It was somewhere around midnight that Arthur woke up, someone shaking his shoulder. "G'way, Merlin," he said, less than half awake, batting the person's hand away, "M'not ready t'be up, yet."
"That's very nice, Arthur," said Gwaine's voice, "Think it through."
Arthur sat up, glaring at Gwaine.
"Morning," said the knight, "We have a bit of a problem."
"What sort of problem?" Arthur asked. The fire in his fireplace was still lit, shedding light over the room. It was amazing how often that sort of thing happened with a competent servant tiptoeing around. Arthur hated it. He stood, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"The sort where Elyan fell asleep in the hall," said Gwaine, "And, um, when he went in to see if everything was all right, Gaius was somewhat the only one in the room."
"What?"
"I mean to say, that we've looked," said Gwaine, shifting, "And there may or may not have been any sign of him –"
"Are you saying that no one knows where Merlin is?" Arthur asked, voice low, dangerous.
Gwaine, in a rare moment of perception, fidgeted nervously from foot to foot. "It's not that we don't know where he is," said Gwaine, "It's just that we've, ah, temporarily misplaced him and are in the process of relocating him, and he may or may not be a bit lost at this very moment – "
"What do you mean we've lost Merlin?"
"I, um, I don't," Gwaine said, and pointed, "Look! Found him."
Arthur turned to follow Gwaine's finger. The reprimand for pulling such a stupid vanishing stunt like that was on the tip of his tongue, but one look at his manservant was enough to change his mind. Merlin had his back pressed against the wall next to the door like it was the only thing in the world keeping him standing. "Merlin?"
"I'm sorry," Merlin said, swallowing thickly, "I think I've done something bad."
"What are you talking about?" asked Gwaine. "You look awful."
His eyes were wide, his breathing heavy. "Morgause," he said, spitting out the words like they were hurting him, "She was here again. She, she said...and I remembered..."
"Morgause?" Arthur said, and cursed, "Where? When? Are you alright? Gwaine –"
Sword drawn, Gwaine ran into the hall, saying, "I'm on it."
Arthur began to walk towards Merlin, reaching out to him, but the warlock flinched away. Arthur held up his hands, and said, "I'm not going to hurt you."
Merlin nodded, a faint blush on his cheeks.
"But I need you to focus, and just tell me what happened," said Arthur, "You can sit. Do you want to sit?"
Merlin hesitated, and then nodded again slowly.
"Okay," he said, "Let's just move over this way, then."
He reached out and grabbed hold of Merlin's elbow, towing him over by the chair. Merlin resisted, staying pressed against the wall, but then followed Arthur. He sat and, more than a little bit shaky, rested his forehead on his palm.
"Merlin, I need you to tell me what's happened," said Arthur, "So calm down, focus, and talk to me. What happened?"
And Merlin told him, but then he stopped, and jumped to his feet, pacing, before he got to the end. "She took some of my blood, in the dungeon," said Merlin, "And she...I've...Arthur, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't – "
