Disclaimer: I have never owned Merlin nor will I ever own Merlin. When I do I shall let you know.
Arthur and Gwaine woke several hours later holding their heads and looking around in disorientation. Merlin couldn't look at them, the guilt was almost choking him so he did his best to avoid eye contact- thankfully neither Gwaine nor Arthur noticed in their confusion.
Arthur's head hurt, it hurt like he'd run full pelt into one of the castle walls and then got back up and tried again. He couldn't help but moan when he cracked his eye open enough for a stream of light to send his head spinning, he felt relieved that Gwaine seemed to be faring no better and was also clutching his head and whimpering like a wounded animal.
Through this all Merlin said nothing, he remained poking the fire until they regained enough of their senses to question him. Neither of them looked fit for anything at the moment. In fact Gwaine looked worse than the night he had consumed a barrel of ale to himself and that night he had spent most of it laid on the floor and mumbling about how pretty the stars and Merlin were. Of course then a couple of hours later he had his face buried in a bucket and was telling Merlin to make the room stop spinning.
So they were in a pretty bad state really.
It was Arthur who managed to recover enough first; he was clutching his head still but had managed to open his eyes half an inch.
"What the hell happened?" He questioned gruffly keeping his voice low as to not aggravate his head further. Merlin had had plenty of time to come up with a viable story so he spoke with confidence his story well-rehearsed.
"Morgana used a spell on both of you; it sent you flying back into a wall." Merlin said with a shrug "she disappeared after she seemed to think you had brought more knights. You stayed awake long enough to stagger out with Gwaine until you both collapsed here." Merlin explained. Arthur shook his head slightly as if trying to force himself to remember.
"Is that all that happened?" Arthur asked with a frown, something was teetering on the edge of his memory but he couldn't quite grasp it.
"Yes sire." Merlin replied calmly his gulp going unnoticed by Arthur who was still trying to shake the cobwebs lose.
"Can you two talk quieter or bugger off." Gwaine moaned. He didn't even bother to open his eyes.
"We shall have to rest here for a little longer until you are both fit to make the journey." Merlin said softly, trying not to anger Gwaine who had started to snore softly.
"Leon and the others will only wait so long before they have to leave so we have to be quick." Arthur said in equally soft tones.
"So you want to leave now? But neither of you are in a fit state…" Merlin was shocked, neither one of them could keep their eyes open for longer than a minute and they both were still clutching their heads.
"We have to." Arthur growled moving to stand up, he got about five inches above the ground before falling back onto the log "Maybe we can leave it ten minutes." He groaned.
They left it another half an hour until both knights could stand unaided albeit it shakily they then went on the short trek up to the others. The walk took them longer than it should have as Arthur and Gwaine needed to stop and rest every five minutes. Merlin also added to the journey by getting his foot stuck in a rabbit hole causing much swearing from Merlin and half-hearted laughing from the knights. Merlin's foot had been retrieved and they had been on their way again.
The trip was mostly silent, Gwaine and Arthur in too much pain to contemplate a conversation and Merlin feeling too guilty to start one. It's times like these when he misses Lancelot the most.
It was dark when they finally reached the others camp. It was silent. Arthur stepped forward and found a sword pointing at his chest, Arthur looked up and realised it was Percival who lowered the sword with a crooked grin, it didn't quite reach his eyes and Merlin had the feeling that he had been on edge for some time.
"How is Elyan" Arthur asked worriedly. Percival frowned as he led them to Leon and Elyan.
"Not so good, I think he could have an infection." Percival admitted, Arthur cursed screwing his eyes up before forcing himself to relax.
"We shall have to get him to Gaius as quickly as possible, he is strong he should make it." Arthur said assuredly. No one commented on the fact that he could not make it. No one dared.
"I can look him over." Merlin piped up, he was itching to do something. Arthur frowned at Merlin's bruised face and Gwaine widened his eyes in disbelief. Merlin rolled his eyes. I have been Gaius' ward for four years now; I have picked some things up." Merlin spoke defensively, anger welling up at the knights believing yet again that he was useless. Gwaine held up his hands in mock surrender.
"Who am I to complain if you can heal him and get us out of this wood and me to a tavern?" Gwaine said with a chuckle. Merlin shrugged and walked over to the prone form of Elyan.
Merlin looked at the thin shallow cut, the problem was it hadn't been dressed properly and now was inflamed and weeping. Merlin bit his lip, they would never be able to travel with him in this state. Glancing around and seeing that the others were preoccupied with talking to Leon he held his hand over the wound and let his eyes flash gold once again.
The wound glowed for a second and the instant the light dimmed Merlin could see the wound was clear of infection. Merlin wrapped the wound; carefully to do it right to prevent another infection and told Arthur they could be on their way. Merlin was allowed to ride Elyan's horse while Elyan's unconscious form lay slumped over the front of Gwaine's they were finally on their way home.
Merlin was left to ponder what he had done and though he still felt incredible guilty he was convinced he had done the right thing.
He wasn't ready for people to know and Arthur certainly wasn't ready to know if his reaction had been anything to go by.
So for now things would have to remain as they always were. Arthur: The King and powerful warrior and Merlin the weak and pathetic servant.
It was the way it had to be.
He had done the right thing by wiping their memories Merlin thought as he slumped into his seat letting the events take its toll on him.
It was all for the best.
A/N So it's finally done! I hope that you have enjoyed this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Thank you once again for all your support in favouriting, reviewing and subscribing. It means a lot to me. This story was originally going to be a one shot but I got carried away and this happened. It ended up being more about Arthur than Morgana. The initial idea for this story was a battered and wounded Merlin standing up and giving Morgana a cocky insult as he blasts her away. It ended up different from that and a lot more developed.
So for one final time I ask you to review and a thank you for reading and putting up with all my delays.
As always stay happy and healthy guys.