Work Text:
Merlin had a bad feeling about this patrol.
Even with the Knights of the Round Table with them and Arthur’s assurance that they’d be fine, Merlin still had a bad feeling about being in the Valley of the Fallen Kings. He always did, but this time was worse than usual. He wasn’t exactly sure what would happen, but something would, and in his experience, that was enough reason for him to want to leave the Valley.
In vain, Merlin tried to convince Arthur that being in the Valley wasn’t a good idea, due to some reason he made up—he couldn’t exactly tell Arthur that he had a bad feeling about them being here, he’d never hear the end of it—but naturally, Arthur said no. They couldn’t leave the Valley without seeing if reports of Cendred’s men on Camelot’s land were true. Plus, he was with the best trained knights in all of Camelot, so Merlin just needed to relax and not worry so much.
Merlin had nearly snorted when Arthur told him that. “Don’t worry so much,” he had said. When it came to Arthur, he did nothing but worry. What was worse was that he hadn’t seen any signs of danger yet and they were already deep in the Valley.
That meant that whatever was coming was going to be really bad. That wasn’t good.
He was also fairly certain that Arthur wasn’t taking his warning seriously because he didn’t want to go back to Camelot. If they went back to Camelot that meant that he had to actually talk to Merlin and discuss what happened the night before last, when the two of them stayed up after the knights went to sleep and Arthur brought up the topic of the council pressuring him to find a wife.
It ended with Merlin half joking that he’d marry Arthur if Arthur didn’t find anyone suitable, Arthur agreeing that maybe Merlin wouldn’t be such a bad choice, and then the two of them sharing a kiss, before Arthur broke away suddenly and declared that he needed to start patroling, before leaving in a hurry.
Since then, Arthur had avoided talking to Merlin or being alone with him, even refusing to ride or walk next to him away from the other knights. Merlin wasn’t too surprised, honestly. Although Arthur had matured a lot since becoming king a few years ago, he was still awful at sharing how he felt or dealing with an uncomfortable subject when it came to love.
That didn’t mean that it didn’t irritate or hurt Merlin when the man he had feelings for wouldn’t even attempt to talk about what happened between them.
”Merlin!” A sharp call cut through his swirling thoughts. Merlin looked up and saw Arthur ahead of him, giving him a concerned, yet annoyed, look. “Keep up, will you? It’s bad enough we had to leave the horses behind at camp, I can’t lose track of a single person. Not even you,” the king scolded. Merlin held back an eye roll as he hurried forward to catch up with Arthur and the knights.
”I appreciate you extending your babysitting duties to include me, Sire,” Merlin said sarcastically, dodging a smack from Arthur when he got close enough.
“Keep your eyes and ears open, men. Cenred and his men could be anywhere and could’ve left signs anywhere,” Arthur instructed the knights, who each gave him a simple, “Yes, Sire,” in response. Merlin was concerned by the fact that they hadn’t seen any sign of Cenred or his men yet, but that didn’t mean they weren’t somewhere in the Valley planning something, or even waiting to ambush them.
A huge part of Merlin wanted to try and convince Arthur to leave by saying that since Cenred didn’t seem to be here, what was the point of them searching more? But the smaller part of him not only remembered that Arthur wouldn’t listen to him, but also knew what he would say in response. He’d say they needed to search the entire Valley of the Fallen Kings because if they didn’t, Cenred could attack nearby villages before attacking Camelot, and what then?
Merlin knew that Arthur was right. But that wouldn’t stop the awful feeling in his stomach from churning and saying that they needed to leave now.
A sudden rush of air and something flying very close past his head snapped him out of his thoughts and immediately drew his attention, turning and looking around to see the source of the disturbance and finding it was an arrow lodged in a tree. It definitely hadn’t been there before.
Loud shouting and cheers followed the arrow and turning his head again, Merlin saw a group of men armed with crossbows and swords running towards them. His heart sped up, but he stayed frozen to the spot as the knights and Arthur ran to fight against the mercenaries. “Merlin, go!” Arthur shouted quickly, finally snapping him out of his stupor and forcing his legs to run for safety.
When Merlin found cover behind some trees, he quickly started to use his magic to help where he could with the battle without drawing attention to himself or his hiding spot. An ambush by some mercenaries, possibly working for Cenred. That had to be the danger, right? They’d beat them and move on, all fine and alive.
