This is an individual one-shot and will not follow on from the previous chapter.

"Why would someone use magic like that?" Merlin pondered.

They were trying to determine the cause of the illness currently threatening Camelot. So far, it wasn't going well. Magic was their best bet, but it was powerful.

"Magic corrupts. People use it for their own ends," Gaius explained.

"But not all magic is bad. I know it isn't."

"It's neither good nor bad. It's how you use it," Gaius countered, sounding an awful lot like Sirius Black.

"Over there," Arthur ordered as he burst in, guards on his heel, "Sorry Gaius, we're searching every room in town."

"What for?" Gaius asked, his voice laced with annoyance.

"A sorcerer," Arthur explained briefly.

"But why would he be here?" Gaius asked, sounding more distressed.

Arthur sighed and threw his arms up, in a way of apology, "I'm just doing my job."

"We've nothing to hide," Gaius droned, confidently, "Go on, then. Search."

Arthur nodded and moved through the room, "All these books and papers?"

"My life's work, dedicated to the understanding of science. You are quite welcome to read through them if you wish."

"What's this room up here?" Arthur asked, as if he didn't know.

"Er, it's mine," Merlin squeaked, slightly surprised.

"And what do you expect to find in there?" Gaius demanded as Arthur walked towards the door.

He stopped in the doorway, "I'm looking for material or evidence suggesting the use of enchantments," he explained before ducking into Merlin's room.

Gaius turned to Merlin, his tone hushed and anxious, "What've you done with the magic book I gave you?"

Merlin slowly turned his head to the old man, a panicked look painting his features. After a breath, he heard Arthur's voice from his room.

"Merlin, come here. Look what I found."

Merlin walked slowly to his room, his heart beating fast, his breathing shallow. His hands were sweaty as he walked into his room. Arthur closed the door behind him and turned on his servant.

"I suggest you find somewhere to hide this!" He whispered angrily, shoving the magic book into Merlin's chest, "Do you have any idea how lucky you are that I found it? And not one of the guards!"

"I'm sorry!" Merlin whispered back desperately, "If you'd given us some warning-!"

"You know I can't do that!" Arthur snapped, "Father is on edge enough already! He's got the guards on high alert-! There was no way for me to give you some warning..."

"I know...I-I'm sorry, I know I should have-"

"Just hide it now, okay!" Arthur flapped his arms a bit, his voice high and irritated. Merlin noticed that he looked far too tired...

Merlin kneeled and lifted the hollow floorboard by his bed, carefully placing the book under the floor.

"Thank you!" He sighed, Merlin grabbed his arm when he turned to leave.

"Stop! You're stressing yourself out! You need to relax and stop working so hard!"

"I can't! I've got to organise this sorcerer hunt and stop this disease!" Arthur rubbed his eyes, "Just tell me -are we wasting our time with this search?"

Merlin paused, trying to decide how much he should tell the prince, "The sorcerer won't be found by searching the town..." Merlin shook his head, "If we find anything I'll tell you, ju-"

"No," he pushed Merlin's hand from his arm, "No, you can't risk it. Just tell me if you need me..." He strutted through the door, Merlin not far behind him.

"I'd work a lot faster without any interruptions, sire," Gaius quipped.

"Of course, I'm sorry," Arthur turned to the guards, "We're finished here."

As he left the room, the Prince turned back and smiled sadly to Merlin, who nodded and waved him off. As the door swung closed Merlin let out a breath.

"Merlin?" Arthur asked hesitantly, inching through the door.

"Arthur," Merlin answered, sounding glad to see the prince.

"Any progress?" He asked as he came up beside the boy.

"Yes, actually," Merlin smiled, but sadly, "It-er- it's the water."

"Right," Arthur acknowledged, "But that's good news isn't it?"

"Yes, of course. Well..except that we've no idea what is causing it or how to stop it, or even how to cure it. But yes this is good news."

"So why do you look upset?"

"Upset? I don't look upset," Merlin turned away from Arthur.

"Yes you do," Arthur turned Merlin back to face him, "It may surprise you to know but I can tell when you're upset."

Looking defeated, Merlin muttered "Gwen's father is ill.."

Arthur could see that Merlin was blaming himself for this, "You can't blame yourself, if you could help him you would!"

"But what if I can help him! What if I can save him! What if I can save all of-"

"No!" Arthur chided, "Merlin, everyone is looking for a sorcerer! If people suddenly start getting better that will only back my father's ridiculous decision that there is a sorcerer in Camelot!?"

"But I can't just let Gwen's father die!"

"Then hurry up and find a cure for this illness!"

"It's not that simple! I can't just-!"

"Merlin!" Arthur interrupted, facing the boy, "You can't use magic to save everyone! When everyone is on high alert like this you can't risk it!"

