"Days Since" (Rose)
I awake the next morning. I go to sit up, but am overwhelmed with a dizzy spell and plop right back down. I touch my upper right arm where the arrow blazed me. I hiss. It's tender and extremely sensitive to the touch. I look further down my arm. That's why my right hand feels weighted, I laugh to myself. I see the hand I felt the night before still covering mine. With my eyes, I trace down the arm the hand belongs to, to see the boy who caught me lying there. I look at his sleek face. He has a peaceful look about him. His hair is ruffled about, which is strangely endearing. I notice his hand is cold. I turn onto my right side, wincing from the pain. I clamp my teeth and make no sound. I pull off one of my blankets and spread it over his long legs and lower torso, so as not to disturb his arm, with my free hand. He does not wake, only stirs a bit, but calms in a few seconds. I return to my original position and fall back asleep.
In the next few days, I wake at different times, just for tiny segments. If I happen to rise at a very early hour, the boy is still at my side, the same way every morning since the first. If it's later morning but before noon, a girl a bit older than me with darker skin and curly brown hair is with me, doing whatever needs doing. If it is in the afternoon that I wake, Gaius is there hovering over me, cleaning and redressing my wound and it seems I have a fever, for he keeps dousing a rag with cool water and dabbing my forehead. I am never up long enough for anyone to notice my eyes flutter open. In the evening, the boy returns home, eats dinner next to my bed, and remains there through the night. He still holds my hand as he sleeps. For that reason, even when I wake in the middle of the night, reliving the fears of the night that caused this whole mess, I know he is there, and that comforts me.
"A Strange Meeting" (Merlin)
It is the third day since this mystery of a girl came into my life and I have looked into her eyes only once and have not heard her speak but one word. It must surely be shameful that I seem attached to her already. I cannot explain it to anyone, not even myself- not that I have tried. Maybe, it is the magic running through our blood, which connects us with no words and no previous history other than the moment she stumbled into my life (quite literally) and every moment spent together since then which she has no idea about. She is really beginning to recover though. She should awake at any moment. "Madness," I utter aloud, looking down at her sleeping form.
"What was that, Merlin?" Gaius calls from the other room.
"Nothing!"
"Alright then, come and get your breakfast!"
Turning to the door, I waggle my head to the sides in a goofy manner, "Coming."
A girl's giggle sends me spinning back around, stunning me with the unexpected. "Well, I must say, that was a rather awkward sight to wake up to," she smiles.
"You're awake!" I laugh from relief, and stride back over to the bed, sitting next to it (but this time, on the opposite side of the bed I have been on). "Welcome back," I smile widely.
"Thank you," she quiets. For a moment, we survey each other, saying nothing. I had forgotten how pretty her eyes are. I can see the olive-y green in them better in the light of the morning sun. She is the one to break the silence. "You must be Merlin?" she inquires.
"Yeah!" I smile, "How did you know?"
"Oh," she brightens, just a bit, "Gaius spoke of you- very highly I might add. So, I derived a conclusion upon seeing you care for me these past days that you were either his assistant, Merlin, or a strange boy who sneaks into his home at night and eats his dinner... I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt."
I laugh, "Well, you would be correct on that first bit. I am Merlin, Gaius' assistant and I double as the manservant to the crowned prince, Arthur."
"Uther's son?" There is bitterness in her tone, only when she says Uther's name. I nod, pursing my lips.
"Merlin!" Gaius storms into the room, "What're you-" he stops short. "Rose! Bless me, you're awake!"
"I am awake," she smiles sweetly; "However, I regret to inform you, I have not the position to bless anyone and have a lasting effect." We both laugh at this, while she just keeps her smile.
"It looks like you shall make a full recovery in no time," Gaius beams.
"Maybe," her smile fades. I know she must be thinking of her family and all that transpired a few nights ago. My heart aches for the pain she must be reliving right now.
I can think of nothing else to say but "Would you like some breakfast?"
This seems to do the trick of distracting her from her thoughts and she responds in a lighter voice, "Yes, please, that'd be lovely."