Wow. This is a lot shorter than I thought. I'm sorry. It was even shorter originally. I typed up two more pages, because I finally thought of a way to connect what I had already to what I have planned. This is going to be moving a bit faster now than it was. I just need to get the story moving I feel like. Patience is not a virtue I was born with. Anyway, I have a surprise for you at the end. :)

Arthur walked hurriedly back to his chambers. The Knighting ceremony had taken about as long as he had suspected it would, but afterword Uther had held a council session that Arthur had not been aware was going to happen. He discovered it was something that had come up in his absence, while he was out looking for the bandits.

By the time the meeting was over, the sun had already set and everyone in the castle was preparing for night. Arthur finally reached his chambers, pushing open the doors and rushing in.

The room was dark. Arthur glanced around, striding to the table and lighting the candelabra. As the room was bathed in soft light, Arthur looked around for Col. He saw the contents on his table neatly organized and the dirty bed sheets in the basket by the servants' door.

He blinked as his gaze fell on the bed. Walking forward, he couldn't hold back a chuckle.

Col was curled up on top of his bed, hugging one of Arthur's pillows to his chest, his nose buried in the fabric. His breathing was slow and steady with sleep.

Arthur gingerly sat on the edge of the bed, so as not to wake him. He smiled a little as Col nuzzled his face further into the pillow, breathing in deeply.

The boy looked so peaceful, Arthur couldn't bring himself to wake him up. He reached down, gently tugging off Col's boots and set them on the floor. Getting up from the bed, Arthur quickly changed out of his nice clothes and into some sleep clothes.

Carefully, he lifted Col up enough to tug the covers down, before sliding into the bed beside the boy and pulling the blankets over them.

He smiled as Col pressed up against his side, snuggling into the heat of his body. Arthur tucked the blankets tighter around the boy, hoping to warm him up. He was still concerned at how cold the boy always felt. He decided he would need to invest in a jacket for Col.

With a contented sigh, Arthur drifted off to sleep.

….

The King was taking him away.

He had found out.

Somehow, he had found out his son had disobeyed him.

He had been keeping the boy in his chambers, sharing his bed with the boy.

It made a bad impression of Prince Arthur on the people.

The King grabbed the terrified boy's arm, dragging him away.

Arthur moved to run after them, but was stopped by two guards.

"Father, please! Don't do this! He needs me!"

The boy glanced back at him, his eyes wide with fear.

"Arthur!" he screamed. "Save me!"

He woke to a scream, struggling to get away from the arms that were wrapped around him, shaking him. Tears were streaming down his face and his breath was coming out in panicked gasps. He realized he was the one screaming.

"Col!"

He glanced up to see his master's face.

Arthur.

Arthur was holding him.

He stopped struggling, burying his face in his master's chest and sobbing.

It was a horrible, horrible dream. But Arthur had saved him. He had woken him up, gotten him away from the awful nightmare.

Arthur rubbed a soothing hand up and down his back. "Shh," he whispered. "It's okay. It was just a bad dream. You're alright."

His breathing returned to normal, and he felt his tears begin to slow. Arthur's arms held him close in comfort. He lifted his head slightly, nuzzling it into Arthur's neck. He began to plant light kisses across the skin there. Arthur moved his head away with an annoyed sound.

"Go back to bed, Col," he said in a tired voice.

He sighed, resting his head back against his master's chest, new tears welling up in his eyes.

….

Morning light shone through the window, searing Arthur's eyelids. He groaned, draping an arm over them.

A giggle sounded in the room.

Arthur uncovered his face, eyes blinking open sleepily.

Col was perched on the chest at the foot of his bed, a smile on his face, cleaning Arthur's boots. He had quickly picked up the little chores Arthur had found for him around his chambers for the last few days.

Arthur sent the boy a weak glare. "How can you be so cheerful in the morning?" he asked, his voice grumpy with sleep.

Col simply shrugged, picking up the other boot and beginning to clean it.

Arthur groaned, sitting up in bed. He glanced to the floor, noting the sleep-rumpled pile of blankets. Last night was the first night Col had not had nightmares. Or, at least, he had not woken Arthur with a nightmare. He had stayed the whole night on the floor. Arthur was proud of him. He had come along quite a bit in a short while.

He sat watching Col work for a bit. His neckerchief was off, and one shoulder of his too large tunic had slid down his arm. The boy's sunburns were beginning to fade, leaving behind a sprinkling of freckles and pale skin.

