Sorry, sorry - Exams and Summatives combined with the face that the world hates me makes for late updates.
Arthur's eyes flickered as his conciousness wavered between awake and not. He was vaguely aware of the gentle arms around him, lowering him carefully to the ground, and of the lips that continuously pressed themselves to his forhead, his nose, his cheeks, and how right that felt.
He heard the man hiss and the arms pull away before fingers brushed his chest and side, barely touching. Pain shot through him like renewed fire, searing his limbs and forcing a moan from his lips. The hand instantly withdrew.
Arthur forced his eyes open through sheer will, glancing around slowly in a daze before finally meeting Merlin's.
Merlin.
The warlock smiled gently, bringing his hand up to cradle the prince's face. Arthur leaned into the touch, the warmth a comfort in the darkness. Merlin leaned down and pressed their foreheads together, shutting his eyes. Arthur relaxed, sinking into unconciousness, when a new sharp jolt of pain went through his side.
He gasped and rolled to his knees, Merlin jumping back in surprise. The prince clutched at his side, his fingers stumbling over ripped and curled flesh, raw in places, missing entirely in others. His eyes screwed shut in pain, his teeth clenched against the roar of flames shooting through him - Arthur fell back, eyes rolling, exhausted.
A hand clasped his tightly, pulling it to his chest.
"Arthur?"
The prince forced his eyes open again, searching until he met Merlin's. The warlock looked scared, but resolved. "I need you to tell me what happened," he murmured, "so I know how to fix you."
Arthur wanted to look away; he didn't want to tell Merlin what happened, he wanted to forget. But... it was Merlin. He would help him through this, like he always helped him.
"She," the raw, coarse voice that came from his own throat surprised him into silence for a moment, before he continued and said, "She burnt me. Magic and ... not."
The warlock's eyes darkened and for this first time Arthur saw the dangerous side to him. The powerful warlock of legend had taken over the prince's beloved, goofy manservant. His eyes were ice and fire, his jaw locked in a firm determination, shoulders back and hands clenched tight. And it scared him. Arthur reached up an arm that felt as though it were made of stone, and rested it on the other man's cheek. The warlock's eyes softened, and he covered Arthur's hand with his own.
The pain ebbed slightly from Arthur's skin, and the prince was able to relax slightly. They both closed their eyes and let the relief of safety wash over them, just for a moment. Eventually Merlin brought his hand away so it rested a hairswidth above Arthur's chest.
"Waise heill," he murmured, his eyes flashing gold. The prince felt a strange tingling soar through his skin, and the pain in his chest vanished. He heard Merlin faintly repeat the words, his hands working their way around his side, each time the pain easing away a little more. It was as though cool water was flowing through his veins, chasing away the fire.
The warlock stopped, and Arthur grasped his hand tighter. Their eyes met, and the prince smiled in thanks.
"I can fix the skin, remove the pain," Merlin said, "but I can't do anything about the markings. They're laced with magic, enchanted right into your very skin. She's used an spell to make them permenant. But..."
His eyes went back down to Arthur's skin where the prince knew Camelot's defaced crest lay imprinted a hundred times, each a mockery to everything he believed in. To his surprise, the warlock smiled, and he brought his hand back to Arthur's side, resting it there.
"Maybe..."
Merlin's eyes glowed, and Arthur felt the most peculiar sensation washing through him - his skin tingled and singed, the feeling unfamiliar but not unpleasant. Merlin's fingers danced on his skin in seemingly random patterns, at times moving quickly, other times slow and deliberate. All the while his eyes glowed a molten gold.
The warlock kept this up a moment longer before withdrawing his hand and sighing, his eyes fading back to their striking blue. Arthur instantly grabbed Merlin's hand before he could draw it away, the warlock just smiling tiredly.
The prince glanced down in what he considered an attempt to be subtle, to see what Merlin had done to him, and let out a low gasp.
In place of the number of Camelot crests that had mutilated his skin, a proud dragon stood. Its jaws were open in a roar on his chest, wings stretching out all around his side onto Arthur's back. His skin, instead of burnt and singed black as the markings had been, was a deep golden shade, making his skin appear as though it glowed. It was, and there was really no other word for it, beautiful. No, there was one other word. It was magical.
Arthur felt Meriln's hand tighten around his own, stress eminating from the warlock's nearby body. Puzzled, the prince tried to understand why - and when he did, chuckled. Merlin was afraid Arthur didn't like it.
The prince forced his eyes away from the beast curled around his skin to the warlock by his side. Their eyes met, and Arthur let himself break into a smile. He pulled himself up so he was sitting, level with the other man. Then he grabbed Merlin by the back of his neck and pulled him in, pressing their lips together.
Arthur tried his best to convey his relief, gratitude and love all in the one kiss. Their lips moved together, and Merlin snaked his arms around the prince's waist, pulling them closer. Arthur brought his other hand up so it rested on the small of Merlin's back, his other hand wrapped in the raven hair curled at the nape of the warlock's neck.
Eventually they separated, cheeks flushed and panting. They left their foreheads touching as they rested, eyes closed, just for a moment. Arthur smiled, and Merlin responded in kind. Arthur leaned forward and kissed the warlock once, twice more before laughing and falling back onto the forest floor.
Merlin chuckled lightly before following, curling into the prince's arms.
"We have to go back."
Arthur opened his eyes as Merlin's voice reverberated on his chest. They laid curled together at the base of the fire, (Meriln, once settled into the prince's arms, had allowed neither of them to get up and had lit the fire by magic. Arthur had no complaints.) content and weary. Arthur had, at Merlin's blushing insistance, pulled on one of the extra shirts the warlock had brought. The prince had had no problem showing off his new markings, but apparently his lack-of-clothing had embarassed the warlock. Arthur had just smirked.
