So. It's been a while! Thanks to everyone who is still here, hello!

I've been meaning to update this sooner, sorry it has taken me so long but fanfiction and writing has not even been on the back burner but completely off the stove. I'm hoping I can turn that around!

o}O{o

The day was warm. No clouds hung in the sky, not even the puffy white ones Merlin liked. The sun shone brightly down in the city, cheering people now that summer was moving in. But down in the dungeons it was cold and dark with dampness clinging to the very air. Arthur made his way to the cells with dark purpose, seriously considering killing the man. Assassins were executed anyway, Arthur would be saving time.

There were guards posted at the man's cell and both of them nodded respectfully to him. At the movement the assassin confined in the cells looked up from staring at his lap. He was sitting with his legs bent but rose up when Arthur approached. The man might have had a charming face once but the scars running across his lips and eye gave him a perpetually unnerving look. His dark eyes studied the blood staining Arthur's clothes and hands before regarding the prince, a silent question hovering in the air between them.

"He's alive," Arthur spat, "you failed."

The man did not seem to care much. "Well, don't much fancy killing kids anyway. The little blighter was fast."

Arthur's eyes narrowed menacingly. "Usually assassins are hanged, but I've ordered a pyre to be built just for you. I think the people will enjoy it."

"Now listen," the assassin said, taking a quick step toward the bars. One of the guards slapped his spear against the cell in warning. "Look, I was forced. I didn't want to-"

"Spare me," Arthur hissed. "Just tell me who hired you. Perhaps I'll be merciful and allow you the noose after all."

"I don't know his name," he appealed and blanched when Arthur's face darkened.

Just as the prince was about to speak, booted footsteps thudded down the aisle. A guard walked closer and bowed to Arthur. "Sire, the king wants the prisoner brought to him," the man reported in a reedy voice.

"Alright," Arthur said and looked to the assassin. His scarred face was impassive but Arthur could see that his jaw was tensed. "Let's see what the king thinks."

o}O{o

Not many high profile criminals dared to venture in the city, assassins even less. There was the occasional few, of course but Uther's brand of justice deterred most. Even though the sun was shining and warming the throne room pleasantly, the venom which was held in the stare of King Uther poisoned the chamber into a cold cavern. Arthur revelled in it and the prince personally shoved the assassin down on his knees in front of Uther.

The king did not immediately look at the assassin, instead he regarded the blood stains on Arthur's tunic. Recognizing that they did not belong to his son, Uther turned to coolly stare at the black cloaked man kneeling silently in front of him.

"What brings you to my city, assassin?" Uther demanded, his voice dangerously controlled.

"A druid approached me," the man said quickly, "threatened me to kill the prince's servant."

"A druid?" Arthur instantly demanded.

"Arthur," Uther said almost lazily, effectively silencing the prince. If the knowledge that the assassin's victim was Arthur's servant surprised him, his face showed no indication. "You killed one of my guards."

The assassin curled his shackled hands into fists. "Self defence," he said, "he stopped me from doing my job. You see, I'm a man of honour. I was paid to finish a job, so I had to see it through."

"I thought you were threatened," Arthur snapped. Uther did not bother handing the prince a warning look but Arthur still felt his disapproval. Not that he cared at the moment.

"I was," the assassin insisted, "he wouldn't take back the payment he gave me."

"He's lying, father," Arthur said, his lip curling in disgust.

"Yes I can see that, Arthur," Uther replied but then narrowed his hazel eyes in suspicion. "And why would a druid want to see a child dead?"

"I don't know, I didn't ask. But… it must be something. I've never known a druid to kill without reason."

Uther fell silent and Arthur stood up at once. "What does it matter why? This man tried to kill my servant and I want him punished."

The king did not reply, raising his head slowly in thought. "Your servant came from a druid clan, did he not?" Uther asked of Arthur.

"He ran away from one," the prince clarified, feeling the conversation slipping out of his control and into dangerous territory. "And they are likely the ones responsible. Was this man old?"

The assassin hesitated. "He was."

"There is your answer then," Arthur told the king. "These people are insane."

"Druids scout out children to use as apprentices," Uther mused.

"Father"

"Perhaps your servant has something to hide?"

Arthur kept his voice even. "If he did, I would know."

"Take this filth back to the dungeons," the king commanded.

The assassin shook his head. "I can give you information. I can tell you where we met!"

