A/N: O.O ... 40 reviews in two days?! You guys are awesome- especially you, Nance ;)
laura: Wait, I'm confused- are you a time traveler? (If so, you're doing it wrong- you're supposed to travel to a time when the new chapters are already finished.)
'Cuz I'm pretty sure I updated yesterday, and the day before... aaaaand twice the day before that. Just sayin'.
Arthur sat at Merlin's bedside, watching his chest rise and fall in a reassuringly steady rhythm.
Following his wife's urgings, most of the day was spent tending to Sarrum and his men.
Unfortunately, he had been so distracted with thoughts of his manservant that he had suffered several rather embarrassing defeats on the training ground- prompting the warlord to offer him lessons. Like any good diplomat, the king of Camelot had smiled and acted flattered while secretly dreaming of stabbing the man repeatedly.
It was now evening, the night's feast was over and the treaty signing was set for tomorrow afternoon - thus nothing remained to keep him from the infirmary.
Gaius had informed him of Merlin's earlier awakening, adding that little had been ascertained about his condition aside from continued blindness.
Still, the physician had been dosing him with tinctures and pastes in the interval and was hoping for another stint of consciousness sometime that night.
The royal reached forward and brushed the dark fringe back from his friend's pale forehead.
"It's not supposed to be this way, you know... you're the one who's supposed to fuss over me."
He kept his voice soft, not wanting to wake the physician who was getting some much-needed rest only a few feet away.
He sighed and hid his face in his hands, lost in thought until he felt something clumsily patting his knee.
Looking up quickly he saw Merlin's hand resting on his leg, the man himself projecting a weak smile.
"Merlin!"
The grin broadened a bit, and the servant mouthed something that looked suspiciously like the word 'prat'.
"I thought we'd lost you." He choked out, pushing aside the more girlish words that were popping into his head.
I was so worried... it's good to see your smile again...
Arthur scrambled for something else to say- only to be surprised when Merlin's grip on his knee strengthened as the servant's eyes flew open in a look of panic.
The king couldn't hold back his gasp of dismay when he saw those eyes, blue irises dilated and dead-looking.
Pale fingers spasmed and released their hold, hand sliding from its perch until Arthur caught it in his own and held on tight.
"Merlin?"
The man's face was twisted in anguish and his mouth was moving sluggishly.
He seemed to be desperately trying to communicate something, but the king couldn't make out a word.
"Are you in pain? I'll wake Gaius."
Thin digits curled around his shirt sleeve, somehow holding him in his seat without exerting any physical force.
Those unnerving eyes were pointed toward him, somehow looking pleading- as if he were begging Arthur to understand.
"I'm sorry, Merlin, I don't know what you're trying to say..."
The manservant looked crushed for a moment, then determination spread across his face as he pulled against the king's hand until he was sitting upright.
Arthur was frozen in place until the other man began to tip over sideways- at which point he dove forward and swept him back onto the cot.
"You're in no state to be getting up. Here- Gaius left this for when you woke up."
He snatched a vial from the nearby rack and uncorked it, holding down the invalid's weakly waving arms and pressing the glass against pale lips.
"Stop fighting me and drink it, idiot."
The servant's struggles gradually ceased, though Arthur attributed that to failing strength rather than a sudden onset of reason, and he forced the foul-smelling liquid down the other man's throat.
Luckily for Merlin the taste was not something he had to worry about.
As those pitiful eyes slipped closed once again, the king found himself immensely grateful that his friend had woken- had moved- had even (presumably) insulted him!
Yes the man's reaction just now worried him, and he was still blind (and mute- though that had its benefits), but not enough to dampen his sheer joy that Merlin had survived.
He smiled ever-so-slightly to himself.
Maybe magic does have a place in Camelot...