A/N: Wow, guys! Thanks for the great response to this story so far. Believe me, guys, I'm as eager to post as you probably are to read - which is why this chapter is up a day early! I actually proof-read some of it it on Thursday night out of sheer boredom. Heheh.

Enjoy! See last chapter for the disclaimer :P

WARNING: Tiniest Mergana mention at the beginning. Seriously, blink and you'll miss it. I don't ship them particularly, but I do miss their series 1 friendship.

2

Merlin wasn't really sure he understood what was happening to his Master. It was a vague change, and Merlin knew that – no-one had really noticed and, even if they had, they considered it a good thing; that their Prince was finally leaving the dark hole he, along with most of the royal household, had been stuck in since Morgana's betrayal a few months ago. Even Merlin, who had known of the part Morgana had to play in destiny before anyone – maybe even before Morgana herself – had been shaken by the fact that the woman he had once considered as a friend, and maybe even a little more (though he'd never admit it to Arthur or he wouldn't hear the end of it), was now one of the many people driven on tearing the great kingdom of Camelot limb from limb like a disposable dummy that young knights-to-be would train with.

Merlin had even noticed that even King Uther did not seem to see Arthur's alteration, but then, the King did not see much nowadays, for he had been more gravely affected than anyone in the kingdom after the betrayal of his ward, his daughter. The headstrong, stubborn King, who had once been a man Merlin feared (as a single word from the King could lead to Merlin's execution; in fact Merlin was surprised he had survived this long), was now merely a shadow of his former self, with about enough strength and will left to fill the body of a measly rat. Though Merlin had never really liked the King, because of all he stood for when it came to magic, the warlock felt for the kingdom, the King, and his friend and destiny, Prince Arthur himself, when it came to the ruler's crisis. The man was broken and Merlin could see Arthur's coronation coming almost too quickly. Merlin had waited for the ascension of his Master to the throne for almost too long, but the warlock knew that Arthur was young, untested, and felt himself not ready for the role to be thrust so unceremoniously at him.

Guinevere, Merlin's friend and the young woman who Arthur dearly loved, was one of those people who had, along with the warlock, noticed Arthur's change. She couldn't put it down to anything when Merlin asked her – she said she still loved him exactly as she had before and couldn't really, when she thought about it, pinpoint exactly where the alteration came from.

"He just…" Gwen had stopped. She thought for a second; for a few seconds. Merlin gestured for her to continue with a bow of his head, but she could not. "I don't know." She admitted with an apologetic shrug. "It's just… being around him. It's… warmer. Brighter. It's not a change in him, just a change in the area surrounding him."

"I see." Merlin didn't help.

"I'm sorry," Gwen flustered, "I'm hardly any help. You probably think I sound crazy, anyway."

"No, no," Merlin objected. That was not the reason Gwen's input was useless. "I agree with you."

Merlin had wanted to use magic to help figure out what was happening to the Prince, because he, too, had felt this… transformation. At first he thought that perhaps it was some kind of magical spell that someone had put on the Prince, but when he tried to remove it, he found nothing and realised he had been wrong.

Arthur hadn't changed in the way he acted around Merlin, per se. Nor had he said or done anything that wasn't very Arthur – well, apart from the scream that morning when he awoke. Merlin agreed with Gwen – there was warmth that wasn't there before. Just like Gwen had said - which was why her input was of no help as Merlin had already noticed it.

And, for the life of him, Merlin could not pinpoint what it was.

"Perhaps he's becoming the man he was again, before Morgana's treachery." Gwen had suggested to the warlock – a useless suggestion as it was one Merlin had considered himself. Merlin saw that bringing up the event even affected Guinevere a little, after all, before she betrayed Camelot, Gwen had been Morgana's maidservant and, above that, friend. Merlin considered how he would've felt if one of his best friends had betrayed and deceived him for so long, and he empathised with the girl in front of him.

"Maybe." Merlin agreed, though he wasn't too sure. He'd never sensed this tingle in the aura around Arthur before Morgana's deception. Whatever had happened to the Prince, it was brand new.

And it deeply puzzled the warlock. And, more than that, it scared him. What if it was something dangerous; something he had to protect his Prince from? How would he be able to save the royal prat this time if he had no idea what was going on? He had to find out. As soon as possible.

