Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights belong to their respective owners.
Little one-shot for you because I couldn't get it out of my head.
Merlin started as he heard the warning bell, glancing around for any immediate danger before heading in the general direction he had seen Arthur go in. He had decided to wait around for his master to return, knowing that – despite Arthur's efforts to convince him otherwise – the prince had had too much to drink and was in no fit state to be wandering around the castle without his destiny. It was only because it was his birthday, and Merlin knew how much Uther meant to his son, that he had even allowed Arthur to go in the first place. Arthur might have been the prince out of the two of them, but Merlin knew he had ways of making the royal listen. If he truly hadn't wanted Arthur to go, the prince would be asleep in his bed without realising his own servant had manipulated him into staying there.
But none of that mattered now. All that Merlin was concerned with as he hurried along was that he was encountering more and more guards the closer he got to the king's chambers and his heartbeat was increasing with every step that he took.
What have you gone and done now, you prat? Despite his thought, Merlin knew it was meant with a certain fondness. Maybe Arthur's trousers had given up again halfway down the corridor again and he had scared some poor maid senseless? But the closer he got, the more Merlin found that his nerves were increasing. There were too many guards; there was too much of a sense of urgency in the air for it to be anything mild. Servants and nobles alike were being held away from the corridor leading to Uther's chambers, but one of the guards recognised him and let him through. Whether it was through being Gaius' apprentice or Prince Arthur's manservant, Merlin didn't know, but he nodded his head in gratitude and quickly sped down the blissfully empty corridor.
Just as he made it to Uther's door – more heavily guarded than Merlin had ever seen it – Gaius appeared. The man was coming out from the king's chambers and for a heart stopping moment, Merlin thought that everything he had been working for had just been thrown back in his face and he had failed in his destiny after all. Gaius spoke tersely with a knight on the door, issuing some instructions and clearly trying to establish some sort of order, his face grave. As he turned to go back in, Merlin knew his mentor had seen him. But as Gaius beckoned him forward, Merlin knew that Arthur was safe.
He wasn't completely sure how he knew, but he was aware that if anything had happened to the prince, and Gaius was finding a way to break the news to him, the old man would be looking a lot worse than that. But if Arthur was safe, then that could only mean something had happened to the king. Merlin felt his breath catch as he hurried the last few steps.
"Gaius, what is it? What has happened?" Snatching at the old man's arm, Merlin stared imploring at his mentor, wanting answers. Gaius glanced around and pulled Merlin into the shadows, keeping his voice low and urgent.
"One of the entertainers was actually an assassin. It was unclear whether it was the king or Arthur who was the target, but Uther has been stabbed."
"The assassin has gone though? Arthur killed him?"
"Someone killed him," Gaius muttered, his voice lined with tension. He clearly believed he had told Merlin all he needed to know for now and swiftly disappeared back into the king's chambers. Swallowing hard, Merlin followed him.
The first thing his eyes came across was a red stain on the floor that two maids were already working on scrubbing out. They looked up at his arrival, but although Merlin nodded his head in greeting, no one said anything. No one seemed to be quite sure what they could so. Trying to control his racing heart, Merlin continued looking around. Gaius was leaning over the bed and Merlin could just about make out the sign of him working frantically. It was only seeing him like that which made Merlin realise just how serious this was. He made to approach the bed and Gaius looked up again, shaking his head ever so slightly.
"I've done all I can for now. I need you to do something else for me."
"Anything." Merlin quickly said, finding his eyes drawn to the bed before snapping them back to Gaius' face. He had never thought about how he would feel if Uther were to die. Part of his mind liked playing tricks on him and informing him that the king was never going to pass over and his reign would continue forever, giving people like Merlin no chance to ever be truly known by those around him. But he knew that even Uther was not immortal. He felt like he should be feeling some sort of relief that perhaps the king's days were numbered, knowing that Arthur's rule would bring about a different time. But at the same time, Uther was still Arthur's father. Despite his belief in the man being shattered in the last year or so, Merlin knew it would cripple Arthur to watch his father die. For that reason alone, Merlin found himself willing the king to hold on.
Thinking of Arthur made Merlin jump, realising that he had been so relieved that the prince was still alive he hadn't even spared a thought to where Arthur might be. As Gaius motioned with his head what he wanted Merlin to take care of, the warlock finally found himself looking at his destiny. Arthur was sitting on the floor, staring at the bed almost looking to be afraid to blink in case his father should just vanish. There was blood coating his hands and streaks of it down his face from where he had clearly tried to remove the evidence of tears. But he wasn't even trying anymore, just sitting there numbly with tears sliding down his face.
But there was something else though, something off about the prince that Merlin couldn't yet place.
