A/N If you have not seen it, check this review for chapter 12 from Signal27. Yes, this TOTALLY DID HAPPEN. ABSOLUTELY. ROFL.
..And unbeknownst to our caregivers, across the castle and lower town, rose bushes, in their winter hibernation, come to full bloom. Fresh strawberries appear at the door of each resident, whether they be royalty or peasant...
And our dear Lord Agravaine strides down the crowded halls and feels a sudden draft as his breeches fall around his ankles. As he trips and falls upon his face, bum in air, he wonders why he decided to go commando today...
Thanks as usual to LyricalSinger. I promise I am returning the favour on your upcoming chapter for 'Together in Spirit' NOW!
Just past the noon bell, Merlin's disgruntled murmur of 'headache, Gaius' coupled with the boy scrunching his eyes in displeasure brought a small smile to the physician's face.
Merlin had continued drifting in and out of consciousness for the last hour but had stopped using the language of the old religion during his brief periods of wakefulness. Although Gaius was not happy to know his ward was in pain, the mumble was the sign he'd been looking for that the boy was no longer in danger of revealing his secret.
Unsurprisingly, it was Gwen and Arthur who were the first to visit, seemingly only moments after Lancelot had told the guards that Merlin was permitted to have visitors once again.
"How is he, Gaius?" asked Arthur walking over towards the worktable where the physician was busy preparing some sort of brownish grey potion. The Prince cringed, glad he would not be on the receiving end of the draught.
"He is asleep just now, and has not often been coherent when awake I'm afraid," said Gaius, peering into the flask and frowning at the liquid inside. The old man shook the container vigorously and held it up to inspect it again. Apparently satisfied, he set it aside, only then turning back towards the Prince and adding, "But there has been some improvement since this morning, so I am optimistic."
"I guess that is better than nothing," said Arthur although he could not help feeling disappointed. He had certainly not expected to find Merlin recovered enough to be back at his chores, but the Prince had hoped he would at least be able to talk to his servant. Sadly, Arthur left Gaius to finish pouring the potion from the flask into various bottles that were lined up on his countertop and headed over to the patient bed to where Gwen and Lancelot were already talking quietly.
"I'm sorry for missing the training session this morning, Sire," Lancelot tried to apologize as the Prince joined them. "But ..."
Arthur waved a hand to cut him off. "When you did not show up, I knew you must be here," he said, finally daring to take a close look at his servant. Taking in the dark circles under Merlin's eyes, his pallor and his sweat-plastered hair, the Prince added gently, "I'm glad he had a friend nearby to help him through this."
"Yes, but I think it is time for me to take over, and for you to get some sleep," Gwen said to the dark haired knight. "Have you been up all night?"
"Yes, mostly," Lancelot answered. "It was… it was not a good one," he added softly, "But Merlin seems to be a little bit better now."
Both Gwen and Arthur frowned at this. To their eyes, Merlin looked terribly ill, and they hated to think about how much worse that meant he must have been while they had been busy celebrating at the Yule feast.
Gaius arrived with his hands full of bottles. "Yes he is calm now at least, but his fever is still high, and the infection in his throat concerns me," he told the three watchers as he placed the draughts on the table by the patient bed.
"But I do agree with Gwen that you need to go and get some rest, Lancelot," he added, turning to face the young knight. "You have been a great help, but it would not do for you to fall ill as well."
"I will only leave if you are certain you don't need me," Lancelot said reluctantly.
Gaius smiled warmly, "No, Gwen and I can manage," he said, "And I promise I will send for you if there is any change in his condition."
Lancelot leaned in to whisper, "I've got to go Merlin, but I will be back later."
He was surprised to hear his friend respond, "'s good, Gerard's scabrd," almost too quietly to hear, though Merlin still seemed to be asleep.
Giving the warlock's arm a last squeeze, he turned to Arthur and said, "With your leave, Sire," and with a nod towards Gwen and Gaius, the dark haired knight left the room.
Much to Gaius' surprise, Arthur immediately took the seat that Lancelot had vacated, and set about refreshing the cooling cloth that had slipped down over Merlin's eyes. The physician shared a quick, knowing smile with Gwen. The Prince was likely unaware of how much concern he was showing.
"Thank you, Sire," Gaius said kindly. "Now if you would help me rouse him, I need to administer a draught for his throat."
Arthur tried to hide his eagerness at the possibility of seeing his servant awake. "Come on, you idiot," he said fondly, giving the boy's shoulder a gentle shake. "Gaius has something horrid for you to drink, and I want to enjoy watching. You've slept long enough."
