"No excuse you give will get you out of going, Merlin." Arthur declared, placing his quill back on his desk while the young man behind him sighed.
"I just don't understand why they're so insistent that I go."
"Because they want to make it up to you." The king shrugged, glancing around his desk before picking up a book to look under it. Where had his parchment gone?
"But they have to know I hate going hunting with you." Merlin was still grumbling, and Arthur gave him an annoyed look over his shoulder.
"They're trying to make things right. I think it's admirable."
"They have nothing to make right though, they were under a spell." The young man countered, and the king noticed that the bag Merlin had been packing was left abandoned on the table.
"Perhaps, but they must feel guilty that a woman had to be the one to save your life." The jab was met with a blank stare from the servant, and Arthur laughed at his own joke instead. Well, as much as he could.
He was still impressed with Guinevere, amazed at how she had handled the situation with the Lamia, and how well she had fought to protect herself and Merlin.
"Can't you just give me the day off instead? I think that would be a great way to repay me." The servant suggested, and a grin began to widen across his face as the king scoffed.
"I have nothing to make up for, Merlin. So no."
"Figures." Merlin mumbled, dropping an extra tunic on the table with a huff as Arthur rolled his eyes.
"Would you quit pouting? I'm sure you'll have some sort of fun out there. Now hurry up, we need to get going."
"Sure I will." The young man sighed, stuffing the tunic down inside the bag while Arthur returned to his hunt for his parchment.
Not long after, the two of them made their way to the stables where both of their horses were already saddled and ready, waiting for them with the knights in tow. Each of the men wore little to no armor, but kept their swords strapped to their sides, and Arthur watched as Merlin's eyes narrowed at the men's casual attire.
"All packed up?" Gwaine asked, urging his horse closer while Merlin attached the saddle bag to his mare.
"Are you all packed?" The young man asked as Gwaine grinned and patted the bag at his side.
"Even did it all myself."
"Impressive." Merlin smirked, mounting his horse while Arthur did the same.
"Let's go, it's already growing late in the morning." The king urged, spurring his horse forward as the sound of hooves on cobblestone echoed behind him.
Once they entered the forest Gwaine and Elyan took the lead, Arthur and Percival settled in the middle, and Merlin and Leon rode behind. It didn't take long for Leon to start up a quiet conversation behind them, and Arthur listened to the apology the knight began giving to his servant.
"I didn't mean what was said."
"I already told you its fine, Leon. You all were under the Lamia's spell."
The king could hear the smile in Merlin's voice, and a part of him was glad he hadn't been there to fight the creature. He couldn't imagine having to apologize to Merlin for treating him in such a way, nor could he bear the thought of doing something as out there as what the knights had come up with for the day.
Despite all the complaining from Merlin and the excess number of weapons he'd packed, Arthur knew full well that the knights had no intention of hunting that day. It had been an idea formed by Elyan, Leon, and Guinevere.
Arthur hadn't intended on being a part of it—why should he, he did nothing wrong—but at Guinevere's insistence he had joined. The day was warm but not hot yet, and his stomach made a noise in anticipation at what he knew was waiting for them once they reached their destination.
"Let's stop here." Elyan called a while later, bringing his horse to a stop not far from the river.
"Why here?" Merlin asked, bringing his own mare to a slowed pace before it stopped next to Arthur.
"Seems as good a place as any." The king nodded, and he felt his servant's questioning eyes turn to him.
"You want to start hunting here? We're not even that far from the kingdom."
"Are you really going to question me, Merlin?" Arthur asked, a note of warning in his tone as the young man let out a soft breath. "I thought not. Take our horses, let them drink before tying them up." Swinging off his stallion, Arthur tossed the reins into Merlin's hands as Gwaine met his eye and grinned.
"Come on, I'll help you." Percival offered, bringing his own horse towards the water as the servant followed after him.
"Gwen should be just up ahead." Elyan murmured, nodding towards a clearing on the other side of the trees.
While the remaining knights led their horses slowly behind, the king knew that every eye was on Merlin as they reached the river. As promised, just ahead was Guinevere, and spread out among her was a feast fit for a king and his army. Or rather, a king, four knights, and a servant.
