So… *nervous rubbing back of neck* it's been a while. Seven years. But I finally finished this! I hope that you enjoy it!

…

For the past five days, there had been an uproar in Camelot.

The king had trodden wearily into his rooms after a long day of meetings, tedium, and simpering nobles, ready to vent to someone who wouldn't be too busy licking his boots to jibe back at him. Gwen would be out for a while yet, but there was always Merlin. And, to be frank, he had missed the irreverent insolence and straightforward talk of his fr-servant ...as of recent. He felt a pang of what might have been guilt if he hadn't been so fatigued. Upon seeing the room warm and lit by candles and completely empty, he swallowed back the sense of forlorn and satisfied himself with the comfort of his bed in lieu of the comfort of his friend's company.

Until he landed face first into the crisply folded sheets and impeccably fluffed pillows, and froze. Something wasn't right. He pushed himself up on his elbows and examined his surroundings with a critical eye. It was too perfect.

For all the grief Arthur gave Merlin, he was fully aware that Merlin was a capable servant, well versed in all the things that needed to be done on a daily basis to keep the king's routine from coming to a screeching halt. But he also knew that Merlin was not a perfectionist, starting that as long as the job was done properly, he didn't need to waste time by making "it look perfect when it's going to get mucked up once you use it." So he banked the fire without keeping the hearth pristine, he placed the meals on the table where they could be easily reached rather than positioning directly in the center, and the sheets were folded back so a man could collapse into them but were often at least a little wrinkled.

The sheets were creased so perfectly it looked like someone had taken an iron and sword to them. Merlin would never had found that necessary.

So, that could only mean...

"George," Arthur gasped under his breath with the strange mix of appreciation and apprehension he had whenever thinking of the consummate servant and bootlicker.

"Yes, sire?"

Arthur most certainly didn't yelp, that would have been undignified. As it was, only his reflexes joined from years of hunting and battle kept him from falling to the floor after he leapt at the diffident voice behind him.

"George, what are you doing here?"

"Serving you, your majesty," George answered politely, although Arthur suspected of he had been anyone else, he would have been given a dismissive sneer. "Since your usual manservant is, well..." He gave a small cough. "Would you care for anything else, Sire?"

Arthur blinked, not to be deterred. "He is...what? Where is Merlin?"

•••

Unfortunately, seeing Gaius yielded no fruit as to Merlin's location, and only succeeded in eliciting the oldest man's concern. "I thought he was with you, sire," he murmured, his estimable brow furrowing in thought. "I've been distracted with getting my new assistant accustomed to how things are done here." He shook his head and sighed. "I really have been more scatterbrained recently. I almost forgot to introduce the two of them."

Arthur's eyebrows shot up. "You're replacing Merlin?"

He had not thought he was being that loud, but the shock in his tone was enough to make the somewhat flustered new assistant drop a sheaf of papers with a squeak, and for Gaius to give him a disapproving look.

"Certainly not, Arthur," he replied, dropping the formalities in form of a fender tone, "he is irreplaceable, a son to me. But he does not have enough time in ther day to serve you and assist me without running himself ragged. This gives him a chance to rest at times."

Arthur snorted. "Maybe, but I'm not sure I trust the blockhead to be left to his own devices - might go and just get drunk at the tavern."

Gaius inexplicably winced. "Sire, he really doesn't drink as much as I led -"

The door burst open, followed by an enthusiastic bellow. "Hey mate, you in here? The tavern's calling our names and we better listen!" Gwaine breezed into the room, sending a grin at Gaius and Arthur and a cheeky wink at the assistant, who promptly dropped her papers again. The grinning man looked away from the woman who appeared to be swooning, and faced the two men. "Is he here? Where you been hiding him, princess? I haven't seen Merlin in ages. Give the man a break, you'll need to learn to tie your shoes sometime!"

His smile began to wilt as he saw the puzzled looks on the other men's faces. "What is it?"

Arthur crossed his arms. "I don't know where the idiot is. I was hoping to find him here."

Gaius looked at his books with an ashamed expression. "Nor do I, I've been occupied with training my new apprentice."

"Oh," Gwaine glanced at the woman, who just managed to keep get grip on her papers. "What's wrong with the old one?"

"Nothing!" Gaius was starting to sound indignant. "He just needs to not be split between two jobs."

"Ah," Gwaine said, nodding sagely, "the princess does work him to the bone."

