Hello everyone! Okay, first I'm sorry for the time you had to wait for this chapter! Three months, that's a lot, but Real Life has been terribly busy for me since the last chapter! That, and the fact that I am a slow, slow writer, which doesn't help. Anyway, as some of you will have probably noticed, the plot of this fic has become quite more complicated than what I first intended, and no matter how hard I try, I can't bring myself to rush the events. I have no idea how many chapters are yet to come, but I think I can safely say we're at least half-way now, and this story is already about 40k! Quite a lot for such a cracky start! Anyway, since RL has calmed a bit for me, the next chapter shouldn't be as long as this one to come! No lies.

A baby in Camelot

#11: Bad news.

Taking care of a five-year old Arthur in the morning was, it appeared, a bit different than what Merlin had been accustomed to before. The first obvious difference was that he didn't wake Arthur anymore – more the other way around, actually.

"Mmrphh..." Merlin grumbled as he was gently poked in the cheekbone.

"Merlin," Arthur's voice whispered close to him, "you awake?"

No, he wasn't. He was still very asleep, and intended to be for the next twenty minutes at least, if Arthur would let him. Deciding not to open his eyes and to stay still, vaguely hoping that Arthur wouldn't disturb him again, Merlin tried to fall back to sleep.

He nearly did.

"Merlin," Arthur's voice called him again, "are you awake?"

Okay, the day had begun then.

Retrospectively, Gaius' absence should have alerted him to the fact that something wasn't right. Arthur started dancing and singing far too loudly for such an early time, he didn't pay it much attention, busy trying to calm the boy down, and failing mostly.

"Okay, time for breakfast now!"

"Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her, -"

"William!"

"Put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her, very well!"

"Hang on, where does that come from?"

That certainly wasn't suitable for children in Merlin's opinion, but Arthur just laughed happily and kept bouncing around, repeating once more, if a bit breathless:

"Peter, Peter – Pumpkin Eater,

Had a-"

Someone knocked outside. Arthur fell silent and froze immediately. Merlin tensed too and shared a quick glance with the child before going to the door, waiting for Arthur to go back and hide in their chamber before opening.

Gwen was in the door frame, nervously fiddling with something in her hands.

"Gaius sent me to give you this," she said, handing it to him. It was a piece of paper folded in four.

Merlin opened it quickly. 'Stay inside until I come back', Gaius had written, and Merlin took it for what it was: a very bad sign.

He checked the other side, just in case an explanation was hidden there, but of course not.

"What's going on?" he inquired, trying to not sound too worried.

"I'm not sure exactly. The witch hunters arrived last night, they have begun to check on the prisoners already."

Merlin's mouth fell open in shock and his eyes widened. The vision of Tim telling him they were waiting for new comers suddenly flashed back to him charged with meaning he had missed the previous day. How could have he have forgotten the witch hunters?

"Wh- Wait - What?" He spluttered.

Gwen nodded, her voice lowering so slightly. "I've seen some being released, but I don't really know what is happening there. It's a bit confusing, and – Morgana doesn't like it." She instinctively glanced up the corridor, making sure they were alone. "She's been avoiding them, the hunters. Not openly, of course, but she's hiding in her rooms"

She was wringing her hands, rubbing them too much, and Merlin had to grab them to make her stop. She pursed her lips slightly, took a deep breath and looked straight at him. "I don't like it, Merlin," she whispered, "I mean, obviously I want Arthur to be found, but I don't like this. Not that I mean – It's a good thing they're here to clear the innocents! But-"

"Gwen, calm down," he prompted her. "Come in."

He pulled her inside and closed the door behind her. She relaxed slightly, relieved to not be out in the open anymore, and sat on the bench, her hands still joined. He sat near her and took one of them again, squeezing it to encourage her, swallowing back his own anxiety. He hadn't been the best friend to her lately, but he intended to make up for it, if only by actually listening to her. And he really had to know what was going on anyway.

