Chapter 2

Merlin suddenly looked like he wanted to run. His eyes went wide and Arthur thought he could make out a bead of sweat in the darkness.

"Merlin, are you alright? Do you know this "Emrys?" Arthur stared into Merlin's eyes, trying to figure out what had spooked his friend.

Merlin blinked twice and all of a sudden his face changed completely. The fear and panic that had been so evident on his face disappeared so fast that Arthur wasn't even sure he was looking at the same person.

Merlin let out a small laugh, even though it did sound a little forced to Arthur. "Of course I don't know Emrys! I don't exactly spend what little free time you give me hanging out with Druids, you'd have to execute me if I did!"

Arthur stared. Even though Merlin looked fine, his words contained a hint of hysteria and the idea that Arthur would execute Merlin was just ridiculous. Maybe he should call Gaius and get him to make a draught to calm Merlin down.

"Merlin…"

Merlin suddenly stepped back and put on a slightly paler version of his normal idiotic grin.

"Sorry Arthur, got to run! Always more work for me to do if I want you looking vaguely presentable in the morning!" With that statement he turned and sprinted out of the room, leaving the door to bang shut behind him.

Arthur was left standing in the middle of his bedroom, shirtless, holding Excalibur limply by his side and a pile of his own newly clean clothes at his feet. Shaking his head slightly, Arthur resolved to ask Gaius if there really was anything wrong with his servant's head.

Merlin ran. He ran from Arthur's room all the way to the chambers that he shared with Gaius. As his feet pounded against the stone hallways of the castle, Merlin wondered if running was the best move he could have made. But what else was he meant to do? Stay and let Arthur keep questioning him until he stumbled onto the truth? Panic surged through him and he kept running. What was going on? Why did Arthur think he was about to meet Emrys? Had Arthur ever heard the legends about his powers?

When he finally arrived at Gaius's cluttered room, he hurried over to the small bed where the old man was sleeping.

"Gaius. Gaius! GAIUS!"

Gaius sat up so quickly that he almost knocked his head against Merlin's. He looked around, still half asleep and stared at Merlin like he had grown another head.

"Merlin my boy, what on Earth are you doing? It's the middle of the night!"

The younger boy nodded his head quickly.

"I know, I know and I'm sorry Gaius. But this is important and I need your help!"

Gaius turned so his legs were off the side of the bed and patted the space next to him, his face full of concern.

"Sit down and tell me, what's wrong."

Merlin sat down, his movements sharp and quick, like he would prefer to be moving than sitting down and talking.

"Oh Gaius. I was saying goodnight to Arthur and dodging another goblet he chucked at me because I made another comment about his weight. And then I went downstairs to do his laundry because he has a lot of it and it was all really dirty because him and all the knights were rolling around in the mud. But I was so tired and I have to get up early so I used magic to clean it-"

Gaius interrupted the almost frantic speech of his ward with an urgent question of his own.

"Did anyone see you? Was it one of the servants?"

Merlin shook his head franticly. "What? No! That's not it no one saw anything. Anyway I used magic so I went back upstairs to Arthur's room to put his clothes away. I was really quiet but then I got distracted and walked into the table so I dropped the clothes and tripped onto that goblet he threw at me. I fell, Arthur woke up and he started yelling at me like usual. But this time he said that there was a Druid Ambassador coming in the morning. I didn't know so I asked him who it was because hopefully it was someone trustworthy but then he said the man's name was Emrys! Emrys, Gaius! I'm Emrys. What am I meant to do?"

Merlin had said all of this without seeming to take a breath and once he had finished his speech appeared to deflate and sink back into the hard mattress.

Gaius put his hand around Merlin's shoulders, trying to find a way to comfort the boy he considered almost a son.

"First things first, did you really think that it was necessary to use magic to clean Arthur's clothes? What if you had been caught?" Gaius waved his had at the boy next to him, who had opened his mouth to defend himself. "Secondly, you must go talk to the druids immediately. Either they are playing a dangerous game and are trying to force you into the open, or someone is pretending to be you. If it's the first case, which I suspect it is, you must come up with a plan quickly to conceal your identity. However if a common sorcerer has heard the tale of Emrys and thought he could gain some advantage with the King, you must stop him. Else he could cause irreparable damage to the relationship between Arthur and the Druids."

Merlin look slightly mollified for a moment before having another realisation.

"But Gaius it's less than ten hours until dawn and I have no idea where to find the Druids! They could be anywhere in the forest and I can't sneak a horse out of Camelot with me because despite being completely useless, even the guards will notice a horse!"

"Merlin. Breathe. You said that they were arriving a dawn, yes? Well then they mustn't be very far from the city walls. And besides, you're forgetting something very important!"

Merlin looked up hesitantly. "What is it?"

Gaius smiled at him. "Why your magic of course! You know how to do a simple tracking spell, I know that much. It shouldn't take you more than an hour to find them."

"Oh Gaius you're a genius! I'll leave right now!" The boy jumped up and hurried to the door.

"Merlin, wait!" Gaius stood up slowly and made his way to one of the tables in the room. After searching through the piles of parchment, ingredients and potions for practically everything, Gaius pulled out a small bottle containing a bright blue liquid. "I made another potion to reverse the effects of the aging spell. You probably won't need it, but if you have to confront an imposter, it may be best if you don't look like yourself."

"Thank you Gaius! I didn't even think of that. Hopefully I'll see you in the morning but if I'm late back, do NOT tell Arthur I was in the tavern." Merlin took the offered bottle, tucked it into his pocket and disappeared from the room as quickly as he arrived.

The old man smiled. Life with Merlin as his ward was a lot of things, but it definitely wasn't boring.

A/N Hello again! Chapter two as promised. I would have had it up a few hours ago but life got in the way. I didn't expect Merlin's conversation with Gaius to go on this long but oh well.

Three things to say. First, thank you all so much for the reviews, follows and favs! I didn't expect to get much of a response for my first fic so I'm so grateful! To catherine10: All will be revealed soon….

Second, I forgot to mention this in chapter one but this story is set between season 4 and 5.

Finally, School starts again tomorrow so my updates will probably drop to about once a week. Sorry about that!

I'll try and get chapter 3 up soonish so I'll see you then

-Indigo