A/N: Here we are, the end of this little arc. Probably a bit different than what most of you were imagining, but you'll have this :)
The next prompt on the list is also whump so I may skip it for the moment (sorry Sarajm) - but it shall still be done! Don't be afraid to keep sending in requests if you have them - I may be mainly following the list order, but it's always good to have options (and sometimes prompts combine well)!

Also, for the sake of clarification, this is the third in the series. Chapter 17 is first, and 16 is second. Thank you. (Sorry for the confusion.)

Arthur was getting rather cross. This was inevitable any time his meals were delayed.

Where is Merlin? Surely he's finished with his flower-picking by now!

There was a knock at the door and he salivated in anticipation. It obviously wasn't Merlin, but at least someone had enough sense to bring the regent his supper.

"Enter!"

...or not.

"Sire," a guard entered and saluted briskly, "there is a man named 'Halig' here seeking an audience with you."

"And why can he not wait until Open Court tomorrow?" If Merlin were here he would have teased the royal for whining. Luckily, he wasn't present.

"He says it is urgent – something about finding a sorcerer in the forest."

Arthur straightened, keeping his sigh internal as he thought wistfully of the food he probably wouldn't be eating any time soon.

"Very well. I'll see him in the council chambers. Alert Sir Leon and ask him to have a dozen men ready."

The guard nodded and left to complete his tasks.

Halig... The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. It didn't feel like a pleasant memory.

He took a seat in the council room, gesturing to the door attendant to let the man in. Halig was eminently forgettable; of average height and appearance, heavyset with garb typical of a petty bounty hunter – which is why he felt no shame in not remembering the man until this moment. Had he lost track of one of his catches again?

Might not be such a bad thing...

The last time had been some rather nasty business, however, so he had better hear what the man had to say.

Halig, for his part, was rather surprised and displeased to find Arthur rather than Uther, but had just enough sense to not comment. He bowed and the prince waved him on.

"Sire, I came to report a sorcerer in the woods."

"And you saw this sorcerer actually perform magic?"

"He attacked me – tossed me clear across the forest with a flash of his eyes!"

One blond eyebrow rose in disbelief. It seemed unlikely that a man such as the one before him would be capable of escaping such magic. Still, it was his duty to investigate.

"Could you give a detailed description of this sorcerer?"

Halig hesitated for only a moment.

"I can do better than that – it was your thieving servant!"

Arthur would have laughed if it wasn't for a fleeting memory of coming to the dungeon and finding Merlin restrained, about to be struck with chains wielded by an overzealous Halig. The air suddenly felt thick and cold.

"What did you do?"

The bounty hunter was taken aback by the ire in the royal's voice. "Sire?"

"What did you do to him?" His hand was on the pommel of his sword now, sliding slowly toward the grip.

"Nothing! Nothing; I swear! He ran when he saw me!"

He hadn't realized he'd even stood until he was a mere span from Halig.

"I believe I told you before that Merlin has my absolute trust."

"But Sire, why would he run is he wasn't guilty?"

"Perhaps he didn't want to be beaten." Arthur glared pointedly at the chains hanging from the hunter's belt.

Halig flinched at the words, but remained silent.

"I will investigate your... claims." He waved a guard forward to escort the man out. "You will remain in the city until I am finished." The prince rose and turned away, freezing when Halig spoke once more.

"What about my reward?"

It was all Arthur could do to simply walk out.

Merlin was not found that evening, it being too dark for anything but a search of the town and castle, so Arthur lead a small force to the town wall at dawn.

If anything happened to him...

"Sire!"

Leon was pointing to something beyond the newly-opened gates, a tangled mass of limbs that Arthur had a very bad feeling about. He jumped off his horse, slowly approaching the body he was more and more certain was his friend.

"Merlin?"

Receiving no reply he reached out and turned the man onto his back, revealing a horrifying sight.

A thick layer of dried blood covered one side of his face, the wound itself being wrapped with a haphazardly-tied neckerchief. The servant's chest was bare, showing dark black and blue marks spreading from one side across his chest. His shirt had been used to bind whatever injuries his arm and legs had sustained.

"Merlin?"

If his voice sounded a bit desperate, Leon knew better than to point it out.

"There's a note," the knight said instead, pointing to the parchment nestled in the scarf's folds.

Arthur snatched it up, crumpling it in his fist soon after.

"Morgana," he hissed through clenched teeth. "You," he pointed to a pair of gate guards, "get him to Gaius; everyone else with me. We're going to find my sister."

Despite scouring the forest time and again, the knights found no sign of Morgana's hideout. Arthur himself had stopped riding out with them after Merlin awoke and revealed that Halig had been his attacker, not remembering Morgana's involvement in the least.

The bounty hunter had been tossed in a cell and would have paid dearly for his actions had he not disappeared without a trace sometime in the night. Arthur didn't know if he had been working with Morgana or framing her – or if something even more confusing had happened. And Merlin was no help at all. It seemed his injuries, which were brutal even now, had been partially healed before his return – though Arthur couldn't fathom why Morgana would do such a thing... if it was even her doing.

He threw his hands up in disgust at how little he knew. All Merlin could remember was Halig attacking him while he was out gathering herbs; he didn't even recall how he'd escaped.

"He attacked me – tossed me clear across the forest with a flash of his eyes!"

"Augh!" His shout drew a disproving glare from Gaius where he worked on the other side of the chamber. The look was almost enough to make him apologize – until he realized what he had been about to say and grit his teeth, staring at Merlin's miraculously still-sleeping form.

Head wounds will do that...

"I just wish I knew what happened, Gaius..."

"I suspect we'll never find out, Sire – unless Morgana sees fit to enlighten us."

Arthur snorted.

One thing was for certain: Merlin would be participating in a lot more sparring sessions once he recovered.