"Tell me," he said, and she nodded again, looking away not meeting his gaze.

"They arrived yesterday, late in the evening. I tried to find you, I thought you would like to be there, but Gaius said you were out."

"That's okay, just tell me."

Gwen had started to wring her hands again, but this time Merlin didn't try to stop her. "Uther ordered them to check on the prisoners, to see if anyone who had been arrested was a sorcerer or not. Well, not all the hunters were sent on that case, most of them just... left the castle, to sneak around, I don't know. They're searching. Gaius was sent to the cells too, to take care of the people who proved innocent that had been mistreated. Morgana sent me to help him, but there were so many people! They... They were all so frightened, so weak, and yet they didn't complain at all when they were released, one by one, just because they were so overjoyed not to have been sentenced to death! This is crazy, this whole situation is insane! Uther had lost his mind and his people are suffering, and just because he can't catch the one sorcerer who attacked Arthur, his people have to pay the price!"

Merlin said nothing. His face remained unreadable, and she did her best to contain herself.

"Not that I mean... I... didn't want to say that, that way."

"It's okay," he whispered. She smiled sadly and squeezed his hand.

oOoOo

The physician took the woman's wrist. He remained still for a moment, checking her pulse, before kneeling to the floor to put his ear against her back.

"Breath in," he ordered, then, "Breath out."

She obeyed without protest. Her face was pale, nauseous, and the slight shiver of her body had done nothing but get worse since she had left her lying position. Thankfully, the physician seemed to be done. He gently pushed her shoulder and she let herself fall back to bed.

The sheets were wet, stinking with cold sweat, and the sheepskin cover wasn't much better. Still she pulled it back on her, regretting it almost instantly as she felt a hot flush rush in her.

"She shouldn't move until her fever breaks," the man said, rising to his feet again to face the Knight waiting at the door. He wasn't wearing the red cloak of Camelot anymore, having left it downstairs, but his sword was still hanging on his hip. "It will probably take a few days. Travelling in her condition is out of question, it could be very dangerous for the baby she carries."

"We don't have a few days!" Erec hissed arms crossed over his chest. He waited for the old man to come out and closed the door behind him. "It is of the greatest urgency that I return to Camelot without delay. Find a way to make her movable."

"Well it may be possible if she could lie in a cart, with frequent rests and if you take great care, but this won't allow you to be very quick, I'm afraid."

The Knight snorted, irritated, and gave the door an impatient glare. "Very well," he finally conceded. "I want you to remain at her bedside until I've decided what to do."

Erec gave him a coin, and the old man bowed. He was the only competent physician within seven villages, and as such was accustomed to receiving food or material as payment for his services. The coins, though worth little to the nobles, were an unexpected luxury which would help him greatly in the end of his life.

The Knight left him and went back downstairs. The other woman -Elsie- hadn't moved since he had left, seated in a chair in the middle of the room, but she rose as soon as she saw him. The house's owner, a tiny farmer, jumped to his feet, bowed and left after a few courtesies, knowing that his presence wasn't required. The Knight nodded to him in gratitude.

"Well?" Elsie asked once they were alone.

"She doesn't seem to be in immediate danger," he replied with little concern, "the physician will stay by her side."

The woman's shoulders sagged a bit with relief. "Thank you. Thank you, Sire, if you hadn't been there, I – I didn't know what to do, we were so lucky to cross your way!"

"Don't be too pleased." He approached her, and only then did she notice his hand on the pommel of his sword. The posture wasn't completely threatening, but she swallowed and quickly dropped her gaze anyway. He stood before her and, voice clear and firm, repeated what he had already said. "Travel is forbidden by the King, you knew that."

"... Yes, Sire."

"Yet, despite the King's clear order, you took to the road."

"Sire, I can assure you that I... I didn't mean to go against His Majesty's will! I have nothing but the greatest respect for our King and never would I have done anything to displease him if – if..." she spluttered helplessly. "If I had... any choice in the matter."

