arthur said tiredly before he smirked. "In any case, with the sword test looming above us, and the vase in our hands, I believe Gwaine's anger towards me is the least of my problems."

"He will understand—eventually." Lancelot conceded. There was a pause in which Lancelot noticed a strange look on Arthur's face. "Arthur, is everything alright? You know, as alright things can go?" Lancelot pressed, observing every inch of Arthur's face before the prince turned his eyes to Lancelot and nodded. Lancelot was not quite convinced but before he could ask Arthur beat him.

"You said that Morgana is only Merlin's to defeat, but Merlin told me he's not ready yet, not confident enough to win." Arthur pondered, scratching his chin. "He told me he needed to train, why? If Merlin is the most powerful sorcerer to walk this earth—I'm still struggling with that—why does he need to train?"

The sun was sinking on the horizon, and sooner rather than later there will be no light left to spar. Both knights relished the last bits of sun rays on their skins as the chilly air blew gently. Winter was coming and soon enough even under the sun the coldness was going to get unbearable.

"Well, apparently, there are different kinds of magic and different ways you can train it," Lancelot told Arthur what he had managed to learn in the past years. "While Merlin is intelligent and his magic probably overpasses Morgana's, his magic is untrained, so to speak. Morgausse trained Morgana for a few years, making her quicker, I guess, on conjuring and evading spells, and while Merlin knows spells, his magic his raw, cruder, compared to hers."

Arthur hummed. "A younger knight could easily kill you if you are overconfident. I guess when it comes to magic luck and skills are equally needed. God knows Gwaine is the only knight who has outmatched me because of that."

"He has a few tricks under his belt." Lancelot agreed amiably, Gwaine had a very different but equally efficient way of sword fighting, more times than not, that had been the difference between life and dead situations, or between winning and losing against Arthur . "Good thing Merlin is not overconfident, he does not say it, but he dreads as much as he waits for the moment when he has to face her. He wants to put an end to the misery she causes, but he's aware that they almost even, and as in any battle, one step wrong…"

One step wrong and Merlin would not get alive out of it. Arthur placed his arms around his legs, forcing himself to think. He had much to think about. They sat there for a few more minutes before Lancelot stood up. Startling Arthur from his thoughts.

"One last spar, before the day is over?" Lancelot offered before Arthur pushed himself to his feet.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

There was a knock on the door, starting both friends awake from their thoughts, they shared a glance before they turned to the doors, but did not move. Arthur instantly got to his feet as Gaius stopped his reading. All of them thinking of all the different reasons of why someone would be there knocking when they had not been bothered before. Was it Uther? Did he found out about the stone—that they had yet to return, three days later—or had he noticed that his vase was missing? It could be Leon, Arthur thought, looking for him to reprimand him some more about the decisions he had taken lately.

Gaius motioned for Merlin to hide the vase. Merlin just threw it unceremoniously into his room—Arthur was so aghast at the action he could barely move—and then with a flick of his hands and his eyes shining gold all the books and papers went to settle themselves on a top shelve.

A knock again.

"Is somebody home? It's uh— Owen, Gaius. It's alright, I'm alone." The knight say after a moment, and everybody relaxed visibly, at least it wasn't Uther. Gaius got from his seat and raised his brows. "Not that… me coming alone or not it's important."

"Well? Do something, you two." Gaius whispered as he moved his hands. "You look frightened, for god's sake."

Arthur opened and closed his mouth, still staring at the place where Merlin had shoved the vase before he sat on the windowsill and took his book. Merlin took whichever book nearby and started to read, for a change.

"Or maybe I am talking to myself…?" Owen's voice carried inside the room when Gaius opened the door and Merlin chuckled at the sight of Owen looking down at his feet, hand raise to knock again, startled the knight smiled at Gaius and waved at Merlin at the table, he stepped inside after Gaius ushered him and raised his brows at seeing the prince too, but wisely did not comment.

