Author's note: Yes, this ends in a cliff hanger. But that's because I'm starting a sequel! I'd like to thank everyone for their reviews, and especially to Spirited.Karma, for giving me the inspiration for the sequel.

Merlin opened his eyes. He was dimly aware that he was lying on something lumpy, yet comfortable. After inhaling deeply through his nose, he noticed that the place smelt familiar, but it was more than that… it smelt of home.

Slowly, very slowly, Gaius' study came into focus. He smiled slightly as he realised where he was, and that he was probably lying on Gaius' couch, which often held the sick and injured.

He tensed himself, preparing to get up, when a dull pain stabbed at him from his side. He hissed quietly and looked at his chest. He was devoid of a shirt, but was covered in bandages. Most of the padding was on his right side, just a little higher than his elbow. Frowning slightly, he moved his left hand towards it.

"Hey!"

A youthful hand flicked his away from the padding, a hand that was slightly larger than his. This hand belonged to a wrist that wore a well fabricated tunic sleeve.

Merlin twisted his head slowly to find himself staring into the sharp, observant eyes of his friend, his master, his prince.

"Arthur!" he smiled.

"Good to see you up," Arthur smiled his usual, cocky smile in return, feeling slightly amused that Merlin was relieved to see him. "You had everyone worried for a while. I didn't take you as fainter, even if it was Morgana who hugged you," he teased.

Merlin couldn't believe his ears. Arthur was teasing him! It seemed like the spell had never happened, but he knew that it had. His shoulder was sore and was almost positive that the bruise had blossomed gruesomely across his face.

"You look like a mess," Arthur commented lightly, obviously thinking along the same lines. "I… guess you have me to thank for that though," he said, suddenly deflating.

"You don't remember?" Merlin asked slowly, not sure if he wanted to know.

"Uhhh…" Arthur stalled, leaning back against Gaius' table. "Some of it," he admitted quietly.

Merlin didn't speak. He was unsure as to whether Arthur would want to talk about this, or whether his friend would want to change the subject.

"I remember the first day, with the serving girl," Arthur continued after a pause.

Merlin also remembered that day. Arthur had heard him saying thoughts that he hadn't intending on sharing with the prince.

"After that, I remember only the vague details. Feeling… tired, frustrated, angry… afraid."

Merlin continued to listen, not knowing what he could say to ease the tensions in the room. And, he knew how difficult admitting this would be for the very proud Prince Arthur Pendragon, of Camelot.

"I have asked the others for an account, but they keep turning round and telling me to speak to you," he stated. "I understand that Father ordered you to… keep an eye on me."

"You… want to know what happened?" Merlin frowned.

"I don't need to know everything but, there are some things that…" Arthur trailed off, and he shifted his position against the table, massaging the back of his neck.

"What do you want to know?" Merlin asked cautiously.

"What did I do?" Arthur asked in reply, subconsciously touching the area below his eye, in the exact spot where he'd hit Merlin in the face

Merlin noticed and quickly understood what Arthur was asking. He raised his left hand to touch his face, wincing slightly as he touched the bruise.

"Fist," he stated casually, ignoring when Arthur squirmed. "And a goblet," he answered as he moved his hand to his shoulder.

"That's it?" Arthur asked hopefully.

"You had a shouting match with your father. No one won," Merlin summed up.

"Ah, that explains why he's avoiding me. What was it about?" Arthur frowned apprehensively.

"I don't know," Merlin answered truthfully. "I wasn't in the room at the time."

Arthur nodded, looking away from Merlin. He looked about the study as he thought about what he was about to say.

"Thanks," he finally said.

Merlin was about to try and sit up, but when he tried, he felt his ankle twinge. He inhaled sharply through his teeth, wincing at the pain.

"Gaius said he was amazed that you made it so far on that foot," Arthur stated, a small frown of concern lay across his brow.

"Yeah well…" Merlin cleared his throat as he realised his voice was an octave or two higher than he liked it to be. "I had something more pressing than a sprained ankle on my mind."

