Hello!
These updates continue to be sporadic. I would apologize, but I'm 99% sure they will continue to be, so I won't waste your time. But they will keep coming, so don't worry! Thank you to everybody who has been reading and/or reviewing this story!
Enjoy!
~Ra1n
Previously...
Gwen raised her eyebrows. "So he's eating now?"
Gaius winced, "Not… well, yes, but not as much as he should be. He keeps gagging it up. I think Percival was the most successful, but even he only got a few spoonfuls into him before Merlin refused any more."
"Oh." Her hopes deflated. They both stood in silence.
"I will continue the research," Gaius said quietly.
"And I will go."
From his dimly lit desk, Gaius watched her leave.
Gwen padded down the hallway with her hands clasped tightly to her chest in an attempt to slow her fluttering heartbeat. Of course she knew she was going to have to talk to Arthur eventually, but she hadn't thought about it until now, and she hadn't thought it would be this soon. Merlin hadn't even woken up yet- although that was why they had to talk, wasn't it?
Too soon, she was standing in front of Arthur's door. Would Arthur even be in his chambers? It had been more than twenty-four hours since he'd run out of Gaius's chambers without explanation, and perhaps he was off doing kingly things.
But no, it was night. He'd be in bed.
She knocked on the door.
"Leave me alone," came Arthur's gruff reply. Gwen hesitated, but swallowed her anger down. This was for Merlin.
"It's- it's me, Arthur. It's Gwen."
There was no noise.
"Arthur, please, I need to speak to you."
Heaven knew she wouldn't be speaking to him otherwise.
Still no reply. She tried once more, a different approach.
"It's about Merlin."
There was some movement behind the door, and then it swung open.
To say Gwen was surprised by Arthur's appearance was an understatement. There were dark circles under his eyes. His shoulders were hunched. His hair stuck up like he had been running his fingers through it compulsively. As he leaned in the doorway, the king of Camelot looked every bit the sad, tired man he must have been for the last few days.
Gwen might have even felt a little bad for him.
"What do you want?" He asked quietly, not making eye contact.
It took Gwen a moment to find her voice again. When she did, all she could get out was a confused, "Arthur?" As she took an involuntary step toward him.
Arthur shifted away. Still, his voice remained subdued, "Why are you here?"
Gwen studied him for another moment before speaking.
"Are you okay?"
Arthur looked as surprised as Gwen felt about her concern. She was still angry- more than angry. Furious. But her mouth seemed to have a mind of its own.
"I'm fine," he said, running a hand through his hair, "what's wrong with Merlin?"
A lot of things, Gwen thought, and suddenly the anger was back. Maybe it was the exhaustion- it wasn't as all-consuming as before- but it was there. A lot of things that Arthur had done were wrong. She couldn't shake them off. She couldn't just forget them and move on.
She shook her head. She couldn't be thinking about her feelings surrounding Arthur now. This encounter needed to be quick and to the point.
"The collar," she said, "you need to persuade the jewelsmith to take it off of him."
The king didn't look at all surprised by the request, but he did look apologetic.
"I have already spoken to the jewelsmith," he said.
That got Gwen's attention.
"What?" She asked.
"I've already spoken to the jewelsmith. I went down and spoke to him yesterday."
Gwen stared. "By yourself?"
He shrugged. "Yes," he made eye contact with Gwen for the first time. "I'm not heartless."
Gwen wanted to beg to differ, but decided it wasn't the time. "And what did he say?"
Arthur's face grew pained. "He said he couldn't help. He recommended removing the jewels, if possible, but he admitted he wasn't sure how to do that."
Gwen had to admit that this "quick encounter" was already longer than any conversations they'd had one-on-one in months. She squashed the thought away.
"Then do you have any ideas as to how to get the collar off? Or remove the jewels."
Arthur shook his head. "No."
"Then what use are you?" She snapped. Arthur flinched.
Gwen took a moment to compose herself. Stay focused. "Do you know how to contact Iseldir again?"
His eyes widened. "I hadn't thought of that."
She ignored his words. "Well, do you?"
"No. He came to me in the woods and disappeared afterwards." He slumped further down, "I wouldn't even know where to start."
"That's it, then." She whispered, more to herself than to Arthur. "That's all I have."
They both stood silently, motionless in the doorway.
"Guinevere?" Arthur, who was once again staring at the ground, asked.
"What?"
"I'm sorry."
Gwen sighed. "You should be." She hugged her arms around herself. "But that's not enough."
"What will be?"
Gwen looked away, staring at the point where the hallway split and continued out of her sight. "I don't know."
Silence fell again.
"You could-" Arthur cut himself off. "Nevermind."
"I could what?"
He scratched the back of his neck.
"You could look for him. It has only been a few days, he might still be in Camelot. I can send a knight to search the woods-"
"Who is going to look for a man who might have already disappeared?" But even as she said it, she knew the answer.
So did Arthur.
"You can ask Gwaine."
When the physician's door creaked open hours later, Gaius woke with a start. He had fallen asleep over his books; the candle had gone out. A quick glance at the window showed that it was still dark- The cloth was that special shade of purple-black reserved for the very middle of the night.
