Arthur stared at the two sleeping men with some intrigue. In his sleep, Merlin had moved closer to Lancelot, until the knight was practically spooning the ill servant. Arthur knew that Lancelot would be disgusted with the situation if he was awake, but the steady rise and fall of his shoulders showed that he was in a restful sleep. Arthur sighed, turning from the scene and gazing at the two other knights. Elyan laid awake, playing with a stick quietly, obviously deep in thought. The king had noticed that the young knight had been falling into silences like this more often, but he simply assumed that it was a side effect of the change in season. Gwaine, on the other hand, was fast asleep, snoring loudly in his iconic matter. Arthur kept watch over his men with steadfast attentiveness, too wired to sleep. In truth, he hasn't gotten lost in these woods since he was a small boy, and he found that he didn't really like the feeling. Plus, he figured that he should get Merlin to Gaius as soon as possible. That cough didn't sound good, and Arthur didn't want a repeat of last year.
As if conjured, Merlin snapped awake by a particularly violent snore from Gwaine. Very quickly, he realized the position Lancelot and he were in and struggled to remove himself from the awkward situation. Once he had rolled away from Lancelot, he let out a couple of short, tight coughs in the opposite direction. Despite the sharp pain this cough brought forth, he felt better than the night before. He was no longer shivering, and his head ached slightly less. Despite that, his chest still burned, as did his throat. He sat up, hoping for a better position to breathe in. After sitting up, he noticed Arthur watching him intently. Once the King saw that he was being watched as well, he looked away, appearing to be slightly embarrassed. Merlin, not really paying attention to Arthur's behavior, let out a few more coughs before groaning slightly. Well, that got Arthur's attention. In a flash, the King's eyes were on Merlin again. The young warlock ignored this and coughed again, grimacing as he spat out the vile fluid brought forth. Damn, he thought.
"Merlin?" Out came a tentative, almost nervous voice that Merlin could not recognize at first. Then, with a start, he realized that it was Arthur.
"Arthur, hey!" Merlin whispered, not daring to bring his voice higher than that, lest he trigger another attack. "What are you doing up?" He asked, trying for a cheery tone despite his exhaustion and failing miserably.
"I was keeping watch." The king answered simply, before taking a breath to speak again. "Merlin, you-"
"Before you say I really don't sound good, I already told you, I'm fine. I've just got a cold, that's all." Arthur looked at his servant incredulously, and Merlin could feel the suspicion coming from the man. "Really, Arthur, I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about it."
"I'm not worried," Arthur responded quickly, "I just don't want my men to fall ill as well. And speaking of that, maybe you should think twice about cuddling with a knight while you are clearly contagious." Arthur's tone sounded serious, but when one knows him like Merlin does, they can tell when he's being for real serious and mock serious.
"I was asleep, sire. Trust me, if I had been awake…" He let the sentence trail off, not wanting to aggravate his throat further. However, the King must have gotten the hint, because he let the conversation drop and sat down on the other side of the same tree as Merlin.
"Sire? What…"
"Well I can't have you choking on your own throat while you sleep, now can I? I'll be here if you wake up, for now, just… sleep. You need what little strength you can. Not that you had much to begin with." Arthur adds, smile in his voice.
"Why do you always have to be such an ass?" Whispered Merlin, his exhaustion overtaking him.
"I dunno, clotpole."
"That's my word…" And with that, Merlin drifted off into a fitful sleep. But not Arthur. Arthur continued watching over his men, because that's what a king does. He also may have been watching over Merlin, making sure that warlock kept breathing, because he could really do without that happening again.
Morning came too quickly for Elyan's liking. He had woken up several times during the night, as he often does, from nightmares. He also was awake when Arthur went to talk with Merlin. Although Elyan was relatively calm (except when concerning his sister), he felt a stir of worry whenever he thought of the illness Merlin was clearly suffering from. However, he was always unsure of what to do in these situations, so he just left it to the other knights. Besides, they seemed to be doing just fine with the sick servant.
Merlin awoke slowly, confused. He very distinctly remembered falling asleep at the tree with Arthur, but when he woke up, he was laying down, propped up by both his own pillow and another's. Not that he was complaining. While he slept, it seemed that the loose phlegm in his lungs had settled to the bottom, making his chest feel impossibly tight and making every breath shallow and painful. Sitting up seemed to help a bit, so sit up he did, blinking blearily at the active men around him.
