"Move faster!" Arthur's command rang out loud over the young warlock's heavy breathing as the boy urged his tired legs to go faster.
He heard the prince's grunt moments before the spear hit the large wooden target strapped to his back, and Merlin fell forward from the force of it. Landing face first in the dirt, the boy let out a groan, listening to Arthur's footsteps as they grew nearer.
"When I said, 'move faster' I did not mean for your pace to increase from a snail's to a turtle's." The prince uttered dryly, gripping the shaft of the spear and yanking it free from the target as Merlin looked up over his shoulder at him.
"There's also such a thing as normal target practice."
"Normal target practice won't help when the enemy is running away. Or worse, running towards my useless servant who couldn't defend himself if all his attacker had was a stick." Arthur grumbled, offering the boy his hand as the warlock unstrapped the target and let himself be pulled upright.
"Can we take a break?"
"I need you to focus, Merlin. The safety of my men depend on it."
"On me taking a beating day after day?" The boy asked, hearing the whine attached to his words while the blond stared him down.
"Do you not care about the knights, Merlin?"
"Yes, fine. Fine. How about some water then, can I at least get a drink before we continue?" Pressing his lips together, Arthur finally gestured towards the side of the field with his free hand, causing a relieved breath to leave the warlock. "Thank you, Sire."
"This better get you moving though." Arthur stated before walking off, swinging the spear in his hand as he did.
Rolling his eyes at the prince's back, Merlin walked over to the tent containing their weapons and the table directly outside where a bucket of fresh water sat waiting. Dipping a ladle in and filling a cup with water, Merlin drank quickly, though the sun warmed water did little for his weariness. As he filled his cup a second time, Arthur joined him and began filling his own.
"How is Gaius doing?" The man questioned, turning away from the sun and looking off towards the forest.
"Better." Merlin answered easily, even though he knew that the truth was far messier.
Alice had nearly killed Uther, and Gaius had freed her from prison just to watch her flee without him again. The elder had assured Merlin that he was fine, but the warlock heard him awake at all hours of the night, unable to sleep.
He was glad that Gaius had stayed, but at the same time, he hated to see his guardian so distressed. Merlin had never once thought to wonder whether Gaius had loved anyone before; had never even thought to ask.
So, he'd been working harder over the last week to be of more help, to give the physician a break, though the warlock knew his hands weren't as experienced as Alice's had been. At the very least, those were the times that Gaius seemed most at ease, so Merlin took the win where he could get it.
Drinking the rest of his water, Merlin stretched his shoulders and set the cup on the table. As he did, a wave of dizziness washed over him, making everything around him tremble and shake. Stumbling into the table and knocking into the water bucket, Merlin heard Arthur let out a frustrated groan as water splashed over the edge onto him.
"Watch it, Merlin!" The man yelled as the warlock sucked in a shallow breath, everything twisting and spinning around him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Grabbing Merlin by his shoulders, Arthur yanked the boy upright, and all at once the dizziness he had felt was gone.
"Sorry.. I just felt dizzy for a moment." Merlin mumbled, lifting a hand to his head as he closed his eyes. When Arthur didn't respond, the warlock cracked open one eye and found the blond glaring. "Please don't punch me again." The boy sighed, grimacing as the prince's fist connected with his arm, albeit lighter than it had been the last time.
"Get back on the field, Merlin. We still have work to do." Stalking off without waiting for the servant, Merlin's eyes watched the prince's back a moment before lifting his hand and studying the rough skin.
What had that been? He wasn't one to just get dizzy spells out of nowhere.
"Merlin!"
"Coming!" He shouted, grabbing the large target once again and hurrying after his friend.
The sun had just started to sink on the horizon as Merlin made his way down the corridor and back towards home. He was exhausted, and all he wanted was to crawl into his bed and sleep until Arthur needed him again that evening.
Realistically the warlock was aware he shouldn't be so tired, as he'd had training days like this often, but after his dizzy spell he hadn't felt quite right, and if he was coming down with something he wanted to stop it before it started.
Pushing open the door to the physician's tower, Merlin closed it gently behind him while Gaius glanced up from a remedy brewing on his worktable.
"Hi." Merlin uttered, barely lifting his hand in a wave as the elder glanced him over knowingly.
"Tired today, Merlin?"
"I am every day, Gaius." The boy smirked, walking towards his room while mentally amending the things he wanted to do.
First, he wanted to check on Archimedes, and then he wanted to sleep until Arthur needed him. Shoving open the door to his room, the immediate emptiness was astounding.
Stopping right in the doorway, Merlin's eyes wandered all over the small space, first to the open window, and then to the empty desk and wardrobe. Furrowing his brows, Merlin pulled the door back and looked behind it before turning back to the partially opened window.