Merlin shifted slightly, allowing Arthur to slip an arm behind his shoulders to raise him, but did not open his eyes or acknowledge the Prince's presence. Arthur sighed but held his servant steady as Gaius and Gwen managed to get Merlin to swallow. The Prince could not stop a frown of concern when the boy did not make even the slightest grimace at the foul-tasting medicine.
"Will he really be all right, Gaius?" Arthur asked uncertainly as he settled Merlin onto his pillow and placed the cooling cloth back on his servant's forehead. "It is so … disquieting… to see him like this."
"I…we can only wait and see," the physician answered slowly. "But I think he will be fine if we just give it some time."
"I thought he just had a cold," the Prince said, continuing to gaze at his servant. "If I had known otherwise, I would never have sent him out to get those cloaks, no matter who they were for," he added, taking Gwen's hand and giving her an apologetic smile.
"And I would not have wanted you to, Arthur. Neither would your knights, I'm certain," the serving girl said.
"Cloak," Merlin broke in. Some of what his caregivers were saying had obviously filtered into the boy's muddled brain, and he began to shift in agitation. "Cloak," he said again.
"Hush, Merlin," Gaius said, laying his hands on his ward's shoulders to still the boy. "It's all right, we have the cloak. Go back to sleep."
To the relief of his watchers, Merlin gave a sigh and went limp, falling deeply asleep again in moments.
"Sire, even with 'just a cold' a person does need to rest in order for them to heal, or the illness risks getting much worse," said Gaius, busying himself by bringing the empty medicine bottle back to his worktable. "Merlin has not been given the time to do that, but you are not alone in the blame. The boy himself also has to take a share of it. He has a very bad habit of hiding things when he is hurt or ill, and I think he has been doing that in this case."
"Does the idiot not realize that he deserves the same consideration as any other man when he is ill?" snapped Arthur, getting angry at the whole situation.
"I'm afraid he does not, Sire," answered the physician.
"What?" Arthur was shocked. "How could that be?"
"Well… all of his life he has been told that his own worth is less than that of others, and when one is told as much so often, one comes to believe it," Gaius replied sadly.
Arthur stared open mouthed for a moment, not believing that his self-assured servant could feel that way. But the Prince quickly recalled how often Uther had said that commoners were of little value. That was bad enough, but it suddenly dawned on Arthur that even among the poor peasants in Merlin's hometown, the boy would have been ostracized because he was … fatherless.
The Prince gripped Gwen's hand even harder, and glanced over at her to see that she had tears in her eyes.
Gaius also thought about it as he put the bottles away. Even though Merlin now knew that he was important because he was linked to the future of Arthur and Albion, this didn't really help his ward's sense of self-worth. In fact, in many ways it had made things worse since the destiny of 'Emrys' had often forced the boy to deny the needs of Merlin the young man.
The three quickly had to put their musings behind them when Merlin began to cough weakly and all of their attention returned to tending to him.
Once they had Merlin comfortably asleep again, Arthur rose from his seat. "I will leave him in your hands now," the Prince said to Gaius and Gwen with a touch of reluctance. "I've stayed longer than I really should; I must go and spend some time with my Father."
"Of course, Sire," said Gaius. "Thank you for taking time out of your duties to visit."
"I suspect that I will not be the last to stop by," said Arthur with a smile. "Judging by our session this morning, apparently most of my Round Table have very pressing duties at this end of the castle today. I think Guinevere may need to play the doorman once they find out that you are permitting Merlin to have visitors again, Gaius."
Gaius and Gwen both chuckled at this, especially when Merlin began to shift and breathed out what sounded like 'knights'.
Arthur's prediction soon came true. Leon arrived only moments after the Prince had departed. Throughout that afternoon, each of the knights dropped by at least once, though Gaius did not allow any of them to stay for very long.
Percival came on three different occasions. He said little, but each time he brought something with him that he was 'sure Gaius would need'. Shortly after Leon had gone, he arrived for the first time, carrying a huge armful of firewood. Close to mid-afternoon he came back with two buckets full to the brim with cold water straight from the well. Lastly, just before the sixth bell, he entered the chambers with a large, fragrant bushel of fresh herbs that he said his mother had always sworn by for ailments of the throat.
Gwaine also came bearing gifts. In his case, it was a flagon of fine wine mulled with honey and spices. The innkeeper had sent it for Merlin and had guaranteed that the mixture would have the young servant back on his feet within two days. Gwaine volunteered to test it out with his friend, and although skeptical about its healing properties, the knight was certain that the wine would make Merlin's convalescence much more fun.
Gaius gladly took all of the offerings, and was particularly happy to find that the herbs from Percival were ones that he was running low on.
