A/N: Thank you for the well wishes for my son and myself. He responded to the anti-viral and is doing splendidly. I am also well, and did not end up with the virus.
I just wanted to let folks know that my betas are wonderful and each of these chapters have been read-through several times. I tried to convey that Odin spoke with a heavy Scottish accent in that last chapter so his dialogue had several misspellings in order to convey that. If any misspellings still crept through beyond his dialogue that is completely my own fault and not that of my beta readers.

Just a note - This chapter occurs during the same span of time as chapter eight. This is what happened back in Camelot while Merlin was running off to Ealdor and back.

Chapter Nine

Gaius had been trying to coax Merlin out of his room, talking to his nephew through his closed door, when an urgent knocking put an end to his continuing appeal. A young woman whom Gaius recognized as the maid servant to Lady Maerwynn burst through the door as soon as he opened it.

"Please, sir, forgive me. My Lady has sent urgently for you. She is frightfully ill. She hasn't been able to keep her dinner down and has had to retire to her bed feeling faint and weak. She needs you to come immediately to her aid!" she wailed, in a plaintive voice. The girl was clearly distraught, wringing her hands and dancing around on the balls of her feet ready to bolt back through the door with the court physician in tow.

Gaius took a few moments to gather up appropriate stomach remedies as the young woman anxiously waited. He cast one last look behind him at Merlin's closed door and shook his head sadly before taking his supplies and following the woman out the door and to her Lady's rooms.

By the time Gaius returned to his own chambers it had grown very late. He ended up tending to not only the Lady Maerwynn but several other members of the gentry, all of whom had the same dinner. A trip down to the royal kitchens provided the answer to the rash of gastronomic distress that had afflicted much of the court when he found the remains of a shank of spoiled beef.

As he put his supplies away on their appropriate shelves he noticed that some of the stew was gone as well as a couple pieces of the bread he had left out, and he sighed with relief. At least Merlin had roused from his room long enough to eat something. Looking up at the still closed door the aging physician decided not to disturb him so late. The boy had been through so much trauma over the last week that it really wasn't a wonder that he was so distraught.

Gazing around his chambers at all of the books laying open everywhere in his quest to find some way to help his nephew drove a feeling of despair and futility through his heart. His years seemed to weigh far more heavily on him than ever before, and he sank wearily down on the edge of his bed. He knew that he had made a terrible mistake when he vowed to Merlin that he would find a way to restore his magic. Gaius had always been very careful not to make promises or pronouncements unless he knew with certainty that what he said was true. In Merlin's case he had allowed his personal feelings and desires to cloud his judgment. Yet at the time he honestly believed that there was a way to help the boy. The look on his nephew's face when Merlin overheard the conversation he had with Arthur haunted him. It was the look of someone who had given up hope, and had succumbed to despair. He had utterly failed Merlin, he realized, as he dropped his head into his hands.

For the first time in two decades, Gaius began to weep.


Arthur hadn't really expected to see Merlin show up the next morning after the reaction he had had to the conversation between Gaius and him, but he still hoped that his man servant would arrive. He wanted to talk to Merlin about the attack, and possibly find a way to bolster his spirits. After dawdling for nearly half an hour after the time Merlin would normally arrive, Arthur gave up waiting for him. He sighed and left his chambers deciding to head toward the dining hall to have breakfast with his father. He needed to discuss the king's continuing concerns about Merlin being enchanted and his fears of a magical attack on Camelot, as well as how those issues affected a new series of reports from the outlying villages about thieves stalking the main road through the kingdom.

When he entered the dining hall through the large double doors, Uther stopped eating and looked slightly stunned to see that Arthur had joined him there. Arthur gestured to the servant standing off to the side to fetch him a plate of food as he seated himself.

"Good morning, Your Majesty." Arthur said, rather formally.

Uther was immediately on guard. Arthur rarely if ever joined him for breakfast and the formal greeting told him that his son was not in a particularly good mood.

"Arthur, what brings you to take breakfast with your king this morning?"

Arthur recognized his father's attempt to remind him of his status between them but chose to ignore it.

"There are a few things that need to be discussed about the security of Camelot and the rest of the kingdom, Sire."

"Leave us." Uther said, with a dismissive wave of his hand to the servant who had just brought Arthur his breakfast. The young man bowed deeply and left the room leaving only father and son at the table.

Uther went back to his meal not saying anything. Arthur had played this game with his father all of his life and knew that the king was leaving the discussion open to Arthur waiting to see how he would begin.

"I know that you are still concerned about a magical attack on Camelot, and I agree that we need to be cautious. However, I am not of the opinion that what happened to Merlin is a prelude to an attack against the royal family."

Uther did not look directly at his son when he replied.