He let a sigh of exasperation out and sat in front of her, fixing her with a severe look. She blinked. "The whole army of Camelot is doing its best to find our Prince back, certainly you know it?" he asked impatiently.

"Yes, Sire," she confessed.

"If these orders have been given, it's for a reason!" She said nothing in return. "I will take you with me to Camelot. That's where you were heading, wasn't it?"

The colour drained from her face, and now he was watching her closely, with more suspicion than he had previously felt.

"Wasn't it?" he insisted.

"Yes it was, Sire," she agreed quietly.

"Why?"

She looked stressed, glancing desperately aside to avoid his gaze. The pallor of her skin combined with her travel stained clothes was giving her the look of a beggar. She seemed fragile and terrified, facing this strong, resolute man.

He didn't buy it for a second.

The metallic sound of his sword being pulled from his scabbard resonated in the room, and soon the blade was against her throat.

"Why were you traveling?" he asked, once more, and it was clear in his voice that he would accept nothing but a very good answer.

"I-" she darted her gaze to the weapon, then to him, and the words left her mouth, almost by themselves "I saw what happened to the Prince. I witnessed it all; I was heading to Camelot to report it all to the King."

Erec looked at her in shock. Then, slowly, his sword lowered.

They had found their witness.

oOoOo

Merlin closed the door behind Gwen and went to sit back on the bench. He covered his eyes, trying for a moment to fight back the wave of stress which had hit him; and finally let them drop, breathing out slowly.

It was bad.

It was really, really bad.

There were a dozen of witch hunters in the castle at that very moment. Most of them would certainly search the area outside the castle, but some would have to stay within the castle bounds. Merlin wouldn't be able to avoid them forever; no one could. His mind avoided the idea of the prisoners, knowing he couldn't do anything about that, he just had to hope they would all get better. The anxiety about getting caught was making him nauseous and selfish. Attempting to overlook the trouble he was in and focusing on finding a solution was proving difficult, no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't think of one. How on earth was he going to sort that out? And how would Elsie and her sister find a way to come to the castle now? The whole situation was just getting worse, and the longer it lasted, the more Merlin felt his hopes of everything ending up well and without consequences vanish.

He had managed to solve so many impossible problems before: he would find a way to solve this as well. He just had to.

A door creaked, and Merlin was immediately reminded of Arthur's presence. He blinked quickly and did his best to look normal, vaguely hoping his tension wasn't showing as he looked at the boy.

Arthur was standing there, half-hidden by the door, face blank. They stared at each other for a moment, before Merlin got up.

"You can come out," he said. "Come on, let finish breakfast."

"What did she want?" Arthur asked without moving.

"Nothing, just to... tell me something. Here, come on."

"What did she say?" Arthur insisted, and really, it wasn't the moment for that.

"Nothing of your concern, it's just adult talk. Now do you want breakfast or not?"

Arthur didn't answer. He kept staring at him, visibly upset, which was grating on Merlin's nerves. And Merlin's nerves clearly didn't need that right now.

"Will?" he insisted, sounding impatient even to his own ears.

The child scowled but he finally stepped down to sit back at the table, reluctant. Merlin put his breakfast in front of him, a bit briskly, and left Arthur to it.

He waited a bit, unsure of what to do, before coming back to the cupboard, randomly taking one of Elsie's books to leaf through it. He had long since given up finding a solution there, but right now he had no better plan, these books looked like his only hope. Something had to be in there, he couldn't have done all of this for nothing!

He would find a way, the only thing he needed to do was to keep a cool head -

"Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater-"

"Will!" Merlin warned him without turning away from his reading.

Arthur fell back quiet, and Merlin sat on Gaius' chair, trying to concentrate. He finally closed the book, upset at not directly find a solution in there, and mused for a moment. Okay, there were several things to take care of: First, avoid the witch hunters. Second, find a way to allow Elsie and her sister to come into the castle, then into the Dragon's cave, without being noticed. Third, get Arthur back to normal. .

