A/N: Hello! It's Young Cub again! Here's my second chapter of Morbid Sunrise. Tell me what you think!

Hope you enjoy!

Cub xxx

Chapter 2

The sounds of the Throne Room trickled like a brook out of the walls, the voices all patiently waiting for the king. The room was grand with impressive columns and wide space, dominated by a dark wooden table cut into a circle. The Round Table that made up King Arthur's most trusted and loyal advisors be they knight, scholar or even guard. The large ornate doors, a relic from Uther's taste, and often to ostentatious for Merlin to look at before shaking his head at them and snorting in his mind.

For all Merlin had lived in Camelot for over a decade, he was still a farm boy at heart. He hated the ostentatious. It just seemed silly posturing to him. He had even less times for the politics of court, and standing around waiting for Arthur was really, quite annoying. Especially when he was stood in a draughty alcove just of the main table, which was still covering with spiders webs.

Arthur was late, or later than the rest of them. But everyone came early to Round Table meeting anyway. It was awe inspiring the level of devotion and love Arthur inspired in his people. Those lucky enough to of gained a seat, usually sat at the table. It was the highest honour in Camelot nowadays and it was a bit of a giggle to think of several nobles who acted nonchalant when the Table came into a discussion, but their eyes burnt with jealousy.

Merlin never advertised the fact that he had been invited to sit at Arthur's right hand and declined.

He remembered the incident, remembered how Arthur looked hurt, so hurt, back before his secret had been revealed. But it wasn't right, and he didn't really want to be in the line of fire of nobles. He'd had to explain to Arthur about servant politics; about how easier it would be to gain help if he wasn't alleviated above his station, about how awkward it would be justifying it to nobles. To be honest, half of what came out of his mouth was rubbish, things he'd made up, still valid concerns, but lesser than what he made out. But it prevented him from saying I don't want the betrayal to be any bigger. It would have been a nightmare if it came out that Arthur had put a sorcerer in the Round Table. And in the meantime it spared him the looks of nobles and the outraising of the servants. Win-Win.

He was brought back to the present when the doors banged open, and the King himself walked in, with the returning knights, and Gwen, at his side. She was always determined to come to these meetings, and always had good ideas. She was a great queen, and Merlin thought she was one to follow. He had half toyed with the idea of pledging fealty to the court instead of just Arthur because of how much she loved her people. She was one of a kind, and, he felt a bit guilty for thinking this, always drew fire from him when he and Arthur were in one of their spats. She was a saint, was Gwen. As one, the table stood, back straight, protocol perfect, and bowed to him as he walked towards the open spot opposite the doors. The knights joined him at the table, in the open spots.

Merlin straightened up, and edged slightly out of his hiding space, but still didn't move to his usual spot. He could see Gwaine look around the hall for him covertly, and he rolled his eyes. Gwaine's covert was as obvious as someone cracking every twig in the forest. He caught his eyes, and held them for a second, before deliberately spreading a blank expression on his face, making his eyes go vacant and his face slack. He let his eyes settle over the hall, and ignored Gwaine's confusion at the gesture, but really. For all Gwaine proclaimed he was a peasant he was noble raised and it showed, at the oddest and most ignorable times, but it showed. He knew what normal protocol for a servant of lower rank and he should draw the conclusion that Merlin was annoying Arthur in some way. He'd done it before, the acting like a normal servant thing, so it wasn't new. He just wondered how Gwaine was thinking something was seriously wrong, because he knew that expression. It was the 'Oh-dear-something-serious-happened-and-I'm-going- to-figure-out-why'. He wanted to know how he'd set of Gwaine's alarms. Then how to restore them to rights. Merlin couldn't have curious knights poking around his secrets, could he?

"I call the meeting to order! The Round Table Council is now in session! What are the primary concerns?"

"The patrol back from the border, the sightings of shadows in the nearby villages and the new sickness that seems to be happening in the lower town," Gaius replied.

"What of this sickness?" Arthur asked, confused, "I've not heard about it."

"The victims seem to be experiencing symptoms of nausea, sickness, hallucinations and some seem to be depressed, just wasting away. There is no indication of where the symptoms come from, and I'm beginning to doubt it's an illness, as it only seems to be affecting the, pardon me for saying, sire, the aesthetically pleasing." Gaius replied, gravely.

