Soooooo... Over two years since my last update... Sorry. In all honesty I don't know how well I'm going to update this time round. I will say that I will try to put some more chapters up but I haven't written them yet. I basically put the pen down two years ago so expect me to be a bit rusty (hopefully only at first). Again I'm sorry for the long wait, all I can say is thank you for all those who have reviewed and followed since I stopped writing. A special thanks to Teekalinwho reminded me today how much I used to love writing. Thanks for sticking around this long. Please like, follow and REVIEW.

Chapter 7

The Doctor gazed after Merlin in worry. The time lord pulled out his sonic screw driver and twirled it through his fingers. It made the signature ringing sound as he examined the spot where the young 'wizard' had been standing. "Impossible…" he muttered quietly to himself as he studied the results.

"What is it, Doctor?" asked Amy curiously. She hadn't missed that fact that Merlin had looked worse this time around, and the fact that he'd almost collapsed after being in the room for less than a minute. The Doctor was still studying the results until suddenly, he snapped them shut.

He looked up to see Amy staring at him expectantly, and Rory standing there with the tray of food, looking dumbfounded by the quick exit of the servant. "Anybody hungry?" He rambled. He pried the tray from Rory's grip and dumped it on the table in attempts to avoid the sticky subject.

Amy's eyes narrowed and she stared at him suspiciously. Despite her suspicions, she sat down across from him. Rory however, was still standing there, "I'm guessing that neither of you noticed that Merlin has a seriously messed up arm then? It looked like third degree burns, may be worse…" he had noticed the burns when the young warlock had almost collapsed. Rory had seen the mark on the younger mans' hand and from it, he saw black veins of infection climbing past the sorcerers wrist, disappearing beneath his sleeve.

The Doctor and Amy looked at him weirdly for a second, finally the Doctor asked him to explain. Rory was quickly past telling them what he'd seen and was soon answering the Doctor's questions. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver again as he stood to speak. "Are you sure that's what you saw?" Rory nodded. The Doctor re-examined the results on the sonic, "What hand was the 'burn' on?" Rory looked down at his hand, trying to figure it out. His eyes cut between the Doctor and his hands twice before he spoke.

"I think it was his right hand," Rory back-tracked, "Wait, no, it was his left hand..."Rory spoke again before the Doctor could, making the man swallow the words he was about to speak. "No. No, it was definitely his right hand and my left hand, no way around it," the Doctor had stopped listening by then, but was by the wooded doors, studying it with the sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor considered a decision for a moment. He snapped the screwdriver shut again. "You know how, whenever we go somewhere special, like this, and it always ends tragically, or something always happens?" The Ponds nodded tiredly as they remembered all the times that 'something' had happened. The Doctor looked at them mysteriously, "I won't promise you that nothing will happen..." he turned tail and jumped through the door, calling out behind him, "Stay here," giving the Ponds the perfect opportunity to follow him.

Rory sighed, "We're going to follow him, aren't we?"

"Oh Rory, it's so sweet that you still have to ask," with that, Amy was out the door, Rory following obediently behind her.

They'd come out just in time to see the Doctor racing around the corner. As they chased behind him, following the ringing of the sonic screwdriver. Amy assumed they were following the path that Merlin had taken. Somehow, even after only passing through a small number of corridors, they were lost again.

"How can this place be so hard to navigate?" Amy demanded with a strong accent as she glanced around. Ahead of them the Doctor had stopped at a door. Silence filled the air and the Ponds crept closer, Amy only then realising just how hard it was to walk quietly in a floor length gown.

The Doctor glanced around and saw them behind him. He did a double take, looking down on them, in an effort to intimidate them. "I told you to stay in the room..." Amy and Rory found it hard to be scolded by the whisper as they joined him to look through the door.

"Oh, like you didn't know we were going to follow you" Amy whispered back, stating the obvious. "Besides, it's not like we can go back now, this place is a maze," the Doctor stayed silent as he cracked the door further open.

"What are we looking at?" Wondered Rory in a whisper.

On the other side of the door, Merlin was sitting on a bed with an old man hovering over him anxiously. "Why didn't you come to me sooner?" he demanded. Merlin shrugged tiredly.

"l didn't think you could do anything, Gaius, I tried every healing spell in The Book, I felt the magic, but it didn't do anything," Merlins jacket was off and for the first time, the trio got a clear look at Merlins arm.

Amy gasped audibly in horror of what she saw. "What happened to him?" The two men stayed silent as the Doctors eyes fixed on the old man, sensing he had heard something. Merlin, however, looked too tired to care. Gaius stood, grabbing the closest thing to him with a firm grip, ready to attack at a moment's notice if need be. He held onto the broom tight as he inched toward the door.

"Run," breathed the Doctor. The old physician was half way across the room.

Rory obviously believed the Doctor was being ridiculous. "He's an old man with a broom, what's to be afraid of?" the Doctor looked at him incredulously.

"The old man, and the broom," He backed away, pulling the Ponds' along with him.

