Arthur went back to sleep as soon as he could. He'd rather be sleeping anyway. He barely hurt anymore; the throbbing from his burns was barely noticeable. So it wasn't that he was trying to escape that by sleeping. But Arthur felt like, even in his own room, he was surrounded by enemies. He felt like even shifting in his bed was dangerous.

He knew his friends were there. Merlin and Gwaine and Gaius and the rest. They wouldn't hurt him, of course. But who knew when they would suddenly become the enemy that wanted to torture him? Who knew when Merlin might become an angry sorcerer? Those people were vicious—he had the burns and broken hand to prove it. His arm, for some reason, didn't hurt any longer…

Why? What were they planning? What was the trick?

He shook the thought off. There was no plan. He was safe. He had to keep telling himself that.

So it was no wonder, really, that he abandoned consciousness as soon as he could. He was only dozing, though; unfortunately, in his opinion, the real world wouldn't let him go completely, and he continued to wake up every several minutes, and then drift away again.

Gaius remained with him for a while, checking his forehead for fever and wrapping his broken hand to keep it in place. At last the physician left, and for a while Arthur was alone with himself in the quiet of his room.

That lasted for several minutes.

And then the door opened. Arthur tensed without meaning to, for he was half-awake at this point. Forcing himself against his lethargy, he tilted his head and saw Gwaine coming in.

But something was wrong. Arthur was having trouble focusing his eyes, but there was something about Gwaine's face.

Something was off.

Merlin would hardly be most people's choice to stand guard. He knew that, but nonetheless, he couldn't seem to walk away and leave Arthur's room alone. Arthur was safe, but Merlin wasn't feeling it yet. He hadn't any chores at the moment, so he stuck around. Gwaine and Percival went off to take care of the horses, and Leon and Elyan each had jobs to take care of. After a while, Gaius came out of Arthur's room and told Merlin that the king would be fine for now. And then Gaius promised he would be back to check on Arthur in a while, but he had some other remedies to work on at the moment.

Merlin nodded, figuring he should be on his own way. And yet he didn't really want to leave yet—he wasn't much in the mood for work. He hated to leave Arthur alone, even if the king didn't know he was there.

After a minute or so, Gwaine walked up with that easy smile on his face. "Hey, Merlin," he said. "Standing guard?"

Merlin shrugged. "I guess. A bit."

"Want me to take over for you? I'm sure you've got things to be doing."

"I'm sure you do too," Merlin said with a grin, which Gwaine mirrored.

"Yeah," he agreed, "but I'd just as soon avoid it."

"Thanks," Merlin said, peeling himself off the wall. "I guess I should grab something to eat and then clean something." He laughed. He didn't even know what he would clean. Arthur wasn't able to give him work.

He patted Gwaine on the shoulder, but Gwaine had moved and Merlin's hand slipped off. Shrugging awkwardly, Merlin made his way down the hall. He turned a corner and hit the steps, humming a little to himself as he started down them. Looking at his feet so as not to fall and live up to his clumsy reputation, he heard someone else starting up the stairs below him, and looked up.

He stopped short. "Gwaine?"

Gwaine smiled at him. "Hello, Merlin!" Then he saw the concerned look on Merlin's face. "What is it?"

Merlin stared at him for a second, and then looked back up the stairs with panic beginning to grow in his eyes. "Gwaine," he said, "You were just… How did you?"

"What?"

"What's something no one else here knows except us?"

Gwaine's eyebrows drew together and he looked up and down the stairs to make sure they weren't being watched. "My father was a noble," he said. "But I never knew him."

Merlin nodded and turned around. "Go and get help. Arthur's in trouble."

That was all Gwaine needed to hear, and he nodded swiftly and ran back down the stairs two at a time. Merlin went up the stairs, his magic already buzzing in his fingertips, ready to come to his aid. He reached the hall and promptly ran into someone coming his way.

"Sorry," he said, stepping the other way and continuing to run.

Except he barely got a step, because the someone moved too and blocked him.

"Sorry," Merlin said again, but the person didn't move, so he looked up at the face of the stranger in front of him with impatience. "I have to get past," he said, assuming it was just some noble who felt like terrorizing servants. He'd run into his fair share of those, but he didn't have the time today. Someone who looked like Gwaine was around Arthur with none of Arthur's friends around.

"I know," said the stranger. "And I can't let you."

Merlin's face creased. "What?"

"Well," said the man, pulling out a knife. "I have to kill you."

Merlin just barely dove out of the way in time, and the man swiped at air. "What the hell?" Merlin blustered as he tried to duck past, but the man nearly threw himself on the young warlock and crushed him into the wall, his knife at the ready.

The man snarled in his face, and Merlin's eyes flashed gold as the knife skittered from the man's hand onto the floor. But the man's eyes flashed just as Merlin's had, and the knife was back. Merlin gaped. Who was this man? He looked familiar.

Merlin pushed him off with some difficultly, wishing he had a weapon on him. "Why do you want to kill me?" he asked, eyeing the knife and breathing hard. He had to get past this man.

"You killed my daughter, Emrys," the man responded.

Merlin started. That was why he looked familiar. For heaven's sake! He opened his mouth to speak, but then he heard a shout echo quickly down the hall: Arthur.

There was no time to waste. Merlin nearly threw himself past the girl's father, but he was intercepted and they crashed into each other. Merlin struggled, grabbing the man's wrist to keep that knife away from him.

"I will get past," he warned through clenched teeth.

"You'll die," the man growled.

Merlin didn't have time for this struggle. He needed to get out of this as quickly as he could. So, with the stranger still latched onto him, he took two steps back and felt gravity take over as his foot went onto the steps.

Merlin and the man rolled down the stairs, holding onto each other and crashing into the stone. Merlin's head began to spin, and his arms – especially his left elbow – took several bruise-worthy blows, but they didn't stop until they reached the bottom. Merlin used the other's surprise to push himself on top and wrench the knife away.

Eyes wild, he held the knife over the man's heart. "The man who looked like Gwaine is working for you? Who else? Who else can change shape?"

The man gasped for breath. He had blood leaking down his forehead, and he closed his lips. Merlin pushed the blade a bit down.

The man took in a breath. "Just us," he said. "But that's all we need." And then he wrapped his arm around Merlin's and pushed the knife away. He wrapped a leg around Merlin's and nearly turned him over, but Merlin brought a knee up and dug it into the man's stomach.

Growling, he snarled, "Will I have to kill your whole family?" And then Merlin switched hands and drove the knife into the man's chest.

A/N: Hey! I'm trying to hurry and finish up this story, because I've got another one I need to start working on. (I posted it, it's another AU... sigh...) So updates might be a little quicker... hopefully. Not too much left! Okay, review, please!