Aha! It's up! And it only took us about, what? A month? Shhh... We don't talk about that. Besides, we have excellent excuses that we won't bore anyone with. Those excuses aren't going away. Sadly, (or not sadly...) that's true.
Anyway, on with the show!
He shouldn't have eaten thirds. Heck, he probably shouldn't have eaten seconds. He felt constantly on the brink of expelling... everything. The food often invaded his throat as he walked. Even when he wasn't walking he had to swallow his lunch back down a few times. Arthur hoped no one could see this discomfort in his face.
Now, what was Ossaise saying? Oh, it had something to do with Merlin's insolence. Sounded about right. Insolence was Merlin's almost constant state of being. Except... Merlin was usually polite to guests. Usually.
Arthur replied that he would handle his own servants.
He would talk to Merlin. Deserved or not, Merlin couldn't be overtly rude to visitors.
Arthur clenched his fist to stop himself from rolling his shoulder. Pain had shot through his right arm again. It kept doing that randomly. Then, in just the past half-hour the pain had become more intense and more frequent. Now he was feeling extra pain at least a few times a minute. It felt like every other second though.
"Your manservant doesn't listen," Sir Ossaise complained.
The prince resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Ossaise was right about that. Actually, the nobleman was correct about almost all of Merlin's tendencies. Arthur didn't need to say that though.
"I know how to deal with him," Arthur assured. "He won't cause you anymore trouble." Because he won't be helping you anymore, Arthur added silently. Someone else, someone more long-suffering than Merlin, will be preoccupying you from now on.
"He had better not," Ossaise sniffed and strutted away.
Now, Arthur needed to find some of his knights. Tonight, the prince and a few others would need to fill patrol duty for some ill knights.
Arthur found Gwaine in a hallway, for once, not by the tavern.
As he spoke to Gwaine, to Arthur's surprise, a sharp pain suddenly stabbed into the shoulder of his uninjured arm. He tried not to wince, and he continued to explain tonight's patrol routes to Gwaine.
The insubordinate knight wasn't listening though! He furrowed his brow and didn't look Arthur in the face. Was Gwaine capable of focusing on anything?
"Gwaine!" Arthur snapped. "This is just routine. Pay attention. You can go to the tavern tomorrow."
Gwaine looked up. "What about the tavern?"
"You're not going to it."
"That's not fair..." Gwaine went back to staring at whatever had held his interest before. "Why is your shoulder wet?"
"What?" Arthur asked.
That was random, even for Gwaine. Arthur looked down at his shoulder. It was wet. Confused, the prince touched his moist shirt. He pulled his hand away and looked it. Arthur gasped. His palm was covered in a red substance that looked like blood. It smelled like blood too. But that was impossible. Arthur would have know if he had gotten blood, his or otherwise, on himself.
"Time to see Gaius," Gwaine said matter-of-factly.
"No, I—"
"Save it, princess." Gwaine grabbed Arthur's unbloodied arm, unwittingly grasping the bruising from the pulled muscle.
"Argh!" Arthur cried out.
He tried to pull away, but his head was swimming. The ground swayed violently. Arthur leaned over, wishing the floor would stay put. He vomited. Suddenly, it felt as though his sternum wanted to break away from his rib cage and jump out his throat. He fell to his hands and knees, and labored to breathe. His hands trembled, only barely holding him above the pile of sick.
The moment Arthur's vomiting seemed to subside, Gwaine pulled the prince to his feet.
"Wait," Arthur gasped irrationally. "I'm not ready to move."
Gwaine didn't even pause. He wrapped the prince's unbloodied arm around his shoulder and guided the prince. "There's no time like the present," the knight replied callously.
Arthur knew they were headed to Gaius's, but he couldn't focus on where he was or in what direction he was going. At some point on the journey to Gaius's, Arthur felt a stinging pain in his open wound. Arthur suddenly twisted away from Gwaine's vice-like grip. Instead of getting away, Arthur only sank.
"Oh, no you don't," Gwaine said and jerked Arthur back onto his feet. Arthur was fairly certain he had imagined that hint of concern in the knight's voice.
"I'm fine," Arthur insisted. He just needed to stay still for a moment.
In response, Gwaine continued to tug Arthur along. They didn't get much further before Arthur vomited again, covering even more of the castle floor. Even though he was spewing everywhere, his sternum still tried to tear itself free as though he had nothing to vomit. Again, Arthur had barely any time to cough or sputter before Gwaine began dragging him.
Merlin gingerly pulled his shirt on over his newly bandaged knife wound.
"And you're sure no one saw you," Gaius probed.
"Other than him, no," Merlin replied blearily.
"If he tells anyone, Merlin, that you used magic..." Gaius trailed off. Someone had stabbed Merlin in the stables, and the boy, without thinking, had thrown the man with magic. Merlin had said he didn't recognize his attacker. Whoever the assailant was, he obviously wasn't a friend and he now knew Merlin's secret. Or maybe he already knew Merlin's secret...
"I know."
"How are you going to explain what happened?"
"Arthur doesn't need to know the details. Just that there's a violent man prone to random murders on the loose."
Merlin leaned over and looked as though he might retch a third time.
"How—"
Gaius was cut off by the door swinging open impressively. Gwaine dragged in an ashen-faced Arthur.
"Arthur," Merlin said automatically.
"What happened?" Gaius demanded. He straightened.
"Not really sure," Gwaine said as he pulled Arthur to the nearest seat. "The vomiting's over. I hope."
Gaius walked over to Arthur. The physician leaned over, placing a hand on the prince. Arthur's shoulder was wet. It was probably from the vomit. Arthur looked like he was in shock. It smelt like the prince had coughed up some blood along with the vomit. However, there was no blood around Arthur's mouth. Gaius straightened and pulled his hand away. Upon seeing his palm, his jaw dropped slightly. His hand was now red with blood.