Merlin fell through the door, actually falling to the ground when he wasn't able to catch himself on anything. Gaius had rushed over to his ward, worrying over the young man and helping him over to the bed.

"I should have known," Gaius scolded himself. Merlin tried to disagree, but the only sound he managed to make was a half-hearted moan.

Gaius quickly picked out the differences In Merlin's demeanour. He saw the more than normal pale skin, the sheen of sweat kissing the boy's forehead and the frightening shakes that wracked their way through his body. A terrified look that beheld the boy's eyes and sheer pain that was conveyed on his face.

Gaius pulled up his ward, dragging him over to the patient's bed. He tried to take of the jacket off as gently as possible, but still Merlin grunted in pain whenever his injury was touched or jostled. He tore at the shirt sleeve getting frustrated when it didn't come free on the first try. He cursed his old age and tried again. "Damn this thing!" he finally yelled. Using his anger as a boost he tore through the shirt and proceeded in examining the wound.

Gaius found himself growing increasingly worried and astonished by Merlins frequent ability to get himself injured. "How did this happen?"

"Visiting Nobles," Panted Merlin. "Touched… hand…" Another pant, "Burn… Flashes…" Merlin kept babbling as Gaius inspected his arm.

Out of the corner of his eyes Merlin saw the door crack open, three sets of eyes peering towards them. Merlin didn't think they could do much harm from where they were so he didn't see the point in mentioning it to Gaius. "Why didn't you come to me sooner?" Gaius was saying. Merlin blinked lethargically, explaining what had happened with his magic, this time more successfully. Merlin heard a gasp from behind Gaius. Amateurs, he thought.

His guardian froze, hearing the sound as well, almost surprisingly. Merlin wasn't too worried though, he was more tired than anything, but he knew if the Doctor had any sense at all he would leave, and quickly at that. The physician picked up the broom closest to the pair and Merlin winced, knowing from experience how painful a whack from that thing could be, especially in Gaius's hands.

As expected, no one greeted Gaius at the door, the older man continued to peer through the door suspiciously for a moment. "Did you hear anything?" He finally asked. Merlin shook his head innocently and sat up tiredly. "And just where do you think you're going?" Demanded Gaius as Merlin moved to get up.

"To change my shirt, I have to tend to the visiting nobles, you can fix me up later," Merlin tried to get up but Gaius was there in an instant, pushing him back down.

"The visiting nobles," He started, "Can wait, you however, cannot," Merlin tried to argue again, but it was to no avail.

Twenty gruesome minutes later, he was newly decked out with a fully bandaged arm, a new shirt and his jacket back on, not to mention the two bottles of pain killers coursing through his veins. Despite the horrid taste, he was glad to have the drugs, but that was all he allowed Gaius to give him, ten more minutes and Merlin would have been conked out in bed after being slipped a sleeping draft.

Hanging over one arm were two sets of night clothes, one for the Doctor and one for Amy. Merlin doubted Rory would appreciate walking around the castle in his night clothes, Merlin couldn't think of anyone who would, amusing as the thought was. He reached the door and heard the very man he was thinking about, whining to Amy and the Doctor. "Why can't I just stay here? If anyone should be staying with Amy, it's me."

"I'm right here, you know," came Amy's voice.

Rory continued. "Besides, you heard him, he's crazy. He genuinely thinks he has magic. Are you really going to make me stay the night with a mentally unstable person?"

"Yes," stated the Doctor blandly. "Besides you stayed with Amy all this time…" There was a resulting outraged cry from Amy but the Doctor continued. "We have to keep up pretences, unless you want to, I don't know, leave? You have to stay with him," Merlin knocked, finding it unsettling how much of an eavesdropper he was becoming.

Merlin didn't say much this time around, keeping his head down, muttering only 'M'Lady' and 'M'Lord' when appropriate, that was good servant etiquette, right? Not that they needed it. He readied the beds and saw that thankfully, another servant had come by to clear the dishes. The party of four stood around awkwardly for a moment, none of them knowing quite what to say without blowing their covers. "So…" Started the Doctor, unusually hesitant.

"Shall I take my leave?" Inquired Merlin innocently. The others glanced between themselves uncertainly. Rory seemed to be silently pleading with his eyes 'no, no, no'. But Amy gritted her teeth.

"Thank you Merlin," she said, sending a piercing glare to her two boys.

"Thank you Merlin," They chorused, Rory in a mumble. Merlin tried not to laugh.

"It's probably best we get to bed anyway, it's been a long day," Reported the Doctor. He was standing up now, next to a reluctant Rory. The Doctor gave the roman a little nudge forward, trying and failing to be discreet.

Merlin rocked back and forth on his toes, slightly confused on how to act. Knowing that he knew about them and they knew about him, but having them not know about him knowing that they knew… or something… Merlin blinked rapidly, his head giving a harsh throb.

Rory lingered next to Amy before leaving, giving a silent goodbye, then shot a glare at the Doctor that clearly said, 'if I have to call shenanigans, it will be the last thing you ever do…'. He followed Merlin through the door, looking wholly miserable.