AN.: Next chapter :) Please enjoy reading it. Special thanks to Luna Alice Pendragon, phantomgirl21 and the guest who left a review.
Gaius was pacing up and down in his chambers while Merlin was busying himself with cleaning up the mess he had just created. The silence hung heavily in the air and the tension was so thick, you would've been able to cut it with a knife. Merlin was slowly mopping up the spilled tinctures and salves while avoiding the shards of the broken glasses and pottery which were scattered all over the floor. An itch in his throat stopped Merlin's movements and he coughed, trying to get rid of the unpleasant feeling. As soon as he had started to cough, he couldn't seem to ease it down again and his simple harrumphing soon turned into a severe, barking cough which drove tears into Merlin's eyes. At some point, Gaius had joined him and was rubbing a hand across his back again, trying to help Merlin breathe by soothing him with gentle words. Merlin managed to focus on the words and willed his burning lungs to suck in a breath. He greedily sucked in air and the relief of being able to breathe again grounded him for a few seconds. The hand on his back was gone suddenly and he soon found a glass of water held under his nose. He took it gratefully and allowed the water to ease his burning throat. Seeing that Merlin had calmed down, Gaius used the opportunity to speak up.
"I think we are in trouble, Merlin." The physician looked worried, knitting his eyebrows while looking deep into Merlin's blue eyes. "It seems like your magic is out of control."
Merlin's voice wavered slightly because of the strain on his lungs as he retorted "What makes you think that?"
Gaius sighed heavily. "Well, unless you just tried to blow my room up intentionally, we should assume it's out of control." Merlin looked away at that, trying to hide the redness that creeped up into his face. Gaius was right and Merlin knew it; He had lost control over his magic. It had just acted on its own, completely ignoring Merlin's will. Ever since Merlin could remember, he had put up a barricade within his mind which allowed him to reach for and use his magic to his satisfaction, always being able to control it with this almost subconscious protective measure. But as his magic had broken through this barricade, it had inflicted a kind of pain Merlin had never felt before; It had sucked all the physical energy out of his body, leaving him as a quivering mess. What was bothering Merlin the most though was the fact that he had inflicted a lot of harm by being unable to control his own strength. He had harmed himself, his immediate surroundings -and most importantly- Gaius who had been present during the blast. He turned to look at Gaius who was still staring at Merlin, waiting for a reaction.
With a small voice, Merlin said "I'm sorry Gaius." Merlin's gaze jumped to the gash above Gaius' eyebrow. "I shouldn't have lost control. I could've hurt- "
"It's alright, Merlin. I am more worried about you currently. How do you feel?"
Merlin stood up from his squat on the ground and went over to the chair he had occupied earlier and sat down.
"I think my magic took over just now." He made a small pause to let that statement sink in before he continued. Gaius had grabbed a chair and was sitting in front of Merlin. "Whenever I reach for my magic, I also have to concentrate on using only enough for me to be able to cast the spell. The full potential of my true power could rip anything apart when released all at once -including me." Merlin looked at Gaius, fear slightly coloring his features grey. "As long as I can remember, I've done that by using part of my power as a barricade, a shield to protect myself… To keep me sane as well. I am able to open that barricade up and draw enough energy and magic from the opening to be able to perform magic." Gaius was nodding at Merlin, immersed in the warlock's explanation.
Merlin sighed and frowned, as he thought of a better way to explain it to Gaius. A thought lit his face up and made his eyebrows shoot up, disappearing beneath the black bangs. "You remember when we first met and you tried to expose me by dropping that bucket of water to the floor? I reacted with magic and stopped it mid-air from clattering to the ground."
Gaius nodded. "Yes, you stopped it- but then dropped it again and I had to clean up the mess nonetheless."
"That's besides the point." Merlin waved his hand. "What I meant to say is, that I can't help my magic acting out of reflex from time to time. It was worse when I was younger; The years in Camelot have helped me to get it under control. Back then, every time I used magic out of instinct, it felt similar to how it felt today. I lost control, it burst through my barricade and acted on its own. But it was never enough to- to…" Merlin held in.