The prince unconciously tightened his grip around the other man, pulling him in closer. His other arm was tucked behind his head as a makeshift pillow. Arthur leaned forward, pressing his lips to Merlin's hair.
"I know. We can't let her continue like this."
The warlock just nodded, tucking himself so his chin rested on Arthur's chest, his eyes looking up. They were full of sadness. "So she's really gone? Morgana."
Arthur looked away, his throat suddenly constricted, his eyes tight. He nodded once, briskly. "Yeah. The Morgana we knew... if she is there, it's buried far too deep for me to see. I don't - I don't think we'll see her again. Not the way we knew her."
"Oh, Arthur..." Merlin murmured, reaching up to press his lips to the prince's wet eyes. Arthur just pulled the warlock in tighter, holding him close. Merlin tucked his head underneath the prince's chin, sighing.
A branch snapped in the clearing and an owl hooted in surprise. They hadn't realized it, but the area had gone unusually quiet.
Arthur was instantly on his feet, pulling Merlin behind him. He glanced around frantically for his sword - his stomach dropped when he realized he didn't have one. It paled him to think of himself as defenseless; not that he couldn't hold his own in a fight, but without a weapon it would be a little one sided.
"Arthur!" Merlin called from behind him. Arthur spun around, torn; not wanting to take his eyes off of where the sound had come from while at the same time needing to check on Merlin. The warlock walked up beside him, tossing him a large branch. Arthur caught it easily, spinning it around a few times in front of him. It was no sword, but it was better than nothing. He would take whatever he could get to fight off Morgana's men. He nodded his thanks, returning to face forward.
More branches cracked and snapped, bushes rustled and shuffled, growing louder and closer as the prince and warlock grew more and more tense until finally the first figure emerged from the darkeness -
Merlin sighed in exhasperation, throwing his hands up in the air. "God, Gwaine, again! You're gonna give me a bleedin' heart attack one of these days!"
The brunette knight, looking slightly less dishevelled than last Merlin had seen him, leaped forward with a large grin and shout. "Merlin! You're alright! And you, princess!"
Arthur, who had seemingly been in shock until then, started forward with a jolt, his face breaking into a smile to match Gwaine's.
"Gwaine! You're alive! What - what are you doing here?" The knight and prince grasped forearms, giving eachother manly pats on the back and grinning broadly. Gwaine quickly moved over to embrace Merlin tightly before answering the prince.
"Acting on Merlin's orders," Gwaine released the blushing warlock and held him at arms length, meeting eyes with Arthur. "Found Leon and Percival, as well as Elyan outside of Camelot." Gwaine frowned, "No sign of Lancelot. We've been rounding up any and all able-bodied men in the villages, and they're all ready to fight for the cause."
Arthur met Merlin's eye and raised an eyebrow in question. The warlock just shrugged and said, "I didn't know when I'd get you back, so I had Gwaine make contingency plans in case the spell didn't work," Arthur frowned - he had meant to ask Merlin about that spell, anyways - but Merlin continued, "Good idea in the end; we'll need the forces to take down Morgana and Morgause."
Gwaine nodded, looking from Merlin to Arthur and back again. "So.. what's the plan?"
Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but Merlin cut him off, "We charge the city tomorrow at dawn. That will give you enough time to assemble the men and arrive at the gates, right?" Gwaine nodded. The prince just eyed Merlin with contained amusement as the warlock continued to give orders, "Good. Arthur and I will meet you there; we'll leave leading the army to you and the other knights until you find us again."
Gwaine took the orders with unexpected calm, accepting Merlin's newfound authority, surprising Arthur; he would have expected the knight to laugh at the manservent, he didn't even know about Merlin's powers -
"You gonna magic yourselves in, then?" The knight grinned.
Arthur turned to face a properly sheepish Merlin, his voice incredulous, "Gwaine knew?" Merlin held his hands up in a peacemaking gesture, saying quickly, "He found out after, after! I only told you!" This seemed to appease Arthur somewhat, and the warlock continued to blabber on, "Well, Gaius knew, obviously, and Freya, Gwen was there when I told you, oh, and Lancelot knew..."
Arthur spluttered and choked in indigation, but Merlin just ignored him and turned back to Gwaine. "Thank you, really. For everything."
The knight smiled, but it looked sad. "Anytime. I guess I'll head off, get the men ready." He leaned forward, past the still trying-to-understand-how-everyone-else-knew-about-Merlin prince, to kiss Merlin's cheek quickly.
This didn't do much to help the already red prince. Merlin's ears turned beet red as Gwaine pulled back, grinning cheekily. Chuckling, he looked to Arthur, "Sorry, sire. Couldn't resist. See you two soon, then!"
He waved cheerily and disappeared back the way he came.
Arthur narrowed his eyes and turned to the warlock, muttering dangerously, "Merlin, what was that, exactly?"
Merlin's voice jumped an octave as he moved around, flustered, "Nothing, Arthur!"
The prince just rolled his eyes, long since past accepting the warlock's eccentricities. He followed lazily as Merlin set forward in the opposite direction as Gwaine had left. Matching Merlin's pace so they were side by side, Arthur said, "So how are we getting there before the rest of them, anyways?"
The warlock grinned what Arthur thought was a little evily, turning so he could see the prince. "Friend of mine'll give us a lift. Much quicker than horses, but he's a bit more annoying. Talks a lot about destiny."
Merlin just laughed as a look of worry crossed the Prince's face. "It'll be fine!"
Yeah, the spell is from Eragon. I couldn't find a healing spell from the show, and I didn't like any of the translations! And Eragon is great. So shh.