A/N A fun little Merlin rant here ... although not a patch on his one in 2.02.

Chapter 8

"The source is now here, inside this room, inside your shield," said Gaius echoing Merlin's thoughts. "We're all going to freeze again."

"No! I will fix this without hurting her!" As Merlin cast the spell one last time, Sara moved back towards him and, despite the fact she thought she was dying, she strangely decided to kiss him.

He thought it an odd way for her to want to spent her last moments. Her lips were now so cold that it was almost painful, but he used it as an opportunity to try to warm her up inside and out; allowing himself to kiss her as passionately as he could, whilst pushing every last bit of warming magic he had into her. He could sense the Ice Diamond now; it seemed to have a presence – a personality - and it was fighting him. It's cold, hard magic pushing and fighting against his warm, loving magic. They battled - Merlin feeling himself getting colder and sleepier as he pushed his warmth with every bit of strength he had against the stone.

Something gave, and Sara sagged in his arms. He released his grip, alarmed, and her weight started to drop towards the floor.

"No!" He shouted again as Gwen and Gaius came rushing over.

"I don't think she'd fully frozen yet," said Gaius inspecting her. "She's just passed out." Merlin sighed in relief.

"Wow, that must have been some kiss," said Gwen amused. Merlin chose to ignore her. "Sorry ..." she continued meekly, realising that this wasn't the best time for jokes.

"That's alright," he gave her a weak grin. "There was actually a reason for getting that close, that's how I knew she was colder on the inside than on the outside. It was the only way I could fully sense the diamond and it's magic." He lifted her up and carried her towards the table, which Gaius quickly cleared so she could be put on it.

"Is there a way to destroy it whilst it's inside her?" the old man asked.

"No, I've already tried that. It's far too powerful." He frowned as he tried to remember the sensation; analyse it. "It's ancient, powerful and ..." He struggled to find a word to describe what he had experienced. "Vicious."

"So …?" asked Gwen

"So, where would it be exactly …?" he muttered to himself, staring at Sara's prone body.

"Basic anatomy, Merlin," Gaius replied in a frustrated tone.

"Yes, yes … I know." He ran a hand slowly over her abdomen focusing all his magical senses on the area. He knew what the stone felt like now; cold and hard … just like Morgana's heart. Merlin let his anger fuel his power as he searched for it.

"Aah!" He felt another type of magical surge and swayed suddenly.

"What?" asked Gwen and Gaius together.

"No! Not now! Why do you have to arrive now?"

"Merlin?" asked Gwen.

"Merlin!" The door flew open with a bang. "Sorry, but you did say in an emergency and they're …"

"... they're at the gatehouse again. Yes, Gwaine I know, I felt it. That really is very bad timing."

"Ah … what exactly are you doing to that girl?" asked the knight curiously.

"Trying to break this spell and that is much more important at the moment. Who's out there?"

"A manageable number – about twenty, maybe a few more?" Merlin grinned slightly at Gwaine's confidence about twenty against six … but then, knowing who those six knights were, he was probably right.

"Anyone look like they might not be soldiers?"

"Sorcerers? Impossible to tell. Merlin? We are in a bit of a hurry here …"

"Hang on ... I've found it. Now, if I can just use my magic to move it …"

"Might it be easier if we sit her up?" Gaius suggested.

"Yes, slowly … Gwaine … a little help?"

The knight came over reluctantly, his eyes darting impatiently towards the door. "Are you sure we've time for this?"

"A few more moments … nearly there ..." Merlin could feel the diamond lifting upwards. Occasionally it seemed to stop, bumping up against something and now he really did wish he'd paid more attention to those anatomy books. However, his hand was now in front of her neck and he glanced across at Gaius, unsure what to do next.

"Bump it against the top of her throat," the old man suggested. "Gagging reflex."

"Lovely," Gwaine muttered sarcastically and Gwen giggled.

Merlin's hand was now up by Sara's chin and, as she jolted her head forward he gently opened her lips and fished out the diamond. "Got it. Ow!" He promptly dropped it.

"Merlin!" said Gaius.

"What? It's enchanted, and evil and very, very cold."

"How are we going to destroy it?" asked Gwen.

"Merlin … the enemy?" Gwaine reminded him.

"Yes, I know!" He shouted loudly, leaving all three staring at him with their mouths open. Merlin rarely lost his temper but … when he did, it tended to be spectacular. "What with you lot shouting at me, this thing burning me and half an army out there bumping up against my shield every few moments, it's amazing I'm doing as well as I am. Do you lot have any idea how many things I've got going on here? Just how much I've had to do today? Gwaine … your charm please."

"The box?"