So why was the uneasy feeling in his stomach getting worse?
Suddenly, he felt his own magic prickle in warning as he heard not only a sorcerer shout a spell, but also Arthur calling his name once more, this time more urgently. Merlin turned when he heard the spell and saw a fireball explode against a wall on the land above them, causing the ruins to crumble and fall down the hill towards them. Actually, no! Most of the debris would hit the knights and Arthur!
No no no! That wasn’t going to happen, he couldn’t let that happen!
Without even thinking, Merlin used his magic to divert the rocks away from the knights and Arthur. By the grace of the Goddess, his magic was able to, but now more of the debris was heading down the hill towards him.
Shite.
Merlin didn’t have the time nor energy to run. Instead, he tried to dive as far away from the oncoming avalanche of rubble as he could and covered his head, praying to the Triple Goddess that he made it out of there alive.
It felt like ages before Merlin felt safe enough to uncover his head. Honestly, it may only have been a few minutes or so, he couldn’t quite tell because of the pain he felt. His legs felt like they were on fire, it felt hard to breathe and his head was pounding.
Merlin looked around, immediately noticing that he was in the middle of the rubble that had been sent down the hill by the mercenaries. By the grace of the Triple Goddess, he wasn’t trapped under any of the debris and aside from having a tough time breathing, he didn’t immediately feel anything wrong with the upper portion of his body. That was good.
His lower half, however, was different. Merlin could tell that his legs were damaged somehow and, after sitting up against some stones and pulling up one trouser leg, he could immediately see what was wrong.
His left knee looked much bigger than it had originally and pressing it just once had Merlin biting his lip to hold back a shout. That was definitely broken, there was no doubt about it. A few presses to his left leg presented pain, but the pain wasn't worse there than in his knee. While his right leg was mostly okay, aside from some very sore spots, Merlin had to take off his boot to feel that his foot was definitely injured in some way as well. He carefully put on his boot again and leaned back against the stone, closing his eyes for a moment.
This was good and bad. The bad news was that Merlin not only didn’t know the healing spell to fix broken bones—he’d been stalling on learning healing magic and this was his lesson for not learning it, he guessed—but even if he did, he didn’t have the energy to cast it. Diverting the rocks from the king and knights took a lot of magic and there just wasn’t enough left in him to cast the spell.
The good news was that he could still walk. Merlin was still only an assistant to Gaius, but he knew enough to know that you could walk on certain broken body parts and be fine for a little bit. Would it be long enough to get back to their horses and back to Camelot, though? He wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t exactly full of better ideas at the moment.
”Merlin?!” A familiar voice called, unusually worried. “Merlin, where are you?!”
Fuck. Arthur.
Merlin didn’t know whether to be happy he was alive or panicked because he couldn’t let the king see his injuries. If he saw them, Merlin wasn’t sure what Arthur would do. Would he leave him here? Doubtful, but still a very small possibility. Would he try to help Merlin? Would he try to fix Merlin himself? The warlock wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t let Arthur see his injuries either way.
Biting his lip hard to keep back a litany of shouts and swears, Merlin carefully stood up and quickly muttered a spell he knew well. His left knee looked huge even under his trousers, but with the glamour, it looked normal. His right foot already looked normal, but Merlin had cast the glamour over that as well to be safe. That, hopefully, would be enough to make Arthur think he was fine, just until they got to Camelot and Merlin could go and see Gaius to get it fixed.
”Over here!” Merlin finally called, carefully taking a few test steps before he slowly walked out from the rubble in time to see Arthur hurrying over to him and clasping a hand on his shoulder, a mixture of worry and relief on his face.
”There you are!” Arthur sighed in relief, looking Merlin over. “Are you alright? Did any of that get you?” He asked, nodding to the heavy rocks behind them. Merlin gave him a shaky smile and shook his head.
”I’m fine, I’m fine,” he lied, brushing off Arthur’s concern. “Just bruises that’s all. What about you and the knights? Are any of you injured?” Merlin looked around, then frowned when he noticed the rubble across the narrow path they’d been traveling. It was high and blocked their way. Well, that was going to be a problem.
