Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for the delay! I promised to a load of people that I would update this morning but then I got pulled off the laptop, then I had school, then I had homework, then I had dancing! Phew! *Wipes forehead* But I am here now for all you lovely people! Thanks for staying with me so far! And there are more and more new readers reviewing all the time so thank you! Never thought it would be this popular! *Squee!*

So yeah, hope you like this chapter! We get a lot of POVs! Which I think you guys like! Bit of Emrys, bit of Gwaine (which will be interesting) and a bit of Lancelot! Noice! So yeah, we see an unusual side to Emrys in the chapter so let me know what you think in the reviews pleeeaaase! Hope you likey, read + review!

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of the BBC's TV programme Merlin (wish I did!) but any added characters and plotlines were completely my genius! All mistakes are also my own (and there are a lot of them!) (I dunno why I'm making a disclaimer, no one could be such a clotpole to put such stupid mistakes in!)

Chapter Eighteen

Absorbed

Emrys looked around the dank and lonely cell. It really was detestable. The stone walls were anything but welcoming, their cold stone making the cell feel even more freezing. The floor was in exactly the same state, apart from a few scatterings of thin hay. The hard, metal bars of the cell door that locked him away had remained closed since his second meeting with the King. A couple of stationary guards had been standing there all this time. There was a small, barred window just above where Emrys had been silently sitting. It only showed a floor view of the courtyard outside. Suddenly, the lock of the cell door clicked and then swung open, breaking him away from his thoughts. Timid footsteps crept into the cell. Emrys looked up from the corner of the room and watched the servant girl hurriedly place down a tray of food and then retreat out. Just as she left she flashed a look at Emrys and he got to see her face. She was beautiful. She had dark hair that rippled over her shoulders in

undefined waves. Her eyes were dark, very dark. Much darker than her hair. They looked black. But Emrys couldn't stop looking into them. Her lips were the colour of blood and her skin made them stand out as it was as pale as the moon. A dress hung off her thin figure. It was also blood red, to match her lips, and was torn at the sleeves and at the bottom. It was streaked with dirt. But then she was gone. The door closed behind her and the guard that had escorted her locked it behind her. Emrys listened until their footsteps had died away. The look she had given him. It was like it was encrypted. He couldn't quite decipher it. He would have to figure it out another time. Right now, he shuffled over to the tray of food.

Gwaine was floating.

He didn't know where he was or how had got there.

He just knew, he was there.

He was suspended in white.

It was like everything had been covered in snow.

He must be alive.

Mustn't he?

If he could see himself and what was around him then he must be alive in some form. He tried to remember what had happened before he had come to this place. At first his memory was hazy, but then everything came flooding back to him. They had captured Emrys. Gwaine had cursed himself. He had betrayed Emrys. He had lured him into trusting him and then gone and caught him and handed him over to the Prince. He had to go and see him, to apologise. But it wasn't that easy. He had had to wait a day to get the chance. And then when he had, Emrys had tricked him. The pain that he had inflicted on him had been overwhelming. That was all that he could feel. Agony coursing through his veins. Then he had come here. The pain had gone and replaced by confusion. Surely he hadn't died?

But then suddenly, everything around him shuddered. The whiteness rippled like milk. And then it shook again. Everything around him was changing. Transforming. The whiteness dissolved into blackness and Gwaine fell.

Gwaine landed with a hard force onto something material. Something that he could actually feel beneath him. He came conscious that his eyes were closed. He tried to open them but the felt like they weighed a ton. He tried again and managed to open them just enough to see where he was. He recognised the room but his memory was refusing to tell him where it was. But then it gave way. He was in Gaius' chambers. Why was he here? The guards must have brought him here after he passed out. He heard footsteps approach and then speed up when the person saw that Gwaine was moving.

"Sir Gwaine? Are you OK? How do you feel?" Gaius' concerned voice came from somewhere in the room. Gwaine tried to sit up but his head objected strongly. He ached all over. He was damp from sweat.

"G-Gaius? W-what happened?" His voice was audibly uneven, shaking every now and again.

"The Thief, he's enchanted you," Gaius admitted reluctantly. Gwaine's eyes widened in horror.

"Wh-what? What sort of enchantment? What's he done to me?" Gwaine frantically asked Gaius.

"H-he has put a spell on you that will cause your life to slowly deteriorate until there is nothing left, or until his demand is met," Gaius said sombrely.

"What demand?" Gwaine was panicking. He sat up abruptly and his body screamed in agony but he didn't care.

"He demanded that he is let go. Or he will kill you," Gaius said sombrely. Realisation stung Gwaine. He lay back down on the bed and stared absently at the ceiling.

"How long do I have?" Gwaine asked calmly. Gaius swallowed uneasily.

"A week at the most. But I trying my hardest Gwaine. I am trying to find an antidote."

"There is an antidote?" A seed of hope landed on Gwaine's every growing pile of despair.

"Well, the Thief did say that there was no point in looking for one as the only one is for him to lift the enchantment of his own accord. But I will try Gwaine," Gaius said hopefully.

"Thank you Gaius," Gwaine murmured quietly. It was like he could feel his heart getting more strained and working slower. It was like every beat was a ticking clock, counting down the last seconds of his life.

Lancelot had just heard what happened. He couldn't believe it. How could Emrys do this? Lancelot had never thought that Emrys would threaten someone's life. But this wasn't just someone. This was Gwaine. Emrys had gone too far this time. Camelot was split. Half agreed with the King, thinking that holding the Thief in the dungeons was worth sacrificing a Knight. The other half completely disagreed. This was Arthur's side. They thought that preserving a life was much more important than keeping some thief behind bars. Lancelot was definitely on Arthur's side. If it meant that Gwaine was kept alive then Lancelot would happily free the Thief. He had meant to go and see Gwaine in Gaius' study but every time he had gone, he had been unconscious. But now he had heard that Gwaine was finally awake. He'd better go see him. Lancelot took one last look out of the window that he had been staring out of for the past half an hour, turning Gwaine's situation over and over in his mind. He then strode across the room, pulled the door open and took off down the corridor, heading for Gaius' study.

Author's Note: Ooh, what a lovely blue button that is down there vvv ! So very clickable!