He was so doomed.

"Had a wife and couldn't keep her, -"

"I told you to stop with the song!" Merlin erupted irritably, turning back to Arthur.

The child wasn't looking at him, eyes filling with restrained tears and fiercely fixed on his plate. He was holding his spoon tightly in his hand, having not touched his breakfast since Merlin had given it to him. Merlin felt his impatience melt, replaced by a horrible feeling of guilt. He swallowed it back, and for a very uncomfortable moment, neither of them moved nor spoke.

Then, at the same time, "Will..."

"I'm not hungry anymore."

Arthur abandoned the table and headed to his room without looking back, chin trembling, but held high and proud. He slammed the door behind him, hard.

Merlin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly. He didn't mean to yell, truly, he didn't. He had no idea how to handle this, how to handle Arthur. It was taking a lot from him to just keep faith and not give up already, but he didn't think he could do it all by himself anymore.

And that thought was scary. Very, very scary.

He needed help, and these damn books were useless, they were good for nothing!

Merlin threw the one he had been reading at the other side of the room before he had the time to restrain himself. The book smashed the wall with a loud noise and fell back on the table, making a mess of Gaius' potions; which didn't bring Merlin any comfort.

Staying still and silent, Merlin was slowly feeling ridiculous. He got up and went to clean up the mess he had created, swallowing back the tension. It was no time to panic, he repeated to himself.

Arthur did not answer when he knocked, but it wasn't that surprising. Merlin came in anyway. Arthur was sitting on his bed, back against the wall, stubbornly staring at the toy he was playing with. His cheeks were wet and his eyes red. Merlin sat near him, and Arthur sniffled.

"Will..."

He didn't answer, sucking his lower lip into his mouth, and his eyes watered even more. Merlin had rarely felt that sorry in his life.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. I was... just upset, because of what Gwen told me. It wasn't because of you. I'm sorry, okay?"

Arthur cleaned his cheeks dry with the back of his hand. He took a few bitter breaths in, but immediately dropped his toy and hugged back when Merlin took him in his arms. His grip was firm, desperate, and it wasn't long before he could not hold in his sobs any longer. Merlin rubbed his back and hair softly, hushing him with quiet words of reassurance and apologies. The crying wasn't ending, though, even after Merlin's repeated confirmations that everything was okay.

"Hey, what's the matter?" he asked finally.

Arthur sniffled some more, trying hard to regain some control, but his voice was still trembling as he ranted into Merlin's shoulder. "You're never telling me what's happening! I don't want to stay here anymore – hiding in the room – and I don't like it, and – It's not- not fair. You're upset, and people are after you, and I don't want people to take you away, and I don't want you to yell at me either. But you just tell me nothing, and I – I don't know what I - should do! I really don't know!"

He was crying openly now, unable to say another word and Merlin pressed him tighter against his chest. He rocked him for a long time, at a loss for what to do or say, having never realized that Arthur worried and understood so much.

"Shhh, it's okay. There's nothing you need to do. It's okay, really," he promised, "Everything's okay, don't worry, don't cry."

"I don't know what to do!" Arthur repeated desperately, grabbing him tightly, trying to calm down again. Merlin rocked him until he relaxed totally, having cried himself to sleep into his arms.

Merlin gently put him back to bed and, with great care, did his best to dry Arthur's face without waking him up. He stayed a moment at his bedside, and then left, silently closing the door behind him. He took back the first book he had read, the one Elsie had given him and opened it to the potion he had already used on Arthur, the one Elsie had showed him and he hadn't wanted to use again.

He had only that. Never mind the time he had spent reading all the other books, this seemed to be the only the only solution he could find. If it hadn't worked perfectly the first time, then it would be his job to make it work now.