”Everyone’s fine, I’m okay,” Arthur assured Merlin. “But we’re cut off, as you can see.” Arthur let out another sigh, then shook his head. “Cenred’s work. Those mercenaries are wearing his crest.”
”How are we going to get back to the other side?” Merlin asked. He already knew the probable answer, but he was really, really hoping there was a different answer to that one.
”If we go that way, there’s a path that will take us back to the front and allow us to meet up with the knights. It’s a bit of a long way around, but we can make it there before sundown,” Arthur explained, looking at the only other route that wasn’t blocked, while Merlin mentally swore. Arthur looked back at Merlin and raised a brow. “Do you want to rest for a few moments before we start?”
”No!” Merlin said quickly, probably a little too quickly based on the reaction he got from Arthur. He took a breath and laughed a little nervously. “Sorry, just…all this has me…worked up.” He gestured to the chaos around them. “I’m fine, I can walk.”
Arthur watched him for a long moment, his expression doubtful, before he shrugged and patted Merlin’s shoulder. “Come on then. Let’s get going,” he announced, walking away. Merlin swallowed thickly and whimpered as he started to walk, a little slower, behind Arthur.
This was going to be a very long journey.
They had only been walking for a little bit, maybe about an hour, but Merlin was already exhausted.
It wasn’t even the walking itself that was difficult. It wasn’t easy by any means, given his injuries, and it certainly hurt. But if he walked slowly and carefully, despite Arthur complaining about his slow speed, he could do it. He couldn’t even completely blame the route they were taking. The trail itself had no obstacles and had been fairly boring, aside from both he and Arthur keeping an eye out for more of Cenred’s hired men.
He supposed that it was a bit of everything that was draining what was left of his energy: from having to use his remaining magic to keep up the glamour on his leg and foot, to using his own energy to keep himself standing, walking slowly and paying attention to the area around them and the trail. Doing all that, just an hour after diverting a deadly attack with most of his magic and also surviving the same attack, it was no wonder he was tired.
”Merlin, how is it that you’re walking slower than you were before?” Arthur asked with great annoyance, that cut through Merlin’s reflection. He looked at Arthur a few steps ahead of him and glared mildly at him.
”Excuse me for going slow, Sire. I guess I’m a little more sore than I thought after having all of that rubble pile on me,” Merlin answered sarcastically. Arthur let out a deep sigh and rubbed his face.
”If we start to go any slower, I’ll have to start carrying you,” Arthur warned him, shooting Merlin a look before turning back around. “I want to reach the knights before night comes. If Cenred’s hired help finds us, we won’t win with just the two of us against them.”
”Duly noted,” Merlin replied, then winced quietly as he stumbled slightly. This was the first time they’d been alone together since they kissed and Arthur hadn’t said anything about that night yet. Sure, it had only been an hour and maybe Merlin was expecting too much too soon. But would it be too much for Arthur to at least say something in regards to the kiss?
Yes, actually. Yes, it would. This was Arthur, after all.
Merlin would’ve brought the topic up himself if he weren’t exhausted and also fairly certain that Arthur would brush him off. It wouldn’t shock him in the least.
All of a sudden, Merlin felt his right foot hit something and he nearly shouted in pain and would have, if he had not felt his feet stumble forward quickly as he tried to stand up properly again. Instead, he stumbled right into a tree, hitting it hard and knocking what little breath he had out of him as he fell backward. “Ooof!”
As Merlin shut his eyes tight to try and catch his breath, he heard footsteps approach where he was on the ground. “What the hell are you doing?” Arthur asked, his tone sounding somewhere between concerned and even more annoyed than he was before.
Merlin took a few breaths to get some air in him before he tried to speak. “Got distracted. Ran into a tree,” he wheezed out, then opened his eyes and saw Arthur standing over him looking annoyed, and quickly added, “Thought I saw someone in the trees.”
”Right,” Arthur said, stepping back to look around for a moment as Merlin sat up once he was able to catch his breath. “I don’t see anything or anyone.”
”Must’ve been my mistake,” Merlin commented, then carefully stood up. He bit the inside of his cheek to make sure that he didn’t yell from his injuries screaming at him as he stood. Thankfully, his glamour withstood the impact of the tree. “The…trees, they trick you.”