The warlock moved from the bed, slowly walking towards Arthur. His concern only intensified as Arthur didn't even look around to acknowledge his presence but just continued to stare at the bed.
"Arthur?" Dropping to a crouch next to the prince, Merlin found his eyes running over Arthur, trying to assess whether any of the blood covering him was his own. "Sire, are you hurt?"
He wasn't really sure how to go about this. He had never seen Arthur look like this before. He had seen the prince react when his father was under threat from some kind of magical ailment, or something Arthur didn't understand and therefore believed could be cured. But the prince knew better than most what a stab wound could do to a man, he didn't need Gaius to explain what was happening to his father this time.
"Arthur?" The lack of response was truly beginning to worry Merlin. He had expected Arthur to snap, to claim that he was fine and for Merlin to help Gaius. He had at least expected Arthur to glance at him, to make some sort of sign that he was aware of his surroundings. But all Arthur was doing was sitting there and staring at the bed. Wondering if he was in some sort of shock, Merlin shuffled closer. When he still got no reaction from the prince, Merlin frowned. Shifting until he could get a better look at him, the warlock felt his breath catch when he properly saw Arthur's eyes. Although they were wet with tears and at least pointing in the direction of the bed, they were glazed and unfocused. Merlin couldn't even be sure that he was seeing the bed at all. Now that he noticed that, he realised there was a flush to Arthur's skin, almost hidden by the blood smeared across his face.
Lifting a hand, Merlin carefully placed it across Arthur's forehead, inwardly wincing when even that gained no reaction from him. Arthur seemed cool, too cool to have a flush like that and Merlin swore as he suddenly realised what symptoms he was looking at.
"Gaius?" Making sure to keep his voice at a respectable level, it took all of Merlin's self-control not to jump up and simply drag Gaius from the bed to Arthur. As the old man turned, Merlin put a hand reassuringly on Arthur's shoulder, trying to convey to the prince that he was right there. Not wanting to add any more panic to the room, Merlin jerked his head. Gaius must have seen something in his expression and hurried over.
"I think he has been drugged." Merlin said softly, watching as Gaius immediately felt Arthur's temperature. When the old man peered into Arthur's eyes and the prince still didn't react, Merlin knew he had been right. Gaius pulled back after just a few moments of examining him, sighing heavily.
"It seems to be some sort of sedative. It looks like Arthur was the target after all."
"So if Arthur didn't kill the assassin…" Merlin felt his words catch in his throat. He had never thought that Uther had been the best father to Arthur despite having a lack of experience in the area. But to know that the king had come out of his shell long enough to protect his son made Merlin wish for the man to cling onto life even more than before. "What do we do?"
"There is nothing I can do for him; it should wear off by morning. Get him back to his chambers, clean him up, get him into bed and for heaven's sake stay with him." Merlin nodded his understand as Gaius hurried off and straightened up again.
"Come on, Sire," he murmured gently, taking Arthur's arm and awkwardly draping it over his shoulder. It took a little prompting on Merlin's behalf before Arthur clumsily made it to his feet. He seemed to be swaying, nearly all of his weight leaning on his servant. Shutting his eyes, Merlin let them flare gold as he whispered a spell under his breath to allow him to move Arthur with greater ease.
"Come on, you don't need to be here." Slowly beginning to walk Arthur towards the door, Merlin hated how readily his master was just following him. He should have known the second he had seen Arthur's tears – despite the fact they were surrounded by guards – that something was wrong. Arthur would have ranted and raged, he would have been yelling at Gaius to pull a miracle out of the bag again to save his father. He wouldn't have been sitting there showing how he was truly feeling; he was too much of a prince for that.
Thankfully, the guards had managed to disperse most of the onlookers and by taking a few of the servant routes, Merlin was able to get Arthur back to his rooms without bumping into anyone. With Arthur so out of it, he risked magic a few times just to check the corridors were clear before having to practically drag the prince down them.
Once in Arthur's rooms, Merlin gently deposited the prince on his chair and tugged off his boots. Making sure the door was locked so they wouldn't be disturbed, he swiftly built up the fire and poured out some water, giving it a moment to heat a little before picking up a rag and taking it back to Arthur. The prince was in exactly the same position as Merlin had left him in and the warlock found he didn't really know how to react around this Arthur. He had never seen him like this before; it was almost like he was just a hollow shell. Adamantly not thinking about how much it made him seem the same way as his father had recently been, Merlin dipped the cloth in the warm water and gently took one of Arthur's hands in his own.
For a moment, Merlin simply worked in silence, ignoring the way the water was steadily turning pink. It was obvious Arthur had been holding his father for a long moment before the guards had arrived, trying to maintain pressure on the wound for the man to have a chance at surviving. Each stroke over Arthur's hands had Merlin wincing, wondering precisely how much blood Uther had lost. Eventually, however, Arthur's hands were clean and Merlin lifted the cloth to wipe the prince's face. At the first stroke, Arthur jolted back, his unfocused eyes finally fixing on his manservant.