Archimedes usually returned home in the evenings and stayed until Merlin fell asleep. The fact that he wasn't there already made the boy's stomach tighten in a way he didn't like.
"Gaius, have you seen Archimedes?" Merlin called out, turning and leaning out the doorway so his head poked back into the main chamber.
"No, not since you woke this morning. He isn't in your room?"
"No." The warlock frowned, his fingers tapping absently against his door as he tried to think.
"Perhaps the creature is just out hunting. Come and eat and you can check to see if he's returned after."
Casting one last look into his room, Merlin closed his door and started down the steps. As his boot hit the first one, another surge of dizziness struck him, making the world turn on its head.
"Merlin, are you alright?" Gaius called as the warlock hesitated on the top step, either arm stretched out and clutching the walls to steady himself.
"Just.. dizzy." The boy mumbled, waiting for the floor to stop spinning around in circles. "It's the second time it's happened today." He admitted by way of explanation, daring to lift his head as he did and regretting it immediately.
Gaius had turned into three separate men that spiraled and swam in front of him, and Merlin's stomach threatened to heave every last bit of his previous meal just trying to stare at them.
"What—" Gaius started towards his ward when the door to the physician's chambers pushed open and Arthur strode inside.
"Gaius, my father requested—" Pausing in the middle of the room, the blond's eyes darted from the physician to the boy, both standing frozen, and his eyes narrowed. "Did I interrupt something?" He asked after a moment of silence.
"No, not at all, Sire. What was it you said the king needed?" Gaius asked, casting a last look at the boy before turning away.
Clutching the wall tighter, Merlin swallowed down the acidic saliva that had begun gathering in his mouth while the two spoke.
"My father asked for a sleeping draught. Apparently he's had some trouble sleeping since the poisoning. I told him I would bring it to him myself." Arthur said slowly, his eyes cutting to Merlin occasionally while he spoke.
The warlock on the other hand had yet to move from his uncomfortable position, still three steps up to his room with his fingers digging into the walls.
"I believe I have some extra prepared, let me check." The physician uttered as he turned away to rummage through one of his cabinets.
"What are you doing?" Arthur asked, eyeing the warlock suspiciously as Merlin swallowed thickly.
"What do you mean?"
"You're being odd, what's wrong with you?" Taking a few steps closer to the boy, Merlin blinked and forced himself to focus on the floor.
The dizziness was growing worse, and the floor was the only place that didn't make him want to heave.
"Nothing. What's wrong with you?" He shot back, his voice sounding distant as Arthur scoffed.
"Must you always have a retort?"
"Must you always snap at me?" The warlock himself snapped, finally lifting his gaze and trying to glare at one of the three princes wavering before him.
As the seconds passed and Arthur's mouth moved with no sound coming out, the boy felt his hold on the wall slipping. Without warning his hands slid away and he was stumbling down the next step.
Nothing was where it belonged. The floor was on the ceiling, and the chairs were spinning, and little glowing flecks were dancing all over the place. Merlin barely felt his boot leaving the step, but he felt when his shoulder and then his head connected with the floor. Or was it the ceiling now?
His back was against the cold ground, wherever it was, and his head was throbbing. At some point his eyes had closed, shielding him from further insanity from the world around him. He could hear a deep buzzing, however. An incessant, annoying buzz that came from either side of him.
None of the sounds made any sense, but as the throbbing in his head dulled, the buzzing faded to a low murmur, and he realized the noise was actually voices. After another few moments he was able to open his eyes again, and Merlin stared blearily up into the concerned faces of his guardian and his prince.
Arthur's mouth moved, but more of that strange buzzing came out instead of words, and the warlock grimaced at the flicker of pain that shot through him when he tried to focus. Pushing his arms beneath himself, Merlin shoved himself upright before another wave of dizziness had him falling back again.
Collapsing into something soft, Merlin's eyes barely managed to focus on the dark red of a tunic and an arm that had wrapped protectively around his shoulders. Lifting his gaze higher, he found Arthur's chin above him, moving at the same time that the buzzing returned. He'd fallen into the prince, yet he hadn't been shoved away. Was he dying? He had to be dying.
"—with him?"
The buzzing suddenly turned into hollow words, and Merlin closed his eyes as he tried to focus on them.
"I don't know. He just told me moments before you came in that he'd had a dizzy spell earlier in the day as well."
The arm around him tightened for a moment, and Merlin felt the prince's heartbeat speed up against his head. "Out on the field today. I assumed he'd been overreacting."
"You know what happens when you assume." Merlin mumbled, his words partially muffled from the prince's tunic as Arthur jerked him away, giving him just enough time to rest his elbow on the ground before he let him go.