"Our court physician would agree with you, but his opinion is suspect due to the nature of his relationship with your man servant. However, in lieu of an attack against either Camelot or you..." when he mentioned Arthur, Uther looked up into his son's eyes. "...I tend to agree with your assumption, conditionally."

"Conditionally?" Arthur asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, conditionally. If something changes, if this kingdom or you are attacked or threatened in any way I will have no choice but to reevaluate Nimueh's intentions when she attacked your servant. Arthur, you cannot ignore that she attacked your servant, not any other servant in the royal house hold, but your personal servant."

Arthur was surprised to find that the king had finally relented somewhat in his concerns about Merlin's attack. He didn't know what Gaius had said to his father, but it seemed to have had an effect. His father made a valid point about the choice the sorceress made, and Arthur nodded toward the king. It was time to get on with what Arthur considered a more real and pressing threat to his kingdom's safety.

"There have been attacks along the main road between Camelot and Ithandin. Apparently a band of thieves have set up somewhere in the forest and are robbing travelers as they pass. Thus far no one has survived an attack so we do not have a description of the thieves or even know how many we are dealing with."

Uther dropped all pretense of the verbal sparring that he and Arthur were engaged in and sat forward.

"You need to take a contingent of knights out into the forest and ferret out these brigands. I will not have their like in this kingdom preying on the people."

Arthur was somewhat surprised that his father was going to let him out of the city considering his underlying concern about a sorceress' attack, but he wasn't about to question it.

"Yes, Sire. I want to stop by Gaius' chambers before I head out."

Uther shot a quick look at Arthur. "Are you ill as well?"

Arthur frowned in confusion. "Ill? No of course I'm not ill; what are you talking about?"

"Apparently some bad beef made quite a few people sick last night. Gaius informed me of the problem, and that he will be spending the entire morning tending to the people affected. You didn't have beef last night did you?"

Arthur was unaware that anyone was ill and he felt fine. "No, I had chicken actually."

"Then why do you need to see the court physician?" Uther asked, nonplussed.

Arthur's irritation at his father was apparent on his face. "I wanted to stop by and check on Merlin if you must know. It isn't every day that someone finds out that they were attacked by a sorceress, nearly killed, and then physically healed just so that they could live a life of misery due to some evil enchantment."

Arthur realized that he had said too much as he watched his father's face darken, but he had grown weary of the king's indifference toward anyone not of noble birth. "Merlin may just be a servant, but he is my servant, and surprisingly, I actually would like to see him recover from this ordeal."

Uther adopted a dangerous tone that Arthur knew all too well. "Your servant will be fine under Gaius' care. The safety of the people of this kingdom is of far greater importance. One day when you are king, Arthur, you will understand the need to put aside your personal interests and feelings for the good of the kingdom."

The hypocrisy of that statement galled Arthur to his core. The words his father spoke may have been true enough, but king himself had repeatedly allowed his personal feelings, and in particular his fear and hatred of magic, to sway his judgment. So many instances came to mind that he could easily have argued the point, but to what end? The fact that his father didn't follow his own council didn't make the advice itself wrong, so Arthur clamped his mouth shut and rose from the table no longer interested in eating.

Uther continued to look at Arthur with a hard glare. "Since you are finished, I expect you and the knights of Camelot to leave forthwith in search of these thieves." His tone broached no argument.

"Sire." Arthur replied, before bowing stiffly then turning and storming out of the room.


Gaius had been kept exceptionally busy over the course of the day with more complaints of food poisoning arising from the gentry. Merlin had not gotten up yet when he needed to leave to check on his patients from the previous evening, so he left out some breakfast and the boy's morning elixir for the anemia. He wanted to get back by midday to check on his nephew, but the complaints kept coming and he had far too many patients to deal with. He even asked for one of the household servant staff to help be a runner for him back to his chambers for supplies once or twice throughout the day.

By the time he returned home, bone-tired and ready to collapse, it was nearly dusk. He walked into his chambers frowning at the fact that no candles were lit and the room sat quiet as the setting sun illuminated the far side of the room. He quickly lit some candles for better light and looked around the room. Merlin's breakfast sat on the table untouched, the boy's door remained closed and no sounds issued from anywhere within his chambers. A chill ran up the physician's spine as he approached the stairs leading up to his nephew's room. Gaius remembered the crushed look of betrayal on Merlin's face the previous afternoon and his stomach did a flip. The thought that he should have checked on Merlin before he left for the day ran through his mind as he climbed the steps to the young man's room.

He knocked on the door calling Merlin's name and got no answer. Placing his hand on the door latch, the old man hesitated for a moment, fearful of what he would find. He took a deep breath and shoved his anxiety down before opening the door and stepping through.

