It had started like any of their other hunting trips. Arthur traipsed through the woods with his crossbow in hand, and Merlin walked behind with an armful of weapons and a line with two rabbits threaded on it. It was a pleasant day, the air warm and a breeze keeping them cool despite the hiking they were doing. And Merlin, well, he was having his own fun.
"Married. You were almost married." He guffawed, stepping over a log while Arthur sighed heavily.
"For the third time, yes. Why is that so hilarious to your simple mind?"
"I'm just trying to imagine you as a husband."
"I will make a good husband to someone one day." Arthur declared with offense, glaring at his servant while they walked. "In fact, I'll make a great husband."
"I just can't picture it."
"What's so hard about imagining it?" The prince demanded, lowering his crossbow.
"Just, you know. You. Doing husband things."
"Yes, because it's such a strange notion, the idea of being with a woman I love and ruling beside her one day." Arthur scowled, turning to walk faster as Merlin shrugged.
"I'm just saying—"
"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur muttered, the two descending into silence while they walked.
It didn't take long for the royal to find another target, and Merlin stood silently to the side while the prince readied his bow and fired. A bundle of orange and white went down easily, and the warlock murmured a silent thanks that it didn't have to suffer.
"There, that will make a fine pelt to sell." Arthur beamed, striding towards the fox while Merlin frowned.
"Sure."
"Oh quit your moping, it would have attacked you if it could."
"It would have run." Merlin pointed out as Arthur clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't be foolish, Merlin. They prey on small, weak, helpless creatures out here." Glaring at the blond's back as he strode away, Arthur waved a hand behind him. "Add that to the others, I'm going on ahead."
Sighing softly, Merlin lowered himself to the ground and carefully deposited everything beside him. He got to work quickly in taking the arrow out of the fox and gently tying it up with the rabbits, making sure to avoid getting any blood on himself when he could.
As he worked, he felt the world calm around him. The breeze that had been gently swaying the trees stopped, and the chirping of the birds fell silent.
The warlock continued with his work, but now he kept one eye on his surroundings. This wasn't out of the ordinary for him, at least not recently. Since ruining Arthur's impending marriage and foiling the plot of the sidhe, he'd found himself being followed and attacked on occasion.
It certainly wasn't anything he couldn't handle, and if nothing else they were just minor annoyances. They seemed to realize that he was the cause of their loss, though the worst they'd done so far was attempt to hurt him when he least expected it. Even so, the last thing he needed was a sidhe attacking while Arthur was around. Even if all it wanted to cause was mischief, it could lead to worse things.
So the boy quickened his pace, and hurried to tug the animals back over his shoulder and gather up Arthur's equipment. As he stood and turned, a bright blue light swooped towards his face, and the surprise caused Merlin to stumble backwards.
He'd been prepared for this though, and with a single word a nearby branch burst into flames, causing the blue light to shoot off in the opposite direction. The staff he had was much easier to use, but fear was also a strong motivator Merlin had discovered.
Uttering another word, the fire quenched itself and Merlin readjusted the prince's belongings before trailing after the man. The warlock had only made it a few steps when he felt it again. The stillness. The empty air. And he turned too late.
As his head swiveled, looking for the danger, the blue light flashed again. This time however, it was bright with anger, the emotion radiating off of it in waves all around him. Before he could try and defend himself, magic blasted over him, anger and power and emotion colliding into a blinding light that sent Merlin flying back and slamming him into the trunk of a tree.
Pain flooded over him a moment later. A fire that started in his eyes washed over his whole face, so strong and hot that Merlin scrambled to free his arms of the prince's belongings so he could scrub at his cheeks. But the fire grew until he felt as if his eyes were drenched in flames.
A guttural scream he couldn't contain roared out of him, his fingers clawing desperately at his face as he rolled on the ground, searching for the waterskin that had fallen from his belt. Nothing he did helped. He was burning. Dying.
He couldn't open his eyes, and every single nerve was tingling with a fire he couldn't stop. His throat was raw from his endless screams, and he barely registered a pair of hands grabbing at him, forcing him to stop his frantic movement on the forest floor.
"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, and the warlock felt fingers digging into his shoulders as he tried to force the boy to sit up. "Oh God. What happened?"