"I—I was sent to look for you, Gaius," Owen announced as he stepped inside and bowed towards Arthur, who nodded in return, arms crossed. Then the knight turned towards Gaius. "I'm sorry to interrupt and all, but I was sent to look for you. You see I was in the lower town and a few matters were brought to my attention. There's a kid who has been sick for a few days in the lower town, his mother begged me to come and fetch you, then there is an elder couple in the west part of the city with the fly, I believe… and a few maids were complaining about some potions that were long overdue? They didn't elaborate."

Owen looked curious about that piece of information before Gaius sighed and nodded, half amused half grimacing as he stood up from his table. "Oh yes, cramps medicine, horrible, dreadful things woman have to endure."

At the mention of cramps Merlin and Owen turned a bit pink on the ears and the physician scolded them as Arthur laughed at their faces. The first real laugh in days.

"Oh, c'mon Merlin, it's perfectly normal." Gaius chimed from his spot. Merlin didn't understand how bleeding for four days was perfectly normal but he just nodded, embarrassed enough as he was, he threw Arthur a ball of paper to shut the prince up, that only made Arthur laugh harder.

"So, will you go and attend them, then?" Owen asked forgetting about his embarrassment quicker than Merlin. His hand laced behind him.

"Certainly." Gaius went to fetch his things from around the chambers, placing them in a wooden satchel as he glanced at Arthur who nodded in return, he had kept Gaius locked here long enough, he needed to tend to his people. He, of course, felt like it was partially wasted time, but nothing that could be done about that. "I have forgotten about doing my rounds these past days, been busy with, well— other matters. Thank you, Sir Owen, for bringing me this news. I shall see them before the day ends."

With that, Owen nodded and waited for Gaius as he walked around fetching things from shelves or tables. The knight passed his weight to one foot to the other and Merlin and Arthur shared a glance. After years, they knew when the knights had something else to say besides delivering direct orders.

"Sir Owen, Is there anything else you want to say?" Arthur asked.

Owen looked at Arthur and then at Gaius, who had picked his satchel along all the medicines and herbs he thought he was going to need, he raised his brows when he noticed that Owen was still standing there.

"Oh, is that request again, Sir Owen?" Gaius smiled knowingly and Owen relaxed, nodding sheepishly as he massaged his neck.

"I… uh—yes. If it is not too much to ask?" Owen said meekly before he shrugged. "I know Merlin always goes with you but, well…"

"Nonsense, he has important things to do today, you will be fine company." Gaius waved a hand.

Merlin raised his eyebrows as he titled this head curiously. "What? Company?"

"Well, this is my project number two." Owen smirked, and Merlin nodded, remembering the past conversation while Arthur tried hard to look like he understood a word Owen was saying, projects? "Whenever you leave with Arthur to hunting trips or whatever, I help Gaius with his rounds around Camelot."

"Sir Owen here—" Gaius said amiably as he looked at Merlin pointedly. "—wants to become a physician in the future, Merlin. Whenever you are not around—refusing to learn from my knowledge, may I add—I take Sir Owen along with me so he can learn a thing or two."

"A physician." Arthur deadpanned as he looked at Owen. "I didn't know you wanted to be a physician, Owen."

"There's more in life than being a knight, I guess." Owen shrugged. Arthur looked like he had just swallowed one of the awful potions Gaius makes and Owen quickly raised a hand. "Not that… being a knight is not an honor, Arthur, but it comes in handy, whenever someone is hurt and well, it doesn't hurt to know the basics, right? I hope you don't mind, Merlin?"

"What? No, of course not." Merlin shook his head fascinated, if he had known this from the beginning he would have assigned Owen to do the rounds he hated to do so much. "Gaius is always complaining about me, maybe he will stop now that he will have a more willing to learn pupil. Not that I don't enjoy your… uh... lessons, Gaius."

More like endless lectures but Merlin didn't say it.