"I do not!"

"Merlin!" A cheerful voice called, and the three men turned to face the door as the queen, in informal attire that recalled her earlier days as a townswoman, swept in, beaming from ear to ear. Her hands were bundled in the front of her skirts, like she was hiding a secret, and her face was flushed with merriment and a dash of mischief. "I've just been to the kitchens, and Cook was making your favorite. I could have waited until tomorrow, but I thought you'd like the first batch fresh from the ovens." She caught her breath, giggling. "Hopefully Cook will forgive me!" Taking in the room, her smile softened as she looked at her husband. "Hello, Arthur! What brings you here?"

"Looking for Merlin," Arthur replied.

"Is everything all right?" Gwen asked, her smile becoming slightly puzzled, "I haven't been able to see him as much as I'd like lately, what with all the," her nose wrinkled, "queen classes."

Arthur grimaced guiltily, Gaius' eyes twinkled with amusement, and Gwaine roared with laughter. "How dare you saddle this fine woman with all that nonsense? How do you put up with it, your highness?"

"Oi!" Arthur snapped, shoving Gwaine's shoulder.

Gwen shook her head at the nonsense of men and turned to the most sensible of the lot. "Gaius, where is Merlin?"

"I don't know," Gaius replied absentmindedly, as he made his way up the stairs to Merlin's bedroom, "I can't think of where he would be, if not with the king or the knights."

"Oh dear," Gwen bit her lip in thought, "I do hope he's all right."

"Don't worry," Gwaine ventured as he made to hug Gwen reassuringly before yielding to Arthur's reproachful glare, "he's fine. I'm sure he's off making friends somewhere."

Arthur snorted, "Probably vanished off somewhere - to the tavern, I'd wager."

"Without me?" Gwaine gasped in mock outrage.

A deep groan sounded suddenly from the open doorway of Merlin's bedroom, and the three left on the ground floor stared for a moment before rushing up. There they found Gaius sitting on his protegee's neatly made bed, staring blankly into a gap beneath the floorboards.

"What is it?" Gwen asked, kneeling down in front of the court physician, taking his trembling hands in her firm grip. Her heart sank at their sudden coldness and the deep sorrow in his eyes. "Gaius?"

The breath that shuddered forth from the older man was ancient as the hills. "He's gone."

…

"What did you do?" Gwaine barked, a hair's breadth from stabbing his lord and master with an accusatory finger jab.

"I didn't do anything!" Arthur responded, ignoring the sudden descent of his stomach, "I'm sure he'll be back - he's left on errands for days before."

"But never without telling Gaius," Gwaine snapped, "and never taking all he owns with him. Does that sound like someone who's planning on coming back?"

Arthur swallowed down the lump in his throat. "But why would he-"

"The hell should I know!" Gwaine was reaching his breaking point. "I can't think of why he'd leave! I don't know why he wouldn't confide in someone before taking off - he's not me! And I can't imagine why he'd leave your service, of all things, when he's the most loyal man I've ever met!"

"Easy." The low boom of Percival's voice startled the two of them, and they turned to where Gwen stood in the doorway, flanked by the Round Table. Clearly, she'd seen fit to send in the cavalry.

"This doesn't solve anything," Gwen reasoned, stepping smoothly between the now sheepish men. "The point is, Merlin left and didn't tell anyone. Something must be wrong, and we must all bear some responsibility for not catching it." She folded her arms. "And we can do something about it, if you two are finished."

Elyan made a snorting sound that he did a poor job of concealing.

"Now," Gwen clapped her hands together sharply, "where do we start?"

…

The next few days were spent searching frantically through each stable, marketplace, and farm that the group thought Merlin could have conceivably gone. Gwaine personally volunteered to search each tavern from top to bottom, an offer only taken once Percival promised to go along to keep him on task.

Anxiety was beginning to grow, and they started to search the forest paths, and then the off beaten paths, seeking a familiar shock of black hair and bright splashes of color among the underbrush.

It was a fluke that someone mentioned their horse needed a drink. It was an ever greater stroke of luck that they found themselves near a lake.

…

Merlin shook off the last of the water from his shirt and trousers. He would have let himself be drenched a thousand times if it gave him even one more second to hold Freya in his arms, but now that he was resigned to go, it wouldn't do for him to catch a cold.

I've got work to do, he thought, although the buffering encouragement of his love's words made him resolute rather than overwhelmed.

