Apologizes for the fact that this is an extremely short chapter and does not pick up directly from the last chapter's ending point...I had to do a lot of school work past two weeks, so I did not have time to sit and write the chapter I wanted...Next chapter will definitely deal with Merlin/Arthur...I promise (though I might take 3 weeks to update depending on how school goes...It will be a critical part of the story so I want it done right!)
Thanks to all who reviewed or read this :) More reviews I get, more inspiration I have :D
Time lagged on. Had five minutes passed? Or was it ten? Or perhaps it was an hour, or hours?
Arthur cradled Merlin's heavy, dark head against the curve of his neck while he wrapped his arm's around the slimmer man's waist. The cool feathery feeling of Merlin's hair brushed against his neck while Arthur clung to Merlin's lifeless figure in his lap, hoping some his strength would diffuse into the wrecked man.
Once the initial shock of the situation died down a bit, Arthur's brain began to unfreeze and took in the severity of the situation. Arthur felt those tears that he did not even know he was capable of shedding, stop prickling down his face because by now, his tear ducts had run dry.
No man is worth your tears, Merlin...
Oh, what a fool he was back then! The man who Arthur has now become would have killed the man that he was then for saying such an insensitive lie.
"You are worth my tears, Merlin," Arthur croaked from his parched throat, "You are worth everything this world has to offer, because even everything would not be enough..."
Feeling the icy cold vibe coming from Merlin's body, Arthur quickly took off his linen tunic, leaving himself more exposed than he normally would have liked to be, ripped it down the middle, and wrapped it around Merlin. Arthur doubted that it would do much, but anything was better than nothing. He knew that the only way he would be able to help Merlin at all was to get him back to Camelot where Gaius would be able to treat him.
If the roles were reversed, Merlin would know what to do and how to heal Arthur, or at least keep him from getting worse. True, he would have had a magical advantage, but Merlin was sensible: he thought his decisions through. Perhaps all those years being Arthur's manservant had taught him that.
But in contrast, Arthur was a warrior: kill first, ask questions later. Ever since he could walk that had been his motto. Arthur was one to act on impulse, and if his impulse was to sit with Merlin in his lap and cry for the better part of the day, then that was the only thing he was capable of doing.
Anger began to pulse through his veins as Arthur clambered up from the forest floor: no, Arthur would not sit here and watch the man he loved die! It was the anger that flustered him enough to get his mind to work as Arthur heaved up Merlin's now feather light body and gently drapped him over his own shoulders.
Arthur glanced to his right at his, hopefully, unconscious husband, praying to the gods that Merlin would once again be alive and well...or at very least alive...
Anything would be better than Merlin's death...
Arthur thought as he stumbled his way through the thick vegetation surrounding him.
Anything.
If only Arthur knew how wrong he really was then...
"Lance?" asked a honey sweet voice that could only belong to the sweetest of women, except it lacked the smoothness that it normally had.
"Hm?" Lancelot hummed in reply as he regretfully turned his gaze, dropping all the tools he was using to sharpen his sword, to his broken wife, "Gwen? What is it?"
He quickly rushed to Guinevere's side to wear she sat on their bad in her night-gown; she clutched her still flat abdomen, clinging to it as a life source. Seeing the grave look and despair on her face, Lancelot immediately launched into interrogation mode.
"Are you feeling well? Is it the baby? Do you need me to call Gaius?"
Gwen smiled weakly at her husband's concern while she shook her head at his overprotective nature. Gwen took a moment to fully admire the affection and worry Lancelot had for her and their unborn child.
"The baby and I are both fine..."
Upon hearing this Lancelot's shoulders sagged slightly in relief, but his concern did not seem to be disappearing any time soon.
"Then what can it be, Gwen?" Lancelot asked in a calmer, more reserved way than he had previously.
"I think something went wrong..." Gwen began as she fiddled with the trimming of her gown sleeve, "You know: with Merlin and Arthur..."
Lancelot's interest piqued again with the mention of his long time friend and his king. Gwen admired how Lance never questioned her affections for him or for Arthur: one person could love two people at the same time: she had proven that.
And Lancelot knew that no matter how much she loved Arthur, he would be the one she would pick at the end of the day. All that love and energy she had for Arthur was quickly been converted to the love between a brother and a sister...
"What do you mean something is wrong, Gwen? If something has happened we must act quickly defend our King and his Consort!"
Gwen felt the rush of affection well up in her heart at her husband's desperation to fix a wrong he never committed. They both knew very well that Arthur had clearly forgiven their relationship, yet Lancelot had never accept it possible, so he was constantly trying to prove himself to Arthur, earning him the King's affections.
"Merlin told me he and Arthur would be back by supper," Gwen's hands traveled down to the tips of her now silky long hair and stated worriedly "yet they never showed..."
Lancelot did not need to wait to hear the end of her statement to already pounce at his sword and had already begun to put on his chain mail.
"We must summon the knights into a search party," Briskly turning to face his wife, Lancelot ushered in a tense voice, "Gwen, do you have any idea of where they are or where they might be?"
Gwen furrowed her eyebrows, concentrating deeply, before sighing desperately and stating, "No, I don't..."
Lancelot's straight posture was let down on Gwen's unfortunate news, his hand faltering slightly as he tied his leather sword belt around his waist.
And idea is suddenly formed in Gwen's mind as she springs to life saying with excessive glee, "However, I might know someone who could help..."
Lancelot's head shoots up to look into Gwen's eyes, "Who, Gwen? Who can help us find Merlin?"
OH...