Gaius looked at the source of the noise just as a giant, looming figure entered the room.
"Hello?" Gaius whispered, but the figure didn't seem to hear him. Instead, it crept across the floor with silent, booted feet towards Merlin.
An uneasy feeling filled Gaius's throat.
The figure knelt and reached out.
"Stay away from him!" Gaius shouted, and the figure jumped and cursed, spinning to look at him with wide eyes.
Gaius raised an eyebrow. "Sir Percival?" He leaned down to relight the candle, "What do you think you are doing?"
Percival, who looked slightly embarrassed, took a step away from the bed. "I just- Gwen took Gwaine," he muttered, as if that answered anything.
"For what purpose?"
Percival took a seat on the stool beside the cot. "She sent him off to find Iseldir."
"Oh... And you? What are you doing here?"
"I thought…" he looked at the floor, avoiding eye contact, "If Gwen was off helping Gwaine pack, and Gwaine was gone, and you were asleep, then Merlin would be-"
"Vulnerable?" Gaius blurted without thinking.
Percival looked startled. "Alone."
"Ah," It was Gaius's turn to feel embarrassed. Of course Percival would visit late at night and early in the morning, when nobody else was around. He didn't need the noise of others, or the bustle of the day. And if Merlin woke up, he would be there.
"I'm sorry, I can go if you'd like me to," the knight said, standing and moving towards the door.
"No, no. Please stay. It would be a relief to go to bed knowing someone is watching over him. Stay as long you would like."
Percival nodded his response, then sat down.
Gaius watched them for a moment, then retreated to Merlin's room to get a few hours of rest.
Percival sat and watched Merlin breathe.
"Gaius," Gwen called, "this burn doesn't seem to be healing."
Percival, who had fallen asleep at Merlin's side at some point during the night, blearily lifted his head from his folded arms.
Gwen was standing on the other side of the cot, in the process of re-wrapping the bandages on Merlin's legs. Gaius shuffled into view and looked at the burn Gwen was pointing to. The physician sighed. "He isn't eating," he said. "It takes energy to heal, and he just... doesn't have that energy."
Gwen swallowed and continued to wrap the bandages around Merlin's leg. Gaius's voice had a note of finality to it. It was one thing for Merlin to die, and another to watch their friend slowly waste away into nothing as they stood by helplessly.
Percival stood and went to the fire, where there was a pot of broth already warming. There was always a pot of broth warming, it seemed. His face was carefully neutral as he poured some into a bowl and sat beside Merlin.
"He isn't going to die like this." He said, lifting Merlin's limp form into his lap. Keeping Merlin's head upright with the crook of his elbow, he slowly lifted a spoonful of soup to Merlin's lips and tipped it in. He cringed when Merlin coughed and soup spilled down his cheeks.
Gwen watched for a moment as Percival carefully fed Merlin another spoonful. This time, he swallowed.
"The collar only weakened him before, but in his current state I doubt he will be strong enough to wake up while it is on, even with the food," Gaius said. Percival didn't spare him a glance.
"Then what do you suggest? I stop trying?"
"I am only saying to not get your hopes up, if his collar remains then there is truly nothing we can do."
Percival scowled and coaxed more soup down the unconscious warlock's throat. "I'm not giving up on him," he muttered, and there was no way to miss the accusation in his tone.
"I did not mean it like that," Gaius said, "I will do whatever it takes to keep him alive."
Percival nodded. "I know."
Gwen was partially listening to the conversation, but most of her attention was on Merlin eating. Watching his throat as he swallowed, she winced. The skin around the edge of the collar was blistered and agitated, and she didn't know if it was from the constant irritation of something being around his neck, or because the collar itself had burning properties. Either way, it looked entirely uncomfortable.
"Gaius?" Gwen asked, interrupting the tense conversation already going on above her head, "What are these burns from?" She motioned towards the blistering. "Are they from the collar moving, or the iron itself?"
Gaius looked at the marks. "A little of both, I'm afraid," he said.
"Why have I only just noticed them? Have they been there all along?"
Gaius leaned closer. "They seem to be relatively fresh," he said, sighing, "I guess it was going to happen eventually. I'm surprised the collar did not cause irritation sooner."
Gwen hummed and watched Merlin swallow again. Now that she was watching for it, she noticed that each time his throat moved, the collar shifted a little, causing the inflammation. Of course she hadn't noticed it before- the collar hadn't been moving before.
An idea struck her.
"The collar doesn't adapt to the wearer at all, does it?" She asked.
Gaius look puzzled, but shook his head. "No, it is a fixed size. Why?"
Instead of answering, Gwen stood up and moved towards Gaius's table. Rummaging through a drawer for a moment, she retrieved a set of pliers, the kind Gaius used in tooth extraction, and settled herself in front of Merlin.
"Can I see him?" She asked. Percival set down the soup and shifted the sorcerer's weight so that he was facing Gwen. "No, no. His neck."
The knight paused for a moment, but then complied, laying Merlin's head in Gwen's lap while the rest of his body stayed in his.
