A/N: I'm back! Awesome. And here is another chapter for you! I really loved writing this chapter, but it was the hardest to write because of all the characters. Anyway, thank you all for reading. I'm so shocked whenever I find out that someone has Favourited this, or whatever, because honestly, I would never even think that people would ever stop to read this. All of you readers, followers, reviewers, favourites, and everyone in-between are the greatest, and I am in awe of your perseverance of my mind-numbing gaps between chapters, which I am desperately trying to get better at not having. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

"Merlin!"

Birds flittered away from window sills as Arthur clamored and crashed through his room and deposited his grungy, battered armor on the floor. Days had passed since Merlin's disappearance, yet habit forced Arthur to call the servant's name whenever he required something. Stomping indignantly around the room, Arthur threw any possession he owned to the floor, imagining the terrible night of cleaning he would thrust upon Merlin once he returned.

In this delusional rage Arthur forgot that someone else shared his room.

Gwen stood, cautious, outside the open door. A sigh expanded her lungs, and she cleared her throat gently. Arthur swung around, ready to empty his vocabulary on the intruder, and then stopped quite abruptly.

"Spring cleaning, I hope?" She suggested.

"Something like that." Arthur placed whatever object he was holding on the nearest counter and paced around the cracked and broken objects on the floor. Gwen maneuvered her way over to Arthur's side and gripped his arm.

"I know you're irritated with him. But if you stopped forcing yourself to be angry with him for five seconds you'd realize you miss him."

"Miss him? I miss my laundry getting done, and my room being cleaned, and my armor being polished, and let us not forget my-"

Gwen listened to the tirade with eyes rolling. Merlin must have had reasons. He always did. Every decision her friend ever made was made after careful planning. He had told Arthur he was leaving, and then left. While she too was curious regarding his whereabouts, and worried for his health, she could respect that Merlin's life did not revolve around her and her husband's feelings and comfort. Arthur was less introspective on the matter, however.

"-bed should be made every day when I wake up. I'm the King after all!" Arthur looked to Gwen for agreement and became more agitated when he found none. "Why are you on his side?"

"On his-You are not at war with your servant Arthur! There are no sides. He left for some reason, and I believe he is coming back. He left all of his belongings, and said very few good-byes. He must have intended to return. And when he does I want nothing but gracious understanding on your part."

"Understanding? He left me to do my own laundry! Or to find someone else to do it for me."

"And I am sure his heart is breaking at the thought of you being forced to order another servant to polish your boots, but something happened, and it could have been something tragic, or unsettling for him, and if it was he does not need to return home to have you making him feel worse."

"But-"

"No. He is your friend, whether you can admit it or not, and if having him returned is what you wish for then locating him should be your top priority, no punishing him. So come, talk of war with your knights and get this business out of yourself. We have a meeting to attend."

Arthur rubbed his eyes with the balls of his palms, mouth in an undignified scowl, before taking the hand of his Queen.

"Alright. Merlin and I are almost friends. Almost. That is not the same thing as actually friends."

"Of course."

"And I am concerned about more than just punishing him, of course."

Gwen agreed with a hum.

"But he shouldn't have left. And you are angry with him for leaving too even if you don't show it. So, why don't you worry for me, I'll be angry for you, and we call it even."

Gwen made a motion to object before Arthur leaned in to kiss her.

"Even? Remember, I am the King."

Gwen laughed, bemused before shaking her head and beginning the journey towards the throne room. Arthur knew all was forgiven, and quickly followed behind.

The knights should have been sitting one by one in wooden chairs surrounding the enormous circular table. Upon entering, however, Arthur noticed this was not the case. Three knights were huddled to one end.

"Percival, Leon, Gwaine, what are you doing?" Arthur demanded as he strode towards the ensemble. Gwaine moved to meet Arthur halfway.

"Sire, I got a letter this morning from a friend back at my old village. Well, I say friend, he and I really didn't get along too well. His mother didn't like me, said I was a bad influence. But we write each other every so often anyways-"

"Yes. I get the point. What did he say?"

"Well, he said something about Merlin."

Arthur froze. People rarely write about passing strangers. Gwaine said he wrote this man once in a while, which meant he could not know enough about Merlin to recognize and write about him. Why would someone write to Gwaine about seeing a random friend of his?

"What?"