"The day will come when you regret those words, Merlin." Gaius narrowed his eyes at Merlin before turning to assess both boys left behind. "Well Sire, Merlin, if you excuse me."

"Excused!" Merlin said slapping the table, grinning all the while. Owen shook his head, no wonder why Gaius was always complaining about Merlin's boyish behavior. Gaius raised his brows at them, in a very fatherly way to express he didn't want his chambers destroyed when he came back and with that he left, motioned for Owen to follow him.

"Right, well, see you around Merlin, Sire." Owen nodded towards Arthur who managed to nod back before Owen was gone, closing the door behind him.

"I didn't know someone actually appreciated the long medicine lectures of Gaius," Merlin said marveled, staring at the door before he turned towards Arthur. "Who knew Owen wanted to be a physician?"

"Merlin, he just said that he didn't want to be a knight." Arthur shook his head, scoffing a little, as always Merlin was noticing the wrong things.

"Oh, he just said he didn't want to be just a knight, it's understandable."

"He's a protector of the realm, a knight, there is no higher honor," Arthur said with crossed arms and an angry face. "I mean, it's alright he wants to learn medicine, after all, it does come in handy but I thought all my knights were happy being knights."

Merlin raised his eyebrows in a way that let Arthur know he was being a prat.

"What—am I wrong?"

Merlin didn't answer.

"Perfect, I am wrong." Arthur waved a hand annoyed. "So my knights hate being knights."

Merlin rolled his eyes and stared at the door once again, Merlin remembered the talk that Owen had with him at the tavern.

'Once you take everything away from Arthur, everything he was born with, what is left?'

Arthur sat again on the windowsill looking out the city and as Merlin flashed his eyes gold and the books and papers once again aligned themselves in the table Merlin saw it clearly. Arthur was a no one. Without his title of knight and prince, Arthur was just a man that was watching outside to the city. Nothing else. Wasn't that the reason he had been stuck with Merlin here?

Arthur could not see it quite yet but he was having an identity crisis, or maybe he was aware but Merlin had just noticed now. Arthur itched to go to meetings but he had to remind himself he was not welcomed there anymore, he got restless because he itched to do something, he wanted to see his Father and couldn't and Merlin could see the solemn stare on his face every time a knight walked nearby. He couldn't be part of them just yet, moreover, he had to train with the guards instead of the knights, and more times than not Arthur was left in his chambers alone, unable to do half the things he used to do.

Arthur, without the tasks he was born to do, was just a man waiting for something to happen.

Merlin almost choked realizing how much he hated the idea. Owen was right, Arthur needed a project, needed to do something otherwise he feared that Arthur, if this kept on going, would lose track of who he was.

Merlin sighed and when he went to take a book he caught sight of the bunches of letters that Gaius had gotten early in the day. He stared at the letters for a long time and found himself smiling, reminded of his mother. He took one on his hand before he felt like he was struck by lighting.

He knew what to do.

Like pushed from his stool by in invisible power, Merlin stood up, clasped once in excitement and dashed to his room, Arthur curiously stood up from the windowsill but before he had time to ask Merlin had dashed back with the vase at hand—Arthur cringed once again at the careless way Merlin touched it—and shoved it inside his own satchel without a second glance.

"Merlin? What is going on? Where are you going?" Arthur asked bewildered as he watched Merlin took a book from a shelve, before he annoyed huffed and threw it to a table. "Merlin!"

At that moment someone knocked on the door two times shortly, then a pause for a second and another two short knocks. Merlin thanked the gods above.

"Open the door." Merlin vaguely waved in the direction of the door. "It's Lancelot."

Arthur raised his brows but did was he was told with a slight scowl on his face, it certainly looked like he was only good for opening and closing doors lately. Sure enough, it was Lancelot, how did Merlin figure that out he didn't know. Lancelot and the prince shared a look when Merlin cheered once he found his desired book.

