Merlin 1. Chapter 1: Well, Well, Well

**I don't own Merlin.**

**A/N: Hello! This is was written mostly as an excuse to whump Merlin while he's doing something mundane because he's so good at finding trouble no matter what he does. Poor guy. This is unbeta'd so if you find any mistakes, please don't hesitate to point them out to me. I hope you like it. :)**

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**Herb Picking and Other Dangerous Exploits**

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"Do you have my list?"

"Yes, Gaius. I got it." Merlin responded for what felt like the tenth time.

"You should take a cloak. My joints are telling me it's going to be a chilly day." Gaius rounded his work bench and walked over to a rack, pulling a heavy, leather cloak down and handing it to his ward. Merlin fought an eyeroll.

"I'll be fine. It's not that cold."

"All the same, you should take it with you." Gaius insisted, shoving the cloak into Merlin's hands.

"I'll be warm enough with just my jacket." Merlin assured him, but Gaius just raised an eyebrow and he knew there would be no arguing with his mentor on this. He was taking the cloak.

"Oh … and if you could collect some horse mushrooms, that would be nice to add to our stew tonight for supper. It helps with my lumbago."

"I'll remember."

"Good." Gaius patted Merlin's shoulder, then reached for the pack sitting on the table beside him, handing it to him, "Off you go then."

"Okay. I'll be back soon." Merlin assured Gaius, turning and walking towards the door.

Just as he pulled on the door and opened it, Gaius called to him. "Be careful."

Merlin grinned back, "It's just herb gathering, Gaius. It's not anything dangerous like hunting with Arthur. I'll be fine."

"All the same …"

"I know, I know." This time Merlin did roll his eyes. Gaius was being a worse mother hen than even his own mother had ever been. "I'll be careful."

Merlin gave Gaius a little wave and grinned again as he stepped out of the physician's chambers and shut the door behind him. The smile stayed plastered on his face as he made his way out of the castle and into the town, waving and nodding at people he knew. He was in a good mood - the best he had been in for a long time. Gaius had seen to it that Merlin was released from his duties to the prince for the entire day so he could gather as many herbs as was possible before the first frost came and killed all of the plants and for the first time in months, he would have a day pretty much all to himself.

Though he would do just about anything for Arthur, it felt freeing to be out from under him for a whole day - he didn't have to shine armour or clean floors, dodge flying goblets, or get the prat dressed. And once he was alone and out of the city, he had plans to practice a few spells that he had been dying to try, but hadn't had the time or privacy to explore.

All in all – it was going to be a great day and his heart felt light as his feet led him out of the bustling town, through the gates and into the forest. He deeply breathed in the fresh autumn air and delighted in the way the sunlight gently filtered through the reds and yellows of the changing leaves above him as he strolled through the forest, every now and again, finding some of the herbs Gaius had listed for him to gather and collecting them, placing the plants and flowers needed to get them through the winter to come into his pack.

At mid-day, Merlin found a log to sit on and pulled the lunch he had packed for himself out and ate, listening to the birdsongs echoing through the trees. Once his lunch was eaten, Merlin sighed contentedly and he closed his eyes, feeling around with his magic to make sure there was no one around. Once satisfied that there wasn't a soul around for miles, he decided not to waste any more of his time alone he let his magic flow, allowing it travel from his gut and out through his extremities. A wonderful tingling sensation enveloped him and he smiled at the thought of the first spell he wanted to practice.

The spell was a rather simple one, but it was one that he had wanted to try for some time. He looked to the colored leaves scattered about the forest floor and raised his hand towards them, channeling his magic through his fingertips as he softly spoke the words of the spell he had memorized.

With a smile of pure mirth, Merlin watched as his magic left him and entered the leaves. They began to shake and quiver at first and for a second, he wondered if he had messed the spell up somehow until all at once the leaves began to change shape and transform. He laughed as the leaves took to the air, no longer litter for the forest floor, but beautiful butterflies that darted about and flew up towards the canopy.

He watched them flutter and dance about in the sky for several minutes, then let go of the magic possessing them. The butterflies then changed once again back into ordinary leaves and floated down to the ground like a colorful snowstorm.

Merlin practiced several other spells during his time alone, but after an hour he remembered that he still had plenty of herbs and plants on Gaius' list that needed to be gathered. He stood up from his log and grabbed his pack, slinging it over his shoulder as he grabbed the cloak Gaius made him take and draped it over his arm.

He walked forwards and headed out of the forest and towards a meadow where he knew much of the other herbs he had still to gather were growing. The open field was dotted here and there with many of the plants on his list and he made short work of collecting them and after an hour or so, he had an almost full pack. The only thing he couldn't find however, were the horse mushrooms Gaius had wanted for their dinner that evening.

He searched high and low for the elusive fungi and quickly grew frustrated when not a single shroom could be found. His eyes scanned the ground as he walked and looked out for the white-capped mushrooms, his thoughts drifting and shifting between the spells he had practiced and what spells he still wanted to try and daydreaming about the day when he could use his magic openly. After some time he found that he had wandered from the field and when he looked up, he realized that his mindless wanderings had caused him to stray into territory he didn't recognize.

Merlin stopped and looked back at the way he had come. The sun was quite a bit lower in the sky and he hoped that he hadn't gone too far off the beaten path for him to find his way back to Camelot before nightfall. He decided that he would just have to give up on the mushrooms if he wanted to avoid Gaius' wrath for being late.

As he was turning to leave and face the path he had made to this spot, Merlin noted the ruins of what had once been a cottage sitting along the edge of the woods. Just from one look at it, Merlin knew it had long since been abandoned and no one had lived there in years. What had once been a thatched roof had caved in on the old wattle and daub structure and the forest vegetation had taken over, covering the outside walls in ivy so thick that it nearly disappeared into its surroundings.

He was only going to give the cottage a passing glance, determined to get home before it got dark, when his eyes lit on a few specks of white peeking through the ivy at the base of the cottage's door. He felt a grin spread across his face as he recognized them.

Finally – he had found the damned mushrooms. Merlin didn't even particularly like the taste of the things, but they were Gaius' favorite and he was glad that his little venture had panned out and that his mentor wouldn't chew him out for not getting them.

Merlin dropped his pack and the cloak he had been carrying all this time and focused on the mushrooms, paying no heed to where he was placing his feet as he waded into the tall, almost waist high grass that stood between him and the cottage. Later, in hindsight, he would curse himself for not paying more attention to the ground, but without the benefit of such knowledge and being determined to get to the mushrooms, he failed to notice the ring of stones his toes tripped over nor the hole in the ground that they surrounded until it was too late.

The next thing he knew, he was falling and then it was dark.

OoOoOoOoO

Gaius was worried.

He had been worried even before Merlin had left for the day, as the boy never failed to find himself in dangerous situations, even while doing the most mundane of tasks. And now that night had fallen and there was still no sign of his charge, he had taken to pacing, hoping that his anxiety was misplaced and that at any moment Merlin would walk through the door with a sheepish look on his face and an apology on his lips.

But after another hour of his aimless and useless rambling about the chambers, Gaius could only conclude that something must have happened to Merlin – and probably nothing good. The boy was a magnet for trouble and he had lost many a nights' sleep since he met the cheeky warlock and it seemed like that night was not going to be any different.

While it was nothing new for the young man to go out and pick herbs for him alone, especially since Gaius' old and sore back made it difficult for him to do it himself, Merlin had promised to be back by nightfall and if there anything Merlin was good at besides magic, it was keeping promises. So, to say that Gaius was worried was an understatement.

Finally, unable to contain his anxiety anymore, Gaius left his chambers and headed for the only other place Merlin might be if he had come back to the castle – Arthur's chambers. Gaius could only hope that the boy had somehow been waylaid by the prince – that perhaps he had come back to the castle on time only to have Arthur see him and drag him off to do some task or another for him. As unlikely as that was since Arthur had granted Gaius permission to have Merlin spend the day harvesting herbs for him, he had to see for himself whether or not this was the case.

Gaius walked with a purpose through the castle and was soon at the prince's door and rapping on it. A moment late, the door opened and Gaius held his breath, hoping that Merlin's face would be the one to greet him. That wasn't to be however, as a young boy, several years younger than his charge peered at him from the other side of the door.

"Good evening, Sir. Can I help you?" the boy asked.

Feeling his heart drop, Gaius tried to compose himself and temper his disappointment. "I wished to inquire after the prince's manservant. Has he been in to see Arthur tonight?"

The boy shook his head, "No sir. I was just told I needed to fill in for him. He wasn't expected to be serving the prince until the morning."

Gaius nodded and sighed heavily. He was about to turn away when a hand grabbed the door above the serving boy's head and pulled it open even further. "Gaius?"

The older man looked up into Arthur's expectant eyes. He hadn't wanted to trouble the prince with worries about Merlin, especially this late at night, but it appeared that Arthur had already picked up on the fact that something was amiss just by studying Gaius' face. "What's wrong?"

Gaius shook his head, "It's probably nothing to worry about, sire, but you know Merlin -"

"Merlin?" The prince questioned with a hint of exasperation. "What did he do now?"

"Well, sire … it wasn't so much what he did as what he didn't do. He hasn't returned yet from gathering herbs for me today. He was due back at sunset and yet it is now almost midnight and he still isn't back."

"Perhaps he's just at the tavern." The prince suggested, "I'll have Phillip here go down and check for you. The idiot probably stopped for a pint and lost track of time."

Gaius knew that wasn't the case. Despite all of the times Gaius had used the excuse of Merlin being in the tavern to explain instances where the boy would disappear to save Camelot over and over again, Merlin hardly every drank and on the rare occasions when he did go to the tavern, he always let Gaius know and he never went alone. But he couldn't tell Arthur that, so he had to play along.

"Thank you, Sire. I hope that you're right."

"I'm sure he's fine, Gaius."

Gaius nodded, the unease in his stomach never letting up as he turned and made the long walk back to his chambers to wait.

OoOoOoOoO

Arthur watched Gaius turn and walk back down the corridor, his brow furrowing in frustration.

Damn Merlin!

Couldn't he see how worried he was making Gaius by being so irresponsible? Of all of the idiotic and reckless things to do! Would it really kill him to check in with his guardian before he went and spent all night getting drunk at the Tavern?

Arthur looked towards the serving boy working in Merlin's stead, "Go to the Rising Sun and if you see Merlin there, tell him to see me immediately. Understood?"

The boy nodded his head vigorously, "Yes, Sire."

"Good. Now go … hurry."

Nodding again, the boy took off like an arrow and ran down the corridor. Arthur walked back into his chambers and shut the door behind him, still fuming over his wayward manservant. He took a seat by the fire and stared into the flames, thinking about all of the chores he would pile on Merlin in punishment for being so stupid … again.

Gods, the boy was infuriating. He was useless on a good day, absolute rubbish at being respectful, and sometimes Arthur wondered how he had lasted in his employ this long without the prince absolutely losing his mind. He was never on time, he was sloppy with his chores, he talked back, and never knew when to shut up, and sometimes, like tonight, he would just up and disappear. But at the same time Arthur knew why he kept him as his servant - he was kind, loyal, brave, and was never a boot-licker like so many of his previous servants. One moment he would be tripping over his own feet and the next spouting off sage wisdom and advice that more than once had proved to be correct. Merlin was a living contradiction – a frustrating puzzle while being simple and humble at the same time.

Arthur knew he shouldn't be worried over his bloody servant, but he still couldn't stop the little knot in his stomach from tightening, especially when the boy he had sent to fetch Merlin from the tavern came blustering through the door, winded and minus his manservant.

"I'm sorry, Sire. Merlin wasn't in the tavern and no one has seen him. One of the guards tending the east gate this morning was in the tavern though – he said he saw Merlin leave and head for the forest, but he didn't return during his shift which ended just before sunset."

Arthur gritted his teeth together at the news and the little knot in his stomach grew into a massive tangle. Damn Merlin all over again. The boy just didn't know how to stay out of trouble. He gave him one day off – _one _day and he disappears! It was pitch-black outside this time at night and trying to go after him now would be nigh on impossible. Arthur had no choice but to wait until morning to go looking for him and he'd never get to sleep now that he knew Merlin was out there somewhere.

Arthur dismissed the serving boy and started to pace, internally cursing his servant over and over again. As the night slowly went by, he tried to occupy his thoughts with anything other than his manservant, but he failed miserably.

He had to believe that Merlin hadn't managed to get himself killed while picking flowers of all things, but who knows what he could have gotten himself into – bandits, wild creatures, and sorcerers had all been known to dwell out in the forest and given his servant's fighting skills and lack of self-preservation instincts, the young man wouldn't stand a chance against any of them.

As he marched up and down his room, Arthur snorted a little to himself, trying to put thoughts of Merlin being in serious trouble out of his mind, imagining that the moron probably just got lost and once it got dark, decided to camp out for the night, which would just be so typical of the idiot. More than likely, he'd come walking back into town with that stupid grin on his face come morning, looking all contrite and apologetic and then – then Arthur would lay into him and give him the tongue lashing of his life.

Oh yes … Merlin was going to be mucking a lot of horse dung after this.

Eventually, Arthur grew tired of pacing and found himself back in the chair beside the fireplace. As he watched the flames slowly die, his eyelids grew increasingly heavy until finally, they closed altogether and he drifted off into sleep.

Light streaming into his face startled him awake some time later. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but judging by the position of the sun, it was only just after dawn. He heaved himself out of his chair and stretched the kinks out of his stiff shoulders and neck before leaving his chambers and heading towards the physicians chambers.

He didn't bother waiting for Gaius to answer his knock at the door and he opened it to find the older man already up and about, looking as if he too had had a restless night.

"Sire?" Gaius spoke, his voice rough as granite. Arthur didn't need to ask if Merlin had returned, clearly he hadn't. All he could do now was reassure the physician that he would find his lost ward.

"I'll bring him back, Gaius. You have my word."

OoOoOoOo

It was dark.

His eyes were open, but he could see nothing. He wondered at first if he blind, but as he waved a trembling hand in front of his face, he could just make out the outline of his fingers and when he looked up he could make out the tiny, little points of lights that were the stars in the night sky.

It was cold.

A shiver rippled through his body, his hands and legs shaking, but no matter how much he shook and shivered, the chills came unabated and he could find no heat.

It was wet too.

His soaked clothes clung to his skin, chilling him even further. The water came up to his waist as he sat immobile at the bottom of the pit.

There was pain.

