A/N - Goooood morning! And welcome to another round of LiGi is mean to Merlin! You're getting two again today because these next to go together. Second part will be up this evening as usual!
Lots of thank yous this time! YAY! Thank you to lovely GuestM for the review and Kluciuk for the favourite. And to JanetM74 for following, favouriting and reviewing! When you said you were binge reading I didn't expect binge reviewing as well! Thank you so much, you absolutely made my day!
This one can be read as Merthur slash if you want (or Merwaine or Lancelin)((hehehe, how to get all three of my ships into one story!))
On with the show...
No. 20 – Lost / Field Medicine
Arthur shivered, his horse fidgeting as the tremors through his legs nudged against her flanks. But he would not abandon his search.
Merlin had been missing for two days.
He had left Camelot to collect herbs for Gaius yesterday morning but had not returned in the afternoon like Gaius had expected him to. He had not been at the feast that evening, and he had not been in Arthur's chambers by the time the prince went to bed that night.
After having stormed to Gaius's chambers and shouted at the physician, Arthur had sullenly got ready for bed by himself and planned an elaborate lecture to give Merlin when he arrived this morning.
Only he hadn't.
Arthur hadn't seen him at all. All day long.
At first Arthur had been angry, sure that his lazy manservant had just gone to the tavern instead. But Lancelot had been to all the taverns to check for him and had found nothing except a drunk Gwaine who had tagged along as soon as he found out it was Merlin they were looking for.
Leon had returned from Gaius's with the news that Gaius had not seen him all day either. That was when Arthur had begun to worry. It wasn't like Merlin to disappear without even Gaius knowing where he was.
Percival had been given the dreaded task of walking the base of the castle walls, on the off chance Merlin had fallen from the battlements. When he too returned with nothing, Arthur made up his mind. They would go and search the forest.
He'd sent Elyan to saddle the horses and without so much as informing his uncle, Arthur and his knights were riding out into the growing dusk.
They had now been scouring the forest for a few hours, searching any area that Gaius said contained the herbs he needed. An hour or so ago it had started raining, heavily, and they had still not found a single clue as to where Merlin could be.
"Sire?" Leon approached him on foot, leading his horse by the reins. He had his cloak wrapped securely around his torso but was still shivering as the rain dripped off his sodden hair. "We should make camp, build a fire…"
"No. We haven't found him."
"And we shan't if we all freeze to death," Leon said calmly.
Arthur scowled. "Not yet," he said with a finality Leon didn't dare disobey.
Leon remounted his horse and they continued along the forest path.
The rain had washed away any traces of footprints or crushed plants that might have indicated Merlin's passing route. And it was almost too dark to see, even the light of the nearly full moon being blocked out by the tree cover.
Eventually, Arthur slumped forwards in his saddle and admitted that Leon was probably right. He glanced back at the tall knight and nodded, swinging his leg over his horse and sliding off. He staggered as he landed, his legs cramping from the cold.
"Steady, Sire." Lancelot was instantly at Arthur's side, pulling Arthur's arm around his shoulder and guiding him over to a fallen tree trunk.
"He's still lost," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.
Lancelot didn't reply but Arthur caught the expression on his face. Lancelot was equally as pained as Arthur was by Merlin's absence.
Arthur put his head in his hands as the knights began setting up the camp around him; Leon building a fire in the shelter of a thickly branched oak tree, Elyan and Percival removing the saddles and brushing the horses. Lancelot pulled bread from a saddlebag and handed some to Arthur.
Gwaine had slumped to the floor beside another tree, bruise darkening over his eyebrow. Despite how drunk he had been when Lancelot had found him earlier in the evening he had insisted he come with them. The freezing rain had done a little to sober him up, but he had still managed to fall off his horse in a daze. Arthur hadn't had the patience to care at the time and had shouted at the knight, leaving him quiet and grumpy.
Lancelot tried to pass Gwaine some bread too but he waved it away.
"I'll go and fetch water," Lancelot said to no one in particular. Arthur grunted a reply.
