Chapter 4

Arthur felt Gaius lay a hand on his arm and gently lead him away. Vaguely he sensed himself being walked through hallways and out into the courtyard but he felt too dazed to take note. He wanted to wake up; he wanted this all to be some awful dream. If Merlin woke him up now, he wouldn't care what time it was.

His own father had denied him. His own father did not know his name or face. His own father had no memory of him.

Gaius led him through the door into the large front room of his house and set him down on a low bench. Merlin and Gwen followed behind.

"Will he be alright?" asked Gwen.

"We will see," said Gaius, "Tell me, what else do you know about him? Do you have any further information on this head injury?"

"Oh," Gwen looked embarrassed, "Actually, I've never heard of this man before in my life."

Merlin grinned. "You mean you just completely lied to the King?"

"I had to," said Gwen, shaking off her embarrassment and meeting Gaius' frown with a look of defiance. "I was walking past when I heard all the shouting. The poor man is clearly confused if he's insisting he's someone that never existed and Uther was going to throw him in the dungeon. And what if what that's wrong with him," she waved at Arthur, "doesn't get any better? In fact being thrown into the dungeon could make it worse. And in a few day's he could still be insisting he's the Prince of Camelot? What would Uther do then? Torture him? Kill him? I learned to well Uther's sense of justice at my father's trial."

Gaius sighed. "I understand how you feel Guinevere. But you took a terrible chance if Uther ever finds out."

Gwen bit her lip and then gesturing to the sheets she was holding said, "I have to get back to work." She turned to leave.

"Thank you Gwen," said Arthur abruptly. She turned and looked at him. "Thank you for what you just did for me."

"You're welcome…what's your name?"

"Arthur."

She smiled. "You're welcome Arthur." She turned and walked out of the room.

"Alright young man," said Gaius as the door shut behind her. "Let look you over. Maybe you can tell us a little bit about yourself, what do you remember?"

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you," sighed Arthur, burying his head in his hands.

"Well maybe if you told us something that made sense, we'd believe you?" suggested Merlin brightly.

Arthur shot him a look. "Thank you Merlin. That's really helpful. As always."

"I can't help but notice you do seem to know all of our names. That is peculiar. Granted that information could be learned fairly easily while spending a short time in Camelot…" Gaius mused.

"Gwen might have been making that whole story up out of thin air," said Merlin, "But it certainly would fit."

"Could you all just stop it!" snapped Arthur. "I don't need to hear you all speculating on why and how I'm crazy. I know I'm not crazy. I know I'm Arthur Pendragon."

"You heard what His Majesty said," said Gaius firmly. "And you also heard Gwen. If you do not want to end up in a great deal of trouble you will stop this instantly. I know you may very well believe yourself to be the prince, but let me assure you things that seem real are not always. There are many poor souls in the world that suffer from delusions and each believes very firmly in their reality. But you are in very grave danger with this illusion."

"Illusion…" murmured Arthur. He sat for a moment in thought.

Of course the only explanation for what was happening was magic. That was obvious. There was no other way everyone could have forgotten. And he knew he wasn't crazy. Right?...no, he wasn't. He was Arthur Pendragon. Uther's heir. This was all a spell. But how far did that spell go? Did it affect just Camelot? Or did it reach beyond? He had to be able to break it somehow, but where to begin? He had never heard of a spell like this and he had no idea who could have cast it, or why.

Gaius asked several questions about his health, checked him over and finally gave him something to drink which he said might help him to think clearer. It was moving on to late evening by the time Gaius had finished and Arthur was just realized he had nowhere to go, no money and no friends, when Gaius asked him kindly if he would like to sleep on the floor for the night.

Arthur accepted quickly. Sleep tonight, and if things were the same in the morning he would decide what to do. Find the sorcerer who cast it? Find a way to break the spell? He would decide tomorrow. He yawned and suddenly found himself immeasurably tired. He began to suspect that perhaps what Gaius had given had actually been to help him sleep, and he sighed at the thought. Clearly Gaius was no closer to believing him. But as he lay down on the blanket Merlin had spread on the floor for him, he couldn't really find it in him to care at the moment.