Percival held on tight as the boy renewed his struggles with a vengeance, fighting to get away. Kicking out with the only foot he currently had use of.

"Hey, hey it's ok" the man soothed. "You're gona be ok"

"How far are we from Camelot?" Arthur asked. The question not directed at anyone in particular. He knew already. Knew that it was at least a day's walk without horses.

"We can't leave it that long" Lancelot stated solemnly. "We will have to do it here"

"What?" Gwaine cried out in horror, already feeling immensely guilty that they had let the boy get into this state. He was currently trying to calm the frightened child by stroking a hand through his hair softly. "Wouldn't it be better to try to get him back to Gaius?"

Lancelot focused on the wound carefully. Weighing the two options. Could they get him back quick enough in this state? Gentle fingers brushed over the wound and brown eyes watched as a torrent of blood gushed out, even with bandages Lancelot knew it was bleeding too much. "No. It needs to be done now"

Gwaine continued to pet the boys head as Percival rocked him gently, they could both feel the child's sobbing.

"Get me the needle" Lancelot instructed.

Merlin screeched. Needle? They were going to sew him! "Please don't" He cried pulling his face away from Percival's shoulder where it had been tucked. "I can walk on it. I can. I won't slow you down I swear"

"Merlin we don't care about that" Leon assured him trying to make the boy understand.

"Yeah" Gwaine agreed "This cut is really bad kid, and we know what we're doing seems scary but it's because we are worried about you. We're afraid you might get an infection and get sick. We just want you to be ok, but you need to let us alright? You need to let use help you?"

"Why?" The child wailed.

"because you're hurt and we want you to get better"

"No" the boy clarified "I mean why do you care?" He had stopped crying now. His voice had gone soft and fearful. "I'm just a peasant boy. What does it matter to you if I'm hurt?"

The group looked sad.

"Because you're our friend" Arthur told him.

"No I'm not. You're knights and...and a King. I'm just me. Just Merlin. I'm no one"

"You are not no-one" Arthur said forcefully. "You are our friend. My friend. You don't remember right now but this morning you were an adult" He carried on even as he saw the boy frown in confusion. "We were out in the forest when a sorcerer attacked us. You were hit with a spell that made you young again but you are still our Merlin. You remember I told you about living in Camelot? How you forgot? You moved there as a grown up, you have been living there a few years now, as my servant"

Merlin blushed again deciding to believe the story even if it sounded crazy "So I'm not just a peasant? I'm just a servant instead"

"No Merlin. Not just. In fact you're not a very good servant at all. Pretty useless one in fact"

The boy frowned and Gwaine smacked Arthur in the arm again. The king slapped the knight away and carried on.

"What I mean is, I don't keep you around as a servant, I keep you around because you're my friend. Because I need you as a friend. You have helped me through so much, been my confidant and my adviser when there was no-one else I could rely on. When I couldn't even trust my own judgement I always trusted yours. Now I need you to trust me this time. Trust me to do what's best for you even if it seems scary. Can you do that?"

Merlin's eyes welled up. He was still terrified but he nodded anyway, the earnest look in the kings eyes telling him somehow that he really was safe. Deep inside Merlin felt his magic surge, filling him with a sense of calm. It seemed to want him to trust this man. This king. Seemed to remember something he didn't.

"Ok"

With a little manoeuvring Merlin was shifted to give Lancelot proper access to his foot again.

They prepared the equipment as best as they were able although their medical knowledge was nowhere near as good as Gauis or even Merlin himself.

More than one of the knights vowed that when this was over they would make an effort to learn more about how to patch up wounds. They had always relied on Merlin. Always trusted he would be there to fix them. None of them had ever considered what they would do if Merlin was the one who needed patching up. Who needed their help.

Now he did and they all felt woefully out of their depth.

They knew enough to sterilise the needle and thread at least. Blanching it in the now boiling pot of water above the fire.

Merlin held tightly onto Arthur's hand which was grasped securely in his.

"Ok" Lancelot told him gently "It should only take about three stitches. It will be over in no time. I swear"

The first press of the needle through skin caused the child to let out an ear-splitting scream. Arthur moved his hand to cover the boys mouth regretfully, mindful that too much noise would attract attention, the last thing they needed now was a group of bandits to show up and attack.

Merlin clamped his teeth down into the kings hand and Arthur winced at the pain but didn't pull away.

The whole thing lasted six minutes.

Lancelot tied off the thread, coated the wound in honey to prevent infection and carefully wrapped the injured foot in clean bandages securing them as tightly as he safely could.

Once finally released Merlin let go of Arthur's hand and curled up in a ball on Percy's lap.

It's over. It's over.

Around him the knights started to make up the camp, feeding the fire and settling in for the night. They would continue back to Camelot in the morning.

By the time they were finished the young Merlin was fast asleep.

...

