(Arthur's POV)

"Rise and shine Princess." I smirked. It was great to hear that voice again. I thought that I may have lost it forever and that thought frightened me to no end. Even if I couldn't figure out why it scared me so much, I was relieved when I saw him standing in my room waiting for me.

I was so excited to see him but that flew out the window when I saw his face. He had a bruise on his right eye. It didn't look good and I suddenly felt angry at whoever did this to him. They deserved to be punished for it. He didn't do anything wrong and I was eager to find out who hurt him.

Whenever I asked him though, I found myself met with silence and I couldn't figure out why he wasn't telling me everything. I had decided to let him go since I didn't need him any further and I was worried about him. I would never admit it out loud though.

There was a creaking sound as my bed dipped. I slightly opened an eye to find Merlin sitting down. He was holding his side and breathing quickly and roughly. Something was wrong. I quickly sat up and must have startled him because he jumped up.

"Merlin what's wrong?" I was met once again with silence. "Merlin?" His blue eyes flicked up to meet my gaze and I found myself getting lost in them. I shook my head and told him to sit down. When he didn't move I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose again, I told him that he needed to sit.

At last he sat in the chair across from my bed. He kept his eyes down and shuffled his foot back and forth like he did the previous night. I leaned forward and lowered my voice to a whisper and asked again what was wrong. When he didn't answer, I lifted his chin until his head was raised enough for me to see his face clearly.

"Please, Merlin... tell me what's wrong?" I asked quietly. His eyes flicked up to mine and I saw that they were brimmed with tears. He opened his mouth to say something but instead got up and walked over to my wardrobe, picking out an outfit and gesturing for me to come over.

"I won't let you change me unless you tell me what happened." He nodded and gestured me over again. He handed me the clothes and I walked behind the screen. "What happened?" I asked.

"I was kidnapped." Well I knew that much. He appeared behind me fixed my shirt and told me that I needed to freshen it up real quick. Then he left to fetch breakfast. I left the screen and found breakfast set out and prepared with a sheet of paper on the left side with all of my events for the day.

Merlin was nowhere in sight and I sighed. What had happened to that boy? I searched around the room but couldn't find him anywhere. I decided to go search for him and bumped into Guinevere.

"I am so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was walking. I..."

"It wasn't you. There is no need to apologize. Have you seen Merlin?" I asked. She shook her head slightly and for a moment I feared he got kidnapped again. Gwen must have read that on my face because a look of fear overcame her face.

"Is he okay?"

"I-I'm sure he's fine. Nothing is wrong. Perhaps he just went for a walk." I sighed. I was trying to convince myself that nothing had happened. I quickly thanked her and left to go find where he had gone off to.

I decided to head to Gaius' chambers to ask him. I knocked on the  door slightly and heard a quite come in. I slowly opened the door to reveal Gaius pouring over his potions. He looked up and took his glasses off, his potions forgotten.

"Have you seen Merlin today?"

"Not since he left this morning. Is everything alright sire?"

"He just disappeared this morning after correcting my clothes. He fetched breakfast but was nowhere to be found when I finished cleaning up. I was just wondering where he went." Gaius nodded and asked if there was anything else I needed.

I shook my head, thanked him, and left to go find him. After searching for a bit, I found him staring out over the field of training knights. His arms were crossed as he leaned forward over the field.

"Merlin, there you are." He jumped at the sound of my voice but didn't turn. I walked to his side and leaned down as well. "Why aren't you down there?" I asked.

"I have no reason to be."

"Well I gotta go down there so why don't you come with?" He eyed me before nodding. He pushed himself off of the wall. We walked down to the field and got back to our daily routine. He holds my weapons as I spar with my opponents. 

After an hour or so of training I decided I had enough. I turned back to find Merlin standing with his arms out and swords stacked. His knee was shaking and I began to worry. I rushed over and took a few swords from him.