"Merlin's gotten himself entered into the Hunger Games." Gwaine sounded startled, but Arthur could not understand why.

"The what?"

Gwaine and Percival both shared a look.

"They don't have them here? I mean, I guess you wouldn't."

Arthur stared blankly for a few moments before regaining some composure.

"Well, we know where Merlin is now, so send a letter for him to come back. This isn't complicated."

"No, you don't understand, we can't take him out of the games. He has to win to come back." The trio looked suddenly grief stricken, and Arthur felt his stomach tighten further.

"How does he win? What does he win?"

There was a pause. Something was wrong. An invisible menace loomed over the room. Arthur could feel the tangible presence of an unknown evil. At last Leon opened his mouth to speak, and explained to his King how the game was played. A short summary involving the words combat, tributes, and death, and more words that he could not understand, regardless of is he wanted to or not. Words that meant Merlin might be alive, but he might be dead too.

Arthur panicked, and spun around to leave, then suddenly turned around and moved closer to Gwaine.

"What did that letter say and how long ago was it sent?"

Gwaine fumbled with the letter, picking out what was important, zoning in carefully on the parts about Merlin.

"Well, my friend doesn't live in the same District as Merlin, so he didn't see the Reaping, all he knows about is what he's told. So apparently Merlin did really well in showcase thing. That's why my friend heard about him. Apparently the costume malfunctioned and he ended up getting stabbed by a bunch of thorns or something-"

"What!?"

"I don't really know, but it was different and new so that story traveled really fast and far. Then Merlin did really badly in the training portion though-

"Of course he did."

"So he got a poor rating, which isn't great in terms of getting sponsors-

"What the hell are-"

"I mean he did the worst. But then he ruffled a few feathers with his interview. I'm not really sure what happened, the letter was written right after it had happened, but I guess he didn't play along. He just sort of… showed up. No outfit. No identity. Nothing. He also sort of insulted everyone involved in the Hunger Games-"

Arthur groaned loudly. How could Merlin screw up what seemed like the easiest part of this competition.

"No, this is good." Leon interjected. "There are 24 tributes in this game, and the only person anyone seems to be talking about is Merlin. He's popular, so people might get a bit upset if he dies. He could get quite a few sponsors because of that."

Arthur's face fluctuated between disgust and confusion. Merlin was in a game where he could, and probably would die, and Leon and Gwaine were concerned with some sort of sponsors?

"We have to go after him."

"We can't, sire." Percival at last joined in on the conversation.

"What is the issue now?" Spite bit into everyone word Arthur let escape.

"The games are not part of your kingdom, sire. We cannot invade another realm without outright declaring war. And if you try to simply take Merlin out of the games, other tributes will want to leave too. It could start an uprising, or rebellion."

"Good!"

"No, not good!" It was Gwaine this time. "Because that rebellion will fail and die, and then a whole lot of angry rich people are going to come after you and your kingdom. I don't fancy going to war against people who watch kids kill each other for fun."

"So what are you telling me the only course of action I can take is to sit and wait for another letter from Gwaine's sort-of friend telling us whether Merlin is alive or dead?"

Another awkward pause. Another tangible evil. An unspoken yes.

Arthur felt the gnawing desire to leave the room. He turned to Gwen, who had been listening silently to the conversation from a distance, but Gwen had already moved herself closer to the cluster.

"Can we not send one of you too help him? Maybe even outside the arena?"

All three knights shook their heads.

"We could be spectators, but we could not interfere with the games." Percival explained.

Gwen thought carefully, and thoroughly. No help from outsides, and Merlin had no training himself. Was he even still alive? The Queen moved to her rightful seat at the table, and stood to face the assembly.

"Does anyone here have relations in any of the Districts associated with the Hunger Games?"

There was a muffled shock, followed by several variations on the word yes.

"Excellent. The King and I are requesting that all of you write as soon as possible to these relations and gather as much raw knowledge as possible about this year's game. There is a competitor we know that we would like to see returned to us. Remember to ask this relation about a tribute named Merlin."

Gwen nodded to her husband, gentle and sure. She would make this right any way she knew how. Arthur, however, still looked bothered. It wasn't enough to only know about what was happening. Gwen could feel his desire to help, but how could he help without putting Merlin at risk; without putting the kingdom at risk?

"Also, what do any of you know about how the sponsor system works?"