Merlin perked up at that and crept slightly closer. If he didn't know any better, than he would of thought it was a ganac... but no, no Dark fey would of dared come to Camelot, the only ones he ever saw were Winter fey or passing solitaries. Every other fey didn't bother, as it was almost a sure fire way of being killed, especially in Uther's reign, and still in Arthur's. He kept an eye on the population, never overt, just glances, making sure they weren't doing anything terrible. Apart from the Hawthorn Girls he'd seen earlier today, (and wasn't that kind of nerve-wracking as Merlin knew they followed the Winter Queen around. He especially didn't want Beira in Camelot) he hadn't seen a faery in Camelot for years. He'd assumed they'd kept away. Smart, but if the Dark Court were in Camelot, he didn't want to think what that might spell for Camelot. Gancanghs especially, as the only gancangh he knew was Irial and that was a frightening prospect indeed.

"I see," said Arthur, as Merlin tuned back in. "Keep at it and try and find the source, Gaius. I don't want an epidemic and we need our people healthy."

"Yes, sire,"

"The shadows?"

The meeting continued. It was a range of issues from farmers disputes, to who had insulted who, and, to Merlin's ears at least, sounded half like a gossip session of the scandals in the court. Of course, Merlin kept that opinion to himself, and also left an ear open to the issues. Arthur had the annoying habit of pouncing on Merlin after the meetings and having him recite various points from the session, with the threat of stables and double chores if he didn't reply promptly. After at least an hour debating the food stores in which Merlin was slowly drifting off, they came to the issue of the patrol.

"The patrol from Camelot's borders returned today, Can I hear the report from them, please?" Arthur said.

"Of course, sire," said Leon, standing up. He was always the one to five the reports as he could be relied on to be prompt, to the point, and not go off on tangents (Elyan), be too brief (Percival), or start on some anecdote of some random event that happened on the trip which always seemed to, curiously, contain a tavern and at least one 'beauty' (Obvious). He sometimes wondered if Gwaine knew the location of every damn tavern in the Five Kingdoms. He seemed to have enough stories for it.

"The borders were quiet for the first three days of our patrol. There were no disturbances, and we saw villagers going about their usual business. However on the fourth day, there were murmurs from the village we passed through that there was attacks happening at night, and children disappearing. We staked out the village at night, and we saw figures passing through the village. We engaged them, but then it gets hazy. "

"Hazy?" Arthur interrupted.

"None of us really remember what happened or who attacked us. It's like a blur. For that reason, we suspect magic was used to confuse the men. We lost no men in the attack, but several ended up injured. We ended up with men with lacerations, open wounds and broken bones. We healed up most of the men, by the end of the patrol."

"Why didn't you come back immediately? There must have been far superior care here, and I should have been notified immediately." Arthur demanded. It was something he insisted on. Patrols were often unequipped to deal with large threats, and any large attack was cause for the patrol to be immediately sent back to Camelot. He wanted the knights ready, and alive. There was no point killing themselves for some glory, which will only end in them killed. Merlin thought that was Arthur in a nutshell, though he tried to hide it. Caring.

Guinevere moved her hand to cover Arthur's and squeezed it once in sympathy and a reminder to calm down. It did no one good to be stressed and worried. Also, if this was what Merlin thought it was, which his suspicions were slowly being confirmed every passing sentence, they will really need to keep a calm head. And Merlin, he thought privately, should be prepared for the fire that erupted in his veins. He really hated it when he was under fealty. But Arthur was worth it, no matter how prattish he was being at the moment.

"Our injuries were not that severe, sire, but we did try to retreat to Camelot after the attack, but we were caught."

"Caught?"

Leon hesitated, obviously unsure of what he was going to say next. "I'm not sure how to describe it, sire. It was like we were in a trance, relaxed and not caring. We seemed to dance for ages, and it only felt like minutes. I'm sure it was magical, sire, that's all I can say. We don't know what happened." Arthur considered this, and looked deeply in thought, but Merlin felt a growing horror creep up on him.

It sounded like Summer Court, but the Summer Court wasn't that powerful after what Irial did to Keenan. If it was though, he had no idea of what the Courts were doing in Camelot. Did they think now was the time to settle down in Camelot? Were they crazy? He hadn't an idea of what they were planning.

The courts were never close to each other, other than times of war, or ridiculous peace, which he doubted had settled in the time he grew up. He had to protect Arthur, forget the distance, now was more important than ever. Fey were tricky, and Arthur couldn't go trampling with the fey, or he'd die, turn fey or...he didn't even want to go down the route of what would happen of the Dark Court got Arthur.

