Hi everyone, just a quick response to my reviews as they mean so much to me! Mika271170, thank you for such a sweet review, just to clarify Merlin is the only one younger in this fiction, Arthur and the others are the ages they are in the TV series. I know this is a tad weird, but it is the only way I could make it work and I thought it made a bit of a change from the rest of the Merlin fiction world which I have come to love so much! metheRanDoMer, well here you are, I hope you enjoy this as well! Bailieboro, thank you so much, that really made me smile :D Absent minds, I know I am terrible, just please keep on reviewing lol, you know how happy it makes me :) Felicity P, thank you, and every one in their right mind wants to give Merlin a cuddle! Who would say no?! So I hope you enjoy this.

Chapter 2

Arthur looked up startled at the sight before him. One moment he had been chatting to Gaius about a new cream for bruising which he had sampled, and the next he was faced with a truly haunting image. There were two figures moving towards him, the larger figure being carried by a short man. He immediately moved towards the strange couple, beckoning to Percival and Gwen who had been standing nearby watching the drama unfold. Arthur and the knights were the first to reach the struggling pair and Arthur realised that it really was a young child carrying a woman, who he assumed was the boy's mother. The child was incredibly thin and pale, his eyes wide with fear and red with tears. That however, was not what disturbed Arthur the most, no, the thing that made his heart clench was the amount of wounds covering the tiny figure. The child couldn't be more than seven and yet the injuries he was bearing would cause enough pain to floor a full grown knight. It seemed as though the boy had feebly attempted to wrap a makeshift bandage around his head, but the material was soaked through with blood. He also had a pronounced limp and was holding his right leg up; his shirt was also in tatters, revealing a mess of bloody skin. The boy's thin face was gaunt, hollow and covered in a mixture of sweat and blood. Arthur could see that his whole body was trembling from exhaustion, exertion or fright, or maybe even a combination of all three. Pity immediately swallowed Arthur and despite his position in society he hurried further forward to help. The woman also looked to be in a bad state and she was clearly unconscious, Percival therefore moved and scooped her up out of the boy's arms.

Merlin allowed his mother to be taken out of his arms, he would not have been able to carry her for much longer and now that he had stopped moving his legs seemed to be failing him. He swayed forwards slightly, barely keeping his balance. His head was spinning and he leant over coughing up more of the metallic tasting liquid, releasing a small groan as he heard his blood splatter on the floor. He felt a familiar swooping sensation as his legs buckled beneath him and he waited for his frame to hit the stone ground and to hear a dull thud. It never came. When Merlin cautiously opened his eyes to see what had happened he realised that he was hovering in the air, his feet not touching the ground. He blinked, tears were impairing his view and all he could make out was the outline of a concerned man with blonde hair.

Arthur had lunged forward to catch the small boy when he noted how he was swaying alarmingly and just reached him in time. Gwen had also jumped forward when she saw the boy was about to collapse but Arthur beat her to it, and now looked rather uncertain about what to do with the child. Arthur quickly tightened his grip around the boy, feeling skinny arms wrap instinctively around his neck and feeling certain that if he put the boy down he would just collapse again. Arthur said the first things that came to mind, the usual hollow words about everything being alright and it all being safe now. Of course as the prince he knew that nothing was ever that simple, but he wanted to comfort the child in whatever way possible. It didn't look as though he was doing a job though; he could feel the child's tears trickle onto his neck and hear his muffled sobs and gasps for breath. The boy's skin was on fire yet he appeared to be shivering and Arthur realised that he had a raging fever.

Arthur stroked the limp boy's back soothingly as he talked and began to swiftly walk towards Gaius' chambers. Merlin had buried his head in the stranger's neck, exhaustion kicking in and shock beginning to take hold of his body. He couldn't prevent the tears streaming from his eyes, or stop his entire body from trembling. His head felt so heavy and he was so cold, he just wanted the pain to stop. Merlin felt the last of his energy sap away and he fell asleep in the man's arms, no longer caring about what happened to him.

