It was so cold. Arthur was somewhere between being awake and being in sleep when he tried to find his blanket. It has propably fallen on the floor. However Arthur's hand found something warm right next to him. Half asleep he moved closer that heat, pressing his face and chest against the warmness. It was so much more comfortable feeling than coldness...

"Kröhöm."

Arthur suddenly came back from the sleeping world. He didn't feel tired at all anymore. Slowly his brains understood what his eyes saw: Gwaine and Elyan were looking at him with very confused look. Arthur moved his attention to the heat source where he was still resting his head. It took a long time before Arthur realiced this source of heat being someone's feet. He, the crown prince of Camelot, was keeping his head against someone's feet. How on earth was that glorious?

Arthur quickly pushed the feet away from his face causing the owner of the feet wake up.

"What is going on?" Poor Merlin muttered half asleep when he sat up and tried to focus his tired eyes on the knights. Why were they laughing?

"We know that Merlin is your manservant but pleace, let the innocent boy at last keep his own legs. Besides it would be really bad if you some day get off of the bed with two wrong foot. One is bad enough."

"Gwaine?"

"Get off of the bed with two wrong foot?" Merlin was completely out what was going on. Arthur's face and neck were red and bouth Elyan and Gwaine tried to hold their laughs as much as they could. What the hell was going on?

"No one is allowed to talk about this, is that understood?" Arthur snapped to the knights, who bouth nodded grinning. Of course Arthur would hear about this the rest of his life.

Gwaine and Elyan went to sleep at the same bed were Arthur and Merlin had slept. The warlock and the prince were next on the watch. They had saved a lot unnecessary work on moving only couple king-size beds rather than moving many small beds. Of course it meant that they would have to sleep on pairs but only Arthur had thought it unpleacant. Share a bed with Merlin. The warlock would propably mutter a spell while he was sleeping and make Arthur's hair turn pink or something like that. But when they were sleeping they all knew that Arthur was the unpleacant sleeping partner. He had used to sleep in a huge bed so he just kept kicking Merlin the whole night. The prince didn't even bother to feel sorry for his friend so everything has turned to be allright. To him at last.

"Why is this happening?" Arthur talked the first time after Gwaine and Elyan went to sleep. Merlin looked at the prince but turned quickly back to the window. He knew that Arthur wanted to scream. Scream as much as he could about all these things they had faced together in couple of years. But he couldn't. He was the prince so he couldn't let himself look weak or look like he was losing his hope. Never with anyone except Merlin. Merlin has always been unbeliavable wice. He always said just the right things to make Arthur feel a little bit better again.

"The son pays for his fater's crimes. That is what some people call it. Uther's hate of magic caused that the people were hiding their powers. Then someday they try some spell that is way too hard for them. They can't ask anyone to teach them because they are afraid of Uther's wrath", Merlin said. That actually made Arthur feel much worse if it even was possible anymore. He loved his father, even when almost everyone else hated the King. Merlin however wasn't done yet: "But it's not too late yet. When you are the King, you can fix your father's mistakes. You will bring peace to all kingdoms and you will stop the war between sorceres and people. It's thanks to you that we will get the peace to Camelot and people don't have to suffer like this anymore. And in the end, hopefully, we all may be able to forgive your father."

Arthur looked at his friend without saying a word. Merlin made it sound so easy but to the young prince was under so much pressure. He was just a human. He was just a prince without any kind of power. He didn't have even magic. And he would bring the peace to all the kingdoms. How on earth just one person could do that?

"I can't even stop this dicease. So how I'm supposed to stop all those wars? Many of them are so old that no living person even remembers when they started in the first hand. And how you know that some sorcerer won't attack on me for a revenge?" Arthur asked a little annoyed. Merlin knew that Arthur wasn't really annoyed but worried. Stressed. Maybe even terrified. The warlock smiled to the prince.

"You must believe in yourself. I trust in you. You will be the greatest king that anyone has ever seen. And of some sorcerer attacks at you then I will take care of it. I will be there on your side like I always am protecting you. We will find a cure for this illness. You won't face all of this alone."

It felt like a huge weight was lifted off Arthur's shoulders. Merlin was right. He wasn't alone as long as he had Merlin. So he was actually never alone. Merlin had always stood right next to him in danger, happyness, sadness and in every almost impossible missions where they had been in these years. Always when he felt like the world has came to an end, Merlin gave him the strenght to keep going even in the hopeless battle. Merlin trusted him. The last he could do was trust in Merlin.

"Promise to me something: when I became the king, you will be there to give these advises of yours. And to polish my armor and clean my stables", Arthur said grinning. That was his way to thank Merlin from wise words. Merlin acted like he was thinking hard when he was looking at Arthur.

"I don't know. If some other King gives me a better job, I might not be abel to resist", Merlin laughed. In fact he couldn't leave Arthur even if he wanted to. His Stupidness wasn't just his prince anymore but Arthur was his friend. And you really can't leave your friend even for a better job.

The time flew when they talked about everything what they could think of. They didn't even realice that the sun was rising. Only when Lancelot started to wake up because of the light, Merlin snapped back to reality and woke up the other knights too.

"What we have for breakfast, I'm starving to dead", Gwaine's first words for the morning sounded more like growling. The knights looked tired. No one has slept very well. Who would sleep well in a small cottage where was so weak wood door that a zombie would have been able to just run throught it like it was nothing.

