Hello guys and gals! Guest, haha that review was about as long as my last chapter lol! Thanks so much for such a lovely review, Arthur will become more understanding and accepting, and Merlin will learn soon :) Mika271170, Merlin is too cute, and there will be more cuteness in this chapter! Greyember13, thank you, I am glad you approve and I did not completely waste my time procrastinating. TN Sarah, thanks! Absentminds, I always keep my promises, glad you liked it! Guest, yeah maybe I got a bit carried away with his language, I just see him as really intelligent and amazing, I guess that was kind of unrealistic :S. MeddlesomeMerlin, thank you, that is such a lovely comment and I am glad you love my story, it means a lot! Magicshadow1, thank you so much, yeah, I felt bad putting Merlin through that! Jiggaly-Ribbs, he will carry on caring and I will try to keep it up to a good level (hopefully). DeathGoddesses, I am annoyed with Arthur as well, and I wrote him in this, haha. He will come round though :) AmeliaReddym don't worry I will keep Morgana lovely, the way she will always be in my mind, (although I think I will wrap up in 3 more chapters so wont elaborate on Morgana, I am going to focus on Arthur I think, maybe you should write a Merlin/Morgana fic, your suggestion sounds like a really good idea, I would read it :) )
Chapter 11
The journey back to Camelot seemed to take five times longer than normal, Arthur was aware of each bump on the uneven ground jostling the boy's wounds. Merlin kept drifting in and out of consciousness, letting out sharp cries of pain whenever his chest was knocked. Arthur wished that he could just take the child's pain away.
Merlin was back to unconsciousness when the small party reached Camelot and he failed to stir when Percival carried him over to Gaius' chambers.
When he awoke, Merlin found himself in a familiar room with five concerned faces hovering over him. The pain in his chest felt like fire, his head was throbbing continuously and he felt weak and woozy. He sat up as best as he could, propping himself up on one arm and hugging Gaius tight with the other, he was just glad to be back and ignored the pain as best as he could.
"Thank goodness you are alright Merlin! You gave us all quite a fright." Gaius looked close to tears as he hugged the child tightly. Merlin shifted slightly, his chest was rubbing against Gaius' cloak and it hurt, although he did not have the energy to pull back. Gaius realised this and backed away, gently laying Merlin back down. The child looked up from Gaius to Arthur, a puzzled and pained expression on his face.
"Don't worry. We all know now, we aren't going to hurt you and we are not angry. From what I heard you were very brave, you never cease to make me proud." Merlin looked slightly confused at the word 'cease,' having never heard it before but he nodded, accepting the compliment gratefully. Gaius cupped Merlin's cheek in his own hand and watched as Merlin leant into the touch, seeking whatever comfort he could find. Gaius trailed his fingers through the child's sweat and dirt-matted hair and allowed relief to flood over him.
Merlin then turned his attention to Gwen, who was gently mopping a trail of blood from his forehead. She gave him a warm smile, which didn't quite cover up her concern but Merlin reciprocated it happily. He had finally found his home, everyone in this room accepted him for who he was, which filled Merlin with delight. Gwaine, Percival and Arthur watched as the child wriggled, trying to get comfortable.
Merlin was deathly pale and seemed to have lost what little energy he had. His breathing deepened as he fell fast asleep and Gaius began to probe at the chest wounds that he had not yet had time to tend to. Merlin whimpered softly and rolled in his sleep but much to Gaius' relief he stayed asleep. He quietly began to set to work, Gwaine and Percival excusing themselves. They had both seen their fair share of bloodshed but the sight of the boy's ripped skin made them both feel queasy. Gwen continued to treat his face, cautiously applying pressure to the deep wound on his cheek whilst wiping the blood away from the more minor cuts. Gaius stitched the boy's chest wounds up, pausing every time the child exhaled sharply or let out a muffled cry of pain in his sleep. Once he had done this he removed Gwen's hand from the cut on his cheek and began to examine it.
This was by far the deepest wound and Gaius realised with a sigh that it would scar badly, and that there was nothing he could do about it. Now the innocent child would have a blemish across both his forehead and cheek. What right did those men have to maim his angelic features and to destroy his innocence? Gaius seethed as he began to stitch up the wound.
Arthur who had been watching silently the whole time took the child's hand in his own. How had he even considered leaving Merlin to die in that forest? Arthur felt terrible and swore to himself that he would make it up to the child in any way possible. He decided that he would start immediately and asked Gaius whether there was anything he could do. Surprised Gaius pointed to a bowl of thick ointment and instructed the prince apply it generously to all of the cuts. Arthur obeyed immediately and began to dab on the ointment, flinching when he felt how cold the child was. He made a mental not to get a servant to deliver more blankets.