They hadn't even got halfway across the courtyard before Arthur felt the child's grip around his neck slacken and he wondered worriedly whether he had died, although the child's chest was heaving irregularly disproving that theory. Perceval followed his prince with the woman in hand, she had not stirred at all in his arms and it was only the faint rise and fall of her chest that convinced him that she was still alive. Like the boy, her skin also had a sheen of feverish sweat and there was a large bloodstain on the side of her dress.

Gaius had finally caught up with the group, his arthritic joints prevented him from running around like he used to, and he almost blanched at the sight before him. He immediately began to assess the damage and quickly followed as Percival and Arthur carried the mother and son to his chambers. By the looks of things they were only just hanging on to life and he didn't know whether or not he would be able to save them. Gwen had also managed to catch up with two buckets of water in hand. She had also hurried ahead, realising that help would be needed, so she asked a couple of servants to fetch food, drinking water and spare blankets.

Arthur kicked open the door to Gaius' chambers and was immediately followed by Gwen and Percival. Percival gently rested the woman on the first bed, Gwen sat down the buckets of water and Arthur walked over to the second bed.

"Come on lad, down you get." There was no response from the child and Arthur felt worry sweep over him again, had they reached Camelot too late?

"My Lord, the boy is asleep, here let me." Gwen moved over to Arthur and carefully unwrapped the child's skinny interlocked fingers, lifting his arms so that they were no longer wrapped around Arthur. Arthur nodded his thanks blushing slightly for some reason and gently laid the boy down, resting his head on the thin pillow and wondering what had happened to them. Gaius bustled in and immediately set everyone to work. Percival had left to inform the guards about what had happened so that they would be extra vigilant and Gwen had been asked to help clean the patients up. Arthur of course was not asked to do anything, he was the prince after all, but he decided to get his hands dirty anyway. There was something about the child that was so innocent and delicate, part of him was certain that if there was a heavy gust of wind the boy would splinter into a million little pieces and be scattered away. Gaius had set about gathering potions and Gwen was now removing the woman's dress. Arthur averted his eyes until she had been half-covered in a thin blanket and he watched as Gaius began to unbandage her wound. It soon became apparent that she had been stabbed and that the wound was serious. Gaius let out a hiss when he saw the deep cut and sighed sadly. He would do what he could, but in this case he realised that all he could really do was hope.

"Is it bad?" Arthur couldn't hold back the question; the boy was still fast asleep so he wouldn't hear the answer.

"I am afraid so my Lord, I do not think she has long for this world, but I will do my utmost to heal her." Gaius then turned his attention back to the woman, hurriedly bathing her skin with a bucket of water and applying creams. Arthur watched in fascination as the old man worked, completely shut off from the world and totally focused on pouring strange liquids down the woman's throat.

Gwen had also began to bustle around and tend to the boy. Arthur held up his limp figure as Gwen pulled of his clothes, leaving the child just in his pants. Arthur let out a small gasp, the boy's body was emaciated, his ribs seemed to be attempting to poke out of his body and his chest was littered with deep cuts made by the blade of a sword. These wounds were not intended to kill instantly, no they were meant to cause as much pain as possible. Who would do this to a child? Arthur scowled and began to assess the damage to the boy's thigh. This to was covered in similarly extensive cuts and bruises, some of which appeared to be infected. The rest of the boy's milk white skin was covered in less serious cuts and bruises, his knees were both black from falling over and his bare feet were crusted over with dried blood and dirt.

"Gaius, what should we do?" Gaius looked over and grimaced, the boy was also badly wounded.

"If you wouldn't mind sire, I would be very grateful if you could begin to bathe his wounds."

"Of course." Arthur and Gwen set to work, Arthur picking up a cloth and wiping the blood and puss from the boy's leg and then chest. Gwen cleaned his forehead as best as she could, but they were both forced to stop when the boy awoke with a start.

