A Sphinx's Tale

Morgana knew she was fretting, but it was hard not to when the boy had awoken her in the wee hours of the mourning with a strangled cry of pain. He had not opened his eyes, not really, and they seemed to be rolling off inside his head – not in dreams, but in pain. She had sent Gwen for a bath as soon as the girl had arrived, for the cold water would surely break the fever down.

They had taken a great deal of care on undressing the limp boy, and even if he was just a child, they both felt terribly awkward in bathing him. The shock did help out the fever for a little while (after he had trashed and trembled as if he was about to die, and Morgana had let out a pained cry while Gwen kept her calm and said it was to be expected), but before noon the boy was already burning up again.

Morgana sent Gwen to both find Merlin and get copious amounts of water – and together they had chosen a number of excuses in case someone questioned her activities. Merlin arrived soon enough, and went to see the boy. He looked troubled as he spoke.

"How long has he been like this?"

"Since early this morning" she said her voice tight. "I think the wound might be infected. We need to get Gaius before it gets any worse."

She had seen him shaking and moaning in pain, and he looked even paler than when he first came into her room. Morgana had a terrible feeling that his life was on the verge of being lost.

"No" said Merlin, firmly. "We can't involve Gaius, it is too dangerous." Before she had a chance to argue that Gaius could probably get away with anything, he went on. "Besides, if he finds out about this, he'll execute me himself."

Morgana would have chuckled if the situation wasn't that dire.

"We need to get him out of Camelot and we can't do it while he's sick. We need a physician."

"I'll treat him" offered Merlin, easily. Morgana could hardly believe in her own ears.

"Do you know how to treat an infected wound?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Not exactly, but I'm a fast learner."

She was about to give him a piece of his mind on this when they heard footsteps near – clearly guards marching, not Gwen's light gait – and there was a knock on the door. There was no point in arguing further if they had been found, still, Morgana closed the curtains and worked herself into composure as she opened the door.

Arthur was on the other side, accompanied by a handful of men.

"Arthur!" she said, her voice chirpy. "To what do I own this pleasure?"

The look he gave her was halfway between accusing and annoyed.

"Don't get all excited" he said, walking around the room and she rolled her eyes. He was such a pig. "It's not a social call." Morgana would have slapped him if she thought it would make him behave more like a proper human being. "I'm looking for the Druid boy – I'm afraid I'm going to have to search your chambers."

There was a shiver of fear in her spine, but she straightened her back to stand tall and hid her panic in a mask of indignation.

"You are not searching my chambers!"

Arthur gave her a mild look, clearly not impressed with her anger.

"Don't take it personally; I have to search the entire castle. It'll only take a few minutes."

Morgana knew he was under Uther's orders, but she had to trust herself and find a way to avoid him finding the boy – there were lives depending on it.

"I'm not having you mess up my things!" she added, walking closer to him and taking the bow he had been inspecting from his hands.

"I'm not interested in your things" answered Arthur tiredly. "I'm just looking for any evidence that the Druid boy's in the castle."

Morgana used her face to express just how unlikely, ridiculous and plainly offensive that had sounded, but Arthur didn't seem to care. Uther's latest fits must have been intense indeed.

"Perhaps the Druid boy's hiding in your chambers" she said, changing her tone to teasing. "They're usually such a mess, you'd never know."

That got his attention – Arthur could ignore her anger and her temper tantrums, but he couldn't help himself when someone was mocking him.

"It's hardly my fault I have such a lazy idiot for a servant."

Morgana had to contain herself not to flinch – it was her fault that Merlin had been neglecting his duties in the last few days, and, of course, Arthur might not know that he was there and listening, but she did. He was truly compassionate, tender hearted and incredibly brave, and yet, she doubted that Arthur had even noticed.

"If you can't even find your own servant, what hope do you have of finding the boy?"

She had a smirk in her face, challenging him, and he was clearly annoyed – it was the kind of thing that Uther would say and mean it. Probably the King had no idea Merlin had been way lately, or he'd not only have said something but also would have suspected his involvement on hiding the boy. Whether it was loyalty from Arthur's part (not wanting to be forced to fire Merlin) or whether it was fear of what would Uther say (and he could be truly vicious), the fact was that he probably had to make a conscious effort to cover for his servant's absence, and if Arthur hadn't trusted the boy, he wouldn't do that.

He had never been nearly this close to any servant before – to anyone, really, except for her – but, of course, Merlin was rather good at keeping him out of balance and walking in line; and it couldn't hurt that he seemed so eager to do anything and everything in his power to keep Arthur safe – he had saved Arthur's life twice publicly, and now Morgana was starting to wonder if there hadn't been other times that the prince knew nothing about, in which Merlin had used his secret skills.

(Maybe… Maybe this was why Sophia had disappeared so suddenly. She would ask him about it on the first chance she got).

"I'm really touched by the confidence you have in my abilities" he said, and while his voice was full of sarcasm, this shoulder blades were clearly tight with tension. "And as much as I'd love to stay and talk, the sooner we get started, the sooner we'll be finished."

"I'll save you the trouble" she said, gesturing towards the door, but Arthur ignored her, still roaming around.

"Trust me, if I could find him, I would."

"The boy or your manservant?" she teased, and that made him look at her, something akin to anger in the corner of his eyes. It reminded her of the court jester that had lived in her father's household and that had come with her to Camelot – the old man always told her that the truth usually hurt people, but that taking refuge in audacity was a foolproof way of making people laugh at their own failings. All her other resources had failed, so, she might as well try it.

"The Druid boy's hiding behind the screen" she announced, and Arthur looked at her, shocked for one second before it turned into disbelief. "I'm sure your father would love to know how you wasted time by rifling through my things." Morgana gave him her trickiest smile. "Go on."

"So you can have the satisfaction of making me look a fool?" he questioned, now truly annoyed.

Now, that was just too easy.

"In my experience, you don't need any help looking like a fool" she offered, showing him her teeth. "What are you waiting for? Take a look!"

She knew Arthur loved his own pride too much to risk it like that, especially in front of her, so it was easier to smile now.

"Why don't you go back to brushing your hair or whatever it is that you do all day?" He asked, angrily, moving towards the door.

"Bye, Arthur" she said, her voice as sweet as possible. "Good luck with the search!"

She would have felt sorry for him if he weren't such an ass.