I do not own the rights to the characters of Merlin, I simply enjoy imagining new adventures for them.

I couldn't leave Merlin's fate hanging in the balance too long so I made sure to get this one out quickly.

Chapter 5

When they arrived back to the castle, Arthur and Percival jumped off their horses and quickly unbound Merlin from his horse. As Percival carried the injured man in his arms, Arthur ran up the stairs ahead of them.

"Gaius!" Arthur yelled as he ran through the castle halls on his way to the physician's chambers. "Gaius! Where are you?!"

Gaius emerged from the hall leading to the kitchens as Arthur neared them. "I'm here, Sire. What do you need?"

"It's Merlin. We found him in the forest. He was attacked by bandits. It's bad, Gaius." Arthur explained and as Gaius began to feel panic rising inside him, he turned to see Percival carrying the limp body of his apprentice his way.

"Quickly, there's no time to waste!" As he hurried ahead of Percival toward his chambers and held the door open for the knight and the king. "Place him on the table, there." Once the young man was laid on the table, he set to work inspecting the wound and gathering supplies while the king and the knight hovered.

Guinevere burst through the door before Gaius had the chance to begin treating Merlin. "I heard he was found. Oh Merlin! Gaius, is he going to be alright?"

"It is too early to tell. Sire, I need space to work. I think it is best if you and Sir Percival return to your normal duties. I will send someone to fetch you when I know better what we are dealing with and what we can expect." Gaius told Arthur as he began shooing the men out of the room.

"Please take good care of him and let me know if there is anything that I can do to help." Arthur said as he reluctantly moved to the door.

"Yes sire, of course." Gaius said and closed the door behind them. "Quick, Guinevere, help me get his tunic off." Gaius said as he hurried back to Merlin and lifted the man into sitting so she could remove his shirt. Once his torso was bare, they lowered him back onto the table and Gaius grabbed a wet rag to begin cleaning the wound while Guin held Merlin's hand. When Gaius turned back to the unconscious man, he gasped.

"Did you know about this?" He whispered as his fingers ghosted over the healed scar of a brand on Merlin's chest. "This is a triskelion. It's a druid symbol." A very worried Gaius looked up at Guinevere waiting for her answer.

"Yes, I did know. Cenrad branded him. Before Merlin came to Nemeth to apprentice for the court physician there, word of his special abilities spread from Ealdor up to Cenrad. Cenrad sought to collect him, to use him as he saw fit. So he kidnapped him and tried to hold him captive as his slave. As you can imagine, that didn't go according to plan. However, before Merlin could escape and make his way to Nemeth and safety, he was branded by Cenrad so that everyone who encountered him would know what he was. It was barbaric and disgusting." Guinevere explained with her head held high and a look of fury on her face. She then looked down at her friend and brushed his hair off his forehead. "Gaius, we must protect his secret. The king cannot know about this. He'd be burnt at the stake. He's a good man with a pure heart who only wants to help people. He cannot change who he is." She pleaded with the old man.

"Guinevere, my dear child. He is in no danger from me. Once upon a time, I practiced magic myself. And remember, I knew Merlin's father. I can't believe I didn't know. We will make sure to keep it covered or bandaged so no one else may discover his secret. Now, I need you to go fetch a bucket of clean, hot water." She nodded and immediately grabbed the bucket and set off. "Oh Merlin, my boy. How could I have been so blind? I pray that I can heal this wound and you will be able to recover and tell me all about this." And Gaius set to work.

When Merlin was treated to the best of Gaius's abilities and was fully bandaged and resting, Gaius sent a servant to fetch the king to update him on Merlin's condition. Gaius refused to leave the young man's side. When the king arrived, Gaius couldn't help but notice how Arthur immediately strode to Merlin's side, kneeling next to him and taking his hand.

"How is he, Gaius? Will he recover?" The worried king asked.

"The wound is deep and he lost a lot of blood, my lord. However, there was no damage to any organs and I have hope he will recover." Gaius explained.

"When will he wake up?" Arthur asked.

"It's difficult to tell, sire. His body has been through a great trauma and requires much rest. It could be an hour, it could be days."

"Days?! It could take that long?" Gaius nodded and Arthur sighed. "Very well, you know better than I. Also Gaius, I did grab the basket with the plants Merlin had been picking for you. I do not know how much of your list he collected but if you give me a list of what still needs collected along with pictures to identify them, I will send a couple knights to finish collecting them for you. I do not want another unarmed man out in that forest at this time. The basket is in my chamber, I will send my servant up with it once I leave here."

"Thank you, my lord. I greatly appreciate this." Gaius told him just as there was a knock on the door. Gaius pulled the door open to find Sir Leon waiting on the other side.

"Forgive me, sire, but the council is waiting for you." Leon told Arthur.

"Very well, I will be right there." Arthur replied as he stood and turned to Gaius. "I want to know the moment he awakes. I do not care what time of day that might be. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sire." Gaius replied as Arthur exited the chamber and closed the door behind him.

It was another five hours before Merlin finally awoke. In his confusion, he tried to sit immediately and groaned in pain, drawing the attention of Gaius.

"Lay back my boy, you will rip your stitches open." Merlin did as the old man said, eyes closed and eyebrows knit together.

"What happened, Gaius? How did I get here?" Merlin asked.

