A/N Guess who's waking up now? Health Warning: Major Cliffie coming up - don't hate me too much!

Chapter 6

"Arthur!" Even knowing what to expect, seeing Arthur lying curled up under his sheets and covered in sparkling ice obviously shocked Gwen. Merlin didn't blame her, he'd felt much the same earlier, but at least now he felt more confident about waking the prince up. He just didn't feel that confident about what would happen when he woke up.

"Don't touch him yet, Gwen, let me protect him with a shield first," Merlin warned as she too, instinctively moved a hand towards his hair to stroke it. She nodded and quickly stepped back to allow Merlin to work his magic.

The spell came easily to him now. He knew just how much power to use, just how to spread the warmth evenly throughout the body. He now knew how everyone tended to react and Arthur was no different.

"Aahh!" He sat up and looked around wildly. "Guinevere?" He instinctively grabbed the bed sheets and tried to lift them up towards his chin, even though he was actually wearing a night shirt - it was winter after all. He looked down confused at the stiff bedclothes, frozen solid, that couldn't be pulled up and then glanced around his ice covered bedchamber. "Ah, what?"

"There's not much time, Arthur," Merlin started to explain. "Someone has cast a freezing spell on Camelot, but luckily it didn't work very well and some of us and some places weren't affected so … I need you to come and join the other knights. Here ..." He indicated his usual clothes and armour on the table, which he'd already defrosted. "You need to get dressed."

"Merlin, you're giving me orders again. That's becoming a very annoying recent habit of yours."

"Yes, Sire. Well?"

"Ah, shouldn't Guinevere wait outside?" Arthur asked nervously.

"Since when have you been so modest about your body? Anyway, she might as well get used to seeing you undressed and I'm sure you won't find her complaining about it."

"Merlin!" They both shouted at him and Arthur slapped him around the head. Merlin glared at the prince as he rubbed his sore skull.

"Trust me, Arthur you really don't want to knock me out right now," he threatened.

"Oh? Why not?" The prince turned a feral smile on his servant and Gwen gave Merlin an amused shrug and turned her back, although she knew she shouldn't move too far away. "Not that it isn't lovely to see you here, Guinevere, but why are you here?" Arthur asked as Merlin helped him dress and subtly adjust his shield as he did so.

"Everyone's on a bit of a tight schedule and we have another errand to run after this," she explained.

"On who's authority?"

"Gaius' of course," Merlin answered calmly. "Are you ready?"

"Yes … No. Look, Merlin, you need to tell me more than this. Why …?"

"Lancelot will fill you in when we get to the conference area."

"Where?"

"One of the places that got missed by the spell." Behind Arthur, Gwen shook her head sadly at the easy way he lied to the prince.

They walked down the corridor gingerly, working hard not to slip on the ice. Gwen seemed to enjoy the excuse to stay close to Arthur and Merlin knew that their gentle bushing of hands was quite deliberate. He really wished they wouldn't, as it seemed to have a strange affect on their shields and tended to make him jump. As a result he found himself stumbling even more than normal, and then had to put up with the expected teasing from Arthur about his clumsiness. He found it far more annoying than usual. Not only was he saving the day … again, but this time four other people knew that it was all down to him and were praising him for it. He sighed. He supposed he couldn't have it both ways; if he was too much of a coward to tell Arthur the truth, then he couldn't blame the prince for continuing to treat him the way he always had.

They reached the conference space and were immediately accosted by the other knights, with Elyan quickly reassuring himself that his sister was well before Arthur impatiently called them all to attention."Will someone tell me what's going on and … why it's only us here and why …?" he began.

"I'll leave all of that to Lancelot then, shall I?" said Merlin giving his friends a wink and a cheeky grin. "Sire?" he said with a bow. Gwaine gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder as he passed by; one that very nearly floored him. He turned his best glare on his friend and thought seriously about using his magic. Gwaine could obviously tell what was on his mind because he gave Merlin a big grin and then made a very obvious show of moving closer to Arthur. Merlin gave him one last glare before leaving with Gwen.

"Have you had much of a chance to talk to Lancelot?" he asked her as they left the area and he checked her shield was still holding against the continuing cold.

"No. Why would I?"

"Gwen, you never believed I was an idiot, even when you didn't know about my magic."