A lot of it, actually. His ankle throbbed in time with his pulsing heart and his head hurt, feeling much like he imagine an anvil would as it was constantly being pounded on by a blacksmith. He tried to stand, but the sharp, lance of fire shooting up his leg from his injured ankle kept him from getting far and all he ended up doing was splashing back down in the fetid water, gasping for air.

Merlin wasn't sure how long he had been down there, and even though it had only been moments since he had awoken in this watery pit, it had been far too long. He could almost feel the walls of the hole closing in around him, suffocating him. His hands touched along the walls, feeling rough stone under his fingers. He was unable to extend his arms all of the way out, the space as too narrow. His right knee remained bent, bringing his thigh up to his chest while his other leg was folded underneath it, submerged in the cold water in the only position that allowed Merlin to keep any pressure off his pain-filled ankle.

His thoughts were as muddy as the water he sat in, but he came to realize that this pit was probably a well built for the abandoned cottage. Leave it to him to fall down it, he groused to himself – only he would manage to find possibly the only well within the whole bloody forest and get stuck in it. He cursed his luck and wrapped his arms around his torso trying to conserve his body heat.

Merlin shivered viciously again, his whole body quaking from the cold, his teeth clicking together loudly and echoing off the sides of pit. Right about then, he wished that he hadn't dropped his cloak, but knowing it was too late for that, he resorted to trying to figure a way out of there.

First things first, he realized that he would have to find a way to get warm again and he reached for his magic within and spoke the words of a warming spell. His heart dropped however, when nothing happened. He tried again, but still, his magic failed, feeling like it was trapped within him, bouncing against some kind of invisible barrier, unable to break free.

He growled in frustration and swore out loud. He tried several other spells – ones to light fire, ones to light his dark prison, ones to levitate him out of the dank pit, but nothing worked. His magic was clamped down within him – something was holding it back and keeping it locked inside of him.

Merlin's heart started to pound, racing at a gallop. He had no way out. Everything hurt, it was too dark to see, and calling out for help would be pointless – there was no one around for miles.

Merlin hung his head, near tears. He tried to keep the panic that was building inside of him from taking over, but eventually it did. His shaking grew worse and not all of it was caused by the frigid water. His breathing became shallow and tight like a hand was gripping his throat, cutting off all of his air. He couldn't breathe! He wanted out!

But he couldn't move. He was trapped.

Fear became his only companion as the darkness smothered him.

He was going to die here, deep under the ground where no one would ever find him. Alone.

OoOoOoO

Arthur kicked his stallion into a gallop as soon as he was through the eastern gate where Merlin was last seen. According to Gaius, there were several fields and meadows just beyond the eastern forest where many of the herbs Merlin was supposed to gather grew.

He travelled alone. As prince and first knight, Arthur had some leeway when it came to ordering his fellow knights into action, but his father would have never approved of him using them to search for one missing servant. In many things Arthur agreed with his father, but this rule of courtly status where servants and ordinary people were found to be less worthy the knights' protection irked him. But there was no fighting against it. If he went to his father to demand a party be formed to search for a lowly servant, the first thing Uther would do after saying no would probably be to lock him up in the dungeons out of fear that he had lost his mind.

Instead, Arthur lied. He explained to his father that he would be spending the next day or two hunting. It was an easy enough excuse to be believed and Uther was too busy that morning with council meetings and the like to really care what his son was actually doing with his time.

It would be harder to find Merlin on his own without extra pairs of eyes to help, but Arthur had confidence in his abilities to track one bumbling, clumsy servant and bring him home again.

Thankfully, the night had been free of rain and Merlin's tracks were rather easy to spot. He found the first footprint not even a mile from the gate and the trail of broken branches and trampled ground was as easy to follow as a Roman road. He even found the remains of an apple core and bread crumbs from what must have been Merlin's lunch in a clearing only about an hour into his ride.

It wasn't long after that that the trail led him to a field. It looked as though Merlin had wandered all over the place here and it was a little more difficult to follow as the trampled grasses and flowers seemed to show that his servant had meandered everywhere. It took some time and Arthur had to dismount his horse and walk, but eventually he found that Merlin must have left the field and ventured towards edge of the forest once again.

Leading his horse, Arthur followed Merlin's zig-zagging trail until he saw something that made his stomach flop. To his right stood a small, dilapidated cottage surrounded by tall grasses and covered in ivy while just ahead he spotted something brown at the end of where Merlin's footprints stopped.

Rushing forward, Arthur dropped to his knees beside the objects, feeling all of the blood in his face drain away.

It was a cloak and more worryingly, Merlin's pack, still full of picked herbs and flowers. His servant wouldn't have just abandoned his things and yet there was still no sign of the man they belonged to.

OoOoOoO

At some point Merlin must have fallen asleep – either that or he had passed out, he wasn't sure which. Things were too confusing for him to keep anything like when he was awake and asleep straight and his head was pounding so mercilessly that he was barely certain of anything except for how much trouble he was in.

All he knew for sure was that things were getting a little lighter in the pit and when he looked up, he could just make out a round patch of blue sky. He was grateful for the extra light, even if down there, things were still so bloody dark – it made him a little less afraid and eased some of the overwhelming panic that had taken over him earlier. Yet still, the extra bit of light did little to warm the pit and it was unbearably cold sitting within the standing water. His shivering continued unabated and it was wearing him out the longer it went on.

He was so tired and his body was groaning in exhaustion. Closing his eyes and going back to sleep seemed like a really good idea until he made the mistake of trying to shift his position a little and get more comfortable, the movement causing him to accidentally bump his injured ankle against the wall of the well. For a while the injury had become numb while submerged in the water, but now the pain had come back to life with a punishing, angry vengeance and he cried out, tears springing to his eyes without his permission and streaming down his face.

Merlin tried to ride out the pain without losing was little composure he had regained since waking up again in this hell, but he was just too exhausted in too much pain to stop the sobs wracking his thin frame. His body shook as hopelessness and despair took over. He didn't think he could last much longer in this pit – he had no way out – no magic to ease his pain or save him this time.

His teeth clattered and clicked as the tears poured out, but he just couldn't stop crying – he felt like such a baby, but at the same time, it almost felt cathartic and liberating. He wept and wept – not just for his physical pain, but about everything – about how crushing the weight of his destiny was – and about how alone and isolating having magic made him feel even when surrounded by the people he called friends. It all was enough to make him want to give up and just let despair take hold.

But thinking about those friends – about Gaius, Arthur, Gwen – about how he needed to be there to protect them and how he would be failing them if he just gave up – and thinking about all of the people with magic out there that were depending on him to fulfill his destiny and see magic brought back, saw him finding a new sense of purpose and soon his tears dried up, replaced by a wave of calmness coursing through him and soothing his troubled heart.

Though he was hurting, cold, and scared, he knew that there was still hope. By now, Gaius had to be worried that he hadn't come home and he may have even gone to Arthur for help. Then again – when Arthur finds out about how his idiot servant once again managed to disappear, he'd probably throw a temper tantrum and send Merlin to the stocks for a week. On second thought, maybe he wasn't sure he wanted Arthur to find him.

_Merrrrlinnnn!_

Merlin thought a first that he was just imagining the sound of Arthur's voice calling his name from above him. After all, it seemed highly unlikely that one moment he would be thinking about Arthur swooping in to save him and then suddenly he's there as if he had conjured him. His magic was good – but not that good.

But then he heard it again, only louder this time and he knew it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He looked up and tried to shout, but all that came out was a weak and jittery "Ar-ar–th-thur?" as his teeth continued to chatter. He could barely hear himself speak and he doubted that Arthur heard his pathetic attempt either. He closed his eyes and cleared his throat, bracing himself to try again, forcing his mouth and jaw to work without stuttering, and drawing in as much air as possible.

"ARTHUR!"

OoOoOoOoO

Seeing Merlin's cloak and pack caused Arthur to immediately begin calling his servant's name even though he hadn't held out much hope of getting an answer in return.

He shouted Merlin's name several times in all directions and then was rather surprised to hear his own name being called back in return. His heart leapt upon hearing Merlin's voice and relief soared through him to know that he was near, but to his confusion, it seemed that his servant's voice was coming from the middle of the grassy field set before the crumbling cottage.

"Merlin? I hear you! Where the hell are you?" He shouted.

Arthur had to strain his hearing in order to pick up on the weak and distant response, "I'm here! D- down h-here!"

Following the sound of Merlin's voice, Arthur waded through the tall grass and then saw how it was possible for his servant to sound so far away yet so near at the same time as he came upon a circular hole in the ground surrounded by a ring of broken masonry that had been almost completely hidden by the grass. If he hadn't been watching the ground as he moved, he might have also stepped into the gap himself, it was so well covered.

Arthur dropped to his knees and looked down into the pit, gasping a little at the sight that met him from the bottom. Merlin's chalk white face stared back up at him in relief, his eyes glassy and tired. In a word, Merlin look terrible; he was covered in mud, had a large bruise on his forehead, and his black hair plastered to his face while the rest of him was soaking wet. He was sitting in at least two feet of dirty water and holding himself tight around his middle as his whole body quaked with tremors.

"Merlin? How in the world …?"

"I f-f-fell." He stuttered, his teeth clattering loud enough for Arthur to hear from above.

"I can see that." Arthur responded dryly, trying to hide his concern at the state of his servant. The drop had to be at least 20 feet or more and it was some kind of miracle that Merlin hadn't killed himself on the way down. "Are you hurt?"

"Ah … m-my ankle. M-m-might be b-broken. H-head hurts."

"Alright. Just hold on. I'm going to get you out of there and then we're going to have a long chat about watching were you are walking."

Merlin just nodded and hugged himself tighter and it concerned Arthur to no end that his servant had no snappy comeback for him or anything else to say. He really must have felt lousy to be so quiet.

"I'll be right back." Arthur called down. He stood back up and headed back to his horse, hopping that the stable boy who had prepared his saddle bag had thought to pack a rope. Thankfully, he had and Arthur made note to thank the boy once he got back, but first he had a servant to rescue.

Taking the coiled up rope, Arthur came back to the hope and hoped to the Gods that it was long enough to reach Merlin. Hanging his head over the hole, Arthur peer down the pit and swore, seeing that Merlin had closed his eyes, his head leaning against the wall and his mouth hanging open.

He shouted down the hole again, hoping that the young man had just fallen asleep and not passed out. "Merlin! Open your eyes! No sleeping just yet, got it?"

Merlin's head shook and he mumbled something Arthur couldn't hear but a moment later, his eyelids lifted and he stared out blankly. But more concerning than that was the fact that Merlin's shivering and teeth chattering had appeared to stop. Arthur had heard of men who had succumbed to the cold before and in most of those stories, the men had stopped shivering just before falling asleep for the very last time. He couldn't let that happen, he had to get Merlin up and warmed up fast.

"Come on, Merlin. Stay awake. You hear me?"

"Tired."

"I know. You can rest soon, but I'm going to lower a rope down to you and you need to tie it around yourself so I can pull you up."

Merlin blinked lazily like he barely comprehended what Arthur was saying, but he nodded and that would just have to be good enough sign that his servant understood what he needed to do.

Arthur took the rope and uncoiled it as he lowered it down, breathing in relief as the rope did indeed reach all of the way down with enough length left for Merlin to tie it around himself. Merlin raised a shaking hand to the rope and seemed at a loss at first as to what he needed to do with it. Arthur not so patiently reminded him to wrap it around his chest and knot it tight. Merlin's hands, however, were quivering so badly and worked with such little coordination that the prince was worried that it wouldn't be tied tight enough and he'd only end up slipping out of it and falling again.

"Tie it tight!" He commanded.

Merlin looked up and gave Arthur a tiny eye roll which eased some of the prince's fears a little. If Merlin was cognizant enough to be insolent, then he could certainly tie a rope around himself. Merlin worked frustratingly slow, but finally he had the rope wrapped around his chest and tied in a decent enough knot so as to not fall.

"Ready?" Arthur asked. Merlin looked up and grabbed the rope with both hands, nodding a little, "Y-yeah … just don't d-drop me … p-prat."

"Hang on!" Arthur responded, ignoring the insult. "I'm going to pull you up now. Don't let go."

Arthur took the rope began to pull. To his surprise, Merlin was much heavier than he looked – then again, he was soaked to the bone and that had to add some substantial weight to his slight frame. That was clearly why Arthur was struggling to haul him up and had absolutely nothing to do with any weakness on Arthur's part, of course.

Pulling with all of his might, Arthur slowly raised Merlin out of the water, his muscles straining under the weight. He grunted and panted and bent his knees to gain more leverage. Finally Merlin's head began to emerge from the hole and Arthur quickly grabbed his by the armpits, wrapping his arms around Merlin's chest to haul him out of the pit the rest of the way. Arthur ended up landing on his backside in a tangle of limbs with his manservant, both of them breathing heavily and gasping for air.

Merlin's eyes were scrunched tight and he groaned in pain, practically a dead weight on compressing on the prince's chest, wetting Arthur with his soaked clothing and shocking him with how cold it felt against his skin. How Merlin had survived in such cold water all night was a question Arthur would save for later, in the meantime, he had to get Merlin warmed up before he the worst happened.

Arthur carefully rolled the younger man off of him and laid him on his back. Merlin gave out a painful whimper as he moved him, but once settled, he suddenly went limp, his eyes rolling into his head.

"Oh no you don't!" Arthur grumbled, patting his servant's cheeks, wincing at how icy his ghastly white skin felt and at how blue the tint of his lips were. "Wake up, Merlin."

Merlin moaned and his head rolled from side to side, but his eyes stayed stubbornly closed. Giving up on trying to rouse his friend, Arthur decided that getting Merlin out of his wet clothes and into something dry and warm was the higher priority. Arthur ran back to his horse and ripped off the bedroll strapped to the saddle bag and on his way back to Merlin, grabbed the cloak that had been sitting on the ground by his servant's pack.

Once he was back by Merlin's side, he began to strip the young man's clothing off, peeling the wet cloth from his chilled skin and tossing it over to the side. Merlin only stirred a little as Arthur worked his pants off and accidentally jarred his swollen and clearly broken ankle. Arthur found himself apologizing for causing Merlin any pain even though the servant wasn't aware enough to acknowledge it. Once he had removed all of the wet clothes, Arthur unrolled his blanket and shifted Merlin onto it, wrapping him up in it like a swaddled baby.

What he needed next was a fire. Arthur crouched and carefully picked his servant up, carrying him towards the dilapidated cottage. Though the house was practically a ruin and had no roof, it most likely had a fireplace and the walls would help contain some heat from the fire and warm Merlin faster. With both arms occupied with his bundled friend, Arthur kicked in the door, causing its rusty hinges to snap as it crashed to the floor. Arthur grunted and crossed over the threshold.