The extreme eagerness from Lancelot suddenly explained itself: Lancelot was not just doing this for Arthur, he was doing this for Merlin. All the events in the past years came tumbling down, and they only pointed in one direction: Lancelot had always been there for Merlin first. His loyalties lay with the young warlock, not the golden king.
When Arthur had called that one council with his court all those years ago, he had asked his best knights' approval to wed a young, loyal warlock which he claimed was necessary to bring the land into peace. While many believed him, Lancelot was the only one able to see through his farce.
Gwen only came to know of this months after her own marriage, but right after that meeting Lancelot had taken Arthur aside to warn him that he would support Arthur through life and marriage with Merlin; however if he ever broke Merlin's heart, Lancelot would make sure he broke his.
Gwen gave a terse nod before she began to state in a solemn voice, "Morgana..."
Lancelot sucked in air through his teeth as he felt the venom in Guinevere's voice. Ever since her best friend's betrayal, Gwen had never been able to look Morgana in the eyes, not even after Arthur and publically forgiven her for her crimes. Even Merlin had forgiven Morgana for nearly slaughtering his loved ones on multiple occasions; in fact, it was Merlin who begged Arthur to forgive her, to show Arthur that there was still light behind Morgana's darkened eyes.
Lancelot had no qualm with Morgana, so he had forgiven the Lady as well. Gwen was so pure hearted that she would forgive anyone for anything in an eye blink: anyone except Morgana it seemed...
Lancelot always believed that it would take the darkest person in the world to turn Gwen's heart of gold to stone...but by following this analogy, would it make Morgana evil and a potential threat in his eyes?
Lancelot shook his head, as if to clear it from the muddled expression he was in before replying, "I assume you would not like to go with me to the Lady Morgana's council chambers?"
Gwen threw her husband a look of distraught, which Lancelot interpreted as a no, and gave him a quick peck on the lips before clambering on to the bed.
When Lancelot reached the door, he looked back to see his wife snuggling into the bed sheets, trapped in a world of torture she had created for herself.
And it ripped Lancelot's heart to shreds to see her in such a state.
"But we must speak to the Lady Morgana! It tis a matter of urgency that requires notification immediately!" Leon pleaded Morgana's maid desperately, yet her stubborn maid would not budge even at his masterful request.
"I'm sure that whatever the matter is, it can wait, for the Lady is ill terribly..."
"Ok: I have had enough of this charade:I'm off to the tavern..." Gwaine snapped. Turning to Kara with a flirtatious smile, he serenaded, "Unless you have a better way to spend the time?"
Kara, Morgana's serving girl, scrunched up her nose in a disgusted face and would have replied with her magic, and a haughty retort, if it had not been for the fact that Morgana chose to emerge from her chambers at the exact split second that Kara was about to send her spell.
"Kara, that's enough!" Kara practically jumped when she heard the direct command from Morgana, "Do you not have business tidying up my chambers?"
"Yes, my lady..."
"Then get to it!" barked Morgana.
Lancelot and Leon exchanged shocked looks, since neither of them had ever seen Morgana act so bitter to anyone since her pardoning; on the other hand, Gwaine just stood there and 'admired the view' or Morgana in nothing but her white, silky night slip.
"Yes, My Lady..." Kara began to scurry past the knights.
"And oh, Kara?" Morgana began in a menacing voice at the retreating figure of her maid.
"My Lady?" Kara inquired.
"If you ever even think of using magic against Camelot or her knights again, I will see to you being held in the stocks like Arthur's manservant was for all of last week."
Gwaine, being the insensitive bumbling fool that he was, inserted a lewd commentary into Lancelot's ears when he saw his friend's bewildered face.
Leon chose that moment to approach Morgana about Arthur and Merlin's disappearance and how they were in need of her help.
Lancelot sighed while Gwaine still managed to go on about how George had walked into Arthur's chambers while they were the middle of God-Knows-What.
"You know I do not have any need for these erotic details," hissed Lancelot as Gwaine seemed to near the climax of his story, or more like Merlin's climax.
A few feet away Lancelot could see the two heads of Leon and Morgana still bent in conspiring a plan.
"Of course you do! It's the essentials of life," Gwaine then gave Lancelot the flirty wink he just gave Kara a few moments before.
"If Arthur's manservant ends up in the stocks for walking in on him and Merlin, what do you think he would do to the men spreading this information?" Lancelot grumbled in response, but then the lightbulb hit him, "How are you even obtaining this in such horrific detail?"
Gwaine's eyes suddenly light up, but before he could respond Lancelot stopped him by saying, "On second thought, I would rather not have my ears despoiled any further!"
"But you asked..." Gwaine stated in an exhausted voice.
"Lancelot?" Morgana inquired in a commanding tone, "What did Guinevere say?"
Lancelot felt the stabbing knife her voice when she said Gwen's name: if Gwen was hurting, what must it be like for Morgana?
"She told me nothing other than the fact that Merlin and Arthur were meant to be back ages ago..."
Morgana's eyes seemed to dim, as if someone had just stolen the light from them.
"Obviously if it was a non-magical threat, either or both Merlin and Arthur would be able to handle it..." Lancelot told Morgana, hating to be the one to break this depressing bit of news to her.
"Does she know where they are? We can send some of my trained sorcerers along with Arthur's men..."
"She does not...I'm sure she would have told us had she known..."
Morgana nodded in a terse, solemn manner.
"Someone may need to fetch Kara, for now I may have to scry to find Merlin and Arthur," Morgana stated, resuming command.
"There is no need to find them, My Lady!" a shrilled voice of Morgana's maidservant interrupts from behind the group.
Kara rushes forth to grasp Morgana's arm as if to beckon her to follow.
"There's no need because they are already here."