Once they were all done Gaius bandaged Merlin up, Arthur lifting and supporting him when necessary. Merlin slept through the entire ordeal and when he woke up late the next morning he sat up and ran a hand along his bandaged chest, looking around for something to do. He eventually settled on playing with his dragon, which someone must have found and dropped off for him. Merlin smiled gratefully and began to relax; he was covered in blankets and felt vaguely safe, cocooned in his bed. A loud noise caused Merlin to shriek in fright and he stumbled backwards off of the bed, taking the pile of blankets with him which thankfully cushioned his fall. Merlin stared up wide-eyed, his breathing rapid, had more of Cenred's men found him?
Gaius opened the door to Merlin's room after hearing a shriek of fear; he hurried in and saw the boy on the floor hyperventilating. He quickly went over to the boy and untangled him, rubbing his back and instructing the child to breathe deeply. When Merlin finally managed to slow his breathing he looked up at Gaius with tears in his eyes.
"Merlin, what happened?"
"I heard a loud noise and I thought- I thought…" Gaius sighed; he had dropped a pile of books by accident and had clearly startled his ward.
"That was just me, I dropped some books which I got out for you. You are safe here, remember?" Merlin nodded and stood up unsteadily, gratefully accepting the supportive hand that Gaius offered him. Once he had settled back onto the bed he took his toy dragon and fiddled with it, head staring down at his lap. Gaius saw that the child was miserable so sat down next to him.
"It's alright. I know that a lot has happened but you will pull through, I promise." Merlin nodded stiffly.
"What books were you getting down for me?" Merlin tried to look interested but did not quite pull it off.
"Well, I have some books on the old religion, but no-one can see them apart from you, Gwaine, Gwen, Percival and Arthur." Merlin nodded excitedly.
"Can I see them now? I want to do something!"
"Not today, you need some rest. Tomorrow."
"But I'm bored!" Merlin grumbled softly.
"Well shall we find something to do that is less strenuous?" Merlin agreed, still pouting slightly. His sullen expression made Gaius smile to himself; the boy was just too cute.
"How about a picnic?" Merlin finally broke into a smile at this suggestion and he jumped out of bed.
"Really, that sounds fun. Can Gwen, Morgana and Arthur come?" Gaius looked slightly uncertain, he was sure that they were all busy but promised Merlin that he would ask. An hour later the five of them met at Gaius' chambers, laden with baskets of food, far too much for them really. They all did have other things to do, but dropped everything immediately, Merlin was more important at the moment, everything else could wait. The adults had all wanted to treat Merlin so had picked out their personal favourites and of course Arthur ordered all of the best items from the kitchens.
Arthur ended up carrying Merlin half of the way, the boy had stubbornly insisted that he was fine and could manage but after the third time of him falling to the ground, limbs sprawling in all directions, Arthur decided to take matters into his own hands. The child barely weighed anything and Arthur was glad that he had gone all out with the treats. They eventually settled in the shade of a tree and opened the food packages. Merlin stared at the food, mouth open in amazement. There was rabbit, venison, deer, boar, cheese and manchet*. Gwen had also bought some fruit with her; five apples which they all ate delightedly, except for Arthur who had apples so often that he gave his to Merlin, the child would enjoy it far more.
Instead of resting Merlin ended up having a pretend swordfight with Arthur and climbed numerous trees in order to escape Gwen and Morgana when they played tag, much to Gaius' disapproval. Merlin eventually jumped down from one tree, having decided that he had won the game and regretted his movement, gasping in pain and falling to his knees, doubled over. Gaius hurried over and quickly checked that Merlin had not begun to bleed again, thanking the stars when he realised that the child was still in one piece. Merlin sprung back up again, slightly unsteady and went over to Arthur, beginning another swordfight. Out of courtesy Arthur let the child win and he smiled at Morgana, Gwen and Gaius who were all cheering Merlin on. As for this being a less strenuous option, Gaius thought sullenly, he should have just let Merlin read the spell books.
At the end of their 'battle' Arthur picked up Merlin, who was now half asleep on his feet and began to carry the boy back to Gaius' chambers, ignoring the child's protests that he was not that tired. By the time they were halfway back Merlin was snoring quietly, his head resting in the crook of Arthur's neck. Morgana and Gwen went back to the castle and Arthur settled Merlin back into bed, spending a while watching him sleep peacefully.
Concerned Arthur asked whether the child was healing alright, he seemed to be loosing energy very quickly. Gaius said that the child would be back to full strength soon, but was still healing and tired from all his ordeals. They parted with a friendly nod and Gaius sat down in his chair, relishing in the moment of peace. He was sure that now he had taken on Merlin he would rarely get a quiet moment to himself.
Hope you liked it, I tried to add some fluff, I think Merlin has been through enough so I will be wrapping up in three more chapters in which there will be some cute scenes and Merlin will begin to manage his magic and spend some quality time with Arthur :) Please review xxx
*A type of bread made with wheat flour.