The house was devoid of furniture, which wasn't surprising, but there was quite a lot of straw strewn on the floor from the collapsed thatch roof which provided a somewhat soft bedding for Arthur to lay Merlin down onto. The center of the small cottage held a round firepit rather than a fireplace with a chimney, but for his purposes, Arthur saw it as perfect.

Gathering some of the thrushes from the floor, Arthur tossed them into the fire pit and then ran outside to gather as much wood as he could in just a few minutes. He'd get the fire started first with just the twigs and small branches he found first and then worry about gathering proper logs to keep it going after he had Merlin somewhere near a normal temperature.

Soon Arthur had a fire going and the room began to warm. He pulled Merlin as close to the blaze as he could and checked him over again. His skin was still cold as ice, but during his examination Merlin began to shiver and even in his sleep, his teeth chattered. Arthur saw this as a good sign and he breathed a sigh of relief that the young man's body was finally trying to warm itself.

Arthur focused next on Merlin's ankle. The joint was definitely broken, but the best Arthur could do was bind it for now. He was no physician and as soon as Merlin was warm enough to travel, he'd get him back to Gaius for proper treatment.

Merlin slept on and eventually, the chills wracking his body began to calm and the skin of his face took on a more rosy color. Arthur felt then that he could finally relax a little now, believing that Merlin was out of danger from freezing to death. Arthur stared into the fire thoughtlessly, too tired and exhausted from the day's events to think much of anything.

OoOoOoOoO

It was warm.

He had almost forgotten what it was like to not be shivering or fighting the freezing cold and Merlin enjoyed this feeling of warmth, wanting to hang onto it forever.

He wasn't alone.

Merlin sensed someone hovering over him and reluctantly cracked his eyes open, not wanting to escape the comfort of sleep, but needing to see who it was. Arthur's face came into clearer view after a few fuzzy moments of confusion. But then remembered; Arthur had come for him – had saved him from the pit. He was immediately overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude that his master would go to such lengths for him, a lowly servant. It was a testament to what a great king he would be one day that he would do such a thing for him.

Arthur grinned at him wryly, but his eyes held concern even as he spoke in a derisive tone, "Well, well, well … it's about time you woke up, you lazy idiot."

"You came for me." Merlin spoke with a little hitch in his voice, the warmth in his chest swelling due to more than just the blanket covering him or the fire blazing beside of him.

"Of course, I did. Finding a new manservant would have been much more of a headache than pulling your sorry arse from a well."

"Thank you, Arthur."

"Don't mention it. Really … I mean it. My father thinks I'm out hunting, so none of this is to reach his ears, understood?"

Merlin sighed and nodded, knowing how Uther might react to his son traipsing across the countryside for one, stupid servant who couldn't watch where he was going. Again, Merlin felt a wave of gratefulness given the risk Arthur had taken to find him and he couldn't take the smile off his face.

"What are you grinning at?"

"You." Merlin smiled wider, "You care … about _me_." He teased, knowing it would rile the prince. Arthur wasn't one to express his feelings easily and it was always fun to try to get him to admit that he actually had them. "It's sweet, really. I appreciate it."

"Shut up, Merlin," Arthur demanded. "I did this more as a favor to Gaius. He was worried about you."

Uh oh … Gaius. Merlin's smile fell. He'd have to go back and explain to his mentor what had happened. Gaius would be angry and disappointed and would probably never let him go anywhere by himself ever again. While he knew Gaius would eventually get over it and forgive him for being so stupid as to get himself hurt while picking herbs, he also knew that he was going to get more than one lecture about being more careful. But Merlin really didn't mind – he deserved it and he'd take his lumps gladly so long as he was home again.

"Well …" Arthur started with a cocky grin, folding his arms across his chest to assert his authority, "now that it looks like you're going to live. We should head back to Camelot so Gaius can get you fixed up. The sooner you get better then the sooner I can assign you a few chores to help reinforce the importance of paying attention to little details like ... oh, I don't know … _not_ falling down abandoned wells."

Merlin groaned – Arthur was never going to let him forget this. Maybe it wasn't too late to jump back into that well.

OoOoOoOo

Gaius indeed gave Merlin a lecture as soon as he was certain that his ward was in no danger any longer, was safely installed in his bed, his ankle properly treated and a dose of pain medicine down his throat. Merlin at least had the good sense to be contrite for the worry he caused the old physician and apologized profusely. Gods help him, but Gaius just couldn't stay angry with the boy - he had been through a tough ordeal and things could have ended much worse than they did.

One thing did bother Gaius, however, and before Merlin could begin to feel the effects of the pain killer he had given him and fall asleep, he decided to address it.

"What I don't understand is why you didn't use your magic to get yourself out or at least do something to keep warm. You could have died from hypothermia down there."

Merlin shrugged, his eyes starting to blink slowly as the drug in his system began to take hold, "I couldn't. I tried, but my magic wouldn't work down there. It felt like something was blocking it. I dunno ... it was weird."

"But your magic is fine now?"

"Yeah ... I think so. I haven't really tried anything since Arthur pulled me out since he was always there, but ..." Merlin turned his head and raised a hand, his eyes flaring to gold causing the cup of water sitting on the table beside his bed to float into his grasp. "Looks like it's fine now."

Gaius took the cup from his ward's hand and looked down into the water rippling within it as he thought. He then recalled something that might explain why Merlin had been unable to use his magic in the well. "I think I know what caused your magic to fail. Before the purge many people would use enchantments on their wells to keep anyone from tampering with their water or using magic to poison their wells. Even before the purge, many people were fearful of magic, but not so much as to not ask a trusted sorcerer to infuse the stones of their wells with a spell to protect their water supply. Even the wells of Camelot had such protections until Uther demanded that they be removed. That old well must have been abandoned before the purge, its previous owners forgetting to lift the spell when they left."

"And, of course, I would be the only person since then to find it and fall into it." Merlin remarked dryly.

"Yes, well ... your penchant for getting into trouble even while doing the simplest of tasks is something that I have come to accept, even if I don't like it."

"M'sorry, Gaius. I promise I won't fall down any more wells." Merlin assured him, his words slightly slurring and eyes glassy.

Gaius laughed softly as Merlin finally gave into sleep and began snoring softly, "I'll certainly hold you to that."

**The End.**

**I was thinking about adding more stories about Merlin getting hurt while doing the simplest of tasks as additional chapters, but I'd like your feedback. Does it sound like a good idea or no? Has it been done too much already? Do you have ideas or prompts for what you would like to read? Just let me know, please. :)**


	2. Chapter 2: Spring Lamb

**Hey everyone! Thanks for all of the feedback and reviews for the last story. I'm really happy that you enjoyed it and I hope you like this next little installment.**

**Here's another long one-shot for you. I hadn't intended it to be this long, but I kinda got carried away and whumped Merlin hard in this. I'm going to warn you right off the bat that this story has a lot of ... well ... gastro-related illness in it and it ain't gonna be pretty. Also, all of the medical stuff in this is pretty much coming straight out of my head and probably had no historical or medical truth to it, so you may need to suspend a little belief as you read this. Again - this is not beta'd so if you come across a mistake or a plot-hole just let me know. Thanks for reading! :)**

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_**Set shortly after Arthur becomes regent ... Merlin cooks a meal for Gaius' birthday and things end disastrously. sick!Merlin, friendship.**_

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**Spring Lamb**

Merlin strolled down the marketplace cheerfully. He had a plan – a great plan actually, and he couldn't wait to set it into motion.

That day was Gaius' birthday. Though the old physician didn't care for parties or presents to mark the day and never wanted a fuss made over him, Merlin nonetheless, was going to do something special for him anyway. And he had just the perfect idea how to celebrate it.

He was going to make dinner.

Not just any dinner … no. It was going to be special. He was going make Gaius' favorite – spring lamb chops, pan-seared in some Rosemary he picked that morning, a loaf of fresh baked, white bread and vegetables. Normally, he and Gaius dined on cheaper cuts of meat like chicken or rabbit, usually in the form of some kind of pottage. Only once had he ever had lamb with his mentor and that had been nearly two years ago when Merlin had turned 18. But Merlin had remembered how much the older man had enjoyed the meat and he hoped to recreate it that evening.

The bread was also something of a special treat and the loaf of it wrapped up and stashed away in his pack was something he guarded especially. Usually, they could only afford the half-stale black bread that the baker sold to the local populace, but Merlin had saved up his meager wages as the prince -regent's manservant and made a deal with the palace baker to prepare a loaf of the white bread made from the more refined flour that the nobles were more accustomed to. Where the black bread was tough and crusty, the white seemed to melt in the mouth and would make a much better pairing with the lamb he was hoping to buy.

Whistling softly to himself, Merlin reached into his purse and counted what remained of his money. The bread had been rather expensive and he didn't have much left. He could only hope that he still had enough to purchase some lamb chops for Gaius and himself as he walked up to the butcher's stall.

Ian the butcher and his wife Mary were rather new to Camelot, but their prices tended to be much cheaper than Owen, their competitor in the stall across from them, which irked the formerly popular butcher to no end. Merlin knew that if he needed to stretch his coins, theirs was the stall to come to and as he inquired after the price of their lamb chops, he was surprised and delighted to find out that he could not only afford two chops, but four as they currently had an overstock in lamb.

His plan was already coming together rather brilliantly, if he did say so himself. He had begged Arthur for the evening off, explaining what he had wanted to do for his mentor and to his amazement, Arthur had not only granted him the time off, but had even given him a small tankard of his best wine as a gift to the physician (In truth, Arthur may have acted a little out of guilt since the prat had completely forgotten that it was the physician's birthday until Merlin mentioned it.).

Merlin gladly handed his coins to Mary to pay for the cuts of meat and quickly headed back to the physician's chambers. He had the bread, the meat, and the wine and now all he needed to do now was cook and wait for Gaius to return home from his evening rounds.

He could hardly wait – Gaius was going to be so surprised and that night was going to be one to remember.

OoOoOoOoO

Gaius was indeed surprised as he walked into his chambers and was greeted by the delicious smell of seared meat wafting about.

Merlin looked up from the table where he had just placed two plates and smiled broadly, his eyes alight with glee. "Surprise!"

"Merlin … what is this?" Gaius asked, approaching the table and viewing the spread his ward had laid out.

"Your favorite – lamb chops."

"Oh my boy, you didn't have to do all of this." Gaius protested humbly.

"But I wanted to. It's your birthday and you deserve a nice meal for once."

Gaius had to admit that it was a really nice gesture, even if over the many years of his life, he had come to view birthdays as just any other, ordinary day. The meat alone must have cost Merlin a good portion of his money and the obvious care he had taken to prepare the meal left Gaius feeling a swell of pride and gratitude for the boy who was his son in all ways but blood. Merlin might act the fool at times, but his heart was always filled with thoughtfulness and kindness towards everyone, especially those whom he cared about.

Smiling, he patted Merlin on the shoulder to show his thanks as his ward escorted him over to his chair and bade him to sit. "It looks absolutely delicious."

"Thank you. I hope you enjoy it." Merlin beamed as he grabbed a bottle of what looked to be some very fine wine and poured his mentor's goblet. "I'm not exactly a chef, but hopefully it's not complete rubbish."

"If the smell is anything to go, then this should be a delight." Gaius said honestly. He hadn't had lamb in a very long time and aroma it gave off was tantalizing.

Merlin and began to tuck into his meal with gusto, happily chewing the lamb while Gaius had just begun to cut his meat. Gaius had only just lifted his fork and hadn't gotten so much as a bite in when a series of loud knocks sounded at the door with urgency.

Dropping his fork, the physician knew that whoever was coming by at this hour was most likely not making a social call. Merlin made eye contact with Gaius and frowned, sensing as well that he was undoubtedly going to be called away from the special dinner he had prepared. Gaius gave his ward a sympathetic look before he stood up from the table and headed for the door.

Gaius opened the door to a young man in his twenties that he recognized as one of the castle's guards. He couldn't recall his name, but from the desperate look on his face, he knew that whatever emergency he was calling on Gaius for, it was indeed grim.

"I'm sorry to intrude, Master Gaius."

"No, don't be. How can I help you?"

"My name's Merrick, sir … " he dipped his head, "and my daughter … she's only three. She fell ill yesterday afternoon and hasn't been able to keep anything down since. She burns with fever and has grown listless. I fear the worst for her and there is nothing else we can think to do for her … I don't have much, but I will pay whatever you ask, but please … just help her." Tears sparkled in the worried man's eyes. Gaius placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about the payment, Merrick. Just take me to her, and I will see what I can do."

Merrick nodded with clear relief evident on his face, "Thank you so much."

"Just give me a few minutes to collect my things." Gaius said as he turned and headed for his work table.

Merlin had already risen from the dinner table and must have heard the conversation for he had already gathered Gaius' medicine bag and checked that it was stocked. He looked a little disappointed that his surprise for Gaius had come to such a quick end before it really began, but he also understood the need for his mentor to go.

Merlin handed off the bag to Gaius, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not as of yet. Hopefully, this will turn out to be simple to treat." Gaius sighed and looked at the surprise meal Merlin had made for him, "I'm sorry about dinner."

"It's fine. I'll just save our plates until you get back."

"Alright. Just don't wait up for me. I may be rather late in getting back and you still have Arthur to tend to in the morning."

Merlin nodded and Gaius patted his back before turning and following the young father out into the night.

OoOoOoOoO

Merlin looked down at the dinner he had prepared and sighed. Everything had been going so well until Gaius was called away. While he understood that the physician's work meant he could be called to duty at any time, and he felt sorry for the young man whose daughter was sick, he just wished that it hadn't been tonight of all nights.

Oh well … he resigned to himself, the little girl's health was what was more important than the meal. Carefully, Merlin draped a napkin over Gaius' food and then looked at his own. He was still really hungry, and the smell of the meat was tantalizing. He wanted to wait for Gaius to get back before he ate anymore of his food, but who couldn't be sure of when that would be. Maybe if he just ate one of his lamb chops that would be enough to satisfy his appetite until then and he could finish the rest when his mentor returned. That way they could still eat together and perhaps salvage some of the evening.

Sitting, Merlin sat and ate the lamb chop he had already started eating and finished it quickly. After that, he placed his napkin over his food as well and then decided to head to his room and do a little reading from his magic book and enjoy the little time off from serving Arthur that he had been given.