Uther just nodded to the guard who hauled the assassin back aggressively. Father and son stared at each other until the doors closed and left them alone. "My servant is innocent in all this," Arthur declared.

"If a druid wants a child dead, he must have a reason," Uther explained. "A reason which we must be wary of."

"You're the one saying they're all monsters!" Arthur said loudly, letting his temper slip into his tone. "They're monsters, father. It's that simple."

"You will not raise your voice to me," Uther growled and rose out of his throne. "Now either you escort your servant to the dungeons or I will have the guards do it."

Arthur stared in shock at his father before shaking his head. "Father, he's innocent. He's injured. You can't do this."

Uther bestowed Arthur a superior look laden with warning. "I will not take chances, Arthur. Now go."

The prince did not. "Put him in the dungeons and then what? What will that prove?"

"And then he will be questioned." Arthur paled and the king scoffed. "Please, Arthur. I realize he is still a child."

The prince balled his hands into fists and looked into his father's eyes, recognizing the look inside them. Arthur felt the tension inside buzzing, could feel it pooling behind his eyes. He felt his fists vibrate and before he could do or say something rash, he turned around and strode for the exit.

Mordred was innocent, yes. But for how long?

o}O{o

It was with a heavy heart, Arthur opened the door to the physician's chambers and stepped inside. Gaius and Morgana were now seated and both looked to him when he entered. He noticed that the door the boys' room was still closed.

"How is he?" Arthur asked, looking to the patient's cot at Mordred. The boy was pale with blood loss, but sweating which caused Arthur's stomach to fall.

"He has a fever," Gaius answered wearily. "The wound is infected."

"Already?" Arthur asked in alarm. The king wanted Mordred in the dungeons, but if he already had an infection that would be like a death sentence. Especially since it looked like his servant had lost a lot of blood. He would be too weak.

The physician grimaced. "I suspect this assassin does not keep a clean set of tools. What did you find out about him, Arthur?"

Arthur found that he could not meet Gaius' eyes. He looked at Mordred's pained face and in doing so, Morgana saw that something wasn't right. "Arthur, what's wrong?" she asked.

A troubled sigh preceded his answer. "The assassin was sent by a druid. And now my father is suspicious. He wants me to put Mordred in the dungeons," he said quietly.

Morgana immediately stood up, her chair falling backward and to the floor. "The dungeons?" she repeated incredulously and then looked from Mordred to Gaius and back to Arthur. "He won't survive the dungeons, Arthur!"

"What can I do?" Arthur asked Morgana desperately. "The king thinks there must be a reason that a druid wanted him dead"

Morgana's face leeched of colour. "There isn't," she snapped at once.

"That's what I tried to tell him."

"I'll talk to him," Morgana appealed. She nodded to Arthur before leaving for the exit but Gaius' voice called her back.

"Morgana!" Gaius said. Arthur noticed that he was holding Mordred's hand. "I urge you not to lose your temper. Mordred's life may depend on it."

The king's ward stood still, taking a moment to collect herself and taking a deep breath. In the next moment she turned on her heel and strode out the door. Arthur stared at the closed door and sighed before going to the seat Morgana had vacated. He slumped in the wooden chair and began to rub his forehead with his now clean hands, forgetting that Gaius could see. When he felt the physician's gaze, Arthur decided that Gaius would understand and carried on with it. There was an idea forming in his head.

Arthur sat up straight and looked the physician in the eyes. "Can he survive travel, Gaius?" he questioned. Gaius frowned heavily. "If my father does not show mercy… I'm not going to let Mordred die."

"Acting rashly will not serve a purpose," Gaius said, "A night in the dungeons will be safer than a run through the forest."

The prince became too restless to keep on sitting. He rose out of his chair, far more gently than Morgana did and started to pace beside the patient's cot. Gaius's eyes trailed him for a bit before he returned his attention to Mordred, and Arthur watched the physician as he wiped the sweat from the boy's forehead. This was all too much like the time when Mordred drank poison for him. It was hard to believe that it had been so many months ago now.

"Is there anything I can do?" Arthur asked, feeling useless.

Gaius shook his head, his wrinkled features arranged in a frown. An angered, high pitched shout reached their ears from the back room- it sounded like Merlin was growing impatient inside. "Unless you want to help Gwen keep Merlin in there. At least until I can clear these," he said, gesturing to the bloodied rags sitting on the end of the bed.

