A/N: I don't own Merlin. That was the luck of the BBC.
I'm sorry this is a week late; I was meant to be keeping on schedule with this one! Basically everything in the UK kind of imploded, then I had some other stuff come up and this got pushed to the back of the queue. But I do want to say thanks for the support guys, I'm glad you're enjoying the sequel. I'm hoping it'll be as suspenseful as the first.
Merlin finished his breakfast sluggishly, completely dejected. He hadn't been outside of Gaius' four walls since his return, and he was going stir crazy. He'd read almost every book lining the shelves, made an almighty mix of medicines whilst being supervised by Gaius, and seen his friends only a handful of times, often unable to get away from training, chores, or simply being the king.
That being said, they had made an effort whenever they could to come see him. Gwen brought small offerings from the kitchens, then checked his temperature and stitches every five minutes to make sure he was really as okay as he said he was. Gwaine brought offerings too, of a more inebriating nature, until Gaius had caught him out one day and forbid him from visiting Merlin if he brought him any more mead, not that Merlin had been up to drinking it. Elyan and Percival came bearing tales of their latest hunt; how cold it had been, how much stuff there was to carry, how they'd caught a number of fluffy woodland animals, seemingly determined to make him not miss the trips.
Arthur was around a lot more than Merlin imagined he had time for, he knew the duties of being a king almost inside out, and was annoyed with him for shirking some responsibilities to come visit him, even if it did cheer him up no end. He'd moan about the new servant's lack of humour, how he never quite got the temperature of a bath right and how he barely spoke; which the warlock took to mean he wasn't quite as bad a manservant as Arthur would have people believe. Leon had visited too, albeit a lot less than the others, but Merlin had put that down to being busy trying to reorganise the kingdom since their absence.
"But what if I-"
Merlin had no time to continue his ridiculous theory (which now involved him taking an empty tray and telling Arthur he'd simply forgotten his breakfast), as there was a knock at the door. He made to move, but Gaius waved him off, motioning for him to stay seated. The old man headed towards the door, Merlin craning his neck slightly to see who was there.
"Gwaine!" Gaius greeted the knight, his tone one of surprise. He'd never seen him up so early, without an occasion to rise at dawn.
"Good morning Gaius, Merlin around? I swear, I have no mead." He held his hands up, demonstrating the fact that he did not have a tankard nor a flask on him. "It's too early to drink even for me."
"Quite." Gaius nodded, not completely believing the knight. He imagined Gwaine had no problem drinking at any time of the day. "Merlin's in there. Seems to be a lot of energy going round this morning." He couldn't understand it. He'd known Gwaine for quite a while, and one thing that was apparent was that he did not rise early. Shaking his head in befuddlement, he let Gwaine into the quarters, then collected the daily doses of medications. "I've got to go, you make sure that that one doesn't do anything strenuous, got it?" The famous eyebrow was raised, daring Gwaine to challenge.
"Absolutely, don't worry about that." Gwaine smiled at Merlin, who simply scowled back at him. He took Gaius' seat at the table opposite the warlock who was sat looking dismal, head in his hands. "Alright, mate?"
"I'm fine." Merlin grumbled, his voice muffled from his hands. "What are you doing here?"
"What?" Gwaine mocked hurt. "Can't a friend just visit another 'almost-nearly-dead-a-few-weeks-ago' friend?"
"They can, but not usually this early in the morning." He narrowed his eyes sceptically.
"How are you doing? Really?" Gwaine tried to meet Merlin's gaze, however it was anywhere but at the knight. Gwaine also noted that the purple bags under Merlin's eyes were darker than they had been the last time he'd been here. He didn't quite look as dead as when he was… dead, but he wasn't too far off.
"I just need to get back to work, but Gaius won't let me. Sitting in here all day's driving me crazy." He stood and took the bowls away, placing them on the workbench.
"He still won't let you go back?" Gwaine knew full well that Gaius wasn't letting Merlin back to work, they all did, and as much as he hated to admit it, the physician was right.
Even carrying two lightweight empty bowls across a small room had Merlin grimacing and tensing his shoulder. Gwaine worried Merlin wouldn't ever get his shoulder back to full use, that it would be something that always griped him, but Gaius had reassured him that he could make a full recovery once he'd cut out the stitches. But they also had to consider the possibility that the bastard (Gwaine refused to humanise him with a name) had done irreparable damage to the muscle, and it'd be a strain for him to use it in the future. It still didn't make the task of keeping Merlin housebound any easier though.
"Like I'm telling everyone," he emphasised, "I just need things to get back to normal." He sat on the edge of the bed, and rubbed tenderly at his damaged shoulder. "Don't worry, it's just a twinge. I'm fine."
"For someone who's really fine, you do seem to be saying it a lot, almost as if you're wishing it to come true." Merlin simply glared, which Gwaine chose to ignore. "And you know Gaius will have reason for keeping you here a few more days. He is the expert."
"I'm not so sure." Merlin grumbled. "I think he's worried about me. That if he lets me out of his sight I'll run straight into danger again and this time I won't come back."
