Merlin's Malady

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas. This is a companion piece to my drabble 'Merlin's Mistake', suggested by Aaronna. Thanks for your suggestion and I hope you like it!

Summary: Something's wrong with Merlin and neither he nor Arthur know how to handle it.

…..

Thinking back, it was probably something to do with the most recent sorcerer Merlin had defeated. After following the man into the forest and attempting (unsuccessfully) to talk him out of an assassination attempt on Arthur, Merlin had been forced to engage in a magical battle with the other man, sending small woodland animals scurrying away in fright at the fierce display of magic. Although Merlin had ultimately triumphed, one of the sorcerer's spells had reached its aim – a narrow jet of green light struck the warlock squarely in the chest, leaving him a little winded but otherwise feeling unaffected. Perhaps he should have had Gaius check him for any further manifestations of the spell's effects, but it had seemed of little consequence.

Although he thought the spell was the most likely cause of the incident in Arthur's chambers, it realistically could have been one of several other reasons. Arthur's food, for one, which Merlin always tasted before serving to the King. Arthur would probably not appreciate it if he knew that the servant was eating his food, but a few months ago it had been laced with poison and Merlin could not take the risk of Arthur being killed – it was much better that he taste the food first. But considering that Arthur had seemed perfectly fine after eating the food that morning, Merlin thought it was unlikely to have caused his own problem.

An illness in the village, perhaps? Merlin often helped Gaius to treat patients in the lower town and once or twice had become ill himself due to his exposure to different diseases. However, there had been no outbreaks of disease in the past few weeks so again, this was unlikely to have been a contributor to the accident. Whatever the reason, Arthur was decidedly not happy with his servant at the moment – although Merlin thought his friend had seemed a little concerned as well as annoyed. Hopefully the King wouldn't be too angry.

…..

The day had started out quite normally, with Gaius calling for the servant to get up immediately if he didn't want to be late and Merlin quickly throwing on a tunic, pants and his boots before rushing out of his room, grabbing a piece of bread and some cheese for breakfast on his way out. His stomach rumbled loudly and he mentally berated himself for missing dinner the night before. He had been in the forest, trying to follow a lead on a Morgana's activities, but sadly received no reward for his efforts. By the time he returned home to Camelot, he had been too tired to do more than undress and collapse into bed.

After fetching the King's breakfast from the kitchens and tasting a little of the food to ensure that it had not been poisoned again, he made his way to Arthur's chambers. As usual, he neglected to knock before entering the chambers, as usual he placed the breakfast on the table, and as usual he threw open the curtains with a loud and cheerful 'Rise and shine!'.

What was not usual was the sharp pain which lanced through his head with the bright sunshine. Wincing, he turned away from the window to find Arthur half sitting up in bed and glaring at him. Ah, so they were back to the usual routine.

"Do you really have to sound so chipper?" the King asked sullenly. Merlin, still a little taken aback by the sudden pain in his head, merely blinked. Arthur peered at him curiously.

"Are you alright?" he asked a little gruffly. Merlin gave his head a small shake to clear it, then sent his friend a large, goofy smile.

"Of course I am, Sire, just surprised by the fact that you're already stringing coherent sentences together this early in the morning!" he answered cheekily. Arthur shot him a mock-glare and tossed a goblet at him, which the servant ducked under. Yep, back to the usual routine.

…..

The rest of the day remained fairly normal. Thanks to Arthur's reluctance to get out of bed, Merlin had to rush to get him dressed and ready for the council meeting which was to take place that morning. While Arthur discussed important affairs of the state, the servant stood near the wall with a jug of watered-down wine. After the meeting had ended, Merlin helped Arthur to change into his chainmail and carried the King's equipment down to the training field for a session with the knights. It was only then that he left Arthur's side in order to deliver medicines prescribed by Gaius to the inhabitants of the castle and lower town.

Upon his return to the castle, his stomach began to ache, reminding him that it was past mid-day and all he'd had to eat was the meagre breakfast he had grabbed that morning. He quickly ducked into the palace kitchens, taking two plates of food for himself and Gaius. Although he would have liked to eat with his mentor, when he reached the Physician's Chambers he found Gaius was out, most likely visiting a patient. A little disappointed but not surprised, the servant ate his lunch and left the second plate on the table with a short note for Gaius before hastening down to the training field to help pack up after the knights' practise.

His stomach ache had only slightly abated, but he wasn't worried and had no trouble completing the familiar tasks of gathering up the King's sword, shield, mace and other equipment, which he dumped in the armoury on his way to Arthur's chambers. Upon entering, he found an impatient Arthur, still hot and sweaty in his chainmail, seated behind his desk.

"Well, it's about time", the King greeted him.

"Sorry Sire", Merlin murmured, knowing it was pointless to try to defend himself.

"What have you been doing this whole time? You haven't even made my bed yet!" Arthur exclaimed. "Don't think that when I'm training with the knights it gives you the opportunity to slack off. Please tell me you weren't at the tavern again!"

"No, Arthur, I –" Merlin swallowed as his stomach roiled. "I was completing my rounds for Gaius. Would you like me to make your bed now?" He offered quickly.

"So long as it's not too much trouble for you", the King said patronisingly. "And once you've finished with that I need you to draw me a bath – some of us actually work hard around here!"

Merlin bit back a scathing retort, simply saying "Yes, Sire", as he moved towards the king-sized bed. He picked up the pillows from the floor and replaced them before reaching for the sheet. As he leant over the bed, his stomach gave a sudden, sickening lurch. Merlin gasped and brought his hands to his mouth, before emptying the contents of his stomach all over Arthur's bright red sheets.

He heard Arthur's exclamation of mingled shock and disgust, but couldn't help himself as he fell to his knees, still retching. He knew that as a servant he was supposed to clean up after the King rather than make additional mess, and could well be punished for vomiting on his bed, but he felt awful and was powerless to stop himself as he heaved once more.

Finally finished, Merlin shakily pushed himself to his feet and looked across at Arthur, who was staring at him in disgust and – could it be – a little concern.

"What… are you…" Arthur paused, clearly torn between yelling at his servant and actually showing concern for the man. Merlin looked awful – his recent bout of vomiting had left a sheen of sweat on his forehead and he still shook slightly. Combined with this was the look on his face, that of a small animal who knew it had done something wrong and was terrified that it was about to be punished for it. Arthur was angry about the mess, but Merlin obviously felt awful and he couldn't bring himself to be overly harsh towards his friend. He opened his mouth once more.

"What is wrong with you?"

…..

This ended up a bit longer than I originally intended it to be but I started writing and the whole thing just came out! I hope you liked it. I enjoyed writing it! A reminder that I am open to prompts, so if you have any ideas for short stories please send them to me! Thanks!