A/N: Here's another update! Thanks to Glacier22 (see my comment below), Mediatrix (trust me, all will become clear), ruby890 (lol, yes, things haven't been good - but let's remember, Arthur is stubborn...), and hanipman (it will make sense later on, don't worry) for all your kind reviews!
Since a couple of people have mentioned it a couple of times: I had this story basically done and dusted by the second episode of Season 5. I had no idea that they were actually going to use Mithian and Odin in the same episode! It creeped me out when I saw episode 4!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Merlin winced as he pulled the makeshift bandage from his leg, the wound was still bleeding slightly and the cloth had stuck to it. It had not really improved in the three days since he had been injured. Since his banishment from Camelot, which he had completely ignored, he had moved around, sleeping rough but staying close enough to the city to be able to keep an eye of Arthur's movements. Occasionally he had stayed with the Druids but they always moved from one kingdom to another and he had refused to do so. Arthur might have sent him into exile but he had a duty and a destiny to protect the king, whether he wanted it or not. For the first month it had not been so bad but after Arthur had fought and defeated Odin, refusing to kill him at the last moment, extracting a promise of peace from the disgraced king, which he had promptly broken, relations between Bernicia and Camelot had taken a turn for the worse and now Odin's men were everywhere. Arthur and the Knights were patrolling almost everyday trying to fight back the invading forces, so he was forced to keep constant a constant vigil to ensure no harm came to the king.
Three days ago he had followed the patrol right into the middle one of Odin's raiding parties. The Knights of Camelot were outnumbered by Odin's men and Merlin had watched in dismay as Arthur had been overwhelmed by five well-armed knights, as his own men battled heroically against the invaders. Merlin had sent the men flying with a quick panicked word, Arthur oblivious as ever, just stepped over them and continued fighting. Unfortunately, the warlock hadn't noticed one Odin's men behind him until it was almost too late. He turned at the last moment avoiding the killing blow, but the man's sword buried itself deeply in his leg. He had barely managed to keep going long enough to ensure Arthur was safe, although a swift spell slowed the worst of the blood long enough for him to get back to the cave he was currently calling home.
He managed to bandage the wound and staunch the blood with magic and pressure but he could not get the wound to heal not matter how much he tried. He kept himself going as best he could and waited for his weekly visit with Gaius.
Gaius would know what to do.
That became his mantra as he lay huddled and cold in the darkness of the cave - Gaius will know what to do. Over and over, occasionally he would mix Gaius up with Arthur and he found himself looking forward to seeing the king. After so many years it was strange to be so cut off from his friend but then in a moment of clarity, he would remember that it had been Arthur who banished him and he started to wonder if he should bother trying to get to Gaius. After all, what was the point? Maybe it was just be easier to let go and leave someone else to protect Arthur.
But he couldn't. That was his duty.
Gaius would know what to do.
The day was overcast with thick grey clouds hanging heavily over the city of Camelot and there was a lingering dampness in the air that hinted at more rain to come. Normally, Gaius would not have been out on a day such as this, since it was unpleasant and the damp made him ache more than usual. But nothing was normal anymore. Not since the terrible day six months ago when Arthur stormed into his chambers, fury etched on his face and his hand gripping his sword so tightly that the knuckles were white.
"You lied to me, Gaius," Arthur stated without preamble. "Magic will not be tolerated in my kingdom!"
Despite the flush of panic that flowed through him, Gaius schooled his features to polite confusion and asked, "Sire?"
"Don't 'Sire' me! You know exactly what I'm talking about, how could you not know! You've been harbouring a sorcerer!" the king growled.
Gaius tried to glance behind the furious king to see if Merlin was anywhere to be seen but could not see the young man. Fear for his ward built within him but he forced himself to remain calm.
"Don't bother looking for Merlin," said Arthur coldly. "He's not coming back."
"Arthur, what have you done?" Gaius whispered horrified.
The king frowned before shaking his head. "I haven't killed him, Gaius. Although I would be well within my rights to have done that. I would be well within my rights to have you executed for hiding him."
"Have you learned nothing from Emrys? Merlin lives to protect you, Arthur. That is all he has ever used his magic for," Gaius responded heatedly, "and if you want to execute me for protecting him so he could, go ahead."
"I'm not going to execute you, Gaius," Arthur said, shaking his head once more, "but you've proven to me that you can't be trusted. I no longer require your services on the Council," the king turned away stiffly, heading to the door. "You may remain in Camelot and you may retain these chambers but I don't want to see you unless I'm dying or in serious need of medical attention."
The king left then, leaving Gaius afraid for his ward but unsure what he should do now. He had been sorely tempted to leave Camelot and start over somewhere new. He was not so old that he could not make one last trip to another town or country.