Slowly creeping rays of sunlight and the smell of dew woke the young warlock from his sleep the next morning. Upon inspection he found that he was wrapped not only in a standard bedroll but also two separate red cloaks. He was still with the knights who themselves were sleeping scattered about the clearing.

A wince of pain drew the child's attention to his injured foot. He sat up quietly in his camp-bed and began to gently tug at the bandages to look underneath.

"Merlin" a stern but quiet voice said in the same voice his mother often used when he was caught doing something he shouldn't. "Leave it alone"

Blue eyes turned to see the King sitting upright at the base of a tree, keeping watch over the group. "Lancelot will change them when he wakes." Merlin let go of his foot "Good" the King nodded "Now go back to sleep"

Merlin burrowed back down into his coverings and closed his eyes.

The next time he woke the knights were all awake and dressed and the camp was packed and ready to go. A bowl of food was placed in front of the child and he sat up to eat, the food mostly distracting him as Lancelot changed and cleaned his wound.

Everyone was relieved when the friendly knight declared that it appeared to be healing nicely. Once fed and dressed they set off towards Camelot once more, this time with Merlin being carried on Gwaines back.

As the day progressed each of the knights took their turns carrying their young friend, even Arthur carried him for two whole hours.

As they got closer to Camelot Merlin found himself believing the groups story about him being an adult more and more, even finding the courage to ask what the other him was like. The last few hours of the journey were filled with tales of Merlin and their favourite memories of the young servant and the impact he had had on each of their lives.

It felt good to vocalise it. To admit out loud how important their young friend was to the group.

Arthur moved away from Gwaine after his arm began to bruise from all the punches the knight was giving it whenever he confessed to an occasion he had taken advantage of his servants loyalty. All the times he had used the boy as a buffer against his father, letting him spend a night in the dungeons or a day in the stocks because of Arthurs mistakes. He had never realised before how often that had happened, how often he had let it happen.

He swore that once Merlin was back to normal he would do better by him, starting with a few days off every other week. The boy really did do too much.

The sun was beginning to set when the Castles of Camelot finally came into sight.

Gwen met them at the gates sweeping the young Merlin up in a hug as soon as they told her what had happened and leading them all straight to Gaius. Merlin instantly liked the pretty woman and having finally gotten used to a group of knights and a King calling him their friend was only mildly panicked to learn she was the Queen.

Thankfully he had heard a number of stories about Gwen by then and knew that she was one of the first friends he made here. The Queens kind words and gentle reassurances were enough to make him feel completely safe in her company.

Gaius was even more surprised to see the young Merlin than Gwen had been but he still treated the boy with a great deal of affection. Once again a surge of magic inside the young warlock let him know he was safe, reassuring him that it knew these people even if he didn't at the moment.

As Merlin had been told he would, Gaius checked his foot and reapplied his bandages with a fresh set and a special ointment to promote healing and reduce pain. The effects were instant and Merlin breathed a sigh of relief as the hurt he had been ignoring all day ebbed away.

The physician commended Lancelot on how well he had done with the stitches and Merlin was relieved to learn he wouldn't need any more. Although Gaius tried to usher them out, the whole group wound up staying in the tower for the remainder of the evening laughing and joking with the boy and enjoying his company. Gaius had already told them that aging spells were difficult to maintain and that the boy would probably turn back soon; as much as they were looking forward to having their Merlin back they had all grown to adore this version of him and wanted to enjoy every moment with him until he was gone again.

At some point in the evening a serving girl brought several plates of food up for the group and they all ate their fill enjoying the shared meal. It felt like family.

The moon was high in the sky before Merlin's eyes began to droop and Arthur carefully carried him up to bed and tucked him in for the night, the rest of the knights finally retreating to their own rooms to sleep. Gwen was the last to leave, placing a motherly kiss on the child's forehead before she stepped out, thanking Gaius for his help looking after him.

"Don't thank me" He smiled fondly "The knight's and Arthur were the ones who patched him up"

Gwen smiled. "It's about time they took care of him for once. I'm gonna miss him being like this"

"Me too" He said.

...

The next morning the knights arrived at training and found the familiar face of their fully grown friend smiling at them. It was an exceptionally welcome sight.

"Great to see you again buddy" Gwaine grinned.

The young servant grinned back, shifting the crutches Gaius had given him to one side so he could return the hugs his friends wrapped him in.

Arthur smirked, falling into the familiar pattern of sarcasm that dominated his friendship with the young man, "You'll do anything to get out of your chores wont you Merlin?"

Merlin pulled an astonished face "You mean you're actually giving me time off?"

"Just this once" Arthur told him, already knowing it was a lie, he would be giving the man plenty of days off.

Merlin laughed "You're too kind Sire"

"True. You really don't appreciate me Merlin" Arthur smiled, his voice gentle.

Merlin had know him long enough to recognise it as a thank you.

...

In a forest not far from there a sorcerer named Geoffrey smiled to himself.