"Alright, what is wrong with you?" Arthur demanded, though his tone wasn't as harsh as it had been moments before.
"Really not sure. Would like to know though." The warlock muttered, the world finally settling into its normal places around him as he slowly sat up.
"Here, Merlin. Drink." Gaius appeared beside him, stretching out a cup of water that the boy took gratefully.
His hand trembled only slightly, and as he drank, he found his mind and body beginning to return to normal.
"I feel fine now." Merlin said as he passed the cup back to the elder. "I really don't know what happened, or why." He continued, an apologetic expression passing to Gaius then Arthur.
"Well, regardless, I would rather you stay where I can check on you this evening. If that's alright with you, Sire, of course." The physician spoke, his eyes shifting to the prince with the last few words.
"Yes, fine. The last thing I need is him dropping my food all over the place anyway." Arthur muttered, waving a hand flippantly as he rose from the floor and quickly brushed himself off.
Gaius stood as well, passing a dark vial over to the blond who took it with a quiet thanks.
"Try not to fall on your face again." Arthur called back over his shoulder as he left, the door closing behind him as the warlock's shoulders slumped.
"Merlin, what actually happened?" Gaius asked, pulling over a stool and sitting in front of the boy who remained seated on the floor where he'd fallen.
"I really don't know, Gaius. Honest." A pit in the bottom of his stomach grew, and Merlin's eyes darted back to his bedroom door.
"I can see it in your face, Merlin. You may not know for certain, but you have a suspicion." The elder goaded, clasping his hands together in front of him while the warlock swallowed around the lump in his throat.
"I think.." Sucking in a breath, the boy forced the ridiculous words out before he could think further on them. "I think it has something to do with Archimedes."
Gaius' eyebrows drew together in confusion, and Merlin scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "What do you mean?"
"I think that something is wrong with him." Merlin knew once it sunk in, he'd be chastised. This sort of thing, if it were true, was exactly what Gaius had warned him of.
"You mean..?" Gaius trailed off, the look of realization dawning on his face moments before the disappointment set in. "That piece of your life force, the two of you are connected."
Gritting his teeth, Merlin gave a single, sharp nod of his head. "I don't think he feels my pain but.. I know something is wrong with him."
A long suffering sigh left Gaius as the elder's head fell briefly before weary eyes met the warlock's. "What do you expect to do about this?"
Merlin shrugged while pushing himself to his feet, his hands stretched out to help steady himself. "I need to find him first."
"And do you have any idea where he might be?"
Drawing in another short breath, Merlin stared at the wall across from him. His heart rate began to slow while his fingers tightened into fists at his sides. He centered his mind on a single thought, sifting through them like threads until he found the one he wanted. Archimedes. His chest rose and fell with another breath, and he felt his magic obeying his thought, honing in on that single string.
"In the tower." Merlin spoke suddenly, his body relaxing as his eyes found his guardian who was watching him with intrigue.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. I don't know how to explain it, but yes."
"Go then, but be careful." The elder warned, rising from his seat as the warlock nodded and ran off, hurrying through the door and down the steps, any of the previous dizziness completely gone.
Merlin ran most of the way, his mind still focusing on that single thread which he imagined was connected to his owl. It grew stronger the closer he got to the tower, the connection practically thrumming with life inside his head.
As he reached the top of the stairwell leading to his tower, Merlin stopped dead in his tracks, a cold chill washing over him like a breath of ice. In the faint light of the setting sun, he could see Archimedes on the ledge of the balcony that led towards the tower chambers.
The creature didn't look to be harmed, but his feathers were ruffled, his wings were pressed tight to his sides, and his head was tucked close to his neck. He was scared, and the moment his yellow eyes found Merlin, the boy understood.
Archimedes had been threatened in an effort to get the warlock there. And there was only one person aside from himself and Gaius who could possibly know about the bond that had been created through magic between himself and the owl.
"Where are you?" Merlin called out, his voice laced with anger as he stepped closer to his owl, beginning to stretch an arm out towards it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice spoke from across the corridor.
Emerging from the shadows and wrapped in a thick, black cloak, was the Court Sorcerer. His reptilian face smiled in the fading sun at the warlock, and as he stretched his arm out, the door behind him to the tower chambers swung open.
"I think it's time that you and I had a chat."
A/N
This wasn't originally where I was planning to go with this chapter, but the story got away from me, and sometimes that is for the best! I hope you guys enjoyed a bit of angst, and that you're ready for an info dump story in the next chapter!
Thank you all for reading as always, and feel free to leave any kind of comment/review as we grow closer to the end of season three! 3 – Ace