AN.: I hope you guys are alright. Stay home, stay safe. I'm currently doing my best to stay home in my one-room apartment. I have to study a lot, so at least I get that job done. If you are going through something at the moment, I hope that I can brighten up your day at least a little bit with a new chapter. I wish you all the best!

"So, what you are saying is, that you`ve already summoned the foxglove flower on accident?" Gwaine asked, to make sure he was understanding Merlin correctly.

Merlin wore a bright smile on his face, confirming his earlier explanation as he nodded eagerly at Gwaine.

Gaius smiled warmly at his beaming ward. "It might be possible that it wasn't that much of an accident as you think it was; Magic is a wonderful thing and it surely holds many wonders in your case. It could be possible that your magic tried to tell you how you could heal it." Merlin shook his head, still smiling.

"Next time it could conjure a paper with exact instructions on it telling me what to do."

"So, how are we going to get the flowers back from Arthur? That means, if he still has them." Gwaine said thoughtfully.

So, they stuck their heads together and formed a plan, an aura of seriousness and determination surrounding them.

…

Arthur was in his bedroom, having just returned from a meeting with the spokespeople from the different kingdoms. His guests were dissatisfied, angry, nervous, ill-mannered and a few selected delegates were even displaying bad temper towards Camelot and their respective people. Arthur was exhausted. He had had a bad night's sleep and got up in the morning only to realize that Merlin wasn't there to clean up behind him and make him breakfast. Arthur sighed in frustration as he stumbled over the discarded clothes on the ground and send for someone to fetch him something to eat. He arduously managed to clothe himself and looked half the king he was supposed to look like and had enjoyed a few minutes of peace while he had eaten. Gwen had joined him and they shared a few moments which made life a little easier for Arthur. Even if it only lasted for a fleeting moment. Then, he had assembled his most trusted guards and knights to form search parties to look for that damn sorcerer that was ruining everything for him. The Lords and Ladies from Gawant were talking behind his back, the delegates from Cambia were throwing disdainful looks at him and his knights whenever they passed them and rumour was going around that Arthur had planned the attack to sabotage the festivities and treaties himself. Ridiculous!

The search parties had searched the whole day with no success. Arthur himself had been at the forefront, feeling responsible for everything that had happened. The meeting that had followed was scheduled to inform his guests about what was going on but Arthur had no good news to present to them; the sorcerer was still missing and they feared that he was still roaming around the castle, being a threat to everyone who dared to step into his way. Word was also going around that the party from Bernicia was already planning their departure without coming to terms with Camelot. The whole purpose of their journey and sojourn would stay unaccomplished but from what Arthur had heard, they were keen on taking that risk if it meant they'd manage 'to get away from Arthurs reign'.

Arthur fell onto his bed, massaging his temples before pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache starting to bloom. A loud grumble was interrupting the silence all of a sudden. Arthur's stomach wanted to inform the king that the breakfast in the morning had been the only thing he had eaten all day. Arthur smacked his lips at the thought of something to eat. His throat was dry as well because he had barely drunk anything at all. Motionless, he lay on his king-sized bed, thinking about dinner with no intention of getting up and organizing himself something to eat. He was too exhausted to move and decided that not eating once in a while wouldn't harm him, thinking about Merlin's derogatory comments about his weight.

Merlin… The need to see how his friend was doing almost made Arthur forget about his tired body and mind and get up to pay the manservant a visit. He stayed still, contemplating if he should try to get up when someone knocked on the door. It was a loud and inconsiderate knock and way too familiar to Arthur. Forcing his body to sit up, Arthur looked at the door curiously. The wood creaked as the door swung open and revealed the bumbling manservant entering, carrying a big tray with all sorts of delicacies.

His sky-blue eyes found Arthur and Merlin smiled warmly at his king before walking over to the table, careful not to spill anything he was balancing.

"It's time for dinner, Arthur." Merlin said, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Merlin, what are you doing here?" Arthur asked, looking his manservant up and down and noticing how shaky he was. His thin legs trembled. Arthur was up on his feet instantly, taking the heavy tray from Merlin's hands to get the weight off Merlin's arms. They were shaking like leaves in the wind. Arthur put the tray on the table and turned to the young man behind him.

"You are not supposed to be here, Merlin." Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking accusatory at his friend.

