Not quite as late this time! Freedom at last, I've just got everything handed in and am ready for a summer of chilling! Well, a summer of writing anyway... Hope you like this chapter!

Arthur might have been full of confidence as he strode towards the house, knowing that Gaius was going to make things better without having to worry about being reprimanded about being caught in the first place. But Merlin found that he was dropping back. He barely remembered the old man, knowing that Arthur seeing him as a friend meant that he could be trusted. But he had spent his life hiding his gifts, and now it just seemed as if more and more people were finding out. He had thought that would be a good thing, but now that it was actually happening, he wasn't so sure how much he liked it.

"Merlin?" Arthur had noticed that his friend was dropping behind, and rather than continuing to stride into the house, he stopped and turned. Merlin tried to hitch a smile onto his face, not wanting the older boy to think that he was scared again. But he knew by the look on Arthur's face that his uncertainty was showing. The prince sighed, moving back towards him and resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Gaius is going to make everything better, Merlin. He always does. Please, trust me?" Merlin bit his lip. He knew that he could trust Arthur, but he also knew that he didn't really have a choice. Despite what the prince was saying, if Merlin made Arthur angry, he knew that the older boy could potentially just order him to do what it was that he wanted. The last thing Merlin wanted was for Arthur to get angry with him, and he knew that the indecision was shown on his face. Arthur stepped back with a slightly hurt look, and Merlin was suddenly transported back to the night he had been forced to capture the prince. The same look had been on Arthur's face then.

Merlin knew what he had to do. He forced a smile onto his face and nodded.

"I'll trust him then."

"I'm not asking you to trust him. I'm asking you to trust me." As Arthur turned to walk into the house, Merlin felt like he had been punched in the gut. He could almost feel the king that Arthur was going to become, especially if this was how he was already acting while he was still in his teens. Merlin knew that he had absolutely no reason not to trust Arthur. He could vaguely recall the younger prince being scared of his father all those years ago, and yet here he was preparing to commit treason. Merlin knew that Arthur would be implicated as well considering the hold he would have over the magic, but that wasn't why he was going to keep Merlin's secret. He had already promised that before any of this had happened.

Steeling himself, Merlin followed the prince into the house. An elderly man sprang up with far too much energy for a man his age when he saw Arthur come in. Merlin didn't say anything but simply sidled over to his mother's side. She smiled gently down at him, draping her arm around his shoulders and allowing her son to lean against her. Neither of them said anything but just watched as Gaius focused his attention on the prince. Merlin could barely hold back a grin as Gaius simply raised an eyebrow and Arthur shifted uncomfortably.

"Right, shirt off."

"Why?"

"You're standing stiffly, meaning something has happened to your back. Take it off and let me have a proper look, Sire." Despite the formality added onto the end of the sentence, it was more than obvious who was truly in charge here. Arthur sighed, but carefully took hold of the corners of his shirt and dragged it up over his head. Merlin turned his head, burying it in his mother's skirt when he saw the two ugly stripes across Arthur's back from where they had whipped him. Hunith let out a soft gasp, but her hand immediately stroked Merlin's hair reassuringly as she tried to comfort her boy.

"Turn around."

"Gaius…"

"If you argue with me, Arthur, I'll be forced to do things the hard way." The way the two of them were speaking showed that this was an ordinary battle. Merlin wasn't surprised; Arthur was the type to refuse to admit to being hurt even when he needed help. He just found himself wondering what the hard way was in order for Arthur to do as he was told. The prince shuffled around, his head down as he looked at the floor. There was a flush rising up his face and Merlin knew that it was through a mixture of embarrassment and humiliation. They had both been terrified when the blow had been delivered even if Arthur had been able to hide it better. But what Merlin hadn't noticed up until now was the light scattering of bruises over Arthur's torso.

