A/N: This didn't take as long as the last chapter . . . but it isn't AS long either. Ah . . . sorry for the wait.

Here's a Summary: Merlin was cutting even before he met Yara, but he helped her escape when she was arrested. She was recaptured and Merlin was at the council meeting in which the council convinced Arthur to sentence Yara to death. Beyond that, the council members said very mean things about magic and magic-users, which sent Merlin over the edge. Yara told Arthur to find Merlin, and Arthur and Lancelot found Merlin in a pool of his own blood in his room. Merlin is taking longer to wake than he should, because he's lost the will to live. (By the way, Arthur calls Merlin his brother in the ensuing scene, which is an idea I've always liked.)

This chapter is dedicated to XxPurpleAngel9xX (I hope the summary helped).

As always, R&R&E (Oh, and I don't own Merlin. And I also do not enjoy what I'm doing to them. Except that this is the kind of story I enjoy reading. You know . . . with angst, and, if my reviewers are to be believed, plenty of feels.) (I DO own Yara, but if anyone wants to use her in a story, just ask. I'm not horribly possessive.)

Arthur POV

No more than his best. But he hadn't been doing his best, had he? There was no way he could have been, not if Merlin had felt it necessary to do what he'd done. But what was it? What was it that he needed to do? That he should have done so long ago; to stop this. Because this should never have happened. Never. Ever. But what was it? Arthur had the feeling that it should be achingly obvious. That it was right in front of him. But all he saw when he looked at Merlin was a pale boy (a boy who might as well be his younger brother) with the word MONSTER spelled out in scars on his arm by his own hand. Oh gods . . . his own hand. What had Merlin been thinking?! Didn't he know he could come to Arthur with anything? Well . . . with something important enough to elicit this kind of reaction. The king of Camelot let his head fall to the edge of the cot. He was exhausted. Emotionally drained. He probably looked a wreck. Not that he particularly cared at this point.

Arthur was jolted from his musings as the door opened behind him. He turned to see Gwaine standing with his hand on the shoulder of a girl with a red cape of Camelot draped over thin shoulders. Wait . . . "What is the sorceress doing here?" His voice was low, but the exhaustion that was all-to present ruined the effect slightly.

"I'm an enchantress," the girl muttered sullenly.

"And you're supposed to be locked in a magic-proofed cell."

"She's a child, Arthur," Gwaine said, stepping forward. The knight was protecting the sorceress? Arthur felt something like betrayal rush through him, but it was both dulled and slowed by the tiredness pulling at his eyelids. Arthur heard the door close, and looked up to see that Lancelot, who had left barely a minute earlier, leaning against the old wood.

"A sorceress is a sorceress, Gwaine. Be glad it is not the pyre." Sure, Arthur wished that he could simply banish the girl; no more reports of sickness had come from the villages in the area that the girl had been living. The missing game though; that was odd. And . . . there was that law.

"Glad? Whose decision was it Arthur? Yours, or the council's?" Arthur stayed silent. It was, after all, a valid question now he came to think of it. He had fought the council not to put the girl on the pyre; had thought he'd scored a victory when they relented, even if it was only an inch. With a groan, he propped his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

"You are the king, Arthur," Lancelot said quietly. "The punishment for breaking a law may be, itself, part of the law, but you are in the position to change the law."

"My father set those laws in place for a reason, Lancelot," Arthur said, but he didn't move from where he was sitting. "Of course, if a sorcerer were to escape, we can only chase them to Camelot's border; not even that far if we lose the trail."

"That's what I tried to tell her," Gwaine said, "but she said she had to stay until Merlin gets better. Part of being a magical healer." The exasperation heavy in the knight's voice was offset slightly by a fondness he didn't seem to realize was there. Arthur looked closer at the knight and sorceress, noting the protective gesture of Gwaine's hand on her shoulder, not to mention the red cape draped over her shoulders, and the girl's relaxed posture; she apparently felt safe with the knight. And oh, the last thing Arthur needed right now was a knight feeling protective over a sorceress. He focused his gaze on the girl.

"You told me," he said quietly. "You told me to find Merlin. You knew. How did you know?" The girl shrugged slightly.

"I'm a healer. I could . . . feel it?" The last words were said almost as a question, and Arthur could feel the girl searching his face to see if he believed it. He did not. Not fully, anyway. There was something the girl was withholding. And the King of Camelot was too tired for this right now.

"You could feel it." he said with some doubt.

"I . . . it's complicated."

"Why would you feel something happen to Merlin? You've barely . . . seen . . . him . . . ." Arthur spoke haltingly as an idea came to him. He groaned. "You didn't escape the dungeons on your own that first time, did you?"

"Ye-no," the girl said, changing her answer halfway through as Arthur's hard stare turned on her. Someone knocked on the door, and they fell silent. Gwaine shifted his position so that he was between the door and the girl, so as to shield her from whoever it was. But it was Gwen that Lancelot opened to door for, and Gwaine relaxed, the sorceress peeking around his back to see the young woman. The door closed behind her with a click.

"How is he?" She asked, and then, when she caught sight of the girl, "and why is she not miles from here?" she frowned at Gwaine.

"It's not my fault!" the Knight defended himself. "She's the one who decided to come back to make sure Merlin was alright."

"Oh my dear, we'll take good care of Merlin," Gwen said as she moved over to the cot. Arthur felt a headache coming on.

"Am I the only one here who remembers the laws against magic?"

"No," Gwaine said, "you're just the only one who cares." Gwen tutted.

"Be nice, Gwaine. Well Yara, now that you're here, is there anything you can do?"

The girl hesitated, looking at Arthur, and it took him a moment to realize that this was because she was waiting for his permission. Well . . . his father was not here to witness this and this girl could help Merlin. Arthur had a lot of things he needed to talk to Merlin about right now. He needed Merlin to know that no matter what, he was never to frighten the King of Camelot like this again. Never again. Please gods, never again. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Arthur nodded at the girl.

"I can wake him up," Yara said. "But I need you all to be aware. Merlin meant to die. He probably won't be happy about being alive. I need you all to be ready for this." The two knights in the room came closer along with the sorceress, who put her small, slim hands on either side of Merlin's face. Arthur had to clench his hands together to stop himself from stopping her. He needed Merlin to wake up . . . but magic . . . Merlin's blue eyes flew open.

A/N: Hey! Look! I DID IT! HE'S AWAKE! How was it? Was it a good cliff-hanger? I think it was. Maybe. Review?