It was about two hours later that Merlin felt the first rumblings in his stomach. It gurgled and bubbled unhappily, making him feel slightly nauseous, but he tried to ignore and focus on his book. He was cold as well even though it had been a warm spring day and as he sat on his bed reading, he wrapped a blanket around his shoulders in order to abate some of the shivers.

After a while though, reading his book started to become difficult. The words bled together and he found himself reading the same passage over and over again and not getting much out of it. His eyes began to slowly blink and eventually, they closed all of the way as he slipped off into sleep.

OoOoOoOoO

Gaius did what he could, but he feared it would not be enough. The little girl he had been called to treat was severely dehydrated and fading fast. He had tried several draughts and potions to ease her fever and vomiting, but each one only caused the poor thing to heave violently and lose what little had been swallowed.

It wasn't until very late in the evening when Gaius began to see her turn around and make some slight improvements. He finally got the little girl to keep some water and medicine down, but by that time, her parents had also shown signs of coming down with the same malady, both of them developing a fever and becoming sick to their stomachs.

From then on out, things only got worse.

Soon, it was not only the guard and his family that were ill, but more and more people kept coming to the little house after hearing he was in the lower town. It seemed that whole families were being affected, their loved one's suffering from the same gastric illness, many of them sick themselves as they sought help.

It turned out to be a very, very long night.

Morning's first light came and Gaius had not slept a wink as he went from house to house, administering his dwindling supplies on hand to those in need of care. While the illness itself did not appear to be fatal in nature to those with strong constitutions if they kept properly hydrated, it was the weak, the elderly and the very young he was most concerned about. While the stronger, healthier people would be miserable for a few days at least, their bodies tormented by fatigue, fever, aches, vomiting, and diarrhea, those who hadn't been in good health before falling ill might not recover -they simply didn't have the reserves or the strength to withstand such an attack on their bodies. Already, Gaius had lost one patient – an old woman well into her 70's after only being ill a few hours, and he feared there would be more.

Knowing that he now had an epidemic on his hands that he was woefully unprepared to handle alone, Gaius decided he needed to send for help. Stepping out of a cottage where yet another entire family lay ill, he grabbed the first healthy person that walked by; a young boy a little bit younger than Merlin who readily agreed to help. Handing the boy a list of supplies he needed, he instructed the boy to run to his chambers and inform his ward of the illness and have him come straight away with as many of the items on his list as he could carry. He was to then go to Arthur and inform him that the lower town would need to be quarantined before the rest of Camelot was infected. Until the disease was under control, the best he could do was limit its spread.

After Gaius made sure that the boy understood what he needed to do, he ran off towards the castle at full speed.

OoOoOoOoO

Merlin had only slept for about an hour when he was awoken by an intense tumult rolling around in his gut. He moaned, nausea hitting him full-force even before he could open his eyes. His head and limbs heavy as lead, it took an almost herculean effort to simply roll onto his side and grab the chamber pot under his bed. What came next was predictable, but still took Merlin by surprise over how powerfully and painfully his stomach expelled its contents. The contraction of his stomach hurt almost as much as the burning of the bile and acids in his throat and nose as it all came up through every open cavity in his head.

By the time his stomach was finally finished torturing him, Merlin was shaking and trembling all over. He felt weak and drained, hot and cold, and sweat dripped down his face. Though he did feel slightly better now that his bout of sickness was over – he was still nauseas and who couldn't be sure how long it would be before the vomiting came back for another round.

The smell of the mess he had made into his chamber pot wasn't helping things either, so using what little energy he could muster, he took the pot and carried it outside to clean it, nearly throwing up again as he gagged over the disgusting and putrid smell.

Exhausted, but now fully awake, Merlin realized that dawn was breaking and he needed to get dressed for work. Wearily, Merlin headed back to his room, his bare feet shuffling along the cold floor, but he had no strength left to pick them up completely. As he climbed the short flight of stairs to his room, he had to hold on to the wall to keep himself from tipping over as his vision spun in circles.

Arthur was expecting him to return to serving him that morning and even though he felt like passing out at any moment, he knew he would feel even worse if Arthur put him in the stocks for being late again. He needed to at least make an appearance in the prince's chambers and get him his breakfast. Maybe after that, Arthur would take a little pity on him and let him go back to bed so he could shake off whatever this illness was that he had picked up overnight.

Then again – he could always try to magic himself better.

Thinking that magic might be his best option, Merlin plunked himself on his bed and closed his eyes, bringing to memory the best spell he knew for illnesses.

Whispering the words of the spell with a voice that was rough from the abuse his stomach acids had influcted on his throat, Merlin let his magic flow from his core and out to where he could command it.

The magic flowed and tingled, wrapping around Merlin like a warm blanket, but as soon as the last word of the spell out of his mouth, that blanket as ripped away and he was hit by an icy wave of pain lancing through his head. The pounding in his head only made his stomach feel worse and soon he was reaching for the chamber pot once again.

Perhaps magic wasn't the answer he was looking for. Merlin had never been all that good at those kind of spells anyway and it usually took many, many tries for him to get it right. And at that point in time, Merlin really didn't want what just happened to happen again when he was already feeling so miserable. He'd just have to deal with being sick the way other people without magic dealt with it – by sucking it up and plodding on.

Realizing that the time for Merlin wake Arthur up was quickly approaching, he resigned himself to getting dressed and making it through the day. Shivering, Merlin didn't really want to take off his night clothes in order to put on his regular clothes, but showing up in his pajamas to work probably wouldn't fly with the prince, so he dressed as fast as his tired body would allow, bundling himself up in his warmest shirt and jacket and tying his neckerchief a little tighter to his skin. Unfortunately, the clothes did little to chase off the chills and his teeth chattered despite his best efforts to get warm.

Merlin's vision started to blacken around the edges as he bent over to pull on his boots, but somehow, by some miracle, he didn't end up with his face kissing the floor and with a groan, he pushed himself to his feet and made his way out of the physician's chambers.

As he passed though the main room, Merlin dully noted for the first time that Gaius' bed had not been slept in. The patient he had gone to the other night must have been pretty bad off if his mentor had stayed the night, but if he still wasn't back yet, at least that meant that the little girl was still alive and for that, Merlin was grateful.

Head pounding and cloudy, body aching all over, Merlin walked out of the chambers and made his way to the kitchens where his nausea made a surprise resurgence due to the combination of smells wafting through the air from the cooking food.

_Don't throw up … don't throw up … don't throw up …_ Merlin repeated in his head as he filled a plate of food for Arthur as quickly as he could, trying not to breathe through his nose and cause what little as left in his stomach to come back up why he was surrounded by cooks. They were a testy lot on the best of days and vomiting all over the food they were preparing would be one sure-fire way to end up getting beaten by a spoon.

Once he had Arthur's plate filled, Merlin nearly ran out of the kitchen and out of the castle, down the stairs to the courtyard into the fresh, morning air, hoping that it would help the rumbling in his stomach to calm down. His hopes were dashed though as his stomach lurched and he had to drop Arthur's plate on the ground and rush for the nearest bush to get sick behind.

Although there was little to bring up, the dry heaves continued for several minutes. Tears streamed down his face in rivers and he wouldn't have been surprised if his stomach had turned itself inside out it hurt so much. When he finally felt like the worst had passed and he could breathe again without his gut spasming, Merlin felt onto his backside, shivering and shaking, hugging his knees to his chest.

He groaned, looking over at the upturned plate of food on the ground. Arthur's breakfast was ruined and he would have to get another one. Dreading getting up off of the ground, let alone another trip to the kitchens, Merlin hugged his waist, praying for the strength to just make it through the morning.

"Merlin?"

Startled by the sudden voice, he looked up blearily and then felt his face flush with embarrassment at being caught getting sick in the bushes. Standing above him on the stairs, Merlin was surprised to see Arthur glaring down at him.

"What the hell are you doing … and … is that my breakfast?"

Merlin pushed himself onto shaky legs, the world tilting slightly as his sight darkened for a moment. Suddenly Arthur was at his side and gripping his arm. He was confused – how had the prince gotten there so quickly? He must have blacked out there for a second.

"What is wrong with you? I heard you throwing your guts up and you look like you're about to swoon."

"Was not." Merlin protested weakly, rubbing his throbbing head.

"What did you do … drink that whole bottle of wine I gave you?"

Now Merlin was even more confused, "Wha? No … I just -"

"Showed up to work hungover?" Arthur finished for him and let go of Merlin's arm, pointing an accusing finger at him, "I swear to God, Merlin … I give you one night off and go and get drunk!"

Merlin was too tired and nauseas to tell Arthur off for jumping to conclusions and just stood there, wavering.

"Perhaps some time cleaning all of the castle's chamber pots will teach you a lesson in the importance of sobriety."

Merlin sighed and let his shoulders slump, hanging his sore head, uncertain if he would have the strength to ever lift it again. He didn't think he would be able to explain to Arthur that he wasn't, in fact, hungover, that he was simply ill. When Arthur got notions into his head that he believed were right, it could be nearly impossible to change them and Merlin just didn't have it in him to argue.

"Fine … I'll get right on that, Sire." Merlin mumbled.

"No … you'll get me a new breakfast first, then clean my room, then –" Arthur was abruptly cut off by the sounds of footsteps running towards them.

Merlin raised his head to see a teenaged boy come to a sudden stop before the prince and hastily give a reverent bow. He immediately wished he hadn't as a fresh jolt of pain passed its way through his skull.

"You're majesty!" The boy exclaimed, out of breath and his face flushed from running. He clearly had something of urgency that he needed to speak to the prince about.

"What is it?" Arthur asked.

"I have a message from Gaius …" The boy began, a little nervously. At the mention of Gaius' name, Merlin momentarily forgot his misery and became more alert. "There's been an outbreak of illness in the lower town. He says the area needs to be quart-quar—something."

"Quarantined?" Merlin asked as the boy stumbled for the right word. The lad nodded quickly and Merlin started to feel a new pit open up in his stomach. If Gaius thought the lower town needed to be quarantined, then things must truly be bad. That must be why he hadn't come home last night.

"He also asks that Merlin come help and bring him supplies. I don't know who he is though. He wasn't in the physician's quarters and I'm not sure where to find him, Sire."

"There's no need to look any further," Arthur stated smugly. "He's right here and will leave right away, won't you, Merlin?" Slapping Merlin on the back, Arthur pushed him forward. Merlin knew the small prod was meant to spur him into action, but Merlin was quickly unbalanced. Being unsteady on his feet to begin with, he pitched forward and was unable to catch himself, landing face first onto the ground in a rather undignified heap.

Merlin's stomach chose that time to remind him of just how much it resented anything he did and he was soon curled up into a small ball, dry heaving and panting whenever he could get a breath in. An overwhelming explosion went off in his head at the same time and even with his eyes tightly screwed shut, he saw spots and blobs of colors floating in his vision until finally … finally, everything went black and he didn't feel much of anything anymore.

OoOoOoOoO

Arthur's day had started out so well. He had woken before dawn feeling well rested and refreshed. He then dressed himself (yes … Arthur was well versed in the art of clothing his body, despite what his manservant said. After that, he had gone for a walk, taking in the early morning glow as the sun began to rise.

Yes … all in all, it had been a very nice start to what he hoped would be a great day.

But he had been oh, so wrong.

As he began to climb the steps up to the castle and heard the unmistakable sounds of someone vomiting into the bushes. At first, Arthur was going to ignore it and continue on, saving whomever it was getting violently ill the embarrassment of having their prince-regent discovering them. From the sounds of things, that person's day was going to be bad enough without him making it worse.

He took a few more steps up when out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar pair of brown boots sticking out of the shrubbery. Knowing the owner of said boots, all thoughts of saving that person any humiliation went careening out the window and crashed into the ground in a fiery explosion.

Arthur walked down the stairs and towards the bush where Merlin sat of the ground, pale and miserable looking. The younger man didn't seem to even realize that he was standing only a few feet away from him.

"Merlin?" Arthur barked, causing his servant to jerk in surprise and finally notice his master's presence.

It was then that Arthur noticed the plate on the ground and food scattered all over, including what looked like had been some perfectly good sausages before they fell into the dirt.

Arthur felt his face begin to heat up with anger as he put things together in his head. Arthur had not only given Merlin the night off yesterday, but had also given his a bottle of some very fine wine for Gaius' birthday, but from the noises Merlin had been making only a few moments ago, he must have had the entire bottle to himself and gotten himself blindingly drunk.

Arthur, wanting Merlin to know just how incensed he was, raised his voice, "What the hell are you doing? And … is that my breakfast?"

Merlin grunted as he pushed himself up from the ground and wobbled precariously. What little color had been on his servant's face had vanished by the time he was fully upright and he seem to wilt where he stood. For a moment, Arthur was certain Merlin was going to faint – which would have served him right for being such an idiot and drinking so much. All the same, Arthur hurried over to his glassy-eyed servant and grabbed his arm with probably more force than was strictly necessary.

And that's when Arthur began to lay into Merlin, berating him for his stupidity and for coming to work hungover. Merlin weakly denied being drunk, but Arthur wasn't having any of it and ignored his protests, after all – his idiot servant had taken a perfectly nice morning and turned it upside down.

Merlin winced as the prince raised his voice and Arthur was secretly glad that he was having that kind of effect on the younger man. Arthur began to compile a very long list of chores for Merlin to suffer through and teach him a lesson in responsibility and if Merlin had a little headache while he completed them, it would only serve to drive home the point. Perhaps then he would think twice about imbibing to excess.

Arthur was only at the start of his chore list for his servant when a young teenaged boy ran up to him at full pelt. Merlin seemed to perk up a little as the boy told them about the illness in the lower town, so when they kid asked for Merlin's help, Arthur didn't think that giving his manservant a little nudge to send him off to work would lead to such disastrous consequences.

That one, little push was all the prompting Merlin apparently needed to send him falling spectacularly to the ground face first. Arthur had a number of choice curses he was about to send hurtling towards Merlin, but when his servant began to curl-up, writhing on the ground and make some terrible gagging noises, he held off, waiting for Merlin to finish being such a drama-queen so he could properly hear just how annoyed the prince was at him.

But when Merlin suddenly went limp and boneless, Arthur began to get a little worried. The prince had seen many a man hungover before, but he had never seen it this bad in anyone before. Sure … Merlin was a lightweight when it came to alcohol, but even he wouldn't pass out if this was just a simple hangover.

Arthur crouched by his unconscious servant's side and rolled him over. Merlin was a dead weight as he was moved and moaned weakly until Arthur had him on his back. He was then able to really get a good look at Merlin's face. He was even paler than he had been before and there was a fine sheen of sweat wetting his brow. Arthur raised his hand and touched Merlin's clammy forehead and then cursed out loud at how hot his skin was, causing the boy hovering behind him to jump a little.