Unbidden, the memory of Arthur being held down on his knees, bound and gagged whilst the bandits assessed him sprang into his mind. He gave a cry, turning completely and clutching onto Hunith. He barely heard the door open before there were soft hands on his shoulders. He was moved from his mother to Petra, but Merlin didn't notice as he continued to hide away and shake.

"Get him out of here." Leon's voice was firm and commanding.

"No." Despite Petra's voice being the opposite, hers seemed to carry more weight. "He needs to be here for this, he needs to know that the prince is relatively unhurt."

But even as Petra held Merlin, Hunith walked across to Arthur. Very gently, she cupped his face, tilting it up to face her rather than looking at the floor. She softly stroked the back of her fingers over his cheek, eyes burning with empathy.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of here, Arthur." Her tone spoke more than her words. Here in Ealdor, just the way he had been before, Arthur was no prince. He was just a young man, still a boy, who had been through more than he could comprehend. Arthur tensed, not seeming to notice that his eyes involuntarily flickered to Leon as he did so.

"You fought as a Knight, I'm proud of you."

That was all it took for a stray tear to suddenly run down Arthur's face. Hunith smiled gently at him, continuing to stroke his cheek as Gaius began to examine the lash marks on Arthur's back. Luckily, it just seemed to be severe bruising so after much prodding – and wincing on Arthur's behalf – he simply rubbed in a foul smell potion and moved on to examine the other small wounds that were littered over the prince's body. Even Merlin hadn't realised quite how many times Arthur had been manhandled as he had been moved from the post into the centre of the camp, and Petra made sure that she kept the child's head turning away. He needed to know that Arthur was going to be fine, not see the various signs of what had happened that were coating his body.

Hunith, however, stayed with Arthur, smiling at him reassuringly every time he made a show of wanting to move away. She remembered the boy from those few years ago, and didn't think that she was ever going to forget the vulnerability in his eyes. He might have grown up and therefore learnt to mask those feelings, but that didn't mean he didn't still have them. She knew that once the King asked for his son back, Arthur would pretend like everything that happened wasn't a big deal. Her heart was telling her to get back to Merlin, but her head argued against her. Petra could soothe Merlin, it was clear that she had been doing so for the last however many months. Yet despite Leon knowing what to say in order to get Arthur to relax, he was still a knight. He wasn't going to offer the comfort that Arthur wanted, even if the prince didn't yet know it.

Arthur stayed relatively still throughout the whole process, but when Gaius came to unbind the bandage around his arm, the prince jerked away.

"It's fine, Leon looked at it." Hunith noticed the way that his eyes immediately flickered to Merlin, worry burning deep within them. Whether Merlin knew what they were talking about, or suddenly just realised that Arthur was watching him, no one was sure. But he twisted in Petra's grip so that he could look at Arthur. Hunith was hard pushed not to cry out at the exhaustion already showing in her boy's eyes, but Merlin was too busy having a silent conversation with Arthur to be paying her much attention.

Even though no words were being said, Hunith could guess what they were discussing. Arthur was trying to ask whether he should let Gaius look at the cut or not, knowing that the physician would move on to examine the younger boy afterwards and realise that Merlin had one in almost the same position. He wasn't asking about the wound though, he was asking about the magic.

"Arthur? You need to let me have a look at this."

"I…"

"That wasn't a request, Sire." Arthur just about bit back a yelp as Gaius seized his arm and made short work of untying the bandage. He didn't say anything, but swiftly cleaned it and rebound the wound. His hand squeezing Arthur's shoulder was the only sign that he gave that he was done, but it was enough for Arthur. He almost sagged, and Hunith quickly put her hand under his elbow to keep him upright. Leon moved forward, taking his other arm.

"Come on, you need sleep."

"M'fine." Hunith didn't even need to ask to know that Arthur's stubbornness had not lessened at all in the few years since she had last seen him. Leon looked like he made to argue, but the prince turned to look at him intently.

"Please? I want to make sure he is okay." He might have dropped his voice in order to make sure that Merlin didn't hear him, but Hunith did and smiled.

