The Queen slammed the doors shut and turned to the room's occupants, her back against the door as she traded wide-eyed glances between the three men and suspended pillow. "Okay, I need to know exactly what is happening here."
Merlin spoke first. "It wasn't me," he added helpfully.
"But you're the sorcerer," Arthur shot back.
"Doesn't mean that I'm always the one behind this-"
"But I thought you usually are."
"But I'm not. Well, not this time anywa-"
"Would you both please be quiet?" Gaius could feel the beginnings of a headache already. He shuffled to the king's side, lowering himself onto the footstool Merlin vacated, firing off instructions as he went. "Merlin, put down that pitcher and get the king a glass of water, Guinevere, please lock the door and grab that floating pillow- I assure you it won't bite, and my lord... How are you feeling today?"
"Not half-bad, to be honest. In fact, I've haven't felt any better to be honest," Arthur replied and stretched, as if to emphasize the point. Gwen, after following Gaius' instructions, rushed to his side and enveloped him in a hug, pillow still in hand. "Really Arthur, did you have to scare me like that? I thought you were dead." Smiling, she kissed him on the lips.
Gaius took the king's hand and checked his pulse, letting Gwen fuss over the rest of her husband. The court physician then took a look at Arthur's abdomen, palpitated the area where Mordred had pierced him and checked his temperature. Failing to find anything untoward, he pronounced the king in good health.
"It would seem that the fever you had when you were unconscious has come down, which is a good thing. However, I would still advise against any strenuous exercises or sleepless nights for the time being." Merlin snorted and Gwen threw the pillow at him, missing by a hair's breadth. Gaius ignored the both of them and shouldered on. "Now, my lord, do you feel a tingling sensation anywhere? Hands? Feet? No? Okay." The physician asked a few more questions, all the while inspecting Arthur's right, then left hand. Seeming satisfied by his findings, Gaius accepted the goblet of water Merlin handed over, and unearthed a vial containing dark purple liquid from the depths of his robes. Pouring the contents of the vial into the goblet, he presented it to the king, who reluctantly took it, sniffing the contents.
"What's this concoction Gaius?" Arthur squinted at the purple water.
"A combination of the essence of fermented mashed-grapes and drinking water, in other words, wine-flavoured water," Gaius replied drily. "Does absolutely nothing for a completely healthy man, but it does lift the spirits up when there is a lack of celebratory wine to go around. Speaking of which, after this drink I would strongly advise you against consuming anything containing the inebriating qualities of wine for at least three days."
Expressing his thanks, Arthur let Gwen take a sip before downing the goblet's contents. Despite feeling slightly light-headed after drinking the wine itself tasted pretty good and Arthur made a mental note to probe Gaius about the procurement of a dozen of those little vials at a later time. All matters concerning the king's physical wellbeing seemingly settled, Merlin piped up.
"Gaius?"
"Yes Merlin."
"About that pillow..."
"Ah, yes." Gaius turned to the king and cleared his throat. "It appears, my lord, that you possess magic." Time seemed to stop for the king as he struggled with this new piece of information. Gwen seemed equally as stunned, gaze travelling from Arthur, to Merlin then to Gaius.
"But that is hardly right, Arthur doesn't have magic." Gwen chuckled nervously, an incredulous look on her face. Beside her, Arthur burst into a fit of laughter, only stopping to catch his breath a while later. "Oh, Gaius, my sides, you really have a sense of humor…" He trailed off when he realized the court physician wasn't joking.
"You can't be serious," Arthur spluttered. "I have never involved myself with magic, king's word. My father, well… You know my father. He would spit fire at the mention of sorcery, forbade me to show mercy to anyone wielding magic and all that. I myself have never practiced anything of the sort, and he'd have me lit at a pyre if I did." Seeming at a loss of anything else to say, he flopped back onto the bed, slinging an arm over his eyes as he stifled a curse. A moment later, his breathing evened out and gave way to low snores. An unsurprised Gwen gently arranged Arthur's limbs into a more comfortable position and stood up, giving a small curtsy.