Okay … Maybe … just maybe … Arthur had misjudged the situation with Merlin a little. And maybe … just maybe … he was feeling a little guilty now that he could see just how sick the other man really was.

Arthur turned to the boy behind him, "Boy – " He addressed him, wishing he knew the kid's name.

Thankfully, the boy was smarter than he looked and filled the prince in, "Roger, sire. What can I do to help?"

"I want you run back to the Physician's chambers and gather the supplies Gaius needs and take them to him. You are to then assist him with whatever he needs. Tell him that I have sent Merlin off on an errand and that he will not be able to help him with the outbreak, but do not, under any circumstances, tell him that Merlin is ill, is that understood?"

"Yes, Sire … but if I may ask, why can't I tell Gaius that Merlin is sick?"

"Because … it would only distract Gaius. If he knew, he would want to break quarantine to see Merlin and I can't allow that, no matter how much I might want him to come back. We can't let this spread."

"I understand, Sire." Roger replied with a nod and a moment later, he was sprinting away, back to the lower town where he too would end up quarantined. Arthur made a quick mental note to see that the boy was compensated for his efforts.

Arthur then turned back to Merlin who was stirring a bit and groaning, his head flopping listlessly from side to side.

"Alright, Merlin." Arthur began, scooping Merlin up into his arms and standing, "Let's get you inside."

Arthur grunted a little as he climbed the stairs up to the castle, ignoring passersby's questioning looks until he reached the physician's chambers and laid Merlin down on the patient cot.

Honestly, Arthur didn't have the first clue as to what he was supposed to do, but he did know that if Merlin had the same sickness as the people in the lower town, then he would have to be kept isolated from the rest of the castle to keep them from catching it. And since Arthur had been in physical contact with Merlin, he too would need to keep himself quarantined from everyone as well. Who could say how virulent or deadly this disease was and he wasn't about to expose his people to it if he could help it.

So, that left Arthur as the only person who could help Merlin.

Damn … his day just kept getting worse and worse.

OoOoOoOoO

By accident, Gaius stumbled upon the answer to the one burning question he had had since this epidemic had begun. That question being what had caused this illness. Unlike a contagious illness like the stomach flu he thought it as at first, those effected were incapacitated quickly and since the initial outbreak, there had been no new cases, so whatever had caused this was most likely not something spread from person to person, otherwise, he would have far more patients.

No … this looked like something more sinister and possibly poison. But he couldn't be certain of that – all he had were suspicions.

It wasn't until he entered the cottage of his first patient and stumbled, quite literally into the table and knocked over a plate of unfinished food that he saw it. There on the floor, a piece of half-eaten meat had fallen from the plate.

It was lamb.

Gaius questioned the young family and found that all of them had eaten the meat before falling ill. He went out from there and asked all of the others who had fallen ill what they had eaten and same answer came back to him each time: lamb.

And all of them had purchased their lamb from the same butcher: Ian and his wife Mary. Almost all had said that his price for the lamb had been the cheapest they had ever seen and could hardly believe their luck that they could afford such nice cuts of meat. Unfortunately for them, their bargain turned out to not be such a deal after all.

It seemed the mystery of the illness had been solved – it was a simple case of food poisoning. True – it had had some terrible consequences, but now that Gaius knew the source, he also knew that the disease was not contagious unless the bad meat had been consumed.

Gaius was on his way to see the butcher and give him a piece of his mind for selling bad meat to an unsuspecting populace when he remembered the dinner Merlin had cooked for him and the lamb chops that had been the centerpiece of the meal. Gaius hadn't had a chance to even taste his lamb, but had dug into his.

Gaius felt his stomach twist a little at the implication, but all he could do for now was hope that the boy hadn't bought his meat from Ian's stall or that he had somehow escaped getting ill.

Unfortunately, when Gaius questioned the butcher and the guilty man confessed to selling lamb that should have been thrown out the day before so he could undercut his competitor; he also confessed to the physician that Merlin had indeed purchased lamb from him.

"You don't understand. I need the money and no one got sick when I did it before." Ian had said. "Your boy seemed pretty happy to be getting the meat at such a bargain – it's not my fault he couldn't cook it right."

Gaius was incensed and wished he was a younger, stronger man for he would have enjoyed socking the butcher in the nose for the misery and death he had caused. All he could do, however, was call for the guards and order them to send Ian and his wife to the castle where Arthur could decide their punishment.

As the butcher and his wife were taken away, Gaius sent word along with the guards that the quarantine of the lower town should be lifted and that all of the meat from Ian's stall should be destroyed at once. The guards complied easily and once they were gone, Gaius returned to check on his patients, quickly making sure that none of them were in danger of succumbing to their illness before he headed back to the castle as fast as his arthritic knees would allow – he had a ward he need to see at once.

Given Merlin's luck, and knowing that the boy had eaten some of the lamb, sent his blood pressure skyrocketing. As he hurried, Gaius' mind worked and turned over the possibilities and came up with only questions. Why hadn't Merlin come to help out? Why did Arthur send someone else in his stead, saying that he had sent Merlin on some unexplained errand?

Gaius had been too busy with the sick to question it earlier, but now that he thought about it, the excuse as to where his ward was looked horribly flimsy. What if Arthur had made an excuse for Merlin's whereabouts just so Gaius wouldn't come back and possibly infect the entire castle if the disease had been contagious? What if Merlin had been just as sick as all of the others Gaius had been treating but without the aid of a physician? Even though for most people, the disease wasn't fatal, if Merlin had been taking care of himself this whole time, who knows how bad it could be. He may be dehydrated to the point where even Gaius or magic couldn't save him. Then again – Merlin did have magic which was a positive point, but on the negative side, the boy was terrible at healing spells and even worse at ones to heal himself.

oOoOoOoOo

Arthur had been trained to be a fighter, a warrior, a knight and to one day become king. He had not, however, ever thought that he would have to act as nursemaid to his own servant.

Yet there he was, wiping down Merlin's brow as his fever soared and pulling out a bucket whenever the younger man awoke and turned green in the face. Arthur knew now the tell-tale signs of when Merlin was going start heaving again and when this was all over, he vowed to never touch another bucket again in his life.

All grumbling aside, Arthur was worried. Merlin was in and out of lucidity and most of his waking moments were spent folded over a bucket. His fever hadn't come down in the slightest and whenever Arthur did manage to coax some water into his servant, it usually came right back up again within a few minutes. And Merlin was working worse – his eyes had begun to sink into their sockets and his already prominent cheekbones stood out sharp enough to cut paper.

He didn't know what else to do. If Gaius had been there, he would have whipped up some kind of foul potion by then and Merlin probably would have been much better by now. But with only Arthur to tend to him, he was wasting away rapidly. Arthur always chided Merlin for his incompetence, but really, it was Arthur's own skills that were lacking in this situation.

A knock at the door broke Arthur from his musings. Tired, but still not showing any signs of illness despite the many hours he had spent with Merlin locked in this room, Arthur strode to the door.

"Who is it?" He called through the locked door.

"Agravaine, Arthur. A guard just arrived with news from Gaius. He says that the number of cases in the lower town has not grown since last night and he says that many people are now beginning to recover. It seems as though the cause of the illness was some spoiled lamb sold by a butcher in the lower town. Gaius says that the quarantine can lifted. However, there have been three deaths - all of them elderly."

Arthur hung his head a little hearing that any of his people had died.

"May I come in now, my lord? Since the crisis has passed, it would seem that your self-imposed isolation is no longer needed."

"Of course." Arthur said as he unlocked the door.

His uncle gave him a quick once-over, "You look exhausted. Perhaps you should retire to your chambers and get some sleep."

Arthur glanced over his shoulder to the cot where Merlin lay fast asleep. His complexion hadn't improved much and his fever was still too high for Arthur's liking. "I can't leave Merlin like this."

Agravaine raised his eyebrows contemptuously, "Have you been nursing your servant this entire time, Arthur?"

"There was no one else – I didn't have a choice." Arthur kept the fact that watching over Merlin as he suffered through his illness hadn't felt like so much a duty – it was something he had done because he was Merlin's friend and he wanted him to get recover. If Merlin had died … No … Arthur wasn't even going to think about that.

"All the same, Arthur. You are Prince and Regent of Camelot and now that the quarantine is over, you should return to your duties and patting the brow of a servant is not one of them. Another servant can see to his needs."

Sometimes Arthur appreciated the advice his uncle gave him and then there were times such as these where it was just plain annoying and condescending. However, he really didn't have a good argument to state against Agravaine's suggestion. He simply didn't want to leave. What his uncle said made sense from a logical stand-point, yet … it just wasn't something he wanted to do – he didn't want to retire to his nice, warm bed while Merlin was still in the throes of illness. He wanted to be there until Gaius returned and he could be personally certain that his servant was going to recover and return to work as his idiotic, buffoonish manservant.

Arthur was saved from arguing with his uncle, however, as the door was flung open and a wild-hair and panting Gaius bustled in, coming to a screeching halt upon seeing Arthur and Agravaine standing in the middle of his chambers.

"Oh! … Sire …" Gaius spoke between heavy breaths. "I … didn't … expect you … here."

"I'm sorry to have startled you Gaius, I was keeping an eye on Merlin –"

Arthur was cut off as Gaius was already at Merlin's bedside and started examining him, muttering, "Oh … you stupid boy … never buy meat at half price …"

Agravaine turned to Arthur with a forced smile, "I suppose that our good physician has things well in hand now, Arthur. I shall take my leave and hopefully you shall do the same soon so Gaius may work."

Arthur's uncles swept out of the room with an air of superiority while Gaius went to his worktable and began throwing various herbs together in a mortar and started to grind them together.

"Have you been giving him water, Sire?" Gaius asked Arthur as he took the paste he had made and added it to a cup of water.

"Yes … as much as I could, but he couldn't keep much of it down."

Gaius nodded, "Yes … I'll give him something to settle his stomach. The important thing is to make sure he stays hydrated and the longer he can keep something in his stomach the faster he will recover."

"So you think he will get better?"

"Yes … I don't think he's any worse than the others that came down with this and he's young and strong. He'll need several days of rest, but he should be back to his old self in good time."

Arthur let go a sigh, suddenly feeling as tired as he looked. Gaius paused in his mixing and took in the sight of the prince.

"You should go, Sire. I assure you that Merlin will be fine."

Arthur nodded, satisfied that Gaius had things under control. "I think I shall." He said as he turned to head for the door.

Before his hand touched the doorknob, Gaius called after him, "Thank you, Sire … for taking care of Merlin."

Arthur smirked and snorted a little, "I won't say that it was my pleasure, Gaius, especially after Merlin's fifth bout of vomiting, but I'm glad I could help."

OoOoOoOoO

Merlin woke feeling clear headed and mostly pain free.

It felt like ages since he last felt like this and he was grateful to be able to think without his mind veering off into weird directions or his stomach turning twisting into knots even a sailor would have a tough time tying.

He reached his hands over his head and stretched languidly, opening his mouth wide enough to crack his jaw as he yawned.

"Open that thing any wider and flies with not only gather, but take up permanent residence in there."

Merlin was a little startled to see Arthur leaning casually against his doorjamb, but grinned, seeing that the prince had apparently dressed himself that morning and his shirt was on inside-out. Merlin decided against mentioning it to him though and would just have to enjoy wondering how long it would be before he finally figured it out or someone had the guts to tell him.

"Arthur."

"Good to see that you still know my name and that the fever didn't render you an even bigger idiot than you were before."

Merlin rolled his eyes, "What are you doing here?" he asked. "Don't you have anything better to do than watch me sleep, like … I don't know … run the kingdom?"

Arthur feigned a scowl, "I'll have you know that it is on behalf of the kingdom that I'm here. I was just speaking to Gaius about what should be done with the butcher and his wife that caused this whole mess."

Arthur took a step into the room and sat on the end of Merlin's bed, his demeanor now heavy with the burden of leadership on his shoulders.

"Oh?" Merlin frowned, picking up on Arthur's tension. "What are you going to do?"

"I've decided to imprison them for a period of 30 days and after that, they are to never own or operate another business of any nature within Camelot and neither of them will be allowed to leave our borders to set up shop in other kingdoms either." Arthur sighed, unsure, "I just hope that will be enough. There are plenty of people out there that want to see them hanged for this, but … "

"That's rather excessive." Merlin finished for his master.

"That's what Gaius said."

Merlin smiled and folded his hands under his head, "Great minds do think alike."

Arthur scoffed, "The only great things about you, Merlin, are your _great_, big ears."

"At least they're not as big as your ego." Merlin countered.

"Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up." Merlin did … for all of two seconds.

"Arthur?"

"What?"

"My memory of the last couple of days is kind of fuzzy. But … I could have sworn that at one point, you were rubbing my back whenever I got sick into the bucket."

Arthur turned and faced Merlin, his eyes narrowing with deadly intent, "It never happened. And if you mention it ever I again, I will end you."

Merlin tried very hard to hold back the giggles erupting from his throat but ultimately failed. Arthur just threw his hands up in the air and walked out of the room, demanding that his servant return to work as soon as Gaius said it was okay.

In the mean time, Merlin's giggles turned into a beaming smile. He knew Arthur cared and the crowned-prince regent of Camelot had put his ego aside to help him when he had needed it the most. Sure, Arthur would never admit that he was Merlin's friend, but his actions were better than words ever could be.

The End


	3. Chapter 3: Noctambulist

**A/N: Thank you all for the the lovely reviews - sorry I'm crap at responding to them on this site - the review reply feature here is frustrating for me. Anyhoo - I hope you like this next little installment and for those of you who are Supernatural fans, you'll note something from that series has been shamelessly incorporated into this story. Again - I have no beta for this, so if you note any mistakes, just let me know.**

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo **

_Summary: Merlin can't even sleep without getting into trouble. __Set shortly after Agravaine arrives in Camelot._

**Noctambulist**

The first time it happened, Gaius wasn't overly worried.

That night, he had gone to bed at his usual hour only to be awoken only a short later to the sound of feet shuffling through his chambers. Scared at first that someone had broken into his rooms, Gaius sprung up from his bed as quickly as his protesting joints would allow and grabbed the nearest weapon he could find, the candle holder next to his bed. While Gaius was no spring-chicken, he could defend himself if need be and a good knock on the head with the heavy pewter could do some serious damage.

