The King's Bed

A/N [show-me-your-tardis]

Plot – A hunting trip goes terribly wrong; there's a strange disease spreading through Camelot and rumours are spreading about who, exactly, is in The King's Bed.

Woohoo, slashers our time has come. If you stick religiously to canon pairings I suggest you avert your eyes for the first half of this chapter.

Also while we're here, this is the second to last chapter so you know what that means time for some shameless self promotion yaaaaaay! Okay so my next story is an even more Merthur-y story, (it starts off with them in bed – no smut though) It will be up on Sunday 1st of September, and will then be updated daily. If you liked this story I suggest you check it out, here's the summary:

Uther catches Arthur doing something unfavourable with someone even more unfavourable. Knowing Uther's murderous ways Arthur does everything in his power to save his friend and new lover.

Thanks for all the lovely reviews, let's keep 'em coming for the last two chapters! :)

Enjoy


Percival looked up from his sword as Gwaine swaggered in.

"Thought you'd still be shouting at Arthur." Percival mused.

"It's no fun when he agrees." Gwaine said, watching Percival sharpen his sword.

Gwaine snorted as Percival's eyebrows almost flew off his head as he asked, "He's agreeing?"

"Yeah, he just sits there clutching at his heart while I yell at him." Gwaine complained.

Gwaine wouldn't have thought it possible but Percival's eyebrows moved even higher, "Clutching his heart?"

"Well." Gwaine began, straddling the bench next to Percival and picking up a rock to sharpen his own weapon, "He claims his wound is hurting him, but I think it's a bit convenient his wound is directly over his heart."

"You want to be careful, we won't always be there to save you from Arthur."

"I don't need saving, I could beat him in a fight."

Percival stifled a laugh.

"You don't think I could?" Gwaine asked a bit stiffly.

"In a sword fight, yeah. But wrestling, no chance." Percival shrugged.

"I could beat him at wrestling!" Gwaine exclaimed.

"Nah you couldn't."

"Oh and you could?"

"Yeah. I'm better than him at wrestling."

"No way, I could beat you!" Gwaine said, standing up.

Percival stood up too, and stepped towards Gwaine until they were inches apart.

"Try me." As soon as the words were out, Gwaine had his arms wrapped around Percival's waist.

Percival, barely deterred by Gwaine, shook him off and kicked him back. Gwaine staggered backwards, before charging full speed back at his friend. Percival used Gwaine's momentum to knock him down.

Gwaine lay on the floor watching the ceiling lurch slightly to the right. Before he could think about getting up he felt a weight on his waist and his hands were pinned above him. He moved his eyes away from the still-spinning ceiling and looked at the grinning Knight straddling him.

"Best two out of three?" Gwaine asked, a wide grin spreading on his face.

"No you lost, accept it."

Gwaine tried to kick out but Percival had hooked his legs on Gwaine's, stopping any movement.

Gwaine paused, trying to think of an escape plan.

The next thing he noticed he was being kissed. He didn't know how it had happened. It felt different; different to his kisses with the townswomen; different to his kiss with Merlin. It was full of fire and passion, it was so hot Gwaine had a fleeting image of his body on fire.

But it wasn't just hot, it was tender and loving. It was weird, how could something so fiery and exciting be so soothing at the same time? It felt great.

Gwaine ignored the cold from the floor coming through his shirt, he ignored the voice in his head telling him it wasn't just Arthur who denied his feelings. Instead he focused on how soft Percival's lips felt against his.

Hands still pinned above his head, Gwaine gave in to the kiss and let the incessant, constant voice in his head die down.


Arthur stared at the figure on the bed. There were no signs of life except the rhythmic rise and fall of Merlin's chest. Arthur could see his heartbeat through Merlin's shirt. Good sign.

He pushed the heels of his palms into his eyes.

"He's not dead." Arthur heard the voices in his mind, basically everyone who had come to visit Merlin had said something similar.

But it didn't matter what they said. Not dead was not the same as living. Merlin could spend the rest of his life not-dying here but it wouldn't be much of a life. Yes he would be alive but he wouldn't be living, he wouldn't be with Arthur.

It would be Arthur who would have to live without Merlin.

Without Merlin, Arthur would be woken gently to shiny armour and clean clothes. He could eat breakfast without being called fat. He could actually kill something on a hunting trip without Merlin scaring it away with his loud footsteps.

But he didn't want that. He would happily spend all day hunting if Merlin would just open his eyes. He would put up with the unclean armour, the wrinkled shirts and the fat jokes, if Merlin would just open his eyes.

"Do you hear me Merlin? Just open your eyes." Arthur begged, crouching forward on the edge of his seat, "Don't make me command you."

"Merlin don't disobey me, I'm the King." Arthur whispered, not sounding very King-like.

