Camelot

April, 507 AD

One second I was chasing a giant, murderous, anthropomorphic aardvark through the streets of New York while Tom Holland's Spider-Man pursued it from the air, and the next I was falling out of my bed with a rapidly beating heart as the loud clanging of Camelot's warning bells ripped me away from my heroic fantasies.

I threw on a baby blue hoodie over the panda-themed PJ shirt I was wearing and slipped on the first two socks I pulled out of my drawer before sliding across my room and leaving it. To my relief, I ran directly into Merlin and Arthur in the corridor and I sighed to drop some tension. Whatever's going on, at least they're both all right.

"What's happenin'?" I asked.

Arthur pulled me to his side and he opened his mouth as if to respond, but he was cut interrupted by Agravaine jogging towards us.

"Sire – Gaius has escaped," he informed in a grave tone.

My eyes widened as I turned to Merlin for an explanation, but he seemed as puzzled as I was.

"Escaped?" I questioned. That would imply he's running away from something. Last I checked, the evil aardvark was only real in dreamland.

"What is going on?" my brother asked.

Arthur and his uncle shared a look that I couldn't make out. Neither said anything as they began walking towards the main staircase.

My chest suddenly felt as if it had been stuffed with rocks and I shared a frightened look with Merlin as I linked my arm with his so we could follow after the other two.

We arrived at the physician's chambers to an enraging scene. Multiple guards were carelessly trashing the apartment. Why? I couldn't tell you.

"What the heck?!" I cried out as I glanced around at the shattered vases on the floor, and the spilled medicines, and the torn books, feeling a lump forming in my throat. "Arthur – what the fork is happening?!"

He refused to meet my gaze as he inspected the guards' movements.

"My Lord, he was seen riding away from the city," Agravaine stated as he returned to the King's side.

"No, that can't be true," Merlin argued in a weakening tone.

"Sire." Leon entered the room and he greeted Arthur with a nod before addressing the treacherous snake, "You were right. A white stallion has been taken from the royal paddocks."

I frowned, ignoring the way in which my head began to spin as I tried to remain composed.

"Who!? Why would Gaius take anyone other than his mule!?" I questioned. They're almost treating him like a criminal – but why would they?! Arthur can't possibly think that he's the traitor, right?!

Unless someone had planted that idea in his brain and watered it until it sprouted…

Oh, fork!

"Well, where would he be going? Why leave at this time of night?" Arthur inquired. I couldn't read his expression, which was unnerving. Has Agravaine brainwashed him against Gaius completely? Or is he still sceptical of whatever he was told?

"Maybe he got a house call," I suggested.

"Yes, it is the only explanation that makes sense," Merlin backed me up, his grip on my arm tightening.

Arthur scanned me with his pretty eyes for a moment and I raised an eyebrow. He seriously can't think that Gaius might be anything but loyal to him! The man has been by his side since he was born! Something that Agravaine can't claim.

"Well, I could hazard a guess, Sire, but I think a thorough search of his belongings may well provide us with the truth," Agravaine proposed.

I scoffed, "What d'ya think you'll find? A receipt for a one-way ticket to Vienna?"

Arthur agreed to his uncle's proposal, even when Merlin and I protested, claiming that he needs to know what is happening. He conveniently left the room before we could try to persuade him to let us – y'know, the people closest to Gaius – be the ones to investigate.

Whatever Agravaine's game is, he's pushing Arthur to a point where he's reminding me of the worst aspects of Uther, and it's terrifying. If he loses himself because of his uncle's lies… Well, I can't imagine anything worse.

Merlin and I left, too; resigned to the fact that there is nothing we can do to stop the tornado blazing in our guardian's apartment. The best we can do now is try to figure out Agravaine's play and stop him before Gaius gets hurt. If he's not already.

The bastard snake summoned Arthur to the council chamber, claiming to have an interesting find, some two hours later, and of course Merlin and I followed, hanging back to not give them reasons to make us leave the room.

Agravaine placed a book down in front of his nephew.

Unable to repel the curiosity, I forgot about the plan to keep my head low and shuffled over to Arthur's side so that I could look at the book. It was titled 'Witchcraft, Sorcery & Magic'. I raised an eyebrow.

The King carefully paged through the book, a deflated look clouding his pretty features.

"And this was found in Gaius's chambers?" he questioned his uncle once he was done skimming.