It was too horrible to imagine.

Arthur, mind occupied, walked back to his rooms. This incident on patrol worried him. It was like nothing he had ever come across before, and he didn't know what could even cause the dizziness and loss of time. He had a sudden thought, then swiftly redirected his route, and headed to Gaius's room. The physician was the advisor his father always relied on for his observations on magic, being a reformed magic practitioner himself. He hoped that Gaius might have some answers to his questions. He doubted it though. He had a lot of questions. He arrived at the door, and knocked politely, before entering. He was met with a blast of shimmering mist, and coughed when it went into his lungs. His hacking drew the attention of the physician who was coughing violently as well.

"S...Sire," Gaius managed to gasp out. "Wh...What b...brings you he...here, mi 'lord?" "I'm...I'm, "he coughed once, then managed to compose himself. "I wanted to see if you had any information about the creatures that attacked the patrol. Any reference at all?"

"Hmm," Gaius looked deep in thought for a second, then turned towards his bookshelf scanning it. From where he was stood, Arthur could make out titles such as 'Common Ills', 'Antidotes for Poisons', and, memorably, 'The Book of Medicine for the Hard of Mind'. He chuckled inwardly at that one and noted to himself to tell Leon. It was sure to gain a chuckle. He watched Gaius select several books and walk over to the bench. He followed curiously. The books all seemed to be on magical creatures of some sort. The books were plain covered and bound in leather. Quite expensive. He must have saved for ages to get them.

When opened, a cloud of dust flew out, sending Gaius into another coughing fit. Arthur had the foresight to duck out of the way quickly to prevent the attack. He moved over again and took in the pages that flipped by as Gaius lovingly turned them, delicately as if each one was only a second away from breaking.

There were many vivid illustrations, from wyverns, to dragons, to trolls (and did that one bring back some memories; he shuddered remembering his stepmother). He watched as Gaius switched from book to book, sometimes muttering to himself, then going back to the shelf for another book to reference.

"Well?" Arthur finally burst, impatient after some minutes when all Gaius did was stare vacantly. Gaius blinked then looked at Arthur as if he didn't remember when he got there. Arthur rolled his eyes inside his mind. Sometimes, he thought Gaius really was getting old.

"I'm perplexed, sire. I surely remember reading about creatures that stole children, but there seems to be no reference in any of the books. It was a long time ago, and I'm not too sure. I believe it was related to the Sidhe though," he tailed off, and then suddenly rushed over to another book. When he returned he flipped through it furiously, then stopped and read the page carefully, then turned over. Arthur watched as Gaius let out a noise of rage, and his face turned thunderous. He took a slight step back. He didn't want to get on the end of a Gaius on a rampage. He might get a dose of horrible remedy. That was enough to make him wary.

"What is it Gaius?" he asked, gently, trying not to spook him and set him off. By the dirty look Gaius gave him he guessed that Gaius wasn't impressed. He smiled sheepishly.

"There is reference to the Sidhe, sire," Gaius began.

"Sidhe?" Arthur interrupted. "You mentioned them before, but I don't know who they are."

"Sorry, sire. I'm used to talking to Merlin about them. I'll explain." Gaius said, distractedly. Arthur was suddenly blindsided by the mention of

Merlin. Gaius talked to Merlin about magic? About the Sidhe? It made sense, but Arthur wondered exactly what Merlin had used his magic for. It was a question he hadn't considered, as he hadn't really gotten past the 'Oh-my-god-Merlin-has-magic' phase, and still trying to process exactly what Merlin was. A friend? Servant? Traitor? Was he loyal? Or did his magic corrupt? Was his fealty no more than lip service? He didn't know, but put thoughts out of his mind. He had magic to learn about.

"The Sidhe (Shee) are an immortal race. They are the gatekeepers of Avalon, the Island of Youth. They are small, have wings, and are blue humanoids. They are masters of enchantments and are a cruel race of beings. There are kings, called Sidhe elders who are served by pixies.

To date, I believe I have encountered a Sidhe plot twice milord. Once one attempted to sacrifice you to the elders for their place back in Avalon, and another, was a changeling, that we eventually managed to get rid of with the child intact."

"We, Gaius?" Arthur said lightly, but he had a feeling he knew who was the other part of the 'we'. It bothered him how he hadn't thought to ask about Merlin's involvement in the magic problems of Camelot. It seemed that he and Gaius had been defending Camelot and even himself personally on occasion. He resolved to talk to Merlin as soon as the problem with the borders was solved. It was beyond time they had a little 'chat'.

