BTW, I've slightly changed chapter one... a bit. Just so that I can make things simpler ( Is that a word?(: ). So, Gaius ISN'T DEAD. He was just out on a trip. Sorry! I didn't really think it through! SORRY GUYS!
Merlin felt much better when he'd woken up. That didn't mean that he'd managed to evade the voices that night. But, they weren't speaking then, so he sat up and listened to the discussion going on outside his room. He knew Gaius was back, but he didn't have the energy to run out and great him from his trip.
"Voices, you say?"
"That's what he told me, and it didn't sound as if he was lying. Has he said anything to you about it, Gaius?"
"No. I'll speak with him when he wakes up." Merlin heard footsteps. He wasn't worried. He knew it was just Gaius and Arthur.
The door creaked open slowly and Gaius stepped in. When he realised Merlin was awake, he came and sat down near the top of the cot, so he was quite close to Merlin. Arthur sat at the end of the bed, where he'd sat earlier.
"I can't leave you for five minutes, can I, Merlin?" Gaius said. He put his hand on Merlin's forhead and shook his head.
"You can. Just not 5 weeks." Merlin retorted, playfully.
"Arthur's been telling me about these voices. Anything you want to tell me?" Merlin glanced at Arthur. He wasn't looking their way, he was studying the room. Merlin raised his eyebrows at him and Gaius nodded. He understood.
Gaius stood. "Right, we'll leave you to rest then, Merlin." Arthur nodded and they both left the room. Gaius took care to be the last out so that he could sneek a wink at Merlin before he dissapeared behind the door.
"Thank you for looking after him, sire." Gaius was getting Arthur out of the room.
"I didn't want him to lie shivering on the floor of my chambers al day."
"I'm sure."
Merlin decided that he wasn't going to lounge around in bed all day. He shooved his boots on his feet and pulled on his jacket. Those were the only items he was not wearing. Arthur must have removed them whilst he was putting him in his cot.
He looked through a hole in his door and saw that Arthur had left. He opened the door and went to sit with Gaius. Gaius turned around to look at him properly.
"Now. What was it you wanted to tell me?"
"Lots of things really. These voices. They don't leave me alown. They keep screeching and mocking me about how week I am. About all the people I've lost in my life."
"Do you let them get to you?"
"I don't know!" Merlin threw his hands up, exasperated. "Everytime they speak to me, I end up feeling weak."
"Hmmm. How long have they been talking to you?"
"About 5 weeks. They started just before you left. I don't know where they came from. But they..."
"They what, Merlin?"
"Thay want me dead."