Author's Note: I haven't touched this one in a while but I had a spark of inspiration. I own nothing.
10. The Note
Merlin went back to help Giaus that afternoon despite the physician's protests. They both knew he hadn't gotten nearly as much sleep as he should have throughout this whole ordeal. Merlin reapplied the ointment on Sir Bedavier's burns and he smiled at her.
"You have stunning eyes. Has anyone ever told you that Merlin?" Merlin laughed and began to rewrap his arm.
"As a matter of fact, no." Bedavier shook his head.
"That should be a crime. You are a stunning young woman." Someone cleared their throat sharply from the doorway. Merlin glanced up and saw Arthur standing there glaring at Bedavier like he'd been personally insulted.
"Prince Arthur!" Bedavier made to rise but Merlin put a hand on his unburned shoulder.
"Don't stand up, you'll put too much pressure on the burns on your legs, they'll crack and you'll have to spend two very painful weeks recovering from what could heal in a week." Bedavier nodded and Arthur stifled a laugh. Merlin raised an eyebrow at him.
"You really are related to Giaus. You sound just like him." Merlin smiled wryly.
"My mother tells me I remind her of him." Merlin checked the small tub of salve and frowned. It was nearly empty. She quickstepped over to Giaus and had a short but heated discussion. Arthur only caught the last few words as he sidled closer to them.
"You don't have the right herbs. Without this it'll take much longer for the burns to heal and it'll be much more painful. And those with more severe burns may not survive without it. I know what I'm looking for." Giaus nodded.
"As well you may my dear but the herbs you need for that poultice, they don't grow in the kingdom of Camelot." Merlin shook her head.
"Yes, they do, they grow in what you call the Darkling Woods. I understand that you can't go there but I can." Arthur cleared his throat again.
"The Darkling woods are far too dangerous for a young woman to travel through on her own." Merlin whirled on him her eyes going icy.
"You don't tell me what is and is not too dangerous, you have no idea what I've faced in my life. I will not sit behind stone walls and wait for someone else to fix a problem I know I can handle." Merlin stormed off leaving Arthur and the others in the room a bit stunned. Bedavier spoke first.
"I didn't know anyone would dare talk to you like that your highness." Arthur was still staring after Merlin though she was no longer in sight. Bedavier looked over at Giaus who glanced in the direction that Arthur was staring and smiled slightly. He stepped around the prince and pushed Bedavier back into the bed he was sitting up in.
"Rest you can gossip with the prince about my niece later." Bedavier blushed a deep red and Arthur glared at him. Comprehension lit Bedavier's face and he turned gingerly away from Arthur, he had a juicy piece of gossip for Gwaine next time the knight came to visit though.
Merlin stormed off to Giaus' chambers and up into the small room she'd slept in the night before. Say what you would about the size of the room the view was something Merlin couldn't get from the tallest of trees. She went to pull the window open in anger but she heard a tapping on the window. She pulled it open far more gently then she'd had planned. She smiled wide as a snow white owl swooped around the room once before settling on one of the short bed posts.
"Archimedes! It's so good to see you! Do you have something for me?" The owl stuck out his leg in answer. There was a small scroll attached there with a small piece of twine. Merlin untied the twine and pulled the scroll off the owl's leg. He ruffled his feathers and spun his head around to check that they were alone. Then he spoke.
"You gonna write them a note back or what?" Merlin laughed slightly.
"Give me a second to actually read the note!" Merlin finished unrolling the note and beginning to read. As she read her face broke into a large near face splitting grin. She raced out of the room and grabbed a small piece of charcoal off of what served for the desk where Giaus wrote down all his recipes for his poultices and cures. She scribbled onto the same note and raced back to the tiny room that for the moment served as hers.
"Give this to Lancelot. He'll know what to do." The owl fluffed up slightly and huffed.
"Em…." Merlin put a finger to his beak not caring if he bit it.
"Not here, you know that, never outside of camp." The owl sighed loudly.
"Meerrlin then. I am not a messenger bird and you know that." Merlin nodded and ran a hand gently through his feathers.
"I do know that, but she sent you to me to help me and currently this is how you can help. Thank you, Archimedes." Merlin pet the owl once more as he sighed then took to the wing and soared off across the night sky. Merlin snagged the cloak out of her pack that sat on the floor and swirled it around her shoulders before taking off at a run out of the castle.
Arthur was in his room nursing another goblet of wine when he spotted a figure on a very familiar pure white horse with no saddle or other tac. Arthur swore and dropped his goblet diving for his sword and rolling across the bed before bursting out of his room and racing off towards the stables. He didn't think that his father might be awake, or that someone might see him leaving, he simply acted. Racing off after the daughter of the only living dragon lord in the onset of evening was probably not the best idea but he didn't think about that. He thought about the serkets and other nasty creatures that lived in the Darkling Woods, and what they could do to a woman on her own. He wasn't sure he could live in a world that didn't include those sparkling sapphire eyes. He faltered at that thought but kept going. He had fallen and fallen hard, maybe it was because Merlin was the only person he'd met besides Morgana who challenged him. He didn't feel like a prince when she spoke to him, he felt like a person. He felt for the first time that he was just Arthur and he didn't want to lose that feeling, he didn't want to lose her. He leapt onto a saddleless horse and took off after Merlin praying he could catch up to her.