"Merlin. Are you okay?" I asked, carelessly tossing the swords on the ground and gripping his shoulders.

"I-I'm fine. Come on, you have things to do." He then turned and left, limping. I noticed that he was favoring his left side and the worry I had only grew. What the hell had happened?

I caught up with him, ignoring the snickers coming from my knights. "Merlin, stop. Stop! STOP!" I yelled. At last he stopped. He turned, a pained expression on his face. I noticed that he had avoided talking to the knights. Avoided Gaius' room. Didn't even say hi back to Gwen when we passed by. Something was going on.

"Merlin. What is going on? Are you okay? Who did this?" I had so many questions buzzing around in my head but they were all forgotten when he fell to the floor. His legs had given out beneath him and it was then that I realized that things were a lot worse than he let on.

I put one of his arms across my shoulders and tried to walk to Gaius' chambers but found that it was too hard without another person on the other side. How the hell did Merlin manage to do this with me alone?

I picked him up bridal style, seeing as it was the only way that I could move him. He was out cold by now and I chuckled at the way his head had bounced with every step. I ran into my father in the hall and he was smiling. He opened his mouth to ask something but spotted Merlin in my arms and frowned, glaring darkly at the two of us as he left.

I shuddered. Why was he so angry? Wait... could he have... no. I shook my head and carried Merlin to Gaius' chambers and pushed the door open. Gaius looked up and his eyes widened. 

"What happened?"

"Well, we were in the hall and his knees gave out and I think he hit his head."

Gaius ushered me to the guest bed and I quickly laid him down. "There is nothing we can do but wait for him to wake." I nodded and grabbed Merlin's hand. Gaius let out an odd noise and tried to hide a smile as he turned away.

I wondered what that was all about but I couldn't care less at the moment. I turned my gaze back to Merlin's face. It was so peaceful, eyebrows full and not furrowed for once. He seemed so much younger without the worry that is usually plastered there.

I hadn't realized that I had fallen asleep until I heard a stirring as Merlin sat up. I quickly lifted my head and gazed into the beautiful blue eyes that stared into my own. "Arthur, what happened?"

"You fell and hit your head." I whispered. He nodded in understanding and looked around, confused as to where he was. "Gaius' chambers." I said.

He winced as he fully sat up and I immediately handed him a cup of water. "How long have I..."

"A few hours."

"Thank you." We sat in silence as he drank the water and I wanted to ask so many questions but I decided on one.

"Can I ask you a question?" He nodded and I pondered how to ask this but decided on the simplest thing. "I know that you won't tell me who did this to you..." I started touching his eye. He leaned into my finger and butterflies fluttered thoughout my stomach.

I forgot how to speak for a moment but then pulled my hand back. "I also know you won't tell me why or what happened but I know you are hiding something big." He turned to face me solemnly. There were probably a few things he was hiding but there was something really big that he was hiding from me.

"What are you hiding?" The solemness in his eyes almost made me wish that I didn't ask but he took a deep breath. Something warred in his head and finally he exhaled. 

"Are you sure you want to know?" 

I nodded. I didn't care what it was, I wanted to know what he was hiding. I wanted to know what he thought and what was going on, wanted to know about him. I mostly wanted to know what troubled him and made him furrow those brows, what made his eyes fill with tears, what made him frown instead of smile like I had come to love.

"Are you one hundred percent sure?"

"Yes Merlin, I do." God, he had no idea how bad I wanted to know. There were other things too, like what he was like here, when he was alone. What was behind the facade of perfext happiness. I know there are things that frustrate him and yet somehow he hides it and continues to be the happy little prat I know he is. He still stands by my side and helps me. I wanted to know everything about him, every part about him. 

I shook my head slightly. I can't believe I just thought that. I focused on Merlin and I found that he was the only thing I could focus on. I wasn't able to focus on anything else. I couldn't think or breathe for a moment as his blue eyes darted between my own.

"I love you."