The aged physician was ready to shout a warning to whomever had dared to come into his rooms in the middle of the night, but as soon as he saw the slim, barefoot, and dark-headed figure, he relaxed, recognizing his ward even in the dim light. While Gaius was relieved to see that it wasn't burglars, but only Merlin making his way across the room, he also felt like giving the boy a piece of his mind for waking up at such an ungodly hour.

The lecture he was about to give him, however, was not forthcoming as the physician took in his ward's blank and dull expression. Something wasn't right.

"Merlin?" He called, but the boy didn't seem to hear him. Instead, he walked over to the cupboard and took out a bowl and spoon. He then walked over to the table and set the bowl down before taking his seat and picking up his spoon, dipping it into the empty bowl and then lifting it to his mouth as if eating the non-existent food.

"Merlin, what on Earth are you doing?" Gaius asked as he crossed the chambers, his concern growing.

With unfocused eyes, the boy paid his guardian no heed and continued to make the motions of eating, silently dining on air. Merlin's glassy, blank expression never changed, even as Gaius reached the table and waved a hand in front of the boy's face. At was if Merlin wasn't even conscious of what he was doing and was acting without any thought whatsoever.

Gaius, being a physician, began to see Merlin's behavior for what it really was – sleepwalking. While this was not a condition that he usually treated, he could clearly see that Merlin was not the slightest bit aware of what he was doing and was most likely in the midst of a dream. And even though it was somewhat amusing to see the young man dressed in only a nightshirt and with his hair sticking up in all directions as he ate a meal that wasn't there, Gaius decided that the best thing to do would be to get Merlin back in bed before the boy could wander anywhere else in his sleep.

Taking hold of Merlin's hand, Gaius halted the spoon from reaching his mouth again and grabbed the utensil from him, placing it on the table, "Come along, Merlin. I think you've had quite enough for now. Let's get you back to bed."

Gaius clasped his hand around Merlin's elbow in order to encourage his ward to rise form the table, but the moment he tugged on him, the young man immediately jerked and the expression on his face went from a pale shade of smooth blankness to sheer, white terror.

Merlin yelped and yanked himself out of Gaius' hold, stumbling to his feet in one swift motion and knocking his chair over as he backpedaled blindly. Long, gangly legs soon became entangled with the downed chair and Merlin fell, his rump landing hard enough on the hard stone floor for Gaius to feel through his feet.

"Where? … What? …" Merlin gasped. Shocked and disoriented, his head darted about and his eyes were as wide as a hunted deer. He panted and gulped, trying to gather his wits and failing rather spectacularly. "How did I get here?"

"It's alright, Merlin. Calm down." Gaius consoled, kneeling on the floor next to his ward, his knees objecting to the unyielding stone as he clasped Merlin's shoulder. "You've been sleepwalking," he explained.

"Wha?" Merlin asked, wide-eyed and still very confused.

"Sleepwalking, Merlin." Gaius repeated. "You must have been acting out your dreams."

Merlin rubbed his face and shook his head, "I don't remember that. All I did was go to bed and the next thing I know I'm here on the floor."

"Don't worry too much about it. These things sometimes happen when the mind is stressed or over-tired. It's a wonder that something like this hasn't happened sooner what with the way Camelot and Arthur seem to be in constant peril. Perhaps this is just your mind's way of coping with the pressure of your destiny. "

"Destiny … " Merlin blew out a breath of air, scoffing slightly, "I don't see how walking in my sleep is going to help me keep Arthur from getting killed by the hoards of enemies that want him dead."

"The mind is a strange thing, Merlin – mysterious and complicated. Even after all of my years of practicing medicine, it still amazes me what it is capable of and why it does the things it does. I fear no one will ever completely understand it."

After coaxing his ward off of the floor, Gaius ordered Merlin back to bed and then retired to his own after he was certain the boy was deeply asleep again.

The next day, turned out to be just another ordinary day. Merlin woke late and rushed off to serve the prince while Gaius spent his day preparing potions and making the rounds to his patients. No one attacked the castle, no evil sorcerers came to town seeking revenge for this or that, and nothing disturbed the peace that the city had awoken to. All in all – it was a rather dull and uninteresting day filled with the usual work that exhausted both Gaius and Merlin. By the time bedtime rolled around, both had pretty much forgotten the events of the previous night and gone to bed without any reservations.

But that evening, Gaius was once again awoken in the middle of the night – this time to the sound of glass shattering and books crashing to the floor. Gaius shot up like an arrow to see Merlin standing in the middle of the room, his eyes glowing golden in the darkness. Bottles of potions, books, and even the table and chairs were swirling around the room in mid-air all apparently at the control of Merlin's magic. Several bottles were hurtled into the walls, books flew off the shelves to join in the fray while the fire in the hearth flared into a roaring inferno.

His heart thumping, Gaius flung off his covers and then ducked his head just in time as one of his mixing bowls was tossed into the wall behind him.

"Merlin!" He shouted, but the boy only stood there, eyes glassy and face devoid of expression, completely oblivious to the havoc he was creating. It appeared that Merlin's bout with sleepwalking was back, but this time with a vengeance and he needed to wake the boy up before his chambers were completely destroyed.

Dodging some flying cutlery, Gaius used his arms to shield his face as he maneuvered towards his ward until at last, he reached the boy's side and he grasped his shoulders, spinning him around. Even at half-mast, Merlin's eyes flared bright with magic, but there seemed to be no consciousness behind them. Gaius shook Merlin none too gently and when that failed to wake the boy, he had to resort to something he was loathe to do; slapping Merlin soundly across the face hard enough to make his hand sting.

While Gaius hated what he had had to do, the effect was immediate. Merlin's eyes snapped open wide and the golden glow was extinguished, replaced by terrified blue irises. At once everything that had been lifted in the air, dropped to the floor with a resounding crash, loud enough for the physician to worry that the guards might come charging into the room at any moment.

Merlin jerked in his guardian's grasp and made a sound close to that of a shriek, his head whipping about in confusion and fear until his eyes landed on Gaius.

"Gaius … what?" Merlin gasped between breaths, "How did I …?"

Gaius, still gripping Merlin and breathing as though he had just run a race, could feel the tension in his ward's muscles building. As Merlin began to tremble, his knees buckled and Gaius had to increase his hold on the boy to keep him upright.

"Whoa … It's alright, Merlin."

Merlin gulped, shaking his head as he surveyed the room and its broken contents, "What happened? Who did this?"

"Merlin –"

It seemed to suddenly dawn on the boy how he came to be standing in the middle of the room with Gaius beside him amongst piles of fallen books and broken glass and if possible, his already pale face took on a chalky hue.

"Oh no … I did this?"

Gaius could only nod in reply.

"Magic?"

Again, Gaius nodded, still trying to calm his heart down enough to speak and reassure the boy before he fell into a full-blown panic. But already, Merlin was visibly shaking, looking up and down at Gaius, "Are you alright? Did I hurt you? … oh, Gaius … I'm so, so sorry. I didn't even know … how could I have done this? What did I do? Oh God …" He rambled, words tumbling out of his mouth, close to hysteria.

Gaius did what came first to his head and pulled Merlin towards him, drawing the trembling boy into a firm embrace. "Shhh … It's alright, Merlin. I'm fine. And so are you. Just try to calm down."

Merlin tensed under Gaius' arms, and pulled away, raking a hand through his hair as he circled and paced across the room in agitation. "Calm? How can I be calm, Gaius? I just used magic in my sleep – I didn't even know what I was doing. Look at this place – look what I did without even realizing it. What if I do this again? Or worse – what if I hurt someone next time?"

Gaius tried to reach for Merlin again and get him to stop pacing the room in his barefeet before he walked over the broken glass and shredded his feet. "Merlin –"

"No … I can't let this happen again." Merlin shot back adamantly. "What if I had done this with Arthur nearby? What do I do?"

Gaius wanted to reassure Merlin, but in truth, he too was worried about the same things. He didn't have the first clue how to help him or even where to begin. He didn't even know what was causing the boy to sleepwalk in the first place. All could say was, "We'll … figure it out."

Even to Gaius' ears, that sounded rather doubtful.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

Merlin didn't dare go back to sleep.

He busied himself with cleaning up the mess he had made of Gaius' chambers, all the while his mind was spinning with worries and what-ifs. Thankfully, the damage was limited to only the main room of the chambers, but Merlin knew it could have been much worse if he had somehow managed to sleepwalk his way out of their rooms and into the rest of the castle.

Mostly, his mind was stuck on one thing – he couldn't trust himself – he couldn't trust his magic. He had never lost control like this before and it scared him like nothing ever had before. He'd faced battle and monsters and the face of evil itself with Morgana's immortal army, but in all of those instances he had never felt fear such as this. How could he protect Arthur and Camelot when the monster he had to save them from was himself? The thought alone made him quiver and caused a nauseating wave of anxiety to worm its way through him.

Gaius worked quietly alongside him, sweeping up broken glass. He too seemingly lost in his own thoughts as he helped to restore the room to some semblance of order. He knew Gaius was would do everything he could to fix whatever was causing Merlin's affliction, but what was he to do in the meantime – never sleep again?

He could go maybe two or three days without sleep, but eventually, he knew his body would demand rest. Could he hold out that long before he and Gaius could discover a cure? And what if there was no cure? Could he even stay in Camelot knowing what he was capable of doing in his sleep? Even if Gaius locked him up in his room at night, Merlin knew that his power was great enough to cause destruction across the city even from there and he wasn't willing to take that risk. There was no telling what his sleeping mind might make him do and the people of the kingdom might be safer if he was nowhere near them.

Dawn was beginning to break by the time the room was back to an acceptable state. Merlin would have to find a way to replace all of the bottles he had broken and help Gaius brew all of the potions that had been spilled, but if anyone were to walk into the chambers now, they would not find anything amiss. Which was just what happened when Arthur himself strolled in unannounced and without bothering to knock. The prince wore a rather harried look as he sought out Merlin and began speaking.

"Good, Merlin. You're up early for once." Arthur remarked with more than just a hint of condescension.

Merlin rolled his eyes, "And for once it looks like I don't have to pry you out of bed before noon."

"Shut up, Merlin. We have to get going." Arthur flipped suddenly into a serious mode, "Agravaine just received a report that some mercenaries working for Morgana have been spotted near the eastern border. We leave in half an hour."

At the mention of Arthur's uncle, Merlin felt his teeth set on edge. While Agravaine had only arrived in Camelot a few weeks earlier to help Arthur since he became regent, Merlin had taken an almost instant disliking to the man. There was something in his placating smiles that struck him as disingenuous and conniving. Merlin, of course, had no proof that Arthur's uncle wasn't anything other than concerned for the welfare of Camelot and his nephew and had therefore held his tongue, but he just couldn't bring himself to trust him and kept a wary eye out for him.

"Half an hour? How long will we be gone?" He asked, dread creeping up on him.

"A few days most likely, so pack accordingly." Arthur instructed, turning on his heels and heading for the door. "And don't be late!" he called, over his shoulder before he closed the door behind him.

Merlin's heart thudded against his ribs as he turned to Gaius. This was just as he feared – being out with Arthur while his magic seemed to have a mind of its own while he slept. He would have to stay awake the entire time even though patrols were notoriously exhausting for the servant. Dammit … why couldn't the bad guys take a few days off for once?

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

As soon as Arthur left the room with the news that Merlin would be accompanying him on patrol, Gaius knew that Merlin was going to have a rough couple of days ahead of him.

Anxiously, Merlin turned to him with pleading eyes, "What am I supposed to do, Gaius? I don't know if I can stay awake for however long this patrol will be."

"Perhaps you should stay behind this time. I can explain to Arthur that you are ill."

"He won't believe that – he just saw me up and about. Besides, how can I protect Arthur if there are mercenaries that work for Morgana out there? I have to go."

Gaius nodded and conceded to Merlin's point. He didn't like the boy's stubborn resolve to protect the prince at all costs, but he knew there would be no talking Merlin out of following Arthur. Instead, he walked over to his locked cabinet, thankful that its contents at least had not been disturbed during Merlin's nocturnal disturbances. He wanted to tell his ward that everything would be alright, but Merlin couldn't take the risk of falling asleep and letting his magic run wild again until Gaius had found a cure for his sleepwalking – if he could find one at all. Until then, however, the physician had only one thing he could offer to aid his ward. Unlocking the cabinet, Gaius pulled out a full bottle of a tonic stimulant used for patients with ailing hearts.

"Take this with you, Merlin. However, do not drink more than a mouthful every six hours or so. Too much of this will make your heart race … perhaps even stop altogether if it beats too fast. So please … promise me you will take just enough to keep you going and no more. Hopefully, by the time you return, I will have something to cure your sleepwalking and you can get some real rest then."

"I will, Gaius. Thanks." Merlin said, taking the bottle from the older man's hands before racing to his room to get dressed. A few moments later, Merlin hurried out the door, tossing a quick good-bye to his guardian before disappearing.

Gaius watched Merlin leave with a little nervous bubble expanding in his gut, hoping that the boy would heed his warning about the tonic he had given him and not push himself too hard or take too much of the medicine. But then again – this was Merlin – sometimes things tended to go in one ear and come right out the other without bothering to even enter his brain. Gaius sighed – there was little else he could do for now except dig into his stacks of books and find a solution to Merlin's newest problem.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Arthur was annoyed.

_Four days_ – four fruitless days they had been scouring the eastern border and so far, there was no sign of the mercenaries. He was starting to think that the reports must have been false and that this whole search was a waste of time.

On top of all of that there was Merlin. The first night he had been his normal irritating self, bumbling about as he did his chores, but then over the last two days, he had gotten worse – sometimes babbling on and on, talking a mile a minute to anyone who would listen and then other times, he'd catch the boy nearly falling asleep in his saddle. His mood swings were also becoming increasingly hard to cope with as he would go from being cheerful and almost manic to sullen and depressed in the space of minutes. It was almost dizzying to watch and as time dragged on, Arthur was nearly at the end of his rope.

Arthur was loath to admit it, but he was worried. Over the last few days, the dark circles under his servant's eyes had deepened as though he hadn't slept at all and his face had thinned out, accenting his already prominent cheekbones until he looked perfectly gaunt. Aside from the first night, Arthur couldn't even remember seeing Merlin eat since they left. However, his servant was constantly moving and radiated a sort of nervous energy that made the prince exhausted just to witness – as if the boy was afraid that if he stopped and sat down for longer than a minute then he might pass out.

Currently, Merlin was hustling about their campsite for the night in a flurry of motion, darting about almost frantically as he went back and forth between doing this and that, making a fire, starting their dinner, and tending to the horses of the knights – never sitting still for even a moment between jobs, but never really getting anything accomplished either. It was like he couldn't focus on any one task long enough to finish it and when he did finish something, it fell far short of even his servant's normally low standards.