Arthur stopped pacing and looked at the bedroom door. "Yeah," Arthur sighed, sending a glance to his servant. "He's going to be alright, isn't he?"

"If the infection does not grow worse," Gaius answered, "he'll have a scar though."

The prince forced the grimace on his lips to become a tense smile. "Knowing him, he'll probably be proud of it," Arthur said. He let go of the tension in his shoulders and made his way to the back room, avoiding the work tables and piles of books blocking the way. He opened the door as narrowly as he could and slipped inside. Merlin ran into his legs as the prince walked in. The raven haired child tried to weave past him but Arthur grabbed the scruff of his shirt and lifted him back.

Guinevere hesitated in moving forward when Merlin started struggling against the prince. The boy was flailing his arms and legs and Arthur exchanged a glance with Morgana's maidservant before he dropped Merlin onto the bed.

"Merlin," Arthur scolded, "calm down."

The boy made a valiant effort. He buried his knees against his chest and stared up at Arthur with tears brimming in his large cobalt eyes. "Is Mordred dead?" Merlin cried.

"No," Arthur snapped, "he's just-"

"But I saw blood," Merlin argued and started to sob.

Arthur sat on the bed next to Merlin and grabbed the boy's small shoulders. "He's not dead. But Gaius is fixing him now so you have to stay right here." Seeing that Merlin relaxed, Gwen sighed in relief and took a seat on the bed opposite them. Arthur remembered that she must have been worried as well.

"I'm scared, Arthur," Merlin said, rubbing at his eye to try and stop the tears flowing down his cheeks.

And even though he was embarrassed, Arthur motioned Merlin to him. "Come here," he said and opened his arms. The boy sniffled and barely hesitated before he clambered into Arthur's lap. Arthur closed his arms around Merlin who hid his face against the prince's chest and clung to him with a strength that surprised Arthur. When he looked up, Gwen was looking at him. There was no smile on her face like Arthur would expect from a maid seeing him coddle Merlin, but a frown. She was worried. Guinevere glanced at the door and bit her lip but stayed where she was.

It was then that Arthur noticed the state of the room. Merlin must have thrown a tantrum when he was denied seeing Mordred. The prince's own armour was scattered throughout the room along with the boys' clothes and most of the blankets they possessed.

"Were you giving Guinevere a hard time, Merlin?" Arthur asked the boy gently.

"Who's that?" Merlin demanded sulkily.

Arthur felt his eyebrows pull downward because he didn't think Merlin was trying to be difficult. "That's Guinevere," Arthur said and gestured to Gwen.

"No, that's Gwen," Merlin argued.

Guinevere laughed and her smile managed to cheer Arthur somewhat. "Gwen is short for Guinevere, Merlin," she informed the boy.

Merlin turned his face on Arthur's chest to look at the maidservant. "It is?"

She nodded and smiled. "When Mordred gets better, he will tell you so."

Arthur noticed that she wasn't stumbling over her words. Merlin shifted and Arthur let go of him so the boy could go over to Gwen. Merlin crawled into her lap and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry I was bad, Gwen," he mumbled sadly.

The maidservant gifted Merlin with a beautiful smile. "It's alright, I'm not mad, Merlin." She hugged the boy close and rested her cheek on Merlin's head, rocking him gently. "Now go to sleep. Little boys like you have to take naps." Arthur blinked, marvelling that Gwen could muster up such a bright smile for Merlin, despite the worry the prince had seen in her dark eyes.

Merlin must have worked himself up quite a bit for he nodded and shut his eyes. He was squinting with the effort of trying to fall asleep, only relaxing when Gwen started rubbing his back in soothing circles. Her eyes flitted up to Arthur and she blushed, offering an embarrassed smile. The prince looked away, feeling embarrassed himself though he had no idea why. Silence rolled into the room like a breeze through a window and Arthur watched Morgana's maidservant hold Merlin until the boy feel asleep. She then carefully guided him to the bed and pulled a thin blanket over him.

"How was Mordred, Sire?" she asked quietly.

Arthur sighed. "Has an infection."

"Gaius will help him... Of course, you know that. It's not like you're worried. That- that's not to say you wouldn't worry about him…" she paused to bite her lip. "Sorry."

"Whatever for?" Arthur asked around a smile.