"Here." Without saying anything else, she reached over and pushed a stool at Arthur. He looked like he was going to protest, clearly not wanting to be seen as weak, but Leon didn't give him the chance. He simply rested his hand on the prince's shoulder and shoved him down on it. Weakened, Arthur didn't have a chance of staying upright against a fully grown knight, but the reproachful look he shot at Leon just made the man smile. Arthur had grown up, but it was still clear that Leon took his duty of looking after him seriously.

"Now, young man, let's look at you, shall we?" Hunith had always warned Merlin to be careful around strangers, causing the boy to be slightly shyer than other children his age. But he seemed to have a quiet confidence about him that meant she had never truly worried about it before. But as Gaius moved towards him, hand outstretched in order to take a look at the cut on Merlin's arm to begin with, the boy flinched back.

"Merlin, it's okay, love…" Hunith moved towards him as well, but it did nothing to stop Merlin from pressing back against Petra. Her hand tightened on his shoulder almost in reassurance, yet Hunith could see that her son was almost visibly trembling.

"Gaius is a friend, Merlin. You remember him from before? He just wants to make sure that you aren't hurt. You can let him do that, can't you?"

To her surprise, Merlin frantically shook his head, eyes filling with tears as he continued to press back.

"It's fine, Merlin, he won't hurt you. You can trust him." Even Arthur's words did nothing to get through to the clearly frightened warlock, and Hunith gasped when she saw that gold was just beginning to infiltrate his eyes. Arthur suddenly sucked in a sharp breath and it was only Leon's hand on his shoulder that stopped him from pitching off the stool altogether. Merlin's head continued to shake until Petra suddenly took a step back.

No longer was she a comforting force behind Merlin, grounding him and making him aware that he was safe. With that contact gone, the colour drained from Merlin's face for a moment and he seemed to be breathing erratically as he turned. Seeing her still standing there relaxed him a little but as Hunith moved closer so she could see the expression on Merlin's face, she could see that Merlin was frowning in confusion. Whatever Petra was doing, he wasn't sure about it. The woman simply raised her eyebrows at him.

"Your mother told you it was safe, Merlin. You are to listen to her." Hunith wasn't sure if she had ever spoken to her son like that before. She opened her mouth, wanting to make some sort of reproach, but Gaius shook his head, cutting her off. He was watching quizzically as Petra continued to look stern, but slowly, Merlin began to turn back around. He kept his eyes on the floor as he gingerly stretched out his arm towards Gaius, refusing to look at the physician.

"Thank you, young man." Keeping his tone friendly, Gaius dropped to his knees next to him and reached out for him. Petra stepped back away from him again, almost seeming to blow out a long breath. Hunith was still prepared to have a word with her about the way she had spoken to her son when she suddenly became aware of the fact there were tears swimming in the ex-slave's eyes. Petra caught Hunith's gaze and jerked her head to one side.

With one long glance at Merlin, Hunith followed her.

"I apologise, I know what you must be thinking. Merlin… Merlin was never obedient, even when Jarta had complete control over him. Sometimes I was the only one who could get him to listen, mainly because he knew that I wouldn't hurt him. I know that it is important for him to be checked over, but if we were to wait, he might just become more afraid. I just…"

"Wanted what was best for him?" Hunith said gently, her previous annoyance vanishing as quickly as it had come. She smiled, reaching out and touching Petra's arm gently.

"I see the way he reacts to you. He wouldn't have survived this if it wasn't for you. You've brought my boy back to me."

"I just hope that is true." Petra murmured, looking back towards the child. "Don't underestimate the amount of crimes he was forced to commit whilst he was gone."

Seeing the look of alarm on Hunith's face, she pressed on. "Don't worry, he never had to kill anyone, or anything like that. But he was used as a thief for the entire time that he was there, and was constantly under the threat of one of the other bandits taking control of him. He's home, true, but I'm not sure he is back."