"S-sorry, Merlin but, it's awkward. I feel so guilty about Lancelot. Feel like I was leading him on that time when I was certain I could never be with Arthur and now that it looks like I can ..." She shrugged. "Whatever would of happened then, or might happen now, at least one of them would be hurt and I never wanted that. Lancelot would probably prefer to leave Camelot but now he feels honour bound to help Arthur and you know how how knights are about honour?" Merlin gave a snort as a reply.

"Just when things start to look good, something comes along to remind us that we're not in charge of our destiny after all," he said eventually. Gwen looked at him a little surprised at the comment before nodding her agreement.

"This is what you were saying earlier about having to protect Arthur?" she asked.

"Two sides of the same coin," is the favourite saying of the moment," Merlin replied sarcastically. "The whole point of my magic is apparently about protecting Arthur and ensuring he lives long enough to become king."

"But that's good, isn't it. I mean it's very …"

"Honourable?" He suggested with a straight face, and Gwen giggled in response. They'd reached Morgana's old chambers and climbed the small flight of stairs the lead to the main entrance.

"I will move in here eventually," Gwen said, continuing their earlier conversation. She started to move to the other side of the room. "Soon, probably. Once I've got used to … oh!"

"What?"

"... having a maid. Merlin, we can't just leave her here." There on the floor, huddled in a little icy ball was Sara, her pale brown hair completely covering her face. "Let's get her onto the bed." Gwen grinned at him. "Even you can manage that."

"Well of course I can, although I could always use magic to help," Merlin replied with a grin, although he lifted her up fairly easily without; she was a little shorter than him and almost as skinny after all.

"I once lifted Arthur onto a horse whilst he was unconscious and wearing his full armour," he continued proudly. Gwen gave him a sceptical look. "Well yes, that time I did use a bit of magic," he admitted. The warlock quickly tried to move the maid's hair out of her face, without touching it, or her for too long. He noticed Gwen's amused scrutiny and worked hard not to spend too much time looking at the girl or to show any emotions on his face.

Yes, he had noticed her. Yes he did think she was pretty and he was very flattered, if sightly embarrassed and totally bemused at how much she appeared to like him. Then again, Sara was the one with a little magic that he'd mentioned earlier and, as he'd said to Gwen, he did seem to get drawn to them. Morgana, Nimueh and Freya had all made instant and very strong impressions on him and even the older ladies and the men with magic that he'd met had all quickly grabbed his attention too, even if he hadn't understood his fascination with them at the time. Recently, he had started to realised what it was he was sensing when he was around them; he would feel a type of push when he got close, in much the same way as he did when he was confronted with a strong magical object. It also appeared to explain why the older and wiser sorcerers seemed to instantly recognise his magic … or him. It was fortunate then, that most of those he'd had to battle whilst in Camelot did not appear to have this ability. The majority of them continued to see him as Arthur's idiot servant and, for the time being, that was something he was keen to encourage.

"So, where did you last see this diamond?" He asked Gwen who was already hunting in the drawers of the various cabinets.

"No, it's gone," she replied, shaking her head. "It was in this lovely little mother-of-pearl pill box which I just couldn't resist opening." She handed Merlin the small decorative container … which was empty.

"How was the diamond to be used Gwen? Can you remember?"

"Well there was all this stuff about an incantation?" Merlin nodded at her encouragingly. "It's a difficult one by all accounts - something to do with a sorcerer's thoughts and intentions as well as his words - then it would just do it's work … slowly turning everything around it to ice. It would be the centre of the spell, just like that creepy mask is the focus of your shielding spell."

"So, it would need to be … in the centre of the palace ... Isn't that about …?"

"Here? Yes, we're pretty close and it makes sense if it does have something to do with Morgana."

"And, if it's not in the box …"

"… then it could be anywhere nearby." She sighed and then suddenly brightened. "Perhaps Sara has seen it?"

"It's a bit of a long shot."

"Asking her could save us valuable time."

"Yes, and I really shouldn't be too long away from that conference area. Fine."

"I thought I might have to spend longer persuading you, actually," Gwen said attempting an innocent look that Merlin didn't believe for a moment.

"Behave!"

Sara's reaction was slightly different to all the men he'd defrosted. She gradually uncurled from her little huddle and then opened her pale grey eyes very slowly. She turned her head to find Merlin sitting on the bed beside her, leaning over her and staring at her intently and her lips parted in surprise.

"I'm d-dreaming. I must be," she breathed. Gwen giggled and Sara turned to find the sound. "My lady," Merlin saw Gwen pull a face and gave his friend an amused smile.