Even if he was getting caught, Arthur had to come back to the throne. The rest, he would find a way to deal with.

oOoOo

It was late afternoon.

Leon removed his cloak and let it fall unceremoniously on the floor, soon joined by his sword belt and his chain mail, far more loudly. He kicked his boots away without much grace and, with a groan on relief; he let himself fall into bed. His hands covered his face and he welcomed the sudden obscurity for a few seconds, pretending it was relaxing.

His back was sore and for a moment he thought about calling a maid to massage it: it would certainly do him some good. He decided against it quickly, though, not being in a mood to allow such fantasies. A bath would do, he hadn't bathed in days, and he would stink soon if he didn't already.

The daylight had started to fade and Leon's whole bedroom was colored in a reddish glow as he opened his eyes again. He remained there, lying, unmoving, his mind restless.

Most of the hunters had been sent around by the King and the searches, already organized neatly, had become even more efficient. He was in first line to assist with the arrests, the shakedowns which were leaving whole houses turned upside down. He felt no pride in doing this, but hope of finding something leading to the Prince was stronger than any feeling of shame. He knew it was the same for all the other Knights.

Now the dungeons were cleared up by the hunters. Every innocent was sent back to their families, and the relief of freedom and safety was so strong for them that none of them complained of the bad treatment they had received. The kingdom had fallen into feverish madness, but no soul would dare to protest, not when a single wrong word could lead you into cell, or worse, into personal interview with a torturer.

Leon couldn't honestly tell if he was glad or worried about the hunters' arrival. They were meant to help them a great deal to detect any form of magic, but what would happen if they didn't? What would they do if none of those they had under arrest appeared to be a sorcerer? If they were nothing but innocent, scared people, having nothing to do with Arthur's disappearance?

Leon got up, rejecting that train of thoughts. He shouldn't think about it. No matter the time it would take them, they would find Arthur, even if it was the last thing they should do in their life.

He took a shirt, grabbed his sword back and, with a movement of sheer habit, tied it around his hips thoughtlessly. He closed the door behind him with a soft noise, heading for the bathing room.

Had he stayed a moment longer, he wouldn't have missed the gray pigeon bursting into his window and landing on his favorite chair's back, a tiny paper folded around its leg.

oOoOo

It was late afternoon.

Arthur was still lying in his bed, awake but motionless, except for a slow blinking. By the door, he could hear Merlin moving, searching beyond Gaius' potions, doing things he never told Arthur about.

Arthur was tired.

The room was all red, now, which was kind of nice, except that the walls were too close and the room was too small. Merlin's mattress was lying on the floor and it was taking the entire space, which had never been meant for two people to begin with.

Arthur sniffed and, after a long moment of hesitation, found the will to get up. He darted to the door, half-wanting to get out, half-wanting to avoid Merlin a bit longer. He had exiled himself in his room all day, except for lunch. He was not sure how Merlin would react after his tantrum, not sure how things truly were between the two of them, and not sure he really wanted to find out. Maybe if he waited for Gaius to come back, things would be easier. But Gaius didn't seem to be in a hurry to come back.

He didn't move at all, his gaze lost, when a bird suddenly landed on the windowsill. Arthur glanced at it, and his mouth fell in a perfect 'o' as the animal bounced. It wasn't a real bird. It seemed to be made of blue smoke, and didn't make a noise.

Arthur hesitated, wanting to call Merlin, but not daring to. The bird flied and landed on his shoulder (which was both wonderful and terrifying) to drop a little paper on his legs. Arthur hesitated, staring dumbly at it. The bird chirped with impatience, and Arthur hurried to take the note and unfold it.

The writing was untidy and rushed, messed with black stains of ink. 'The Knight Erec has found us,' it said, 'we're heading back to Camelot tomorrow to report what I saw to the King. Run and hide.'

And it disappeared between his hands.

See you next time! And check my profile, there's a new illustration for this chapter ;)