"I am as disappointed as you, Sire," Agravaine stated. "Someone so close, so trusted..." I clenched my jaw and glared at him. "And it is not merely the discovery that he was a sorcerer, is it? It is the lies–"

"Even if that belongs to Gaius, it doesn't prove anything," I cut him off. "I had some biology textbooks from school in my room back in Texas, but that hardly makes me a biologist."

Arthur let the book fall onto the table and he leaned back on his seat with a heavy sigh. Then he grabbed my hand and began to rub gentle circles over my knuckles.

I glanced up at Merlin and gulped when I saw the tears in his eyes.

Now more than ever, we're gonna have to fight for our King's soul. If we lose this battle, it could unchain the end of Camelot as we know it, and not in a good way. I wish I were exaggerating, but having Arthur under Agravaine's control means having him under Morgana's control, and I don't want to see how that ends.

"We both saw him refuse to condemn magic," Agravaine continued while giving me a pointed look.

"He doesn't have to be dead against it to be a law-abiding citizen," I countered.

The snake bastard kept speaking to Arthur, "We both knew he was hiding something. And neither of us wanted to believe it, but, now, with this and his hasty departure in the middle of the night? These are not the actions of an innocent man–"

"You don't know what really happened!" I raised my voice. "Do you know how often he gets called in the middle of the night to help birthing mothers?! Or sick children?!"

Agravaine sighed in clear exasperation and he growled, "Astraea…"

Also, maybe Gaius didn't leave willingly…

He could've been kidnapped…

Is it far-fetched to imagine that Morgana could want to get rid of him?

Considering that Agravaine seems to be doing everything in his power towards that cause, I think it's a reasonable conclusion…

I waved off the snake bastard and moved to stand between Arthur and the table before him. Which wasn't comfortable because it was a very small space and I was practically on top of him. But I needed him to look at me and not at his treacherous uncle. Our eyes connected and I felt the hurricane in my nervous system ease up a little.

"Artie – you've known Pops since you were born and you know that he's always been loyal. To your dad and now to you. Before everything that's happened in the past week, has he ever given you reason to think he might have other agendas?"

"No," Arthur breathed out.

Agravaine cut in, "Sorcerers can be sneaky–!"

'You would know,' I wanted to say, but I restrained myself.

"Uncle – let her speak," Arthur demanded.

I gave him a little grin in thanks and squeezed his hand gently. "Look, I don't know what happened that made you suspect him, but can't you give him the benefit of the doubt?"

"We tried that, and he ran away!" Agravaine interjected once more.

"Uncle," the King grunted. "Please leave us."

I turned to look at Agravaine and I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little smug when I watched the way in which he clenched his jaw in frustration. He gave a stiff bow and left the room.

My heart fluttered at the realisation that Arthur is actually listening to me. He truly cares about what I have to say. He truly cares, period. Man, am I the luckiest girl ever!

"Artie – I know that the topic of magic scares you… And that you've suffered a lot because of it… But you can't let that fear stop you from thinking objectively… Y-your dad could be like that, sometimes…" I swallowed a lump that formed in my throat at the frightening thought of him turning into Uther. "I-I was on the wrong side of that once, remember?"

I paused to focus on analysing his features and make sure I wasn't crossing a line with my words. To my surprise, Arthur nodded. "I remember," he breathed out and he tightened his grip on my hand.

"One day, Artie," I begged as I reached up to caress his cheek with my free hand. "Give Merls n' I one day to find out where Gaius went before you send out a search party. You know that we're good detectives, and if he truly has something to hide, he'll trust us with it before he trusts Agravaine or anyone else, and we'll come straight to you."

Obviously, I wouldn't give away Gaius's secrets even if he was doing something that he shouldn't be doing. Which he kind of is, I guess, by knowingly harbouring a sorcerer in Merlin. And I know that he really is a sorcerer himself, even if he doesn't practise much anymore. But he's far from being dangerous to Arthur or anyone in Camelot and that's what matters, right?

Seconds of silence went by during which Arthur and I simply stared into each other's eyes. He seemed entirely troubled as he bit the inside of his cheek.

Eventually, he sighed and nodded. "All right. I think that is fair."

I sighed in relief and a smile formed on my lips. "Yeah?"

"Yes," he affirmed. "But Astra, if you find anything dangerous…"

"I know," I said softly and I leaned down to press a soft kiss to his lips. "Thank you, Artie."

"Anything for you," he replied while brushing his nose against mine.

I kissed him a second time and then I kissed his cheek before moving away from him and waving over Merlin, who seemed much more at ease than he'd been the last time I glanced at him, and he gave me a grin, which I returned. "C'mon, buddy. Let's do our thing."

