Merlin groaned and whimpered softly when he was picked up from the bed by Uther. It were three days after Uther had found out about the Dragonlord transition and the promise that it would end on its own, but there still was little change in Merlin's state of wellbeing.

Uther hated to cause discomfort to his husband, but he had no other way to do it. He held Merlin in his arms and carried him behind the dressing screens and placed him on a plush chair and first nodded to his manservant before starting to undress Merlin. His manservant went to the door and let other servants in who started to renew the bed linens, and a guard to ensure no one came behind the dressing screens.

"Shhh," Uther cooed softly, his hand softly going through the raven black hair. "A bath will do you good." He proceeded by undressing Merlin and had to stop himself from wincing how thin his husband had become in just under a month. When Uther first saw Merlin, he was already thin to begin with but once they were married, Uther had made it his task to properly feed and strengthen his husband's body. He made sure that the Royal kitchen made meals with a variety of products, and he ensured that Merlin would get one on one training with Arthur to not only get more muscles and strength, but also so Merlin knew how to protect himself if, for some reason, his magic wouldn't react.

But Uther was now seeing the damage the sickness took. His body had become thinner and Uther knew that it must take at least another six months to a year to get the results of the nutrition and training of the past five years back.

But what Uther hated the most was the unresponsiveness of his husband. The lifeless posture, the glazed eyes (if they were open, his husband was usually sleeping throughout the day), and not having any energy. He missed the days where Merlin cheered him up with his senseless chatter after a particular boring Council Meeting, or the meaningful talks at evenings during dinner, or their closeness in bed at night, and just the teasing his husband loved to do to him throughout the whole day, that made Uther feel like he was twenty again, and he missed the moments early in the morning where Merlin would come back into their room with a tray laden with food, because no matter how many times Uther told Merlin that there were servants who could bring their breakfast, Merlin insisted on gathering it himself so Uther let him.

Uther sighed softly, he just missed Merlin being Merlin and hoped with all his might that there would come an end to this abomination soon.

When Uther had finished undressing Merlin, he undressed himself and gently picked Merlin up and lowered both him and himself in the bath that was slightly colder than normal as Uther had been told by Gaius that it might cool Merlin down a little bit. When Merlin's body first hit the slightly coldish water, Merlin began to whimper more loudly and tried to scramble up Uther's body to get out the water, but Uther held him close to his chest and lowered himself completely until he sat down and tried to reassure Merlin even more by running his hands over Merlin's body and whispering small reassurances in his ear.

Gaius had told also him that it would take Merlin a few moments before he would be getting used to the temperature of the water and Uther waited for that moment to begin and only then started to wash his husband down with the cloth that was laid out on the rim of the bath.

Servants were meanwhile ready with the changing of the bed and left the room quietly, together with the guard as there was no use for him to be in the room anymore.

Uther looked down, Merlin had his eyes closed and his head was resting against Uther's chest. Uther softly dabbed the cloth around Merlin's chest and softly asked, "Is it making you feel better, love?" He knew he was too hopeful to receive an actual answer from his husband, but when Merlin shifted a little bit to snuggle even closer to him, Uther was content enough with that as an answer.

~oOoOo~

The door opened slowly in the hope it wouldn't make any squeaking noises and Merlin entered just as slowly. He had to squint his eyes to get used to the mostly dark room, there were only a few sparse rays of the early morning sun to guide him through the room and towards the bed and in his hands was the tray with some bread, cheeses, ham and fruits. It was too early in the morning for most of the staff in the castle to be up and about, so every morning he would use it to his advantage for not being seen by too many people.

Slowly, he shuffled closer to the bed and saw his husband still deeply asleep and it brought a soft smile to his face. He set the tray down first and snuggled under the warm blankets again and then turned his head to the heavy curtains that were blocking most of the sunlight. With one golden flash of his eyes, the curtains drew themselves open and Merlin snuggled closer to his sleeping husband and placed his head onto Uther's shoulder who instinctively drew his arms around Merlin. He loved how his husband did that, even in his sleep, and every morning he loved to see his husband waking up, it was such a peaceful moment.

He knew that it wouldn't take long when the first ray of sun hit his husband's face and he already saw Uther's eyes move beneath his eyelids, which soon enough opened. Merlin immediately leaned up to plant a kiss on his husband's lips. "Good morning." He whispered to not ruin this moment of tranquility, but that peace and quiet didn't last very long.

Uther sat up fast as if he was being burnt and looked at Merlin like he had just seen a ghost. His hands reached gingerly up towards him, but not quite touching.