And so when Arthur demanded that Gaius come to his chambers that day, he was rather heartened, he found the hope he'd been waiting for. Perhaps Arthur was beginning to suspect that something was wrong too, and Gaius' diagnosis could probably assist Merlin greatly in protecting Arthur. So, before he went to the kitchen for the Prince's breakfast, he raced to Gaius' chambers with the news. The physician, shocked by Merlin's speedy return to their chambers and sharp instruction to go to the Prince's chambers immediately, had to raise his eyebrow in the same way Merlin had seen many times before when Gaius was suspicious of one of the young warlock's plots.

Merlin sighed. He had informed Gaius immediately of the change in Arthur about two weeks ago, when he'd first sensed it, to which Gaius had replied that Merlin was just being over-suspicious. Merlin had retorted that whenever he was usually "over-suspicious", he was also usually right and ended up saving somebody's life (Arthur's, most often), but Gaius had just shrugged that off.

However, a week later, Gaius found himself noticing the warmth around the Prince, which he'd never felt before, too. He had been delivered a sardonic, "I told you so," from Merlin but had dismissed it as nothing to worry about, though he was not entirely sure himself. He had suggested that Merlin just continue to act like everything was normal and wait for some kind of sign that they should do something until he got too involved, too suspicious.

And so, when the young man ran into their shared chambers, insisting that this 'sign' they'd been waiting for had come, he was quick to drop what he was doing and go straight up to the Prince's chambers, bringing only a few objects that he may have needed if his patient was ill in any way. Merlin had been grateful to see his mentor and carer head off to Prince Arthur's chambers. Hopefully he would be able to discover something and he could report back to Merlin, and then Merlin could figure out if this alteration was magical and, if it was, find a way to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

He just hoped he wasn't already too late.

Arthur was gazing out of his window at the citadel's courtyard when a noise disrupted his thoughts. He looked up at the door at the sound of a gentle knocking, followed by a questioning, "Sire?" from an elderly voice he recognised and trusted well.

"Enter." Arthur called out in a warm, yet authoritative, voice, and a second later, Gaius' head poked around the door and he entered the room, closing the door behind himself. Arthur, despite himself, smiled at the physician he had known for all of his life, who bowed his head out of respect.

"You wanted to see me, Sire?" Gaius asked. Arthur gestured to his desk, suggesting that they sit. Gaius raised his eyebrow, but sat in front of the desk nonetheless. Arthur sat in his chair behind the desk, folding his arms and placing them in front of himself on the table. He stared into the eyes of his company, considering just what he wanted to say first. He took a deep, hesitant breath. And then he spoke.

"Before we proceed, I need you to promise me something, Gaius."

Gaius was frozen for a second, possibly debating his reaction, but he responded after a brief pause, "Of course, Sire."

"You cannot tell anyone of anything I tell you – not a soul." Arthur told the physician, "Not Guinevere, not Merlin – not even my father. Is that clear?" He dreaded to think what anyone would think if they got the wrong idea. Would Guinevere fear him? Would Merlin shun him? Would Uther murder his only son and heir if he even suspected him of… Arthur froze at the word. He wasn't certain yet, he reminded himself – he had to keep an open mind. He had to let Gaius give his diagnosis first. Then, if necessary, he would think of these things.

But not now.

"Of course, Sire." Gaius agreed with Arthur's terms, which allowed him to relax, just for a second. The physician was confused – Arthur could see that – but Gaius had been there for him for years - longer than he could even remember. Gaius had been there when Arthur was born and taking his first breaths, while his mother was, not to the tiny baby's knowledge, fading away and taking her last. Something dark echoed in the back of his mind and Arthur shunned it away; shunned the memory of that dreadful day when Morgause had pitted father against son. His father had promised that he wasn't responsible for Arthur's mother's death and Arthur had believed him, but the Prince knew that his birth was still the reason that his mother was no longer alive. And, though it did not bother him as much as it had on that disastrous day he had seen the image of his mother, it still haunted him to this very day.

If he had not been born, his mother would still be living, breathing, smiling.

And yet if he had not been born, the Pendragon dynasty would soon be coming to a hasty end.

"Give me your word." Arthur asked, "Not a single soul." He insisted.

"I give you my word, Arthur." Gaius promised solemnly. The Prince gave him a thankful nod. "Now, what can I help you with?"

