Disclaimer: unfortunately I do not own Merlin :( maybe one day...

A/N: Yes, I'm still alive! I know, I know 2 months! All I can say is I have been VERY busy. Sadly I've had loads of exams and, as much as I love writing, those have to come first.

Also, my friend Louise Foxhall and I went to...wait for it... the Merlin Dragontower at Warwick Castle! It's amazing! The Dragon...actually...spoke...to...ME! Life = made :D He told me he knew I had magic (what's your first clue) did I know the Lady Morgana? (very well) and if I used my powers to hinder Arthur and Merlin in their destiny he would kill me (as if!). Out of all the kids and their parents in the attraction we were the most overly hyper people there :D

Anyway...I know I said at the end of the last update that this would be the last chapter well, I lied. This chapter ended upgoing on longer than I'd expected so I thought I'd half it.

As always thanks to the amazing reviewers: ruby890, Dragon Mistress Syal, The Tuneless Siren, IILethell, Vegetables will have their revenge (fanfiction keeps deleting your name when I make it one word, sorry about that :L), Emachinescat, and bookaddict27. They all made me feel all warm and fuzzy :D * gets weird looks * I mean...err..on with the plot:-

Enjoy! :)

Chapter 9

It was a slow and painful journey to the makeshift infirmary, Arthur wincing at the jolts of pain every step caused. He refused to lean on Merlin, more to preserve any remaining dignity than anything else.

Merlin didn't seem able to disguise the grin spread over his face. Arthur had to roll his eyes. Surely he hadn't really believed Arthur had hated him? He knew he'd maybe overreacted slightly but he hadn't said anything to make him believe he'd have him executed.

Arthur shot a sideways glance at his servant's elated expression. The words he'd said two days ago crept unbidden into his mind. "No, sorcerer, you were never my friend, just my servant and you betrayed me!" A wave of guilt rose from the pit of his stomach. Admittedly he'd been very upset at the revelation and that had caused him to say those horrible things but he really, honestly hadn't meant to scare him into thinking he'd have him killed. It was almost ironic that he'd said that because Merlin was his friend. The fact that he hadn't trusted him enough to tell him had hurt.

Upon entering the infirmary many eyes turned towards them belonging to faces which filled with concern at the sight of the injured prince. Several of the knights made a valiant attempt to get up but were immediately met with a glare from Arthur. He didn't want them to injure themselves further on his account. He noted the scene hadn't changed much since his last visit, a feeling of dread settled over him as he realised how much more crowded it was.

As soon as Gaius spotted the pair he hurriedly finished bandaging a knight's arm and made a beeline directly for them eyeing Arthur's blood coated armour with apprehension and, although well-disguised, fear.

"Sire," He didn't meet either of their eyes, deliberately trying not to address either of them as he was still slightly unsure about their identities "what happened?" His eyes drifted to the ruby liquid dripping off the metal.

"It's alright, Gaius. We're normal. Unfortunately, Merlin decided to be an idiot and get himself stabbed."

" I saved someone's life!" Merlin cried in mock-outrage.

"Yes and you almost lost yours and to some extent mine in return." Arthur shifted, cursing as a grunt of pain escaped at the movement.

At the sound Gaius turned his attention back to Arthur's injury. "Merlin, can you remove Arthur's armour, chain mail and tunic." He cut off Merlin's, no doubt very well thought out, reply. "You can sit here, sire." He gestured towards a battered table a couple of yards from them. "I need to fetch some supplies."

Arthur sat; trying to ignore that said table was coated in dried blood. Merlin did as directed, taking off the layers of armour and clothing that he'd dressed himself in what must have been several hours ago. Merlin couldn't help but smile at the strangeness of the situation.

"Merlin, what are you smirking about?" Arthur gave him a patronizing look.

"Nothing." His grin didn't fade and he lifted the heavy breast plate off the prince.

"You could try and show a bit of concern. I'm in a great deal of pain here."

"You can't be in that much pain. I healed you, remember?" Merlin pulled off his blood-sodden tunic. The wound underneath was still covered in blood, though no longer bleeding. What had once been a fatal wound, piercing right through his torso, was now a deep gash. "See?" Merlin gestured towards his handiwork proudly.