Merlin woke up in agony, the pain in his head, leg and chest seemed to have intensified and he let out a howl of pain. He opened his eyes and saw that he was lying in bed with a woman and the man from earlier hovering over him. Merlin couldn't help but cry; he didn't know where he was and wanted his mum. Everything hurt! He tried to pull away but found himself barely able to move. Instead he rolled his head into what he assumed was a pillow and curled up in an attempt to make them pity and leave him alone.

"Shh, don't worry. You are safe now, this is Gaius the physician, he is just looking after the woman who was with you but will make your pain go away in a minute."

Merlin couldn't understand a word that was being spoken to him, his brain was fuzzy and the pain was too much. He hoped that the darkness would take over him again.

"Just hold still lad, we are just cleaning you up." Arthur noted that the boy had closed his eyes and scrunched his face up in an attempt to avoid the pain and he felt awful, but knew that he had to carry on cleaning the wounds despite how much it must be hurting the boy. He picked up the wet cloth again and began to wipe at one of the nastier, infected cuts, feeling the child squirm under his touch and wriggle away. Merlin fisted the sheets and tried to escape the man's hands. His chest was on fire and the pain was getting worse by the second. Gwen sighed and gently bought the cloth back to the boys head, jumping back immediately when he screamed.

Merlin couldn't help it, the pain was just too much and he allowed more agonised screams to be torn from his throat. The hands did stop momentarily but soon returned, rubbing his flesh and causing his wounds to throb unbearably. Soon his screams turned to inhuman whimpers and he writhed in the sheets in a feeble attempt to escape his fate.

Gaius sighed, he had done all he could for the woman's side and he could no longer put-off looking after the boy. He rushed to his shelf and pulled out numerous vials of thick liquids which he poured down the lad's throat. Merlin coughed and spluttered, wondering whether he was being poisoned. Whatever was in his mouth tasted awful and he felt himself gagging.

"Try to keep it down my boy; it will make you feel better." The voice of the old man leaning over him was fading with each word and Merlin felt a strange numb feeling come over him. He didn't even notice when he fell asleep again.

Arthur looked down at the child who was now twitching slightly in his sleep. Each breath seemed to be a struggle and the boy's chest was heaving with the effort of pumping blood around his feeble body.

"Gaius, do you think they will be ok?"

"I cannot say. The boy is clearly a fighter; he must be stronger than he looks if he managed to carry his mother here."

"Do you know where they are from?"

"Ealdor by the looks of the woman's necklace. It was made by the local blacksmith there if I am not mistaken. It is his most popular pattern."

"Ealdor? But that is a two day ride away, or a good four day walk."

"I know. By the looks of things the lad hasn't eaten for about four days, it looks as if he gave all the food to his mother, assuming that is who she is." Arthur gave a small nod. Yes, the small boy was clearly strong if he had managed to carry his mother all the way here.

"Notify me as soon as he wakes up. I want to talk to him."

"Sire, I am not sure if he will be capable of talking. It is clear that he has undergone great hardship."

"I know, but if there is any threat posed to Camelot or its citizens I must be prepared."

"I understand." Gaius gave a small nod and watched Arthur leave the room. The servants had returned with supplies and Gaius quickly wrapped the blankets around the trembling boy who was still fast asleep. There was no point in waking either of his patients; they could wait a little longer before eating. Gaius knew that even with his potions they would both be in a lot of pain so the longer they slept the better. Gaius then continued working on the boy's wounds stitching up the deepest cuts, glad that a combination of the potion and exhaustion had knocked him out so thoroughly. The wound in his head was by far the worst and Gaius decided that it was a miracle that the boy was still alive. He then bandaged the child's entire torso, head and thigh, checked on the unconscious woman and settled into his favourite chair. He would try to get just a few hours of sleep but wanted to stay in the same room as his patients in case they woke up.

That's it for today; the next chapter is written and will be uploaded on Sunday. Please, please, please, please, please review guys, it doesn't take long but completely makes my day!