"To hurt you?" Gaius guessed. Merlin looked at him with wide eyes in surprise. "Oh Merlin… Don't forget that I am a physician. I saw that you were in shock after that blast." Merlin lowered his eyes while he wiped his now runny nose on the sleeve of his leather jacket.
"But why is your flu back? The spell you used wasn't a temporary one, was it? Gaius asked. Before Merlin could answer, Gaius continued talking, answering his own question. "No, that is impossible… I think the spell did more damage than it did good because of your illness. Which means it might cause you to lose control over it at the moment." He sucked in a breath, possible scenarios playing out in his head.
"Merlin, the last time I advised you to take a break on using magic, you disregarded it and used it to heal yourself. This time, Merlin please… Don't use your magic. It needs time to recover. I can't imagine what would happen if anybody beside me would've seen what has happened here today.
Merlin nodded eagerly. "I promise Gaius."
"Good." They both continued to clean the mess when a knock on the door drew their attention to a head that poked out from behind the door. Gwaine was looking at them with a wide grin. He was about to enter when he noticed the state of the room.
"Merlin, Gaius. What happened here?" He asked worriedly and entered the physician's chambers completely. He searched the room for a potential threat, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword which was secured at his side.
"I had a patient who suffers from a severe seizure disorder. He was flailing around wildly during one of his seizures and managed to make a huge mess before Merlin and I could calm him down and administer the right medicine. The man is better now. You need not to worry, Sir Gwaine." Gaius' lie went smoothly and was reasonable and his delivery was so impressive, Merlin stared at his mentor in awe. Gwaine had a skeptical look on his face but nodded slowly and finally let go of the hilt of his sword. Then, he turned to Merlin.
"The Princess sends me. He wants to know what is taking you so long." Merlin paled slightly. With a little smile, Gwaine added. "Oh, and he mentioned something about a hat…? And that he'd like to see it on your head if you don't hurry up." Merlin was on his feet immediately, bolting up the stairs to his room and put on the garments for the festivities in record time. He even managed to clean himself and look at least half the servant he was supposed to be as he trotted back down the stairs towards Gwaine. Gwaine was whistling in appreciation, a warm smile spreading on his face as he looked Merlin up and down.
"Merlin! I have to say, you look stunning!" He shoved an elbow into Merlin's side in a playful manner. "Are you intending to court some of the ladies today?" Merlin only rolled his eyes, taking a step towards the door when Gaius called out to him, making him turn towards the physician.
"Remember what I asked of you, Merlin." Gaius wore a serious expression. Gwaine looked between the servant and his mentor for an explanation but gave up soon and pulled Merlin through the door.
"What was that about? What did he ask of you?" Gwaine wanted to know.
"Oh, he just asked me to behave myself during the feast. He wants to make a good impression on the guests of the other kingdoms and as his ward, I represent Gaius as much as he represents himself. Ah… He wants to form new relationships and deepen the ties he already has with other court physicians." Merlin said reluctantly, not liking that he had to lie to his friend. Gwaine seemed to accept that explanation without hesitation.
They wandered through the huge hallways, dodging servants and pages while Gwaine informed him about the guests that had already arrived.
