REIGN

Story: Reign

Characters: Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, Morgana, Uther, Urion (OC, but Morgan le Fey's husband in the legends)

Pairings: none/gen

Rating: T for safety and gore

Warnings: blood, abuse…? I think that's it? We'll see….

Author's Note: Hello, everyone! So, the other day I began watching a new show called Reign, based loosely on the life of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland. I don't want to spoil it for anyone (and I do highly recommend the show) but that episode really inspired this story, which I hope should not be any longer than ten chapters. Fingers crossed. I do tend to ramble, though, so really it could be much longer. We'll see!


Chapter One

Merlin was, to be frank, absolutely exhausted.

This fact was not extraordinary; in fact, it was rather becoming the norm. This occasion simply proved to be one of exceptional exhaustion, in which Merlin was notably more tired, a feat he had not believed possible. Since arriving at Camelot, the warlock had grown used to a constant state of weariness, due to the man's position as servant to his royal pratness, his apprenticeship to Gaius, and his saving the entirety of the kingdom from complete devastation. The kingdom now, however, was in a rare state of peace. Good harvest allowed for a generally healthier population, permitting Gaius to enable some leniency with his duties. Arthur, of course, was being his usual dollop-y self, but Merlin expected nothing less from the man. All this considering, Merlin should have been expecting a restful and peace-filled break from the constant chaos of Camelot. The gangly servant knew, though, that current events would not act in favor of a rest-deprived manservant.

The castle was aflame in its energy, pulsating and burning and threatening and enlightening its inhabitants, of which there were a notable few more than any typical time of year. Yet this was no typical time; this was a new time for Camelot's future. King Uther knew the importance securing powerful alliances for Camelot as well as a fair companion for his ward, both of which were easily remedied with one solution: a political marriage. The king invited potential suitors from across Albion to interview for the possibility of marrying the ward of Uther Pendragon, an invitation not refused by a single suitor. Merlin would know – he wrote the list.

This in itself was of little consequence to Merlin – he knew Morgana would not hesitate to challenge Uther should he decide against her will. Arthur was tense and more curt than usual, but this was, again, not unexpected.

The issue lay with his magic.

"Forbaerne," Merlin said, staring intently at an unlit candle atop the table. The wick twitched, but did not light.

"Forbaerne!" he insisted.

Gaius put on an amused sigh. "Merlin, you have been staring at that candle for nearly an hour now. If it was to light with the heat from your gaze it would have, but unfortunately it refuses to do so."

"It's been like this for nearly a month, Gaius," Merlin stated. (Not whined. All-powerful warlocks do not whine, they simply state. He stated. He did not whine.)

Gaius puttered closer to the table, bringing with him a number of clinking vials. "I am sympathetic toward your plight, Merlin, honestly I am. But your magic is preoccupied right now, and rightly so. You must heal."

"Gaius," Merlin groaned.

Gaius spoke sharply. "You almost died, Merlin."

Merlin could feel the eyebrow burning through his head. The serving boy rolled his eyes, airily saying, "I know that Gaius. Trust me, I was there."

"Then you must also understand that your magic will be too busy trying to heal that sword wound in your side," Gaius persisted.

"Yes, I know, you've told me all this before," Merlin said impatiently, propping his chin upon his palm. "Stab wound, almost dies, magic heals, et cetera, et cetera. The question is, why isn't my magic working, and when will it work again?"

Gaius stared at the raven haired boy, unimpressed. "I do not appreciate your tone, Merlin. Perhaps I ought to tell Arthur that you are unfit for duty. That George fellow seems keen to step in."

Gaius was not serious, naturally. Simply put off. His ward seemed to be constantly feuding with Arthur for the title of 'most willing to die for the other,' a competition with irked Gaius to no end. Despite their, admittedly entertaining, bickering and near-constant displeasure with the other, Merlin and Arthur were both infuriatingly prepared to sacrifice himself for the other. Two sides of the same coin, indeed.

When it happened, Gaius was doing his rounds, delivering potions to his patients around the citadel. He would normally ask Merlin to do so on his way to the kitchens, but Arthur was to go patrolling that morning, and thus Merlin was to accompany. It was quite a good trade off, Gaius thought, having Merlin as an apprentice. The man was no genius with herbs or healing, but he thrived on learning and, despite his complaints, truly did enjoy acting as the physician's assistant. Each morning he would stop by Gaius's patient quarters on the way to the kitchens to pick up Arthur's breakfast, and he would pick herbs on the fourth night of every week, when Arthur allowed him leave four hours early. It was fair compensation for room and board, though Gaius would have no problem if he stayed without an apprenticeship.

So caught in his musings, Gaius was almost upon the quarters of the Lady Ralforne before he noticed the young serving boy running at him. The boy skidded to a stop, both hands stretched to stop Gaius's rounds, and he just managed to wheeze a few key phrases. "The knights – ambushed – your chambers – "

Barely managing to suppress a swear, Gaius quickly collected his thoughts. He ordered the boy to deliver Ralforne's potion and set off at his fastest hobble in the direction of his chambers. Much as he wished to testify to the contrary, Gaius was' quite used to this sort of scenario. The bandits outside Camelot city were growing bolder and more restless, and though the patrols were to discourage attacks, they often leaded to confrontation between knights and vagabonds. Wounds were not uncommon. Deaths were not either.