"Thank you Gaius, and you, Merlin, for bringing Arthur back to me, for everything you have done up until now." Abandoning the role of Queen for the moment, she embraced the court physician and his ward, giving each of them a light peck on the cheek. "I'll escort you guys back to your quarters." Grabbing three cloaks from Arthur's cupboard- one for herself, and another two for Gaius and Merlin- she whirled around to see only Gaius and an unlatched door. Merlin must have slipped away quietly while she wasn't looking. Returning one of the cloaks to its place, she inquired "Merlin off to the tavern again?"
She had pretty much put two and two together with Merlin's disappearances to the 'tavern' and the inexorable happenings around Camelot so when Gaius replied in the affirmative, she just smiled, choosing not to ask any further. If Merlin would want her to know, he would tell her in due time. She gently closed the doors and handed Gaius one of the cloaks, donning one herself. They proceeded in companionable silence out of the room and down the corridor.
"By the way," Gaius said, "how are you not affected by the sleeping draught?" The wine-smelling draught was his most potent invention yet, capable of knocking out the hardiest of men within a few minutes. Gwen smiled, her dimples clearly showing.
"One of the many duties of a personal maidservant of the princess of Camelot is to taste a portion of the food and drinks that will be served before mealtimes in case of hidden poisons. If there was poison in the dishes, the cook would be replaced with a new one and the food re-prepared. Uther- may he rest in peace- had many enemies, and I slowly built a partial immunity to the toxins. I can still feel the effects, but on a smaller scale." They were ascending a spiral staircase now, the occasional window placed at strategic intervals giving those who looked out a 360 degree view of the city. The streets, so busy with life in the mornings and afternoons, were empty save for a few stragglers in the evening.
"Besides," she added, "I would recognize the smell of the sleeping draught you usually give Morgana anywhere, I'm the one who usually prepares it." A hint of sadness tinged her words.
"You miss her," Gaius raised an eyebrow. Truth be told, he had no pity for the priestess. Morgana was the reason Gwaine was not there with them, the reason for the battle at Camlann, the reason for Uther's death and many other things.
"Sometimes… You have to understand, Gaius. Before Morgause, before… Before this-" She gestured at the multitude of first-aid tents dotting the city, "Morgana was kind to me and treated me more like a sister than a servant. She did not know of my testing her food until she stumbled upon me while I was in pain from a poison. When she found out about it she got pretty angry and made Uther promise not to treat servants as guinea pigs. It took a while, but he agreed. And I respect her for it. It takes a lot of bullheadedness to change Uther's ways when his are set in stone."
They arrive at Gaius' chambers, the court physician bowing slightly before Gwen. "You really have changed, haven't you?" He unclasped his cloak and returned it to Gwen who replied somewhat sadly, "you and me both, Arthur and Merlin as well." Gaius suddenly found himself enveloped in a forceful hug that squeezed the breath from his lungs. Gwen stepped back a little, folding Gaius' cloak neatly, a habit from her maidservant days that still stayed. "Be safe, and give Merlin the day off, he surely needs it. He's been rushing back and forth between the castle and the infirmary these past few days."
Gaius chuckled, "Arthur promised him two."
"Generous isn't he?" With that, the Queen left. A cry of pain called for Gaius attention. He shuffled into his chambers, pursing his lips at the newest patient that fell off one of the many occupied makeshift cots. The light glow of evening was soon replaced by the darkness of night as Gaius worked his own type of magic, soothing wounds with herbs and balm. He paused, midway dressing a wound to look out into the starlit sky. Thinking the stars unusually bright, he pondered the implications of a king wielding magic before a groan brought him back. Any other thoughts would have to wait, there were half a dozen more wounds to clean.
(A/N: Ughhh, I wanted to try for a humour fic but my natural instincts keep veering off into the suspense/drama section. Welp, might as well. Changing to suspense/drama with weak attempts of humour. Worried about where Merlin ran off to? We'll get to it in a moment. Thank you for reading and if you would, any feedback would be much appreciated.)