The king rolled his eyes and made sure Merlin was able to walk before he turned away. “Come on, Merlin. You just focus on not running into anything. I’ll look out for any danger.” With that, Arthur started to walk ahead of Merlin once more, leaving him to walk carefully behind him with a grimace.
A river.
They had to cross a bloody river.
Okay, it wasn’t a river. Calling it a river would be extremely generous. It was more of a creek, but it was a fairly deep creek. Usually, creeks were shallow, but not this one. Based on how it looked, if one didn’t use the rocks that were there to cross, their boots would be submerged and positively soaked.
So while you wouldn’t drown in the creek, you’d be wet and unhappy.
Merlin had seen the creek as they walked, but he assumed that they’d be walking next to it or even around it. He didn’t think they’d be walking across the creek. With his knee on fire and his right foot throbbing, Merlin wasn’t sure he’d make it across unscathed. But the alternative was walking through the water and getting wet. Even then, that still might make his injuries worse.
”Merlin!” Arthur called, shoving Merlin roughly and snapping him back to the present once again. “Are you paying attention to anything I’m saying?”
Merlin blinked hard after staring at the water for as long as he had and nodded. “Of course I have,” He scoffed. “You’re talking about how to use the stones to walk across and where we’re going after that.”
Arthur huffed. “So you were paying attention. Good,” he said, then raised a brow. “Are you going to be able to get across alright? You’ve been walking slow the entire time—”
”I’ll be fine,” Merlin assured Arthur, waving a hand. “I used to cross creeks all the time back in Ealdor. This is nothing.”
Then again, when he crossed those creeks, he was also not dealing with a broken knee, an issue with both his leg and foot and difficulty breathing on top of that. But Arthur didn’t need to know that.
Arthur looked at him carefully for a moment before he sighed and nodded. “If you say so,” he agreed before he looked forward and started to cross the creek using the stones.
Merlin watched Arthur go across for a moment to make sure that he was steady before he took a breath and carefully started to cross the creek as well. He stepped on each stone slowly, making sure that each move was careful and deliberate. He just wanted to get across the creek without slipping and getting wet, was that too much to ask?
Apparently, it was.
Merlin wasn’t sure what had happened when he thought back on it later. All he knew was that one moment he was nearly across, with Arthur waiting for him on the other side rather impatiently, and the next moment he felt his foot sliding on a stone and he landed face first in the water.
Which was a good thing, since he was able to hide his yelling in the water from his broken knee landing on a stone underneath him.
After a moment, he pulled his head out of the water and saw Arthur with wide eyes getting ready to head for him. “Merlin!”
”I’m fine!” Merlin shouted, waving a hand quickly as he moved to get up, thankful once again that the glamour on his lower half was still going strong. “I slipped, I’m fine. Stay over there.”
”Are you sure?” Arthur asked, looking as though he doubted that Merlin was fine, even as Merlin stood up on the stones. Albeit, he was a bit wobbly as he stood, but he was standing. That was good. Probably.
”I’m fine,” he assured Arthur as he took the last few steps to get to the other side of the creek and let out a breath when he made it across. Merlin looked at Arthur and held out his arms, grinning. “See? All in one piece.”
”Barely,” Arthur remarked, shaking his head and watching Merlin for a moment before turning away. “Come on. Let’s keep going before you find another way to hurt yourself.”
”Only to keep you on your toes, Arthur,” Merlin answered, wincing and letting out a shaky breath before he followed after the blond.
They couldn’t be much farther from the knights. They had to be close.
At least, Merlin hoped they were close.
By now, Merlin wasn’t sure how long they’d been walking.
It felt much longer than it really was, based on the sun and how it was still fairly high in the sky. Or maybe the sun was lower and his mind was playing tricks on him. That wouldn’t be surprising, given how tired he was, how much pain he was in and how hard it was to breathe. Did time matter at this point?Not really, no.
He was so tempted to ask Arthur how long it would be until they met up with the others. But he wasn’t sure if Arthur actually knew. The path they were travelling seemed to go on forever and even with Merlin doing his damndest to walk as fast as he could, he still had to be careful so he didn’t give away his injuries. As a result, they were walking slower than expected, so Merlin was positive that Arthur couldn’t tell him when they’d see the others.
Were Merlin a better man, he’d tell Arthur to go on without him, to just leave him behind. Then again, even if he did, Arthur wouldn't do it. He’d never leave a man behind to die, not even his manservant.
