I'm still not done the reunion! GAHHH, it is the hardest thing to write EVER! But I am working on it, so my winner will have it sent to them soon, so very soon. Did ya guys see the new cover image... I made it myself. It's my first time trying to make one so please don't be too harsh on me, but I do want to know what you think. So leave a comment! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Wisegirl6

Chapter 16 ~Coughing And Scratching

"George, I need you to do me a favor."

George inwardly cringed. Here it comes, he thought to himself, the king's going to hand me over to lord Cavell or his creepy son Jonah, regardless of the fact that they already had servants. He managed to keep his face stoic as his master looked up at him from the documents he was signing.

King Arthur leaned forwards on his desk so he was leaning on his elbows. "Do you remember what Jonah's servant looked like?" he asked stifly, as if the idea of asking George about anything other than serving pained him.

"Yes, sire. I believe I do," George answered, a little put off by the abrupt question. "He was the one with the dark hair."

Arthur nodded. "I need you to ask him his name. I want to know everything about him, where he lives, where he's been, who he might know in Camelot. If you can't get him to answer ask around Cavell's servants, at least one of them must know something about him."

George nodded stiffly. It really wasn't his business who Cavell's son's servant was, but if his King demanded it then he had to oblige. "Yes, sire. Right away, sire." He gave a small bow, turned and left, the King's gaze following him out

Sage scratched at her arm irritably. She had thought that her body had overcome the mystery illness, but one small, itchy red dot still remained on the side of her shoulder. Sage resisted the urge to scratch it again. Her arm twitched at her side. It was just so itchy! She made a quiet sound of discomfort, earning herself a scathing look from Isobel.

She was supposed to be serving her mistress as she ate with Camelot's royals, but it had become a sort of scratch and cough competition between Sage and Merlin.

Sage wasn't sure what was wrong with Merlin. He had been coughing and wheezing for the better part of an hour now. She had assumed that it was just a common cold, some sniffling and sneezing and then he would be back to the same old Merlin. But that hadn't happened; instead he had just gotten worse.

"-And then he had the nerve to tell me that I was cheating! How preposterous is that?" said Jonah, looking expectantly at the king, as if challenging him to disagree.

Arthur nodded. "I would never allow anyone to speak to me like that," he said, putting on a mask of false incredulity.

Merlin snorted, quickly disguising it as another cough.

Cavell looked at him over his dinner with his lip curled slightly in disgust. For some unknown reason he absolutely hated Merlin since the episode in the library, which really puzzled the warlock because what he had done really hadn't merited that kind of dislike.

He raised his gaze and caught Arthur's. Merlin wanted more than anything to just drop the silver jug he was holding and yell at him 'It's Merlin! I'm Merlin, you stupid, idiotic prat!' Sadly he knew how much pain would accompany the gesture.

But then again, other then pain what wrong could come from doing that? Not only would it expose himself, but it would get Isobel and Cavell the punishment they deserved. Merlin bit his lip in discontent as he found the flaw in his plan. There was always a flaw!

If he exposed the slaves that worked for the visiting nobles Isobel could lash out at Arthur or Gwen with her magic. He had seen her do it before with a man that had almost sold them a diseased slave. The sorceress had blasted him against the wall, hard enough to snap his neck and kill him. Sadly the man hadn't been Askandar. Merlin really would have preferred it to have been him.

So yelling insults at the King definitely wasn't the way to go about revealing himself.

He concentrated on Arthur's eyes; trying not to blink. If he could just get him to see him, to really see him, maybe he and the other slaves would have a chance.

Arthur looked back at Jonah without even a raised eyebrow at the wayward slave.

The warlock did his best not to pull his hair out in frustration. It just wasn't fair. The least fate could do after locking him in a cell for almost two years was make this easier for him. Merlin sighed. Self-pity wasn't going to get him anywhere, and hoping that Arthur would just magically realize that his dead manservant wasn't so dead after all wouldn't help either.

Sage gave him a weird look out of the corner of her eyes as he dropped into another fit of coughing.

Merlin barely noticed her over the wrenching coughs. His magic was getting stronger... and he was getting weaker.

It wasn't as if his current condition was helping much. His back still pained him to move because of the slashes and he hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast of yesterday. As if agreeing with his argument Merlin's stomach gave a fierce growl.

"Are you hungry?" came a quiet voice from the table. It was Gwen.

Merlin just stood there for a second, barely believing that she was talking to him. He quickly re-oriented himself and shook his head. Something about getting pity from Gwen just didn't appeal to him, even if it did mean that he would get food.

The queen just looked at him kindly. "Nonsense, you look like you're wasting away!" She cast a quick glance around the table. Jonah and Isobel weren't paying attention Cavell was in discussion with Arthur about Camelot's next tournament. "Here take this," she said, sneakily taking a piece of bread from her plate and holding it out to him.

The slave's hand jerked towards it feebly before he drew it back to his side. He shook his head again, more insistently this time.

Gwen fixed him with a look; one that he knew all too well from his time in Camelot. "Take it. Trust me, you will feel much better once you've had it." When she received no response Gwen pushed it into his hand, closing his fingers around it.

"Your highness, I really don't thi-" His protests were interrupted by her warm, gentle smile.

"It's more than fine, trust me. I know what its like to be a servant, I was one myself before I married the king. What's your name?"

Merlin was afraid to answer. He knew that he wasn't allowed to give his real name, and the thought of anyone calling him anything else, especially someone like Gwen, terrified him. But the queen was waiting for an answer and he couldn't just ignore her. Or at least not after she'd been so nice to him. "M... Matthew," he whispered unsurely.

If Gwen heard his uneasiness she certainly didn't show it. "Well, Matthew, it's very nice to meet you." She drew away and joined in on the conversation between Cavell and her husband with a small smile to him over her shoulder.

Merlin stepped back a few feet, tucking the bread in his sleeve next to his red neckerchief. Strangely, he felt like crying for some inexplicable reason. Whether it was from the giant headache that his built up magic was bringing on or the fragile state of his emotions he didn't know.

Okay, so it was basically just a filler. Nothing super important just happened. But it will be critical to the story because I really don't like filler chapters.

I'm too tired to write anymore so I'm going to leave it at Please Review! :D

Wisegirl6

P.S. Thanks Chonie (hope I spelt that right)