Gaius looked flustered at the question, and hesitated to answer. Arthur took pity on him and gave him an out. He could pretty much guess already.

"I'll just take that as Merlin then shall I?" he said blandly, with only the slight hint of a smirk at the sheepish look on Gaius face. "So, what was the problem with the book then Gaius? You said there was reference to the Sidhe? So the Sidhe did this?"

"No, sire," Gaius said, getting back on topic. "The Sidhe aren't generally ones for taking children, or people. The people they do take are people of great respect in our society, nobles, royals, not peasants. They seem to value that blood over any other. And they only insert a Changeling into a child, and allow it to grow inside the child. They don't take the child. No, the reference to shadows I was looking up was indeed in this book, I distinctly remember this particular page. However, when I turn the page,"

Gaius demonstrated and Arthur peered at the page, trying to see what had Gaius so vexed. He was about to ask Gaius what on Earth he was looking at, when his eye caught the center of the spine. There was a piece of paper sticking out, small, barely noticeable, and it looked like a slight tear...

Arthur looked at Gaius then pointed to the spot, and Gaius nodded his head.

"It's been removed sire. I would say that somebody doesn't want knowledge of whatever these are being anywhere for us to find."

"Can you tell when it was removed? Surely, you can give a time of reference."

"I last looked at this book, a few years ago, to look up Sidhe, but I didn't turn the page. I don't know when exactly I looked at the page on the shadows. I could probably be at least 15 years..." Gaius trailed off, thinking. It was obvious to Arthur that Gaius was a bit upset about his book being defaced right under his nose. Gaius took great care of his possessions, and tried to not mistreat them. Arthur personally took it as a trait the old man had developed due to his physician experiments. One had to be careful, with the tools; otherwise he could do great harm.

"If you remember Gaius, come to me. Don't tell anyone else. Not even Merlin, you understand? For all we know, the perpetrator could have an agenda and is waiting for something like this. Keep it under your hat."

With that Arthur strode out of the Physician's room with thoughts centring on the raven-haired warlock. So many secrets...just what else did he keep close to his chest?

"OK," Gwaine announced as he bounced into Leon's room. "Meeting. Now"

"Shut the door first, Gwaine," Leon said with an air of tolerance. Dealing with Gwaine was like dealing with a hyperactive puppy. You just had to tolerate it, give it some attention and let it do its own thing sometimes. Even if that did include going to some lamentable tavern and having to put up with thousands of stories about barmaids, the clientele and did you seem that pretty one over there, oh wait, it's a man. There was a lot of ribbing for that one and it managed to shut Gwaine up. For about 1 week.

"Can I ask why we're here?" Elyan said, as Percival shuffled in behind Gwaine. Not successfully. He was a lot bulkier, and he struggled to hide behind a tree trunk, there was no chance of him hiding behind Gwaine.

"We have to do something about them," Gwaine said, flopping down in a chair. "Did you see them? I don't know about you but I detect tension. There's never any tension between Merls and the Princess. We go away for a couple of weeks, and everything goes wrong. I'm beginning to think we are essential to this place. It all falls apart without us"

"Are you sure we should be doing anything?" Leon asked cautiously. "It might just sort itself out." He saw Elyan nodding at this, and was pleased someone thought the same.

Merlin and Arthur's relationship was a peculiar one, but one that was accepted throughout the castle. Merlin almost never used the pleasantries and protocols a normal servant was supposed too towards Arthur. Oh, he used them, sometimes, but only to stuffy nobles.

Arthur had once complained that Merlin never respected him like he was supposed to and that, as a result, he was seen as less capable a prince as he couldn't even get his servant to respond to him. Merlin had shut him up at that though, by saying; did he want a bootlicker? When Arthur said it might be pleasant once in a while, he soon regretted it. Merlin had then proceeded to act the part of a perfect servant for the week, punctuated with 'sires', 'as you wishes' and the occasional 'of course, mi 'lord'.

It had ended with Arthur practically begging Merlin to stop it. Merlin had with a laugh. He then told Arthur the reasons he had for not following the normal protocols. He respected Arthur too much for him to give him such farcical obedience. He had said that he had heard the things the servants said in the halls and the kitchen, how many of them disparaged their masters behind their backs, while they served him with a smile.