Arthur hesitantly left the physician's chambers, he couldn't keep an eye on Merlin all day -he had duties to attend to.

When Arthur reached the physician's chambers, to check on Gaius' progress, the next morning, he was surprised to find Merlin smiling.

"What's got you in a good mood?" He asked when he couldn't see Gaius.

"Oh, nothing," Merlin muttered, "Gwen's father is better is all, it's nice to see her happy. Makes me happy, you know?" He smiled at himself, then at Arthur, "She was so glad that I'd asked her how she was. I'm surprised more people don't ask her about her personal life -she's a very kind person. A very good friend. She thinks I'm funny, you know? How come you never say nice things like that? I suppose because you're used to people asking you about your day. But I'm glad she was smiling again, I don't like to see her upset..." Merlin rambled on, Arthur wasn't really listening.

"Oh," The prince smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. Why did his heart hurt? He suddenly felt hot and...angry. Was he...jealous? Jealous of what? Merlin being happy? That didn't make sense...he felt...good when Merlin was happy -and...sad when Merlin was upset... So was he jealous of...Guinevere? But that didn't make sense either... Why would he be jealous of Gwen?

These thoughts plagued him as he stumbled out of the room, in a daze. Until he remembered Merlin's words; 'Gwen's father is better...' Dammit Merlin! What did I tell you!

The young Pendragon was thankful for the distraction when he is informed that he is needed in the council chambers. When he arrives, Gaius places a vial of water on the table, there's a flower sat in the water.

"Don't touch it," Gaius snaps, when Arthur reaches for the vial, "I had this in the water for no more than a few hours."

"Where's the water from?" Uther asks, glaring at the vial as if he could scare it into lifting this disease.

"The pump where the people take their daily supply," Gaius explains.

"We have to stop the people from using it," Arthur concludes, only to recieve a look from Gaius.

"The city cannot survive without water."

"We have to find this sorcerer!" Uther bellows.

"I don't believe that they're inside Camelot," Arthur retorted, earning another glare, this time from the King.

"Then extend the search to the villages!" Uther bellows again.

"We've started," Arthur explains, leaning in and lowering his voice, he knew there was no point trying to reason with his father when magic was involved -but it couldn't hurt to try, "But I can't search the entire kingdom."

"And I can't stand by and watch our people die!" Uther's tone says the conversation is over. Arthur knew there was no point trying to reason with the old man. He nods and leaves.

When he reaches the lower town, Merlin's words pop back into his mind 'Gwen's father is better'. Unfortunately people seemed to have realised -because there was a large crowd gathered around his blacksmith shop. As the guards walk over to see what all the fuss is about, Arthur realises that he has no way out of this. He has to question the people, find out why they're gathered, he has to question Tom.

In the space of a second, Arthur debates how he's going to keep Merlin safe in all this. Someone has to be blamed, if his father found out that Tom was better and that Arthur hadn't investigated then all hell would break loose. No he had to arrest someone.

"The story is you were sick," Arthur states, walking up to Tom.

"Not anymore," the blacksmith smiled.

"Perhaps you were suffering from some other ailment?" Arthur prompts, hoping the man would take the bait and run. Run to the sea.

He didn't, "Oh, you're joking. I felt like death itself, not enough strength in me to stir the air."

"Then...what happened?" Come on man! How thick are you! Say it was something else! Say the physician gave you a uncomplete potion, say anything!

"Oh, I don't know. Suddenly it was gone," Arthur could have slapped the man, "I'm fitter than I was before."

"That's remarkable," Arthur commented, not sounding at all pleased, "Was anybody with you when all this happened?" Say no. Say no and I might be able to pass this off as-

Tom paused, "Just my daughter, Gwen."

Arthur internally groans. But he turns and leaves, headed for the blacksmith's house. The guards had heard the whole conversation, he had no way out of this, his hands were tied. He hoped Merlin could forgive him. He also hoped that the idiot hadn't left any evidence in the- One of the guards walked up to him and handed him a glowing poultice.

It was the guard that had said they'd have to arrest Gwen. Arthur just hoped that he kept that out of his report -he couldn't have his father barraging him for being weak, again.

"Seize her," Arthur commanded, as he and some guards walked into Morgana's chambers to find Guinevere.

"No!" Gwen muttered, shock clearly written all over her face.

"Guinevere, I'm arresting you for crimes and contraventions of the laws of Camelot, that you did practice enchantments," Arthur announced, just as Morgana rushed in behind him.

"Gwen?"

"But what have I done? I haven't done anything! Help me, please!" Gwen cried as the guards dragged her from the room.

Morgana rounded on Arthur, "What are you doing?" She demanded.

