Arthur reached the gates of Camelot after sunset. It did not take the guards long to recognize him even in the dark, making it clear they were told to wait for him. After last time, Arthur made sure a full day would pass before guards were sent after him. The guards rushed to open the gate for their future king, but Arthur didn't enter.

"Something the matter, my lord?" One of the guards asked tentatively. He was obviously new as most of the more experienced guards kept their mouth shut. Arthur turned to look at him.

"You may be dismissed." Arthur addressed the entire group. The newer guard opened his mouth to protest but Arthur cut him off "Make sure the rest of my group made it back unharmed, and report back when you are done. You-" Arthur addressed the guard who spoke "wake the King and inform him of my return." The guard nodded and departed for the King's chambers while the others headed toward the guard master's quarters.

Once the guards were out of sight, Arthur retreated backwards to retrieve Merlin from his spot hiding behind the trees. During the last portion of their journey, Merlin became increasingly tired and Arthur ended up having to support him on the walk back. Arthur wasn't surprised to see Merlin leaning heavily against the tree he was supposed to be hiding behind while Arthur got rid of the guards.

Merlin, knowing how bad he must look, picked his head up to smile at Arthur.

"May I approach, my lord?"

Arthur let out a quiet chuckle as he slung Merlin's right arm over his shoulder.

"You can't even stand on your own, let alone walk." Merlin's head drooped against his shoulder and, though Arthur couldn't see, he knew Merlin's eyes were already half shut. Arthur half-dragged Merlin in through the open gate and then towards Gaius's door. Merlin must be naturally lucky, because the pair did not encounter a single person on the there.

Arthur knocked on Gaius's door, hoping he wouldn't give the old doctor too much of a fright, and listened to the shuffling of Gaius making his way over and his tired call of "yes, yes. One moment". He readjusted his hold on Merlin, the movement causing the sorcerer to crack his eyes open in time to see Gaius open the door.

Arthur could see Gaius's eyes widen as he saw Merlin, half conscious and draped over Arthur's shoulder with his shirt tied over his chest, but immediately after his physician side took over and he rushed Merlin in.

"What happened to him?" Gaius's eyes landed on Arthur as he cleared the books and boxes off of a table, gently but hurriedly setting them on the ground. It seemed to have been made for patients because the table came to just above his knees. Arthur lay Merlin face down on the wooden table and removed the tattered fabric covering the burn.

"He wandered into the middle of a hydra attack. His back is pretty burnt."

Arthur immediately regretted pulling off the makeshift bandage because it had adhered slightly to the wound, and tearing it off made Merlin let out a small groan of pain. Arthur winced and looked up to Gaius to see if he had done anything wrong, but he was just inspecting the wound and gathering various supplies from around the room.

In the light of the candles Gaius had lit around the room, Arthur could better see the damage that had been done to Merlin's back. The worst part of the burn was centered just below his prominent shoulder blades, about the size of a hand, with dirt still in it despite Arthur's efforts. A ring of blisters made up the boarder of the wound and the remaining portion of Merlin's upper back was just varying shades of red. Besides the wounded area, Merlin looked quite pale. His hands were clenched around the edges of the table and his chin was almost pressed to his chest.

Gaius returned with a small pan of thick whitish liquid and a cloth. He explained what it was – marigold ointment to heal burns – as he dipped the cloth into the liquid. Gaius gently dabbed the cloth along Merlin's more severe burns, dipping the cloth back into the pan and repeating the process. Merlin never made any sound of pain, but Arthur could tell he was just faking it by the way his muscles tightened and twitched every time the cloth touched him. Gaius could see it too, but with all his patience and practice, his continued on gently dabbing the cloth.

When the pan was half empty, Gaius set it down on the table and left to get a long strip of cloth and a potion. Before this point, Gaius had been working swiftly and quietly to treat his patient, so it came as a surprise when Gaius ordered him to lift Merlin up slightly. Gaius guided his hands to across Merlin's collar and just below his rib cage. Arthur lifted the warlock almost half a foot in the air before Gaius told his to stop. Gaius started wrapping the bandage around Merlin's torso, in the space between Arthur's two hands, treating the portion of the bandage that would touch his skin with the potion.

"Most people would be unconscious by this point" Gaius's voice cut through the near silence, finishing up the bandaging and lowering Merlin again. Arthur was about to respond, before realizing the comment was not directed at him. Merlin's forearms were crossed beneath his head and he hadn't made a sound in a while but at the comment he spared a light chuckle Gaius's direction. To be fair, Arthur had at some point during the whole thing stopped thinking about Merlin as conscious and aware. Now he was conscious of the fact that the Prince of Camelot was playing physician's assistant for the fugitive. No matter how he tried, the fact of Merlin's place always put him on edge.

When Gaius finished wrapping the bandage and tying it off, Arthur laid Merlin stomach down on the table and made an excuse to leave. He should have informed the king of his outing long ago, instead of wasting time. There were many things to discuss, the fate of the hydra being the upmost. Arthur rushed towards his father's chambers.

Merlin waited until a few seconds after the door shut after Arthur to speak up.

"He knows."

Gaius – who had been preparing a thorough scolding for Merlin – was slightly taken aback. Merlin sat up on the table, wincing as he went, and faced Gaius. He didn't know whether to look ashamed or pleased at the new development.

"He knows what, specifically?" Gaius spoke slowly and deliberately, daring Merlin to reply with what would be the truth. Gaius could be quite frightening at times, depending on what was at stake.

"Arthur knows. About the magic, my magic." Gaius grabbed a roll of paper and swatted Merlin across the top of his head repeatedly.

"Merlin, how could you let something like this happen?! Your mother entrusted me with your safety, I promised her that you would live a happy life and now you wish to make a liar out of me? How am I supposed to let her know that her only son, her only remaining family is to be burnt at the stake because he couldn't keep his nose out of the Prince's business?!" Merlin tried to voice his protests, but Gias wouldn't have it. He crossed his arms over his head in order to shield from the stinging blows. "Now he's off to tell his father, and Uther is not known for his leniency. You need to get out of Camelot"

"Gaius! He's not going to tell Uther."

"He isn't, is he? Arthur may have his heart in the right place but he is loyal to his father. How are you so sure?" Merlin paused before he answered. Gaius put down the roll of paper.

"Because he promised me. And because he's my friend."

Gaius sighed and went to sit down in his chair. He really was too old to be dealing with occurrences like this. He sat in silence for awhile, thinking it over. He had been trying to protect Merlin for so long, and he had thought he was doing so well.

"Call Aithusa. You will be sleeping here until your injuries are healed. Take the upstairs room, I've no need for it."

Gaius's statement left no room for argument. Merlin retired to his bed with a 'thank you', following Gaius's orders once he arrived in the room.

He could trust Arthur. Arthur was a good man, and his words in the forest only reinforced that for Merlin. He made mistakes, and he learned from them. He would make a wonderful king.


A/N: Procrastination is a wonderful, and horrible thing. This story isn't as popular as some of my others, so I'm going to try to finish it up neatly over the summer. Profuse apologies for the lack of updates. I gave a bit longer chapter as a sort of compensation, and I'll post that Interlude separately. Is anyone interested in reading just a series of interludes, alternate endings, extras, etc for this story?