Chapter 2! Sorry if this is confusing, I read over it again to make sure it's not too bad but since I actually know what I mean, pm me if you need me to clear things up :)

Disclaimer: same as chapter 1

Enjoy ^^

King of Fools

"It has been nearly two years, Merlin! We need to find him!" Uther's fist slammed onto the council table and he glared at the named warlock sitting across from him. Geoffrey spilled some ink over the scroll he was using to record the meeting at the impact of it. He scowled at small black puddle soaking through the precious paper and made to clean it up in whichever way he could while the young man being spoken to coolly looked over that the furious king.

"I know that just as well as you do, Uther." Merlin said calmly, waving away a servant girl with a warm smile. The elderly knights surrounding the two men glanced and whispered to each other as Uther's mint green eyes narrowed. He had not missed the way the warlock had emphasised the use of his name instead of his title but he couldn't say anything against it. The other man could kill him with not so much as a fleeting thought after all. He was simply being cautious. Or at least that was what he told himself.

"I am aware of that." Uther tried to sound calm but his fist clenched in his lap. "But he's my only child, my heir."

Merlin looked up from the plans lying in front of him at the sound of genuine worry in Uther's voice. His eyes lost some of the hardness they had acquired since Arthur's disappearance. Uther may be a king but he had well and truly passed the peak of his glory. If not for his son's sudden disappearance after winning the control of Camelot back from Morgana last year, he may have well succumbed to madness over grief. This way Uther had had to pull himself together, if not for the kingdom then for the love he bore his son.

"I am doing anything I can to find him." Merlin said softly, seeing the lines in his face and the white his hair was turning. "Arthur will come back."

Uther's eyes drilled into Merlin's sincere ones and he finally nodded wearily.

"I hope so, warlock." he replied in kind and stood. The rest of the council members followed, Merlin as the last. "Council meeting dismissed."

Geoffrey hastened ahead of everyone else while Merlin was once again last to leave. The boy who had grown into a young man glanced back at the king who was sitting on his throne once more, gaze lost outside the window and most likely wondering about the whereabouts of Arthur.

Merlin sighed and shrugged into his coat, minding the sun's position in the sky. He still had time for a short visit to a dear friend.

!YY!

"Merlin, my boy! How have you been?" Gaius greeted his ward warmly, carefully setting down a phial of…something before coming over and hugging the warlock. Merlin returned the old physician's hug and smiled as he drew back.

"Well enough, I suppose. Still no sign of Arthur though."

Gaius nodded seriously and gestured a Merlin to sit down as he set a kettle full of water over the fire to boil.

"Yes, these are troubled times." he sighed heavily and joined Merlin on the bench. "I fear the king has not much longer left to live."

Merlin stared at him in shock.

"What? He seemed healthy enough today."

"Well, he has his good days and bad days. The first have become rather scarce recently." Gaius explained, fiddling with the phial on the table. Merlin listened intently. "Arthur's disappearance has taken a greater toll on him than he cares to admit."

"Surely you can cure him, Gaius. There's not much sickness that can be seen about him." Merlin protested at the sound of defeat in his mentor's voice. The old man shook his head slowly as he rose to the whistling on the teakettle.

"Uther's sickness is of the mind, not the body. The body can be cured as long as it does not affect the head. But if the mind is affected, it poisons the body."

The physician poured the hot water into two cups and added some tealeaves before putting it down on the table and pushing Merlin's tea toward him. He wrapped his hands around the cup but did not drink. He stared at his mentor hard as he took a sip.

"Poison can be purged." Merlin stated and Gaius gave a single nod in agreement.

"That it can. But the only thing that could purge it and heal Uther's mind is Arthur's return." Gaius eyes searched Merlin's which had dropped to the tea in his hands. "If he is not found, the king will die, and soon."

!YY!

Cruel mint green eyes surveyed the scene playing out in the pool of water in front of her. She saw the servant-boy-turned-warlock mount his horse in Camelot Square and glared at the figures surrounding him hatefully. There was that drunk, Sir Gwaine, a joke of knight as he made an obscene gesture at Merlin and grinning like a fool. Then there was Sir Leon, behaving in a more dignified manner and simply shaking the warlock's hand once and firmly before smiling and stepping back. Sir Elyan copied his actions, saying something to Merlin who simply shook his head. The dark-skinned knight stepped back with a sullen look on his face. Last came Sir Lancelot, a somewhat sad smile on his face, mirrored by the servant girl, now a knight's wife, as the couple stepped forward.

"Gwen." Morgana couldn't help but hiss at the image in the water, the mocha-skinned woman wiping away her tears with a laugh as she stepped back from hugging the man on the horse. Sir Percival hung back, neither smiling nor crying, but simply impassively. Morgana tilted her head as she stared at him.

"Curious." she murmured. She glanced over at the bed beside the wall when a moan sounded. Getting up quickly, she abandoned her scrying and hurried to her sister's side. "Morgause?"

The blonde's head turned slightly, revealing the hideously scarred side of her face. Only her and Morgana knew that the scar went down the rest of her body and was spreading.

"Now's the time, sister." she croaked, her affected eye blindly gazing at nothing while her healthy eye looked up at Morgana intently. The dark brown glowed a bright gold. "I can feel it."

Calmed, Morgana nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed, softly stroking her sister's hair. The worry in her mint green eyes dissipated as she glanced over at the gone dark pool of water on the table. They became cold and unyielding as she thought about the unfairness of it all. She had had to hide herself, fear herself , because of Uther's hatred of magic. Yet where had it been when Merlin was discovered? Not only had he been left alive, he had gained a seat on Uther's council. The warlock was respected for what he was, not hated and shied away from like Morgana. And then there was that man's birthright. She sneered in contempt.

