When the five men reached the courtyard, Merlin got off the horse he'd been sharing with Gwaine for the past who knows how many hours. Immediately, he regretted his decision to get off the horse, unaided. Because as soon as his feet hit the ground, his bad leg couldn't handle the pressure and collapsed under him before he had a chance to grab his cane.

As Merlin fell, he bit back a scream as he groaned in pain. Mordred saw this, jumped off his horse and was by Merlin's side faster than Gwaine was. "We need to get you to Gaius."

"I'm fine. Just help me up," Merlin protested. "I need to talk to Arthur. He needs to know about Gwen."

Mordred, with Gwaine's assistance, got Merlin off the ground and onto his feet.

"We'll have him come to you," Gwaine said as he threw one of Merlin's arms over his shoulder. "Percival, stay with Daegal, don't let him out of your sight."

The warlock realized that arguing wasn't going to do him any good. He allowed Mordred and Gwaine to take him to Gaius.

After entering the physician's chambers and realizing that the wizened man was not there, Mordred and Gwaine helped Merlin into his old room and onto his old bed.

"Mordred, stay with him, while I go find Gaius," Gwaine said, before exiting the room.

Merlin, with much effort, stretched his injured leg over the bed as he rolled up the pant leg.

"What are you doing?" Mordred asked as he leaned against the table to the right of Merlin.

"Making sure it's not infected and not bleeding black blood still," Merlin explained as he removed the unskilled bandaging.

"Daegal cleaned it the best he could," Mordred reassured.

"He also didn't spend ten years living with Gaius," Merlin said. "He probably only repeated what I did when I bandaged his arm."

"He was injured?" Mordred questioned.

Merlin removed the last of the bandage. "He fell getting into the citadel."

"I still don't understand why Morgana had him fake being a Druid. She knows magic is legal," Mordred said. "Even worse, now, she knows your Emrys."

"Maybe she knew I'd be more willing to help someone of magic," Merlin guessed. "As for knowing I'm Emrys, it was just a matter of time. Between Gwen and magic being legal again, she was bound to figure it out. We'll deal with that when the time comes. Maybe her knowing won't be a bad thing. Destiny and Fate have changed so much, who knows, maybe we can save her."

"Do you really think she's worth saving?" Mordred asked. "After everything she's done? Everyone, she's killed?"

Merlin examined his wound as he thought back to how kind and caring the High Priestess used to be. How she was willing to risk her life to save his village. How her smile lit up a room. "Morgause poisoned her mind. Turned her against those that could have helped her. She's committed many wrongdoings and she'll have to live with that. But yes, I believe she can be saved."

Mordred didn't say anything else, he just watched as Merlin looked over his own wound. At that moment Gaius walked in with Arthur and Gwaine in tow. Merlin just looked up at his mentor. "Long story."

"You can start explaining while Gaius tends to you," Arthur said.

Merlin began to explain what happened after he sent Mordred back to Camelot. As he talked, Gaius tended to his wounded leg. When he got to the part where Morgana poisoned him, Gaius and Arthur, both nearly had heart attacks. He quickly reassured them that he had been given the antidote.

When he was done, the room was filled with an uncomfortable silence. No one spoke. They just let the information sink in.

Arthur was the first to speak. "Do have you any idea what she's planning?"

"Arthur, you should sit down," Merlin suggested. "What I'm about to tell you involves your wife."

"Is she in danger?" Arthur as he sat down in the chair under the window.

"No, she's the one trying to kill you. She has been since Morgana bewitched her in the Dark Tower," Merlin explained.

Everyone in the room half expected Arthur to run Merlin through with his sword. Instead, the king stared into nothingness as he recounted all the times Gwen was not Gwen.

After what seemed like an eternity the heartbroken king spoke. "Mordred, go and keep an eye on Guinevere. I want to know right away if she's planning something."

Mordred stood up straight as he bowed his head in respect. "Of course Sire." The young Druid then walked past Gwaine and left the chambers.

"Merlin, you better hope that what you're saying is true," Arthur said as he stared daggers at Merlin.

"Go and talk to Daegal. He met Morgana and Gwen," Merlin advised, as he watched Gaius finish bandaging his leg.

Arthur stood up and began to leave the room, only stopping to talk to Gwaine. "Make sure Merlin doesn't leave. Keep him here."

Gwaine only nodded as the king exited the chambers to go talk to Daegal.

"Why does Arthur want me to stay here?" Merlin asked looking at Gwaine.

"Probably so you don't go and do anything stupid," Gaius answered before Gwaine could even open his mouth. "Besides I'm not done treating you. Take off that tunic of yours."

"Arthur's life is in danger," Merlin stated as he began to carefully remove his tunic. "I don't have time to rest."

