ok. so. new chappie. I cannot possibly say just how sorry I am about the delay in update but I am very sorry. again, I have updated/revised/redone this whole fanfic. nothing really has changed much except for the last chapter a few things but yeah. again, so sorry for the delay. this chappie is mostly dialogue and I know when Freya is telling what has happened to her at the beginning is not exactly what she said happened in the episode but I wanted to do my own version and clearly put in her 'you cant always trust people' thing so here it is.

ENJOY!..

Chapter Six

Freya shut her eyes, a single tear escaping. "It happened about a year ago, I think, everything after it has blurred into one whole mess." Her voice was very quiet and Arthur tried to lower the noise of his own breathing in case he missed something.

"I was at home, just spending time alone in the fields, picking flowers, when a man walked towards me; he seemed to come out of nowhere." She opened her eyes and another tear fell. She didn't look at Arthur, but her and Merlin's entwined hands. "I had never seen him before so I said 'hello' and we started talking. He seemed nice, he made me laugh and gave me a flower. Then it started getting dark so I told him I should go home and he said he would walk with me, 'to make sure you get home all nice and safe' was what he said.

"When I got home I invited him in for dinner..." More tears were falling by now and Freya's throat constricted, making it hard to talk. "We went inside and I called out to my parents telling them that we had a guest and no one answered. I walked in a little further and they were...they... on the f-floor... There was b-blood everywhere," she let out a small, sharp sob and sniffed. "I was about to find my little b-brother but I t-turned back into the man and he grabbed my wrists so I c-couldn't get away and..." She paused for a moment, sobbing and holding onto Merlin's hand so tight her knuckles were turning white. "H-he told me th-that my little brother was dead too and that he appreciated my offer for dinner b-but he...he had already eaten it but...b-but he was ready for dessert and then he...he started to attack me and I screamed but no one came a-and...I didn't know what to do and, and I was so scared and m-my magic just happened and I k-killed him by accident. I didn't mean to but I did and then I ran out and I was trying to find s-someone but the whole village was...they were all dead."

Freya reached up her other hand so that Merlin's was sandwiched between the two. "There were o-other men, they were a group of b-bandits and they saw me. They captured me and t-took me to their camp a-and the man's mother was there and she was a sorceress. She cursed me for killing her son, she c-cursed me to kill forever more a-and so now at midnight, every night, I t-turn into a beast and I... I can't help but kill people..." She was almost hysterical now and Arthur didn't know what else to do, so he reached over and pulled her close to him.

He didn't say anything, just held her tightly in his arms while she cried. After who knows how long her sobs subsided and she pulled away from Arthur, lips twitching in a not quite there smile of thanks. She rubbed at her eyes and when she spoke her voice was much more level, Arthur supposed she had cried herself out of tears.

"The night after I was cursed, when I turned, I killed most of the bandits, and when I woke up, human again, I ran. I found a group of Druids and tried to tell them I was cursed and asked if they could fix me but they said they could not. So I tried to get away from them, not wanting to hurt anyone, but they insisted I stay, and that night when I turned, well it was bad. Since killing that man I have never used my magic. I have been running since then, trying not to stay near people at night, mostly keeping to forests. That's where Halig found me." She sniffed and then took up Merlin's hand once again.

Arthur had no idea what to say. The girl had been through so much and yet she was still good and kind and pure and there's no way anyone like that deserves even a fraction of what she had gone through. It was disgusting. And she had been on her own for somewhere around a year, living in forests and having as little human contact as possible. Arthur could only marvel at her strength.

"I'm s-so sorry."

Both Arthur and Freya jumped at the completely unexpected voice from next to them. They looked and Merlin's eyes were half open again. Freya jumped up.

"You heard all of that?"

Merlin nodded very slightly then said Gaius' name.

"Ok, I will fetch him," she said, stroking Merlin's forehead once more and then hurried out of the room.

Arthur stood and moved closer to Merlin, his servant observing him through tired, pained eyes.'

"Merlin," Arthur's voice cracked a little. He hesitated and Merlin could see he wanted to tell him something, if the warlock had the strength he would have pressed the matter, however, as he was he just watched as Arthur lost courage to say whatever it was.

"Freya?" Merlin asked quietly, the 'a' of her name turning into a painful cough and Arthur went forward and supported Merlin up and put a cloth near his friend's mouth to catch the blood.