"We will get him back, Gaius will know what to do." Hunith wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Petra or herself, but she was watching closely as Gaius finished wrapping up Merlin's arm. Before he tied the bandage off, she watched as he carefully took Merlin's pulse. Once done, he then continued to examine her son before finally giving him a pat on the shoulder and smiling. His eyes, however, spoke a completely different story.

Hunith was moving before she even realised it, gathering Merlin back into her arms and kissing his hair. His earlier exhaustion had been bad enough but having to deal with Gaius as well had taken it out of him. He immediately sagged against his mother, and Hunith knew that if he was awake, he certainly wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings.

"Well?"

"Severely malnourished for a boy of his age. Slight hints of dehydration, numerous bruises in various stages of healing, not to mention the same cuts around his wrists as around Arthur's. He's been shackled lately."

"A few days ago. He tried to help me, they punished him for it. One man… they made him stay still and he just kicked him."

"Arthur…" The distress was clear in Arthur's voice and Leon moved towards his prince. But Arthur didn't seem to pay any attention to the calming hand on his shoulder, his eyes were locked on Merlin. For his part, Merlin still didn't react and Hunith was almost convinced that he had fallen asleep.

"No… He told them to stop, but I know it was simply because he didn't want them to do it in front of me. He was so humiliated by it, and so scared of what was coming and there was nothing I could do to help him. They stopped, only to chain him up for three days without food or water." Arthur's voice was trembling even as Gaius cursed under his breath.

"Can you fetch a bucket of water, my dear?" He asked Petra kindly, causing her to nod and hurry from the house.

"A bucket of water?"

"He needs to get moisture into his body, three days without water should have killed him if it wasn't for… well, he was lucky."

"I couldn't do anything."

"Hunith, as soon as she gets back, you need to wake him up."

"Gaius, leave him rest, surely?"

"He can go back to sleep afterwards, but the sooner we get water into him, the better. Trust me, he will be a lot more lucid the next time he awakens if he can get some liquid into him now."

"I couldn't…" It was only after Gaius had delivered his instructions did he finally turn back to the distraught sounding prince. Arthur's eyes were locked on Merlin almost without blinking, yet he didn't seem to notice that there were tears running down his face.

"Leon, could you fetch me the other bag from my horse please?" Leon knew better than to argue and swiftly disappeared. Hunith didn't know what to do, so just continued to hold Merlin close to her, not liking the idea of having to wake him up now that he had found some sort of peace.

"Arthur, look at me…"

"My fault."

"Arthur Pendragon, look at me right now." Gaius' order reminded Hunith that there were those in Camelot who remembered Arthur's true age. The young man jumped, finally shifting his gaze from Merlin and onto the physician. He swallowed hard, but didn't say anything as tears continued to spill down his cheeks.

"You did all you could." Arthur shook his head, making to look back at Merlin if it wasn't for Gaius cupping his cheek and forcing him to stay looking at the physician.

"You did. And do you know how I know? They are no ordinary cuts on your wrists, that is the sign of someone struggling with everything they have. Not just against the metal of a cuff, but against rope as well. You didn't stop fighting that whole time, and for that your father will be proud. But a mere person can't break free of metal, Arthur, no matter how strong. You knew you had no chance, and yet you continued to help Merlin. He knows this, you have done all you could."

Arthur didn't answer, but did seem to suck in a shuddering breath at Gaius' words. The old man smiled reassuringly at him, but Hunith could see the relief in his eyes when Leon reappeared with the bag. The knight and the physician swapped places while Gaius rummaged around inside.

"What are you looking for?" She made sure to keep her voice quiet, not wanting to disturb either Merlin or allow Arthur to hear her words. Gaius glanced over at his prince before sighing.

"A sleeping draught. He needs to rest, or he'll never come to terms with what has happened. I know there is something he is not telling me, I can see it burning in his eyes. I can't force him, but I need to know what that something is before he faces his father. Otherwise the chances are that the two of them will just come to blows again. Too many times we've now lost Arthur in this part of the forest."