"I found a magic poultice in her house," Arthur explained, trying to walk out behind the guards.

"Oh, that's ridiculous," Morgana scoffed.

"Then how else do you explain her father's recovery?" Arthur asked, hoping that would be enough to stop the woman.

"She's innocent. I know she's innocent!" Apparently not.

"What can I do?" Arthur asked, willing Morgana to understand, "I can't turn a blind eye!" He stormed out of the room. Great, now there's another person who won't forgive me.

"Even Morgana thinks I'm in love Gwen..." Merlin sighed, he sounded spent. It had been a long few days...

Merlin had tried to give himself up in Gwen's place (Arthur saved his neck by saying Merlin loved her), they'd discovered the Afanc in the water and Arthur and Merlin had managed to kill it. Luckily, Gaius was able to prove to the King that Guinevere was not the sorcerer that started the disease (how he'd done that the prince and servant, had no clue).

Arthur heard Merlin's voice, but...who was the idiot talking too? He walked into his room slowly. The boy was hunched over the fireplace, his back to the prince. Arthur looked around, expecting to see another half of the conversation his manservant seemed to be having with...no one? "Merlin, who are you talking to?"

The slight boy jumped, "oh!" He looked over his shoulder, "Erm...no one..."

Arthur gave him a look, "Right..."

Walking over to the table, he plopped down in a chair, his father had been in a mood today. Arthur had thought that there was cause for celebration -apparently not... "Lucky, that wind, wasn't it," he tried to joke, but his mind was racing. Was it him or was it hot in here? "What made you think of using the torch?"

"Er... Well an Afanc is made with earth and water, so fire and wind would destroy it.." Merlin explained, quickly adding," Gaius explained how the Afanc was created, I just guessed the torch would work," he looked over his shoulder," And we were lucky with the wind," he agreed, with a knowing smile. But Arthur's face was serious.

"What?" Merlin questioned, his smile fading.

The prince had that look he adopted whenever he was fighting some internal battle. Most likely some prince-ly thing that Merlin wouldn't be allowed to know about. Although Arthur would probably still tell him -Merlin's smarter than he looks.

"Nothing," he waved his servant off, but his eyebrows were still set, the corners of his mouth twitching a little.

"I can tell when something is bothering you," Merlin stated, making Arthur glare at him as if that was the most ridiculous notion in the world, "And you obviously want to tell me. So go ahead."

After a moment of glaring at his servant, Arthur looked at the table, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

"What?" Merlin was shocked, Arthur usually glared at him but he'd never backed out of a glaring contest before. "If it's some 'official' matter that I wouldn't understand -try me. Besides who am I going to tell. I spend my days clearing up after you don't I!" As if to show his point, he stomped around the table and started picking up Arthur's clothes that were strewn around the floor.

After Arthur didn't answer, Merlin assumed he wouldn't -and with his back to the prince he couldn't see that his eyebrows were still set, his mouth still twitching a little.

"Do you really love Gwen?" Arthur blurted, surprising himself and Merlin, "I mean I only said that to save your skin, but just now you were talking about how Morgana believes you love her," Once he'd started he couldn't stop, Merlin was stood staring at the prince, mouth slightly agape. What had brought this on? "And Morgana's smarter than she looks -don't tell her I said that- so why would she think something was going on between you two if there wasn't something there? I mean maybe she's just a romantic and that's why she seems to see love where there isn't any -she seems to think I have even the slightest interest in her so maybe she's delirious. But I hope you're not in love with Gwen really because-" Arthur slapped a hand to his mouth, his eyes wide.

Somehow, Merlin had been able to keep up with Arthur's babbling, "Because what?" his eyes narrowed and he took a couple of steps towards Arthur.

"Nothing. Nothing!" The Pendragon cursed in his head, his voice was too high and squeaky. He's answered too quickly. Merlin would never believe him.

"I don't believe you." See?

"I'm your prince, Merlin," Arthur snapped, turning away from the boy, "You don't have a choice."

"Fine."

Arthur shot around. There was no way Merlin would just drop it like that. "What?"

"I said fine," Merlin shrugged and went back to clearing the floor.

"What do you mean 'fine'?" He jumped out of his chair and stomped up behind the boy.

"I mean 'fine'," He turned to face the blond, eyes narrowed, "Why? Is it important? The 'nothing' you were about to blurt out to me?"

Yes. "No, of course not. Like I said... It's nothing..."

"Well, you'd better let me finish my chores then," Merlin couldn't help the little smile that crept onto his face, "After all, sooner I'm finished the sooner I can go check on Guinevere."

Arthur stiffened, "Yes... She-she's been through quite an ordeal... I imagine she'd...appreciate you checking up on her..." His voice was small, not at all his usual outrageous, gruff, tone.