"New tactic: I'll give you three days off a month if you open your eyes now."

Nothing.

"Okay four days."

Nothing.

"Okay, one week off every month but you're forcing my hand on this."

Merlin continued lying there, unmoving.

"Fine! You can have the rest of the year off if you just. Open. Your. Eyes." Arthur pleaded.

Gaius hovered in the doorway. He cleared his throat and the King snapped up straight, wiping away the moisture in his eyes.

Even though he knew, Gaius still asked, "What were you doing?"

"I was... Checking his pulse." Arthur lied.

"Ah, any change?" Gaius asked calmly, unpacking his medicine bag. He had found the source of the Yellow Pox at least. A bag of grains had been infested by mice, nothing magical about that. He had intended to show Merlin he was wrong, but he hadn't been awake.

"No." Arthur answered bluntly.

Gaius sighed and turned to the King in front of him, he was making himself sick with worry. Gaius could see the bags under his eyes from halfway across the room.

"Sire, you should-"

"I'm fine." Arthur answered, cutting Gaius off and turning back to Merlin.

Gaius sighed and turned back to his medicine bag.

Arhur stared pensievely at the wall, thinking about this morning. Gwaine and Percival had come to visit Merlin. Arthur acknowledged their odd behaviour, they were acting more co-operative than usual. Usually they were at each other's throats, but not today. Arthur didn't have much time to contemplate this before Gwaine's eyes flicked down to Merlin's hand – or more specifically, Merlin's hand held in Arthur's.

Arthur dropped the hand with a thud, making up some excuse about the pulse being easier to check in the hand. Percival nodded along but Gwaine merely raised a skeptical eyebrow, Arthur knew neither believed his story. Fortunately they didn't push the King any further.


Merlin opened his eyes and watched little circles of colour burst in front of him. Everything was too bright. It was all wrong, hadn't they been in the darkening forest seconds ago?

Merlin suddenly became aware of the blanket on top of him, he felt trapped and smothered. The panic rised within him as the memories of the forest burst into his mind.

Running through the forest, being chased by Morgana. Like a twisted version of a child's game.

Morgana catching up and Merlin feeling his heartbeat become erratic and irregular. Feeling his knee crack as he collapsed to the ground, watching Arthur do the same.

ARTHUR.

Merlin kicked out, trying to free himself, but he ended up entangling himself further in the blanket. He needed to find Arthur. His breath became shallow and fast as he carried on wriggling, trying to escape. Panic filled him up, he felt sick to his stomach, where the hell was he?

"Merlin stop. I'm here. Stop saying my name. Merlin I'm right here. Stop wiggling, I'm trying to help. Yes it's me, stop saying my name. Merlin seriously stop, you're making it worse. Just keep still. FOR GOODNESS SAKES STOP SAYING MY NAME."

A hand reached under the blanket and pressed on Merlin's shoulders. He couldn't breathe, it was hot – too hot – under the blanket. He was going to suffocate. The hand – who's hand was that? - pressed on him harder, forcing him to be still.

Eventually the blanket was pulled away from his face, cool air rushed over him. He took a deep breath, and another and another until he was gasping at the air, like a fish on dry land.

Taking another deep breath, Merlin recognised the dark stain on the ceiling. The same stain Merlin had caused when an unlearned spell had caused his dinner to fly upwards. He was home. His breathing slowed.

Before he could question how he got home, a face obscured his view of the stain. Blue eyes and blond hair. Arthur.

Merlin tried to express his delight at seeing Arthur safe but all that came out was an odd combination of syllables.

"Riiiiiight" Arthur said, looking at Merlin oddly, "At least you're awake."

"How long have I..." Merlin croaked. Arthur passed him a waterskin and Merlin drank from it greedily. All too soon it was empty.

"I'll get you another one." Arthur said, he rose but it seemed to take more effort than usual.

"How long have I been asleep?" Merlin asked, his voice still cracked.

"Three days." Arthur stated, not looking at Merlin as he refilled the waterskin.

Three days? Merlin panicked, as Arthur brought another water skin.

It was while Merlin was gulping down more water he noticed the dark rings under Arthur's eyes. He noticed how cracked Arthur's lips looked. He noticed how it seemed to take much more effort to do simple tasks like standing up.

"How long have you been awake?" Merlin asked, suddenly suspicious.

"I'm on Merlin-Watch." Arthur said, not really answering the question.

"For how long?" Merlin pressed.

"Does it matter?"

"Arthur." Merlin said pointedly, it was difficult to sound stern when his voice sounded so broken, but it worked anyway.

"Three days."

"Arthur, you shouldn't have... Someone else could've..."

"I'm fine." Arthur said in his no-nonsense, end-of-conversation voice.