"I found her," Arthur said, after the coughing was done. He knew what Merlin was asking him about her. Why is she here? Why is she with you? What do you know? "In the lower town, she was hiding from guards and, I don't know, there was something about her, I knew she was the Druid straight away but something told me she was more than that, and she seemed to trust me enough to go with me. We ate and then I came to see you and she didn't want to be left alone and well, here we are."

Merlin nodded before starting to cough again. This time Arthur was not so quick to help him sit up and as a result Merlin began to choke on the blood that was coming up. Arthur saw the panic in his eyes and as the Prince reached to him, Merlin's hands fumbled for him, for safety, for air.

Gaius entered the door at that moment and less than a single second of witnessing the scene he took control. "Roll him onto his side, quickly, sire!"

Arthur did as he was told and Gaius placed a bucket under Merlin's face. As soon as he was on his side the blood was able to move and it fell from Merlin's mouth into the bucket. He kept coughing and coughing and more blood just came out. Arthur flinched at every cough, Freya shut her eyes and Gaius was rubbing soothing circles on his ward's back.

Eventually, thankfully the wretched coughing stopped and Merlin flopped back to facing upwards again. Freya returned to her position on the floor beside Merlin, holding his hand, Arthur simply stood a few feet back, arms crossed and watched, while Gaius disappeared then quickly reappeared with a cold, damp cloth and placed it on his ward's forehead.

Merlin was in so much pain. Everything inside of him was searing incessantly and it was all he could do not to cry out. For a while the only sound was him, attempting to control his breathing, which was still a little erratic and shallow. After a few minutes he calmed down, though his breaths still too shallow for anybody's liking. He gave Freya a quiet smile, which she shyly returned, and then turned to Gaius.

"So, what's the verdict, Physician? How long will I be bound to this bed?" His tone was joking and a slight glimmer of the carefree Merlin was endeavouring to shine through, however the effect was lost as his voice cracked and he gave one cracking cough reminding them all of the situation.

Merlin looked at Gaius, Freya looked at Gaius, Arthur looked at Gaius, and Gaius looked at Arthur.

The two shared an unspoken message of relentless cursing and sorrow, worry and fear. Finally, Gaius broke the gaze and looked back at Merlin; Arthur simply lowered his eyes to stare at his newfound interest of floorboards.

The Physician moved towards the bed and sat on the edge, putting a hand on Merlin's shoulder.

"Merlin." Oh God, if he thought telling Arthur was hard then he had no idea. Gaius found his eyes moistening.

Arthur wanted so desperately to leave the room, he wanted nothing more than to forget what Gaius had previously told him and having to hear it for a second time was just terrible. And telling Merlin, and Freya. Things had been better. But, no matter how badly he wanted to leave, Arthur knew he had to stay. There was no way he would leave Merlin to find out on his own, but he could not look at Merlin, or Freya. It was too hard.

Gaius cupped Merlin's cheek. "My boy." The two words were filled with such raw emotion that they scared Merlin and suddenly he was even more worried than before.

"You have a few cracked ribs, two broken ones, had a dislocated shoulder and obviously severe bruising and other injuries..." Gaius paused for a second, willing the strength to say the next few words to come. "The reason you are having trouble breathing and coughing up blood is because one of your broken ribs has pierced a lung..." his voice cracked.

Merlin looked from Gaius to Arthur, back to Gaius. "And...you can fix it. Right?"

Silence.

"Gaius? Gaius, you can mend anything, you can fix me, can't you?"

Gaius dropped his gaze, Merlin's words and tone were just breaking his heart. The boy had such faith in him and to have to tell him that nothing could be done, it was hell, and there was no other word for it.

"I'm sorry, Merlin. I am so sorry, I can fix the broken rib which will cause you less pain but if I move it back into place it will allow more blood to flow into your lung. At the moment it is blocking most of the blood flowing past the hole, so while it would lessen your pain if I mended your rib, it would also give you less time."

The warlock did not move for a second, then, he nodded silently, blinked slowly and found his voice. "I may not know much about medicine but from what you are saying, and mostly from the look on Arthur's face," he grinned a little, "I'm guessing you are trying to tell me that I am dying."

Tears spilled from the old man's eyes and very slowly, as if he did not want to do what he was about to, Gaius nodded.

I know, depressing isnt it...

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love you all..

passion.