Merlin was confident that everything was back to normal in the morning. After all, drugs never lasted forever. In fact, he was excited to have the old Arthur back. He was so enthusiastic that he scarfed down his breakfast.
He and Gaius usually shared a table in the living room. Seeing Merlin's excited attitude, Gaius said, "Well, you sure are excited today, Merlin."
"I just can't wait to see the old Arthur again," Merlin admitted.
"Don't forget to ask him about who it was that gave him the potion yesterday," Gaius reminded him.
Chuckling, Merlin said, "Trust me, Gaius. I don't forget anything."
Gaius gave him a funny look. Even though he didn't say it out loud, Merlin knew he was mentally asking him, "Are you sure about that?"
Merlin put together a nice breakfast for Arthur: scones, fruit, and oatmeal. He bumped into Gwen on his way to his room. Startled, the young man almost dropped the breakfast tray, but he managed to catch it. Good thing, too, or else the oatmeal would have spilled all over Gwen's head. Embarrassed, Merlin blushed. "Gwen!" He met Gwen's eyes, but his smile quickly faded.
Gwen was sobbing. Tears fell down her cheeks like a fountain.
"What's wrong?" Merlin asked her.
"He hit me!" Gwen said.
"Who?"
"Arthur!"
"No, Gwen, you must be mistaken." Merlin shook his head. "Arthur would never do that."
Gwen, though, continued to sob. Rubbing her eyes, she pushed by Merlin.
Confused, he watched her leave.
***
Merlin was surprised to find Arthur already awake when he reached his chambers. Not only that, but he was dressed. He didn't even look like he was paying attention to Merlin. The young king was hovering over his desk, looking over his schedule for the day.
Merlin forced a smile. "You're awake." He set the breakfast tray down on Arthur's nightstand.
"Of course, I am!" Arthur snapped at him. "Who do you think I am, a peasant?"
"Well, excuse me," Merlin said. "You sure are grumpy. Is it because you haven't eaten for twelve hours?" While Arthur was distracted, he took some time to search his bed area for whatever potion he had taken yesterday. Merlin felt around in his bedsheets and poked around his bedstand. He then fell to his knees and looked under his bed.
Everything was going according to plan until Arthur suddenly shouted at him from behind. "What are you doing?"
"Yikes!" Merlin ended up banging his head on the bed's underbody. Before he could come up with an excuse, Arthur grabbed the back of his jacket and yanked him to his feet. Merlin had never seen him so upset before.
Arthur grabbed Merlin's shirt collar. Shaking it, he added, "Poking through a king's belongings is treason! If I ever catch you doing it again, you will be flogged!" At these words, he tossed Merlin across the room.
Merlin landed on his front. Quickly sitting up, he peered over his shoulder at Arthur. "Ow! What was that for? I'm your servant, Arthur!"
"So, you shall be treated like one!" Arthur snapped. He picked up the breakfast tray Merlin put on his bedside table. "You call this breakfast? It's like you pulled it out of a pile of horse dung!" He chucked the tray right at Merlin. It smashed into the ground, causing oatmeal to splash all over Merlin's face. "Ridiculous," the king mumbled. "I wish to be left alone. Get out!"
Merlin did not have to be asked twice. He picked up the tray and hurried out of Arthur's chambers. In the hallway, he rubbed oatmeal from his face and tried to figure out what on Earth was going on. That was not the Arthur he was used to. He was never so harsh toward his servants. Merlin himself was his best friend. He thought he had the old Arthur back. Guess he was wrong.
Arthur's hostile behavior did not improve throughout the rest of the day. He called his cooks a bunch of useless toads and fired a handful of them. He kept on gaining up on Gwen and asking her why a servant girl liked a member of the royal court. He even got on the knights' cases. This was especially prevalent during a training session later in the day.
Sir Gwaine was the first knight scheduled to practice against Arthur. Smiling at his king, he asked him, "So, what are we going to work on today, My Lord?" He was always super excited for training.
"Wipe that stupid smile off your face!" Arthur yelled. Without warning, he lunged his sword at Sir Gwaine.
Surprised, his first instinct was to block the blow with his shield.
The training grounds today were full of knights and aspiring knights, all who wished to one day have a friendly sword fight against the King of Camelot.