Of course, Merlin and I's first course of action was to sneak into Agravaine's room and search it for any sort of clue that might give us a hint of what his game is. A reckless move, perhaps, considering that we're working with Arthur's trust on our backs. But we both agree that there's no way that the treacherous snake didn't have a hand in this mess.

"Nothing in the wardrobe," Merlin called out in a whisper.

"Nothin' in the nightstand, either," I called back as I carefully closed said piece of furniture.

I went towards the closet while the sorcerer crouched to look under the bed. I checked behind the rows of clothing, but didn't find anything. So then I began searching the pockets of the different jackets that hang inside.

"Tsk," I heard my brother call.

I darted out of the closet, stumbling over a boot on my way out, and I rushed to his side, dropping to my knees when I noticed he had opened a chest. My jaw dropped as I saw the contents. Inside were multiple books on sorcery, enchantments, and the like. So the book that Agravaine showed Arthur was likely planted! We shared a knowing look before Merlin closed the chest and slid it back under the bed.

He stopped moving as his eyes landed on something in the distance. I tilted my head and followed his line of sight, finding the boot I'd tripped over. I raised my eyebrows at an unusual sight: the sole was covered in a very unique-looking red-tinted dirt. Merlin crawled towards it and ran a finger over the grime. It came off and stuck to his digit.

Suddenly, we heard the door creaking and shared a wide-eyed look. Merlin grabbed my arm and dragged me to hide behind the dressing screen.

Seconds later, we heard shuffling footsteps entering the room.

There was a mirror placed just in front of us which allowed us to see what Agravaine was doing if he stood in a certain frame. To my great horror, he began to undress. I quickly squeezed my eyes shut and slapped a hand over them for extra measure. Merlin grabbed my free arm again and rapidly guided me elsewhere.

"You're good," he whispered as he continued to lead me. I uncovered my eyes and found that we were now walking down the corridor.

I let out a long sigh and whispered, "That was even more terrifying than Morgana." Merlin snorted and nodded in agreement.

We hurried to get back to our headquarters – also known as Gaius's apartment – and, to our great surprise, we found Gwaine waiting inside; sitting at the kitchen bench while tossing what I think was an apple in the air. I smiled a little. It's always great to see him.

"What are you doing in here?" Merlin inquired.

"Got bored of playing soldiers," Gwaine replied with a tired smirk. Then he toned down his playful demeanour while adding with a gentle smile, "And I thought I would come and see how your search is going."

Merlin went straight towards the work table and lit a few candles.

I stopped beside Gwaine and gave him a side hug.

"It's goin'," I responded as I hopped to sit on the work table. "I think we might've found a clue…" I nodded towards my brother, who gave me a momentary wary look before turning towards the knight and holding up his thumb.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked.

Gwaine stood up and walked closer to him, squinting his eyes as he analysed the reddish dirt. Then he swiped some of it off with his own finger and smelled it. "That is iron ore," he stated with a frown. "Where did you find this?"

I went to tell him the truth, figuring that if we can get anyone on our side against Agravaine, Gwaine is it; but Merlin beat me to a reply – "That does not matter. Does it help us?"

Gwaine shrugged as he wiped his finger with a wet cloth, and then he moved to sit next to me atop the table. "Iron ore is pretty rare in Camelot," he answered. "In fact, I have only seen it once. On a patrol."

"Where?" Merlin questioned.

"The ridge of Chemary. They have been hewing iron from rocks there for hundreds of years."

We're probably gonna need him if we want to find the place, then…

My brother and I made eye-contact and exchanged nods.

I turned to my friend again and smirked as I asked, "You up for an adventure, Gwainester?"

We hastened to make preparations, and I left a note for Arthur, and no more than twenty minutes later, the three of us were blazing away from the castle on horseback.

We arrived at the mines at dawn and we left the horses in a safe spot. Gwaine lit a torch and led the way inside the narrow tunnels. A rusty smell instantly hit me and I exchanged a nod with Merlin.

Like the gentlemen they are, my friends kept me protectively standing between them despite the fact that, y'know, I'm a freaking knight. Only, they can't protect me from the all-too-familiar lung constriction that small spaces cause in me. I did my best not to let it show, though. Gaius's life is on the line, this isn't the time to panic. If Tom Sawyer and Becky survived being trapped in a dark cave with a killer on the loose, I can survive navigating a mine with two of the people I trust most in the world.

Minutes went by as we walked in silence, periodically exchanging looks of reassurance among the three of us.

Everything was quiet. Way too quiet.