Arthur climbed out of bed, walking to his wardrobe and pulling out fresh clothes. "I have to spend the day in council," he told Col, as he headed behind the screen to change. He received a whine in response and couldn't help but laugh. "I have asked Gwen to show you around the castle, and teach you some other things," he continued, pulling his tunic on. "Is that alright?"

He glanced around the screen in time to see Col nod hesitantly. "Don't worry, Col. You like Gwen, remember?" he said with a suggestive wink.

Col blushed furiously, tossing one of the boots at Arthur. He dodged it easily, laughing. He was rewarded with a laugh from Col as well, the boy's eyes crinkling as he smiled.

A knock at the door caused them both to jump slightly. "Enter," called Arthur.

The door swung open gently, and Gwen timidly entered. "Morning, my lord," she said with a bow in Arthur's direction. "I'm here for Col."

Arthur walked over to the still blushing boy. "Alright, get your boots on," he said, taking the other of his own boot from Col.

Col hurriedly snatched his boots up off the floor, yanking them on as he hopped to the door.

"Have fun you two!" called Arthur.

He could have sworn Col stuck his tongue out at him as the door swung closed.

….

Arthur was proud and amazed at the improvements in Col over the next couple of weeks. The boy was having fewer nightmares, sleeping by himself most nights. He was quickly getting the hang of the different chores around the castle that Gwen taught him, even occasionally braving a few of them on his own. He was quickly accepted by the other castle servants as his charming, easy-going nature began to show through the timid, nervous boy who had first arrived at Camelot.

Morgana had also taken an instant like to him. She knew he was the boy Arthur had brought back from the forest, and she had immediately tracked Arthur down and forced him to tell her the whole story. She promised not to tell Uther, and was more than willing to let Col spend time in her chambers with Gwen on the days she could not spare her maid.

Arthur glanced up as Col barged into his chambers, not bothering to knock. As usual. The boy was carrying a basket of clean laundry, and he kicked the door shut behind him, walking to the wardrobe to put the clothes away.

"Gwen tells me you are doing fantastic work. She is impressed with how much you've learned so quickly," said Arthur, his tone playfully teasing.

Col shrugged, cheeks tinted pink.

Arthur laughed, standing from his chair and walking towards the wardrobe. "I am proud of you, Col," he continued, his voice serious. "You've come a long way, in a short time."

Col met his eyes, his smile conveying his thanks. Arthur clapped him on the shoulder before ruffling his raven hair. Col laughed, leaning slightly into the touch.

Arthur turned as there was a knock at the door. "Enter."

A servant quickly walked in, bowing. "Sire, Gaius has requested you to come to his chambers," he said. "And he asked that you bring Col with you."

Arthur frowned. Why would Gaius want to see them? "Thank you," he said.

The servant bowed again and left.

Arthur glanced back at Col who was staring at him with confusion. Arthur shrugged. "I guess we had better go find out what this is about. Come on."

He lead the way down the corridors, looking back occasionally at Col. He was glad to see the boy no longer stared at the ground as he walked, arms wrapped around his torso and shrinking into himself as people passed, as if he was trying to make himself invisible. Now he walked with his head up, nodding and smiling to the people they passed. Arthur couldn't help but grin.

They finally reached the physician's quarters, and Arthur politely knocked, staring pointedly at Col. The boy just gave him a cheeky grin.

"Come in, come in!" Gaius called from the room on the other side.

Arthur pushed open the door and stepped inside. "You wanted to see us Gaius," he said, as Col stepped in beside him.

"Ah, yes, I have a surprise," said Gaius, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he stepped aside.

Arthur's brow furrowed in confusion as a woman sitting on one of Gaius' benches was revealed. Her mousy brown hair was beginning to gray at the temples, crow's feet marking the edges of her eyes, which were wide as they stared at Col. She slowly rose to her feet, hand pressed to her heart as she took a step forward. Her voice trembled as she blinked back tears.

"Merlin?"

It took a lot longer to type these author's notes than it should've. My roommate and I were watching Monsters Inc. Well, more like talking with Monsters Inc. playing in the background. So I've been a bit distracted. XD But, yup, I'm ending there. I have to, I don't have any more. :/ I will have to write like crazy this weekend when I'm on break. Shouldn't be too hard, my only plans so far are to watch a movie. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. If I get lovely reviews, I might be nicer to Merlin in the next few chapters. I have something planned, but it could go two ways: it could be really bad or it could almost be really bad. (That's all I'm gonna say.)