"Merlin-" Gaius began to scold only to stop short when he saw his former ward's midsection. The bruising had spread beyond the old wound. It covered almost his entire chest. The edges were a greenish-yellow, and the rest was a dark hue of purple that could be mistaken for black. "My dear boy, what did she do to you?"

Merlin looked down and felt ill by what he could see. "She just kicked me," he said softly.

"Kicked you?" Gwaine asked. "It looks like she used you as a human practice dummy."

Gaius pulled a poultice from his medicine bag and began gently dabbing it on the outer edges of the bruising. "What kind of poison did she use? Might have made your skin more susceptible to injury."

Merlin shook his head. "I don't know. I guessed at the cure by combining the more commonly used herbs and having them ground into a tincture. It seems to have worked."

"Yes, it would seem so," Gaius agreed. "And to ensure it worked, you're staying in bed for the time being. You need rest."

"Arthur needs me," Merlin protested. "I'll rest once I'm sure he's safe."

"Merlin, you can't even walk right now. You're in no shape to protect Arthur," Gwaine said.

Merlin looked at his uncle pleadingly. "What if I rest until we know what Gwen is planning? And once we stop her latest attempt I'll rest for as long as you want me to."

Gaius stopped dabbing the poultice for a moment and sighed. The stubbornness had to have come from Balinor. Once he'd set his mind on something, there was no stopping him. "Fine, but Gwaine is with you until you stop Gwen. Don't need you getting hurt anymore than you already are."

"Deal," Merlin agreed, looking over at Gwaine, who seemed less than pleased to be stuck babysitting him even longer.

While Merlin was forced to the confines of his room, Arthur was heading to the cells to talk to the boy, Daegal. He had a lot to answer for.

When he saw the boy with Percival earlier, he had trouble wrapping his head around the idea of him being in league with his half-sister. The boy looked broken, confused, remorseful, and sad, but not evil. Daegal regretted what he did. Now when he looked at the boy he saw all the same things, but he also saw a liar and traitor.

"Tell me about your meeting with Morgana and my wife," Arthur demanded as he looked at the boy, who was curled up in the corner of the cell with his head buried between his knees.

Daegal lifted his head and looked at the young king. "They said that they would pay me if I got Merlin to go to the Valley of the Fallen Kings. I only agreed because I hadn't eaten in a couple of days. I did not know what they were planning."

"Surely you must have known it would be something terrible since Morgana was involved. Every man, woman and child in the Five Kingdoms knows about her," Arthur stated.

"I've only heard stories about a witch who wanted to take the throne of Camelot. I did not know it was Morgana. I did not realize it until after Merlin said so," Daegal answered. "I'm sorry, Sire. I did not wish for anyone to get hurt."

"How does the queen come into all this?" Arthur asked.

"She drew the Druid mark on my wrist and provided me with a key to get in when she and the knights saw me in the citadel the other night," Daegal explained.

Arthur didn't bother asking any more questions. He had all the proof he needed. The king walked away from the cell and left the boy in peace. The decision of Daegal's future would have to wait for now. Right now he needed to get back to Merlin and talk to him without anyone else around.

Merlin felt completely useless. Arthur was having Gwaine babysit him, while Gaius made sure he didn't try to get out of his bed. To sum it all it up, he was bored. The warlock had even given up on trying to read the Catha spell book Alator had sent him two years ago. Just before he was about to decide if he would die of boredom or not, Arthur came charging in.

"You knew this entire time, didn't you?" Arthur demanded.

"About what?" Merlin asked, knowing exactly what Arthur meant, but wanted to make sure they were on the same page.

"That Morgana enchanted my wife," Arthur clarified.

"Not the whole time," Merlin replied. "Not until she accused me of trying to kill you. Before that, something about her felt off, but I couldn't pinpoint it. I figured she was still reeling from what Morgana did and the death of her brother."

"Why didn't you tell me right away?" Arthur asked, anger coating every word.

"I thought about it but realized that I didn't have any proof. I couldn't very well go and accuse the Queen of Camelot of being bewitched," Merlin stated. "Despite me being your Magical Advisor, you still don't listen to me."

Arthur looked at the warlock and sighed, knowing he was right. "Who else knew?"

"Mordred and Gaius," Merlin answered.

"What are we going to do?" Arthur asked as he slumped into the chair, running his fingers through his hair.

"We have to stop her first, then we can save her," Merlin said. As much as he wanted to save Gwen, he had to save Arthur first.

"We don't even know what they're planning," Arthur pointed out.

"Mordred will find out soon enough. Once we know what he knows, we can form a plan," Merlin assured. "Until then we have to act like everything is fine"

Sorry for the delay in the next chapter. I hope you guys are the series so far. Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up for you guys soon. Life just seems to be getting in the way. As always thanks for reading. Please don't forget to follow and share. Please consider leaving some reviews, I'd love to know what you guys actually think of the story