After an hour passed, Gaius emerged from Merlin's room. Only to find Arthur, Leon, Mordred, Percival and Gwaine waiting for him in the main room.
Knowing that they wanted to know about Merlin, Gaius spoke before any of them could voice the question. "He lost a fair amount of blood, but not a dangerous amount. He's also developed a fever, which will hopefully break by morning. It wasn't the wounds the caused him pass out. It was the events from over the course of the past few days and the poison still making its way through his system."
"We gave him the antidote, though," Mordred stated. "How could the poison still be in his system?"
"The antidote works in cycles. First it removes as much as it can as fast as it can. But the person has to remain resting for a few days while the rest of the poison is forced out by the antidote. Merlin didn't remain resting. He was to concerned about saving Arthur," Gaius explained.
"How long will he remain unconscious?" Arthur asked.
"A couple of days at best, Sire," Gaius answered.
"Let me know the minute there's a change in his condition," Arthur ordered as he looked at the closed door behind Gaius.
"I will," the old physician promised.
Daegal sat with his back to the wall and his legs curled up to his chest. He was staring at the wall across from him, thinking about all the harm he had caused, when a familiar Druid walked up to his cell.
"The king would like to speak with," the Druid, whose name escaped him, said.
Daegal stood up and looked at the man. He was dressed differently than when they had met. The Druid was dressed as knight of Camelot. The boy briefly wondered why the king would allow someone with magic be a knight, but he pushed the thought to the side. He had other things to worry about.
"Why?" Daegal asked.
The Druid knight unlocked the cell door and walked in. "Just tell him the truth. It'll make thing easier. Come on."
The man placed his hand on Daegal's shoulder and led him out of the cells and towards the throne room.
As the Druid and the boy neared the throne room, Daegal began to wonder about Merlin. He had overheard the guard's talking about him and what he did to save the king, last night.
"How's Merlin?" he asked.
The knight remained silent as if thinking how to answer the question. "Recovering," he said finally not going into detail.
Daegal only nodded as they entered the throne room.
"Sire," the Druid said getting the king's attention.
King Arthur looked from what he was reading. "Thank you, Mordred. Leave us."
Mordred bowed his head in respect and promptly left the room.
The king and Daegal looked at each other in silence, neither of them daring to speak first. One was trying to form words. While the other was too scared to say anything.
"You helped save Merlin's life," the king spoke finally, but slowly. "After you betrayed him."
"I did not want anyone to get hurt," Daegal pleaded.
"I believe you, but you are still a traitor to the crown," King Arthur stated. "My father would have executed you without a single thought. He wouldn't have listened to what you had to say. I, on the other hand, am not my father. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had sentenced you to death. Therefore my only other choice would be to banish you, but I can not find it in my heart to do so given the circumstances."
There was a long uncomfortable pause between the two.
"What are you going to do?" Daegal asked.
"I'm granting you a pardon, because you saw the errors of your ways and helped save my friend. You are allowed to remain in Camelot," the king answered.
Daegal got down on his knees. "Thank you, Sire."
"Don't thank me yet," the young king dismissed. "You are to get a job in the stables. From now on you have to work for money and food. If you do not do your job or commit an act such as the one you preformed, you will be banished from Camelot."
Daegal remained on his knees. "I will not let you down, Sire. I will perform the work that is given to me without complaint and try to the best of my abilities."
"Make sure that you do," the blonde king warned.
Merlin woke up to the sunlight streaming in his face and to someone walking into the room. The young warlock opened his eyes and looked at who was in the room with him. Mordred.
"Glad you decided to join the world of the living," Mordred stated as he sat down in the chair under the window.
"How long have I been out?" Merlin asked as he pushed himself up into sitting position.
"Three days," Mordred answered. "How do you feel?"
"Like a human training dummy," Merlin replied.
"I thought he would go with 'human pin cushin'," Arthur said as he walked into the room. "I guess I owe Gwaine fifty gold pieces and a tankard of mead."
"Why would I say that?" Merlin asked.
"Because you have roughly twenty stitches in you arm. And ten more in your leg," Mordred pointed out.
Merlin looked at his bandaged arm, wondering why he hadn't registered the pain yet. Then he figured Gaius probably used something to numb the pain.
"Where's Gaius?" Merlin wondered.
"He's in the Lower Town," Mordred answered.
Merlin nodded, okay with the answer.
"What do you remember?"
Merlin thought for a moment then said, "Not much. I remember looking over the balcony to make sure you were okay."
"Do you remember how you stopped Albin?" Arthur questioned.
"I think I threw a knife at him after I hit him in the head," Merlin said as he tried to piece together the events of what happened.
"That would explain why there was knife in his neck." Arthur stated. "Your interference caused him to hit the Sarrum instead of me. For that I thank you."
"What going to happen to their bodies?" Merlin asked, ignoring the thanks.
"They are being sent back to Amata," Arthur replied.
"What's going to happen to Daegal?" Merlin asked, rubbing his tired eyes.
"I'm allowing him remain in Camelot, as long as he works for his food and money. If he pulls something like this again, I'm banishing him," Arthur answered, noticing the tired look on his best friend's face. "Get some rest, Merlin. We'll let Gaius know that you woke up for little bit. I'll still need to talk to about what happened. Hopefully, you'll be able to remember more details."
Merlin laid back down. He was not about to argue with the king, no matter how much he wanted to. Though he still had the urge to hit him upside the head with cane Gaius will have him using until his leg healed.