"I don't want to do that to you. You deserve more than that, and it's dishonest to insult you behind your back when I won't do it to your face. If I'm displeased with you, you'll know it." He had then smiled beatifically. Leon, who had then been present for the begging (to ensure Arthur hadn't backed down) and the subsequent conversation. He had privately likened it to the ones he had seen from the preachers and priests and monks when they explained the glory of the new God. To Merlin, Arthur was his God, and he served him like the monks did. Arthur was everything. And he served him with everything he had.

That only made what was happening between Arthur and Merlin all the more volatile and worrisome. Merlin acting like this was akin to saying he was didn't trust or respect Arthur. Something had happened. And it had affected both sides. Arthur usually came to his senses between a few days, and their relationship regained its equilibrium. With Merlin, he came to his senses within anything from an hour or two to a week, but it didn't go on this long. This wasn't the usually spat. This was big. And it made Leon all the more wary of them interfering, in fear of the repercussions. To be honest, he couldn't even begin to fathom were the argument would of come from. The only thing that ever made Arthur like this was...

"Magic,"

The word echoed in the silence of the room. The taboo subject was mentioned. The knights all looked at one another wary. Magic wasn't something discussed. It was something avoided and something that they just accepted to be destroyed. Regardless of personal opinion.

Gwaine was instantly looked suspiciously at Leon.

"What do you mean 'magic'? You think magic is pitting them against each other like this?"

"No," Leon said hastily. "I just...The only thing Arthur and Merlin ever get weird over is magic. Arthur doesn't talk about it, and diverts conversation away from it. He rejects the notion that it can be used for anything good straight out of hand, like he can't afford to even entertain the thought. It's an uncomfortable topic for Arthur. With Merlin, he just seems to shy out of talking about it at all. You can get him to explain the dangerous magical creatures and how to fight against the magical attacks that always seem to plague us and Arthur. But try and get him to show his views on magic and he clams up and won't budge. You try and slip it into conversation and he'll manipulate the conversation, telling you massive amounts of things that mean absolutely nothing, and in 2 minutes you forget what you're trying to talk to him about in the first place"

"Here, here," Gwaine muttered with Elyan and Percival nodding their heads sympathetically. They'd all been on the end of the Merlin diversion; the art of speaking for ages you just want him to shut up, without actually telling you anything useful, true or relevant. It had infuriated them to no end, as no one could understand why Merlin did it. It was like a defence that he never seemed to let down.

"It's the only subject they never talk about," Leon continued. "They only subject they avoid talking about together. This has to do with magic if neither of them were willing to reconcile or even talk to each other. That's why I say leave it. Don't interfere. It'll eventually work out and Merlin will be back to disrespectfully respecting Arthur in no time."

Gwaine looked unsure but didn't seem willing to push it. Leon had known Arthur much longer than the rest of them. He knew what he was talking about as far as he was concerned, but Gwaine was more worried about Merlin.

He was Gwaine's first friend. Before Percival, Elyan and the Knights, he was just a rebelling second son. Another wastrel with a talent for trouble scamming his way through the bars in the land. He had despised the nobles he came from, full well knowing he was a hypocrite. But Merlin, with his stupid smile, and large ears had proceeded to pick him up and help him through a bar fight, along with the Princess. He made him discover Strength and Honour. He had changed him, and he was pretty sure he had touched the others as well.

He had certainly had an effect on Lancelot, God Bless his Soul. They had always seemed to have a bond, deeper than he had with the other knights. Gwaine had felt a bit jealous at first, but then, Merlin had such a big heart. There was enough room for the world in there. He had still hungered to know what the secret behind the bond was. Because Gwaine had seen enough of these to know when there was a shared camaraderie that came with knowing the secrets of the person you were with. All the things that made up you. Lance and Merlin had had this. It had made Lance be the first one to nod and agree with whatever outrageous story Merlin came up with. It had made Lance be the one who had made sure to follow Merlin when he went off.

Gwaine didn't know the secret that made them like this; it hadn't stopped him being envious.

"We'll leave it for now," Gwaine finally (grudgingly) gave in. But he couldn't help adding, "But if one of then suddenly decides to kill the other can I please step in then?"

The knights laughed and the air cleared, tension disappearing. They avoided further conversation of Merlin and Arthur and proceeded to start a rousing game of 'Who's Who' about the nobles. It was always fun trying to figure out the affairs of the court.

None of them noticed that the shadows writhed and pulsed. Dancing in the corner.