Wow. I can't believe you brilliant people have given me almost 60 reviews already. Not to mention all of the favourites and alerts. I'm really glad you're still enjoying it so much. Well, here's chapter 9.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin

Chapter 9

As they rode towards Camelot the following day, Arthur remained quietly in thought. Having already ascertained that his head wound had not given him a concussion, the Knights would not hear of him staying up another night, or even joining in on the shifts. As such, he had not yet had a chance to talk to Merlin about his theory.

Glancing over at his manservant, he saw the young man struggling to keep awake in his saddle. Another night without any sleep had take its toll on him, and he was constantly having to sip from his water skin in a vain attempt to keep his increasingly painful headache at bay. Worried that Merlin would not be able to keep it up, he turned his head to speak to his companions.

"What say we speed up the pace a little? After all, warm meals and mattresses await us at the castle!" Taking the resounding cheer that followed his words as a yes, he spurred his horse on faster. It was a good thing Merlin had been given an obedient horse for the journey- it automatically sped up to keep pace with the Prince's steed even without encouragement from it's rider.

The sun was nearing the horizon when the city's walls came into view, the group increasing the pace once again in their eagerness to get home.

Leaving the horses with the stable hands, Arthur immediately turned to Merlin.

"Right. You go straight to your room and rest. I'll be along as soon as I've finished delivering my report to my father."

He kept his eye on his servant as he began to stride towards the hall where he knew his father would be finishing up for the day. He could only hope that the boy would be able to stay on his feet long enough to reach Gaius' chambers.

In actual fact, Merlin didn't quite manage to make it back by himself.

Staggering along the corridors of the castle, his vision suddenly went black. He had just enough awareness to realise what was happening before he tumbled to the floor, out cold.

He was found a few minutes later by a rather shocked guard who, upon failing to wake the unconscious boy, immediately went ahead to fetch the Court Physician.

Gaius arrived within minutes and anxiously felt his ward's forehead, before turning back to the guard and asking that he assist in bringing the boy back to his chambers. Once there, he thanked the guard for his help, allowing the man to return to his duties. Arthur arrived just minutes later, the king having let him leave promptly after learning that the search had so far turned up no trace of his missing ward.

The Prince burst through the doors into the Physician's chambers to find Merlin lying in the old bed, a furrowed brow upon the old man's face as he hurried to concoct some sort of medicine.

"Is he alright?"

Gaius looked up briefly, startled by this sudden intrusion upon his concentration. "Ah, sire." He looked over at his patient. "He seems to have developed quite the fever. With some rest and a few draughts of medicine he should be right as rain in no time."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, no. That won't be necessary." Focusing his gaze on the Prince, he asked "Sire, may I ask what happened to your head for it to be dressed up in such a manner?" Arthur squirmed. He knew that Gaius was aware of Merlin's magic, but he was sure his friend would rather let the old man know himself that his secret had been revealed. Sighing, he settled upon using the same story he had told the Knights.

"Nothing much. Merlin was having a nightmare and accidentally knocked me over. I hit my head. It's nothing to worry about."

"I think you should let me be the judge of that." He gestured towards a stool over by the table. "Sit." Arthur obliged, allowing his bandage to be removed to allow clear viewing of his wound. Gaius raised his eyebrow. "May I enquire as to who it was that dressed this wound?"

"It was Merlin. Why?" The old man sighed in reply, cleaning the wound and proceeding to apply his own salve before answering.

"I should have known. It's not exactly the neatest work. Still, I suppose I should be thankful that he remembered the basics- even if he did cause the injury in the first place."

"He didn't mean to."

"I know. He simply has a tendency to land himself in rather troublesome situations. I must apologize." Arthur couldn't help but feel at tinge of guilt at the thought that it was in fact largely his fault that Merlin ended up in a lot of said situations. Even if he didn't intend to.

"No apology is necessary. It couldn't be helped, and no serious harm was caused."

"True." Gaius paused quickly. "You mentioned that it was caused while he was having a nightmare. They're still occurring?"

"Yes. He's barely slept at all while we've been away."

"Well that would certainly explain the fever, and the fact that he was found collapsed on his way here."

"He collapsed? Again?"

"What do you mean again?"

"Well, he also fainted a couple of days ago. We excluded him from the rest of the search because of it so that he could rest during the day. Do you know what might be causing it?" He left his next question unspoken: Do you think it could be magic?

"I'm not sure sire. I had been providing him with sleeping draughts before he left- they may have helped him slightly. I'll try a stronger mixture when he comes round."

"No thanks." A weak voice called over from the corner of the room. Both heads instantly snapped round, the two of them at Merlin's side in seconds. "Those things taste terrible." Gaius just shook his head reprovingly.

"Nonetheless you will take them. Anything we can try is worth it." The young warlock scrunched his face up in distaste.

"Oh joy." Merlin watched as his Mentor walked back over to the table and picked up a small draught, similar to the ones the young man used to deliver to Morgana's chambers, bringing it back over to the bed and placing it in Merlin's hand.

"Now- I want you to go straight into your room, drink this and get some sleep. It may not be able to stop the nightmares, but it should give you enough rest to let you recover to the point where you don't keel over in the corridor." Merlin shot Arthur a look which clearly said don't tell him- I want to make this as good as possible before trudging off to his room and shutting his door behind him. Gaius turned his gaze to the young Prince next.

"As for you, sire, I daresay you're feeling rather tired as well. I suggest you go off to your own bed."

Arthur nodded. He knew better than to disagree when the old Physician used that particular tone of voice. He walked towards the door, calling out as he left. "I'll be back in the morning. I have something to discuss with that idiot."

Gaius was left standing alone in the middle of the room. Really, it was quite a wonder that the two of them were still alive with all the things that happened to them. A passing thought flickered through his mind as he gave a yawn. What would Arthur have to talk about with Merlin that made him sound that serious?

Shrugging his shoulders, he turned to pick up his nightshirt.

"Maybe I'll turn in myself."

Well there you are. I think this story is beginning to wrap itself up- I'll probably only get a few more chapters out to you all. But I've got a few more story ideas swirling round in this brain of mine. After reading a review from kutoki, I got to thinking. Do you think I should attempt a sequel of this at some point- something to do with their reactions when Morgana is found- or should I just leave it with this whole mess getting concluded?