The maidservant blushed but then they heard the door open from the main chambers. Arthur stood up, and Gwen looked after him curiously. "You should stay with him," Arthur said. If Morgana was to be the bearer of bad news, the prince did not want her maidservant see Arthur take Mordred to the dungeons. He steeled himself and then walked out, closing the door quietly behind him.

Morgana was taking a seat beside Mordred's bedside when Arthur came down the steps. She looked tired but flashed him a triumphant smile. "I convinced him," she reported. The news caused Gaius to breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

"How on earth did you do that?" the prince asked incredulously.

"I made a bargain," Morgana said, a frown pulling down her lips. "He can stay the night here but tomorrow he'll have to go. And he wants knights guarding the door."

Arthur considered it. "That's very reasonable," he said suspiciously.

"It's not reasonable. Mordred shouldn't be going to the dungeons in the first place," she spat.

"Thank you, Morgana," Gaius told her.

Morgana nodded, adopting a forlorn look while taking Mordred's hand. "Is he going to get better?"

The physician rubbed his chin and glanced at both Arthur and Morgana before answering. "I believe so," he answered.

"You don't seem sure of that, Gaius," Arthur noted.

"Infections take more than a night to heal," was all Gaius said before he stood up and bustled to his largest work table. Arthur watched the physician begin to make a potion and Morgana slumped her shoulders and tended to Mordred. The king's ward looked upset with a distracted expression, something Arthur could empathize with. But he couldn't wile his time away here; it would be a better use of his time if he were to tend to certain delicate matters. Making the decision to check on the guards first as he had tripled their patrols, Arthur left the physician's chambers without a word. A frown hardened his features for the rest of the day and even in sleep that night, the tension did not leave his features. Gaius was right and the fact stood that things did not look good for his servant.

o}O{o

Mordred did end up getting better, but not as much as Gaius had hoped. By morning, he was awake but both his fever and infection lingered. He was tired and too weak to talk much, but taking the news of his impending stay in the dungeons much better than Merlin was. Arthur could see that his servant was scared- the fear was in his eyes clear as day for the prince to see and it told him that Mordred was being brave for Merlin. It was moments like these that always made it hard to remember that Mordred was only a child.

"How long will I be in there?" Mordred asked, trying to make his shaky voice as strong as possible. Arthur had delivered the news as rain started to patter on the castle. The day had started off cloudy but now it felt like a storm was brewing.

"Not long," Arthur said quickly, "Just until your innocence is proven. It won't take long, I'm sure of it." He was sitting at Mordred's bedside with Merlin perched on his lap. Since Mordred was ill and Gaius was busy cleaning as many bandages as he could, Merlin had nowhere to go but to Arthur. The prince was trying to soothe him, absently rubbing his back like he had seen Gwen do yesterday. She was with Morgana who was distracting the king to keep him from remembering Mordred's appointment with the dungeons.

"You can't go," Merlin whined. His words were muffled since his face was buried in the crook of Arthur's elbow. If this hadn't been such a serious situation he would have made fun of Merlin's chosen position. The boy was sitting sideways with his torso bent so he resembled a V-shape.

"I'll be back before you know it, Merlin," Mordred reassured him tiredly.

"You're lying," Merlin argued. He did not understand the gravity of the situation, just that Mordred had to go someplace scary for a little while. "Make him stay, Arthur."

The prince purposely avoided looking down so he would not catch Merlin's gaze. Instead he looked to Mordred. "Finish your soup," he ordered to his servant's discontent. Gaius had made it and had slipped in some manner of foul medicine without telling Mordred. The wounded boy grimaced but took an awkward spoonful, using his other hand since his right was in a sling to keep Mordred from aggravating his shoulder.

It was raining in earnest now, drumming on the castle with relentless abandon. One side of the window was shuttered but Arthur could see out of it and to the dreary sky above. Thick clouds blocked the sun from view, filtering the daylight into a grey quality. The air felt humid but Arthur knew that the dungeons were going to be cold and damp, not exemplary conditions for an injured boy. In tandem with his misgivings, a dull clash of thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance. Merlin sat up, perking up with interest.

Shortly after Mordred finished his soup, a gentle knock sounded on the door and Morgana walked in. She immediately looked at Mordred, the look in both their eyes stumping Arthur before Morgana's next words caused his confusion to be forgotten.

"It's time"

o}O{o

Thank you for reading!

I hope everyone is staying safe out there. All the best!