"What is this?" Merlin gawked, stopping in his tracks as Guinevere rose and spread out her arms.
"It's a surprise."
"For who?"
"For you, Merlin!" Gwaine laughed, throwing an arm over the young man's shoulders as Merlin's mouth fell open in surprise.
"Me? But why?"
"Didn't I tell you? They wanted to make it up to you." Arthur scoffed, walking past his friend and shoving his arm before he made his way over to Guinevere. "It looks amazing." He said quietly, stopping in front of her as the woman's dark eyes smiled up at him.
"Why thank you, Sire. That's quite a compliment coming from you." Leaning up, her lips pressed gently into his cheek.
"Come on! Let's eat already, I'm starving!" Gwaine hollered, bounding forward while Merlin was ushered closer by Percival and Elyan.
Their morning drifted into early afternoon with great food, good company, and many stories. Gwaine told adventures from his travels while Elyan recounted a near fatal sword fight that had Guinevere staring wide eyed and open mouthed the whole time.
Leon spoke of being a child in the citadel, while Percival regaled them with a fling he'd had with a noble woman who informed him much too late that she was married. Arthur described the battles in which the knights had missed, and Merlin had filled in details when he felt Arthur's ego had grown too big.
It was the first time in a long time that Arthur had allowed himself to completely relax, laying back in the grass with Guinevere next to him and his men spread out having fun. As the sun rose higher, warming them and attempting to sober the few who had a bit too much ale, Arthur was just beginning to yawn.
They needed to return soon, but as his eyes began drifting shut, he wondered if they might stay a little while longer in such a peaceful place. Of course, that peace didn't last, due mostly to Gwaine who rose to his feet and began urging the others to theirs.
"Come on, we're gotten too lazy sitting here! It's too warm out, and I know just how to cool down."
Beginning to pull off his boots, Arthur sat up on one arm and watched in amusement while his knight dropped his boots to the ground with his sword before turning and taking off for the river. The other knights were quick to follow, and it wasn't long before there were a pile of boots, belts, and swords lying in a heap near the riverbank.
"Merlin! Get in here!" Gwaine called, waving his hand high in the air as the young man shook his head.
"I'm good here, thanks!" He shouted back, seeming to press further into the tree trunk he was leaning against.
"You don't want to have fun?" Arthur teased, glancing from where Merlin sat to where Guinevere was lying next to him.
"No, but you should." The servant suggested, giving the king a pointed look as Arthur scoffed.
"Not a chance. Why won't you go?"
"Don't want to." Merlin shrugged.
"You didn't want to come out here either, and you ended up having fun." The blond pointed out, only for Merlin to frown at him.
"Come on! Both of you!" Elyan shouted next, splashing Leon in the face with the rushing water.
"Don't worry, I can fix this." Percival claimed, climbing out of the river with his clothing dripping wet.
"No, Percival, no—" Merlin's objections were cut off by the towering knight stooping over and snatching the young man up by his arms before tugging him over his shoulder. "Percival! Put me down!" Merlin yelled, and Arthur chuckled as the knight bounded back over to the river before tossing the young man straight into the water.
Guinevere stifled a laugh and quickly covered her mouth, which was more polite than Arthur, whose chuckle had turned into full and loud laughter.
A spluttering Merlin resurfaced a moment later with the knights all cheering and laughing around him, but for once, the king's servant didn't join in on the joke at his expense.
"Doesn't the water feel great?" Elyan teased, splashing the servant only for Merlin to abruptly turn his back to the knight.
"Merlin, hold on! Your clothes will dry in the sun!" Leon called, but still the young man pushed away from them and waded for the shore.
He didn't speak a word to any of them, but Arthur could see the look of controlled anger on his face as he scrambled up the muddy bank and wiped his dirty hands off against his sopping clothes.
"Merlin! Come on, it's just water!" Gwaine shouted after him, but the young man refused to acknowledge anyone, instead storming off in silence back through the trees to where they'd left their horses in the shade.
"What's his problem?" Elyan asked, the men's laughter dying out as they realized Merlin wasn't coming back.