"Uther?" Merlin cocked his head, and his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Uther, please, what's wrong?" He scooted a little bit closer on the bed and he could see that there were some tears welling up in his husband's eyes. "Should - should I get Gaius? Because it doesn't matter that it's still early in th-"

The last of his words were muffled when Uther suddenly drew him close in a tight embrace. Merlin felt his husband's chest rise and fall in a fast rhythm and he tried to pull free to look at him, but Uther didn't let him, if only he just held tighter. But when Merlin heard him sniffle, he was determined and he pulled himself free and gripped Uther's hands into his own, his thumbs going over Uther's knuckles in a soft gesture. "Uther talk to me." Merlin said, very soft. He was confused at his husband's actions, because even if he was crying, there was still a faint smile on his lips and those two just didn't add up to each other.

"You're," Uther took in a shuddering breath. "you're alright. You're –" He couldn't finish his sentence, his tears were having the upper hand.

"That's it. I'm getting Gaius." Merlin said determinedly, and was already trying to slip off the bed, but he was yanked back at his arm and when he turned around there were lips smacked against his own in a deep kiss. Merlin had no idea what had overcome his husband, but he would find out.

"You're really alright." Uther whispered when he broke the kiss and placed his forehead against Merlin's. His hands moved around the slender man's body and up to his shoulders where Uther held him tightly, while repeating the same thing over and over.

Merlin, however, was still very much confused. "Uther, I love you, but I have no idea what you're talking about. Why wouldn't I be alright?" Merlin's mind went over each possibility, trying to remember if he had used too much magic or something or gotten into a fight? But he couldn't recall anything.

Uther looked at him, almost as confused as Merlin was just moments earlier. His hands went up to Merlin's face and he cradled it in his hand with his thumbs gently going back and forth on his cheeks. "You were sick, love. Really bad. Don't you remember?" Uther answered softly, he didn't stop his thumbs from brushing the skin under his pads, not even when Merlin softly shook his head.

Uther did briefly draw his eyebrows together in concentration. He didn't understand that Merlin didn't seemed to have any knowledge about what had happened to him for about a month. Perhaps it was a side effect of the transition, or maybe it was something completely else. But for now he was happy that his husband seemed to be like his old self and that was the most important thing for him.

But now he had to think about how to deliver the news about Merlin's new, err, transition. He swallowed deeply.

"Perhaps it's better if I'll get Gaius." Uther said, but when he turned away, Merlin gripped his wrists and held on tight.

"No, don't leave. Just – just tell me what happened."

"I – something has happened to you." At Merlin's silence, Uther continued. "Something that has to do with your Dragonlord powers."

Merlin frowned, deeply.

Uther knew there wouldn't be any easier way to say it, so he just did. "Some four weeks ago, you've started to get sick and we had no idea what the cause of it was, until Arthur and Gaius had found a book about Dragonlords," Uther pointed to the table where the book was still sitting, Merlin turned his head to look at where Uther was pointing and then turned his head back again to look at his husband, who was clearly struggling for the right kind of words.

"The book explains, that, Dragonlords go through some kind of transition after their thirtieth birthday. And that they –" Uther saw his husband looking at him with confusion and he swallowed again, "after the transition, they will be able to – tocarrychildren." He ended quickly and Merlin's confused look only seemed to deepen.

"Love?" Uther said softly after Merlin just stared in front of him. Uther brought his hands from Merlin's face to Merlin's hands.

"Did you just say that I'm… able to carry children?" He asked softly and Uther could only nod. Uther had no idea how Merlin would react to that revelation.

Merlin slipped off the bed and Uther let him, watching how Merlin went to the window and looking out of it. He let Merlin be with his thoughts, and only watched how Merlin kept staring out of the window for a long time. It wasn't until he saw his husband's shoulders go up and down in what seemed like from crying, that Uther hasted to his husband. When Merlin heard him come near, he turned around and embraced Uther tightly, burying his face into the broad chest.

"What is it, love?" Uther asked, his hands gently going up and down the slender man's back. Merlin slowly looked up, his eyes red from tears and wet streaks coming down onto his cheeks, but there was still a hint of happiness buried into those red eyes.

"Family." Was what Merlin said first, "We – we can start a family of our own. L-like we've always wanted too." He buried his head down at Uther's chest again and Uther still held him tightly.

"We might," Uther murmured, "we might."

But in the back of his mind he was scared to actually let that happened. The last time there was magic involved by conceiving Arthur, his wife had died. He couldn't get through that again, nor would he risk Merlin's life. No matter how much he would love to have a family of his own with Merlin, he just needed to be certain of how this whole 'conceiving thing' would progress for a Dragonlord, no sooner than that would he even consider trying such thin.

"But first, we need to let Gaius check you over. I need to know if you really are alright."

Merlin nodded slowly against his chest.