"It burns!" Were the only words the boy could get out as tears raced down his cheeks, the moisture miniature flames that sent fire down his face and neck.
"Hold still—Merlin stop moving!" Arthur commanded, and though the boy couldn't see him, he could hear the panic in his friend's tone.
In seconds one of Arthur's hands was on his face, forcing the warlock's head to tilt up, and then there was relief. Blessed, beautiful relief. Cool water poured over his face, and Merlin opened his eyes and blinked rapidly as the water doused the fire off his skin. His next breath shuddered out, and as the last of the water dripped onto his face, a sigh of relief passed from his lips.
"Merlin, what happened?" Arthur asked, and Merlin blinked again, trying to rid the water from his eyes so he could see. Only the more he blinked, the more a tense panic wrapped around his chest. "Merlin?"
"I-I can't.. I can't.." His breath came heavy and panted, and Merlin's hands flailed about for his friend as Arthur grabbed his arms again.
"What are you doing?"
"Arthur I can't.. I can't see." Merlin opened his eyes wide despite the lingering pain, and he heard Arthur inhale a sharp breath as his fingers curled into his arms. "I can't see. Oh God. I can't see."
"Add that to the others, I'm going on ahead." Arthur barely gave his servant another thought as he continued through the forest. With his crossbow in hand and a few arrows in a quiver slung over his shoulder, the prince of Camelot sought out new prey.
His father encouraged his hunting, often expressing that he himself would join if not for being so busy. A piece of Arthur knew as well that once he became king, hunting would be something he wouldn't be able to partake in as much. Just how much would he end up giving up for the role his father held? Love, obviously.
His father had nearly forced him to marry without a thought, wanting nothing more than a merger rather than his son's happiness. And Arthur would have gone through with it, if it weren't for Merlin. Not that he'd ever tell the boy such a thing. But Merlin was right, one should marry for love. And he did hold love, yet another thing he could not admit.
But he knew it was there, because his heart demanded his attention every single time he saw her. Whether it was in the midst of a crowd, or at dinner, or just strolling through the market. Guinevere held a special place in him, and that was just another thing he would have to give up to be king. Unless he could change the rules. Would he dare?
So much pressure weighed on him, and a large portion of that was from his father. He wanted so much to make him proud of him. Of what he would one day do.
Sighing, Arthur stopped walking and stared around him. In his musings he'd entirely forgotten what he'd been doing. He had noticed the quiet though, and Merlin's endless chattering was nowhere to be heard.
"Merlin?" He called out, turning to look behind him. Nothing. Only silence.
Arthur had just started to walk again when that very silence was shattered by the loudest scream he'd ever heard. It was filled with pain and agony. And it sounded exactly like Merlin.
Arthur took off without another thought, gripping his bow tight and bounding through the forest in the direction the scream had come from. The same direction he'd left his servant not long before. As he rounded a bend and jumped a fallen trunk, Arthur spotted the bright red of Merlin's tunic and the blue of his neckerchief.
"Merlin!" He shouted as another scream ripped from his servant's body.
The boy was on the ground rolling in the dirt, his hands clamped around his face while a tortured yell made his body shake. Arthur dropped to the ground and grabbed at the boy, finding his shoulders and forcing him to stop moving.
"Merlin, Merlin!" He shouted over the screams, and Merlin let out a long groan.
"It burns!"
"Hold still—Merlin stop moving!" Arthur commanded, grabbing the boy by his wrists and prying them away from his face. He immediately wished he hadn't.
Merlin's face was pale, except for the streaks of crimson dripping from his eyes. Blood smeared across his cheeks and were quickly replaced by fresh drops rolling steadily down. Swallowing back the bile rising in his throat, Arthur snatched the waterskin from his side and carefully tilted Merlin's face up, working to slowly and steadily pour the water over the boy's face.
Merlin grimaced and blinked against the water as blood turned the drops pink while they fell down his face and stained his trousers. Arthur had seen a lot during his time as a knight. Gruesome injuries, lost limbs, men dying in front of him. But somehow this was so much worse. Merlin's eyes were no longer bright and blue, but white. Arthur could barely see the irises, the view cloudy and pained as the water trickled over them.
"Merlin, what happened?" The man questioned once the last of the water was gone and the boy blinked over and over again. When he didn't answer, Arthur leaned closer and asked again, his voice tense. "Merlin?"