"Merlin, you know what Gaius thinks about you. After what happened to you, of course he's going to be worried. He lost you, had no idea where you were, and when you came back, you were nearly dead. Not to mention Arthur knows the thing he's not supposed to know. I'd say he's entitled to a bit of worry."
"Well now you're just making me feel guilty for complaining." He protested.
"It's what I do." Gwaine laughed, before rising, and crossed the room to stand opposite to Merlin, leaning on a shelf of books to do so.
The shelf that had housed the monstrous book Gaius expected Merlin to read had always been temperamental; the occasional creak or slight lean that made the book holders slip off the end, but for the most part it had been pretty sturdy. That was until Gwaine leaned on it. Why he thought a fragile shelf was the best this to support the weight of a knight who consumed twice that in mead was anyone's guess. So Gwaine slipping to the floor with a load of ancient books toppling on top of him was not unexpected. What was unexpected was what had happened in between Gwaine falling and the books landing on top of him.
It was instinctual to catch the falling items; Merlin didn't even have to think about it. For a second, time had slowed down, the books and part of the splintered shelf were suspended in the air, not dissimilar to Gaius the minute Merlin had stepped foot in his quarters all those years ago. The difference was that Gaius had remained suspended until he could move a bed underneath the falling physician, effectually saving his life. Whereas the books and shelf had a different plan, seemingly losing their spell and crashing down on top of the dazed knight.
"Ouch! You need to get yourself a proper carpenter, those shelves are a bloody death-trap!" Gwaine rubbed the back of his head, thankful there wasn't the contents of one of Gaius' jars dripping down his face. "Are you okay Merlin? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I- I'm-" Merlin had gone as white as a sheet. "Yeah, just thought you'd hurt yourself is all." He covered quickly, offering Gwaine a hand with his good arm. He gingerly accepted it, then picked up the bits of what appeared to be rotten wood and old books off the floor.
"Of course I'm okay, they're just books." Gwaine frowned. Merlin seemed to be a lot more skittish than usual, almost as if he'd been scared by something other than books falling atop Gwaine's head.
"I wonder how long that's been like that." Merlin examined the damp spot where the shelf had been, eager to change the subject. "Must've been a leak or something. I've no idea how old this wood is."
"Probably older than Gaius." Gwaine noted the amount of dust settled onto the wood. "I'm going to have to go soon, the bell-" As if on cue the signal calling the knights to training rang throughout the room. "I'm sorry, that's the-"
"Training bell, I heard. Go, you're going to be late." Merlin tried to shoo Gwaine out of the room.
"I can stay a little longer if you want, it's not important training anyway." As much as he'd tried not to show it, Gwaine's face was one of pity. Things weren't the same knowing they were all out there, training and going on hunts, whilst Merlin was stuck up in Gaius' rooms, unable to even carry a tray across the castle.
"It's fine." Merlin's face dropped. The last person, aside from Gaius, who'd not looked at him like an injured lamb was now pitying him. He didn't need it, he just needed to get back to normal. If everything was normal again, everything would be alright again. "I'm fine." He waved off.
"If you're sure…" Gwaine started, but Merlin was already hurrying him out of the room.
Once Gwaine had left, Merlin stood by the window, watching the knights and Arthur chatting as squires and servants set up targets and dummies. How he missed the simplest things he'd disliked before, and how he wished he could be down there with them. He couldn't bear to sleep or read anymore. He needed to do something. He sat back at the table with a groan, and opened page one of the book Gaius had left him.
'Amongst the many remedies that mother nature provides, we must also learn about the nefarious plants that would sooner kill a man than cure him. Throughout the next 200 pages…'
A swift knock at the door broke Merlin out of the spell of boredom he was entering into. He opened the door and there stood one of the councilmen, an older but friendly fellow who lived fairly close to them.
"Ah Merlin, is Gaius in?" Lord Teft peered around the room, tapping his foot impatiently.
"No, I'm sorry, you just missed him. He's on his rounds." Lord Teft rubbed at his eyes, then glanced backwards into the corridor. "Is there something the matter, Lord Teft?"
"It's my wife," He began with a sigh, "she's cut herself whilst peeling an apple. I don't know how, but I feel she needs it dressing, if not stitching." The man rolled his eyes. Merlin knew Lady Teft, as well as how clumsy she was, and Gaius suspected she was beginning to lose her mind slowly. He'd asked Merlin, before his disappearance, if he'd keep an eye on her, and to help out in case of emergencies.
"I can do it, if you don't mind?" He suddenly felt a rush of purpose run through him, turning to fill a small bag with cloth bandages, as well as thread and a needle. He paused over the items as flashbacks of Redferran and Gaius' quarters washed over him, but he swallowed down his panic and turned back to Lord Teft.
"Not at all Merlin," he said with a warm, but anxious smile, "come with me, she's just in our quarters." He led Merlin out into the corridor. "I haven't seen you around much lately, not since you got back with King Arthur, terrible business all of that…"
Lord Teft didn't know the half of it.
Hopefully the next chapter will be up on Thursday, I'm determined to keep a schedule this time.