A/N: How do I have this many followers? I was editing this chapter and I found a bit of a typo: '"Here," He thrust the bag into Lady Emily's bag.'
Anyways, I hope it's decent :)
It had been ten minutes since Merlin went to retrieve Lady Emily's bag. Arthur rolled his eyes, contemplating whether or not he should go and check if the useless lump had fallen down the stairs. Two minutes later, the king pushed the large, oak doors open with a heavy sigh.
"Merlin, what are you-?" Arthur looked down to see his servant scrambling on the floor to get away from him.
It was apparent that the boy didn't want Arthur out of his sight, his eyes hardly even closing to blink. The king noted the look of pure, unrestrained terror on his face as he walked closer.
"Merlin…?" Even when he stopped, the servant still backed away, but his eyes were no longer on his master, but the air in front of him.
"No, please! I'm sorry, I didn't…Please, I'm sorry!" Merlin whispered, blue eyes glistening with tears; he repeated the same thing, saying nothing else.
"Merlin!" he tried once more to snap him out of it- whatever it was- but he didn't even seem to notice Arthur.
"Please, I didn't-," Merlin looked up as if someone were standing over him, shaking his head. The look of terror on his face before was nothing compared to the now petrified stare.
"Wait-!" The shout echoed through the hall as his arm rose to shield his face against the invisible distraction. He cried out in pain as a glowing blue slash appeared on the outstretched arm. The wound sizzled, the cloth surrounding it blackened and scorched. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he slipped into the relief of unconsciousness, his limp body dropping back on the cold, stone floor.
Arthur bent down and retrieved the pack lying dejectedly on the floor, taking a couple hurried steps forward and scooping the limp Merlin up into his arms before he turned around and sprinted out the door.
"Here," He thrust the bag into Lady Emily's bag, ignoring her questions about Merlin and proceeded to run to the Physician's chambers, shifting the light weight over his shoulder.
"Arthur," Gaius exclaimed practically jumping out of his skin, the vial he was holding shattered when the king kicked the door open. "Merlin!"
The physician stepped over the broken potion, hurrying to the patient's bed, using a book to push everything off and onto the floor, then lying it down at the top as a makeshift pillow.
"What happened?" He took Merlin's coat off and rolled up the sleeve of his rough, blue tunic, careful not the touch the slightly luminous wound.
"I went into the castle and found him on the floor, he was muttering to someone, pleading with them, saying that he didn't do whatever they were accusing him of. Then he got this cut out of thin air- the idiot! At first it was blue, but as you can see now it softened to a white glow. It must have been magic, Gaius…powerful magic. He passed out from the pain of one small wound…Leave it to Merlinto get a wound from thin air!"
"Thank you, Arthur. I will take care of him, but you should get back to Lord Lot. You wouldn't want to keep him waiting."
"Will he be ok?" Arthur tried his best to hide the amount concern he was feeling for a servant. Tried but failed. Gaius knew the king better than he knew himself.
"I am sure. Thank you Sire, but you must go!"
He nodded and quickly left the old man's chambers, making his way back to the center of the courtyard. When he arrived, he found that Gwaine had finally made it to Lady Emily and was shamelessly flirting with her, tucking a pink lily behind her ear.
"I'm terribly sorry for making you wait," Arthur said shaking his head, trying his best to ease his look of worry to a look of joy…It didn't work.
"What happened," Lady Emily asked looking agitated. "Is Merlin alright?"
"He will be fine." he managed a small smile as her face relaxed.
"Thank you so much for this, Arthur!" Sir Lot took hold of Arthur's hand in a tight shake as Gwaine said his goodbyes to the princess, and they were soon riding off, their carriage rumbling around the corner and out of Camelot's walls.
Arthur turned away, shaking his head at Gwaine.
"Can't blame a guy for trying!" He said with a shrug and a smile. He turned in the other direction, swaggering of to the tavern.
"How is he?" Arthur asked quietly, shutting the door behind him.