Gwen tilted Merlin's head to the side, ignoring the gash on his face that had only barely scabbed over in favor of focusing on the collar.
"What are you doing?" The knight asked, watching her. Gaius moved to get a better look.
Gwen winced as she gently pressed her fingers against the skin next to the collar. The muscles in Merlin's neck twitched at the contact, but she continued, working one of her fingers around the edge before pressing down. Merlin made a breathy noise in his throat.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, then slipped a finger underneath the collar. Everyone in the room made a few surprised noises. The collar had been assumed skintight and impenetrable until that moment.
Merlin made another noise and Gwen paused. She could feel the roughness of the stones beneath her fingertip, and felt a rush of sympathy. The collar must have been extremely uncomfortable to wear. She took a deep breath.
Percival and Gaius watched as, to their surprise, Gwen removed her fingers and slid the pliers into the same spot. Fiddling around with them for a moment, she closed her eyes. She was trying to visualize what the pliers were touching, and after a few tense moments she opened her eyes and pulled the pliers back out. She dropped the object she was holding into her hand, smiling.
There, in her palm, was a tiny shard of ruby.
"The collar was moving," she said, "so I thought that there must be some space that wasn't there before."
There was a beat where nobody was sure how to react, and then,
"Guinevere! You are a genius!" Gaius exclaimed, snatching the ruby from her palm. Gwen didn't even blush at the compliment. She was too focused on Merlin. "Do you think you could get any more?" Gaius asked, laying the jewel in a shallow tin on his table.
Gwen looked at Merlin. The ruby had scratched the blistered skin as she had pulled it out, and it was now bleeding sluggishly, dripping onto the collar. "I think so," she said, and began to work.
Three hours later, Gwen's fingers were slicked with blood- both hers and Merlin's- but she had managed to remove a small pile of various stones and jewels. They lay in a tin by her side, sparkling beneath a layer of crusted blood and pus. She shuddered.
"That's all I can get," she said, dropping an emerald into the pile, "The rest won't budge."
Gaius looked at the fruition of her efforts. "There must be at least twenty stones here," he said, sorting them absently, "It's no wonder he is so weak."
Gwen laid the pliers down and gently shifted Merlin back onto Percival's lap.
"But is it enough?" Gwen asked, "there are still some that I couldn't move."
Gaius sifted through the jewels. "I think you have gotten plenty, Guinevere."
She shook her head. "I don't know."
They all took a moment to look at the collar that still rested against Merlin's neck. The removal of the jewels had loosened it significantly enough that it was now resting over the hollow of his throat, just above his prominent clavicles. There was a ring of red, raw skin where the collar had been cinched so tightly before. If they looked closely enough, they could even see the imprints of a few of the stones.
"Could we get at the lock now?" Gwen asked.
Gaius lifted the collar to see how much space he had. "Perhaps..."
He went to a drawer and pulled out a long pin. "I am no locksmith," he said, looking at the collar again in order to locate the lock, "but I have picked a few locks in my time."
He moved to fit the tool into the lock, but almost immediately discovered there wasn't enough room for even the finest picks. A pair of pliers was about all that could fit. He shook his head. "Damn it all to Hell," he muttered.
"But we're so close!" Gwen shouted, "it's right there!"
"We're going to have to wait and hope we have done enough." Gaius said, but his fingers were trembling.
"This is ridiculous. Surely we can get smaller tools-"
"I am sorry, Guinevere, but there is no other option," Gaius ground out, obviously just as frustrated as Gwen.
"We can hope Gwaine returns with Iseldir." Percival whispered.
"Yes," Gaius said, "and that he will help once he comes."
But until then, they would have to wait.
For the next few hours, Gwen and Percival took turns watching Merlin while Gaius dealt with the other patients he had been putting off.
The door slammed open and closed over and over as men and women shuffled in and out, sneezing and coughing and asking for help. It was dizzying at first, but soon they grew used to the noise and movement. They didn't even notice when the door opened to reveal not a patient, but a guard.
Owain looked worse than Arthur had as he shuffled into the physician's quarters with his head bowed and hands trembling. Gwen wondered if he had even gone home or slept in a bed since they had last crossed paths. He refused to make eye contact with anybody.
"Kid?" he whispered when he saw Merlin in his cocoon of blankets and bandages, "it's me."
Merlin flinched at the sound of his voice and whined before lying still again. And although Percival and Gwen were ecstatic at the first sign of life they'd seen from Merlin all day, Owain simply hunched down further and left.
With the small burst of life came other improvements. Merlin's breathing began to ease; the removal of most of the jewels allowed his lungs to move normally again. The broken and bruised ribs meant they still stuttered, but each breath was deeper than the last. His pulse quickened as well, growing stronger as they watched. For the first time in a very long time, there seemed to be some hope on the horizon.
At noon, Gaius looked Merlin over and announced that his fever had broken.
"So the iron dust gone is from his system?" Gwen asked. Gaius nodded.
"Yes."
It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.
Were you getting frustrated with those jewels? Yeah, so was I.