"He went mental two minutes ago," Arthur said crossing his arms as he watched Merlin dashing around the room before he turned to his friends.

"Merlin?" Lancelot asked as Merlin passed them both and headed for the exist.

"I have to go and seek advice," Merlin said as he opened the wooden door, eyes twinkling. "Wait for me here. You stay here and do whatever boring things you knight do."

"What?" Arthur asked but Merlin didn't stay long enough to hear him, he had already closed the door and dashed down the hall. "Alright, he has to clean one hundred swords when he comes back."

Lancelot chuckled and motioned Arthur to get inside, Lancelot had a few papers in his hands, he gave them to Arthur quite solemnly and the smiles died on their faces.

"They were in Leon's cot," Lancelot said as he went to take a seat on the table, Arthur following behind, reading the papers with dread. "Leon is thinking about addressing Uther himself about Elyan's missing party."

Arthur let himself fall on a stool and looked up at Lancelot.

"Time to choose, Arthur," Lancelot said after a few moments. "We either tell Leon what is going on or we let him go to Uther first thing tomorrow."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Merlin didn't have to wait long for Kilgharrah to show up.

He paced on the clear, the sun had long gone hidden behind the mountains and now he only wished he had taken his jacket with him when he had left, the night was a chilly one and he thought about making a fire to warm himself, but he didn't risk it, but he had grown paranoid as off lately, with a stalker or an enemy inside the palace he couldn't be sure he had not been followed, even thought he had taken his time getting there and double checked the route.

Then he snorted, if he was followed here they were about to see him talk with a dragon, a talking dragon no less, so blowing all carefulness to the wind, he lighted up a ball of fire to keep himself warm, the light offering a clear view around him. He turned on his spot, sure enough, no one screamed and nothing moved. He shrugged.

Merlin heard the great dragon before he saw him, hearing the beating of his wings in the distance before he saw his black figure against the darker sky; Kilgharrah rounded the clear twice before he finally stopped a few feet away from Merlin.

"Good evening, young warlock." The dragon said in his old and ominous voice, once he was on the ground. Merlin smirked up. "Long time since I have heard from you, and quite reckless you have grown ever since…"

"I figured that if you were with me there is no point in hiding my magic." Merlin shrugged as he found a log to sit on. The ball following him a few feet above his head.

The dragon made himself comfortable on the grass, as he kept his neck straight. "I assume you did not call me here just to point that out, is that right, Merlin?"

"Why, you busy?" Merlin shook his head; can't he have a nice conversation with the great dragon on occasion? Apparently not.

"You might be surprised." The dragon said with and Merlin furrowed his eyebrows, however, before he could ask the dragon asked first. "What can I do for you, Merlin?"

Merlin as all answer motioned for the vase that was standing a few feet away from the great creature, in the night it was barely visible, a little thing compared to dragon itself. Merlin stood up hastily and walked to the vase—the ball of fire tagging along— and the vase shined merrily in the light. Merlin didn't say anything. He just crossed his arms for the verdict.

The dragon stared down at it for a moment, trying to get in even with it, he placed his paws on either side of his head before he lowered his snout close to the ground. He narrowed his huge brow-golden eyes at the vase and then. Close enough, now, the dragon went stiff for a flick of a second, when the magic of the vase came in contact with his, he frowned, — as much as dragoons could frown—and after a moment, he straightened up. Merlin saw it the whole ordeal in silence before he sighed.

"I got to the same conclusion as you did—it took me a while, to be honest." Merlin sighed as he looked down at the vase, feeling like kicking it just in annoyance before he looked up to the dragon's eyes. "Did you felt it too?"

The dragon nodded. "I did, but that is not the question, Emrys, the question remains: what do you plan to do about it?"

"Don't call me Emrys," Merlin mumbled out of habit and sighed. "You will not help, then?" Merlin pledged, trying his luck but the dragon scoffed.