Unfortunately for his worried friends, Merlin's fever continued to rage, leaving him restless and confused during their visits. As a result, although he woke often, the boy had no real awareness of what was happening around him, where he was, or exactly who was with him.
All Gaius could do was to reassure them that the young man's fever was slightly lower than it had been the day earlier, and that his throat infection seemed to be better as well.
Merlin had just fallen asleep when, shortly after the sixth bell, a knock came at the door.
"Come," the physician called wearily, wondering which of the knights it was this time.
"I've brought you some dinner," came the booming voice of the Steward, as he and George came through the door, each carrying a tray of something that smelled delicious. "You must be hungry."
Gwen jumped up to help them set the food down on Gaius table. "Thank you," she said before hurrying over to where the physician kept his plates and forks. "I didn't realize it had gotten so late. Now that you mention it, I'm starving!"
"Your brother was over helping out with the refugees, and he told me you had been with Gaius caring for Merlin all afternoon," said the Steward as he and George took the steaming bowls of food off the trays. "I decided that it was only right to bring you all something to eat," he added. "I've brought some good stew for Merlin too, Gaius. Is he up to eating it?"
"As you can see, he is asleep just now and I do not want to wake him," answered the physician, getting up from the seat beside his ward and heading over to the table. "But he should be able to manage a few bites in a little while. Unfortunately, I doubt he will really be aware of what he is eating," he added.
George looked up from where he was frowning at a dirty spot he had found on one of Gaius' forks. "That is unfortunate," said the young man. "I have managed to procure a small piece of cook's special Yule cake for him."
Returning his attention to the fork, George picked up a napkin and wiped vigorously at the dirt speck for a moment. Apparently satisfied, he adjusted the location of the plate that Gwen had lain out and carefully aligned the now-clean fork into place beside it.
Content that the table was set to an acceptable standard, George picked up the small bowl containing the cake. "I shall ensure that this is wrapped properly. That way it will keep for another day when he is able to appreciate it," he said.
"That is very kind of you," Gaius said with a smile of amusement at the young man's seriousness. "I am sure he will enjoy it immensely when he is feeling better."
"Yes, I hope he will," said George softly, looking over at Merlin with what could only be called fondness. "Of all of the Yule foods, this is my own favourite. It is why I asked cook if I might bring some for him." As soon as the words left his mouth, the young man reddened with embarrassment at having exposed something as unprofessional as emotion. He quickly turned and set about filling the dinner plates.
Once Gwen and Gaius were seated, the Steward gestured that they should go ahead and start eating. "I will come back with something else for you tomorrow at lunchtime," he added. "And perhaps some soup for Merlin. Would that be beneficial for him?"
"Yes, that would be perfect," answered Gaius gratefully, taking a piece of the warm white bread that George had just cut from the loaf.
"Good. Then we shall leave you to enjoy your meal," said the Steward. "Just send word if you need something else tonight."
Gaius and Gwen had just finished eating and had started to clear away the plates when Merlin stirred again.
"Good timing, my boy," said Gaius to himself as he crossed the room towards the patient bed. After checking his ward's temperature the physician said, "Gwen, I want to wake him to check his throat. Let us see if we can get some of that stew into him while he is up."
While Gaius talked softly to his ward, rousing the boy and helping him to sit up, Gwen put a small portion of the still-warm meat and potatoes into a bowl and mashed it up, adding enough sauce for the mixture to be easy to swallow. Once she was satisfied, she brought the bowl over and sat down beside her friend.
After Gaius had finished his examination, Gwen put a spoon into Merlin's hand. "Steward has brought some dinner for you," she told her friend. "Can you feed yourself?"
Merlin looked at his spoon in confusion, "I….dinner?" he said, not really understanding what he was meant to do.
"Yes, and it is it is delicious. Try a bite for me," she said, taking his hand and helping him dip his spoon into the bowl." The small prompt did the trick, and Merlin soon finished most of his stew. Once he'd finished, Gwen set the bowl and spoon aside, and helped her friend to lie back down.
As she pulled the blanket up to cover him, Merlin looked sleepily into Gwen's eyes and whispered, "Mother, am I ill?"
A wave of fondness broke over the serving girl, and she bent and kissed her friend's forehead. "Yes, Merlin, but I'm right here to take care of you," she reassured him, "so just go to sleep.'
Whether Merlin felt safe because he thought he was under his mother's protection, or whether it was simply coincidence, the small contented sigh that the young warlock gave as he fell back to sleep marked a turning point.
Gaius examined his ward as Gwen was clearing away Merlin's dishes and shortly after placing his palm on his ward's forehead, the physician turned to the serving girl with a smile. "His fever seems to have broken," he said. "Thank the Gods!"