Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights belong to their respective owners.

I must admit, I had forgotten about this one, I just found it sitting on my computer. Oops. I hope that you still enjoy it though.

"Where have you been this time, Merlin, meeting another girl?"

Merlin rolled his eyes, hoping the pile of laundry balanced high in his arms would be enough to conceal his actions from his master. Ever since Gwen had invented the lie so Arthur didn't find out his servant was being lured to his death, the king had refused to let it go. Merlin should have known; this sort of teasing was how their relationship worked. But the fact it was such a lie so Gwen could cover her treachery and there was nothing Merlin could do about it was really beginning to grate on him.

He didn't respond verbally, knowing he would say something he would regret and find himself back in the cells. He needed to be with Arthur constantly at the moment, for the man had no idea his queen was plotting to kill him and Merlin had no idea how to tell him. Dumping the laundry in a basket, Merlin turned his back on Arthur, trying to keep the annoyance from his expression as he headed towards the door. Before he could get there, however, a soft knock sounded.

Merlin glanced at Arthur, who nodded. Putting the basket to one side, Merlin opened the door and then stepped back out of the way as a guard came in. He bowed deeply to Arthur before glancing at Merlin, clearly not being sure if he should make his report with a servant in the room. Merlin decided he must have been one of the new recruits; all of the main guards knew they could say even the most classified of facts to the king in front of his servant and Arthur wouldn't care.

"What is it?"

"It's the Queen, My Lord. She's just left by the eastern gate."

"So? She likes to visit the Lower Town." Arthur dismissed the words with just a flick of his hand. The frown on his face meant he clearly had no idea why the guard was coming to tell him this, but Merlin felt his heart skip a beat. If Gwen was slipping out and meeting with Morgana, it could only mean there was another plan afoot and Arthur was once again in peril. He tried to keep his thoughts from showing on his face, but Arthur seemed to catch him out.

"Why are you looking so worried, Merlin? You know she likes to return home."

"It's not just that, My Lord," the guard continued, shuffling his feet apologetically. Merlin felt for him; he was only young and had no idea what he was getting himself into. If Gwen knew he was reporting her movements to her husband, the young man wouldn't live to see another guard duty.

"Then what?" Merlin knew that tone, knew how exasperated Arthur was getting. He hoped for all their sakes the guard got to his point before Arthur threw him out. If Merlin was lucky, this might just be what he needed in order to get Arthur to see all was not well with his queen.

The guard didn't say anything, but held out his hand. Three gold coins were nestled in his palm. Lines of suspicion etched into Arthur's face as he stared at them.

"Did you aid the queen?"

"No, Sire. She wanted to keep her movements quiet."

"She slipped out of the eastern gate and bribed you not to tell anyone."

"Yes, Sire," the guard looked guilty now, as if he wasn't sure whether he had done the right thing after all. Merlin instantly felt a rush of respect for him; not many new guards would disobey a queen and ignore a bribe to inform the king something was wrong. "And… There's one more thing."

"What?"

"She had something with her. A parchment of sorts… It had the official crest on it."

This time, Arthur looked nothing short of astonished. He automatically glanced down to where he had been working out a route for the levy to travel. Merlin followed his gaze and swallowed when he realised it was gone. Glancing at Arthur, he could see the king was beginning to understand that something wasn't right here.

"Dismissed," he told the guard. Merlin quickly ushered him out, thanking him with a smile. He knew Arthur wouldn't do anything like that, not when his mind was reeling and he was trying to work out what was wrong.

"I must have just put it somewhere else," the king muttered, beginning to search through his table before Merlin had even got the door shut properly. "Help me here, Merlin, would you?"

Despite knowing it hadn't been a suggestion, Merlin didn't move from his spot by the door. After a few moments, Arthur seemed to realise for he looked up. His face instantly darkened when he saw the expression on his servant's face.

"The guard is mistaken," he said coldly. Merlin just held his gaze steadily, knowing the man had been earnest enough to put the seeds of doubt into Arthur's mind. The king must have begun to realise something wasn't right. Negotiations being sabotaged. Almost being killed more than once lately despite the kingdom having been at peace for so long. Ever since Gwen had been abducted, a small frown hadn't left the bridge of Arthur's nose. He knew, Merlin knew he did.

The king just didn't want to admit it to himself.

"This isn't the first time I've heard about the Queen slipping out," Merlin said carefully, not wanting to admit he knew precisely what was going on. Arthur stared at him.

"She is free to wander…"

"Even in these dangerous times? Gwen would never have been so reckless to put her life at risk unless it was for a good reason. Why hasn't she been telling you where she is going, she knows how you worry."

"Oh, you mean like you do? Meeting girls in the lower town…"

"There was no girl, Arthur. I know you know that."

There wasn't many times that Merlin had witnessed Arthur speechless, but this was one of them. He took his chance.

"When would I get the chance to meet any girls?"

"So where were you?"