Merlin rushed towards Arthur's chambers at a speed that could be considered dangerous, baring in mind that he was carrying a large plate of food for his Master, which he was balancing very precariously on only one hand. What made it more difficult was the amount of people parading the castle corridors; Merlin knew that, should he drop the food, he could not use magic to stop it from falling in such a crowded castle. Uther may have been a broken, confused man but his ban on magic still had not been lifted, and the King had apparently was not broken and confused enough to not attend the two or three hangings and burnings there had been since Morgana's deception was revealed. He seemed almost more determined, now, when it came to the most desperate of magical accusations. Magic had, in Uther's eyes, stolen away his kind, caring ward and twisted her against him. It was the fault of magic that Morgana had turned, in the King's eyes – or at least that was Merlin's theory – and that is why he still found the strength to oversee the executions.

When Merlin arrived at Arthur's chambers, he, uncharacteristically, went to knock on the Prince's door with his free hand. But he stopped when he heard the voice of his Master himself.

"I'm sorry for bringing you here, Gaius." The Prince said kindly. "But I wouldn't have asked for you if it wasn't necessary. I just needed to ask someone about it, and you know much more about my problem than I do."

"There is no need to apologise, Sire." Merlin overheard his mentor assure the Prince. "I am only doing my duty to you and to the kingdom."

"I just was unsure of what to do." The Prince admitted, and that shocked the warlock greatly. It was not often that Arthur displayed that he was lost or unsure, and when he was he hid it; he was, after all, a leader to his people. If they gathered his confusion in a situation, then they would lose faith in him. Arthur valued his people too much and couldn't let them lose trust in their Prince, their protector. Arthur never liked to give too much of himself away to his enemies, either. If they discovered that Arthur was uncertain of a plan or a battle, then that would give them the upper hand.

"I understand." Gaius replied reassuringly, and Merlin smiled.

"What do you think they could be, then?" Arthur asked, and Merlin realised that he had started eavesdropping quite far into the conversation. He felt awkward standing there, but there was really nowhere else he could go, what with the Prince's meal in his hand and all. He decided to carry on standing there until he deemed it a suitable time to interrupt the conversation without either man present suspecting Merlin of snooping.

"I can't say I'm completely sure, Sire." Gaius admitted apologetically. "It may be that there is nothing to worry about, but keep an eye out for anything that suggests otherwise and make sure you report it to me, just to be safe."

"But-," Arthur stumbled over his wording. Merlin blinked. Arthur hardly ever did that. "But the sorcerer. In my dream. He said that-,"

Arthur stopped when he heard a clanging noise outside his door. Merlin berated himself; in his shock of hearing that a sorcerer was involved, he had stumbled back a few steps, crashed into the wall behind him, and dropped the Prince's breakfast. What once was an appetising display of meat, cheese, and bread that Merlin would've happily devoured himself, lay sprawled across the floor in front of the Prince's chambers. Merlin sighed. He'd definitely be the one to clean that up later.

The warlock made a pitiful effort to try and recover the breakfast and bring it into the Prince like nothing had happened, but as he knelt down, the large doors swung open and his Master stood in the doorway, looking at him with irritation and impatience. His gaze was calculating as his looked to Merlin and then the food on the floor and then realisation added to the annoyance across his features.

"You really are a clumsy fool, aren't you, Merlin?" Arthur muttered. His comment lacked the usual sarcasm slightly, but he was still staring at Merlin in a condescending way. Merlin, in return, grinned a little too widely.

"Yes, Sire; every time."

Arthur rolled his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose like he really could've done without Merlin's clumsy and irritating nature, just for the day. He then looked down at his manservant and studied him again for a second. Merlin stayed, knelt on the ground, waiting. Finally, Arthur spoke.

"You weren't… eavesdropping, were you, Merlin?"

Oops.

"No, Sire, of course not!" Merlin chirped, a little too falsely, and Arthur could clearly tell it was a lie.

"Because you know I can get you into deep trouble for that." The Prince continued as if Merlin had not denied the accusation. Merlin scoffed.

"You'd probably just throw a bucket of water over my head or hit me with your goblet." The warlock mumbled, giving the Prince a false smile to top it off.

Arthur sighed intolerantly, wafting his hand around in frustration. "Just… clean it up, will you?"

Merlin's shoulders drooped. "Yes, Sire."

Arthur went to turn back into his room, but stopped himself. "Oh, and Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"Hurry up with my breakfast; I'm starving. And make sure you actually get it to my table this time without dropping it all over the floor."

