Albion 5: Pati

Hello, hope you are having a good day. I got this idea from Caldrea32's story The Perils of Modern Medicine. There are some similarities but a lot of differences. Hope you like it.

"Why do I have to go to king Adam?" Merlin asked.

"Because you are the court warlock. He wants a peace treaty with those with magic and a treaty with us." Arthur explained.

"I can't believe he would want to. Something is wrong with this idea, Arthur."

"It'll be fine. You'll have the finest knights with you."

"Last time, I came back with a horrible cold because he forgot the tents."

"He won't. Trust me."

Arthur put his hand on Merlin's shoulder. Merlin sighed and went to his chambers. He saw Freya and kissed her.

"How are you today?" Merlin asked.

"Better. SO is the baby." Freya answered.

"Good. Where are the kids?"

"All but Sabrina are outside. Sabrina is playing Regina. Tom is outside with the others."

"Arthur wants me to go to king Adam's kingdom."

"Why now? Doesn't he know that you want to stay with me?"

"I tried but he didn't listen."

"I'll pack your things. When do you leave?"

"In the morning."

Freya sighed and went to pack Merlin's things. The next morning, Merlin left with Gwaine, Elyan and the finest knights. It took a week to get to the kingdom and it rained most of the time. Merlin caught a cold quickly and wasn't happy. Gwaine had forgot to get the tents. When they got to the castle, Merlin went inside to greet the king.

"Who are you?" The king asked.

"Merlin, king Arthur's court warlock." Merlin answered.

"Ah yes. Deagal will tend to you while you are here. There will be a feast tonight."

"Thank you. I would like to rest before the feast."

Merlin followed Deagal to his chambers. When they got to Merlin's chambers, Merlin started coughing.

"Are you alright?" Deagal asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a cold." Merlin answered.

"I can get some wine for you."

"No thanks. I'll be fine."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No. My bag will be coming. I should get changed into something dry."

When Merlin's bag came, he got changed. He laid down on the bed and went to sleep. He had a few coughing fits as he took a nap. A few hours later, Deagal woke him up.

"It's time for the feast." Deagal whispered.

"I'll be up in a minute." Merlin sighed. He sat up and coughed. "I should see someone about this cold."

"They won't have anything for you. The physician isn't really a physician. He's one of those weird ones."

"I guess tomorrow, I'll have to go get some lemon and a few herbs."

"Sorry sir."

"It's alright. It's not your fault."

So Merlin went to the feast. He kept coughing and drinking the wine. His magic felt really strange and he moaned.

"Is something wrong?" Adam asked.

"Just a cold. I'm fine." Merlin groaned.

"Drink some more wine."

"I don't think I could."

"Try to."

Merlin drank a bit. When the feast was over, Deagal had to help Merlin to his chambers. Merlin sat down on the bed and groaned.

"My head hurts so bad." Merlin moaned.

"DO you want me to get something?" Deagal wondered.

"No. I'll be fine. I just need to rest."

"Can I bring my sister tomorrow? My parents died and I'm all she has. I want to help her get a job."

"How old is she?"

"6."

"You can bring her."

"Thank you."

"Now go home. She'll need you."

"Thank you."

Deagal went home. Merlin took his socks and jacket off. He noticed that his shirt was soaked. He took it off and put it near the fire to dry. He went to bed and fell asleep. He woke in the middle of the night and sat up. He realized that he was thirsty and hot. He stood up only to collapse. He groaned and tried to get up but he passed out. The next morning, Deagal came in with his sister. He saw Merlin on the floor.

"Stay here. I'm going to get help." Deagal said. The girl nodded as Deagal went to get help. When Deagal came with the physician, the girl was crying.

"Help me get him on the table. I need to treat him." The physician ordered. They got Merlin to the table. "He has a high fever. He's most likely has too much blood. We'll try to get it out."

SO the physician did what he could for Merlin. Gwaine and Elyan tried to help but were not allowed in. The physician made Merlin drink wine whenever he was even close to being conscious. Merlin kept getting worse. The physician cut into Merlin's skin in several areas. He did many very dangerous things to Merlin. A week had past and Merlin was worse.

"Is there anything you can do for him?" Gwaine asked.

"Not right now. We'll see if he changes and then go from there." The physician answered.

"Is there any medicine we should give him?"

"I would never give my patients medicine. He will be fine without such dangerous things."

The physician left the room.

"Gwaine, we should send help to Camelot and get Gaius. We can't take Merlin back because he's much too weak." Elyan suggested.

"Agreed. I'll go." Gwaine answered and left the room. Merlin laid in bed covered in sweat and very pale. He had nothing covering him. He was barely breathing. They hoped and prayed that Merlin would be alright. The next morning, Gwaine rode to Camelot. He saw that the bridge to get to Camelot was out so he had to go the long way which added days to his mission and he feared that Merlin didn't have that long. Merlin laid in bed getting worse. Leeches were placed on him to let out some of the blood. Merlin felt them and opened his eyes. He wiped them off.

"No, Merlin. You need those to help you." The physician said. "I need to cut into your body and make sure your liver is alright."

"No, don't. I'm fine. It's just pneumonia." Merlin moaned weakly. He tried to sit up but couldn't.

"Drink some wine. You need it."

Merlin did against his will and eventually passed out.

TBC