"I should check on him." Guinevere spoke, pushing herself off the ground only for Arthur to stand up and catch her hand.
"No, it's alright, I'll go. If he's throwing a tantrum over such a menial thing he doesn't deserve to be coddled."
"I wasn't going to coddle him." Guinevere objected, a small frown turning her lips down as Arthur leaned over and kissed the top of her head.
"I'll handle this." He promised, stalking off to where Merlin disappeared as he listened to the knight's voices murmuring behind him.
He didn't have to walk far before Arthur spotted his servant rummaging through the bag he had packed that morning. He was used to seeing Merlin annoyed when jokes were played on him, or he was toyed with and made fun of, but this was different. The young man seemed genuinely angry.
Water was still dripping off his clothes, and he'd scraped his wet hair back out of his face, but rivulets of water raced down the back of his neck and caught in his already soaked neckerchief. The king was trying to think of what exactly to say when the other was already so angry, when he saw Merlin tug out the spare tunic he had packed for Arthur.
Indignation ran through the blond, and he started to storm forward when Merlin began tugging off his own tunic. Arthur had managed to take all of two steps forward when he stopped, the breath leaving him as he stared at Merlin's bare back.
Wrapped around the young man's side and stretching out to the middle of his back was a long, thin, heavily soaked bandage. Aside from being drenched in water, the middle of it where it touched his side was a worrying shade of pink.
Merlin let out a quiet curse and carefully peeled away the bandage to reveal a gash in his side above his hip that was only just beginning to heal. The edges were raw and red, and a small drop of blood had puckered up from the wound and slid down into the top of the young man's trousers.
Placing a hand on the trunk of a tree across from him to steady himself, Arthur narrowed his eyes while his servant turned a fraction and draped his wet clothes over the saddle. As he did, the sunlight that was filtering through the leaves fell over him, causing the scars on his back to become more prominent and once again steal Arthur's breath away.
There were so many he could hardly keep count. Old scratches that looked like they came from claws raked down across one shoulder blade and cut across his back. Several knicks across his spine resembled stripes from a whip, and there were a number of miscellaneous cuts that looked as though they'd come from a sword.
There were two round scars in his side above the fresh wound that Arthur could only guess had come from an arrow, and across the back of his neck was a raised scar that looked as if someone had attacked him with a dagger.
Arthur sucked in a deep breath as his mind raced, and he stumbled back a step which caused the leaves beneath his feet to rustle. Merlin's head was quick to turn, his eyes wild and panicked as his hand hovered over the wound in his side that he had uncovered.
"Arthur?" Merlin asked in shock before it morphed into fresh outrage. "What are you doing over here?"
"I came to find you after you stormed off."
"Are you spying on me?" Merlin demanded, suddenly drawing his arms around himself as if to hide the fact that he was without a tunic.
"Oh, G—no! I have no desire to watch you undress, trust me."
Merlin scowled at that, but he turned away, keeping a firm arm around the exposed wound as he did. "Well, I didn't expect to be thrown into a river this afternoon, so I suppose we're both dealing with the unexpected."
"I've noticed." Arthur uttered dryly as he walked forward. Merlin didn't seem to hear him until it was too late, unable to stop the king from reaching out and pushing his arm down to fully expose the injury he was hiding. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Merlin shrugged, stepping away from the man. "I tripped."
"No, you didn't." Arthur snorted, unable to tear his eyes away from the large chunk of skin that was missing from his servant's side. "Even you are not that uncoordinated."
Merlin didn't answer, instead he carefully unfolded the tunic and lay it over the top of the bag before rummaging through it again.
"Did this happen with the Lamia?" Arthur asked, recalling the fight that had happened with the beast a few days before as Merlin paused his search long enough to nod.
"Yes." He admitted, and Arthur studied him skeptically.
"Why didn't you tell anyone what happened?"
"There was no reason to, I'm fine." He shrugged, finally removing his hands from the bag and drawing out a bundle of bandages as he did.
"Hold on," Arthur began, crossing his arms over his chest as he narrowed his eyes at the young man. "Wasn't that fight several days ago? That wound looks fresh, barely a day or two old at most."
