I finished my exam a little early and used the time to write up the last bit of this. This about catches me up to where I left off all that time ago. The next update may be awhile because I need time to plan and I also have a group project/presentation. Usually I write an outline before I start but this was just one of those plot bunnies that couldn't wait!

As always, thanks for the reviews! Let me know what you think so far :)

Arthur snapped awake as the sun shone on his face. He immediately realized two things. First, he had fallen asleep without meaning to and without setting his sword nearby. Second, there was a very warm bundle against his chest. Looking down, he realized Merlin had rolled closer to Arthur in his sleep. With a sigh, he touched Merlin's forehead. His fever remained low, but Arthur knew that could change very quickly. He felt Merlin stir.

"Good morning Merlin!"

Merlin slowly blinked his eyes open and startled when he met Arthur's gaze. He tensed with a wince and pulled away slightly. "Are you feeling better?"

Merlin ducked his head but nodded.

"Well that's good! Do you feel hungry?"

Merlin met Arthur's gaze with surprise. He looked away and back before slowly nodding.

Arthur looked over to where he had set the pot of soup on the edge of the fire. There were no flames, but he could see live coals. Sitting up, Arthur got the fire going and spooned up the soup. The vegetables appeared to have almost dissolved, as well as the meat, but it didn't taste terrible. Looking at Merlin, Arthur could tell he was weak and would probably be unable to sit and/or eat on his own. Arthur doubted that Merlin would be comfortable sitting in his lap so he looked around. He stacked his pack and laid his bedroll over it. Gently, he rested Merlin upright against the mound and tried to ignore the momentary panic at his approach.

When Arthur backed away, the boy sagged almost immediately. Arthur knew he needed to get him to help right away. He hurried to bring the soup over.

"Alright, this isn't the best tasting soup I've ever made, but it'll have to do. Open up Merlin!"

Merlin tensed as Arthur brought the spoon to his mouth. He kept his mouth closed as he studied Arthur with intense but weary eyes. Arthur tried to smile encouragingly, and after one more long glance up, Merlin accepted the spoon of stew. He gradually became more eager but Arthur was careful enough to pace each spoonful of soup. Merlin managed to eat only a few spoonfuls before turning his head away. He glanced nervously at Arthur as if expecting to be in trouble for refusing the food.

Smiling again, Arthur simply said, "That was very good Merlin! I can eat the rest."

Arthur placed his hand on Merlin's forehead, ignoring Merlin's flinch. "Your fever is coming back. I was going to take you to Camelot, but I have a friend that might be able to remove the collar. We'll have to ride hard, will you be okay?"

Merlin didn't respond. He bit his lip and Arthur took that to mean he was uncertain. "If it starts to hurt too much, just tell me. We can take a small break."

Arthur began to wrap Merlin tightly with his cloak. Merlin began to struggle and gasp desperately when Arthur was halfway through. "What is it, Merlin? Am I hurting you?"

Merlin met Arthur's worried gaze with teary eyes and after a moment shook his head. He continued to wiggle in the bundle and Arthur had a thought. "Is it because you can't move?" A nod. "I just wanted to keep you warm! Here, I'll loosen it. There. Now I'm just going to pack up the camp and then we'll leave."

Arthur quickly repacked everything he had pulled out last night. He could feel Merlin watching him, clinging to him with his gaze. It seemed that despite constantly fearing him, Merlin had become attached to Arthur. He felt both proud of himself and a bit ashamed. He was a prince! He couldn't go around having feelings! Yet, there was something about Merlin that brought out the bits of himself that he had always tried to bury. He smothered the fire and crouched next to Merlin. "Are you ready? I'm going to carry you now."

Merlin stayed tense in his arms as he mounted his horse and settled Merlin against him. The chill in the air that signaled the coming of winter made Arthur shiver. Merlin glanced at him with surprise. "I'm just a little cold. The day will warm up soon." Merlin continued to gaze at him, and then offered him a corner of the cloak. Arthur smiled. A corner would not keep him warm, but he understood the gesture. Wanting to test Merlin's trust and get him further used to his touch, Arthur came up with an idea.

"Merlin, I could wrap us both in the cloak if you don't mind sharing."

Merlin began to tremble, but before Arthur could retract his request, Merlin nodded.