"And you are supposed to have dinner now. I'm not staying in bed, you are not eating, we are both not doing what we are supposed to do." Merlin walked around Arthur and started to set the table. Arthur just looked at him before he walked over and helped him. Then, they sat down and Arthur ate his meal, making sure that he slid enough food across the table to share it with Merlin.

"How are things going? Merlin asked after they had eaten in silence for some time.

"Not well." Arthur answered, his shoulders sagging. "People are breathing down my neck and are accusing me of incompetence. I think they wish for my father to return." Merlin had no answer to that. He had feared that his friend was tormented by the responsibility sitting heavy on his shoulders.

"Not you are responsible for what happened. The sorcerer is." Merlin said, looking down at the smooth ebony surface of the table.

Arthur looked at his friend, not able to shake the feeling, that Merlin somehow felt guilty. Before he could address that sentiment, Merlin looked around the room, obviously searching for something. Arthur crooked his head in question.

"Hey, Arthur, where are the flowers I gave to you?" Merlin asked innocently. Arthur cocked an eyebrow and stared at Merlin open-mouthed, trying to figure out if Merlin was trying to change the subject or if he was genuinely interested in what Arthur had done with his gift. Merlin looked at him expectantly.

"Well, Merlin, to be honest with you… I gave them away." Arthur said honestly, expecting Merlin to shrug it off. Instead, Merlin's eyes widened and his face paled. He had opened his mouth as if in shook and pierced Arthur with his gaze.

"You did what? When? Where? Who has the bouquet now?" The reaction surprised Arthur. Why was the flower bouquet so important to Merlin? Or was Merlin angry with him that he had given a gift from his friend away? There was a tiny spark of guilt eating away at Arthur and he suddenly felt the need to explain himself.

"I still had the bouquet of flowers in one hand yesterday and came across Lady Goodhunt in the hallway. She is a loud woman and she jumped at me as soon as she saw me, babbling about everything and anything. She saw the flowers and simply took them from my hand, saying: 'Oh what a beautiful bouquet of flowers. For whom might they be?' and she looked at me like a predator." Arthur shook his head. "She is known for gossiping and spreading false rumours. The look in her eyes just told me that she was already thinking about making our encounter public and forcing my head underwater by doing so. So, I did the only thing I could think of: I told her that the flowers were for her. That shut her up. She took them and walked away." Arthur looked at Merlin with raised eyebrows. It was obvious that Merlin was upset.

"Merlin, I'm sorry. I thought you'd understand why I did it. If I had known that it would upset you, I wouldn't have given them away."

"It's fine, I understand." Merlin said sadly. He started to rise and gathered all the cutlery and plates, stacking them neatly on the tray. Arthur followed his movements with his eyes, not quite sure what to do now. When Merlin was finished, he turned to his king.

"It's late now, Sire. You should rest. I'll be back in the morning." As soon as Arthur wanted to protest, Merlin held up a finger to silence him before he shuffled out of the room. Arthur's eyes were fixed on the door. That was weird.

Nevertheless, Merlin's presence and the meal had worked wonders on calming his nerves down. Tiredly, Arthur stumbled over to his bed and decided that he would think about everything in the morning.

…

The expression on Merlin's face when he returned from Arthur worried Gwaine. His friend looked defeated again.

"What happened?" Gwaine asked, his task of chopping a strong scented herb forgotten.

"Arthur doesn't have the flowers any longer." Merlin said, the corners of his mouth pointing down. Gwaine's knife cluttered back to the table. "What did he do with it?"

"Apparently, he gave it to a lady that molested him in the hallway. He did it to get rid of her." Merlin sighed and sat down at the table in front of Gwaine. Gaius was out on a round to look after his patients, leaving the knight alone.

"That is not that bad. We can get them back from her." Gwaine said optimistically.

"And how are we supposed to do that? Go to her and say: 'Excuse me, we need that flower bouquet to brew a potion that will heal my magic'?" Merlin was annoyed and couldn't suppress the sharp edge his voice had carried. Gwaine scratched the stubble on his chin in thought.

"… I could take it from her." Gwaine suggested, an innocent look on his face.

"Steal it?" Merlin asked incredulously.

"You know, sneak into the room she is staying in and just take it."

"Gwaine-" Merlin started to protest an upset expression shadowing his features.