"I found it amusing, really, that you think I know all the answers to your problems, young warlock." The dragon confessed in his rumbling voice before he shook his head. The scales shining in the dim light of Merlin's fire. "The truth is that this vase is more complex than you and I think of, Merlin."

Of course, the dragon wouldn't help, but he saw that coming, after all, as the great golden dragon had told him countless times that anything related to Uther, was not related to him. Merlin looked down at the vase, he had been thinking about that for a day now. There was a reason why nothing worked, and there was a reason why there were no spells on books that could help.

Before Merlin could speak the dragon demanded a report on Camelot, about Arthur and Morgana, when Merlin was finished the dragon didn't look pleased in the least.

"You seem to think all it's over because one man is dead, Merlin, with what I have been informed, there are bigger matters to attend that this… vase. Morgana, the witch, is planning something and it's your destiny to stop her before it's too late."

Merlin almost rolled his eyes, he really didn't need a daily reminder. Merlin nodded resolutely after a moment.

"I know, and concerning that I have a proposition of sorts and an idea that needs your approval," Merlin said looking straight at the dragon, who stood straighter under the blazing eyes of the young boy. The dragon tilted his head to the side. Kilgharrah had the idea he wasn't going to like this.

"I have a feeling you will do so with, or without my approval, Merlin," Kilgharrah said. If he had been human he would have rolled his eyes in extreme annoyance if Merlin's smirk was anything to go by, the dragon felt incredibly old. He was too ancient and magnificent to be dealing with this. "Very well, Emrys, explain me your plan."

Once Merlin explained, and after a lot of convincing from Merlin's part, the dragon relented, though still doubtful of the whole idea, however, he could see where Merlin was going with this, he just hoped Merlin knew what he was doing. If all, it would be amusing to watch.

"Merlin," the dragon called after his master before the sorcerer left to the castle. "If anything goes wrong… it would be on you, remember that. You must be careful on your doings, Emrys, and do not take this lightly."

Merlin nodded, as he mumbled again that he didn't like to be called Emrys, and with those last words the great dragon took to the sky. However, the words kept ringing in his head all the way back to Camelot.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Merlin arrived at Gaius's chambers late at night he was surprised to see the whole candles lighted. In the middle of the room, sitting quite solemnly on a table, he found the physician, Arthur, and Lancelot. All of them in silence. When Merlin stepped inside they just gave him a look before returning their stares to the table. Well, what a lovely way to be received, Merlin thought. All of them looking like they have different bad news to share. Brilliant.

Merlin, sadly used to this by now, just nodded to them all, closed the door—placing the usual spell— and sat beside Lancelot, opposite from Arthur. The four men were quiet, assessing each other for a few moments. They looked like men that were about to show their winning card, or in this case, the reason of their solemn faces.

Gaius placed a rolled parchment in front of him while Arthur's toyed for a moment with the white stone on his hands before he lowered it to the table. Lancelot shrugged and laid a few papers in front of him as Merlin— feeling like he had the best winning card— nodded, setting the vase in the middle of the table with a thud and a smirk—he ignored the Arthur's cringe— and the way Arthur's eyes didn't light up. If Merlin would have discovered a way to break the spell he would have dashed inside yelling in delight.

There was a silence for a moment before it was broken by the prince.

"Alright, me first then," Arthur said after a long dreadful sigh and pointed to the rock, one hand scrubbing his face. "My father is starting to doubt that the rock he has it's the original, he told Gaius he wants to test it again with him tomorrow morning, that means we have to return it tonight, Merlin."

Merlin nodded, he knew they couldn't keep it forever, he schooled his features, the stone would be a great advantange on his plan but he could deal without it.

"so, what's that?" Merlin asked instead as he motioned with his head towards the parchment, and by the attentive looks on the rest of the table, Merlin was sure Gaius had just come back with this news.

