The Sword, the Stone, and the Sorcerer. Siege! When Camelot is attacked by a vicious warlord, his magic-wielding daughter, and their army of apparently undead soldiers, Merlin knows exactly what he needs to do. The problem is, he knows he's going to die doing it, and the stress is starting to get to him.

Updated! I changed the season the story takes place in from summer to spring. You'll see why.

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(1) Dream Warnings

War. It had never been one of his favorite things, but he could sometimes see it the way Arthur did, see it as a test, as a way to protect the ones he loved. Sometimes. There was no honor in this, though. This was suicide.

He looked at the carnage around him in barely concealed horror. All the dead were from Camelot. All of them. The enemy couldn't be killed, for they were already dead, just shells for her to use in her father's war. He could feel her in the camp, laughing at him, laughing at Arthur and his knights.

Arthur! Where was Arthur?

The cold prick of a sword point on the back of his neck erased the sudden panic. He knew that sword! His heart surged in joy.

"Merlin." Arthur's voice was flat, expressionless, and as Merlin turned to face his prince, Excalibur never wavered from its place on Merlin's neck. "I thought I told you to never to show your face here again…traitor."

"Merlin! Merlin, wake up! I can't believe this," Arthur muttered, casting about for some way to wake his manservant –who was currently twitching and moaning in a way that was completely not called for on a mild spring day, not to mention a little bit alarming. Arthur raked a hand through his blonde hair. Or maybe a lot alarming. "Gwen!" He seized Gwen's bucket of water and promptly emptied it over Merlin's head.

"Yaah!" Merlin came awake with a yell. "I swore to protect –" Merlin stopped midsentence and stared up at Arthur and Gwen. "Why am I wet?"

"You fell asleep in a puddle," said Arthur.

"He dumped a bucket of water on your head," Gwen corrected. "Sorry, Sire, but that was a flimsy lie, even for you."

"Guin-ev-ere! I can lie quite well, thank you. And you did fall asleep. You were having a nightmare." Merlin smiled at the prince's put-out tone, albeit a little thinly.

"Yeah," said Merlin. "I gathered that." He hoisted himself half up with a grunt. "I need to get back to work."

"Huh-uh. Sit."

Merlin frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"Sit," said Arthur again. "I'm sitting with you until you talk."

"About what?" said Merlin. It was Arthur's turn to frown. Why was it that whenever he uttered the words 'talk' or 'explain' Merlin's deep blue eyes changed, as if he'd pulled a curtain closed to hide their depths? What had Merlin to lie about? What was he hiding?

"Now," said Arthur, banishing his thoughts. "How long have you been having these nightmares?"

Merlin shrugged. "Not long."

"Merlin. I'm not stupid. There are dark circles under your eyes. How long?"

"A few weeks," Merlin amended. "And the stupid part is debatable." He smirked, and Arthur smiled a little, before whacking him hard on the shoulder for his cheek. There was the Merlin he knew.

"Oi! Quit trying to change the subject. I was–"

Merlin's smirk grew wider. "Worried about me?"

"Tcha!" Arthur waved a hand. "You're my servant. You start dozing off and muttering something about the end of the world, of course I want to know if I need to get a new guy instead of a lazy lout like you."

Merlin was practically grinning now. "He'd be better behaved."

"And more punctual," Arthur added.

"Respectful, too. Subservient, even."

"Won't ever offer his own opinions to me or the court. Polite."

"Sycophantic."

"Exactly," said Arthur with relish.

"You'd be bored out of your mind."

"True enough," said Arthur. He looked at his manservant –no, friend. "True enough."

"And the dream ended the same way?" Gaius asked. The court physician regarded his ward over steepled fingers.

"Yeah," said Merlin. He swallowed. "With Arthur trying to kill me."

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"That is the second time this week that you have had that dream. I am beginning to think that you are right."

"That it's a warning." Merlin nodded. "You know, I'm beginning to understand Morgana now. Too much of this would make anyone snap."

"Let us hope you have a stronger constitution, Merlin," said Gaius. "We can no longer ignore the warnings. Be careful. Do not use magic!" Merlin grimaced. "Merlin!"

"All right, all right, I'll try not to. I really am happiest when I can use magic, though. Without it I'm…caged. I can't properly protect Arthur without it."

"I know." Gaius smiled fondly at the younger man across the scrubbed wooden table. "Just be extra careful. Being caught using magic still means death. I want you to make sure the second half of the dream never happens."

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Author's note: So! My second story, this time for BBC Merlin. I highly recommend this show, despite the fact that it half-butchers half of the existing Arthurian legend…