Or would he? Merlin had to wonder, especially since they barely said two words to each other, beyond Arthur giving him directions on where they were going next. He had only asked if Merlin was alright the times he had gotten injured and that was it. If Arthur decided to leave him behind, Merlin wouldn’t be surprised, but it would definitely hurt. Gods above, it would hurt.
Hurt worse than his injuries, though? Probably not.
”Merlin!” He heard Arthur called and Merlin focused his eyes on the king heading back over to him on the path that he was currently walking.
“It’s just as I thought. There are steps just ahead that will lead to where the knights are. Or rather, should be” Arthur commented as he walked next to Merlin. “It won’t be too long of a walk to meet them once we get down to the bottom.”
Merlin nodded at Arthur’s words, trying not to show how much he hated the sound of doing anything that involved moving his legs or putting pressure on his feet more than he already was. He wasn’t even sure if how he was walking could even be considered that at this point. He was shuffling his feet to avoid putting any sort of unnecessary pressure on them and trying not to make his legs do any extra work. “Good. I’m exhausted," he muttered.
He saw Arthur frown out of the corner of his eye. “Are you sure you’re alright, Merlin? You’ve been looking worse and worse since we started walking,” he pointed out, and it might’ve just been Merlin’s imagination but Arthur actually sounded concerned.
“Well, considering I ran into a tree and then fell into a creek on top of being in the middle of an avalanche of building rubble, is it really surprising I keep looking worse and worse?” Merlin snapped, then let out a small sigh and rubbed his eyes. “I’ll be fine until we get to the knights, Arthur. Unless you want to just…leave me here. Which…I wouldn’t blame you—”
”I’m not leaving you behind,” Arthur reprimanded quickly, shaking his head. “You’re coming back to Camelot alive. I won’t accept anything else.”
Merlin chuckled. “Only because you can’t find another manservant who will tolerate you.”
”I could. It would just take too long to,” Arthur answered, then walked ahead. Merlin followed him and saw that he was leading them towards the steps that, according to Arthur, would take them where they needed to go. But these were not going to be easy to go down in the least.
They were not only steep steps, but they were also showing their age, cracking in some places, holes in others and some steps were crumbling at the corners. The stairs were not even between two walls all the way down, staggering between a wall on one side and then immediately to another wall on the opposite side when the wall ended in that area.
All in all, it was not a secure set of steps and Merlin really, really wasn’t looking forward to descending them. Either they were going to collapse or he would.
”Come on, Merlin!” Arthur called, drawing Merlin’s attention to the fact that the prat was already halfway down the bloody death trap he called steps. He held back a sigh and swallowed before he slowly started his descent, hoping that he made it down without falling.
It seemed, when he was nearly a third of the way down, as if it would go well. He’d be fine. He was going to make it down in one piece and he’d be okay.
Just as Merlin took the next step down, the area of the step he was on suddenly crumbled underneath his foot, as if it knew he was cursed to fall and hurt himself over and over again this entire journey. He didn’t see anything else other than the blur of stairs and scenery go by as he tumbled down the stairs, and didn’t hear anything because of the intense pain that shot through his entire body.
Amazingly, he only managed to stop thanks to tumbling into another object. “Merlin!” Arthur’s frantic voice said and he could barely feel his hand on his shoulder. Oh, the object had been Arthur. He opened his eyes and fuzzily saw the blond’s worried face looking him over, specifically looking at his lower half.
“S-sorry,” Merlin mumbled as he tried to get up, wincing in pain when his body refused to cooperate with his demand. Arthur, however, was already in the process of getting him up as carefully as he could.
”What the hell happened?! Your leg and foot looked fine just a moment ago!” Arthur carefully lifted Merlin until most of the his weight was leaning on Arthur and that’s when Merlin was able to finally look at his left leg and right foot.
The glamour had finally fallen, having taken too much abuse during Merlin’s falls, and revealed his injuries, which had gotten much worse following the last few times he’d been hurt. Even through his boot, he could tell that his foot was definitely swollen and his knee was much bigger than it originally had been when he climbed out of the rubble. On top of it all, it was harder to breathe than before and Merlin could tell that wasn’t good. Faintly, he recalled that could be due to a few broken ribs, but he wasn’t certain.
