Sorry for the wait I'll leave excuses to the end :P Thankyou again my wonderful reviewers who have given me the motivation to keep writing in these stressful times of exams and such. I am glad my Gwaine writing continues to go over well, I really love him and he should soooo have more screen time XD.
Also a note to Freya4070- thanks so much and no need to apologise you're far better at English than I am at French :P Thanks for taking the trouble to review :)
Apologies this is unbeta'd and has been written over a long period of time so spelling errors and such are likely.
I don't own anyyything.
Merlin had planned on telling Gwaine that he was dying. He'd planned on a quiet moment where he would apologise and slowly get around to telling him that his own magic was tearing itself to bloody ribbons. Gwaine would be angry of course and maybe Merlin would decide to omit Arthur from the whole story. That was his vague plan for the very distant future.
He had not taken in to account –stupid he knew- that Gwaine would drag him to the tavern on the way home and with further stupidity had been foolish enough to believe he wouldn't let Gwaine drink him under the table this time. Exactly the same thought that crosses his mind almost every time they go to the tavern and it always has the same result.
Merlin woke up under a table.
It was a pleasantly dim place to wake even if it smelt like ale and various other not so pleasant substances. His head was pillowed against something soft while his feet rested on something else. His head pounded and his mouth felt as if he had swallowed a squirrel. Then there was the strange buzzing whining sound he could only hear in one ear, the strange way his eyes kept blinking separately-
He was just about done cataloguing his hang-over complaints when someone flicked him in the ear. He barely avoided smashing his head against the table only to look around in to the dark eyes of a distinctly angry looking Gwaine who was lying down outside the relative shelter of the table.
"Get off." The knight grumbled irritably.
It was then that Merlin noticed the strange lump under his legs were actually Gwaine's chest. Despite being lighter and thinner than any of the knights he'd managed to affectively trap him. Some part of his foggy hung over brain thought there might have been a reason for this. He tilted his head back to look at Gwaine carefully.
"Why?" He asked cautiously.
"Because I'm going to kill the King."
He said it in such a reasonable tone that Merlin was already preparing to shift his legs out of the way before the actual meaning of the sentence caught up with him. Merlin stared at him.
"You can't do that." He rasped. Gwaine almost looked offended for a moment before Merlin waved him away, "Well maybe you can but you can't." Merlin hissed.
"That made a lot of sense." Gwaine said sarcastically.
Then he dislodged Merlin's legs, effectively proving that he was lighter and thinner than any of the knights and couldn't trap Gwaine effectively in the slightest. He got up with a slight wobble before regaining his legs and taking one step forward. Merlin almost managed as well, darting out from under the table at a goodish speed he tripped almost instantly and tackled Gwaine, effective knocking them both to the floor next to a large rather portly man who was busy snoring in to the floor boards. For a moment they were both too winded to speak, Gwaine lying face down with Merlin half way on top of him, both still too full of drink to realise just how ridiculous they looked. Gwaine recovered first, propping his head up on his hand.
"Maybe you'd be ok if he died."
"The kingdom wouldn't." Merlin pointed out in a muffled voice. "Camelot needs its king."
"What about that git Agrivaine?"
"No." Merlin said sounding appalled.
Blearily Gwaine realised this probably wasn't the best place to be disguising this. But then it wasn't as if anyone else was awake enough to hear.
"Fine what if I just threaten Arthur in to stopping?" Gwaine said.
"He doesn't know he's doing it, an he doesn't know I have magic, obviously." Merlin said miserably.
"Right..." Gwaine chewed on his lip thoughtfully. "Alright, we get rid of his magic!" He cried, proud of himself.
"He doesn't really have magic of his own exactly; he just has a link to mine." Merlin said sulkily.
"Then we kill the link!" Gwaine cried again
"Arthur's already doing that," Merlin murmured, "and I'm dying."
"Ah."
There was a moment of serious thought as the knight debated this for a moment longer. He turned his head thoughtfully to the side.
"So we can't kill the link, and we can't kill his magic." Gwaine murmured. Merlin grunted his agreement, "Then the answer is clear!"
Merlin inclined his head to show he was listening as he murmured half heartedly,
"Really?"
"Yup, back to plan one, I kill him."
Merlin lurched forward just in time to pin Gwaine back to the ground as he made a bid for freedom. On a good day Gwain might have managed to shift him but he was still hung-over and had just spent the night under a table.
"Merlin." He moaned in a way that was so much like Arthur it made him wince.
"You are not allowed to kill him!" Merlin snapped.
"You know Mer I think the killing idea has some merit." Grumbled a tired voice.
Merlin jumped as the voice and looked around to see another form crawling out from underneath their table. His head was bowed showing only his dusty brown hair in relative disarray and the travelling cloak slung over his shoulders. Merlin's hand flew to his neck as he noticed his neckerchief plastered on the strangers head.
"What are you doing with that?" He said in a rush.
"What?"
The man looked up brushing the neckerchief back from his face. Merlin stared at the roughly familiar features, slightly more ragged and tanned looking then when he had last seen him.
"Gillie?"
"Who else s'gonna be lying on the floor wearing your bloody rag on their head?" Gillie slurred scowling at him.
Below him Gwaine twisted round so he was lying on his back before sitting up, almost dislodging Merlin as he looked at the other man.
"Think you'll find it's a neckerchief." Gwaine said airily.
Gillie snorted, a slow lazy grin stretching over his face before he stretched and a click from his back caused the smile to be replaced by a pained scowl. He slumped back down to the floor.
"nghh" He murmured, "Bloody floor."
"See Merlin," Gwaine keened clearly still tipsy, "He agrees with me."
"He also has magic and tried to kill Uther once." Merlin said sourly.