He pulled his knees up to his chest and stared into the bundle of twigs Leon was using as kindling, they were smoking and spitting as he tried to light them with his dagger and flint. They were too wet.
Arthur let his chin fall onto his crossed arms on his knees with a sigh. Merlin always managed to get a fire going, even if the sticks were wet. It was a skill he'd never bothered to teach the knights. They'd never needed to know, Merlin was always with them.
A small flame burst to life and Leon coaxed it into the rest of the sticks. Elyan and Percival came over to sit beside the fire, sticking their hands out towards the meagre warmth.
How had Merlin got lost? Arthur couldn't help thinking it again. The question had been spiralling his mind all night. Merlin had an uncanny sense of direction, and he knew these forests almost as well as Arthur himself did. He couldn't have simply wandered off and lost his way. He must be hurt.
Arthur grabbed a stick and begun stabbing at the fire. Leon sent him a look but didn't say anything.
"Arthur! ARTHUR!" Lancelot's voice came through the trees so suddenly and unexpectedly that all of them leapt to their feet, drawing their swords. Even Gwaine stumbled up, though the movement made him clutch his head.
Arthur started in the direction Lancelot's voice came from, ignoring the cramp in his leg that was screaming to make itself known. The other knights followed behind him quickly. He broke through the trees towards a stream.
"Arthur, he's here!"
Lancelot was several yards downstream from their camp, half way up the bank on the other side of the water. He turned to look over his shoulder and nodded to Arthur. Arthur spotted the flash of red fabric.
Thank goodness Merlin hadn't been wearing his dirty brown jacket or they never would have noticed him.
He scrabbled down the bank and across the stream, using his sword for balance. The water was freezing, the sting of the cold washing over the top of his boots and making him gasp. Lancelot looked relatively dry; he'd had the sense and forethought to jump the stream.
Once on the other side Arthur battled against vines and ferns to get to the hollowed out ground where a tree had fallen, its roots sticking upwards like a wall of soil. Merlin was huddled in the hollow and he looked awful.
"Merlin!" Lancelot was already on his knees beside Merlin, patting his face gently. Merlin moaned but didn't move. "He's alive," Lancelot almost laughed with relief.
Arthur crouched down, examining Merlin critically. He was pale, too pale. His skin had a sheen of sweat across it along with the pallor. He was shaking badly and his tunic and breeches were damp.
His jacket lay discarded a few feet away, beside the remnants of a small fire which had long since gone out. And his neckerchief was off, wrapped around his leg. Arthur could see the edges of an angry red wound through the rip in his breeches and blood had seeped through the dark blue cloth.
Lancelot gently poked around the makeshift bandage on Merlin's leg. It was tightly wadded and tied over a mush of strong smelling leaves.
"He's managed to make a poultice for himself." Lancelot smiled fondly. "Gaius would be proud."
That explained the open satchel and herbs strewn across the ground beside Merlin, and the two stones covered in some sort of sticky mess.
"Did you hear that, Merlin?" Arthur said, injecting some of his usual teasing into his tone, trying to get a response. "Someone would actually be proud of you." Merlin gave no reaction and Arthur sighed. He patted his cheek again. "Merlin? Merlin!"
"Is he…?" Gwaine called across the stream.
"Alive!" Lancelot shouted back. "But injured. It looks infected, he's unconscious."
"We're going to bring him back to our camp," Arthur said, turning and nodding to Lancelot.
He hooked his hands under Merlin's armpits, wrapping his arms around his chest. Lancelot grabbed his legs and they lifted him easily. Merlin moaned again, throwing his head from side to side against Arthur's shoulder.
They carefully moved down the side of the bank. Percival waded into the stream to steady them as they carried him across. Gwaine's mouth fell open at the sight of Merlin, his eyebrows tugging low over his eyes.
"Go and get his bag and jacket," Arthur snapped. Gwaine stumbled across the river to obey him. Lancelot shot Arthur a reproving look. "What?"