"Arthur?" He said, only to feel an incredibly sharp pain in his throat which caused him to begin coughing. However, this time was different than before. The cough was no longer productive, but short, chesty, and wheezy. While he could feel the junk in his lungs, he could no longer cough it out, which led to a consistent and painful urge to cough. Gwaine, who was packing up his own bedroll nearby, called out to Merlin.
"Morning sleepyhead! How are you feeling?" Instead of answering, the young warlock just continued to cough, until finally he could get it to stop by taking short, choppy breaths.
"How do you think?" He answered, earning a chuckle from the knights, including Arthur.
"Well, I hope you got your strength back, because we're about to leave." Arthur said, glancing at his servant with concern masked with impatience.
"I hope so too." Mumbled Merlin, rolling up the bedrole and standing. He felt himself lose his balance, and in order to steady himself, he used the first bit of magic since the bandits to try and steady himself, but instead, the magic seemed to sap what little strength he had left, and he fell to the forest floor.
"What was that Me- Merlin!" Shouted Arthur, seeing his servant laying on the ground. Abandoning all pretense, the King rushed to his Merlin's side and knelt beside him. "Merlin, this is the second time you've passed out in two days. Don't make me pick you up." But Merlin did not stir. "Lancelot!" Arthur called, but the young knight was already right beside him. "Get me some water."
"Yes, my lord." And Lancelot ran off to grab the water containers.
"Is he gonna be alright?" Asked Gwaine, fear ringing through his usually carefree voice.
"I don't know Gwaine, do I look like a physician?" Arthur quipped, not taking his eyes off the warlock. "Merlin, can you hear me?" No answer. "Merlin!" Arthur was beginning to panic slightly. "Come on, Merlin."
"Here, sire." Lancelot had returned with the water, and Arthur took it gratefully, though not entirely sure how to use it in this situation. Making up his mind, he poured a little of the water in Merlin's mouth, trying to rouse the pale boy. Fortunately it worked. Merlin woke with a start, and Arthur's relief was short lived before Merlin began to cough again. Lancelot helped Arthur sit Merlin up and lean him to one side so that he could cough up whatever was stuck in his chest. After a minute or so, the coughing seemed to ease a bit, and Merlin looked weakly at everyone's worried faces.
"What's everyone looking at?" He said, a bit alarmed to hear how far his voice had gone. He attempted to stand, but found both Arthur and Lancelot holding him down.
"Just lay down Merlin. We don't want you fainting again." Teased Arthur. "What was that about?"
"I dunno. I just stood up and I… got dizzy."
"Ah, you 'got dizzy'. Right."
"Yeah, I got dizzy, but I'm fine now, Come on, you said we were leaving." Merlin once again tried to stand, but he once again found Lancelot's hand on his chest.
"Just relax Merlin."
"No!" The warlock yelled, then coughed a couple times into his sleeve, eliciting a few looks exchanged over his head. "I'm not going to slow everyone down because I've gone and caught myself a cold. We have to get home, and I'll be fine." Lancelot and Arthur looked dubiously at Merlin.
"Are you sure?" Arthur verified with his servant. They met eyes and Merlin nodded curtly.
"Of course."
"Then let's go." He helped Merlin to his feet, not missing when he winced. "What?" The King asked.
"My chest. It hurts a bit."
"How much is a bit?"
"A lot."
"Right. Well, how do you feel about sharing a horse with Lancelot over here? We can't have you falling off your horse." Merlin shook his head and smiled.
"I think I'm capable of riding a horse, thank you very much." Arthur shrugged and mounted his horse, also not missing when Merlin stumbled while mounting his own steed.
"Right."
As they rode along, Merlin was deep in thought. I can't use magic? The thought raced around his skull, punctuated only by the occasional cough and dizzy spell, before he could think of a logical answer. Of course. I'm already weak from whatever this is, and it's no secret that magic is draining. That must be it. Satisfied by this answer, he simply vowed to withhold from using magic until this damn cough blew over. Shouldn't be too hard, he reasoned, as he coughed into his sleeve once more. He wasn't coughing as frequently as he was before, but the fits were becoming longer and much more painful. Twice now he had to stop to empty his stomach along the side of the path and twice more he had to stop to catch his breath. He knew that he was attracting looks from all the men, but he just kept staring straight ahead, and none of them said anything. That is, until Lancelot spoke with relief,
"I can see the castle!" Everyone else looked at where he was pointing and could see the giant towers looming over the forest.
"Finally!"
"Thank God!"