"I-I can't.. I can't.." His voice was small, broken, and Arthur felt the boy's fear washing over him. All of a sudden the servant's arms were flailing around, fingers splayed and searching as Arthur ducked out of the way.
"What are you doing?"
"Arthur I can't.. I can't see." Merlin whispered as a drop of blood rolled from one eye and a tear dripped from the other. "I can't see. Oh God. I can't see."
He was panicking, and Arthur hurried to grab ahold of him. "Merlin—"
"Why can't I see you Arthur? Why can't I see anything?" His friend's breath hitched as he spoke, more blood and more tears flooding his face as Arthur ground his teeth and gripped the boy tight, trying to keep his calm.
"Tell me what happened, I left you barely five minutes ago and you were fine."
"I don't know, I don't know. It hurts, Arthur. It hurts so much." He moaned, lowering his head as Arthur pressed his lips tightly together.
"You need to get back to Gaius. He can help."
Merlin did nothing but nod once, and Arthur stood, gripping his friend's elbows and tugging him up beside him. His servant wavered momentarily as the prince pulled his arm over his shoulder, looking down briefly at his weapons and game in disappointment. He could send his men back for the weapons, but leaving the game meant an animal would no doubt find it and help themselves later.
Merlin groaned at the first step they took, and Arthur forced himself to focus on the task at hand. There would be other hunts, but Merlin's injury may not be one so easily brought back from.
They walked together for several minutes, with Merlin leaning heavily against the prince while a drop of blood occasionally slid down his cheek from one eye or the other. After ten minutes, the walk turned into more of a drag, and after another fifteen Arthur was practically carrying Merlin's dead weight behind him.
"This isn't going to work!" The blond finally snapped as they rounded on forty five minutes, his tunic drenched in sweat and Merlin as pale and lifeless as a corpse. They weren't too far from the edge of the forest but getting all the way back through the town and to the physician's chambers would be torture with Merlin like this.
"Any suggestions?" Arthur asked dryly, glancing at the servant who hung off his arm.
The boy had passed out several times during their walk, coming back around for a minute or two only to fade again. Now it seemed he was at an in between stage. He wasn't fully conscious, but he wasn't dead to the world either.
"Helpful." The prince grumbled when he got no reply before he turned the both of them and angled his friend's body to easily lower him to the ground.
Arthur stood for a few moments, considering his options until he knelt in front of the other. "I'm going to go get help. You should be alright here in the meantime. Just try not to look like a meal for a wild animal." He smiled with his words, but when no reaction came from Merlin, the prince reached out a hand and lifted the boy's head.
His face was covered in a mix of sweat and blood, and when Arthur moved his fingers to his neck, found a thready pulse that left his heart in his throat. "Hang in there, Merlin. You have too much work to do to die on me today."
Pushing himself up and turning, Arthur began to run. Perhaps it was not as dignifying as he would have liked, but he was fast when he needed to be, and as he raced towards the citadel, his thoughts focused on one thing that he repeated like a mantra in his head. Let him be okay.
Many of his subjects cast him strange looks when they saw him running past, but Arthur didn't stop until he'd found three of his guards patrolling.
"You men!" He shouted, slowing to a stop and catching his breath as the guards immediately came to attention at his order.
"Sire?" One spoke, and Arthur straightened, reigning in his fear and controlling his emotions.
"My servant, Merlin, he was injured during our hunt. Two of you are to fetch a cart immediately and follow me to the forest to retrieve him." When they made no motion Arthur felt irritation rising within him. "Now!" He commanded, and two of the men bowed before hurrying off as the third stared straight ahead.
"And what of me, Sire?"
"Go to the Court Physician, tell him an accident occurred and that we're bringing his ward back for immediate aid. Nothing is to get in the way of your telling him this, is that understood?"
"Yes, Sire." The guard bowed before turning and hurrying off as Arthur rested his hands on his hips and took in a long, deep breath. This was fine. Everything would be fine.
By the time they returned to the forest, Arthur was gritting his teeth and unable to stop his leg from bouncing in the cart. The moment they were close enough, the prince jumped out and began running to where he'd left the boy.