Feeling a headache creeping in, Arthur finally snapped at his manservant when the boy offered him a bowl of pottage with a shaky hand. The prince, while used to Merlin's lackluster cooking skills, was floored by the supper given him, nearly spit out his first bite, finding the food barely lukewarm and horrendously undercooked. "Merlin! For God's sake, what is wrong with you? How long did you cook this?"

"Uh –" Merlin responded, running a jerky hand through his hair and fidgeting, "A while, I guess?"

"A while? You guess?" Arthur repeated, with clear exasperation. The other knights in the party were also mumbling at the state of their suppers and this only made Arthur feel even more justified at berating his servant. "This is inedible; you do realize that, don't you? How are we supposed to track down a band of mercenaries when you feed us this dung?"

Merlin shifted from foot to foot and wrung his hands like he didn't know what else to do with them." I – I'm sorry …" he offered, "I thought it was cooked enough." Hurriedly, Merlin snatched Arthur's bowl away from his grasp and then went about taking the knights' bowls in a flurry, mumbling apologies as he darted from one man to the next and dumped the stew back into the pot over the fire.

Merlin kept moving as he babbled incessantly, "Just give me a few minutes and I'll gather more wood for the fire and get everything straightened out and then everyone will have supper and –"

"Merlin, stop!" Arthur shouted. Finally, the servant froze for long enough to turn and look at Arthur, his eyes wide and nearly frantic as he panted. Something was definitely wrong with him, the prince decided.

"Why don't you just _sit down_ for a minute, will you?" Arthur ordered. "You're making me dizzy."

Merlin's swallowed and nodded as he rubbed his hands on his pants and took a seat on the log set up next to the fire. Even while seated, Merlin's leg bounced up and down and his hands were in constant motion.

"I should get some wood for the fire." Merlin stated to no one in particular. Apparently, even sitting for two minutes was too much to ask. Arthur threw his hands in the air, giving up.

"Fine. Go. Take a walk, whatever you need to do, Merlin. Just get out of here for a while and don't come back until you've got your act together again." Arthur demanded, his voice sharp with frustration.

Merlin practically bounded up and disappeared into the surrounding woods within moments. Arthur watched him go, feeling a renewed niggle in the back of his mind that made him want to follow after the boy and demand that he tell him what was wrong with him. At the same time, Arthur could hear the voice of his father and his uncle in his head telling him that as prince and regent, that it would be improper for him to worry about his servant. After all, Merlin was supposed to be there to serve him – not the other way around and going after him was supposed to be beneath someone of his station. Then again, if Arthur had strictly followed his father's example, then he never would have allowed commoners to join the ranks of his knights and he probably would have never been able to defeat Morgana after her betrayal became known.

Arthur tried to put Merlin's behavior out of his mind and switched focus to the task the patrol had set out to accomplish. He could clearly see that his knights were just as frustrated as he was that they had come up empty. Even Gwaine, usually the most jovial of his knights, had been scowling all day and he was beginning to think that turning around heading back to Camelot would be best for all of them. They all needed some rest and Arthur needed to speak with Agravaine about making sure that any reports they received about their enemies in the future were verified before they went out on any more wild goose chases.

Finally, Arthur announced to the knights that in the morning they would head for home. That news seemed to cheer everyone up and the atmosphere around the fire relaxed. Gwaine began telling stories about barmaids that made even Lancelot laugh and before long, Elyan announced that the stew Merlin had left cooking over the fire appeared to finally be done and started dishing out the food to everyone.

It was Lancelot's question of "Shouldn't Merlin be back by now?" that cut short everyone's good mood.

Arthur hadn't realized that over an hour had passed since Merlin stalked off into the woods and suddenly he felt a little guilty for nearly forgetting about him. He had been a little harsh with his servant and though Merlin had thoroughly deserved it for being so incompetent, he should have come back within a half hour at most.

"I'll go find him." Gwaine volunteered, making to stand, but Arthur held up his hand and beat him to the punch, wanting to get a hold of his servant and make sure he was alright with his own eyes.

"No … you all stay and eat. I'll get him. He probably got lost or something equally stupid. I'll be right back." Arthur stood and grabbed his sword without really thinking, always prepared for anything. But Merlin had gone out into the woods without such protection – hopefully, he hadn't needed any, but with his servant's penchant for trouble, the odds were against that.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

Merlin left the campsite as fast as his legs could take him without making it look like he was running away. He was embarrassed over the fact that he had apparently not cooked the stew long enough, but over the last few days, it had become harder and harder to concentrate and do anything right.

To put it bluntly, Merlin was exhausted. The first night of their patrol hadn't been too bad – he had managed to stay awake without the help of Gaius' tonic, but by the afternoon of the second day of running around the countryside on horseback, he had started to get sleepy. That was when Merlin decided to break out the stimulant.

At first, just a mouthful of the liquid had done the trick and kept him awake for a few hours without any side-effects, but as time wore on, Merlin found that he needed more and more of the stuff just to keep his eyes open. The extra energy the tonic gave made him feel awake, yes, but also made him twitchy and nervous, made him babble for hours, took away his appetite, and left him feeling like he had to keep moving or his heart might explode out of his chest. His magic took was stimulated by the medicine and it bubbled just under the surface of his skin, feeling not unlike an itch that he just couldn't scratch.

But when the tonic started to wear off, he was even more tired than before and soon a mouthful wasn't enough – he had to take two , then three, then four. Gaius would probably be angry at Merlin for taking so much, but he couldn't let himself fall asleep – not with Arthur around and the potential for using magic while sleepwalking.

Once Merlin was out of eyeshot from the camp, he stopped for a moment and leaned back against the trunk of a tree. His heart was pounding in his chest, but he was just so tired than if he closed his eyes for even second, he knew he would fall asleep. He needed more of the tonic – even if the stuff made him feel like a nervous wreck.

Reaching into his pocket, Merlin pulled out the bottle and uncorked it with a hollow sounding pop. He looked inside and saw to his dismay that there was only a little bit left – perhaps only three or four mouthfuls. What was he going to do without it? He was so exhausted that he knew rationing it wouldn't do any good – he'd fall asleep for sure. Maybe he should just swig the rest of it? Maybe that would be enough for him to at least make it through one more night.

If Merlin had been thinking clearly, which he hadn't in several days, he would have taken the time to rationalize whether or not it was a good idea to chug the rest of the tonic, but as it was – all he could think about was not falling asleep – it was all he really cared about.

All in one go, Merlin tipped up the bottle and swallowed the remainder of its contents. It took only a few moments for him to start feeling the effects as his heartrate shot up and his hands began to twitch. But this time, he could feel something different happening – his blood pulsed madly through his veins and he felt so hot that he worried that he might spontaneously combust. Sweat formed on his brow and dripped into his eyes, matting his hair to his head. The world started to spin and tilt as his felt head light enough to float away if it hadn't been attached to his neck.

His hand gripped his chest where he worried that his heart just might break his ribs it was pumping so fast. His knees gave out next and he slid down the rough bark of the tree while every muscle in his body spasmed and twitched uncontrollably.

Merlin sat shaking on the cold ground, finding it hard to catch his breath and too scared to move. Gods … what had he done?

OoOoOoOoO

The darkness of the woods made it hard for Arthur to see, but thankfully, Merlin was rubbish at moving through any sort of terrain without leaving a trail behind. All he had to do was follow the line of broken foliage and disturbed leaves and before he knew it, he was almost tripping over his servant as he sat on the ground.

Merlin had his back to a tree with his arms wrapped around his legs, knees pulled up to his chest. His face was hidden from Arthur as his forehead lay on top of his knees, unmoving.

Arthur let out an exasperated huff for his servant to know that he was there. "Merlin … finally. What is taking you so long?"

Merlin didn't look up or respond. Initially, Arthur figured that he had fallen asleep, but as he grasped the younger man's shoulder to shake him awake, Merlin's head sprung up, his eyes wide and darting from side to side, pupils as small as pinpoints and not quite focusing on anything at all. It was then that Arthur noticed that Merlin was shaking and coated in sweat that soaked his hair and shirt.

"Gods … Merlin, what happened?"

Merlin started to rock back and forth where he sat, panting heavily and shaking his head, "Can't …"

"Can't what?"

"Can't fall asleep … can't …" Merlin was reaching hyperventilation as though talking was making him winded, "I'll walk … can't do that … I'll hurt you … can't sleep …"

Arthur noticed a bottle lying discarded on the ground. He bent down and picked it up, sniffing its contents. He instantly recoiled at the powerful smell of some kind of unidentifiable concoction emanating from the bottle. Whatever it was, Arthur got the feeling that it was most likely the cause of his servant's behavior.

"What is this, Merlin? Did you drink this?"

"It's … it's … medicine."

"Medicine? What? Are you sick? Why didn't you tell me, you idiot?"

Merlin again, shook his head vigorously. "Can't sleep. I'll hurt you."

"What are you talking about?" Arthur had many, many questions for his servant, but his answers would have to wait it seemed as Merlin suddenly pitched forward with a moan, gripping his chest in pain and causing a barb of panic to strike the prince.

Arthur reached out and caught his manservant just as his eyes rolled up into his head and he passed out into Arthur's arms. With Merlin pressed to his chest, the prince could feel his servant's heart pounding far faster than he thought was possible. His skin had taken on a waxy sheen and was clammy to the touch, but hot with fever.

Arthur was at a loss over what to do for a few seconds as his own heart sped up along with Merlin's, but he forced himself to be calm, to think and then he raised his head and shouted. Moments later, his knights found him desperately clutching to his ailing manservant.

**OoOoOoOoO**

Gaius found the cause and the solution to Merlin's sleepwalking far faster than he expected.

The cause, he had come across mostly by accident while trying to dig out Merlin's spell book from under his bed where he found a small piece of fabric sticking out from between the mattress and the slats of the bed. Pulling at the curious piece of cloth, Gaius found that the fabric was actually a small bag and one that he recognized almost immediately; a hex bag.

Hex bags were the work of dark magic – not something that Merlin would have been dabbling, of that he was certain. Someone must have placed it there under his bed as an enchantment, but who could have done it was the question. While it was true that Merlin had made plenty of enemies since he arrived in Camelot, this one had all of the hallmarks of the old religion and most disturbingly, of a high priestess such as Morgana.

Morgana had plenty of reasons to hate Merlin, especially after he spilled the cup of blood that kept her immortal army alive, and it wasn't surprising to him that she would try to exact some kind of revenge on him. However, it was worrying how she had placed it there without anyone noting her presence in Camelot. And even more troubling than that was the probability that she had someone on the inside of Camelot that was doing her bidding who might never be detected.

Right after finding the bag, Gaius took it to his work bench and opened it. Inside of the small bag was some rather nefarious and ultimately disgusting items; small finger bones, a desiccated frog's liver, various herbs, and part of a mandrake root. Consulting his books, Gaius found that a bag such as that could be used to induce madness to the point of suicide in the person it was planted on. The bag probably would have worked if Merlin had been a normal individual or even someone with small amounts of magic, but Morgana didn't know just how different and special the boy was. His magic would have protected him from the worst of the hex bag's effects, but it was still powerful enough to affect him adversely and cause his sleep disturbances.

Countering the hex bag's effects was rather easy. All he needed to do to break the enchantment was burn the thing, which he did with all due haste.

But that had been three days ago and Merlin still hadn't returned with Arthur's patrol. He had no way of informing his ward that the spell had been lifted and that it was safe for him to sleep again without worry. Four days without sleep would be almost impossible without the tonic Gaius had given him, but even with it, he would be exhausted and drained. But what worried him more was the cumulative effects the medicine would have on his ward. It was never meant to be taken for such an extended period and knowing Merlin, the boy would do just about anything to protect Arthur and the knights he called friends, even if it meant risking his life.

Gaius tried to distract himself with his work, mixing replacements of the potions and draughts that had been destroyed during Merlin's midnight escapade, but his thoughts always kept returning to the boy he would have been proud to call a son.

On the evening of the fourth day, as Gaius prepared to resign himself to another night of fretting over Merlin, a bang at his door and the entrance of the prince with Merlin in his arms confirmed all of his worries.

Arthur rushed into the chambers and went straight to the patient cot where he laid Merlin down. There was no need for the prince to call for the physician as he was already by Merlin's side, examining him.

"What happened?" Gaius asked, but given the state of his ward, he already had a suspicion of what was wrong.

"He collapsed and his heart his racing." Arthur responded and without hesitation, he pulled the empty bottle of stimulant Gaius had given Merlin from his pocket, "I found this next to him. I asked him what it was and he said something out it being medicine. He said he couldn't sleep and strangely thought that he was going to hurt me for some reason. He was talking all sorts of nonsense before he passed out. Is he sick, Gaius? Why wasn't I informed?"

Gaius felt Merlin's pulse, finding it beating erratically and far too fast. Indeed, his fear that Merlin would take too much of the draught had be realized. He wanted to berate the boy and curse his stupidity, but answering Arthur had become a priority and he needed to come up with something plausible before the prince became suspicious.

"I'm afraid, Sire, that Merlin had come down with a nasty case of the flu and was feeling rather poorly the day you came to take him on patrol with you. I wanted him to stay, but you know how Merlin is – he didn't want to be left behind. I insisted that he take this medicine with him, but it would seem that he is having an adverse reaction to it." Gaius shook his head, not in the least feigning the guilt he felt for allowing Merlin to leave with Arthur. "I fear I should have been more insistent that he stay."

Arthur frowned, but seemed to accept the physician's explanation with a small nod. Thank the Gods Arthur was no physician – he would have called Gaius out on his lie right away, but the prince didn't have a clue as to the first things about medicine.

"I suppose that explains why he was acting so strange. Will he be okay?" Arthur asked.

"I believe so." Gaius replied, heading for his supplies and pulling out various ingredients that would help to calm Merlin's heart down. "But I will need to counter the effects of the draught first."

Quickly, Gaius had a draught mixed and had Arthur plug up Merlin's nose as he poured the drink down his throat and coaxed him to swallow. Once he had the liquid successfully in is ward, Gaius waited a few minutes and then checked Merlin's pulse again.

Finding that Merlin's heart rate was beginning to drop, Gaius let go of the breath he had been holding and affectionately rubbed the top of Merlin's hair in relief.

Arthur, who had been standing aside to allow Gaius to work, approached, seeing that the physician had visibly relaxed.