"It looks to be close. We should make it before nightfall." After Arthur declared this news, the knights cheered, as they had not brought enough provisions for a trip this long, and they were beginning to grow hungry, not to mention thirsty. And then there was the matter of Merlin. It was both everyones' and no ones' mind, as no one wanted to really think about how ill the young warlock could end up being once the trip was over, and yet everyone couldn't stop. Just as well.
A half an hour later, Merlin stopped his horse.
"Arthur?" He called feebly, causing the King to stop in his tracks and look at his friend.
"Yes?" Merlin cleared his throat, then looked embarrassed.
"Could we.. I mean, could I…"
"Spit it out, Merlin." The servant straightened slightly, then tried again.
"I was wondering if maybe we could take a break." Arthur, taken aback, simply nodded, being too surprised to do much else. The men dismounted their horses, except for Merlin, who practically fell off. Quickly, Gwaine was there, making sure Merlin didn't keel face-first into the mud.
"Woah there, need me to hold your hand?" Merlin, who didn't have enough energy to laugh, just smiled wearily and plopped down on a nearby rock. No one really seemed to know what to do when he started coughing again. Arthur, just taking a chance, sat down next to the clearly suffering man and tentatively rubbed his back, unsure if he was doing it right.
"Come on Merlin, stop coughing. It's disturbing." Merlin huffed out a laugh between the coughs. He continued to cough, and no one really knew when it changed, but suddenly, something shifted, and the cough became much more violent, racking Merlin's weak frame to it's very core.
"Merlin!" Shouted Arthur when the young warlock started to shake in pain (or fear?). "What's wrong?"
"Hurts… " He whimpered. "Make… stop."
"I don't know how!" The young King looked in panic at the rest of the group, who seemed just as afraid as Arthur, then looked back at his servant, who had one hand over his mouth and one hand fisting Arthur's cloak. They sat there, quiet except for Merlin's painful coughs, for an undetermined time, before the cough became further between, and some of the color returned to the young man's face.
"What was that?" Burst out Elyan, obviously shaken by the event. All other faces turned to Merlin, clearly wanting an answer to the question, but their eyes widened when they saw tears trailing down Merlin's face, and his hand still not removed from his mouth.
"Merlin?" Lancelot said tentatively, and the servant's teary eyes met the knight's.
"I'm sorry…" He whispered.
"What for?" Probed Gwaine, confused as well as curious.
"For worrying everyone. I'm not… you shouldn't have too…"
"Oh come on Merlin, we know we don't have to," Elyan cut in, "We just are"
"Besides, don't be such a girl," The King predictably said, "We all get sick sometimes. Remember last month?" Merlin snickered when he remembered how Arthur had spent three nights straight hunched over a bucket in Gaius's chamber, burning up and unable to keep anything down, and how Arthur had spent the whole time whining about how he missed his bed. Prat.
"It's d-different for me." Stammered Merlin, clearly embarrassed by the situation but stubborn all the same. "I'm… I'm nobody. I can't afford to be ill. All I have is what I am for you, and I can't even do that." Arthur was thoroughly confused, but Lancelot thought that he knew what was going on. However, if Merlin kept talking, Lancelot knew that they would be in serious trouble, as they were broaching the subject of his magic.
"I think he has a fever, sire." Said the nervous knight, hoping Merlin didn't say anything to get them in trouble. Arthur reached up and felt Merlin's forehead with the back of his hand, frowning with dismay when he felt the heat radiating off the young man. Merlin leaned into the touch, but quickly leaned away when he truly figured out what was going on.
"Arthur, you shouldn't be so close. I wouldn't want you to catch this. It's really not pleasant." And despite the outcry of his friends, he stood up. "I'm fine. FIne." He added when Gwaine made a move to help him. "We should get going if we want to get to the castle by nightfall." Arthur started, but then took in Merlin's words and took them to be true.
"He's right." The King announced. "We should be on our way. Merlin, can you ride? Never mind, don't answer that. Lancelot, would you be alright with Merlin tagging along on your horse?"
"Of course." Lancelot winked at Merlin when the young warlock rolled his eyes but made his way to his friend's horse. After attempting to mount the horse on his own for the third time, Lancelot offered a hand, and Merlin took it, mounting the horse in one less-than-smooth move.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it." The small group began moving forward once more, and after making sure that Merlin was situated, the knight followed suit. Within a few minutes, Merlin was leaning on his friend, halfway to sleep. Lancelot reached behind and patted the young warlock on the shoulder, pausing when Merlin coughed once more. "Just sleep. I'll wake you when we get to the castle." Merlin smiled and nodded, obviously too drained to do much else, and promptly fell into the world of dreams once more.