Arthur inspected it for himself and couldn't quite contain a note of surprise when he replied "I thought you said you were stabbed."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "I was."

Gaius reappeared carrying a bowl of water, several bandages and a jar of amber liquid. He wordlessly continued to wipe away the blood surrounding the injury.

"Do the best you can, Gaius. I need to go back and help the army."Arthur's tone was suddenly serious .

Gaius was prevented from replying by Merlin "You can't! You almost died out there!"

"Merlin, you almost died out there. I, on the other hand, have a brain." A shadow of a smile passed over his face as he shot the teasing comment at the warlock. He sighed deeply, any hint of teasing gone. "The army needs me. We can't lose this."

Merlin wanted to protest but he knew Arthur too well. If his army was fighting there was no way he'd sit back and watch. Arthur was right-they couldn't afford to lose this. If Cendred won the result was unthinkable. The army needed their leader and however much Arthur was injured they couldn't afford for him to sit out.

Gaius nodded and reached for the jar. "I'm afraid you are right, sire. But you will need to be extremely careful. In your present state you will be much more vulnerable."

Arthur ignored the urge to snort, as if he didn't already know that! Gaius started spreading the sticky substance onto his wound.

"Gaius? Is that honey?" He frowned at the physician wondering if he'd finally lost it.

"Yes, sire. It's to ward off infections."

"Merlin!" Merlin jumped and spun around to see Gwen making her way through the obstacles all the chairs, tables and people in the room presented. Finally she reached him panting slightly. "I need to talk to you." She whispered hurriedly casting a concerned look at Arthur who was staring at the pair with a frown.

When they were out of ear-shot of the group Gwen started talking, her words spilling out of her mouth at such speed they were an incoherent jumble.

"Slow down, Gwen."

"Morgana! I led her away from her chambers as you asked. As soon as she realised I was lying she was really angry. I've never seen her that angry."

I have, Merlin thought internally the image of her furious face darting through her mind.

Gwen carried on "She ran away, to her chambers I'd imagine. I'm really worried. Something's wrong here. Really wrong." She paused "What were you doing in her chambers? What's happening?" She focused her eyes upon his with an intense stare.

Although Merlin didn't know quite what she meant although he realised she must be talking about something Arthur had done. Obviously, he must have asked Gwen to distract Morgana while he'd searched for the vessel. Honestly, surely he could of thought of something better to distract her, now Gwen was involved too and with the look she was giving him he didn't think she was going to take 'no' for an answer. Morgana...if she was alone in the wreckage who knows what conclusions she might come to and what actions those conclusions would cause.

"Stay here. Look after Arthur. I've got to do something." He quickly ran from the room to Gwen's surprise. She watched him go with a frown of confusion. Why couldn't Merlin ever just give her a straight answer? Looking away she found her expression mirrored in Arthur's as he caught her eye. She felt the shadow of a blush warming her face but steadily held his gaze.

Gaius finished bandaging the wound and handed him a small vial "for the pain" which Arthur drank gratefully.

"I need to help some others now, sire. Is there anything else?"

Arthur shook his head. "No thank you, Gaius."

Gaius bent his head slightly and with a last concerned look at the prince he hurried off to someone else's aid.

Arthur reached for his tunic which was draped over a chair across from him, wincing slightly as he stretched his wounded torso.

"Here, let me." Gwen quickly hurried over and passed him the bloodied tunic.

"Thank you, Guinevere." Brown eyes met blue, the intensity of Arthur's gaze fuelling the blush that was burning on her cheeks. The connection shattered as Arthur lifted the tunic over his head, covering the bandages from sight. "Could you pass my armour?"

Gwen's brow knit. "Armour? You're not considering going to fight again? You've already been injured once."

Arthur's lips twitched in a small smile. "I'm glad to hear you have so much faith in me."

"Oh no! I didn't mean it like that." She quickly back-tracked. Arthur's smile grew at her horrified expression. "I just...if you die..." She trailed off, the end of the sentence hanging unsaid in the air.

Gwen picked up the blood-stained chain mail and slowly dressed him in it, Arthur's pulse raced in a wordless answer.