He wasn't sure what could have happened in that short of a time, but his mind was cruel and gave him an endless supply of nightmarish thoughts. Someone would attack him that he couldn't see. He would wake and try to get back himself and end up lost in the forest. He wouldn't be alive when they got there.
Each thought was worse than the next and Arthur could barely contain himself when he saw Merlin still slumped against a tree, exactly where he'd left him. A breath of relief escaped him as he neared. Only one scenario remained in his thoughts, and as the prince knelt beside the boy, hearing the two guards behind him to help carry the servant to the cart, Arthur could hardly breathe.
Stretching out a hand that barely trembled, the prince felt for the boy's pulse and shuddered in relief at the faint trace. He was still alive. There was still a chance.
"Move him! Carefully!" Arthur commanded, moving to the side and gripping Merlin's arms, gently pulling him away from the tree and resting the back of his head against his chest as they lifted him from the ground.
Now the boy was nothing but dead weight, not moving or groaning as they carried him to the cart and settled him inside. Arthur jumped into the back with him, bracing his head and noting the fresh drops of crimson still falling from his eyes. As they rode back to the citadel, the boy stirred, and Arthur was quick to place a hand on his shoulder to quiet him.
"No point.." Merlin mumbled, his voice hoarse and cracking as he moved his head back and forth, his hand reaching out but finding nothing. "No point.."
"Stay quiet, Merlin, we're almost home." Arthur said softly, digging his fingers into his friend's shoulder as the boy became more frantic.
"There's no point!" He was practically thrashing now, and Arthur hurried to force him down as the boy began to cry. "I can't.. I can't work.. I can't save you.. I can't.. do anything.." His breathing was hard and fast, and Arthur grit his teeth and remained silent, feeling the boy's feverish skin through his clothes.
"Almost there." Arthur said again, looking up and praying for their journey to be over.
After a few moments, Merlin settled down again, head lolling to the side and tears cutting tracks through the dried blood on his face. Not long after that the cart came to a stop and the guards were jumping out, fetching the a long, flat piece of wood that Arthur helped them to place Merlin on.
By the time they reached the physician's chambers, Gaius was ready and waiting, his face pinched in concern while various supplies set spread out around him. Arthur realized belatedly as they set the boy down on a table that he'd forgotten to tell Gaius what exactly was wrong with his ward.
"What happened?" Gaius asked, the concern evident on his face as the prince swallowed. He should've prepared the man ahead of time.
"I don't know." Arthur answered honestly as Merlin stirred, once again reaching out his hand for things he could not see.
"Merlin?" Gaius asked, resting a hand on the boy's head as his eyes flew open. The physician's breath caught in his throat and his hand fell away as the elder stumbled back and stared at his ward in horror.
"I can't see, Gaius." Merlin whispered hoarsely, white eyes staring at nothing and his hand reaching out for his guardian who had just stepped out of reach. He barely seemed to hear the boy though as Arthur watched the physician stare at his face in silence. "There was a light.. blue.. and it attacked me.." The boy continued, his hand waving freely through the air as Gaius slowly returned to his side and took it tightly in his own.
"Quiet now, my boy." The elder soothed, brushing his free hand over the boy's feverish forehead.
"They attacked and I tried.. I tried but.." He kept rambling, fidgeting where he lay as Arthur bit down on his lip to keep control of himself.
Watching him like this was agonizing. He was in pain, he was without sight, and Arthur felt responsible.
It sounded as if he'd been attacked by magic, and he should've been there. He never should have left him.
"Calm yourself, Merlin. You're home. You're safe."
"I can't see, Gaius. Why can't I see?" The boy cried, his hand falling as he sucked in three sharp breaths before his body went limp and his head lolled to the side.
"Can you help him?" Arthur asked, his voice hoarse as Gaius turned his back to Merlin and began gathering a few vials and cloths together.
"I can cure his fever, and clean his face," The elder began, his voice tight with worry. "But he is blind, and I'm not certain there is a remedy to be found for that."
A/N
This prompt reminded me a lot of my story 'Falling On Deaf Ears' and I was half tempted to put this fic on hold to write one solely focused on this prompt. I might still, later down the road, if anyone is interested. Let me know!
This entire week has been filled with one set of bad news after another, but your comments and reviews always make me smile, so I would love to hear from you guys. I sincerely hope your year has started out better than mine. I'll see you all in the next one.