"Fine." Merlin paused, "Hey, could you get me some more water?"

Arthur hesitated before taking the waterskin and forcing himself to his feet.

"See! You can barely stand, let me take you to your chambers." Merlin commanded, forcing his own feet into action.

He wobbled slightly, Arthur took a few steps towards Merlin, arms outstretched to catch him if he fell.

"You can barely stand yourself!"

"Yes, but I've been sleeping for three days, it's your turn." Merlin tried not to think about the fact that he had lost three days and instead focused on helping Arthur.

Merlin pulled Arthur's arm around his shoulders, Arthur would have pulled away but it would've just tired them both out. He could tell by the determined look on his friend's face, there was no stopping him.

"So Noramag was Morgana, huh?" Merlin commented, struggling to pull the door open.

In the end Arthur had to help, "Shut up Merlin."

"Weird twist, huh? I didn't see that coming."

"What part of shut up Merlin do you not understand?" Arthur asked, by now the arm he had wrapped around Merlin's shoulders was being used to keep Merlin on his feet.

The sudden leap back to moving was taking it's toll on Merlin, his skin looked paler than it had and his eyes seemed unable to focus. Arthur watched him closely, preparing to catch him if he did fall. Although, the state Arthur was in he imagined he wouldn't be much use, save falling to the ground first and cushioning Merlin's fall.

Merlin, on the other hand, was focusing all his attention on Arthur. He ignored the way his legs felt like jelly and the fog that was slowly building in his mind. He ignored the weird buzzing sound in his ears. Instead he paid attention to Arthur's walk, he wasn't as confident as he usually was and he stumbled about as often as Merlin did.

To keep his mind and eyes focused, Merlin carried on rambling, "I wonder whether Faron was one of the bandits who attacked us. He looked like he could've fitted in well there."

"Merlin."

"Shut up?" Merlin asked, turning to smile at Arthur.

They had finally made it to Arthur's chambers. Once inside, Arthur ended up taking most of Merlin's weight, but he didn't tell him that. Instead he allowed his manservant to lead him to his bed and tuck him in (fully dressed, but Arthur couldn't bring himself to complain.)

Merlin turned gracelessly and stumbled towards the door.

"Merlin, wait!" Arthur called, sitting up.

"Hmm?"

"Could you... Could you stay here."

Merlin's brow wrinkled, he glanced at the empty space in the King sized bed.

"Not in my bed." Arthur said, answering the question Merlin hadn't asked, "Just... Somewhere. I want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm sure I'd be okay in Gaius'-"

"Please." Arthur begged.

"Are you scared, Sire?" Merlin smirked, but he lowered himself to a chair next to the dining table anyway.

"No. I don't want you tripping and breaking your neck on the way back." Arthur said pointedly, blowing out the candles next to his bed.

The room plunged into darkness, Arthur lowered himself down and heard Merlin rest his head on the table.

"I didn't know you cared." Arthur could hear the smirk on Merlin's lips.

"I don't. I just don't want to train a new servant. Although they'd do your job better than you, so maybe it's best if you do break your neck." Arthur replied, his voice muffled slightly by the pillow.

"On your date with Lady Noramag, or Morgana, did you kiss her?" Merlin replied.

Arthur didn't reply, Merlin would've thought he was asleep if he hadn't heard him sigh.

"She's your half sister. You kissed your half sister." Merlin teased.

"Merlin." Arthur warned.

"You were gonna marry her." Merlin laughed, moving so his arms were between the cold table and his head.

"Merlin, I'm warning you."

"You kissed Morgana. That's a little weird, don't you think?"

The boot landed on the back of Merlin's head. He sat up and rubbed at the growing lump, it didn't help that his head was foggier than ever.

"OW!"

"I warned you."

"Wait... I can't see. I'm blind. ARTHUR YOU BLINDED ME!" Merlin carried on shouting and he heard Arthur scramble out of bed, followed by a distinct hiss of a candle being lit.

Panicked footsteps ran towards him, then two warm hands were pressed against his face, holding his head still.

"MERLIN! Are you okay? Can you see me?" Arthur's frantic voice called out.

"Aw, Arthur. I knew you cared." Merlin whispered, laughing.

"That's not funny, Merlin! You could've really been..." Arthur trailed off, dropping his hands from Merlin's face and stepping back.

"This is why you shouldn't throw things at me!" Merlin whined.

Merlin ducked this time and he felt – rather than saw – the boot fly above his head. Arthur knew he had missed but after the shock of Merlin's trick, he felt exhausted. Instead of lobbing more things at Merlin's head he made his way back to bed.

"Go to sleep, Merlin."

"You go to sleep. I'm on Arthur-Watch."

Arthur would have complained, but sleep overwhelmed him and dragged him into unconsciousness.