Here we go, this chapter is the normal length for once. It doesn't really have a lot of action, but it is a scene that I've been planning for a little while but had no idea where to put it. I personally really liked it, but tell me what you guys think, after you read it, of course. By the way, whenever I try searching any of my stories I can never find them, it's like the search-engine doesn't know that they exist. Does anyone know why this might be? Ooh, and by the way, I've offically reached over a 100 alerts, apparently people want to know when I update, I'm really happy about this so thank you all.
Even after Arcturus left and neither of them were in any current danger Arthur still couldn't look away from the limp and pathetic form of Merlin. He couldn't see what damaged the whip had caused due to the blood that still covered the deformed back, and the lights had begun to dim so that the constant squinting was hurting his eyes, and there was no useful reason; but Arthur looked on. He irrationally thought that if he even looked away for a second something worse would happen to his friend.
He was admitting it openly now; Merlin was his friend. Of course, he'd still never say it out loud to someone—not that he'd get much of a chance—but at least he was admitting it to himself. It was stupid and pathetic that Merlin had to be tortured for him to realize it, but now he knew. The kind of emotional pain that he had felt when seeing Merlin get flogged had left no doubt in Arthur's mind; he just wouldn't feel that way if the boy was only a servant to him.
On and off he'd thought about Merlin being his friend, and he supposed that deep down he'd always known, but whenever he would start to think that he would get distracted. But now there was no denying it; Merlin was his friend. But more than Merlin being his friend Arthur realized that he wanted to be his. In the past, whenever he had grudgingly admitted it to himself, he'd always deluded himself into believing that he neither wanted nor needed his friendship. But now he knew that he, in fact, did. And that made the current state of his friend that much more painful.
It seemed to get even worse when Arcturus had come in and turned Merlin's body around; apparently thinking that Arthur had had plenty of time to feel guilty and horrified at the condition of his back, and now had to see what the rest of him looked like.
What Arthur could see of Merlin's face was pale and haggard looking. He didn't know if it was the lighting that made him look so bloodless, or if he had really lost a lot of blood. Arthur really hoped that it wasn't the later.
The boy was once again hanging from his arms and if it wasn't for the slow, if a bit uneven, breathing Arthur would think that he was dead. He was certainly pale enough to be.
While Arthur normally cared about what other people thought about him almost to the point of obsessing, since he had met Merlin that had been slowly going away. And it had disappeared almost entirely since he had met a certain torturing whack-job. And so now when he began to talk to himself out loud he didn't even care. In fact, he barely realized it.
"My, what a great job you've done, Arthur." He didn't even realize that he sounded slightly like Arcturus. "You brought Merlin on this trip in the hopes of finding out a little more about him and making sure he got some rest and food. But instead of taking care of him like you promised to do you; have gotten him tortured nearly to death. "
Arthur remembered what Gaius had asked of him before he left; and that memory only served to make him feel guiltier.
Arthur heard a knock on the door to his chambers and turned around. There was no way in a thousand years that Merlin would knock before entering. He had already gone to the council meeting with his father so it shouldn't be a guard with a message for him, unless it was really urgent, which he hoped it wasn't. There had been enough strangeness and problems lately.
He wasn't sure who else would be knocking on his door at that particular time of day, but he decided that he might as well find out.
"Come in," he said; slightly hesitantly because if whoever was here had come to bring him bad news then he really didn't want to hear it.
The door opened and Gaius stepped through, his hands were held before him in a respectful gesture and he looked slightly unsure of himself. But Arthur knew that whatever doubt was in his brain had to be very small for him to even be here in the first place; Gaius never did anything unless he was sure of it. Which also meant that Arthur knew he could absolutely trust everything he said because it was always given a lot of forethought, plus Gaius was always right anyway.
It was obvious that the physician had something important to say because he wouldn't be here otherwise. In fact, Arthur only ever saw him when he came to see Merlin, he or someone else he knew was injured or sick, when his father held court, or just around the town. And though that might seem like a lot; Arthur never paid much attention to him since both of them were usually busy, and neither of them ever seemed to have any reason to seek the other out so, all in all, his visit to the prince was a bit curious.
And he was sure his surprise and curiosity was obvious on his face, if not in his tone. "Gaius, is something wrong? Is someone hurt?" Arthur asked.
"No, sire, nothing like that I can assure you, I didn't mean to worry you." Gaius still looked hesitant and uncomfortable.
Arthur, for his part, was quite confused, but it would do no good to stand around like an idiot and scratch his head. "Oh, well, what can I do for you, Gaius?"
Gaius looked down at the ground; one of the few nervous habits that Arthur could ever remember seeing the court physician indulge in. He looked back up at Arthur, and he seemed more confident this time; as if he was determined to do something. For a short moment Arthur wondered if something horrible had happened and that was what Gaius was here to tell him. Immediately his mind flashed to Merlin, maybe something bad had happened to him. Panic filled his mind but quickly evaporated once he realized that Gaius wasn't looking worried or sad enough for something to have happened to his ward.
"I hear that you and Merlin are going on a hunting trip." It wasn't really a question.
"Yes, but don't worry, Gaius, it is only for a few days. He'll be back and be driving you insane again before you know it. You won't have time to miss him," Arthur said a bit pompously.