Stopping his horse, Arthur unwrapped Merlin. He made to settle Merlin into the saddle in front of him, but almost as soon as he let go, Merlin whimpered and tried to lift himself up. Arthur felt a sick feeling wash over him. He had forgotten that Merlin was hurt there and it was obviously still painful. Quickly, he pulled Merlin up. "Oh! Er… Here, stand on the saddle and lean against me for a moment." Arthur quickly whipped the cloak around his shoulders, aware that Merlin's feet were hurt badly too. Taking the bottom right corner, he brought it up and tied it to his belt behind his left hip. "Alright. This might not work, but let us try it. See if you can sit on this curl and rest against my arm and chest. I'll hold you with this arm. There, is that comfortable?"

Merlin was still tense against him, but this way, Merlin's legs draped over the saddle and his bum could rest on Arthur's thigh. After a slight wriggle, Merlin nodded.

"Good! We better get going then." Arthur picked up the reins in his left hand and passed them to his right, then wrapped the left side of the cloak around them. Setting his horse into a canter, he allowed himself to be calmed by the rhythmic motion.

As the day progressed, Arthur stopped only to rest his horse and relieve himself. He became increasingly concerned as Merlin's fever rose. He tried his best to get him to drink water and kept a wet cloth on his head. He also wrapped wet cloths around his neck under the collar. It didn't feel hot to Arthur, but Merlin's neck was beginning to blister. By dusk, Merlin was no longer waking up when Arthur called to him. To hell with it, Arthur thought. Reaching for his amulet, Arthur said the incantation to activate it. Urging his horse to go faster, he looked back to see his tracks disappearing.

Not long after true nightfall, Arthur stopped his horse outside a cave. "Iseldir! Please, I need your help!" He clumsily dismounted and walked on shaky legs to the cave entrance. A man stepped out to meet him and grasped his arms.

"Arthur!"

"Iseldir, my friend. I need your help. This is Merlin. He's very hurt and sick. Please. Please, can you help him? Don't let him die! He's been unconscious a long time now!"

Arthur could almost see Iseldir embrace a physician's bearing. "Bring him inside to the fire. Can you walk?"

In answer, Arthur strode forward shakily. Near the fire, he finally sank down to his knees and sat back on his ankles wincing as he felt the strain in his legs. Iseldir took Merlin from his arms. "Is he ill or physically injured?"

"Both. He's wounded all over. I cleaned them the best I could, but some were already showing signs of infection. His feet are definitely infected. He took a bolt to the shoulder which I removed and treated, but he lost a lot of blood. And, oh, Iseldir, he's hurt… he… down there… someone… "

Iseldir looked up at Arthur and Arthur could see that he understood. "He has a fever too. I did my best to keep it down but I think the ride made it worse."

"Very well, let me begin to examine him. We may be able to heal his physical injuries."

Arthur felt someone approach him, but he reached to grasp Iseldir's hand to stop him from unwrapping Merlin. "Iseldir. He has magic. Someone collared him."

Arthur saw the sorrow cross Iseldir's face. "We'll see what we can do for him. Thank you, Arthur."

Arthur finally acknowledged the woman behind him. "Medina. It is good to see you."

"It is good to see you too, Arthur. Come. You look half-starved and exhausted. Let's get some food in you and settle you to rest. Iseldir and the others will take care of Merlin."

Arthur nodded and allowed himself to be led to a table near another fire. His fatigue finally caught up to him. In a blur, he felt himself begin to eat. At some point, after nearly falling asleep in his bowl, someone guided him to some blankets by the fire.

But just as he was dropping off, Arthur was shocked awake by a scream. He felt an overwhelming sense of fear and sadness. It took him a moment to realize that the feelings were not his and he momentarily wondered if it was safe to be so open to another's feelings. A second scream and weak sobbing chased away the last vestiges of sleep as Arthur remembered Merlin.

Scrambling up from the blankets by the fire, he stumbled over to where he had left Merlin in Iseldir's care.

"Arthur! Quick!"

"Iseldir, what's happening?"

"He must have had a bad dream. He's not really awake, but in moving away from us he accidentally backed into the fire. He's put a shield over himself. We have to stop him; he does not have the strength to be casting!"