Arthur always fought fair, but he didn't today. He didn't give Gwaine any time to strike back. He kept on hitting his shield with his sword, and he only grew more violent as the session progressed. "Put your back into it! You're a disgrace to the Knight's Code!" Arthur knocked Gwaine to the ground. He landed in a puddle of mud.
One by one, the rest of the knights leaned to him and asked, "How ya doing, Gwaine?"
Gwaine forced a smile. "Never better! This is literally the best moment of my life!"
Again, Arthur yelled, "You're a disgrace! Fight me like a man!"
When he said this, Merlin noticed something.
Arthur's eyes suddenly flashed red. It ended just as fast as it began.
Merlin knew it. The king was under a spell. It must have been in the so-called potion he took yesterday.
Arthur prepared to finish off Gwaine, but before he could, Merlin's eyes glowed golden-yellow.
At his command, Arthur's sword flew from his hand. It stabbed the training ground's grass.
A confused look flashed across Arthur's face. He started to make his way to his sword, but Merlin didn't let him get far.
He pulled Gwaine's shield off his arm and smashed it across Arthur's head.
For a second, Arthur didn't move nor blink. Then he fell to the ground on his front. Merlin had knocked him out.
The knights stared. They said not a word. Finally, after about two minutes, they lifted their hands and clapped.
"Well done, Merlin!" Sir Leon said while Sir Percival helped Gwaine to his feet.
"Oh, it's a gift," Merlin joked. "I'm naturally talented with knocking people out."
***
Merlin and the knights took Arthur to Gaius's chambers. Guinevere came with them. They helped the king down on Gaius's patient table so he could thoroughly examine him.
"So, you think he's under a spell?" Gaius asked Merlin.
"Oh, I don't think so. I know so," Merlin said. "Arthur has never acted this hostile toward any of us. When he knocked Gwaine down during the training session, I saw his eyes glow red."
"He did not knock me down! I tripped!" Gwaine argued.
Next to him, Sir Leon, Sir Percival, and Sir Elyan choked on their own spit as they tried not to laugh.
A thoughtful look on his face, Gaius rubbed his chin. "If we're going to figure out what the spell is, then we need to find that potion he took."
Smiling, Merlin took Gwen's hand. "We'll go right now."
At the sight of him comforting her, Gwen blushed.
"What about us?" Sir Elyan asked.
"How about you guys stay here?" said Gaius. "Arthur may need somebody else to beat up when he wakes."
At the same time, the knights nervously chuckled.
***
Gwen and Merlin returned to Arthur's chambers. If they were going to find the potion, then it would most likely be in here. At least this time, Arthur wasn't here to yell at Merlin.
The two friends rummaged around in the room, hoping they would at least find something. Merlin went through Arthur's drawers, while Guinevere went through his desk.
"Find anything?" Merlin asked Guinevere.
She shook her head. "No." She was holding a stack of parchment in her hands. "Just all this parchment that says he wants to change how he rules the kingdom. It looks like he wants to run it like Uther."
"Oh yeah, he is definitely under a spell," Merlin said. He remembered Arthur telling him that he did not want to rule like his father, so that was proof that something was going on with him.
He and Gwen kept on looking, but they found no potion. That was because Agravaine had the vial. He snatched it from Arthur's room when he left to meet Morgana during the feast. He wanted it to make it look like Arthur was slowly turning into his late father, Uther.
***
"Well?" Gaius asked Gwen and Merlin when they returned to his chambers.
They hated to bring bad news, but that was all they had to offer.
Merlin shook his head. "We couldn't find anything."
As soon as he said that, Arthur woke up. His eyes once again glowed red. He shot to his knees on the table and glared at his so-called friends.
Sobbing, Guinevere asked, "Arthur, what's wrong?"
The knights drew their swords and threatened the king with them.
He did nothing to them. Instead, he looked at Merlin.
Their eyes met, and instantly, Merlin felt weak. Yelling, he fell to his knees. His face turned white. Arthur, no; the Death Lion was stripping him of his magic.
"Merlin!" Gaius quickly caught the young man before he could fall.
Sir Percival acted fast. He picked up a chair, whacked it across Arthur's head, and knocked him out again.