"This is the final manuscript of the sword on the stone test." Gaius sighed as he looked at the three men, Arthur sighed heavily. "Uther already chose a day, he stalled it in honor of Agravaine, but he decided that enough was enough. Your father is restless and decided to have the test two weeks from now. Nothing I said deterred him. The test is taking place, Sire, I'm afraid, sooner than we thought. He will talk with the royals ten days from now, the next day he's giving orders of spreading the news to all corners of the kingdom, and in fourteen days, no more, no less, the first day of the test will arrive."

Lancelot and Merlin shared a glance, unable to think of what to say. Arthur took the writing, unrolled it, and began reading, he was not surprised, since he had himself volunteered to find this stone test, he knew sooner rather than later time would be up, but he was surprised with one thing:

"It does not say that its meant to find a heir," Arthur said looking at the physician. "He forgot, which is highly unlikely, or did you have anything to do with this?

"It took me quite a few days to convince him."Gaius nodded. "but I insisted that if people knew what the test was exactly about people might cheat. this way it would be fairer for the winner."

"So what does it say, then?" Lancelot asked as Arthur passed him the note, Merlin scuttled over to read over his shoulder but Lancelot saved him from that as he began reading out loud. "The gratification, for the rightful person who pulls this sword out of its rock, goes beyond imagination. The winner will be rewarded with the highest of honors in all the four corners of the kingdom of Camelot, receiving all kind of riches and prizes for his honorable quest."

The paper kept on going but for now, it was all they needed to hear.

"Of course, Uther will announce the real reward once the test is over," Gaius said and then looked at Merlin. "But we all count on the fact that in ten days, Merlin, you will have figured out a way to break the spell, avoiding all this mess of the test, am I correct?"

Lancelot turned towards Merlin with hope but Merlin was only watching Arthur, who was intently staring at his hands. Arthur definitely knew something that Merlin didn't, something concerning the vase, and it did not make Merlin curious, it make him a bit angry at him.

"Well, what about you?" Merlin asked Lancelot instead of giving a straight answer. Lancelot blinked but complied.

"Leon wanted to talk to Uther tomorrow morning about Elyan's missing party," Lancelot motioned to the papers in front of him. "He thought that the loss of five knights required a search party in the least."

"What do you mean wanted? Did he change his mind?" Gaius asked, his eyes snapping towards Arthur.

"Arthur…" Merlin started but Arthur cut him short with a glance.

"I told him, alright? I had to." Arthur sighed and waved his hands in front of him. "I just told him about Morgana, Merlin, don't look so out of sorts." He said annoyed before he put his emotions back in place and looked at the three-man around. "Things are getting out of our hands, we need more people on our side. We can't keep fighting this battle alone."

Apparently the only one mad at this decision was Merlin, since Gaius just looked affronted but nodded and Lancelot looked like he himself have had the idea.

"The more people know about Morgana, the more they are going to start questioning why you are not doing something about it, and the more they might start to see that something is wrong with Uther." Merlin hissed to all of them, even though he didn't have to with the silent spell on the door. "No one can know about your father."

"But I can't very well let Leon and other five men go on an impossible quest, can I?" Arthur retorted back. "Look, I know that most of the time you have a… very straight line of vision about things, Merlin, but this needed to be done, I trust Leon with Morgana's secret, he's in charge of the knights and I hope that between Gwaine, Lancelot and him they can retain my knights from asking questions for a bit longer. I understand the predicament of my father, trust me, no one wants him back more than I do, but Merlin… we are at war." Arthur said with the most patience as he looked straight at his friend face, forgetting Gaius and Lancelot were there.

"We are at war, and so far it's just the two of us against Morgana, who knows who is on her side. I'm also aware that your letters have been intercepted (Merlin bit his lip in remorse of not sharing this sooner) and thing is, Merlin, we are not safe here, you are not safe here, and I'm trying everything in my power to keep you, my father, and my people alive, at the same time that I have to keep a façade for the rest my people. Pretending that the shadow of war is not looming over the horizon …" Arthur stopped to get some air into his lungs, looking down for a moment before he faced Merlin. Arthur wondered, vaguely, if Morgana was even aware of how much chaos she was making or of all these turns of events were really just that. Linked Events. "I cannot afford to lose this war, Merlin, I can't, I won't."