”I…I hid it. Using magic,” Merlin drawled out as he fought to stay awake, wincing and whimpering while Arthur essentially carried him down the remaining stairs.
”Why the bloody hell would you do a stupid thing like that?!” Arthur exclaimed, his voice angry, but quiet at the same time, as if he thought that talking any louder might make the situation worse. Merlin doubted that it would, but he appreciated the thought all the same.
”Didn’t want to…slow you down. Or be left behind. Or leave you alone,” Merlin said, as they finally reached the bottom of the stairs. He wanted to be relieved, he really did. But all he felt was pain and the strong urge to just close his eyes and rest. He couldn’t, though. He had to stay awake.
”You’re an idiot, Merlin,” Arthur grumbled as he carefully leaned Merlin against one of the walls while getting him onto the ground. Merlin let out a loud groan as he was put on the ground, his body feeling like it was on fire. He was in so much pain, it was hard to breathe, he just wanted to rest. His mouth felt dry and as he watched Arthur take the dagger from his belt and slice his trouser leg to look at his wound, the pain became too much.
Leaning his head back to feel at least remotely comfortable, Merlin let his eyes close and allowed the tired darkness to claim him, not hearing Arthur’s desperate calls for him to stay awake.
His face was wet.
Why was his face wet?
Merlin slowly started to wake a little more, trying to regain more of his senses before he actually opened his eyes. His face was wet, which was odd. He was covered in a soft blanket, seemed to be in a really comfortable bed, and it was oddly quiet.
Where was he?
After shifting around for a second, Merlin wiped the wetness off his face—was that drool?—while opening his eyes, struggling a little at first due to how heavy they felt. Thankfully, the room wasn’t alarmingly bright, so that helped some. But even though it wasn’t blindingly bright, it was just light enough for Merlin to quickly realise that he was not in his room, or even in the physicians chambers.
He didn’t know where he was, though.
Where the hell was he? He had been in so much pain last time he was awake, maybe he was dead now. Maybe he died from his injuries. Was he dead?
“You’re awake,” a surprised voice said and Merlin turned to see Arthur, dressed in more comfortable clothes, standing in the doorway of the room. Faintly, he was able to see what looked like a bedroom behind Arthur, but he couldn’t focus on it before Arthur hurriedly walked over to Merlin’s bedside and sat down on a chair that he hadn’t realised was there.
“Are you okay? Are you hungry? Thirsty? In pain? Should I get Gaius?” Arthur asked rapidly, faster than Merlin could answer. Head spinning, he held up a hand, signaling Arthur to stop. Gods above, he wanted to go back to sleep.
“I just woke up, Arthur,” Merlin managed to say, coughing a bit after he spoke, because of how dry his throat was. Probably from drooling.
So he wasn’t dead. That was good. Possibly.
Arthur instantly turned to the table next to Merlin’s bed, pouring something from a pitcher there into a goblet, before he leaned over and held it to Merlin’s lips. “Drink,” he ordered, as if Merlin needed to be told to. Still, he easily took sips from the goblet, until he nodded a little to show that he was done. Only then did Arthur pull the goblet away.
”Thanks,” Merlin said, his voice stronger this time. He groaned as he tried to move more, his body feeling sore and heavy. What he didn’t feel, however, was any pain, and that was more alarming than it should have been. “Where…What…How?” He didn’t know what question to ask first, or how to ask the questions to begin with.
Arthur raised a brow, but at least seemed to understand the first question he had tried to ask. "You're in my antechamber,” he informed Merlin. “I had you moved here when Gaius said it was safe to do so.”
He was in the antechamber in Arthur’s quarters? “You mean, the one you never use?” Merlin asked, sitting up a little bit in bed. Arthur huffed in response.
”I save it for special occasions, Merlin,” he corrected, but nodded. “But yes, the same one. I had it cleaned and made sure it was warm in here before you were moved.”
Merlin wanted to enjoy the way his heart swelled upon hearing that, wanted to smile and thank Arthur for doing that. Instead, all he could feel was hesitation and worry. “I…don’t understand why I’m here and not—”
“Because I offered to look after you here while we waited for you to wake up,” Arthur interrupted, his tone neutral and expression closed off. “Your wounds had already healed, but your body needed time to recover from you exhausting yourself and using up most of your magic. According to Gaius, anyway.” Arthur shrugged as Merlin’s heart clenched in his chest while his stomach sank.
