"Merlin," Arthur groaned, just loud enough that Gaius could hear him. "Merlin."

Gaius put down his water and crouched in front of the prince. Gripping him by the shoulders, he forced Arthur to look at him. "What's wrong with Merlin?"

Arthur's eyes seemed to shimmer and flash. "Gedren . . . pain . . ."

His eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

Gaius managed to haul him to the bed and then summoned Uther.

"It seems he's been working too hard," he told the king. "He's got a bit of a fever. I gave him a draught to help him sleep but I would recommend a lighter workload for the next little while."

He hated lying to Uther, but there was no way he could tell him what was really going on concerning Merlin and Arthur.

"And how long until he's better?" Uther asked, his gaze anxious.

"He can leave in the morning, but I'd give it a week, just to be safe." It was Gaius's turn to gaze at the prince, his thoughts on Merlin as he watched Arthur toss and turn, muttering incoherently in his sleep.

"You know the best way to go about it, Gaius. I leave it to you." Nodding, he left to attend to other duties.

Moments after Uther left, Arthur began crying. Large, golden tears slid down his face. Gaius stared. He'd never seen anything like it before. The only thing he could think to do was to wipe the tears away as they fell.

Eventually, they stopped.

Darkness had arrived by the time Arthur finally roused. "Gaius?" he asked, frowning at the older man who sat vigil. "What happened?"

Gaius looked down, unsure how to answer. At last, he took a breath and told Arthur what had happened.

Arthur's eyes widened. "I remember feeling a lot of pain," he said, a hand going unconsciously to his head. "But that's it."

"No idea where he is?"

Arthur shook his head. "No."

"He'll show up," Gaius said with determined optimism. "He always does."

"I hope so." Arthur pressed a hand to his heart. "It feels very empty in here."

He'd been away for almost two hours, Gedren mused as he returned to the dungeons. The box would have done its job by now.

He approached Merlin's cell to find the young man slumped against the wall where he'd originally been deposited, a blank look on his face.

It was what Gedren wanted to see. He could now return Merlin to Camelot, as useless as he'd always known him to be. He could go on to hunt for the rest of the city's magic users without having to worry about the stable brat getting in the way.

Merlin didn't even blink when Gedren entered the cell and closed the box, which was still humming. Pulling the protective cloth from his ears, Gedren removed the sword and tucked it back into his belt. Finally, he returned the box to its place and carried Merlin outside, where his horse was waiting to return the pair to Camelot.

The prince was going to be in for a big surprise, Gedren thought as he kicked his horse into action.