Arthur moved forward only to be stopped by an invisible force. He saw Merlin curl tighter in fear. "Merlin, it's me. Arthur. Do you remember? I found you in the forest." Merlin stilled but did not uncurl. Arthur felt something brush his mind. Concentrating, he tried to think at Merlin. It felt silly and he gave up. Instead he began repeating his monologue in the same calming tone as before.

Eventually Merlin uncurled enough to look around. Hesitantly, he met Arthur's eyes and in a flash of gold, Arthur felt something again. For a moment he saw what Merlin had seen and felt. He'd been woken from a bad dream to see people he didn't recognize and somewhere he didn't recognize. Then he'd remembered Arthur and thought that Arthur had left him. His panic got away from him and when he burned himself, he drowned in his own fear.

Reaching towards him again, Arthur felt the barrier still in place. "Merlin, I didn't leave. I'm here. See? Let me prove it. Let me help you."

Merlin's eyes glowed gold once more and Arthur felt the barrier disappear. Gently he lifted Merlin upright. Not sure what else to do, he hugged Merlin against himself. He felt Merlin tense at first, and then relax against him with soft sobs and tremors. Holding him tighter, Arthur looked at Iseldir questioningly. What was he supposed to do now?

If Arthur didn't know any better, he would have said that Iseldir was smirking. He gestured for Arthur to move closer to the fire. A few minutes by the fire has Merlin sleeping in Arthur's arms. "I cannot heal him magically, Arthur."

"Why?" Arthur could not disguise the shock in his voice.

"The collar prevents me from using magic on him. Any time he uses his magic, or magic is used on him, the collar exerts pain to the same force."

"You can't do anything? Is he stuck like this?"

"No. I've cleaned his wounds and stitched the worst. I gave him some draughts for his fever. I will have to rebind his bones. But Arthur, I need help to get that collar off of him. Even his… captor will have had to remove it once in a while or Merlin would have died. It's poisoning him."

"I thought it only blocked his magic."

"Merlin's magic is not like- not like anyone else's. He does not simply use magic but rather he is magic. It flows through him like blood flows through his veins. Collars like this will eventually poison his magic against him."

Arthur was silent for a moment. He had always thought that magic was separate from people. That it was just something they used, not something a part of them. If it was a part of them, then maybe… maybe his father could be right. If magic wasn't simply a tool, could it corrupt people from the inside? His arms loosened around Merlin almost without his consent.

"Iseldir, you told me magic was- was like a tool. Merlin's magic doesn't sound like that."

"Arthur, what I told you was true. But Merlin is one of a kind. He will one day be able to wield magic like none other before him, and none after, but to many that makes him the tool. I suspect that is why he was captured. Many would seek to use him, not understanding that his greatest strength is not his magic, but his heart."

One of a kind. His heart is his greatest strength. Some memory in the back of Arthur's mind wanted to be remembered. "Iseldir, how do you know so much about him?"

"Merlin is also part of a prophecy."

The other half of the coin? "You mean…" Arthur gestured at himself.

"Yes, Arthur. Your prophecy."

Arthur looked at the small boy in arms. "How? Iseldir, he's so young! He's so…"

"Destiny has her own way of making things happen. But there is no mistaking him. We all felt who he was when you rode in."

Arthur was stunned. This small boy, hurt, sick, and starved, was supposed to help him carry out some great destiny and be a great king? Impossible!

"Arthur, do you remember what I told you when we first met? I repeat it now. I do not tell you these things you to make you worry about that which has not come to pass. Trust your judgment."

Arthur gently pulled Merlin off his chest and held him in his arms. He didn't know what to think. How could he pass judgment on such a small child, in such bad conditions, and whom he has only just met? He couldn't do it. If this were battle tactics, he would say that he lacked enough information to form a cohesive strategy. He had already decided to withhold judgment so now it was just a matter of waiting and observing.

Nodding at Iseldir, he said, "So what now?"

"Gaius will know how to remove the collar. The incantation is a very long one. But we will go in the morning. Both you and Merlin need the rest."

"Should I put him down somewhere?"

Iseldir stood and retrieved Arthur's blankets. Arthur laid Merlin on the side closest to the fire and after a second's thought, rolled one of the blankets to form a barrier between Merlin and the fire. Then he lay down beside Merlin leaving a small space between them.

Arthur watched the fire for a while before his thoughts settled and he finally slept.