Until it wasn't 'cause a shirtless man suddenly leaped at us, seemingly coming out of nowhere.

I drew my sword, but I wasn't allowed to use it as Gwaine shoved Merlin and I out of the way, engaging the tall, muscular man on his own. I wasn't about to let my friend fight the attacker on his own, though, and I swiftly moved to his side again.

The clashing of metal and groans echoed through the mine as we took turns slashing at the man. However, he appeared to be supernaturally strong and managed to knock me to the ground. I swallowed a groan as I hit my shoulder against a rock that stuck out of the walls.

Gwaine roared as he leaped to avenge me, but he was also thrown backwards.

What the man wasn't counting on, however, were my brother's superpowers. Or I assume that is what sent him also flying backwards and knocked him unconscious.

My eyes travelled towards Gwaine and I scanned his features for any indication that he might've seen what Merlin did. But if he did, there weren't any signs of it on his features. Instead he grinned as he scrambled to his feet while my brother helped me up.

"Are you all right, Trae?" the knight asked.

"Yeah. Just my regular training routine," I replied with a grin.

The three of us kept walking deeper into the tunnels and paused when we came across a fork in the path.

"We should split up," Merlin said.

My stomach churned. "Split up?! Have you learnt nothing from horror movies?!"

"We need to find Gaius, Astra," he reminded me.

I let out a sigh. He's right, of course. But I still hate the idea.

"You two should stick together," Gwaine told us.

I hesitantly nodded and moved to give him a quick hug as I mumbled, "Stay safe. I love you, buddy."

"I love you, too, little friend," he responded as he squeezed me gently.

I took in a shaky breath as I pulled away and I linked my arm with my brother's. We all shared a nod before splitting up.

Except, Merlin stopped us not two steps in. "Gwaine –" he called out in a whisper, causing the knight to halt and turn to look at us again. "If you find him, don't wait for us."

Gwaine let out a sigh, but nodded; then he reluctantly walked away.

Merlin and I walked in silence, with my phone's flashlight serving to illuminate our path. Using the device made me think, yet again, of how I'm hiding my true origins from everyone except for two people – and the dragons. And I felt guilty thinking of how Gwaine is always so willing to risk his life to help Merlin and I, and he doesn't even know who we really are. He knows I have a secret, but he hasn't pushed much to learn it.

Am I a terrible human being?

My thoughts were interrupted when I spotted a moving light in the not-so-far distance. I quickly turned the flashlight off as Merlin pulled me down into a hole in the rocky wall, where we'd be out of sight if anyone walked by.

A bald man wearing a robe (is Agravaine running a sauna?) passed by us shortly after, and stopped only for a second before continuing on his way. We waited for a minute or two, to ensure that he was truly gone, and then we crawled out of our hiding place, taking off in the direction we saw the man come from.

In the distance, I spotted more light. Not the kind of light that a torch emits, but moon-rays. I felt my lips curve upwards at the thought of free oxygen and I sped up a little as Merlin and I followed it. We entered a chamber that had wooden beams supporting its structure and a hole towards the top, which gave a small glimpse into the world above ground.

Finding that the opening wasn't big enough to fit an adult human, and that there was no way to continue forwards, we turned to leave.

Only, Morgana was standing at the threshold and she didn't hesitate before using her powers to send us flying backwards.

This keeps happening.

I landed on the ground with a thud.

"Nice to see ya', too, former friend," I mumbled sarcastically as I blinked rapidly while mentally scanning my body for any injuries, finding a headache settling in. "But if you're here, who's guarding Hades?"

The witch ignored my comment as she stepped into the chamber, revealing Thanata behind her. Both of them looked down at my brother and I with contempt and we glared right back.

"You really are a pair of thorns on my side, are not you?" Morgana said in an eerily calm and soft voice as she kept slowly advancing. She pulled out a dagger. The one Arthur gave her, of course. "When will you learn not to meddle with things you could not possibly understand?"

In the blink of an eye, my back was pressed against a temperate rocky wall and my feet were hovering some fifty centimetres above the ground as an invisible force held me in place. My brother was right beside me, with the added bonus of having a levitating dagger aimed at his throat.

Thanata stood behind Morgana, her two arms raised with one pointing at me and the other at Merlin. The older witch smirked at us.

"Well, sh*t," I muttered as my heart-rate accelerated.

"It is difficult, is it not? When there are so many different and painful ways for me to be finally rid of you two," Morgana taunted.

"Do it, then. Just free Gaius first," I replied. I have faith that Merlin can get us out of our sticky situation if she really does try to kill us.