"Merlin?" Gaius called as he walked into the room. He looked to the bed and found it to be empty which sent a wave of relief through him that was so strong he felt slightly weak in the knees. He stepped over to the bed and sank down on it for a moment. Given the state of mind that Merlin was in the previous afternoon he had allowed himself to entertain the thought that his impulsive young nephew could have done something rash.

Gaius looked around the room which was almost Spartan, it was so bare. As a matter of fact there were no clothes, no bed roll, no back pack, no shoulder sack. Growing alarmed, Gaius got up and opened the one cupboard in the room to find it was also empty. The room looked much the way it had before Merlin arrived in Camelot.

"Oh, Merlin, you foolish boy. Where have you gone?" Gaius asked, himself.

He turned and left the room stepping back down into the common room just as a knock at the door before it swung open drew his attention. Arthur stepped into Gaius' chambers looking exhausted himself. Gaius assumed that from the look on the prince's face he had not found the thieves that were pillaging travelers on the main road.

"How's Merlin?" the prince asked, without preamble.

"I have no idea. He's gone." Gaius replied, in a heavy voice.

"Gone! What do you mean he's gone? Where did he go?" Arthur asked, alarmed.

Gaius was looking around to see if a note had been left, but he knew there wasn't any. He would have found it that morning if Merlin had left one. "He must have left last night when I was called away to tend the Lady Maerwynn."

Arthur sounded really frustrated now. "What do you mean he must have left last night? Don't you know?"

"Sire, it was late when I got back last night, but it was clear that Merlin had eaten some of the stew and bread I left out. When I got up this morning I had to start early as even more of the court came down ill with food poisoning, so I left him some breakfast, but didn't disturb him. The food remains untouched and his room is empty. His backpack and clothes are gone, so I am assuming he left last night while I was attending the ill of the court. I have heard the rumors and I fear for his safety. He was upset, and if he is out there, he is completely defenseless against an attack from these marauders."

Arthur didn't want to think that Merlin was out in the forest alone any more than Gaius wanted to. "But there is a curfew! How could he get out of the city?"

For the first time in his life Arthur saw real fear creep into the old man's eyes. "He isn't in Camelot, Sire. What of the rumors of thieves robbing and killing unwary travelers? I know that you and the knights went out to find them today. Did you have any luck?"

Arthur knew that Merlin was about as unwary as they came and Gaius was right; Merlin would be defenseless against this band if he came across them. "No they haven't been caught yet. Do you have any idea where he would go?"

The physician sighed and sat down heavily on the stool near his work bench and looked up pleadingly at the Crowned-Prince. "He must have gone home, to Ealdor. It is the only other place he could go."

Arthur nodded in response to the unspoken request for assistance. "I have to give the king a report on our search for the thieves and then I'll head out and look for him."

Arthur gripped the old man's shoulder causing him to look up at the prince. "I promise you, Gaius, I will find him and bring him home."

Gaius knew that Arthur meant what he said. He had come through for Merlin before, but the report that these brigands were killing travelers disturbed Gaius. Merlin was utterly vulnerable without his magic and he knew that until Arthur returned with Merlin in tow he wouldn't be able to sleep.


To say that the king was upset that Arthur had not found the brigands would have been an understatement. When Arthur announced that he was about to ride out again in search of Merlin, Uther began shouting.

"There is a curfew in effect and I will not have my own son disobey my orders."

"But father, if Merlin is out there he has no way to protect himself from these thieves. They have killed everyone they have attacked!"

"Then you should have found them when you searched today so that your run away servant would be safe! Honestly, Arthur, I have no idea why you are so attached to this boy. He is without a doubt the worst servant you have ever had."

Arthur was beyond angry now and shouted right back at his father. "Well YOU are the one who appointed him to me in the first place. He isn't the worst servant I've ever had either, that Gillderoy chap was the worst. Merlin is just..."

Arthur stopped shouting for a moment as his own fear for his friend took over. "He's just Merlin, and he is very dear to our court physician. I promised Gaius that I would bring him home. I don't want to see him hurt any more than Gaius does and I intend to go and look for him!"

Uther was not going to allow anyone, including his own son, to dictate to him what happened within his own kingdom. "You will NOT break curfew or I will have you thrown in the dungeons!"

Arthur glared at the king willing him to back down, but knew that his father meant what he said. He would do Merlin no good if he wound up in the dungeons so he angrily stared at his father for another moment before turning on his heel and once again storming out of the room. The tension between Arthur and the king was growing, and being at odds with him so much was starting to wear on the young prince's nerves. Merlin was the one who had always advised Arthur not to tell his father the things he wanted to do and knew Uther would forbid. Why hadn't he learned from that example? He should never have told his father that he was going to ride back out to search for Merlin; now he had no choice but to wait for morning.

TBC