So Arthur remembered that. Of course he did. Why would he forget? How could he forget his manservant and his best friend admitting to him that he used magic to hide his injuries? “Arthur, I—”
Arthur shook his head, stopping Merlin from speaking more. “Gaius told me about your magic, Merlin. How you were born with it and how you’ve been using it to help me and Camelot, though he wouldn’t tell me how.” He gave a chuckle. “Not that I really needed him to tell me. I already suspected you had it.”
Merlin’s heart stopped at that and his mouth went dry. “You did?” He asked in disbelief. Arthur raised a brow at Merlin.
”Of course. You weren’t obvious, but weird things always happen when you are around, especially when we get attacked during patrols. I’ve had a feeling for a while, but you confirmed it when you told me you were using magic to hide your injuries. Like a complete moron.” Arthur glowered and levelled a look at him. “You could’ve died, Merlin.”
”But I didn’t. I’m alive, as you can see.” Merlin waved a hand over his covered body as proof of just how alive he was.
”You almost were! You were in some kind of sleep-like state for a month,” Arthur revealed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he ran his hands through his hair. “I watched you lie there. Even after your injuries were healed by your magic slowly returning, you were still lying there, just…motionless. I had to make sure you were still breathing…” He closed his eyes, going silent.
Merlin watched Arthur for a long moment, stunned by how worried and upset he was at Merlin being asleep for a month. He was more stunned that he was in that state for a month, but that was the least of his concerns right now. He’d deal with everything he missed and what happened during that month later.
After a moment of watching him, Merlin did his best to lean forward and touch one of Arthur’s hands that was still in his hair. “I didn’t mean to make you worry so much, Arthur. I’m sorry,” he said gently. “I honestly thought you wouldn’t care so much, or at all actually.”
”Why did you think that?” Arthur asked, looking up at Merlin with a furrowed brow.
Merlin hesitated, then spoke. “When we were in the Valley, after we…kissed, you only talked to me about why we were there and nothing else. You didn’t even want to be alone with me and when we finally were, you still didn’t say anything to me that wasn’t about which way we were going or me falling.” He took a breath once he finished and shrugged. “That’s why.”
Arthur watched him for a second before he sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes. “I understand why you would think that. I don’t blame you for thinking that.” He looked up at Merlin and leaned forward a bit more. “But it’s not true.”
Merlin just raised a brow, silently prompting Arthur to continue. The king cleared his throat, then spoke after a moment. “I just…I already suspected you had magic and that was quite a lot for me to…process. But that night, when we spoke about marriage and kissed…I was already struggling with feelings for you I believed would never be returned, you see. And when you kissed me, I…I realised that what I thought I could never have was possible, but you had magic too and I wasn’t sure how to…talk to you about…all of it. So, I…”
”Decided not to say anything to me while you tried to think everything over,” Merlin finished, saying this even as his heart fluttered in his chest at the admission by Arthur that he returned Merlin’s feelings. He felt the same way, he seemed okay with his magic. It almost seemed too good to be real.
Arthur nodded, then swallowed. “I’m sorry for making you think I didn’t care about whether you were injured or not. I promise you, that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he reassured him. Merlin couldn’t help the small smile that came to his face.
”I’ll hold you to that,” he teased, then fiddled with the edge of the blanket that covered him. “So…does that mean we’re getting married?” He glanced at Arthur with a teasing smile.
The laugh that Arthur gave him filled his chest with warmth, but when he then reached out and held Merlin’s hand, the warlock swore his heart was going to explode. “Don’t you think we should do the proper courting first, before going straight to marriage?” Arthur asked.
”The whole incident at Valley of the Fallen Kings was our courting and I won’t accept you telling me otherwise,” Merlin argued back playfully, grinning as Arthur rolled his eyes, a warm smile on his face.
”Of course you won’t. So bloody difficult,” Arthur commented. Merlin squeezed his hand and tugged at Arthur’s hand, pulling him forward.
“Only to keep you on your toes, sire,” Merlin teased, before their lips met in a loving kiss, their fingers lacing together while still on Merlin’s lap on the bed.