Merlin let all the air in his lungs go in a rush before he nodded. At war, they were at war, a silent one but a war that was costing people's lives, Elyan and his patrol were the first… no, that wasn't true, was it? The bloodshed began even before Agravaine, it started when Morgana turned on them and went with Morgausse. Merlin had kind of divided the story there; the moment when Morgana left, when she was found, and when she turned definitely evil. Merlin looked at the table in dread, thinking and relating all the losses the woman had caused over the years.

"I'm sorry, Merlin." Arthur said quietly. Gaius and Lancelot shared a look, neither of them knew what he meant but Merlin did. He was sorry because Arthur could not help him this time, could not punch him in the face and knock him out to keep him safe. Merlin needed to fight this war, not alone, but certainly it weighted on his shoulders.

Merlin sighed and looked up, he smirked softly. These decisions Arthur made, the way he did these things, was why Merlin was certain Arthur would be a great king.

"I know." Merlin said taking a few moments to digest the news and his eyes landed on the vase. Arthur followed his stare and nodded.

"About the vase… and Morgana… Lancelot told me you needed time to practice, in order to get better, in order to defeat her." Arthur stated kindly before Merlin sighed, knowing this conversation between them was long overdue.

"My magic… is not as controlled or as sharps at hers, in the end, it's all about control and practice, but there is just so much practice I can get here," Merlin said before he straightened up on his seat. "But that is where I come in."

He smirked and the three men on the table stiffened. Oh no.

"What did you do, Merlin?" Gaius asked concerned.

"Well, I found you a project." Merlin announced as he drummed his hands on the table. Lancelot raised his brows at the use of words.

"A project?" Arthur asked bewildered, again with the projects thing. "What are you talking about?"

"How do you feel about making a trip?" Merlin asked out of the blue.

"What?"

"Oh, gods."

"You've got to be kidding me, Merlin," Arthur spat. "A trip? Where to? What for?"

Merlin assessed the looks of everybody on the table, Lancelot was the only one grinning, he trusted Merlin's decisions just as Merlin trusted Arthur's, and with one last look at the vase, the sorcerer leaned on the table, eyes sparkling as he whispered excitedly.

"Ealdor."

A/N: Well! This was the chapter I slaved myself over with, I wanted so many things to happen and I just wanted the story to get moving, enough of Camelot, for now. Well, hope you liked it! Hope you enjoyed a very frustrated Arthur. I loved him. He knows nothing about magic, poor dear.

Gwaine and Gwen show up next chapter, the truth about Elyan will be disclosed, (a bit) and Arthur and Merlin are leaving for a very short trip to Ealdor, I bet you are wondering about the vase now, what is wrong with it and why Merlin wants to leave, but you are all a bunch of smart people, always getting ahead of me! So you figure it out. Also, any ideas on what might happen next? You will be surprised, I wish at least.

Can't wait to hear from you, and I do love long, long reviews, as much as I hope you like long, long chapters. Next chapter might take a while guys, once again, I have nothing prepared or written beside the basic lines and ideas. As long as you review and give me the inspiration to keep going, chapters will be uploaded.

Question: Do you really, do you really read all this? Sometimes I wonder if I must not cut the chapter shorter, meeh, well be that as it may.

Suricata: I love long reviews! You are right, Gwaine needs to understand that lives depend on him now, time he grows up a little, he doesn't appear in this chapter but he does in the next. Also, in the next few chapters I will hint on Arthur's childhood, and thank you for your reviews, im always expecting them, and hope you liked this chapter! And as for Elyan you will have just wait for me. I have plans! I have plans!