"How are you feeling, Sara?" he asked gently.

"Very cold. I had the strangest dream but … this isn't one, is it? I'm awake now?" The way she was looking at him was making him feel a little uncomfortable.

"Yes. Listen, Camelot has been enchanted. Turned to ice. A group of us are trying to work out how to fix it. Have you seen this before?" He showed her the pill box and she nodded.

"Yes, in lady Guinevere's cabinet."

"It's not mine, Sara, not yet."

"It should be." Her tone was vaguely accusing.

"Was there anything inside the box? A diamond?" Merlin continued.

"No, sir, nothing like that."

"Sir?" Merlin sat bolt upright, shocked at the comment and Gwen giggled. Alright, Sara was a few years younger than him but still ...

"Y-you are Arthur's personal servant," she started to explain, "and … well ... more than that, of course."

"Will you stop that?" Merlin shouted at Gwen who had burst out laughing at her last comment. "She didn't mean it like that ..." He caught the wicked sparkle in the maid's eyes and started to wonder. "Ah, did you?" he asked nervously.

"Oh no. Sorry but ..." she too started to giggle. "Well, I've heard those rumours too of course but ... I just meant that you're part of his Round Table now … an advisor of sorts?"

"I am still his servant and I'm just Merlin." He'd heard the rumours about him and Arthur too. He fervently hoped that the prince had not.

"And I'm still Gwen, unless in public, Sara, I know I've told you this before."

"Yes, my … Gwen. Merlin." She looked at him shyly and turned pink. Merlin swallowed hard.

"Sara … the diamond? Please think, it's very, very important," Gwen continued.

"No, I'm sorry. I definitely haven't seen anything like that."

"Anything at all? Any people in here that shouldn't have been? Anything that seemed at all strange?" Merlin pushed. Sara bit her lip and shook her head, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Something might come back to you," Gwen said gently. "Look, Merlin, the poor girl's confused enough as it is and I think perhaps the two of us should go and get everyone something to eat but …" She paused and bit her lip. "Well, I suppose you've got to come with us too, haven't you?"

"Yes." He stood up and sighed. "So quickly: to the kitchens, to Gaius' then I'll leave you girls there and hurry back to the knights." He sighed again, his mind racing furiously. Why was there never enough time? Should he really be accompanying the girls to the kitchen for food when the enemy could now be approaching the gate house? If Arthur saw Camelot being attacked what would he do? Would he attempt to leave the area? How would Gwaine or Lancelot contact him to let him know what was happening?

Perhaps he could enchant a small object for someone to carry about with them, Merlin thought as he walked and slid along with the girls. It was essential that they got food but then, when they'd cooked some, he'd have to be the one to take it all the way up to the knights, probably one bowl at a time. He would have to escort everyone and everything where they needed to go and, somehow, find enough physical strength and magical power to take part in any battle that happened; preferably without Arthur noticing he was using magic. He groaned at the thought.

~o~0~o~

Then again, did they really need to split their resources like this? The knights needed to be where they were but … books could be moved, or that table shield extended slightly to cover a nearby room. Having all of the Round Table in one place would certainly make a lot more sense and save him having to run back and forth so often.

At last he and the girls arrived back in Gaius' chambers, with their arms full of supplies, to find the old man looking rather stressed and impatient. "Well?" he asked.

"No, we didn't find it," Merlin replied. "Look, I've been gone from the knights far too long – I need to check in with them." He pulled a face. "And get a serious telling off from Arthur I suspect."

"You know my answer to that," said Gwen calmly and gave him an amused smile as he glared at her. Sara also smiled at him, still looking exceptionally pale, but she had now turned her attention to the fire and the ingredients they'd brought up. Hopefully keeping busy would help her to relax and, perhaps then, she might recall something important about the Ice Diamond.

Merlin scurried back to the conference area, noting that the parts of the corridor that had been melted by his previous trips along here, had quickly iced up again. Assuming it was that mysterious diamond causing this, it was still doing it's job. Still constantly pushing out it's cold magic against all of his warming spells.

How much time had passed since he'd helped tie up those scouts? Surely by now, their bosses would be suspicious of their absence and send more, or perhaps come in person. Were they ready? Would his magic and six knights be enough against … how many? How many soldiers? How many sorcerers?

"Anything?" He called out as he entered the shielded area.

"All quiet. What are they waiting for?" Elyan asked, echoing his own fears.

"Waiting for their scouts to return, I expect," said Gwaine carelessly.

