Author's Note: I just want to thank those really kind people who reviewed my last chapter. You guys are great! :)

One more thing, I am VERY Anti-slash. I can't stand it. So anything you might perceive as that in this fanfiction IS NOT! I just like the friendships on the show. Just wanted to clarify that.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. You would find out if I did, trust me.

Chapter Nine, Travels and Letters

A week had passed since Verona had left Camelot, and while Merlin was a little more like his old self, he was by no means over the whole thing.

He managed to act more normal. He stopped the obsessive cleaning, and he laughed a little bit more. But it was more out of an obligation he felt to be normal, rather then truly being better. He missed Verona. Or he missed the girl he had thought he'd known. And while he still felt he would never be able to really trust her, it was no longer anger that he really felt. He just felt sadness and loss.

He wished that he really could know who she was. Not who she pretended to be. But how would he ever know for sure?

He was in the middle of scrubbing the floor of Arthur's chambers (This time because he had been told to, and not because he had nothing better to do.) when Gwen entered.

"Merlin, good! I thought I'd find you here." She said cheerfully.

"M'lady." He said, nodding to her and smiling as he dipped his wash cloth into the soapy water and continued his work.

"Oh, don't call me that!" She said, shaking her head, before kneeling beside him, "Here, hand me one of those rags, please."

"No way. Arthur would kill me if he knew I'd let you work!" Merlin shook his head and continued his work.

"I need to feel useful somehow, Merlin, no one has let me work for a week!" Gwen said in exasperation.

"Alright, here, but just remember I could lose my head for this!" He joked, handing her a rag. "Don't ruin your dress."

"I'm not cut out for all these fancy dresses and not being allowed to work, I mean, not that I'm not extremely thankful, because I am, but I just don't feel like I quite belong. Not that I mind not being a servant anymore-"

"It's alright, Gwen!" Merlin laughed.

She smiled, but then her smile turned to a frown and her eyes filled with concern, "Merlin, I heard that Verona left. I'm so sorry. She seemed like a very sweet girl."

Merlin frowned, and scrubbed the floor a little more furiously, "Yeah, she did." He answered weakly, "Look, it's no big deal."

"Are you alright, though?" She asked, pausing in her work to look at him.

He looked up at her, "Me? Oh, yeah! I've never been better! Why wouldn't I be?" He asked, forcing cheerfulness into his voice.

Gwen wasn't fooled, "Merlin...?"

"I feel better when I don't talk about it, Gwen." Merlin answered, keeping his voice calm.

She nodded, "Alright."

They finished cleaning the floor and Merlin got to his feet, "Thanks!" He said, picking up the bucket of soapy water, and leading the way out of the room.

0000

A while later, there was a knock on the door and Merlin opened it to find Arthur, "Did I, uh, forget to clean something?" He asked, with a sigh. He had counted on relaxing for the evening.

"No." Arthur said, rolling his eyes, "Guinevere says you're still miserable. Which is fine with me, as long as you don't pout all the time. But she insists that I take you on a hunting trip to cheer you up."

Merlin raised his eyebrows, "That's kind of Gwen. But, what about a hunting trip sounds like it would cheer me up? Seems more like it'd make you happy."

Arthur glared at him. "Be ready to leave by dawn tomorrow." He said, before turning on his heels and leaving the room.

Merlin shrugged and closed the door. 'Oh well, how bad could it really be?'

0000

The next day, bright and early, Merlin and Arthur set out on the hunting trip. Merlin was half asleep on his horse as they rode along, because he'd been up half the night wondering if Verona had made it safely home.

He tried not to be so concerned about her, but he missed her, and thoughts of her were constantly on his mind.

But you didn't even know her! He tried to tell himself, again and again, but he couldn't convince himself to forget her. It was an impossible task, because until he found out, he would always be forced to wonder, Who was she really?

He felt that the question would always haunt him.

Merlin didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until he toppled off of his horse.

Crash!

"Ouch." He muttered, though he didn't seem to be seriously injured, he was definitely wide awake now.

Arthur stared down at him, a little surprised. And then he started laughing. "Nice, very good. Well done." He chuckled. "Are you alright?" He was still laughing.

"I'm fine." Merlin said, shaking his head, and grinning slightly. "You really shouldn't laugh, though, I could have died!"

"Then it would have been hilarious, wouldn't it have been?" Arthur joked, as he allowed his horse to trot along once more.

Merlin climbed back onto his horse, a little bit sore, but otherwise unharmed. He held on a little more tightly to the reigns and this time did not come close to falling asleep.

What felt like hours later, they were still riding along, "So, I never thought I'd ask this...But when are we actually going to get to hunt something?" Merlin asked, sounding exasperated, "We've been riding for hours!"

"Stop whining, Merlin!" Arthur replied, without really answering his question.

"But how much longer until-" Merlin stopped mid-sentence as the two horses drew to a stop.

They had stopped in a small clearing in the middle of the woods. And there, in the very center stood a woman that Merlin knew very well.

He jumped off of his horse and ran to her, "What are you doing here, mother?" He asked, his voice filled with excitement.

Hunith smiled at Merlin and extended her arms to him, and he hugged her. When she let go of Merlin, she gave a slight curtsy to Arthur, "Thank you, sire, for arranging this. It is so good to see my son again."

"Wait a minute, this is what we were doing all along? There was no hunting trip?" Merlin asked, surprise filling his expression.

"You really are slow, Merlin." Arthur said, shaking his head. "Besides, it was all Guinevere's idea. She practically forced me."

"Be careful, Arthur, people might start to think you are nice." Merlin said, grinning and glancing at his mother happily.

"I am nice you idiot. Now come along," He said, shaking his head and turning his horse around.

"You're coming with us, then?" Merlin asked excitedly, as he looked at his mother.