Gaius had hardly turned the corner before he was greeted with the anxious face of Sir Leon. "Gaius!" the knight exclaimed, relief filling his voice. "Arthur, it's Gaius, he's coming," Leon shouted down the hall, anxiously wiping red-stained hands on his tunic. Parts of his red tunic were painted burgundy.

"What's happened?" Gaius asked.

"We were on patrol. There were rumors of a Druid tribe close to the city's western border, so we were looking there, but we were ambushed, sire. Bandits. They planted the information to lure us out. They wanted to kill Arthur, Uther's only heir, as penance for the Great Purge."

"They were unsuccessful, I presume?"

"Barely," Leon agreed. "That's how he got hurt, though."

Gaius hummed. It was a familiar song, after all: kill Arthur for revenge on Uther, destroy the Pendragon dynasty, repeat. This would not be the last time an event of this sort came around, nor was it always for the same reason, but the important bit was that Arthur survived. After all, the prince had many a scar from these assassination plots. What's another?

This mindset, therefore, came to his great disadvantage upon entering the chambers.

"Gaius," Arthur breathed, pain upon his features. The prince was covered in blood, valiantly scrambling for more bandages from the pile on the table as they soaked with blood far too quickly. The other knights hadn't the faintest clue what to do with themselves, standing against the walls with half-embarrassed, half-harassed expressions, as though praying to be sucked into the stone. It was not Arthur who was injured, however. It was Merlin.

"There was a bandit," Arthur babbled, hands shaking as he pushed on the wound to the right side of Merlin's abdomen. "He was going to run me through – my back was turned – when Merlin just jumped in from of me, shouting, and he – he - " Arthur's voice quivered.

Merlin was still on the patient cot, bright red blood blanching his skin. Gaius stared at the boy, his nephew, his son, and wanted to do nothing more than to collapse onto the cot himself and adopt the wound in his stead.

Gaius suddenly looked much older. Time did not slow, but Gaius did, attempting to compose himself before examining his patient. His patient, not his son. "Did the blade go all," he coughed, "all the way through?"

Arthur thought superficially, his mind still scattered and terrified. "I – I don't – "

"It did, sire," Leon interjected quietly. "I saw."

Gaius closed his eyes, compression his emotions. Merlin needs a physician, not a mother sobbing over the state of his shirt, Gaius chastised himself, shaking his head. "Right. Then we'll be needing these bandages cleaned, and more brought up. I assume you lot can do this?" Gaius addressed the knights. Looking relieved at the possibility of escape, they nodded fervently and came to collect the bloody cloths. "Leon, if you could fetch the Lady Morgana's maidservant, Guinevere? She will prove invaluable."

"Of course, Gaius," Leon nodded, and ducked out.

"I did – I did all I could, Gaius," Arthur said. "Merlin's usually the one to do this sort of thing, but I remember what you said about, ehm, keeping pressure on the wounds and, er, trying not to – not to let him – you know – fall asleep. I couldn't figure out how to get him to – "

"Arthur."

The prince's jaw promptly slammed shut. Gaius gave him a minute of poignant privacy for Arthur to compose himself, while Gaius stoppered the bleeding wound over his ward's side.

When Arthur spoke it was unaccompanied by the wobble of uncertainty and doubt. Instead it was bolstered with the steel of fear and determination, and the prince said only four words.

"How can I help."

The prince, the physician, and the chambermaid, when she arrived, eventually stopped the flow of blood, working to keep the man's body from going into shock. Despite the dire quality of his humors (1) and the deepness of his wound, Merlin survived. Gwen called it a miracle; Arthur called it a lesson ("to never let the idiot out of his chambers again!"), but Gaius knew his survival could be owed only to Merlin's own magic, which kept him alive until Gaius could do it properly. (2) Even now, nigh on a month later, his magic was still designated to keeping him functioning, for a wound of such severity would typically require twice as long to heal.

"I'm sorry, Gaius," Merlin said. "I'm just so . . . bored."

"You've returned to work," Gaius reminded him.

"Yes, but Arthur won't allow me to do much past picking up a goblet. He won't even let me pick up his armour! He carried it to training yesterday, and allowed me only the helmet!"

"Well, Merlin, I never thought I'd see the day. So eager to work! Remind me of this occasion the next time you skimp your duties to drown your salary in ale," Arthur drolled, leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed in amusement. Whereas Merlin once might have frozen with surprise, he now instead preferred to transfer his glare from the candlestick to the crown prince.

"Prat."

Gaius simply sighed.

"Come on, Merlin, we've been summoned," Arthur announced, moving as though to offer the man a hand. He changed his mind halfway through the motion.

"We? Or you?"

"Me, of course. Who would summon you?"

"Who would summon you? Arthur, half of the castle is asleep."

"And the other half has just been summoned to the throne room. Prince Urion of Anglia has arrived."


FOOTNOTES:

1. Just some ancient medical history. Before the Scientific Revolution in the mid-sixteenth century, doctors believed that the body was composed of types of what they called humors, and an unbalance was what led to sickness. Blood was thought to be one humor. This was established long before modern medicine came into play.

2. This concept was inspired heavily by the wonderful BeyondTheStorm's Healing Spells. It's an amazing fanfiction that I really, really recommend, and the concept of magic inhibited by the healing of a wound was, ahem, rented for this story. (; I strongly recommend all of Aurora's stories, she's fantastic, and thanks so much for letting me lend some of the ideas. The link to Healing Spells is here: s/6022745/1/Healing-Spells

Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!