"Now, before you protest, I have a confession to make. I know how to get my hands on certain things… which are not in my possession."

"You know how to steal."

"No… I know how to evade guards, bypass security measures, enter enclosed locations to 'take' certain objects of interest while avoiding being caught for doing so."

"Stealing. What you are describing is stealing, Gwaine." Merlin folded his arms.

"Fine! Call it whatever you want to call it. It was in your possession to begin with. You made the damn bouquet, didn't you? We are just getting back what originally belongs to you." Gwaine tried to put it in a different light.

"I'm not bothered about stealing something if it means that my magic barrier will heal. I'm bothered with roping you into this. I don't want to endanger you any further and when you get caught breaking and entering into the room of one of Arthur's guests, it wouldn't do us any good." Merlin wiped his runny nose with his sleeve, looking at Gwaine while he waited for a response.

After thinking for a brief moment, Gwaine looked at Merlin again with clear eyesight. "I'm going to wear a cloak, so, in case someone sees me, it gives me the chance to flee without revealing my identity. Merlin, we don't have any other choice."

Merlin let out an outcry of frustration. "I just wish I could help you… Put a spell on you to cloak you… Alter your appearance to hide your identity… Or simply go there myself. I don't want you to get into trouble."

"Merlin… We both know that any of these options are too dangerous at the moment. If you get caught, there is no way people won't call you out on two weird incidents surrounding you. They'd make the connection and we don't want to find out how exactly they would react. And using magic is out of question. I'm sorry, Merlin, but I think there's still slimy plant goo stuck to the legs of this chair. I will go."

The look on Gwaine's face told Merlin that it was no use to protest. They busied themselves with helping Gaius on brewing medicine and helped cleaning the room because they still found rests of the carnivorous plant stuck to furniture and in the space between floorboards. Gaius soon returned from his round and let himself being filled in with the current situation of things. He agreed with Gwaine that it'd be best if the knight went to the lady's chamber to steal the bouquet of foxglove flowers.

A few hours had passed since Merlin had visited Arthur to give him dinner and they decided that they should act tonight. They needed to get their hands on the flower as soon as possible before the flower wasn't fresh enough to get the hoped effect on Merlin's barrier. They feared that Merlin's magic contained in the flower was slowly evaporating as time moved on. They also figured that there wouldn't be a better time to break into someone's chamber than during the night. Some might argue that there were plenty of opportunities during the day, when the occupant of the room wasn't there, but Arthur's current rule which said that guests should stay in their rooms to stay safe made it difficult to guess when the room was actually empty. And before they wasted more time waiting for a better opportunity, they were just hoping that Gwaine's abilities to go undetected were as good as the knight made them out to be. Even Gwaine was hoping that, to be honest.

So, in the middle of the night, Merlin, Gwaine and Gaius sat huddled around a table in the dim, dancing light a lonely candle provided to them and discussed how Gwaine should go about the whole mission. Merlin had laid out a roughly sketched map of Camelot's castle and showed Gwaine where exactly Lady Goodhunt was currently staying at. Besides having to arrange guests' seating orders, Merlin also had to assign rooms to guests. And to be honest, the room Lady Goodhunt was staying in was farther away than any other guestroom and fairly secluded as well. Merlin had heard of certain rumours about Lady Goodhunt and while he assigned the rooms to the guests he had read her name which had rang a bell. Merlin had then proceeded to assign a room to her which was as far away from his normal routes as possible to avoid an encounter with this woman. He slightly regretted it now, seeing how his friend had to travel quite a distance through the dark castle to accomplish their goal. At least that was also the reason why he remembered the location of her room so clearly.

Gwaine knew his way around the castle as well and assured them that he knew how to get to the room. He also made them promise to stay here, no matter what would happen. Then, he put on the dark cloak, put the hood up and with one final turn and smirk at his smaller friend, Gwaine bolted out of the door into the darkness. Warily, Merlin's eyes followed the dark, retreating figure before the door fell shut and cut their connection. Merlin swallowed, hoping that everything went right for once.

AN.: I hope you liked this chapter. I kind of ended with a little cliffie. This chapter was even longer originally and it got longer and longer so I had to cut it in half. Which means the next chapter will be up shortly as well. Reviews make my day and are always welcome.