Gillie hit him with a flailing arm, scowling darkly at Merlin.
"Shhhhh, knight!"
Gwaine blinked reasonably certain he should find out more about that but too tired and angry to truly concentrate on his so called 'duties' to Camelot.
"Back to the killing bit, I think I should, he thinks I should. The only person having a problem here Merlin is you."
"Yeah," Gillie piped up, "Then your magic won't die, you won't die and you won't have to clean socks for a living."
"Exactly!" Gwaine shouted, beaming at his new drinking friend.
Merlin buried his head in Gwaine's lap and moaned loudly in frustration. He wished he could remember exactly what had happened after they entered the tavern and at the same time he didn't, but with Gillie knowing the full story he just had to hope he had sense enough to make sure no one else was listening in. Gillie looked around with a yawn, frowning at the unkept bar.
"Where are we exactly?"
Gwaine looked around blinking slowly as he yawned.
"Erm, rising star, no Rising Sun. In Camelot."
"Oh, Merlin can I crash at your... medicine place?" He looked around, "I've lost all my stuff."
Merlin groaned. Muttering something that sounded vaguely like "I hate you both." Before wrapping his arms around his head.
"If Gaius doesn't let you, you can stay with me." Gwaine said naturedly.
"Right, and get implicated in the kings murder." Gillie snorted.
Finally snapping Merlin sat up and glared at the both of them furiously. He'd had enough of misery and death, he may have to die but he certainly wasn't going to take the once and future king down with him no matter what Gwaine thought. He wasn't going to let his... friend die at the hands of one of his most trusted Knights."
"You're not killing him!" he snapped furiously.
And he was angry and his head hurt and his chest was buzzing in that way that screamed that if he didn't calm down right now magic was going to burn him from the inside out. So really he should have been prepared for things to get drastically worse –it seemed destiny was only too happy to kick him when he was down- but even he was surprised by the familiar arrogant stride that he recognised the instant it landed on the wooden planks.
"Kill who?"
They both froze as the familiar voice in all its displeased arrogance drifted over them. There was a moment of stunned silence filled only by the sound of an expensive cloak brushing the floor and royal boots striding forward. Merlin closed his eyes, here came his destiny to give him a sharp kick. His magic shuddered.
"Princess." Gwaine acknowledged in a seething voice.
The Knight made a half aborted gesture to get to his feet before Merlin very determinedly pushed him back down. At first he was just surprised he had managed it, all the sudden his head was spinning and his hands and arms began to feel almost numbed with weakness. But then he remembered just what Gwaine likely had planed once he was on his own feet and redoubled his efforts to keep him down. Gillie lowered his head as if in hopes the Prince simply wouldn't see him.
Taking a calming breath and pushing hastily back at the dark edges of his vision Merlin looked up. His efforts may have gone some way to help him if his destiny hadn't looked so angry.
-M-
Arthur glared down at the pair, fury making him see red. He had been so worried, he's thought there was something wrong with his friend, forget that he'd been sure of it and he hadn't stopped looking for him at all but for the brief amount of sleep he had managed before being shaken from sleep by yet more nightmares of Merlin's blood on his hands. He'd snuck down to the physician's quarters and passed a sleeping Gaius just to see that the boy was alright and had been choked with fear to find the bed empty and unused.
Not that he would admit to any of it, certainly not now his fears had been shown to be useless. While he'd franticly been playing out scenarios of kidnap, maybe even a misguided runaway or the ever popular Merlin being knocked out in the woods somewhere all alone. The truth of the matter had really been that his misguided manservant seemed to think it was more important to spend his nights in the tavern with Gwaine then to attend to his actual duties.
Then his mind had flashed back to other realisations. The night he had been on his walk and they had had their unpleasant run in. He had never asked Merlin where he had been coming from but it only made sense now, he had probably been in the tavern with Gwaine again. He hadn't noticed it at the time but Merlin had been quiet, he assumed it had been because of the pain but wasn't it just as likely that he'd run in to him because he was drunk? That Merlin remained on the floor because he was drunk? Arthur could simply have hit his head and Merlin, tipsy enough to seem sober had just gone along with his story. Extended time in the tavern also made sense of his paler then usual skin, why he looked ill and why Arthur was seeing him about his duties less and less.
Emotions battered at the King as he stood just outside the tavern door. Anger at being lied to, more anger at finding all his worries unfounded –which was strange as he should probably feel relived- and a jealously of Gwaine that he didn't want to look too closely at. The wave of anger wiped away all memory of the nightmares and Merlin's pained appearance over the last few days. His mind was made up, his anger binding him to any and all flaws in his theory. He stepped forward in to the tavern.
"Kill who?"
Well that looks like me setting it up to get depressing again but I must admit now the end is in sight. With only a few weeks before my next and last round of exams I realllly should be revising, and I will be... along with reading, writing and watching tv... I am such an A grade student (not, obviously)
Now I am very very very sorry again for the incredibly slow update. I sort of got in to Trek fics and then watched the Avengers movie... the combined epicness mean my new plot bunnies have moved on to greener pastures. But while writing this I got inspo and while I will be needing to round this off soon I WILL be ending it. I refuse to leave a story unfinished! Even tht Sherlock fic I near forgot about...
I think thats all. Thanks again sooo much for your reviews, hopefully my updates will be getting a bit faster now. Now I just have to hack my own fiction page thing so I can upload this...
Reviews are still loved imaginary cookies are epic and thank you all very much for reading.
SQ
P.S
Did anyone else here that the next series of Merlin will be set like five years later? I was like WHAT! NOOO, thts more time for Merlin not to tell Arthur. Waa makes me sad, I hope it's just some horrible rumour :(