"He's bleeding," Gaius looked to Gwaine for an explanation.
"That's why I brought princess to you in the first place," Gwaine said, earning a glare from Arthur and a raised eyebrow from Gaius. Undeterred, Gwaine continued. "The vomiting happened on the way here."
"Sire, I need to remove your shirt," Gaius instructed.
Arthur nodded. He wearily lifted his arms as the physician pulled the blood-soaked garment over the prince's head. Gaius busied himself cleaning the wound. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. The wound looked just like... Gaius had to be imagining it.
"How did you receive this wound?" Gaius asked.
Arthur shook his head, "I don't know."
"He was just standing around when he started bleeding," Gwaine supplied.
Maybe Gaius wasn't imagining it. He checked Arthur's right arm. It was purple, probably from a pulled muscle. The physician wanted to be absolutely certain though.
"Gwaine," Gaius requested, resorting to his usual tactics, "go get me some water."
"Dogsbody work," Gwaine directed at Arthur. "The things I do for you." The knight sauntered away, wiping his hands onto his trousers as he went.
Gaius continued to clean the odd wound. Arthur winced at the familiar stinging sensation. It was giving him an odd sense of deja vu. He was, of course, familiar with the sting of having a wound cleaned. But some how, it seemed as though he had just done this.
After Gaius wrapped the wound, he turned to Merlin, "Merlin, I need you to get me something."
Merlin groaned. Instead of complying, he lay down.
"Merlin," Gaius insisted. "I need," he glanced across the room, "dock leaf."
Merlin grunted.
"Merlin," Gaius persisted.
The sickly-looking man finally sat up. He gave Gaius a look that said, Don't you know that I'm dying? Merlin grumbled something indistinctly before finally standing. A sudden vertigo washed over Arthur. He vaguely wondered why Gaius thought his ward was up to moving.
Merlin made it half way to the bottle-laden shelves when he turned around, "What did you say you wanted, Gaius?"
"Dock leaf," Gaius said absently as he picked up a rod. "I need to make a tincture out of it."
Merlin stared in stupid befuddlement, "Isn't that for old women?"
Gaius jumped. "Just get it," he ordered.
"Alright," Merlin mumbled. He stepped up to the shelves and stared.
"Sire," Gaius said, "I need to check something to be sure I give you the right treatment."
"Alright," Arthur replied.
"Straighten your leg, sire."
Confused, Arthur obeyed. Gaius placed the rod under Arthur's ankle and slid it up the leg to the calf. The physician lowered the rod, looked at Merlin, and then swung upward.
Arthur cried out. Did that just happen?
Arthur suddenly felt dizzy as Merlin spun around. "What was that for!" The manservant shouted.
"What was what for?" Arthur demanded back.
"You threw something at me! I didn't even do anything!" It was bad enough that Arthur seemed to think chucking things was all fun and games, but this, this was intolerable. Merlin was innocent, injured, and had his back turned!
"I'm too busy with Gaius's treatments to throw anything at a worthless idiot!" Arthur shot back.
"Really!" Merlin spoke faster, louder, and higher with each word, " Did he tell you to test your throwing arm? Maybe I should do that too!"
Merlin grabbed the first thing he could get his hand on. His pulled muscle protested violently, but he didn't care. Before he had a chance to even look at the object in his hand, something was flying out of his outstretched arm.
Right then, Merlin realized that he had done something really stupid. He didn't even know what he had thrown. Besides, it was Arthur's job to throw things at friends, not Merlin's. It'd be okay, though. Arthur would duck.
Arthur did duck, but not enough. Or in the right direction. He curled over and grasped his arm. Then a candle smacked him square in face.
Merlin staggered backward. His face had abruptly hurt.
"Sire," Gaius interrupted the fight, "it appears that someone is trying to kill you."
"I've noticed!" Arthur snapped. He glared wildly at Merlin.
"Someone is trying to kill you with sorcery," Gaius amended dramatically.
Arthur whipped his head into Gaius's direction. He blinked. "And you needed to hit my leg to figure that out?" When was someone not trying to use sorcery to kill the prince? Besides, wounds didn't make themselves. The sudden bleeding in Arthur's shoulder had to be the result of magic.
"Not exactly," Gaius said cautiously. Arthur gave him a strange look. Gaius continued, "I needed to know what type of sorcery they did."
Arthur stared up at Gaius in a way that said, I'm not following. What does my leg have to do with this? He indicated for Gaius to go on.
"Your skills as a warrior are renowned."
"Gaius, I'm aware." Arthur looked quite worried for the old man's sanity.
"I think they wanted an easier target," Gaius explained.
Arthur opened his mouth. Then shut it. He had no idea what Gaius was getting at.
"Legends speak of certain spells that allowed two life forces to be bound. You harm one, it harms the other. However, then, it was used for diplomatic purposes, not assassination."
Merlin spoke up, "Gaius, you are not saying what I think you're saying."
"I'm afraid so. The person who stabbed you was actually more interested in killing Arthur. You were collateral damage."
"I'm still confused," Arthur announced.
"We've been cursed," Merlin groaned. "I feel your pain; and, you feel my pain. Because some idiot thinks I'm easier to kill than you."
Gaius gave Merlin a warning look.
Arthur, however, laughed, "I see this whole thing hasn't dampened your sense of humor at all."
What did you think? Review please? That includes you, Fern's fiance. I know you're reading this. In fact, I demand a review from you. Don't worry honey, I'll be ok if you don't... Zab might not be... But I will. Recant that now! He doesn't listen to me. And you're encouraging bad behavior, to boot!