"You'll be fine." She spoke softly for her own benefit as much as his, her voice pragmatic as if what was about to happen was going to be easy, as if she didn't know the affect she was having on him. After several breathe-taking minutes, her nimble but worn fingers tied the leather straps of the last piece of armour and Arthur stood up, determined not to show any signs of pain or weakness.

There was a brief silence that gave him enough time to notice the fear in Gwen's expression. He thought about telling her everything would be alright, that the battle would be easily won, that he'd come home safely but he couldn't find the words, so instead he just took her hand and ran his finger along her palm and between her fingers, tracing the lines in her hand and letting his skin memorize her fingerprints.

Gwen made a small sound of appreciation and kept her eyes focused on his as his fingers whispered circles on her skin.

Both of them jerked, Arthur dropping her hand instantly, when Sir Leon suddenly materialized beside them.

"Sire," Luckily he hadn't notice the odd exchange between servant and prince. On the contrary he sounded deadly serious and almost afraid. "Cendred's army is overpowering us."

Dread fell over Arthur like a dirty blanket. He nodded. "Come on." Sickly pale face set in a determined expression he practically ran out of the hall with Leon beside him and Gwen watched him go like she had every other time before.

The chambers were ruined. The floor covered in smashed glass and furniture, the merciless, iced wind piercing the room through the shattered windows. It knifed Morgana as she stood there shivering partly from the cold, partly from the fear, sadness and most of all, anger.

She stepped across the threshold; her dainty shoes no match for the glass whose ragged edges cut into them. "Sister." She barely whispered, terrified at the lack of reply. "Sister! Morgause!" She called as loud as she dared. Still there was no reply. The room was deafened with the silence.

A fusillade of question marks invaded her mind but one question stood over all others-what had happened? Gwen was a distraction, she'd figured out that much but who had asked her? Who knew? The answer was there before the question. Merlin. Anger flared at his name. The boy she'd once thought of as the closest of friends, now a mortal enemy. His loyalty and devotion to Camelot, Arthur and the king had got in the way of every plan she'd tried yet.

But that didn't explain anything. The wreckage couldn't have been caused by hand. How could he have known about the vessel? And, above all, where was Morgause?

"She's not here, Morgana." His soft voice startled her out of her frustrating thoughts. At the sight of her former friend her anger flared up once more which quickly changed to confusion and uncertainty. Arthur...? More questions flooded into her brain and she stared at Merlin with consternation. Her mouth unable to form any sort of response to this absurd turn of events.

"No, I'm not Arthur." Merlin correctly interpreted her silence. "The spell's broken. Morgause is dead." His blunt words shocked her and a sliver of fear chilled her spine.

Lying, he must be lying. Reason fell in the way of that hope like a jagged rock. If the spell had been broken Morgause must be dead. But how? How could a measly servant defeat a sorceress skilled in magic of the old religion? It was impossible!

Merlin was still watching her with dark eyes and almost sadness.

The confusion instantly converted into anger. "You're lying!" She shrieked.

Merlin took a deep breathe and carried on with the speech that was no doubt breaking Morgana's heart. No matter how much evil she'd done and planned to do, there was still a part of him that hated seeing her so upset, that wanted to comfort her. He had to remind himself, the Morgana he'd been friends with was no more. "Morgause is dead, Morgana. We're back to normal. Arthur's setting out to finish this battle. It's over."

As much as Morgana tried to tell herself he was lying she knew he wasn't. Morgause was dead! The only family that'd ever helped her, cared for her and, above all, accepted who she really was and tried to make things better for her, was now dead! Pain clutched at her very soul with it's clawed fingers. Her face stung with hot tears and her breathe came in rapid gasps.

Her scream was almost inhuman and it echoed around the wreck of a room, filling it with her agony. Fire blazed in her eyes and before Merlin could react he was thrown across the room.

Merlin's head hit the stone wall with a resounding thump and his vision blurred. Before he even hit the floor he was swallowed in blissful blackness.

Morgana looked at her handiwork with fury. She could still feel her magic pounding in her veins, burning at the back of her skull, yearning to break through.

Morgana turned and strode out the room, hair flowing out behind her giving her a dangerous look. There was only one way she could win this now-killing Arthur Pendragon.