"Don't be so harsh," Lancelot said quietly.
"He looked gormless. He shouldn't drink so much," Arthur grumbled. He wanted to be angry at someone, he didn't know exactly why.
Elyan had run ahead and laid out the saddle blankets on the ground by the fire, sheltered from the rain by the oak tree, ready for Arthur and Lancelot to put Merlin down on. They laid him down as gently as they could, but he still groaned and jerked away from their hands.
Leon and Elyan peered over Lancelot's shoulder.
"Is he alright?" Elyan asked.
"He will be," Arthur gritted out through his teeth. There was no other choice. Merlin had to be alright.
Quick footsteps heralded Gwaine running back to them, Merlin's jacket and bag slung over his arm.
"His jacket's damp," he said, laying it down beside the fire. He reached over and grabbed a fistful of Merlin's tunic. "That's damp too."
Without saying anything else he dumped Merlin's bag of herbs and pulled his own rain soaked jacket off, then his dry shirt. He held it out to Arthur, shrugging.
"Thank you, Gwaine," Lancelot said when Arthur just looked at him blankly. "Help me get his off."
Arthur lifted Merlin carefully into a sitting position and Lancelot and Gwaine pulled his tunic off, replacing it with Gwaine's warm dry one. Merlin's eyelids fluttered and he mumbled something.
"Merlin!" Arthur slid a hand under Merlin's head and cupped his face, his thumb putting a soft pressure against Merlin's cheek.
"'thur…"
Arthur couldn't stop the grin spreading over his face.
"What have you done to yourself this time, Merlin?"
"Hurt…" Merlin's hand made a vague gesture towards his leg, then flopped back to the ground.
"Yeah, I saw that," Arthur told him. He looked up, meeting Leon's eyes.
Leon crouched beside Lancelot. Lancelot held Merlin's leg, his hands gentle, whilst Leon untied the neckerchief. The wound underneath was jagged and very red, Leon looked a little alarmed. Lancelot frowned, his fingers tightening on Merlin's thigh.
"That is definitely infected," Leon said, tossing the blood and poultice smeared neckerchief down on the ground. He put a hand on Merlin's forehead. "He's lucky he's not running a fever."
"Do you think he tried to cool himself down in the river?" Gwaine asked, holding up the damp shirt.
"Nnn," Merlin murmured, his eyes peeling open a fraction. "Fell in."
"You fell in?" Arthur asked incredulously. "Good grief, you're so clumsy."
Merlin's mouth quirked into a small smile. The knights all echoed it.
Percival returned from the river holding several waterskins. "Fresh water."
He held one out to Leon who took it and began cleaning Merlin's cut. Merlin tried to arch away from him, but Arthur and Lancelot held him still.
"Easy, Merlin. We'll look after you," Lancelot said comfortingly and Merlin shot him another smile.
Gwaine knelt beside Arthur. He'd put his wet jacket back on over his bare chest and was shivering slightly. But he tried not to show it as he gripped Merlin's hand.
"Can't go without our favourite little Merlin, now can we?"
That got a tiny puff of a laugh from Merlin before he cried out and writhed away from Leon as the tall knight poured more water over his leg.
"Sorry." He looked up at Merlin grimly.
Percival dug in Merlin's satchel, handing Leon some yarrow leaves, which he placed over the wound before tying a strip of cloth over it.
"We need to get him back to Gaius," Leon said to Arthur.
"Of course. We'll rest for an hour, then get straight back." He waved a hand and the knights began to move over to sit around the fire. "Alright, Merlin?" Arthur asked, looking down into the slightly clouded blue eyes that had started to droop.
"Mmm," Merlin muttered in acquiescence. "Thank you f' findin' me," he slurred, silly grin spreading slowly over his face.
"You're welcome," Arthur said quietly so none of the knights would hear. He let his thumb brush Merlin's cheek as he resettled his hand behind his neck.
He wouldn't have known what to do if Merlin had been lost.
A/N - Remember to check back later for part two!