"Scouts? What scouts?" asked Arthur.

"Oh, it's just two men came along earlier either to check if the spell was working, or perhaps to kidnap you or the king," said Merlin. "But the townspeople had managed to lower the portcullis and they all appeared to throw themselves at the men and tie them up. Very brave of them, actually."

"You were the first one awake?"

"Me and Gaius – at least, the spell didn't quite reach our little edge of the castle and when we realised what was going on ... well Gaius started to research things."

"He's still there?" the prince asked.

"Yes."

"And how are you able to move around out there and we're not?"

"Gaius has given me this charm … and no, Arthur, you can't have it. Your place is here. My job is … general dogsbody as usual, and I need to get back there now."

"Merlin," Gwaine whispered as he walked briskly towards the exit. "How do we let you know if something starts happening?"

"I'll feel it if someone tries to come through the gate but … I was thinking about that charm excuse. Wait a moment ..." He moved outside of the shielded area so that Arthur wouldn't see what he was doing, and rummaged through his pockets to find that he still had the pill box. Grinning at his good fortune, he cast a spell on it and pushed out the shield to about Gwaine's size. He then moved back and handed it to his friend.

"Ah, how very sweet, Merlin," said Gwaine, accepting it with a cheeky grin. "Does that mean we're betrothed or something? Won't Arthur get jealous?"

"Don't you start," he replied in a sulky voice. "Just put it in your pocket and I'll adjust the shield to fit you."

"Oh, I see."

"Right, now step out here briefly and see what happens."

"I'm fine, not cold at all."

"Don't leave here unless it's a total emergency, Gwaine. You know Arthur will question it if you do and you'll know he'll insist on taking the box if he knows you have it."

"I'll just knock him out if he tries, shall I? He's more than used to that by now."

Merlin grinned and quickly headed back to Gaius' room, suddenly feeling a lot more relaxed about the situation.

~o~0~o~

"Right ..." he said, with a weary sigh as he entered the room. "I've now used that charm excuse for real – well in two different ways. Now Gwaine will be able to roam the castle too. So, what's next?"

"Food," said Sara firmly.

"Later, we're on a tight schedule here."

"No, now," said the maid firmly. "I know I don't fully understand what's been happening here, but I do know that you've been in the thick of it. Have you eaten anything at all today?"

"No, but then that's not especially unusual."

"That, Merlin, is more than obvious," she said looking him up and down critically and sounding worryingly like his mother. "Well, I'll not be having you wasting away to nothing when there's perfectly good stew here. Now … eat." Merlin found himself sitting down at the table before he'd even realised it. Sara put a bowl of soup in front of him and literally forced a spoon into his hand. Merlin gave Gaius and Gwen a startled look to find the two grinning broadly.

"Now, why does that never work when I try it?" Gaius asked.

"I think perhaps you know the answer to that?" replied Gwen, amused.

"Hmm," the old man replied with a smile.

Seriously outnumbered, Merlin took a careful spoonful. He stared at it, and then Sara, before turning back to Gaius. "Have you tasted this?" he asked his mentor. "That'll give you another answer. Sara, this is quite honestly delicious."

She grinned at him broadly, her cheeks going slightly pink. She then quickly put a bowl in front of Gaius, another in front Gwen and took hers back to the fire to eat.

"I was about to tell you off for you rudeness, Merlin," said Gaius taking a second mouthful of the stew. "But, as it happens you are quite correct. Lovely, Sara, thank you."

"Gwen, never mind your various sensibilities about your title or about Arthur, you need to make sure this girl has no desire to move out of Camelot … ever," Merlin commented in-between greedy mouthfuls.

"It's not her role as my maid that's keeping her here," she whispered quietly to him with another cheeky smile. Merlin tried to ignore her and concentrate on his stew.

Their quiet enjoyment of their meal was interrupted by a sudden clatter from behind them. They all turned around to find that the young maid had dropped her bowl on the stone floor and was now shivering uncontrollably.

"Sara?" Merlin dropped his spoon and ran to her. "What's wrong?"

"S-so cold ..." Her teeth were chattering and her face was very pale. Merlin knelt down in front of her and held both her hands in his to find them icy cold. He looked at Gwen and Gaius who both seemed perfectly warm.

"I don't understand. My shield's still working?" he asked and the pair nodded their agreement. "So, why is she so cold?"

~o~0~o~

Published Jan '10

Edited May '12