That night though, as he lay thinking about his options, the door of his chambers swung open and Merlin snuck in. The physician had given his foster son a tight hug before asking how he was and demanding to know what he was doing back in Camelot.
"You don't think I'm actually going to do what that prat says?" Merlin asked with a forced grin.
"You can't be planning on staying here?"
"No," the servant said, shaking his head. "Not even I'm that foolish. I'll move around, stay in the forest, maybe stay with the Druids." He put his hands on his guardian's shoulders, "I had to come back to see you and make sure you were all right. I was worried Arthur would do something stupid."
"Don't worry about me, my boy. Arthur removed me from the Council but nothing more. Either way, I think I'll leave Camelot. If Arthur would banish you for nothing more than protecting him for all these years, I do not think I wish to serve him anymore."
"It's not his fault, Gaius," Merlin said sadly. "I lied to him and I knew how badly he would react to the truth. It's still my duty to protect him but I need your help to do that."
So that night, Gaius reluctantly agreed to stay in Camelot and feed information to his ward each week, allowing him to continue protecting the king. Six months later, the elderly physician was still travelling into the forest to 'collect herbs' and see Merlin, updating him on Arthur's movements and the goings on in the city. Thankfully, Geoffrey of Monmouth had agreed to keep his friend informed of the Council discussions, as long as they were not secret. Which was why Gaius was here in the forest on a damp and overcast day, waiting for his erstwhile ward. He was worried about his foster son, who had become even thinner. Merlin was normally much earlier than this and Gaius was beginning to get worried when suddenly the young man emerged from the undergrowth, pale and covered in sweat and mud, half dragging his right leg behind him.
Instantly, Gaius rushed over to him, catching sight of the makeshift bandage tied around Merlin's leg. It was covered in blood and mud and was obviously fairly old.
"Merlin! What happened?" he asked urgently, encouraging the younger man to lean on him.
"Gaius?" the wounded man said turning to him. "You have to help me! I need to find Arthur!"
"You need to rest and let me look at that leg," Gaius replied.
"No, no! He's in danger...I've got to do something!"
The physician in Gaius took in how glassy Merlin's eyes were and the faint fire of magic that burned in them continuously and realised the warlock was more than likely delirious. The wound in his leg must have become infected and his magic was doing its best to keep him going but since Merlin's magic was so tightly bound to Arthur and Merlin himself was so dedicated to the young king, it was forcing him to keep going to protect Arthur from a non-existent threat.
"Arthur is fine, my boy," assured Gaius, trying to get Merlin to rest against a fallen tree.
"He's in danger," Merlin stated stubbornly but allowed himself to be seated.
Gaius pulled the bandage from Merlin's leg to assess just how bad the injury was, as he did so, Merlin cried out in pain and weakly tried to push him away.
"Leave me be, Gaius," he pleaded. "I've got to keep going. I've got to save Arthur."
The physician ignored his protests and continued to remove the bandage. The sight that confronted him made him feel sick. Over the years he had seen plenty of terrible injuries, indeed, many worse than what he was seeing now but none of them had been on someone he saw as his own son. It was a deep wound, that cut diagonally through the the thigh muscle of Merlin's leg and almost reached the bone; it was swollen and oozing blood and pus and angry red lines ran outward from it, working their way up and down the young man's leg.
Merlin was starting to get anxious again and Gaius realised he was going to have to knock his ward out if he wanted to treat the warlock, so he placed his hand on Merlin's forehead and uttered a sleeping spell, watching satisfied as the injured man relaxed and slumped unconscious against the tree.
There was not much he could do for the young man with conventional medicine, the infection was such that it would be almost impossible to treat before it killed him. Taking a deep breath, the physician searched his memory for a suitable healing spell and placed a hand on the wound, uttering words he had not said for more than twenty years. He felt the magic under his control shift sluggishly but although it pooled in his hand, it stopped as if repelled. Gaius took a closer look at the wound, praying that it was only the severity of the wound preventing him from healing it with one spell and not Merlin's magic attempting to heal the wound and repelling any other magic, since there was no way his weak magic would be able to break through the warlock's.
Focusing instead on clearing the infection, Gaius commanded his magic to that purpose. This time he felt his magic respond quicker and it poured into the bloody mess of Merlin's leg. Relieved the physician pulled his hand back, inspecting the injury again. The red lines were starting to slowly recede but it would take time and until the infection was gone, he could not stitch up or heal the cut itself.
For now the best he could do was get Merlin into shelter, keep him warm and wait for the infection to clear up. He stood up and pulled the younger man up with worrying ease, heading for a familiar cave nearby.
As he dragged his delirious and thin ward towards the safety of the cave, still occasionally mumbling about saving Arthur as he slept, Gaius didn't think he'd ever hated anyone as much as he hated Arthur right now.
A/N: So, there we go! Please review!