Chapter 5

The next morning Arthur, oblivious to what happened the night before, was strolling around the castle looking for Merlin. He kept on expecting to run into him when he was delivering something for Gaius, talking to Gwen or serving food in the Great Hall, but he was nowhere to be found.

Arthur wondered if Merlin might be hiding in his room, he was on his way there when he ran into Gaius, who looked very worried about something.

"You haven't seen Merlin have you?" Arthur asked.

"No my Lord, he's gone." Gaius sounded very stern.

"Gone? What do you mean 'gone'?"

"He's disappeared."

"Surely there's a perfectly rational explanation," Arthur said, trying not to sound worried by what he had just heard. "Has he gone back to his village?"

"No," Gaius shook his head sadly, "last night Merlin was attacked by two men, there was nothing I could do Arthur, they took him away."

Hearing this, Arthur turned and ran to Gaius' chamber, Gaius quickly following. He right straight to Merlin's bedroom and threw the door open.

The room was completely empty, but it was also a complete mess. There was a sign of a struggle, there was a knife lying on the floor, books and clothes spread all over the place, a small table lay on its side after it had been knocked over. As Arthur looked closer at the damage done in the room, he saw a few drops of blood on the stone floor.

"What did these men look like?" Arthur asked, all the colour had suddenly drained out of his face.

"Tall, brown hair I think, it was hard to tell because it was so dark, but what I can tell you for certain, unless my eyes were deceiving me, the two men looked exactly the same." Gaius tried to stop his voice from faltering, but Arthur could clearly tell that Gaius was deeply upset about what happened.

"Oh no." Arthur groaned.

"Are you alright sire? Maybe you should sit down." Gaius suggested as Arthur's face turned as white as a sheet.

"Maybe later," he mumbled, "but I need to go and talk to someone."

Alik was angry, he got angry a lot, and the same person always seemed to be the same person who was blamed.

He strolled over to Adiemus, who was sitting on the forest floor reading a spell book next to the fire. When it came to magic, Adiemus had the least knowledge and power. Alik however, had the most.

Adiemus looked up to see his brother towering over him, the anger written all over his face.

"What is it?" Adiemus asked, closing the spell book, he immediately knew it was something that he had done.

"See for yourself," Alik said, pulling Adiemus up by one arm and dragging him away from his spell books. After just a few paces, Alik stopped and pointed at a huge willow tree. "Look!" He said angrily.

Lying beside the willow tree, with dried blood on his cheek and leave in his hair, lay Merlin. His eyes were closed and he looked very pale, but every now and then he twitched or moved his leg.

"I don't understand what you're trying to tell me brother." Said Adiemus.

"You said, no you swore, that the potion could keep someone asleep for seven days!" Alik tried not to shout, dangling the horn-shaped bottle in front of Adiemus' nose.

"And what I said is true." Adiemus argued.

"Look at him!" Alik said, pointing back to Merlin, "He's waking up, it's only been three days!"

"Well it has nothing to do with me, I swear to you when I've used the potion before, it worked for a week, he's stronger than other people."

"But you swore it would work!" Alik repeated, even more annoyed by what he thought as a pathetic excuse. "What are we going to do when he wakes up?"

"I don't know." Adiemus mumbled, his eyes flashed suddenly with fury, "we could just kill him."

"We talked about this Adiemus," Alik said as calmly as possible, even though he was still annoyed with his brother. "We can't kill him, not yet, I know you're still angry about what he did to you, but killing him will not help anything at the moment. We have to be patient, we have to wait. Soon the whole of Camelot and all the people will be at our mercy."

"But what are we going to do with him when he wakes up?" Adiemus asked, nodding at Merlin.

"That's for you to sort out brother, you made the mistake with the potion, so now you have to do something about it. Just try not to kill him, or maim him for now." Alik said as he began to turn and walk back to the fire.

Adiemus stood there for a moment, looking at Merlin, the rage still flickered in his eyes as he gingerly stroked the side of his face that still had a burn mark on it, he then also walked back to the fire. Leaving Merlin alone.

"And you say all these three looked exactly the same?" Uther said, sitting on his throne, his hard eyes boring into Arthur as he stood before his father in the great hall.

"Yes sire, even the clothes they were standing in were the same, apart from their eyes." Arthur said.

"But now there are only two?"

"Yes, I killed the third in a fight, but the other two got away. They said they were brothers."

"And there were using magic?" Said Uther.

"Definitely magic, they were like no other men I had seen before, they acted more like beasts than men."

"Then we must keep an eye out for them, they were right on the edge of Camelot's land, but you don't know where?"

"Yes," Arthur said, looking down at the stone floor, he was embarrassed by the fact that he had managed to get lost.

"Is there anything else you wish to tell me?" Uther asked.

"Yes, last night the two men entered Camelot and attacked my manservant, they took him away."

"Do you know why?"

Yes, because he used magic, Arthur thought. "No," he lied to his father, "I do not know why they targeted him, but we have to go and find him."

"I'm sorry but that's out of the question, we have no soldiers to spare going after a mere servant."

"Then I shall go alone."

"You shall do no such thing."

"We can't just leave him to die!" Arthur blurted out angrily before he could stop himself.

"This is probably what they want," Uther said, more to himself than to Arthur, "they are obviously using this servant as bate. It will not work. I forbid you to go and find this servant of yours."

"But if we do nothing we are condemning an innocent man do death."

"It's a regrettable decision, but it must be done, we cannot let the sorcerers win." Said Uther, but he didn't sound like he regretted anything at all. "We can find you another man servant."

"Another servant?" Arthur said slowly as rage started pumping through his blood, then suddenly the words poured out his mouth without stopping: "can't you see that people are more than just mere servants? All you think about is ways of how you can get rid of magic; you don't care how many of your people die! How many innocent lives have been lost already because of your selfishness? No wonder so many sorcerers have tried to kill you!"

"You cannot speak to me like that!" Uther yelled suddenly, standing up. "And one day when you are King you will realise that sacrifices must be made and that magic is the biggest threat to this kingdom. Your people would respect you for it."

"But your people do not respect you! They fear you! Have you never considered that perhaps not all magic is evil? When I am King I will see that my people are more than just peasants and servants, I will respect them and they will respect me! And I will prove this to you by going and looking for this servant, I might be able to find out where he is and I will save him!"

"You cannot go out alone, I will not allow you."

"But—"

"Enough! I don't want to hear any more than you, you have insulted me enough. Go to your chambers and stay there until you realise that what you have said is wrong and you are ready to apologise."

"I will never apologise for the truth." Arthur said firmly, and he stayed where he was.

"Leave now or I will have the guards escort you away." Uther warned.

Arthur stayed where he was.

"So be it," Uther said as he waved at two of the guards standing at the door. He watched them take his son away without a glimpse of emotion on his face apart from anger.

Arthur didn't try to struggle as the guards took him away, but when he reached his chamber and heard the door lock behind him he lashed out angrily, kicking at the stone wall. Merlin was not someone Arthur was willing to sacrifice, but if he didn't get out of the castle and do something soon, Merlin would die. That was something Arthur was certain of.