Ladies and Gentlemen. I am back. I know most of you will say FINALLY, but thats how my muse is. He although very inspirational, is very fleeting. It just so happened that he decided to visit me while I was on holidays. This made me very happy, and I dare say will also make you very happy. I hope you enjoy the following chapter, and I will restate now that none of the characters or overall story arch from the BBC's Merlin belong to me, as if they did, I would be Guineviere (aka Arthur's QUEEN lol), and magic would be allowed in Camelot, and Uther executed for his persecution! lol ENJOY!!

A few hours later, Merlin was still asleep. Arthur was slightly uncomfortable as he had been in the same position for hours now, but he did not want to disturb the sleeping boy, as Merlin had been awake for days. Arthur did not know exactly how this had occurred, but he put it aside in concern for the younger boy's welfare. Arthur looked down at Merlin's bed, noticing just how small it actually was, and decided then to take the younger boy to his chambers, and they would be able to sleep much more comfortably in his bed. Arthur carefully got up, sliding out from underneath Merlin, who stirred a bit, but didn't wake up. Arthur stretched out the kinks in his body, then bent down to pick Merlin up. And this was where Merlin woke up and got feisty.

As soon as Arthur picked Merlin up, the young warlock woke up, and seeing just what Arthur was doing, he started struggling against Arthur's arms. After Arthur attempted to shift the pulled upright broken door out of the way with a struggling Merlin in his arms, he gave up. He slung the boy over his shoulder with what appeared to be no effort whatsoever, and pulled the broken door out of the way, striding down the steps leading into Gaius' chambers, walked straight through the chambers, all the while ignoring the antics of Merlin as he struggled to get down from Arthur's broad shoulders. As Arthur reached the doors, they opened, and Gaius came back in, and after seeing Arthur and his burden, kept the door open. "I'm taking him to my chambers to keep a better eye on him." Arthur said to Gaius. The old physician nodded, as he knew more than he let on, Gaius always did.

Arthur strode through the halls towards his chamber with a now passive Merlin still slung over his shoulder. Arthur opened his door, and noticed that there had been some food placed in his room. He walked over to the table in front of his bed, and placed Merlin on it. He then picked some bread up of the plate, broke it in to small pieces, and started to feed it to Merlin. He did this slowly, as after having no food over the past week or so had deteriorated Merlin's ability to consume food. Arthur also made Merlin drink several goblets of water, getting as many fluids as he could into the younger man's body. As Merlin was fed, Arthur then grabbed a hunk of meat off the plate, and started to eat it as he placed more firewood into the fireplace, ensuring that the room would be heated for quite some time. In this time, Merlin had not been able to see Arthur, and became quite distressed. "Arthur!" Merlin cried. "Arthur, where are you? I can't find you! I need to keep you safe! Arthur? Where are you?" When Arthur heard this, he hurried over to Merlin from what he had been doing, quickly chewing and swallowing the last of the meat he had taken, he pulled a frantic Merlin's face toward his, and looked him straight in the eye, and calmed the young warlock down "I'm here Merlin. I never left and I never will. You are too precious to me."

Merlin calmed down after this, looking Arthur in the eyes, and visibly relaxed, before shrinking away from Arthur. Arthur had had enough. "Merlin, if it kills me, I will make sure that you will be able to be near me without shrinking away from you. I cannot and will not have that from you." Arthur then picked the younger boy up, and took him over to his bed. Arthur put Merlin in the bed, and slid in himself, pulling the warlock close to him, even though Merlin kept pulling away from him. Arthur started stroking Merlin's back, calming him enough to be able to sleep. Once Merlin had fallen asleep, Arthur looked at him, noticing just how the younger boy had changed in just a few weeks. He was thinner and bonier, if that was even possible. There were dark shadows under his eyes and he looked grey in complexion if that was even possible. Arthur hoped that by having Merlin stay in his rooms, that he would be able to look after the younger boy, and make him well again. Arthur could feel himself slowly start to drift asleep, and kissed Merlin on the forehead, and out of a sudden, strange impulse that he could not understand, he kissed Merlin on the lips. Merlin's lips were not what he imagined, but they were a mix of soft and slightly cracked, which left them feeling a bit rough. Arthur fell asleep with a smile on his face with the thought that he had just kissed Merlin.

Arthur awoke with a start. He had heard a blade being drawn, and as such, woke up and reached for his sword which he had placed beside his bed earlier in the day. As he reached for the sword, he found it wasn't there, and that fully woke Arthur up. He sat up in bed, and looked over to where Merlin should be, and noticed he wasn't there. Arthur then looked frantically around the room, noticing that the entire room was spotless, cleaned to perfection, something that never happened when Merlin attended to him. He then saw the one thing out of place. The chair sitting in front of his bed, with his manservant in it. He then noticed the blood running from his manservant's arms, and looked at Merlin, horrified. There were deep cuts in his arms, and seeing them, that's when Arthur noticed his short sword, floating above Merlin's wrist, slowly dipping down, and slicing deeply again into his wrist. Without another thought, Arthur jumped out of the bed, ran to Merlin, grabbed the sword and threw it across the room, and grabbed Merlin's arms around the wrists, trying to prevent more blood from seeping out of Merlin's body. Arthur was frantic. He had no idea what to do for Merlin, so he yelled for help. It didn't do any good however, as Arthur soon saw Merlin inhale and exhale for the last time.

Hahaha! I come back and I am evil! Flames keep me warm in my current cold winter! R&R people!