Merlin sighed, glancing towards the floor. Was now the right time to tell Arthur? He couldn't admit to being ambushed by Morgana – it would lead to far too many questions about how he had survived the encounter. Questions that he wasn't ready to face and he knew Arthur wasn't ready to here, not with Gwen already playing on his mind.

"I was tricked into the forest," he admitted, hoping that skirting around the truth would be close enough Arthur would believe it. "Someone wanted me out of the way while Lord Sarrum was here. They didn't want me interfering."

"Interfering with what?"

"You don't really think it was an accident he was killed, do you? It was an assassination gone wrong." Merlin kept his voice soft. He could see Arthur wanting to deny it, but the knight in him refused. Leon had given his report; someone had tried to kill either Sarrum or Arthur. While it had been the Sarrum who had died, Merlin knew Arthur was aware he had possibly been the target.

"What has that got to do with my wife disappearing?"

"The Sarrum was a practical man, Arthur. Do you think he would really try and kill you unless there was something in it for him? He was promised a reward."

Merlin could see Arthur mulling it over. He took a step forward, knowing he had to carry on. If this conversation stopped, Arthur would let his love blind him again. Merlin knew it was harsh, but he had to say this while there was enough doubt in Arthur's mind to make him listen.

"And how would that man have got close enough to poison you before, Arthur? None of the guards or knights have ever seen him before the trail led us straight to him. He admitted to supplying Morgana with the poison, but she wouldn't have got close enough either. We both know it wasn't me..." He let his voice trail off, willing his king to connect the dots. Arthur had been through so many betrayals from those he was close to, Merlin knew his mind was more likely to go down that route than before. He wasn't the man he had been when Aggravaine's treachery was revealed. He had learnt from his mistakes, tried to keep his heart guarded…

The second an expression close to agony shot across his face, Merlin knew Arthur was coming to the right conclusion; he had once again been betrayed by someone he loved.

Seeing how pale his king had gone, Merlin glanced away as he let his eyes wordlessly flash gold. The chair that had been a few paces away just happened to suddenly be behind Arthur as the man's legs gave way and he sat down heavily. Arthur instantly scrubbed a hand over his face, exhaustion prominent in the slump of his shoulders.

"I knew she had been acting odd," he whispered and Merlin found himself inching forward before perching on the edge of another stool. He hadn't realised that Arthur had been more aware of things than he was giving him credit for, but he should have known better. For all of their long years together, he knew if there was one thing Arthur noticed, it was Gwen.

"I thought it was grief," Arthur murmured. "How could she do this? She loves me…"

As Arthur's shoulders stiffened, Merlin knew anger was taking the place of shock. Instantly, he found he felt a rush of protection towards the monarchs. Not just Arthur, but Gwen as well. He knew this was Morgana's work and felt that he had betrayed his oldest friend by not being able to save her from this. It was the first time he had acknowledged the guilt – up until now he had been trying too hard to keep both himself and Arthur alive – but looking at how defeated Arthur was, he felt his resolve stiffen.

"I don't think it is her," he murmured quietly. "I think it is something Morgana did while she held her hostage."

"We don't even know if it is Morgana she slips out to meet," Arthur responded and Merlin had to admit that was a good point. Even he hadn't seen the two of them together despite knowing it was the most likely case. He edged forward on his chair.

"Why don't we follow her?" he said, not being sure how Arthur was going to take this. "Maybe we're jumping to all the wrong conclusions and she is just slipping out because she wants to be alone with her memories of her brother."

Merlin knew that wasn't the case, but if he softened his blame, Arthur was more likely to go along with it. He knew by the way Arthur glanced back down to where the missing scroll should have been that he didn't believe Merlin.

"But if not, we can see who she is meeting. Arthur, if it is Morgana… I think we're dealing with an enchantment. The timings and her behaviour add up to the Dark Tower – we don't know what happened to her in there."

Arthur flinched at that and beneath the anger brewing on the surface, Merlin could see a man having his heart broken. In Arthur's case, all over again. When the king suddenly stood up, pushing his chair back loudly, Merlin found that he was accidentally flinching.

"Every third night I've felt her slip from the bed. That will be tomorrow night. Be here at midnight and dress for the cold." He ordered, his voice cold. Merlin shuddered at how much like his father he sounded but jumped to his feet with a nod, knowing the conversation was over. Arthur moved towards the window, tension running across his shoulders as he stared out into the courtyard beyond.

Merlin moved towards the door, knowing now was a good time to retreat and give Arthur some time alone with his thoughts while he figured out how he was feeling about what was happening. Merlin knew from experience pushing the king when he was still trying to understand something was completely the wrong thing to do.

"Just pray it is not Morgana and magic, or she is lost."

The whisper was barely audible and Merlin didn't respond. He didn't know what he could say in order to reassure Arthur. But knowing he had a day or so before they knew for certain what was going on, he slipped from the room. But rather than carrying on with his chores, Merlin quickly made his way back to Gaius' chambers. His magic book was there, not to mention the physician's vast knowledge.

They had just over a day to start trying to figure out what Morgana had done or they would lose their queen and friend forever.