Morgana hummed. "Well, Gaius had some information I needed. The whereabouts of the sorcerer Emrys." It's kinda surprising that she's actually telling us. We all know what happens to villains who take the time to explain their evil plans – they lose. Ask Dr. Doofenschmirtz. "If he gave it to me willingly, his suffering would not be prolonged, but if he did not..."

Merlin growled, "If you have harmed him–"

"Why are we discussing his fate when it is time to decide yours?" Morgana cut him off. "Not whether you are going to die today, here, in this godforsaken place. That is going to happen anyway. But how. Or more precisely, how painfully."

"Look, I'll strike ya' a deal –" I said quickly, "you can have all the fun you want with me if you let Merls go."

I recoiled when the two witches bursted out laughing and I turned to my brother with an annoyed look, only to find that he seemed horrified.

The fun conversation was interrupted by the bald robed man from earlier entering the chamber. I gave him a sarcastic wave while he regarded Merlin and I carefully.

"Alator, these are Merlin and Astraea," Thanata introduced us, not taking her eyes off my best friend and I.

"She is Arthur's dirty little plaything," Morgana said while shooting me a smirk and I glared at her, "and he is just a serving boy, but they are the most troublesome pair I have ever known."

"Yep! That's us!" I quipped as I winked at the bald man.

My eyes widened when I felt a sudden constriction in my throat, which cut off my air supply almost entirely for a few moments before it eased up and I gasped for oxygen, not missing the mortified look on Merlin's face as he side-eyed me. I gave him a short nod, silently letting him know that I'm okay.

"I take it your time with Gaius was fruitful?" Morgana asked Alator.

"Gaius told me everything," the man stated while still analysing my best friend. Merlin and I shared a frightened glance.

We will definitely have to fight our way out of this one.

Morgana and Thanata shared a bright-eyed look that seemed very out of place on their pale faces.

"So you know who Emrys is?" Morgana questioned.

"Indeed I do," Alator responded.

Oh, we're forked.

"What about his shadow?" Thanata added as she turned to look at him.

Shadow? I would imagine that that is caused by a solid blockage in front of a direct source of light.

The intrigue from the man's revelation apparently broke the blonde witch's concentration, 'cause she let my brother and I drop to the ground. I yelped as I failed to break my fall and toppled to the ground.

"Yes, I know who they are," Alator replied and he moved to kneel down in front of us. My heart-rate sped up once more as panic began to rise in me. He's gonna reveal my brother's big secret to our arch-nemesis! "Not only do I know who Emrys and his shadow are, I know exactly where they are..."

"Then tell us," Morgana pressed.

I forced myself to a sitting position, ready to strike her (somehow) if needed.

"Never," the bald man growled. He pointed a wooden staff thingy he was carrying towards the witches and said something unintelligible. They were magically thrown across the room, which extracted ear-shattering wails, and a loud crash echoed through the chamber as they hit the wall and fell unconscious on the ground.

"Oh! Plot twist!" I chirped and let out a breathy chuckle.

Then I froze. What if he wants them out of the way so he can take Merlin prisoner, or something?!

Perhaps we both had the same thought, for we scrambled to our feet at the same time and jumped to put more distance between us and the stranger.

"Merlin, Astraea, I am Alator of the Catha. I am honoured to be of service," the man said in an interesting foreign accent that reminded me of how Germans, or maybe Russians, sound when speaking English. At least in the movies.

"You have magic!" my best friend brilliantly exclaimed.

Alator nodded. "I understand the burden you carry. I have lived with it all my life. I have been shunned, persecuted, and sometimes even hunted in every corner of the five kingdoms. I understand what that feels like – you are not alone."

I slid my hand into my brother's and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"From what Gaius told me," Alator continued, "I do not have your great powers, Merlin, but I share your hopes. For I, and others like me, have dreamt of the world you seek to build, and we would gladly give our lives to help you do it."

To my great shock, Alator dropped to his knees and bowed his head.

My eyes widened and I shared a puzzled look with Merlin.

Luckily, the man stood up again not long after. "Please, allow me the honour of escorting you out of here."

"We still gotta find Gaius!" I pointed out, my heart starting to race again as I suddenly remembered why we're here in the first place.

"Your friend found him. He is all right," Alator informed us. We both sighed in relief and shared a quick side-hug.

A thought crossed my mind and I grabbed my sword off the ground before walking over to where the two witches lay. I clenched my jaw as I looked over their features. They didn't look so evil now that they were unconscious. Morgana almost looked like the lady I once knew, were it not for the strange, mad-person arrangement of her hair and pale face. And Thanata? Well... she's just a kid.