"It's just me, Arthur. You're going to be alright. Gaius is with your father, he'll do everything he can. Just let me get this blood of you?" When Arthur didn't react, Merlin tentatively wiped the cloth down his face again. This time, Arthur just sat there, staring, as Merlin worked. Realising the silence was just as unnerving to the prince as it was to his servant, Merlin spoke softly. He didn't know what he was talking about, but just let his voice fill the otherwise silent chambers. Very slowly, the tension began to leave Arthur's body and Merlin knew his adrenaline levels were dropping and allowing the sedative to truly take hold.
When Arthur was finally clean, Merlin somehow tugged the prince's shirt off without him noticing. He picked up Arthur's rarely worn sleeping shirt and pulled it over Arthur's head. He knew that sleeping topless was not on the agenda for tonight, Arthur needed to be kept warm. As he fiddled with the laces on it, Merlin glanced up at Arthur's face again. This time, he was shocked to see the tears freely flowing again, although Arthur didn't make a sound. Realising that the prince didn't particularly want him seeing his moment of weakness but the drug was making his reactions harder to stop, Merlin didn't react to it. Instead, he just steadily got Arthur changed for bed, once again draping the man's arm over his shoulder and pulling him over to the bed.
It took a great deal of effort to get Arthur into it. It was as if the prince's limbs were refusing to listen, and Merlin had to marvel at how hard Arthur was fighting to stay awake despite the sedative coursing through his body. Eventually – with a little help from magic – Merlin finally got him onto the bed and proceeded to tug up the blankets around Arthur. For a split second, Arthur made to push them away as he glanced towards the door, but Merlin didn't give him a choice.
"Sleep, Arthur," he whispered soothingly, once again pulling them up. The warmth swiftly worked its way into the prince and Merlin could see his eyes flickering violently.
"You don't have to fight it anymore. Your father is in good hands, you're safe." It took a little more coaxing, but finally, Arthur slumped. When his eyes shut, they didn't open again and within seconds, his breathing had evened out as the sedative finally took its toll and dragged him into the realm of dreams.
Blowing out a long breath, Merlin sank to the floor, knees tucked up to his chest and his forehead touching his knees. For a moment, he could only sit there, his mind trying to process what was happening and how he was feeling about what was happening. Gaius had once asked him whether it had been hard letting Uther live when all he would have had to do was turn a blind eye for a few moments longer. Merlin had known that it would have destroyed Arthur if Uther had been killed in that way, but now he realised he had been wrong. It was destroying Arthur that Uther was potentially dying now. Despite their unstable relationship, Arthur had always known what to expect from his father, even in a time when everyone else seemed to be hiding themselves away. To lose him now…
Merlin forced the thought from his head and stood up. Checking that Arthur was still sleeping, he moved almost silently around the room, tidying a few things away and making sure the fire was burning brightly. When he couldn't pretend to be working any longer, Merlin eventually dragged a chair around to the side of Arthur's bed and sat down again. Propping his feet up on the end of the bed – he knew Arthur wouldn't be awakening any time soon – he let his mind wonder over everything that had happened, trying to work out how such a happy day had turned into this.
How long he sat there musing for, Merlin didn't know. But he jumped as the door creaked open, making to stand until he realised it was just Gaius.
"How's the king?" Merlin whispered, making sure to keep his voice low so he didn't disturb Arthur. Gaius moved further into the room before he answered.
"I've done everything I can for now. If he makes it through the night, then he may stand a chance. How is he?" Motioning towards Arthur, Gaius moved closer to the bed.
"I don't know," Merlin replied honestly. "How the hell he stayed awake for that long, I don't know. He is sleeping now though, and I'm sure he will be more controlled come morning." That was the only way Merlin could think of telling him that Arthur had just been sitting there crying without betraying Arthur's confidence. He knew the prince would hate it when he realised he let his moment of weakness show, even if it was just to Merlin.
"Can you help him?"
"No. All he can do is sleep off the sedative. I'm sure it is nothing more potent than that, they wouldn't have sent an assassin if they had already poisoned him. Just stay with him and fetch me the second anything changes."
"I will." Merlin smiled sadly at Gaius as the old man straightened up with a groan and moved back towards the door. He knew they were both in for a long night with watching over their respective charges, but as the door shut softly behind the physician and Arthur shifted slightly in his sleep, Merlin knew there was no power on earth, magical or otherwise, that could make him leave Arthur's side tonight.
He had a destiny to watch over and protect this man. And if it meant keeping vigil while Arthur slept, then that was what Merlin would do.