"It's only been twice."

"You think? Tell me, did Merlin ever speak of the prince after their first meeting?"

"All the time." Hunith had a small smile on her face as she fondly stroked Merlin's hair. "He had it all planned out, the adventures they were going to have once he got to Camelot. I guess his own adventure didn't quite turn out the way he had thought it would. Why?"

"He was not the only one. We had to stop bringing Arthur these routes, for he would always try and sneak off. If he could remember the way, I'm sure you would have had him turning up on your doorstep years ago."

"Maybe that would have done Merlin good?" Hunith murmured, but Gaius didn't respond as he finally found what he was looking for. Pulling out a small phial, he turned back to Arthur.

"Sire…"

"No way. I know what that is, Gaius, and I don't need it." As if to try and prove his words, Arthur swiftly wiped his hand across his face to remove the signs of tears, pushing off Leon's hand at the same time and trying to sit up straighter.

"Arthur."

"No! No, I won't take it!" Arthur's distress caused him to raise his voice, almost shouting as he pushed the stool backwards. It was clear that he was not going to be prepared to take it, yet it was also obvious that Gaius wasn't going to give him a choice. One sharp nod to Leon made the knight slip behind Arthur, looping one arm across his chest to hold him still. Gaius moved forward at the same time, and the ease they worked together meant Hunith knew this was not the first time they had been forced to take drastic measures against the young prince.

"NO! I don't want to sleep, Gaius, please."

"Sire, it will help you. Come on, stop fighting me…" Gaius took another step, but before he could go further, the bottle suddenly ripped from his hand. It flew across the room and shattered against the opposite wall. Hunith felt Merlin stiffen in her hold before he slowly sat up, looking over towards the commotion. The confused look on his face told her enough.

That hadn't been Merlin.

That had been Arthur.

The prince had been so desperate to avoid taking the potion that he had accidentally pulled upon his bond with Merlin. The young warlock had somehow felt Arthur's distress and reacted, removing the thing that was unsettling him. But he had no idea it had happened, because it hadn't been him directing his magic.

Gaius took a step back as Arthur's eyes went wide, clearly realising at the same time what had just happened.

"What did you do that for?" Merlin muttered, a surly, annoyed tone in his voice. He didn't sound angry or upset that Arthur had just used his magic, but more irritated that it had woken him up.

"I…" Arthur looked absolutely lost for words, and Hunith knew that this was the first time that he had called upon the magic since being bonded to it.

"So that's what you aren't telling me." Gaius muttered, glancing between the two boys with a slight frown pinching the top of his nose. "This complicates things."

"Merlin, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I didn't even know I could…"

"Just stop wishing for things too strongly." Merlin muttered, snuggling back into Hunith and yawning at the same time. The mother smiled, pleased that her son was relaxed enough to not only accept the comfort that she was offering, but was prepared to try and go back to sleep despite the fact that his magic had just been used against his will.

"I can't help it, I just…"

"Arthur, I think you should listen to what Merlin is telling you." Gaius interrupted firmly, and Arthur gulped. His eyes took on a slightly scared note as he stared at Gaius.

"Are you going to tell my father?"

"Are you?"

"No. I promised Merlin that I would keep him safe. Besides, he would have to execute us both."

"You're the one who said that you didn't have magic, you were just using mine." Merlin complained, not looking around this time but continuing to shift as he tried to get himself comfortable. "Make up your mind. He won't execute you if you don't have it."

"I have control of it, that will be enough for him."