Gaius nodded. "Sire, that is a relief, but that is not why I am here." He paused. "I hope that this is not too forward or disrespectful of me, but I wish to ask a favor of you."
"Of course, Gaius, if there is anything within my power to do for you I will. You have been a great friend of my family for years." Arthur was surprised that Gaius was so unsure of his request, and that he had gone to him instead of his father with his favor.
"Thank you, sire, I wish to ask…if you would look out for Merlin."
To say that Arthur was stunned would be an understatement. It wasn't because the request was so impertinent, because it really wasn't, though, he wasn't sure that his father would agree. No, it was because that was simply something he had never even considered that he would be asked to do; to look out for a servant.
Gaius continued on. "Merlin has only been in Camelot for a few months now, and yet he has become like a son to me. I promised his mother that I would take care of him, but I didn't realize how hard that would be.
"The boy spends most of his time serving you so I only see him in the morning and at night, usually. It would be far easier for you to keep an eye on him than it is for me.
"You and I both know, sire, that he is very accident prone, and I'm beginning to worry that he doesn't have much sense of self-preservation."
Unbidden, both minds flashed to that dreadful day when Merlin drank the poison for Arthur.
"I worry about him. Despite what you may think, Arthur, Merlin really is quite innocent and kind. Yes, he certainly has his annoying moments, but over all I believe that he is one of the kindest and most compassionate people I have ever met. And I believe that it is that same kindness and purity of heart that will get him into trouble."
Arthur interjected here. "Gaius, in my experience the people that are well liked are very rarely targeted by bullies and the like. And since he is a servant to the prince it is even more doubtful."
Arthur sounded confident but he really was hoping that Gaius was only talking about bullies, not about the other things that Arthur didn't know how to guard against. But no such luck; he was.
"I realize that, prince Arthur. It's just that the boy has no thought for himself if he thinks that a small thing like self-preservation could possibly bring harm or discomfort to anyone. Only when everyone else is happy and content will he think about himself. And while I worry about him normally I think that, after everything that's happened, well, he seems to have a strong desire to protect you, and I fear what that could mean."
Arthur looked away from Gaius. He had been thinking the very same thing that the physician had; Merlin was too kind and too selfless for his own good. The memory of the thin boy choking and falling to ground still haunted him, and he didn't think that that was likely to stop anytime soon. That was why he was going on this hunting trip, because he needed to sort a few things out.
Gaius, after a few moments, decided to continue once more. "The lad is selfless to a fault, and one day that might be his undoing. I don't expect you to endanger yourself for his sake; I could not ask that of you, but if you could do your best to keep him out of harm's way, to protect him and not just on this hunting trip of yours, then I would be very grateful, sire."
Arthur assumed a rather prattish air and said, "Of course I'll look after him, Gaius, after all, I am the future king of Camelot, if I can't protect one measly servant then who can I protect?"
"Thank you, Prince Arthur; it eases my mind to hear you say that." Gaius turned around to leave but was stopped by a hand on his arm.
"Gaius," Arthur said, almost all of the traces of prat gone from his voice, "I want you to know that I would've protected him anyway. I believe it is my duty to protect everyone under my command; whether they are a knight, or a peasant, or an annoying servant. I always look out for those under my care, and that includes Merlin. I will keep him safe. That's a promise."
Gaius smiled; he wondered if either of the boys knew exactly how similar they were. They both had bouts of wisdom and of foolishness; it was like they were two halves of a whole.
"Thank you, sire," he said simply, and then turned and walked out the door.
"Ha, a promise, well, I've done a brilliant job of keeping it so far."
But all the sarcasm and self-hate left Arthur as he once more looked at the unconscious form of his friend. For whatever reason, Merlin had chosen this; his back was bleeding and broken because he had chosen it.
He had seen it in Merlin's eyes; he neither was going to tell the sorcerer anything, nor did he want to see Arthur suffer. He had chosen to be tortured needlessly. When he saw the whip he could've back out, but he didn't. He could've tried to get his master tortured in his stead. But he hadn't; he hadn't given up any information, he hadn't asked for someone else to suffer, and he hadn't even begged for the torment to stop as the whip had beaten him. Merlin had chosen this horrible fate, and though Arthur had no idea why he would do that, he was determined to see that he got his reward.
Gaius had been right; the boy was selfless to a fault, and Arthur wanted him to live long enough for his master, not to mention his guardian, to scold him for it.
So as he looked at Merlin and realized exactly how beautiful and pure his sacrifice was, he said one thing.
"Merlin, I will get you out of here. That's a promise."
He had just looked away when he heard a groggy voice say,
"Of course we're going to get out of here, Arthur. Don't be such a pessimist."
"Merlin?"
Well, as you might've guess the next chapter is going to have Merlin in it, yay! We love Merlin. I hoped that you like the conversation between Arthur and Gaius, it was certainly fun to write. I am starting school, like, tomorrow so I do not know when I'll next update. I also want to make it known that I won't set anything up without coming back to it. I will revisit Merlin's whipping past, but only when the time is right.
I have gotten some really glittering reviews so far, in fact, I don't think I've gotten a single negative one, and so for all of you who have reviewed I want to say thank you. Your reviews have been so amazing, I don't think I can tell you how much they mean to me. Actually, thank you to everyone who has ever read this or stuck this far with it, you guys, (and girls of course,) are really awesome! Keep it up, please. Well, bye!