WARNING: Crap chapter ahead . Full apology at the end.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
"Oh Merlin. You're such an idiot. It's always you isn't it?" Muttered Arthur, sighing and letting his head fall back so it hit the cave wall. He turned his head to the right to look at his manservant. Merlin lay limply on the ground, a thin blanket draped over his thin form and Arthur's jacket as a pillow.
Arthur had managed to wake his knights up and, after tending to some of their minor injuries, let them take care of the sorcerer. They were now scouring about for fire wood and food, which gave Arthur plenty of time to think.
Merlin was a sorcerer.
Merlin had magic.
It did not make sense in Arthur's mind. Merlin and magic were two words that did not belong together. Arthur was not sure what he was going to do next. He could only see three options. One, he take Merlin back to Camelot and hand him over to his father. This was what he had been brought up to believe, but the idea of seeing Merlin with flames eating away at his flesh made him blanch. That was definitely not an option.
Two, he tell Merlin to run away. Take him back to Ealdor to be with his mother. He would be safe there with someone to take care of him. This was probably the best idea, the one that Arthur admitted was the most reasonable course of action.
However, option three appealed to him the most. To take Merlin back to Camelot and pretend nothing had happened. To make sure no one else found out about his secret. He half wished he had never found out about Merlin, for things were sure to be more awkward between the pair of them now.
As he sat against the hard rock, watching Merlin sleep, he could not ignore the raw burn in his chest. The anger and hurt that Merlin never thought to tell him. Merlin didn't trust Arthur enough to tell him. And it hurt. Arthur had come to regard Merlin as a friend, a loyal servant and companion.
He had been a fool, he realised. Merlin had never thought him a friend. Only sought to get closer to Arthur, for some reason that undoubtedly involved magic and the demise of Camelot. That was what they all wanted was it not? His father had reassured him time and time again that sorcerers were not to be trusted. They were all evil and would see him die.
But…a little voice in Arthur's mind spoke up. But…Merlin had not tried to kill him at any point. He had had many chances in the past, but Merlin had only sought to protect him.
Arthur decided he would let Merlin explain himself before he jumped to any more conclusions. A few meters away the knights were setting up a fire and preparing food from their hunt. Arthur stared hungrily at the meat from the hunt and the bread and cheese being taken from a bag. He thought he should probably wake Merlin up so he could eat something.
"Merlin?" Arthur gently shook Merlin's shoulder. "Merlin, wake up." Merlin turned his head slightly, snuggling into Arthur's jacket. "Merlin. Come on, wake up." He blinked blearily, rubbing his eyes with his fists.
"Mmm…where am I?" He mumbled, feeling his surroundings with his hands.
"In the cave, remember? The sorcerer attacked you and you were bleeding lots. Remember?" Arthur felt Merlin's forehead, checking for a fever. His manservant nodded, murmuring something. "What was that?"
"I'm hungry." Arthur grinned at his words.
"Come on then, sit up." He helped Merlin to sit up so he was leaning against the cave wall.
"Ow." Whimpered Merlin, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Sorry Merlin."
"Mm, 's okay."
"Do you think you'd be able to ride?" Arthur placed some brad and cheese in Merlin's hands. "I think we should get you back to Gaius as soon as possible." Merlin ate the food hungrily, waiting to swallow before he answered Arthur.
"I can try." Merlin nodded, shoving more bread in his mouth. "What happened to the sorcerer?" He asked suddenly.
"He's dead." Replied Arthur shortly. "Mostly thanks to you I guess." Merlin froze in his chewing, the little colour in his cheeks draining away.
"Arthur…" Began Merlin, but Arthur cut him off.
"We'll talk about it later."
"Okay." Whispered Merlin fearfully.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Arthur twisted and looked over his shoulder to see how Merlin was doing. He was clutching his stomach with one arm whilst holding the reins in his other hand and his eyes were squeezed shut in pain.
"Merlin? Are you alright?" He asked, not being able to help the concern spilling into his voice. Merlin nodded stiffly. "We can stop if you want."
"Jus' keep going. I'll be fine." Arthur didn't look reassured and signalled for his knights to stop. He slipped down from his horse and walked swiftly over to Merlin.
"Come down here Merlin, let me take a look at your wounds." Urged Arthur gently.
"No no." Merlin shook his head fiercely.
"Merlin."
"I'm fine honestly."
"Come down Merlin, before I make you." Reluctantly, Merlin scrambled ungracefully off his horse. Arthur lifted the side of his manservant's bloodstained shirt and pulled away at the bandage slightly. They were healing over and already looked about a week old.
"Merlin…what…" Arthur mumbled, confused. Merlin didn't say anything. "What…I mean how…oh." Arthur's voice turned icy. He realised just what had happened here.
"I'm sorry." Whispered Merlin, quiet enough for the knights not to hear. "I had to…"
"Get back on your horse Merlin." He said brusquely. Merlin fumbled with the saddle, trying to pull himself back up. Arthur sighed then helped Merlin up gently.
"Thank you." Came the somewhat small voice. Arthur turned to his horse and they continued back to Camelot.
Was he angry at Merlin using magic? Surely if he was only using it to heal himself it was not doing any harm. If he had prevented himself from dying. Flashbacks of Merlin lying limply in the cave, his blue shirt soaked in blood, made Arthur shudder.
No.
He could not let Merlin die. With this determined revelation he sat up straight on his horse, his mouth set in a minuscule smile.
PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!
Even though you have TWO incredibly good reasons for doing so. ONE, I haven't updated in YONKS, and TWO this was perhaps the worst chapter so far. It is also really short.
I could babble on about how I had A level coursework to do and stuff but...the real reason is I kinda lost my inspiration for this story for a bit. Hopefully it is back now! xD
Please feel free to comment on the crapness of this chapter. I may go back and edit it, so please point out any bits I could improve? I shall try my best to update more quickly this time! Thank you all for sticking with this!
If anyone is interested...the tumblr account dedicated to this story is: mypartnerincrime (dot) tumblr (dot) com
THANK YOU ALL YOU LOVELY PEOPLE!
Reviews are appreciated =)
xx