Arthur sent as much time with Merlin as he could when he got back and even went with him on his next secret walk much to the disgust of the head of security. Arthur also spoke to the Prime Minister and Gwaine was to be awarded the George Cross and Ian the Kings Police Medal for their part in saving the Prince. Both Men were both surprised and honoured to be recognised. Ian fully accepted the lower medal as Gwaine has actually deliberately taken bullet meant for the Prince whist he had been shot in the general firing afterwards. For Gwaine it was added to the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross he had collected in the Army making a very rare double.

Freya became a more frequent visitor as the trial got closer and when she wasn't there Gwaine was. Everyone was doing their best to give Merlin the smallest amount of time to brood. He was still having trouble accepting the fact that the people involved had actually harmed him in anyway. His mind constantly telling him that whatever they did was for his own good, although the effects of his Stockholm syndrome were lessening it would be a long time before he was over it if ever. The case was still having to be heard in full as three of the defendants were still claiming their innocence, namely Agravaine, Cenred and Valliant. All of them claimed not to have known who Merlin was or that he had not been staying in the room of his own accord. The case was to be heard in private without the public or press allowed in. As Merlin had been a child for most of the time of his captivity and his anonymity couldn't be assured the law lords made the ruling. This was good news for the family. For although they didn't want any of the defendants to be spared nor did they want everyone to know all that had happened to the young prince. It was to be a trial by jury but they were given very strict guidelines as to what they were allowed to discuss even after the verdict.

In the first few days of the trial the charges were read out and not guilty pleas given. The three men all also all claimed they had no idea Prince Merlin had been there permanently or for more than a couple of years. Cenred and Valiant insisting they only went to the room to do minor repairs over the years and had thought the room was used by the late King to hide his affair, saying that was they rarely saw Merlin at all. Agravaine said he had no idea the identity of the young man and that he too had only seen him occasionally in the later years and that he thought he was a prostitute, who had offered to give him oral sex on a couple of occasions. Which he had accepted, not realising that the boy was his nephew and a prisoner. The room he said was used as was the tunnel by his brother in law to maintain secrecy of his affair and he knew of no other purpose. Although he had assumed that Merlin had also been a 'favourite' of the King. Agravaine had gone on to say he had always been loyal to the King and had help, by the use of his house and the tunnel because he had wanted his Majesty to have the blessing of sexual release without the press. He also claimed he had only entered the room on less than a dozen occasions over the years.

The details and photos and drawing were harrowing for many of the jurors and for Arthur and Morgana who although they didn't attend every day were there on occasion. It was a long drawn out trial as it had to be seen to be fully fair, especially as all the details were not being made public. Both Arthur and Morgana gave evidence as to what their father had told them on his death bed and what they had discovered. That part of the evidence was made public and caused a stir on the news around the world. People were more accepting of why the Princess had not attended the funeral or why a state funeral had not taken place. They were also questioned about Merlin state after his release.

Merlin gave evidence in a small room via video link and over several weeks all be it not every day. It had a detrimental effect on him and the number of fits he had increased in that tome as did his poor mental state. So much so that in the end his part in the was trial stopped. He had given numerous statements already and his drawing were being used. Gaius moved into Windsor for the duration and spent time with Freya and Gwaine as well as the King and Princess helping Merlin recover from the ordeal. Freya was proving to be everything that Mordred hadn't. She was kind, sweet and gentle with Merlin and brought him out of himself. No one had seen the fact that she would also become close to Gwaine. So much so that they were soon dating. This pleased Merlin no end as he liked to see his friends happy. It was clear that for the moment at least his problems and mental state left him asexual although that may change in the future. He was still childlike in many ways.

It was clear that the trial would take several months before it was over. The worry for Arthur was the fact that they had yet to find the gunman's accomplice. They were to be discovered in a way that no one had anticipated. It was near the end of the trial when one of the female footmen asked to speak to the king, she approached Percy who was surprised but asked Arthur who agreed but asked Morgana to be present. She was a young woman who had joined the staff in Uther's time and her name was Kara.

She entered the room and was clearly nervous and scared Arthur tried to put her at ease "Please take a seat and don't be frightened. I would hope that any of the staff feel they can speak to me"

"Your Majesty I fear I have made a grave mistake. I had some time off recently when I was taken to Australia on holiday by a man I considered my boyfriend. Before we went He asked me to do him a favour which I did, we flew off the next day" she paused before continuing all the time looking down at her hands. "When I got back well be dumped me and I realised I may have done something bad….really bad."

Arthur waited patiently hoping he wasn't going to hear a tale of an unwanted pregnancy but he found it hard to breathe when she continued. "He asked me to bring a box into the Palace and leave it in one of the empty rooms. Now I wonder if it was the gun I mean it might not have been it was a square box but I don't know"

Arthur found his voice "I think you should stop now Kara, because I think the police should here this. You have been very brave to come forward and thank you but you understand why I need you to stop until they get here."

The girl nodded. Arthur called the onsite Inspector and asked him to come to his office and why. Once he was there the footman repeated what she had told the King. Then the inspector asked "Who was your boyfriend?"

"That's the point" she said "I was stupid a man like that wouldn't be interested in me. But he told me he had borrowed it when he visited and wanted to return it without getting into trouble" she looked u for the first time "It was Mordred Sarrum"