Merlin clenched his teeth together, "Of course, Sire."

"Oh, and one more thing."

Merlin refrained from replying with an exhausted "what?" and just waited for the command. Arthur's voice suddenly got very cold and dark as he spoke;

"Do not tell anyone anything that you heard just now. If you listen in to this conversation or any of my private conversations again I will feed you, along with the rest of the waste, to the dogs."

Merlin didn't have time to reply with some clever retort before the doors were shut behind the Prince and he returned to his conversation with Gaius.

Once Merlin had cleaned the floor outside Arthur's chambers and, not without knocking first, entered the room to give Arthur his (very late, which Arthur made very clear by the taunts) breakfast and dress the Prince (and in his presence, Gaius and Arthur failed to say a word about their prior conversation), he was almost flying back to his own chambers in a panic.

'But the sorcerer.'

Arthur's words haunted his thoughts.

'The sorcerer. In my dream.'

There it was. The sign. The sign Gaius had told him ever so cautiously to look out for, because that sign was the sign that magic was involved, and it was also the sign that, if magic was involved, Merlin should become involved, too.

Merlin sat on his bed in his room, grabbing the spell book Gaius had given him in his first few days of being in Camelot, and searched rapidly for a spell on entering someone's dreams.

Because that's what it had to be, right? Perhaps someone had entered the Prince of Camelot's dreams and was haunting him, trying to drive him insane, trying to perhaps change his perspective on magic or Camelot or even his father. Merlin winced in memory of the time when Arthur had tried to murder Uther and was terrified in case it would happen again. He couldn't let Arthur go so insane that he ended up killing his father, or maybe someone else just as close to him. Gwen? Gaius?

Merlin gulped. What if, in his rage of insanity, the Prince attempted to kill Merlin?

The warlock hoped that, should it come to that, he could use magic to save himself, but what then? Would Arthur believe that his servant, advisor, and friend for so many years was really an evil sorcerer? A monster driven on tearing Camelot to the ground? And what then?

Merlin didn't even want to contemplate it. He just hoped, with all his willpower, that it didn't come to that.

So he set out to find out everything he could about entering one's dreams. How powerful did a sorcerer have to be? Were there any items needed to cast the spell? Any potions? In how close a proximity did the sorcerer have to be to cast the spell?

It didn't take long for the young warlock to get impatient, however. He always hated having to search every spell, study every page, when there was a certain amount of pressure on him. He had to force his eyes to stay open, half the time, because he was just so bored.

He usually found these books so interesting when he was just studying for the fun of it. He could learn fun spells he could use to play pranks on Arthur, or exciting, beautiful spells that made Uther's accusation of all magic being evil pretty much moot.

But when he was searching for a specific spell, it was difficult to trawl through all of them – and there were a lot of spells – just to find one single spell that may or may not even exist, and it took all of his willpower and the thought of Arthur being haunted just to keep him going.

While he uninterestedly scanned over another useless page, Merlin considered his theory and began to question it. What if it was just Arthur overreacting? What if the sorcerer in his dream was just a figment of Arthur's imagination and Gaius had been right – there was really nothing to worry about?

But Merlin knew it was never that simple.

He hoped that, when Gaius returned, he could fill him in on what he knew, though considering Arthur's frustration at Merlin hearing just a snippet of their conversation, the Prince had probably ordered the physician to not breathe a word to anyone. And, though Gaius trusted Merlin and cared for him, he would probably put the Prince's order above the warlock's plea – especially if he believed that Merlin was unnecessarily getting himself involved in the case and shouldn't be doing so.

If only Arthur would confide in him about this problem. He did it all the time, did he not? If he had an overly grave issue or something that was pressing on his mind, he would often talk to his servant, and take his advice almost like he was an elder advisor who had been a trusted member of the court for decades rather than a young 'idiot' he'd met only a few years ago.

Maybe he would confide, though, in time. Perhaps right now the Prince needed to think things through before he got too many people involved.

Merlin just hoped that, by the time Arthur decided to share his issue, it wasn't too late to save him.

"Thank you, Gaius." Arthur nodded to the physician and opened the door for him to leave. "If anything else suspicious occurs tonight, I will make sure you are the first to hear of it."