Besides, sniffling would only catch him grief from Arthur. To say nothing of Gaius brandishing his disgusting, beloved leeches at him like they would cure him of anything other than an excess of blood.

If they even notice, Merlin mentally griped, because new resolve didn't eliminate all his indignation. He entertained the idea of sneezing into the prat's helmet if he persisted in ignoring him, smirking at the thought of Arthur's shocked face. He turned once more to look at the lake, craning his neck until he felt a satisfying pop, before beginning to make his way back to Camelot.

"Merlin!"

He frowned, feeling his eyebrows knit together. That didn't sound like Freya, although it was certainly female and familiar.

"Merlin!" Another voice called, posh and carrying.

"Hey, mate!" A third voice bellowed, and Merlin had just been able to piece together what he was hearing when he was tackled bodily into the ground, fallen leaves and sticks and dirt flying in all directions. Gwaine grinned down at him before bounding to his feet and hauling Merlin up into standing. "Where ya been?"

"Er…" Merlin blinked several times, trying to reconcile that all those standing around him were actually there and not a hallucination.

"Really, Merlin," Arthur drawled, smoothly dismounting from his steed and extending a hand to help Gwen down from her horse, "if you find it necessary to take a vacation without permission, you could at least tell someone."

Gwen slid an unimpressed elbow into her husband's side before rushing over to Merlin and enfolding him in a hug. "Ignore him," she laughed softly, "he was worried. Are you all right?"

Merlin leaned into the warmth of her embrace, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I'm fine."

"Are you?" She stepped back, hands still on his arms and examined him critically. "I haven't seen you in so long, but you seem subdued." She frowned. "I'm sorry I haven't been by as much recently."

"It's fine," Merlin responded, already feeling considerably better.

"Not yet, but it will be," she promised, a sudden mischievous gleam in her eyes, "especially once I get better at hiding from my maids."

Gwaine slapped him on the back. "Don't go ducking out again, mate, at least without me. Tearing up the countryside is much more fun with me along."

Merlin snorted, "Until I have to clean it up."

"Nah, I'll give you a hand!" Gwaine replied, before his face took on a more serious expression. "But I mean it, Merlin, I'm here for you. You're the best man I know, and I'm sorry I've not been around, I'll make it up to you!" His eyes took on a manic gleam. "We'll go on a tavern tour of a country, what do you say?"

"I say, I get drunk off a barmaid's apron and you know it," Merlin grinned, "But someone's got to go along to keep you out of trouble."

The crunching of nearby leaves alerted them to how close Arthur had come. He cleared his throat, and looked at Merlin, seemingly deep in thought.

"Merlin, you idiot."

There was an expression of sound at that. Gwen's flabbergasted, "Arthur!" rang out as Gwaine's rough growl of "See here, your royal arse-" and a chorus of groans issued from the rest of the knights. Flustered, Arthur put one hand on his scabbard for support, waving the other in the hair for silence.

"I mean to say, how could you think of leaving without telling anyone? Didn't you realize that would make us worry? I mean - " He rubbed the back of his neck. "How could you sic George on me - again?"

Gwaine rolled his eyes but Merlin grinned, reading between the lines. "I didn't assign anyone anywhere - besides, you know you love his jokes."

"Love his - why, you insubordinate - " With that, Arthur sprang forward, cuffing Merlin about the shoulder before digging his knuckles into his servant's scalp. "Just - come back, already!"

"Very well," Merlin groaned, "your pratness. Since you'd fall apart without me otherwise."

After a round of back slaps (from the knights) and hugs (from Gwen), they gathered around their horses. Gwen piped up and offered Merlin a spot on her horse behind her, causing Arthur to sputter. In the end, Merlin rode Gwen's horse, with Arthur and Gwen riding together.

"One thing," Merlin ventured as they turned toward home, "how did you know to look for me here? I would have thought you'd look in Ealdor."

Arthur shot him a look that on a face less regal would have been apologetic. "Where do you think we went first?"

Merlin gulped. "You mean - "

He was cut off by the approach of another horse carrying Gaius and a woman coming towards them. "Merlin, where have you been? Have you any idea how worried I've been?"

Merlin swallowed hard. "Hi, Mother."

...

It took over seven years, but it's finally done! For all those who've hung around, I'm both very sorry for making you wait and very grateful that you did! Please review, if you like!