Hey guys! I'm so sorry that I haven't been publishing my other story lately but when I switched to my school computer I lost everything that I had saved :c
I'll continue it when I get a bit more typed up for for now this story is actually one that I had planned on writing a long time ago and could never find a good way of writing but finally sorted it out so I've been working on it as a bit of filler to cover the gap that's been made from my other story's hiatus.
Again, I am planning on finishing the other story but give me some time, school is hard and I've been really busy. I've also been grappling with some... personal issues lately and writing hasn't been the most important thing in my mind.
Camelot castle was already abuzz with activity despite the early hour. Servants ran with baskets of laundry, plates of food and buckets of water to start baths for their masters. A low fog hung around the courtyard making clothes damp and armor uncomfortable for the guards who were unlucky enough to have morning patrol. There was one servant who was not already up and about, despite the growing lateness of the hour. Up in the far tower that was lazily drifting smoke out of the window from last night's cooking fire, a young man slept peacefully under a mountain of thick blankets. His charge was already bustling about, clinking bottles as he prepared the day's medicines. The scent of peppermint and sage permeated the warm air as the old man worked. No matter how late he had been up the night before Gaius always woke up at the crack of dawn to begin his preparations, generally speaking as his ward slept on peacefully. Merlin was not a lazy boy-and though he complained often about the smaller things like aches and sores received during his training with Arthur or his dangerous missions, but he never complained when he was really hurting. And even the most powerful warlock of all time could not fool the court physician. Merlin was slowing down. He moved like an old man and retired early, sleeping soundly through the night and late into the early afternoon. Gaius glanced at the closed door at the end of his chamber worryingly, his ward on his mind. He looked back down at the potion that he was brewing to see it was clear and watery, instead of yellow and thick as it should have been. Letting out a silent curse, the old man emptied the ruined mixture into a small wooden bowl and rinsed out the vial, unsure of what he had even put into it to make such a spectacular failure.
Trying to put Merlin out of his mind before he accidentally killed some, Gaius set about making the correct concoction this time and almost succeeded before a loud knock on his chamber door made him drop the small bottle completely, sending yellow goop splashing on the floor and over his shoes.
"Come in!" The angry court physician hissed, worried about waking Merlin with too much noise. The boy needed all the sleep that he could get to fight whatever it was that he was going through.
As expected, a moment later Arthur stepped cautiously into the room, already dressed in his armor with a mixture of worry and annoyance on his face.
"Good morning sire." Gaius greeted softly, already stooping down with creaking joints to clean up the mess.
Arthur crossed his arms. "Is he still asleep?"
The old man paused. When he finally spoke his voice was grave, not unlike when he delivered the news of death to a family. "Yes."
"How long has it been this time?" The blond asked softly, all pretenses of anger washed away.
"He retired before sunset last night and has yet to wake."
Alarm shot through the king at the news. "Have you been in to check on him?"
Gaius looked offended. "Of course! It appears to just be normal sleep without even night terrors to disrupt it. I went in to have a look before I began my morning brewing but he didn't even stir."
"Gaius... Do you know what is causing this?" Arthur sounded out of character to the point of almost seeming scared.
The old man wanted to reassure the king-he wished to reassure himself-but there was no merit in false hope.
"No sire, I fear that I haven't any idea. It's not any illness that I know about."
"Is it... Could it be because of his magic?" Arthur pressed. It was ironic how the king had been raised to hate anything magical and speak the word like the most bitter of poisons had just said it without any care.
Gaius stroked his chin thoughtfully and took a seat on the wooden bench by his worktable, motioning to Arthur to do the same, all traces of formality gone.
"I... I do not know entirely. I have suspected however... I was trying to convince myself otherwise."
Arthur took a seat, his blue eyes brimming with concern.
"I think that I should go and visit some people." The old man said thoughtfully.
The king jerked his head up. "People?"
"Druids." Gaius said simply.
For a moment the physician found the Arthur's expression almost comical. The blond bowed his head again and sighed. Gaius couldn't really blame him. Though Merlin, and his own magic were now accepted and well-known, the king was still untrusting of most outside magic users.
"Am I to assume that you do not mean the Druid settlement?"
Arthur was referring to a small village just in the forests beyond the lower town's borders. Merlin had pressured him into allowing a small amount of Druid people's to live there just after magic was legalized. Of course the king had been apposed at first but it made political sense in the end. The Druids were peaceful and didn't cause any trouble-in fact they rarely ventured from their simple homes into the main town and the citizens had begun to feel at ease about magic. However, they were all fairly low in power and possessed only basic magic. The help that Gaius needed was much stronger than anything they could offer. There was once a time when he would have just gone to visit Kilgharrah, but ever since Merlin had freed the dragon, seeing him was nearly impossible. And after the battle at Camlann, it was truly impossible. To think that the dragon would use the last of his life force to save the king.
"Sadly, no. The ones I seek are far away-at least a three days journey." Gaius sighed, thinking of the workload he'd have to complete before he set out.
"I'll lend you a troupe of knights." The king said simply. Gaius was grateful that the king seemed to have no problem with him leaving.
"It will take a few days of preparation. I'll also have to check on Amr and Guinevere before I leave. Fortunately, there are no babies due soon in the town so I should be able to depart soon."
Arthur smiled when he thought of his son and wife, who was now pregnant with their second child. She wasn't very far along and everything seemed to be going smoothly. It was like all their problems conceiving had somehow translated into good luck when it came to birthing the child in the end.