Let Merlin see what use magic and a crown were to him when he couldn't trust those around him. Where would the warlock be without his allies?

!YY!

Ara parried a blow from Agravaine's sword, the material of her shirt soaking with sweat and sticking to her body. She danced back and forth from the lord's blade; even though she had been training since before dawn she wasn't as exhausted as the older man. Agravaine was panting heavily, the black cloak making him much too warm as he tried to keep up with her pace. He had only been duelling her for scarce an hour and already he was at his limit.

Deciding to be merciful, Ara dodged a misplaced blow to her head, causing the man to lose his balance and fall over. She bent down to hold out her hand to him.

"Truce?"

Agravaine spat on the ground in answer and got up so fast that she was momentarily stunned. An unseen kick to her knees sent her sprawling to the ground. Next thing she knew her own sword's point was directed right at her face. Ara looked up into the grinning face of the lord.

"You were sharper back when you were a princeling." he said dismissively, throwing the sword aside. "Not as soft."

Ara glared at him and jumped up, ignoring his words. Her ice blue eyes raked his form as she pushed aside loose strands of golden brown hair which had escaped her braid. Agravaine's oily hair was as black as his clothes. His eyes were even worse; their inky black depths hid his cunning, further disguised by their small size and his stunted, blown up appearance. They made him look untrustworthy, just like his pudginess made him the likeness of a fat cat gone lazy.

She didn't like him at all; he made feel her sick.

Opening her mouth for a sharp retort, Ara's eyes glinted angrily when they were interrupted.

"Ara, the king is calling for you." Tani's timid voice called across the dewy field and both turned at the sound. The petite, darkhaired girl blushed prettily at the attention directed at her. She swallowed and focused dark eyes on Ara. "He says it's urgent."

Nodding, she barely spared the lord a glance before striding towards the young girl, hiding her dread. Even though it had been nearly two years ago that King Lothamin had found her in the desert he called his kingdom, she had never gotten used to him. She should be grateful; after all he had taken her in when she was on her own and with no previous memory of her life before then. He had offered her a place to stay and cared for her in exchange for work of course. Ara had readily agreed without asking what kind of work - but anything had sounded better than wandering around in the desert without any orientation whatsoever and with no recollection of how she had gotten there. And by the time they had arrived in his palace - for that was all the king's home could be called, all held in blinding white and oriental bursts of colour in between and bulbous roofs that seemed to be made from solid gold - it had been too late. Ara really should have known better by the lusty looks he had kept giving her all the time. Thank goodness she had discovered her skill with weapons, especially the sword - it had saved her from the fate of being one of his numerous concubines. Instead he had convinced her to stay as a dancer of some sorts; Dancer of Swords, he called her. But that didn't prevent him from trying to grope her anytime she was near.

Around that time, news had reached King Lothamin of his brother's death. By right of the royal family, the elder brother came into inherited all of the deceased siblings possessions if he or she had no descendants. As that had been the case with Zhenered, the king had immediately set out to go where his younger brother had disappeared to without a word, taking all his concubines and her with him. The journey had taken over a year before they finally came upon the Five Kingdoms, more specifically, Essetir, the kingdom which Zhenered had apparently seized from the rightful king years ago. That it wasn't actually a possession of Zhenered's didn't matter to him; he only wanted more land and power.

Lothamin had been planning to ambush Essetir's rightful and ruling heir when they had been stopped. That was how they had met the Lady Morgana, King Lothamin at first with a scowl and then a smile after disappearing into the royal's tent. Ara didn't want to know what they had been up to but it must have been something pleasing to the king's ears. It was only after they emerged that the lady had taken notice of Ara, first with shock and then anger with a think undercurrent of fear. Ara herself fared only a little better - she had a suspicion that she knew the woman from somewhere. "W-who is this, Your Grace?" the lady had stammered a little before shooting her a chilled smile. "I would like to know the names of my guests."

At her introduction she seemed startled. It took time for her to behave warmly toward Ara but she was glad it had happened; the lady almost seemed familiar from somewhere, and safe. Just like that red stone pendant she had had with her when she had been found.

But now it was the king who had called for her, not Lady Morgana. The closer Tani and Ara drew towards the heavy stone doors of the small keep - really more of a ruin but she thought it impolite to mention this to her - the king's and the lady's voices could be heard in hushed whispers.

"…need the girl." Lady Morgana was saying, almost pleadingly. "I know you like to keep her close but would you rather leave Essetir in that man's hands or send your Dancer? She will not come to any harm as long as you take the necessary precautions."

Tani threw Ara a fearful look who hid hers behind a reassuring smile. The lady had always been kind to her; now was the time to repay her. Nodding at Tani who took a deep breath before knocking, she cleared her throat.

"Ara is here." the petite girl's trembling voice announced, then sped out of the hall at the impatient wave Lothamin gave her. His dark eyes held a sense of annoyance, his clenched jaw emphasised this. Ara slid her icy blue eyes toward the lady who was smiling benevolently. She relaxed; if the lady looked this unconcerned it couldn't mean anything that bad despite the words she had had heard earlier.

"Ara, I have a favour to ask of you." Lady Morgana began with a slightly apologetic smile. Ara returned it confidently and stood even straighter than before. Ignoring the angry and even a tiny bit of worried expression Lothamin shot her, she answered.

"Anything, my lady."

I'm already working on the next chapter so hopefully it won't be too long before I update again :)

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