She nodded, smilingly, "For a few days, yes." She mounted an old pony that Merlin recognized as their neighbor's.

"The Benson's let you borrow old Tabitha?" He asked, patting the horse on the head.

"Indeed. She's getting old, but she's a strong one."

Merlin mounted his own horse, (Well, it was technically not his, but the horse he rode when they traveled, anyway) and they were off.

Merlin and Hunith rode a little ways behind Arthur, side by side, so that they could talk as they rode.

After some small talk, Hunith looked at her son and said softly, "I've heard you are having girl problems, Merlin, dear." His mother's voice was gentle as she spoke.

He might have turned red if the conversation didn't make him so sad, he just shrugged, "It's complicated." He mumbled.

"Well, we've got a long trip ahead. Still an hour ride, at least."

Merlin hesitated, before glancing ahead at Arthur, "Probably best we don't talk about it right now, mum." He said, lowering his voice considerably. He slowed his horse and once he was sure Arthur was out of earshot, he whispered simply, "There's magic involved."

His mother nodded knowingly and whispered back, "So why don't you tell me the version that doesn't involve magic, and fill me in when we get to Camelot."

Merlin nodded his response, and they hurried their horses back a little nearer to Arthur's so they wouldn't lose track of him. Merlin didn't want to get his mother lost.

"Verona," He began, keeping his voice strong, "was Gaius' daughter." He told his mother, glancing over at her and seeing surprise written on her face. "She seemed funny, nice, adventurous,-" Merlin could have gone on for hours, but his mother stopped him.

"What do you mean 'seemed'?"

"I'll explain in a moment," Merlin told her, before glancing ahead at the prince. "Do you usually eavesdrop on conversations your servants and their mothers have, sire?"

"Oh, shut up, Merlin. It's because of me - Well, and Guinevere - that you get to see your mother. Nothing against you, of course." Arthur said, smiling at Merlin's mum like he was an angel of a prince, who never mistreated her son who was his servant. Never. What a laugh!

"Of course, sire." Hunith replied patiently. While she knew it was very important that he was the prince, he was still very young, and the childlike manner of the two amused her rather a lot.

Merlin shrugged, and decided to just go on with the story, leaving out the bits about magic, of course, "She told a lot of stories, Verona did," Merlin informed his mum, "And one day, she got sick. Gaius and I had to, er..." He paused, "work together to heal her. Gaius needed my help more then usual." He said, giving his mother a meaningful look. "But in the process of healing her, and talking to Gaius, I essentially found out that everything she'd been telling me had been a lie. When I asked her about it later, she admitted that not only was she lying about all those stories she told, she was lying about who she was. She said the way she behaved had been an act to 'impress me,' she said. That I had never even really known her... And then she left."

His mother was silent for some time, but then she said gently, "But she was just trying to impress you?"

"So she said." Merlin repeated, shrugging, and patting his horse on the neck simply to give him something to do other then look at his mother.

"Then all those lies she told, it was just because she liked you and wanted you to like her." It wasn't a question, Hunith was making a statement. She sighed, "Oh Merlin, Verona isn't the only girl who has ever lied to impress a boy, and she won't be the last. Perhaps she was more expert at it then some, but it's not unusual."

"Just because it's not unusual doesn't make it any better!" He objected in frustration, "Besides, how am I ever supposed to trust her again? I'll never know if she's just being her or if she's being who she thinks I want her to be."

"I'm not saying you have to take her back, dear, I'm just saying maybe you should go a little easy on her." Hunith said gently.

"I know..." He said softly, his eyes downcast.

"Merlin, sweetheart," His mother said, looking over at him with fond eyes. "I'm proud of you."

Merlin looked up at his mum and smiled, "Thanks, mother."

00000

The ride back to Camelot seemed to pass much more quickly then the trip away from it had.

When they arrived, Merlin and his mother made their way to Gaius' and Merlin's quarters.

Merlin swung the door open cheerfully and called out, "Gaius! Look who's here!"

Gaius turned around and smiled, though he didn't look at all surprised, "Hello Hunith!" He said, his voice cheerful.

"Hello Gaius!" Hunith replied with equal cheer, happy to see her old friend.

"Merlin, someone left a note for you on the table," Gaius said, as he stirred something in a pot, "I'm making dinner, it will be ready soon."

"Do you know who it's from?" Merlin asked Gaius curiously, as he hurried to the table and lifted up an envelope. Somehow, he was disappointed that he didn't recognize the handwriting, he'd been secretly hoping it was from Verona. Though why, he wasn't sure.

"No idea, they had one of the guards bring it by." Gaius replied from across the room.

Shrugging, Merlin ripped open the envelope, but what he read made his blood run cold.

Merlin, we have someone you love. Comply with our demands and she will not be harmed. Meet us at the enclosed location in two days, or the girl dies.

Merlin grabbed the envelope and ripped out the address, reading it over quickly he ran to the door. "I have to go!" He said, his voice near frantic.

"What's wrong?" Gaius and Hunith asked in unison, giving Merlin looks of surprise and fear.

Merlin flung the door open said, "They've got Verona!" and then left in an instant.

0000

Arthur entered his room, tired after the long day of doing nothing but riding. He was prepared to just collapse and go to sleep, but something on the table caught his eye.

He picked up a small envelope bearing the words 'Prince Arthur' and opened it curiously, but his heart dropped in his stomach as he read,

Prince Arthur, we have your love, the Lady Guinevere. Comply with our demands and she will not be harmed. Meet us at the enclosed location in two days, or the girl dies.
Please note, if you attempt to bring your fathers army, or any of your knights, the Lady will die.

He was out the door in a matter of seconds.

Author's Note: Hehehehe, I feel slightly evil for that ending. But, alas, suspense is a good thing! I hope you liked it! Please review!