"You were attacked by bandits while picking herbs and they stabbed you and left you for dead. When you didn't return for many hours, King Arthur and Sir Percival went searching for you and finally brought you back here. I cleaned the wound and sewed it up the best I could. I expect you will recover but you will need rest and I will need to monitor you for infection." Gaius explained to his apprentice. Merlin sleepily nodded his head before his eyes suddenly popped wide open and he realized his tunic had been removed. "It's alright, Merlin. I have wrapped the scar so no one else will see. Guinevere explained to me what happened. Why didn't you tell me? I could use a sorcerer every now and then, you know?" Gaius teased with a chuckle.

"I'm not ashamed of who I am, Gaius. I was born with my magic, I did not need to learn it from anyone. As a child, druids traveling through town were drawn to me and explained to my mom the prophecy of my birth. They call me Emrys and say I'm the greatest sorcerer to walk the earth. They have tied me to the once and future king, whatever that means. However, we live in a world that does not look kindly on my people. So I keep it quiet. That seems to be the only way I can keep my head. The court physician in Nemeth knew of my magic and it worked quite well. We were able to save many more lives than with medicine alone. He kept my secret and swore to continue keeping it after I left. Cenrad is a different story. I do worry about him coming back for me. He only saw me do magic the one time, when I escaped. However, because of that he could make my life very difficult if he discovered where I am." Merlin explained.

Gaius took his hand. "Then we must keep your identity quite so we may keep you safe. Your secret is, of course, safe with me." Gaius patted his hand then and got up. "Now then, the king has commanded that I fetch him immediately upon your waking. Will you be ok on your own for a couple minutes or do I need to call for a servant?"

"Go, I will be fine." Merlin pulled the blanket up further on his chest and mentally prepared himself for the king to arrive. He wracked his head trying to remember what had happened that day. How many bandits were there? Could he describe them if he was asked? What was stolen from him?

The door burst open and in strode Arthur. "Merlin, thank god you're alright! We were all so worried. I don't want to think what might have happened if Percival hadn't seen your boot from under that bush." Merlin was startled by Arthur's sudden interest in his well being.

"Thank you for your concern, sire. And thank you for rescuing me." Merlin told his king. "I wish I could remember more information on my attackers for you but it's all a little fuzzy for me."

The king waved his hand. "That's of no consequence now, Merlin. And please, call me Arthur. At least when we are in private." He told him with a concerned smile.

"Alright, thank you Arthur. I was wondering, I'd very much like to go rest in my own bed but I will need help getting to my room. Would you be willing to help me off this table and to my bed? Gaius would have a fit if he found out I tried to get there on my own but this table is terribly uncomfortable." Merlin knew that this was not a task for a king but he was the only one in the room with him; apparently Gaius was giving them a moment of privacy.

"Of course I can help you." Arthur pulled back the blanket covering Merlin and tried not to let his glance linger on Merlin's bare torso. "Um, let's get you sitting up." Arthur slid his arm under Merlin's shoulders and gently lifted him and helped him turn to let his legs fall to the floor. "Up you go." Arthur slung Merlin's arm around his shoulder and helped him to stand up and slowly walk up the short flight of stairs to Merlin's room and over to his bed before helping to prop him up a bit on his pillows. "How's that?" Arthur asked once he had him settled.

"That's good, thank you. Can you please help me pull up the blanket at the foot of the bed there?"

"Oh, yes, of course." Arthur pulled the blanket up over Merlin's torso.

"Thank you for all your help, Arthur. I appreciate it, truly. I just struggle to understand why you care so much. I'm nothing of consequence. My life is not important." Merlin couldn't wrap his head around it all.

"Who told you your life is inconsequential? Because it most certainly is not. I may be the king but when it all comes down to it, my life is not worth any more than anyone else's. You are now a member of this household. You are important to all of us." Arthur explained to Merlin, wishing he could force his heart to believe that explanation. What would Merlin think if he knew that Arthur thought a great deal of Merlin and the thought of never seeing him again took his breath away? What would the people of Camelot think if they knew their king dreamt of spending his nights not with a beautiful new queen but the new court physician's apprentice. Such things were simply not done, no matter how much the king longed for them. "You get your rest and I will come check on you tomorrow. Goodbye, Merlin." Arthur stood from his seat at the foot of Merlin's bed.

Merlin smiled at him. "Goodbye, Arthur." And the king walked through the physician's chambers and out into the castle halls while Gaius walked in and straight to Merlin.

Merlin put up his hand to stop Gaius's fussing before he had the chance to begin. "Don't worry, Arthur helped me here, I did not do it myself." Merlin took a deep breath a settled himself deeper into his pillows. "Gaius, you should know something about my magic. It tends to heal my body without my command. I suspect by tomorrow the wound will be healed."

Gaius was slightly dumbfounded. "I've never seen magic act that way. How remarkable. I feel greatly relieved that you will make a full recovery, Merlin. However, we will need you to continue to pretend you are recovering for the next several days so no one expects anything." Merlin nodded in agreement. Gaius disappeared shortly and returned with a tray of soup and bread. "Here, eat and then you need to rest."

Merlin took the food gladly, having not eaten since breakfast a good 12 hours prior. "Thank you for everything, Gaius."