"It's probably best not to tell Merlin either." Gaius said thoughtfully, already thinking of the long rant he'd receive from his ward if he found out about his plans.
A loud yawn and opening of a door made both Arthur and Gaius jump.
"Tell Merlin what?" A gravely, sleep-filled voice asked.
Arthur wasted no time in making up an excuse.
"Tell you that you are too lazy Merlin! The rest of the castle has been up for hours and you are just managing to wake!"
Gaius sighed lightly and stood up, creaking and groaning as he did so. Merlin looked awful. His hair was messy and tangled, and he was in bad need of a trim. Despite getting more sleep than his body should have needed, the young warlock also had dark circles under his eyes.
"How are you feeling my boy?" Gaius asked with a mixture of physician and father inflected in his voice.
Merlin simply flashed a smile. "I'm fine, just a bit tired. But what are you doing here?"
The question was directed towards the king who was still seated and looking annoyed, though Gaius knew that it was an air.
"I came to see why my court sorcerer-" Merlin frowned at the word. He'd told Arthur over and over again that he was not a sorcerer, but a warlock, "was not out of bed and attending the council meeting that he specifically asked for."
Merlin looked at the blond with confusion in his eyes.
"Isn't it... The council meeting is tomorrow isn't it?"
Both Gaius and Arthur looked stricken. The old man moved closer to his ward.
"Merlin, why don't you go have a seat on the patient's bed." It was more of an order than anything else and the young warlock obeyed wordlessly.
Gaius followed him and shot a glance at Arthur. Knowing that Merlin would never come clean if he was around, the king excused himself, leaving the physician and his ward alone.
"Now, tell me how to feel." Gaius said almost threateningly.
Merlin hesitated but bowed his head in submission.
"I'm tired all the time. I feel like an old man."
Gaius nodded, knowing this was true before it was even said.
"Joint stiffness, weakness, dizziness?"
Merlin nodded to all of the questions guiltily.
When he looked up his eyes were clouded. "What's wrong with me Gaius?"
The old physician had believed that over the years he had steeled his heart. Delivering bad news constantly was not something that one could do without developing an unfeeling shell but the sincerity and fear in his ward's voice broke down any pretense of composure that the old man had left.
"Oh my boy, I just don't know."
Nothing more needed to be said, instead, Gaius sat heavily next to Merlin and wrapped him in a warm embrace. The warlock hesitated but hugged back tightly, selfish fear finally showing for the first time.
They didn't hug for long and after a moment, the physician patted the raven-haired youth's leg and went wordlessly back to work, beginning the potion for a third time and determined to do it right.
Merlin aided him for the rest of the day. Gaius made up an excuse about needing to go visit an ailing friend in a far-off village. Though the warlock had suspicions at first he quickly fell into the rhythm associated with making medicine. He tired easily but the day passed smoothly. Gaius would request an herb and it would already be in his hand and vice versa.
By the end of the day Merlin, both Merlin and Gaius were exhausted but they had managed to make an oversupply of potions, draughts and remedies, more than enough to fill the gap of the upcoming journey.
"I'm going to go to bed." Merlin announced when the last vial was placed on the shelf.
"No, you are going to eat something first, then you may go." Gaius corrected, already putting a pot of water over the fire for a hearty stew. Merlin hated liver but the physician knew that it was high in nutrients and that the boy would need all the aide his body could get.
Stretching and yawning and looking over at the empty patient's bed, Merlin grunted but moved to lay down anyway. Gaius did not stop him and instead bustled about, robes swishing on the floor as he cooked a rich meal of liver and onion stew and bread with apples for desert. With all the medicine prepared, he could check on the queen and prince the next day and depart ahead of schedule. Normally the physician would be opposed to leaving before he had planned, but Merlin's situation was worrying him more and more.
"Merlin." Gaius called lightly to the sleeping warlock.
When there was no response he tried again but Merlin slept on unaware.
"Merlin!" The old physician snapped. He went over to the patient's bed where his ward was sleeping and shook him harshly with no result.
The lack of awareness worried Gaius. Normally it didn't take this much to wake him up-even in his newly weakened state. Shaking the warlock roughly, his panic growing as he did so, Gaius called his name again.
Finally, blue eyes opened to no more than slits and looked around in confusion.
"Gaius?" Merlin croaked, not understanding why the old man was nearly on top of him.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Gaius simply stood up. "Dinner is ready."
Merlin rubbed at his eyes, looking much like a child would after being woken from a nap. He didn't comment on the stew as they ate though the look of distaste on his face was obvious. Despite everything, at least the youth still had an appetite, Gaius observed carefully. The court physician barely touched his own meal and focused instead on Merlin, noticing every spoonful that he took, even counting the bites of the apple that he took.
"Alright, that's enough. You may go to bed now-after you wash up." Gaius finally proclaimed when Merlin finished his apple. The warlock looked like the weight of the world had just been taken off his shoulders at the prospect of sleep.
He grumbled something about helping with the dishes but was waved off dismissively and wandered off to the far door.
I'll admit it-the end of Merlin broke me. Broke me right down. So this is my version of the story of how it ended that's basically, Arthur and Gwaine didn't die and everything's happy now. Or not. Poor Merlin is in trouble and this time it's not him doing the saving. I know everyone's a bit out-of-character but I've not written Merlin for a while and I haven't watched it in even longer so bear with me. It'll get better I promise.