"Yes." He handed it to Merlin and the young warlock put the diamond into it and tightened the shield so that it just covered the box itself. He ran his hand over it and smiled briefly. For now the gem was in there and fully shielded, which just might mean the magic would start to undo itself already. "Now," he continued with impatient authority. "Gwaine, you carry Sara, Gaius grab any important books that might be of some use, Gwen bring the rest of that stew and I'll take the mask."

"Shields?" asked Gwen as they reached the door.

"Shield. Singular. Just this one," he said indicating the rabbit mask he was now carrying.

"Ah, clever."

"Thank you." His anger was quickly subsiding. "You have no idea how nice it is to have someone compliment me like that."

"Hey!" Gaius complained.

"Alright, you do, but only very occasionally. I've shrunk the size of this shield a little so stay close everyone, the Palace should now start warming up but … it's still going to be very cold for a while and it is possible that the diamond might just start breaking through my shield - it's magic is easily a match for mine."

"We're going back to the conference area?" asked Gwaine, shifting Sara's unconscious weight in his arms.

"Yes, and as quickly as we can without slipping."

If he was right and the diamond had been temporarily disabled, then a few more warming spells might just help things along a little. He held onto the mask with one hand, whilst waving his other around madly, constantly repeating the spell. Gwaine gave him another curious look.

"If I can start to melt the important areas, like from here to the exit ..?" he started to explain.

"... then you won't have to worry about casting any more shields in front of Arthur," Gwiane finished.

"Exactly. The enchantment does appear to be broken for now … I'll work out how to dispose of that diamond properly later. Now we only have to concentrate on those intruders.

"Only ..." muttered Gaius with a snort.

~o~0~o~

"Where on earth have you been?" said Arthur attempting to whack Merlin around the head again. He ducked and very, very nearly used his magic, suddenly exceptionally cross at the way he was being treated. The look he turned onto the prince must have been quite spectacular because Arthur took a sudden step backwards and frowned confused. Merlin was simply not in the mood to act the meek servant at the moment. He was the one in charge here today; he knew it, so did five others and he had no intention of being pushed around by some prat of a prince.

"We were researching," he said firmly. "We've finally countered the spell. Sorry if that was inconvenient." This last sentence was dripping with sarcasm.

"There is a small army out there," Arthur retorted.

"And, if you'll note, they're still out there. Thanks to your townspeople having the courage to lower that portcullis." He was shouting again. Arthur was looking very confused.

"Alright. Why are you so angry anyway?"

"Aargh!" Merlin turned away in disgust.

"Guinevere?" Arthur turned to her confused by this sudden aggressive behaviour.

"He's had a lot to deal with," she said carefully, "but we have found out from Sara that Morgana is probably behind this and that's how … Gaius and Merlin were able to work out how to undo the enchantment."

The young lady in question suddenly woke up and looked around in surprise to find all nine members of the now famous Round Table surrounding her. Lancelot had already offered her his hand to help her stand up.

"Every time I wake up, I find a handsome man by my side. I think perhaps I did die after all," she said breathlessly.

"Oh, and who was the other handsome man?" Gwaine asked curiously.

"That would be Merlin," said Gwen with an amused smile.

"Merlin?" asked Arthur sceptically as the young sorcerer went over to check if the maid was alright. He took one of her hands in his and was relieved to find it perfectly warm. Inevitably this move was greeted by several sniggers.

"Thank you," she said simply. "What happened? How …?" He put a long, slim finger to his lips.

"Merlin kissed you and you fainted," Gwen answered gleefully. "I'm not surprised actually, that was some kiss … " She moved closer to Arthur and gave an exaggerated sigh. "If only ..." Arthur opened his mouth in shock at the comment, but found himself quite unable to reply. Merlin was at the right angle to see a very wicked grin appear on Gwen's face as she walked passed, quite unseen by Arthur.

Despite having to grit his teeth against Gwen's teasing all day, Merlin suddenly decided that this wasn't going to do his reputation any harm at all. All six, handsome, muscle bound young men were staring at him with a mixture of surprise and awe.

"If you need any pointers, you only have to ask," he said to Arthur, tipping his head towards Gwen. This time when he managed to avoid the aimed blow, his humour had improved dramatically and he simply laughed at the priceless look on the prince's face.

"They're still not having much luck getting in," Elyan observed. "What now?"

"We really need to get out there," said Arthur, obviously frustrated. "Did you say the spell is broken?"

"It appears to be but, it'll still be cold out there even though it should start thawing quickly now," said Merlin.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Arthur strode out of the shielded area, with the other knights quickly following. Merlin kissed Sara's hand that he was still holding – did the same to Gwen as he walked past, grinned at Gaius and then followed them out … still holding the rabbit mask.

~o~0~o~

Edited May '12