"It hasn't healed well is all." Merlin mumbled, beginning to unfold the bandages.
Reaching out, Arthur snatched the wrapping from his servant's hand and waved them in his face. "Why didn't you tell anyone about this? The last thing anyone would have done was throw you in a river."
"The last thing I was expecting was to be thrown in a river!" Merlin shot back, leaving the bandages in Arthur's hand as he snatched a small jar out of the top of the bag. "I mean, who does that? Who just tosses someone into a river when they clearly don't want to be?"
Unscrewing the lid, the smell of mint wafted towards the king, and he recognized the healing salve Gaius often made filling the jar as Merlin swiped some out and carefully began applying it to the wound.
"They were trying to have fun with you, obviously. If you weren't such a child then you might have noticed an entire afternoon was planned on your behalf."
At his words, Merlin's gaze fell and his hand stilled, his fingertips still slick with the balm. "I know." He said softly, guilt creeping over his face as Arthur sighed.
"There you go again, acting like a girl. Move." Batting his hand out of the way, Arthur spread the fresh bandages over the wound and began securing them around his servant's torso.
Instead of answering, Merlin drew in a sudden sharp breath as Arthur's fingers pressed against the injury, and the king's eyes once more found themselves drawn to the young man's scars.
On the front half of his chest were more, with some dragging like nails across his skin, and small burns that rippled over a portion of his left arm. The largest however was on his stomach, where it looked as if it had been slashed through with a sword.
"I didn't realize you had so many battle wounds." The man commented, poking at the scar on the back of Merlin's neck.
"Adventuring with you has its drawbacks." Merlin answered coolly, though his body had tensed as Arthur finished and backed away from him.
"Seems like a lot though, just for a simple servant."
"I'm not just a simple servant." Merlin countered, intense blue eyes finding Arthur's as the king frowned.
There it was again. That look. The one that aged his friend by years and actually gave Merlin the look of a man who might be wise.
"You're right," Arthur nodded once. "Just simple minded." Merlin rolled his eyes as the king grabbed his extra tunic and threw it at the young man. "Here, I expect that back after it's been properly washed." He warned, and Merlin tugged it on with a half-smile.
"Fine, it's not to my taste anyway."
"That tunic is made of very fine linen, Merlin. You should be honored to wear such a thing."
"Perhaps, but I'm worried I'll be mistaken for a prat." The servant quipped, packing the bag back up as Arthur let out a noise of offense.
"I ought to throw you back in that river!" When Merlin gave him a wary side eye, Arthur shoved his arm and gestured back to where the knights were waiting. "Go, the men are no doubt wondering where you stormed off to."
"They're not going to try drowning me, are they?" Merlin asked only for Arthur to scoff.
"They'd have every right to after the way you acted. I'm sure they'll just be satisfied with some sort of answer, however." He gestured to the young man's side, and Merlin rested a careful hand on the wrapped wound.
"Still think you were spying on me." He mumbled before hurrying away, no doubt expecting the king to throw something after him. And maybe he would have, if he didn't have other concerns.
Arthur knew Merlin went with him on many quests, and many of those put himself, and his men, in danger. However, the servant had a lot of scars, too many scars in fact. Where had some of them even come from?
Arthur clutched the excess bandages tighter in his fist, hearing laughter coming from his men in the distance. Something was going on with Merlin, and he'd lied to Arthur about it. Whatever he'd been up to, however he'd gotten all those scars, they hadn't all been with the king.
And it wasn't as if Arthur truly cared all that much over how the idiot hurt himself, but he didn't like how suspicious Merlin had acted about it all. He wanted to know what was going on, and as Arthur tucked the bandages away, he made a decision. Whatever secret it was that Merlin was hiding; he was going to find out.
A/N
Oooooo our boy is in troubleeeeeee.
I got the idea for this from a story I read YEARS ago from another Merlin fic. For the life of me though I don't remember who wrote it, just that I loved the idea behind it. So please, if YOU know, let me know so I can credit them!
I hope you guys enjoyed, and I hope you're ready for the last few chapters as we start coming to a close on season four! Thanks for sticking with me for so, so long, and I'll see you all again soon!