"How did it happen?" Arthur asked, genuinely troubled by Merlin's condition.

"I… tripped," Merlin replied, knowing full well that he could say the truth, well… the whole truth anyway.

Arthur cracked a grin and breathed out a laugh at his servant's explanation. It was so like Merlin to say that he tripped, but maybe that was because he did it so often.

He then realised that Merlin had tensed up. His attempt to lighten the mood had failed, and he suddenly felt desperate to know what was troubling his friend.

"What's wrong?"

"The sphere cracked because I tripped," Merlin spat, astonishing Arthur. "It was sheer luck that I had something else for you to…" Merlin trailed off, before lifting his head up slightly then whacking it against the pillow.

Arthur understood what Merlin was talking about. He knew that he was referring to the fact that the sphere that the sorceress, Nimueh, had placed him in had cracked. Merlin had, by chance, a white king chess piece in his pocket, and Arthur had somehow retreated to that. He couldn't understand how he could have done that, but he could see the logic in the move.

The sphere, as he had seen it, was a fairly large object. This meant that it could easily break or be taken from Merlin. The chess piece, however, was small and a fairly tough thing to break. And since it was in Merlin's pocket, it made sense to be somewhere that was that safe. No one knew the piece was there and it would not have been stolen. It was a logical place to hide.

"Well, I'm here," he raised his arms as if to further prove this point. "And, it wasn't exactly your fault that you tripped."

"What?" Merlin frowned confused.

"There are burn marks on your ankle," Arthur pointed out. "Gaius thinks that they were made with magic. The sorceress tripped you on purpose. And, I think it was just bad luck that you landed on a small rock."

Merlin instinctively looked to his side, realising what had happened. Saying nothing, he looked back to Arthur and nodded.

The pair remained silent, not moving, for a moment. Then Arthur pushed himself off Gaius' table.

"Well, I'd better see what else I can do. I'm sure I've got things to catch up on."

Arthur walked to the door, and paused when he heard Merlin wince in pain as he struggled to move. When the young man called his name, Arthur turned around, one hand on the door.

"Even if your father hadn't ordered me to, I still would have been at your side," Merlin assured him.

Arthur said nothing for a moment. Then he smiled grimly.

"I know," he nodded.

Arthur turned back to face the door, opened it and walked out.

Merlin grimaced in pain as he crossed the room to join Gaius. He had been given a crutch by the physician, but his ankle still hurt and his side was beginning to burn again.

"You did a very brave thing, Merlin," Gaius announced as they sat down to eat. "To face Nimueh as you did, it took great courage."

"It took great stupidity, more like," Merlin sulked into his meal. "She's furious at what I did. Everything had been going perfectly for her, and then I come in and ruin it all for her."

"Her loss, I'm sure," Gaius reassured the young magician.

"She's coming," Merlin declared, staring out the window. "She's coming to Camelot."

"Not for a while, Merlin, I can assure you," Gaius replied, uneasy about his apprentice's surety, this feeling made even worse when he shook his head.

"No, Gaius… Nimueh's coming. I can see her, pure red in an ocean of silver. She's quite some distance away… and she's not hurrying. I should have enough time," Merlin murmured.

He had explained to Gaius his new sight, and had found that the lights were fainter and he could see the real world, with the lights as nothing more than a background visual marker, a small hint for him to see what people were like.

"Enough time?" Gaius frowned, not liking where this conversation was leading.

"Yeah, enough time," Merlin looked back at Gaius. "Enough time to prepare."

"Merlin… prepare for what?" Gaius demanded.

"A stand against her," Merlin clarified reluctantly, not liking the fact any more than Gaius. "And this time, she'll be the one running away."

They did not speak for there rest of the night. Merlin turned his head to look out the window. There, he stared at the small blotch of red on the landscape approaching.

He didn't dare think about what would happen once the two of them met, but he was more than willing to bet that it would be explosive.