"Gawant has send a huge party consistent of ladies and lords with personal servants and gifts in tow. Cambia and Bernicia arrived at the same time; Their convoy bears many gifts as well and both kingdoms have sent their respected healers and physicians with them to trade knowledge between the kingdoms. This is an important day for Camelot." Gwaine paused to look at Merlin cheekily. "I've heard some of the maids look stunning." He barked out a heartily laugh and clapped Merlin on the shoulder with more force than he intended to use, making Merlin trip forward. Hands outstretched, the stone ground came rushing towards Merlin, promising him a hard fall and an impressive collection of bruises. Accepting his fate, Merlin closed his eyes and readied himself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, he felt his magic bursting through the barrier again, stopping him mid-air during his fall. Then there was a strong wind around him, howling through the corridor. Merlin ripped his eyes open and quickly stretched his hands towards the ground he was still hovering above. As soon as his hands reached the stones and made contact with them, the magic left him and his whole weight crashed onto his thin arms. His arms wouldn't support the sudden burden and gave way, making Merlin fall flat onto his face. Gathering all his strength, Merlin flopped onto his back to look at Gwaine and the other servants. Gwaine held his arms in front of his face, shielding himself from the strong wind that had just subsided. The other servants had shielded themselves similarly, some of them cowering over the trays they had been holding to protect whatever they were carrying. Now that the wind had died down, they all looked up, their gazes wandering through the hallway to find an explanation for the storm that had just attacked them. Gwaine was suddenly at Merlin's side, looking in his face with a mixture of confusion and guilt.
"Merlin are you alright?" Gwaine suddenly searched through his knight's armor forgetting that he had no pockets. Standing up and leaving Merlin on the ground, he went over to one of the servants and spoke in a lowered voice. Merlin observed as the servant handed something to Gwaine while bowing his head in respect.
Did he see me hovering above the ground? Merlin thought, panic rising from the pit of his stomach and cold sweat dripping from his forehead. Gwaine came back to him and kneeled in front of Merlin again, trying to press something above Merlin's mouth, just underneath his nose. The sudden action scared Merlin and he flinched away from whatever Gwaine tried to press over his mouth.
"Merlin…" Gwaine said in a soft voice, trying not to show that Merlin's flinch had hurt him a little bit. "Calm down, your nose is bleeding." Merlin's hand went up to his nose and he drew it back, inspecting the sticky, red blood smeared across the top of his hand. He looked at Gwaine who held a handkerchief in his hand, some of Merlin's blood on it. Gwaine looked like he was trying to soothe a hurt, cornered animal. Merlin let out a breath and didn't resist when Gwaine tried to press the handkerchief against his nose once again, trying to stop the bleeding. They sat like this for a few minutes until Merlin became too uncomfortable with the situation and snatched the handkerchief out of Gwaine's hand to hold it himself. He tried to rise to his feet, but his legs were a little wobbly. Gwaine immediately rushed to his side, offering his friend support. The servants around them had gone back to their chores and duties a while ago, ignoring the strange occurrence that they just had witnessed with childlike lightheartedness. They had a fest to worry about in the end. Gwaine on the other hand couldn't just simply ignore what just had happened.
"Merlin, what was that?" He asked cautiously.
"What was what?" Merlin tried at nonchalance, still pressing the cloth against his nose.
"The wind! Didn't you notice the wind that almost forced me to the floor?" Gwaine looked at Merlin in doubt. I guess a normal human being would've noticed that, huh. Merlin scolded himself.
"There tends to be a drought in this hallway from time to time. I'm assuming that the maids have opened up several windows to make sure there is no musty smell." Merlin put down the handkerchief and revealed blood smeared on his upper lip and nose, making a pretty pitiful picture in Gwaine's eyes. Gwaine sighed and shook his head as he gently took Merlin's arm and escorted him to the King's chamber.
"Alright, if you don't want to tell me, I respect that as a friend… For now. Don't think I will let this go though." Gwaine said with determination. He gently shoved Merlin towards the heavy door of Arthur's room. "But to do so, I need you in one piece." Gwaine nodded in the door's direction. "You are so late. Oh, use those deer-like eyes to prevent him from sending you to the stocks for the rest of your days." With that, Gwaine bounced down the hallway out of sight. Merlin turned to the door in front of him, knocked and entered.
AN.: Still a lot of explaining I had to do but I don't want to rush my stories. I hope you still enjoyed this. I have a lot of unfortunate/funny things planned out for Merlin's magic and I'm eager to write that!