Gaius nodded his approval to the Prince before stepping out of the room, off to treat his other patients. Arthur watched him go until he rounded the corner of the corridor and then he shut the door with a sigh. He walked back to his desk and settled back into his chair, placing his head in his hands as it felt too heavy.

That hadn't gone exactly how he had expected.

The Prince had hoped that Gaius would've walked in, listened to all he had to say, and then shrugged off the points, saying that Arthur was only imagining it and that everything was going to be okay. Either that, or that Arthur had been right – there was a sorcerer in his dreams – however, everything the sorcerer said about Arthur were just lies and Arthur did not have to worry because the physician had a vile of elixir with him to expel the sorcerer from his mind and make sure he could never haunt Arthur again.

Instead, the physician had told him (uncertainly, at that) that there shouldn't be anything to worry about, and asked Arthur to report to him if it happened again. Arthur told the physician that he would, but the answer he received really hadn't been what he hoped for. He'd wanted Gaius' visit that morning to close off the subject entirely so that he'd never have to worry about a sorcerer in his brain ever again. But now, Gaius was encouraging Arthur to look out for the sorcerer; almost like his return would make everything easier; that, if the sorcerer made himself present again, Gaius could have a more sound answer for Arthur on his question of whether he was okay or not.

Arthur just hoped that, if and when the sorcerer did return, it wouldn't be too late. As in, he had heard the sorcerer say his name within the spell he was casting, and he was, though he wouldn't admit it, afraid that he had been enchanted. Perhaps that enchantment was the reason he'd felt just that little bit different in the past two weeks. Perhaps it wasn't the first time the enchantment had been cast.

And yet, he still pushed the sorcerer's accusations and comments to the furthest corners of his mind. He just wanted to continue life as he always had, and only take action when it was utterly necessary.

A word echoed around his mind. Ignorance. A harsh, croaking voice scolded mockingly. Ignorance will not save you in this instance, Arthur Pendragon.

Arthur swallowed hardly, as if he could digest and destroy the thought and never see it again. But the sorcerer's harsh comment stuck with the Prince like it was his shadow, and he worried about what it could mean. At the moment he felt that ignorance was his only suitable form of action, because he had both his father's and his own duties to attend to and his day was far too hectic to be worrying about some sorcerer who may or may not have existed.

But if ignorance was such a poorly-chosen action to take, then Arthur did not know what path to follow. He had told Gaius of his nightmares, and so, for now, that should be enough action, surely. And Gaius would think about what Arthur had said and keep a close eye on him and take care of him should anything suspicious occur. Right?

Okay, so he hadn't told Gaius everything about his dreams. He told the physician that he had, for three nights, had nightmares that consisted of a dark, cloaked figure whose aura haunted the Prince like a ghost. He had told him that the sorcerer had spoken to him last night and he had considered going into more detail, but Merlin had then dropped his breakfast and caused a racket outside and, although it had irritated Arthur to no end, he thought that perhaps it was a sign that, perhaps, he shouldn't be telling Gaius too much. Maybe Merlin's clumsiness was, for once, working to his advantage? What if Gaius had gotten suspicious? Told Arthur's father? How would the King have reacted to a sorcerer inside his son's head? How would he react to the suggestion the sorcerer made that his son…

He shook his head violently. No. He had jobs to do. He would not consider this now. Right now he had a court meeting to attend and he had to fill his father in on the meeting afterwards. If Arthur missed the meeting his father would be suspicious as to why, despite his shadow-like state.

The Prince stood up from his desk, took a deep breath, and found himself suddenly thankful that Merlin had insisted to dress Arthur after delivering his breakfast for the second time (this time, without dropping any of it), so Arthur did not have to attempt it himself. Taking one last moment to force every thought of the dreams and the sorcerer to the back of his mind and lock them away so that they could not escape, he marched out of his room.

Ignorance may not have been the best course of action. Perhaps not. He could not sit idly by, waiting for something to happen, because that was just not what he did. No matter what the sorcerer said, to his knowledge, Arthur Pendragon was not ignorant. He was not the kind to sit and do nothing whilst someone else worked for his benefit.

Though, now, there was nothing else he could do.

A/N: Thank you for reading :) I hope you'll take a few seconds to review. And rest assured, fans of Merlin and Arthur, I've got more of them coming up next chapter. Their interaction this chapter was minimal, I know, but I'm as big a bromance fan as the next girl, so I'll see you next week for that :D

~Amy x