"Boys, now is not the time." Hunith made sure she cut them off before they could get into another argument. Her pleading eyes sought out Gaius, but he was still looking shrewdly between them. If she wasn't mistaken, the mother was certain that there was a hint of a smile in his eyes, almost as if this hadn't surprised him as much as it should have. She frowned quizzically, but Gaius just shook his head. Hunith wasn't sure whether it was because he didn't want to say anything in front of the children or just whether he wasn't going to tell her at all. Merlin huffed, relaxing against her again and Arthur too fell silent. Seeing the smile on Leon's face, Hunith didn't need to ask. Why did she get the feeling that there weren't many people who would simply tell Arthur to be quiet? Rather, how many would tell him and then he would obey?

"No, Arthur, I am not going to tell your father." Gaius said gently, returning to Arthur's initial question and trying to get the haunted look out of the prince's eye. "Especially if you aren't going to tell him. But you do realise the complications that this could cause, don't you?"

Arthur mutely nodded, his gaze flickering from Gaius to Merlin, tears in his eyes again.

"Gaius, I don't think now is the time to be discussing this." Hunith said firmly, carefully resting Merlin against the wall as she slipped out from under him. "Arthur, you are going to take one of Gaius' potions because he knows best. Do you understand?"

"But…"

"I said, do you understand?" Arthur fell silent again, but softly nodded. Hunith held out her hand, and Gaius swiftly got another tonic out from his bag and handed it to her. Hunith pulled off the stopper and simply held it out to the prince. Rather than struggling and pulling away, Arthur simply sighed heavily. He took it from her and drained it in one gulp, causing the mother to smile at the face he pulled afterwards. It was lucky that Leon still had hold of him for it worked almost immediately and Arthur sagged backwards. If it wasn't for the knight, he would have fallen off the stool. Merlin shifted as Arthur lost consciousness, opening his eyes to peer blearily at them.

"He really didn't want that."

"Merlin…"

"What do you mean?" Gaius cut through Hunith's reprimand with a kindly tone, causing Merlin to shrug even as he yawned again.

"I could feel it, he doesn't want to sleep." Merlin's voice was casual and soft, as if he had no idea what he was saying. Gaius' eyes widened and he only watched as Merlin shut his eyes again and Arthur was lowered gently to the floor by his knight.

"Merlin can feel what Arthur is feeling?"

"It appears so." Gaius said gravely, the concern shining brightly in his eyes. Petra came back in with the bucket of water, and the physician distracted himself with filling up a goblet and trying to coax Merlin into drinking some. It seemed wrong that Arthur had reacted magically when he hadn't wanted to drink something, and yet Merlin just settled for feebly trying to push Gaius away, claiming that he just wanted to sleep.

"Why is it that trouble always seems to find these two?" Leon's voice was soft, almost amused as he used his cloak to cover the sleeping prince in exactly the same way that he had done all those years ago.

"I suppose that is what happens with two boys like these ones." Hunith responded with a smile, watching with a fond expression as Gaius finally managed to persuade Merlin to drink. She knew the signs, knew by the way he kept blinking slowly that he was trying to keep his eyes open. It was nice to know that even though her son had been missing for all of this time, he still seemed to be her boy. Not that she had dismissed what Petra had said about truly getting Merlin back from this, but while she still knew the tell-tale signs of his behaviour, she had hope.

Gaius finally won and walked over towards them. Judging by the look on his face, he had overheard the last part of their conversation. He shook his head as he slowly eased himself down onto the stool, sighing as he did so.

"It's more than that."

"What do you mean?"

"Trouble finds them individually. But when they are together, the trouble that finds them is something that has an effect on everything surrounding them."

"Gaius, what are you talking about?" Even as Hunith voiced her confusion, Leon moved closer to Arthur, running his fingers through his prince's hair and causing Arthur to fall still and peaceful again from where he had been stirring slightly, clearly distressed by something. Gaius sighed again, only this time made no attempt to try and hide the smile on his face.

"Trouble will always find these two simply because it is their destiny."

"Their destiny?!"

Merlin huffed as he fell asleep at exactly the same time as Arthur let out a sigh.

"Their destiny." Gaius repeated, and this time, no one doubted him.