Serella sighed as she sank onto her bed. Though she slept in the servants quarters, this bed was even better than the one she had back in Cambria. As she drifted off into deep slumber, she thought of the boy, Merlin, who had been so kind to her that evening.

"Get up!" a high voice screeched in Serella's ear a few hours later. "I said get UP!"

Serella sat bolt upright, and her arm shot straight out before she could think, catching her waker in the stomach.

"You insolent little girl! How DARE YOU!" Serella suddenly recognized the voice... Lydia.

Serella gasped. "Oh! M'lady! I am so sorry!"

"Not," she added in her head, but her face was screwed into a fake look of concern and worry.

"I'LL HAVE YOUR WHOLE FAMILY FOR THIS! YOU STUPID, FOOLISH, IDIOTIC LITTLE STREET RAT!" Lydia screamed in rage. The whole of the servants quarters was awake by now, and watching intently as the Princess scolded her apparently insolent servant.

"No! Please M'lady, please no! Not my family! I'll do anything, anything at all!"

Lydia smirked as Serella sank to her knees in front of her, sobbing. "No." Lydia said cruelly.

"But..." she added, seeming to rethink the possibilities of this, "Perhaps there is one thing...."

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Merlin woke to a woman's screaming in the middle of the night. He bolted out of bed, pulled on his clothes and boots, tightened his belt, and ran out to the main room where Gaius was already up, staring at the door.

"What was that, Gaius?" Merlin asked, eyes wide.

"I wish I knew Merlin." Gaius replied, his voice full of worry.

Merlin closed his eyes, reaching out with his powers to pin-point the noise. Suddenly, his eyes shot open and he bolted for the door in desperation. "It's coming from the servant's quarters!" he called back to Gaius as he raced down the corridors.

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Serella screamed in pain as Lydia whipped her again... and again... and again, over and over. Serella's back was cut and bleeding, almost to the point where you couldn't see the whip marks... just blood.

Lydia grinned maliciously and paused, leaning in towards Serella's ear. "When we get back to Cambria, your family is done for. And you will be on the streets, alone." she whispered, enjoying the power she had over this insolent servant girl.

"No! Please!" Serella barely managed to get out through her tears and shudders of pain.

Lydia laughed wickedly and struck her again. "This will teach you!"

Suddenly the door swung open and she saw a tall, lanky boy in the doorway. She fled out the back passage before he could see her, dropping the whip in her wake.

"Serella!" Merlin gasped, running to her side.

Serella's head was spinning, all she heard was a jumble of sounds. Finally, she collapsed, and Merlin caught her in his arms. He picked her up and carried her to Gaius' quarters.

The whip lay unnoticed on the floor, until a young serving boy picked it up and stowed it under his bed.

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Merlin burst through the door and rushed to his room, laying Serella on his bed carefully. Serella moaned in pain, and Merlin felt tears prick his eyes. He pushed them back and cried, "Gaius! Help!"

Gaius had already rushed into the room with a frothing green potion. "What happened?" he questioned.

"I don't know, I found her like this in the servant's quarters." Merlin said, sitting down at the end of the bed.

Gaius placed a hand on Serella's forehead. "She has a fever!" he gasped.

Merlin looked up from his hands. "She does? But how could someone get a fever from being whipped?"

"Get Guinevere, Merlin. She can help us." Gaius said anxiously. "And hurry. She's lost a lot of blood all ready."

Merlin wasted no time. He shot up from the bed and rushed into the town, where Gwen lived.

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"Gwen?" Merlin called as he pounded on her door. She didn't seem to be home, and Merlin began to panic. "Gwen!" he called again

Finally, after what seemed like ages to Merlin, she opened the door.

"Merlin! What are you doing out at this time of night? Is something wrong?" she asked, stepping aside and waving her hand for Merlin to enter as she pulled a shawl over herself tightly.

"Yes. There is a serving girl that has been horrible injured, Gaius sent me to fetch you." Merlin panted, grasping the back of a chair as he gasped for breath. He had run the whole way.

"Of course I shall come!" Gwen said, pulling on her shoes. "Let us go, yes?"

Merlin nodded shakily, and the two ran up to the castle together.

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Meanwhile, Gaius was attempting to keep Serella's temperature under control. She tossed and turned and panted, as if she were having a nightmare. Gaius had tried to give her a sleeping potion, but to no avail. She simply refused to take it. All he could do was apply cold compresses to her head, in an attempt to cool her brow.

Suddenly, her eyes flashed open, their bright blue quickly turned gold, and then she closed them again. A vase smashed of the sill.

Gaius jumped in surprise. Here was something he had not expected.