"He seems fine, Sire. He is resting now, but you are welcome to go up."
Nodding his thanks to Gaius, he headed up the stairs without a word.
"What have you done to yourself, you idiot?" the king muttered to himself. He stood over Merlin's bedside, taking in his pale features.
"Oi, who're you calling an idiot, you prat?" Merlin mumbled, his eyes cracking open.
Arthur smirked, "How do you feel?"
"Fine, fine…" He shifted, leaning his back against the wall.
"The look on your face begs to differ," Arthur informed him. "What happened?"
"It's-it's nothing…" he mumbled looking down at his hands.
"Really? Good, I thought so too! You just got slashed at from thin air; of course everything is alri-!"
"Just leave it, Arthur." He said firmly.
He looked up at Merlin's face; it was filled with pain though he tried to hide it. He could see it in his eyes.
Merlin couldn't sleep that night. He tossed and turned, staring at the ceiling above. The silence of the room around him was smothering. Finally, hours later as the bells announced midnight's arrival, he fell into a fitful sleep.
"Don't worry, you'll be safe here, Molly!" A young teenager led a girl of similar age, into an empty house.
"Merlin!" Tears were streaming down her face, tangling in her ginger hair.
"In here," He opened the doors to a large, empty cupboard and crawled inside, offering his hand to his friend. "It'll be ok."
She accepted his help and climbed in as well, the doors pulling shut with a small thud. It was dark and he could only see the outline of his shaking friend, but he could hear her as she tried to stifle her sobs.
"Shhh, come here." Merlin pulled her into his arms and did his best to comfort her. They both fell asleep to the soft rhythm of his soothing noises.
"No…," Merlin moaned, his face wrinkling in pain, the blankets getting tangled in his limbs as he thrashed in his sleep. "No, please!"
The young warlock let out a wordless shout, tearing the doors to the cupboard off with a flash of his eyes. He looked down at the girl in his arms, her blood covered his hands.
"No, no, no, I said I'd keep you safe!" He cried, holding her body closing and rocking back and forth.
'Why didn't they kill me as well?' He thought 'It doesn't make sense to just kill her!'
Merlin woke with a start and fell out of bed with a gasp and a thud.
"You did this to me, Merlin!" the girl's voice shook the entire room, she stood beside his bed, giving him a look that would terrify the bravest of men.
"No, I swear I didn't!" Tears fell from of his eyes as he stared at the glowing spirit of the woman that had once been his best friend, a shimmering silver splotch on the left side of her nightgown.
"You did this to me, and YOU WILL PAY!" Her voice was distorted as she yelled at him, the same blade as before materializing in her hand.
She lunged forward and started slashing anywhere and everywhere she could reach while screaming. 'Limina phasma phasmatis aperuit!'
Merlin was teeming with pain, white hot flames licking at his skin, burning into his very soul. A deafening scream escaped his lips and she stepped back to admire her work on the writhing warlock. She appeared to be satisfied. She dissolved into the wind, the last thing she said hanging in the air. 'Phasma phasmatis vindice mundi, adsurgere liberum in hoc noluit anima'
Arthur rolled out of bed with a growl. There was always that group of people walking home from the tavern, shouting at one another in a drunken haze. He walked over to his window and pulled aside the curtain to see if he could spot the source of that horrible yell in the moonlit courtyard. A glowing light caught his eye. It was spilling from the servants corridor. He grabbed a crumpled shirt off the ground and pulled it on. It was about time he pay his friends a little visit. As he neared the hallway, he looked up at the sign next to a wooden door reading 'Court Physician,' realizing both the light and the noise were coming from inside.
"Honestly, you could wake the whole castle with that noise!" He yelled over the disturbance, slamming the door open. He glanced around the room. Something was off. Gaius was still asleep and the source of the light wasn't in the main chambers. It was spilling from Merlin's room.
A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying it so far!
xxXTheReinbachDragonlordXxx