"Lancelot, Leon. You two come with me and Merlin to look for some food. Take just as much as is needed. Here must have some food for people when they came back."

Arthur truely believed that there was a cure for this disease. It other ways his people were doom. Lancelot and Leon nodded takeing their swords in their hands. Merlin went out first.

"Call us if you need any help", Arthur said before he and Merlin went to the other direction and Lancelot and Leon went the other. Merlin and Arthur made their way to a bit bigger house. It wasn't much bigger than the others. Merlin put his hand on the door handle only to find out that the door wasn't even closed. He looked at Arthur who nodded.

It took a while before their eyes got used to the darkness. The cottage didn't offer anything suprising compared to the others. There was blood and marks of fight but not a single body on sight. Only diffrence was that there was a slight smell of rotten meat. Boys stepped carefully in.

Arthur pointed to a thin courtain across the door. It wasn't a big place to a zombie be hiding but it was still on a way. Merlin and Arthur couldn't see every part of the cottage, and that of course made them feel uneacy. Merlin walked slowly to the courtain. Arthur pointed it with his sword ready to defeat them if something attacks at them. The warlock grabbed to the courtain and they looked at each other with a really nervous look before Merlin pulled the courtain off.

"Ácwel-",Merlin couldn't shout the spell to it's end. He had seen two people but it took a minute before the realiced that they were really dead. The bodies were two children's, a girl and a boy. A sister and her brother. Bouth kids had same kind of black marks on their throat. They weren't killed by biteing, ripping or by eating alive. They were murdered by choking. The corpses weren't harmed in any other ways. They were just sitting there leading lightly each other. The bodies had started to slowly rot in the heat of summer.

They bouth had their last look frozen to their faces. They were staring right at Merlin with fear, terror and confusion mixed to their faces. Merlin couldn't breath. The boy backed off quickly from the stare of the bodies and on the way he walked on Arthur his back first. The warlock jumped about the sudden impact and tried to move away from the prince as quickly as possible but his eyes wouldn't stop stareing at the children. The prince grapped from his shoulders and forced him to turn away from the bodies and be face to face with Arthur.

"We can't do anyting to them anymore. They are gone", Arthur said with as strong voice as he could. He tried to make his friend calm down. His own voice cracked a little, but he tried to keep it steady. It was bad enough to see innocent people suffer from this... What ever this illness was but it felt even forse to see children suffer from this too. Innocent children should have never be made suffer this kind of thing. Never.

Merlin took a couple shallow breaths before he was able to even try to calm down. Arthur hold his grip on Merlin's shoulders and stopped him from turning to the corpses again. Of course Merlin had seen ill, dead or tortured children before but each time the small terrified faces felt painfull in his heart.

Arthur didn't like to think that he was more used to see dead children. Merlin had never have to kill any kids. Merlin had always tried to sace everyone he vould and avoited unnecassery fights as much as possible. Arthur in other hand had killed so many men, women, children, knights and civilians because his father told him to do it. The young prince was glad about that he sill felt pain in his heart when he saw the small bodies. At last he wasn't completely like his father.

"We should go away from here as quick as we can", Arthur whispered when Merlin's breating has became even. He slowly let go of the warlock's shoulders and looked at him a little bit worried. "Try not to pass out. I will not take you with me to whole way in Camelot. You shall walk behind." Like Athur would ever do that to Merlin.

Merlin smiled.

"This is not a joke."

Without saying a word they turned back to face the kids. Merlin took a deep breath before he walked to the corpses. Arthur looked at the door making sure that there was no one be seen.

"What do you think that happend here?" the prince asked when he turned back to warlock. Merlin was looking at the bruices on the children's necks.

"They were being strangled to the death. With pare hands. My best quess is that the father..." Merlin turned to look at the bloodmarks of the room. He pointed at the door that had been a little bit open when they came here. ".. tried to keep the monsters out, telling his wife to go with their children in the only place to hide in the houce..." Merlin's hand followed the trail of blood that started from the door and ented up in the small kitchen. There was much more blood than on door. "However the monsters came in the house and they attacked to father. They bite, bite, bite..." Merlin pointed at a one place where was really lots of blood. "... He fell, fought but eventually he turned into a monster too..."

Merlin turned to look at the children again. He bite his lips while he thought.

"Their mother was hiding here. She saw what happend to her husband. She didn't want her children to have the same fate as their father, so she decited to kill them..." Merlin's attention turned to a blood trail that started from the kids and went to the door. "... But the monsters took her with them. She is one of them. Why they chosed to leave the kids' bodies in peace is a mystery. Maybe they like only living meat."

Arthur looked at the warlock with confuced look on his face. Okay, he was a hunter, he was really able to read trais. But that kind od story would be made only by really crazy person. But the story was beliavable. At least they had that comfort that if they died natureally their bodies would have peace. Those monsters wouldn't eat their brains it they were dead. The blonde stepped forward and leaned over one body.

Without saying a word he moved the small body on the bed, closing the kid's eyes. Merlin did the same to the other kid. Now the kids looked like they really were sleeping. The boys looked at the children. They didn't have time to make a proper funeral so a small quiet moment should be enough for now. Arthur saw a thin dirty blanked on the floor and took it in his hands. With his servant the prince put the blanked over the bodies.

After this Arthur took a deep breath and looked at the raven hair.

"We should go now."