"Almost executed?" Merlin spat, his anger getting the better of him, "Yes I imagine that'd shake anyone up!"

The prince blinked. Apparently they both had a lot bottled up... He stepped forward and took Merlin by the arms, "Hey," he grabbed his chin, gently pulling it up so they were eye to eye, "Hey, I'd never let anything happen to you. You know that, right?"

Merlin tried to push Arthur off him but his grip was strong. He scoffed, "Why?" Before Arthur could reply he continues, "You'd never let anything happen to me but what about everyone else? All the other people that need saving? Like Gwen."

"Merlin... Your heart is too pure.." Arthur sighed, "You can't save everyone."

He ripped Arthur's hands off him, "I can try."

He turned away, his eyes watery. But Arthur grabbed his arm and swung him back to face him.

He was going to say something... something to convince Merlin that his life was more important than anyone else's. But Merlin spoke before he could find the right words.

"Why does it bug you so much that I love Guinevere?"

Arthur's breath caught in his throat, it was definitely too hot in here... His hands felt sweaty and he was suddenly very conscious of just how close they were. "Do you? Love her?"

"No! Why does everyone think I do! She's just a friend!" Merlin tried to shake Arthur off again.

The blond held him still, making him look at him, "I believe you!"

Merlin was suddenly hot. They were very close indeed... "Arthur..?" He could tell the prince still had something he wanted to say.

"I- I want to ask you something..."

"Of course, anything."

Arthur let go of Merlin, turning his back to the boy and leaning on a chair. He couldn't find the right words... Even if he could, his mouth was unexpectedly dry and his tongue felt heavy.

"What is it?" Merlin prompted.

"Do-do you really love Guinevere? It's just- just that I hope you don't -although it's okay if you do! I-I'd be happy for you if you did love her but- it's just that- well there's-" he shut his mouth, took a deep breath, and tried again. "I'd hope that you didn't love her- be-because that'd...hurt.."

That wasn't what he'd wanted to say. He'd wanted to tell Merlin that he loved him. That he was the only one who was honest with the prince. That Merlin, somehow, managed to make everything okay at the end of the day. That his face was the only one he wanted to see before he went to sleep, and the first thing he wanted to see when he awoke (the fact that Merlin's face was the one he fell asleep too and woke up to was, was insignificant).

Arthur's heart hammered against his chest as Merlin took in his words. He was too scared to turn around, to see Merlin's face.

Familiar, small hands pulled at Arthur's shoulders, trying to turn him around. "Arthur?" Merlin whispered when he'd successfully tugged the man around, "What does that mean?"

"I-"

"I don't love Gwen," Merlin interrupted, "But what do you mean 'it'd hurt'? Why would me loving someone-" he gasped, "Arthur. Arthur!" He clawed at the Pendragon, trying to get the other man to look at him, "Tell me what you meant by that Arthur!"

"You know..." He murmured in response, reluctantly looking Merlin in the eye.

"Tell me," the sorcerer whispered back, just as quietly.

Arthur shook his head, but Merlin placed a hand on his cheek, and the prince swears that his heart stopped.

"Tell me," the raven-haired idiot spoke, unbelievably, softly.

The pince took a steadying breath, that did nothing to his nerves, and shut his eyes, "I love you, Merlin. So please, please don't be in love with Guinevere..."

Merlin smiled, although I prince's eyes were still shut.

But Arthur peeled them open when Merlin didn't run away, didn't move his hand, didn't move at all...

"Merlin?"

"Yes, Arthur?"

The Pendragon faced a glistening smile, "You- you're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" His cheeks were starting to hurt now.

"So..you're not mad?"

"No! You clotpole!" Arthur grinned and Merlin moved away. But not before the prince was surged with courage and spun his sorcerer around. Planting a sloppy kiss on his lips.

"Arth-mph!" Merlin was surprised for a moment, but wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck, twisting his soft hair in his hands.

When Arthur pulled away, they both look thoroughly kissed. Their hair sticking out in several directions, both panting rather hard.

"Hm." Arthur grunted in approval.

"'Hm'? That's all you can say? 'Hm'!" Merlin looked angry for a second, but burst into laughter before Arthur could argue, "You are the least romantic person I've ever known!"

"Hey! I can be romantic!" Arthur argued. But soon regretted it. He had avoided courting his whole life. He wasn't romantic at all...

"Oh yeah?" Merlin crossed his arms, "Prove it."

A/N: I'm sorry it's kind of patchy, I spent so long rewriting this episode because I didn't think it was long enough I think some of the quality has been lost... But I rather like the ending. Anyway, I've not written the next chapter so it'll take longer to put up (I'm the worst updater so apologies in advance)