"I should run them through and be done with everything," I mumbled when Merlin moved to stand beside me.

"But?" he questioned.

I made a 'tsk' sound and shook my head as I remembered something that Arthur told me once – that it's dishonourable to kill someone when they can't fight back. "I can't. Not like this."

My brother wrapped an arm around my shoulders and let out a sigh before saying, "Let's go before they wake up, then." I nodded in agreement and we returned to Alator, who waited patiently by the threshold to the little chamber.

On the way out, the man told us that we should be wary of Agravaine (nothing we don't know already), who had managed to twist the story and make himself look like a hero after Gwaine found him with a knife to Gaius's throat.

Life always has a way of getting more complicated, doesn't it?

Merlin and I arrived back in Camelot at around 4:00 and we were tackled into a big hug by Gwaine almost as soon as we entered the castle. We could've sworn that everyone would be asleep by that time but, apparently, the knight hadn't been able to rest, worried about us. He apologised multiple times for leaving us behind, telling us that Gaius had been in a very bad shape and needed to be tended to as soon as possible. Obviously, we understood entirely and thanked him heartily for his help. "Arthur tried to stay up with me, but Leon made him go to bed after he started rambling about running away to a farm in America," he then added with a chuckle, which caused me to blush furiously.

After the fun reunion, Merlin and I relieved Gwen of having to tend to the still unconscious man who is like a father/grandpa to us. We sat on a bench at his bedside while constantly checking his pulse and breathing rate.

Are we sleep deprived? Absolutely. Do we care? No. We're determined to drown in coffee and stay awake until Gaius comes to.

Luckily, he began to stir in the early hours of the morning, and at around 9:30, his eyes finally opened. He instantly turned his head to face Merlin and I.

"Welcome back, Pops," I greeted with a lopsided grin.

He did not return the smile. "I am ashamed," he said instead, his voice grave and raspy. I quickly moved to get him some water while Merlin questioned his words. "Your secret... A secret I thought I would protect with my life…"

"Gaius, you could have died," my brother instantly argued and I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. I'd hang a banner from the window announcing my secret if it saved your life," I added.

"But if Morgana had found out–"

Merlin cut him off, "She did not." Gaius sighed. "She did not count on Alator's true loyalties."

"I worry that one day I will let you down," the physician stated weakly.

I reached over to squeeze his arm and gave him a small smile as I assured him, "That could never happen." He attempted to return the grin, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"My worry is Arthur," Merlin said.

"We cannot tell him about Agravaine," Gaius stated with a slight shake of his head.

"He needs to know," "Why not?" Merlin and I said at the same time, then we exchanged a confused look.

"We do not have any evidence, and you have seen how dear he is to Arthur," Gaius pointed out.

I huffed in frustration and muttered, "True. That snake bastard played his cards well," before taking a sip from my cup of coffee.

A knock on the door ended our conversation. It opened to reveal Arthur. My heart skipped a beat and a smile instantly formed on my lips. I almost fell on my face as I clumsily stood up and I raced into his waiting arms. He picked me up and I wrapped myself around him.

"Hi, Artie," I whispered as I nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

Being in his arms after almost dying (again) feels like a fleece blanket and a cup of hot cocoa after spending a cold night shoveling snow out of the driveway – but three-thousand times better.

"Hello, beautiful," he responded softly.

I let myself drop to the floor before Merlin and Gaius could be made uncomfortable, or whatever, and I reached up to kiss the side of Arthur's jaw and told him, "Thanks for believing in us," before skipping over to plop down beside my brother once more.

"I… I owe you an apology, Gaius," Arthur then stated as he took a few, almost hesitant, steps closer to the cot on which the man lay.

Merlin and I linked arms and went to leave the room to give them some privacy. I reached towards Arthur as we passed by him and he grabbed my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before releasing it.

My brother halted when we reached the door and he turned back to ask the King, "Does this mean I get the morning off?"

"Yes," Arthur promptly replied. We shared a surprised look and a grin. "You can have the morning off to clean my chambers, polish my armour, and launder my clothes."

"You certainly know how to apologise," Merlin quipped, earning a playful shrug. Then we finally left the apartment.

A wave of sleepiness crashed against me and I covered my mouth with my free arm to hide a yawn.

"Well, I'm going to sleep," I announced. "You can have the spare mattress if you wanna."

"Yes please!" Merlin chirped.