"He should be fine, Sire." Gaius informed the prince, answering the question Arthur didn't have to ask. "I believe he should fully recover given a few days' rest."

Arthur visibly deflated and sighed with relief as he shook his head. "Stupid, idiot. He should have just told me what was wrong – I would have let him say behind or sent him home to recover."

Gaius couldn't help but agree, "Merlin is stubborn. He didn't want to let you down."

"I know." Arthur said quietly, nearly half-admitting how much his servant meant to him before switching in what Merlin called his 'prat mode'. "But, one of these days his stupidity is going to get him killed – probably by me."

Gaius placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder, "I'm afraid, sire, that you will have to queue up after me."

**OoOoOoOoO**

Merlin woke in his own bed for the first time in, well … he couldn't really recall, but it felt like forever. It felt wonderful.

He stretched arms over his head and curled his toes, reveling in the warmth under his blankets as he yawned loudly. He felt refreshed and rested – a far cry from the mind-numbing exhaustion that had filled his last lucid moments.

A throat cleared beside of him and he turned his head to find a stern-looking Gaius sitting in a chair to his side. Even though he was only half-awake, Merlin recognized Gaius' lecture-face anywhere and he knew he was in for a long talking-to.

"Good to see you awake, Merlin. How are you feeling?"

Merlin took a moment to assess himself. He felt pretty good, all things considering—he just wasn't sure how he had ended up in his bed when the last thing he remembered was walking into the woods to gather some firewood. All he could clearly remember was the need to stay awake and willing to do anything to not fall asleep. However – he must have been asleep for some time if he was feeling this well rested.

"Uh … fine … I guess. How long have I been asleep?"

Gaius raised an eyebrow, "Three days." He informed Merlin calmly.

Merlin was taken aback. "Three days? … Three? Really? But … did I … you know … do the sleep-walking thing again?"

"No. You should be happy to know that your sleepwalking problem has been solved. You shouldn't have any more episodes and you can rest easy at night – so long as you check under your bed for any hex bags, that is."

"Hex bags?"

"I found one under your bed. Who it was that placed it there, I can't say for certain, though I have one suspect in mind."

"Morgana." Merlin stated without asking whether Gaius believed so too.

"I wouldn't doubt it. However, that is a question we shall ask later. For now there are more important things to discuss."

Silence stretched on as Gaius sat quietly as if waiting for Merlin to say or do something. When Merlin couldn't think of what it was he was supposed to say, Gaius spoke up again.

"You're very fortunate; you do know that, don't you, Merlin?"

Merlin didn't get a chance to respond before his guardian began to speak again. "The amount of tonic you consumed should have killed you."

Oh … that's what Gaius wanted to talk about.

"I'm sorry, Gaius."

"I thought I explained the dosage to you."

"Yes … but it was too hard to stay awake. I needed it. If I had fallen asleep there was no telling what I could have been capable of – I had no control. I've never not been in control of my magic, Gaius …" Merlin swallowed hard past the lump growing in his throat. "and it … it scared me – my magic scared me. I could have used it without even realizing it – Arthur could have found out my secret or even been hurt by me. I'm supposed to be the one that protects him – not the one that harms him. I never want to feel that way again."

"I understand that, but all the same, Merlin, this deeply disturbs me. Yes … protecting Arthur is your destiny, but how can you fulfill that destiny if you are dead? You need to use a little common sense now and then and realize that you are just as important to Albion as Arthur."

Merlin dipped his head, "But … I'm … _I'm not_, Gaius." He said softly, "_Arthur_ is the one who is supposed to unite the kingdoms and bring magic back. I'm just – just the one that has to keep him alive until then."

Gaius shook his head sadly and reached out to pat Merlin's knee, "Oh my boy – how can you think that? You are so much more than Arthur's protector. You have changed him – for the better. He is becoming the man that will be the greatest king ever only because you have shown him how. But more importantly – you are his friend and he would protect you as fiercely as you watch over him – just as I always will. In fact, you should have seen how worried he was when he brought you here –"

Merlin felt a grin creep onto his face, imagining the prince in such a state. "Arthur? _Worried_ about me?"

"Indeed. It was quite the sight to see." Gaius shrugged, "Too bad you were unconscious at the time."

Merlin sighed, disappointed that he had missed that, but glad all the same that he had Gaius – his own protector and savior looking after him just as he looked after the prince. He wasn't sure he could ever tell the man just how much he meant to Merlin – after all, there just weren't so many words.

**The End**


	4. Chapter 4: The Stowaway

_A/N: Hello all! Thanks a million for the all of the reviews of my last story. I really appreciate the feedback! Sorry that once again, I have no beta for this, but I hope you like this newest story anyway. :)_

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Summary: Merlin meets a stow-away while helping a trader unload – one with fangs and venom.

**The Stowaway**

The covered wagon loaded with supplies wasn't such an unusual sight in Camelot in and of itself. Yes, it was larger than the normal carts and wagons that came and went from the castle, but it was the two men driving the horse-drawn cart that drew many people in the square to stop and stare in wide-eyed curiosity.

While it wasn't unusual for Camelot to receive visitors from distant kingdoms within their own land, these men were clearly from a place far, far removed from their country. Both men wore similar, long, white, linen robes, their heads adorned in bright, blue cloths that were intricately wrapped over their hair. Both men had similar dark skin and long, black beards, and the only thing that truly set them apart from each other was the fact that one man was at least a foot taller than the other.

They exchanged words between each other as the cart came to a stop and disembarked. No one knew what language they were speaking, but whatever it was, it wasn't English, Gaelic, Welsh or even the strange, guttural tongue of the Saxons that many of them had heard before. Wherever these men had come from, it had to have been very far indeed.

The people spoke amongst themselves; perhaps these men came from beyond the seas and from strange foreign lands like Rome or from one of those wild tribes of people that had invaded that mighty city and destroyed its Empire. Fear began to mingle with the people's curiosity. These men were an unknown element within their town and no one in the gathering crowd was brave enough or stupid enough to approach them.

Except for one man, that is.

Merlin broke away from the gaggle of people, almost forgetting that he was still holding a bucket of water meant for mopping the Prince's floor until he was next to the large, covered cart. He placed the bucket on the ground as the two men approached him.

"Uh … hello." Merlin began, wondering if either of the men understood what he was saying.

The two men looked at each other and spoke a few quick words that Merlin didn't think he would ever decipher even if he studied the language for years. It seemed that the men were bickering between each other over something, but when the slightly taller one pushed the smaller man forward, it looked as though he was going to be the one to do all the speaking.

As the man came closer, Merlin noted that despite the thick beard on the man's face, he was quite young, perhaps even the same age as himself.

"Ah … hello. We come … ah …" The man began carefully, his accented voice broken as he struggled to think of the words in English, "in peace. To trade. We have … goods from our country." He finished, nodding and smiling in relief to have gotten the words right.

"Oh …" Merlin trailed off. Dealing with traders was not a part of his job description and he wasn't sure what to do with them, but since it seemed that no one else was volunteering to speak with the traders, he would have to think of something. He'd have to find Arthur, he decided, but thankfully, the prince himself was already descending the steps and coming towards them with an air of regal authority followed by several armed knights, ready for anything.

"What is the meaning of this? Who are you? What are you doing in Camelot?" Arthur asked of the men with one part suspicion and one part curiosity.

"They're traders, Arthur, " Merlin explained before the men could say anything, eyeing the way the Prince's hand hovered over the sword at his hip, "Not invaders."

Arthur glared at his servant, "Obviously two men alone can't take on our army, Merlin, but I still need to know where they come from and what they are doing in the middle of the courtyard."

"How should I know?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, calling his servant an idiot without having to say the word "Why don't you ask since you seem to have developed such a rapport with them?"

Merlin shook his head and raised his hands in defense, "Not my job. I just clean your socks."

Arthur practically growled as he turned to the now confused foreigners, "I am Prince Arthur. I ask again, who are you and what is your business here?"

The young man Merlin had spoken with pointed to his chest to identify himself with an honest and friendly smile. "I am Fadil and this," he pointed to the taller man who stood silently, "is my brother, Anum. We come from country very far away … to trade." He gestured towards their cart, "We have much goods, medicines, spices … very fine … for your peoples. You find nowhere but with us."

Arthur appeared to be squinting as he struggled to understand the man through his thick accent, but he had also relaxed some as though he believed that the two men were indeed in Camelot merely for trading. "Alright, but you cannot stay here in the courtyard. Trade may only be done in the marketplace." Arthur slapped a hand onto Merlin's shoulders, "My servant here will show you where you may conduct your business."

"I will?" Merlin asked wryly.

"Of course, you will." Arthur grinned at having foisted yet another job on his servant's shoulders, "They're _your_ new friends after all, it's the only polite thing to do."

Merlin shrugged, looking at the bucket of water he had filled before the arrival of the traders, "Well … at least that sounds better than scrubbing your floor."

"Don't worry, Merlin. You still get to do that when you get back."

Merlin mumbled under his breath something about prats and arrogance as he waved his hand and gestured for the traders to follow him. The taller of the two men, grabbed the reins of their horses and guided them to pull the cart towards the marketplace, while the younger man, Fadil, walked beside Merlin.

While the walk to the marketplace wasn't far, Merlin found that he was unable to resist filling the silence between them by asking some of the many questions circling his head about the foreigners.

"So … where do you both come from?"

Fadil smiled genuinely, "We come from city called Cairo. You hear of it?"

"Um … not really. What's it like?"

"It very different. Much … uh … how you say? Hot? There is very much sand and desert. Your country very cold, but nice. You have many trees and green. I like." Merlin decided that he rather liked the other young man as he struggled to find the right words in English to converse with him. Merlin could tell that Fadil was somewhat frustrated that his English skills weren't better as he seemed to want to say so much more, but just didn't know how.

"How long did it take for you to get here?"

Fadil sighed, "Many months."

"Wow … you must really miss your home. I know I would. I've can't even imagine leaving Camelot for so long."

"Yes … but I have my brother. He is home to me."

Their conversation drew to a close as they entered the marketplace and sought out a place big enough to accommodate their loaded wagon between the stalls. Without any words, the brothers began to set up, pulling a table out from the cart and unloading boxes filled with strange spices Merlin had never smelled before, some of them sweet, some of them pungent. There were trinkets, bolts of cloth, and various brewed tonics and medicines that Merlin was certain Gaius would want to inspect for himself.

"Can I help?" Merlin asked, feeling like a bit of a heel watching them work and not really looking forward to going back to the castle right away to clean Arthur's room.

Fadil spoke to Anum in their language as if asking for permission. The older brother nodded, looking towards Merlin with the first smile he had seen on the man's face since he met him.

Fadil came Merlin's way and gave a little bow, "I thank you. Most people … uh … afraid of us. You different - very kind."

"It's no problem, really." Merlin flushed a little at the praise just as Fadil motioned for him to follow him to the back of the wagon. The foreign man climbed up into the cart and pushed a heavy crate towards the back where Merlin stood waiting.

"This very heavy. You take side?"

Merlin nodded and Fadil pushed the crate towards him. Reaching out, Merlin grabbed one end of the crate and gripped it tight as Fadil jumped down from the wagon to take the other side. They lifted together and Merlin found himself surprised at just how heavy the box indeed was. He had severely underestimated just how tight he would have to grip his side and it didn't take long for him to lose it.

The crate suddenly began to pitch towards the side and no matter what Merlin or Fadil did, there was no way to stop its descent to the ground. With a loud crash, the wooden crate fell, breaking open upon impact and spilling its contents. The box had been filled with brass bowls which clanked, clattered and rolled everywhere while the straw that had been packed inside of it to protect the goods was sent flying out along with them.

Red faced and ashamed at his mistake, Merlin scurried to right the crate and gather the bowls again. "I'm sorry, Fadil," he sputtered, placing the bowls he had picked up back into the crate.

"It is alright." Fadil assured him, chasing after an errant bowl that rolled under the cart.

"No really, I should have held it tighter. You warned me that it was heavy." Merlin said as Fadil came out from under the cart.

"These not break." Fadil assured him, rapping his knuckles against the hard, metal surface of the bowl he had just retrieved, causing it to ring like a bell. "Very solid."

Fadil handed Merlin the bowl with a forgiving smile. Merlin took it from him and grinned back at his new friend. "It's a good thing they're so sturdy. However, I've been known to break a thing or two that was supposedly unbreakable. Just last week, I broke the stem off of one of Arthur's goblets and nearly got put in the stocks for it."

As Merlin was explaining his penchant for clumsiness, he reached into the crate to place the bowl back inside. It was at that same moment that a hissing sound reached his ears and before Merlin could jerk his hand back in surprise, he felt a painful barb lance the meaty part of his thumb, stabbing deep into the muscle.

Merlin recoiled instantly and drew back his hand, shaking it out ineffectually as he sucked in a breath through his teeth. If he had to guess, he would have said that he had just been stung by the most powerful bee that had ever lived. His estimation, however, was well off the mark and Fadil was the first to point and shout an exclamation as a creature began to emerge from the crate, slithering out from the side. It was a snake, that much was clear, but Merlin never seen one such as this. It was long and thick and it reared up, its belly leaving the ground while it flattened itself out, creating a sort of hood along the sides of its head as it hissed in agitation.

"Ai! Anum! Cobra!"

Anum, whom Merlin had taken to be rather quietly stoic, seemed to appear out of nowhere with a long, curved sword in hand. Merlin never had the time to question where Anum had come up with the enormous and lethal weapon, but was grateful when the tall man arced its blade into the air and came down upon the snake, chopping its head off in one felled swoop. The snake's head fell to the ground, its jaw opening and closing as if looking to chomp down on its last victim even in death.

Merlin's relief in seeing the snake die was short-lived, however, as the pain in his hand grew exponentially and he pulled it close to his chest.

"My friend … it bite?" Fadil asked, approaching cautiously as he looked towards Melrin's injured hand.

Merlin could only nod, wincing in pain as his hand began to throb in time with his racing heart, swelling hot and red at the site of the double puncture wounds. A weird sensation of pins and needles was traveling up from his hand and arm and in only moments, his whole limb was numb.

Fadil muttered a few words in his language that Merlin interpreted to mean something close to 'oh shit' in English and Merlin knew without a doubt that he was in big, big trouble. At first, Merlin thought about reaching for his magic, but 1: he was in the middle of the marketplace, surrounded by hundreds of people, and 2: he didn't know a single spell that could heal a snakebite.

Merlin knew he had to get himself to Gaius, hoping that his guardian might know what to do, but his head was starting to spin and he felt sick to his stomach while his legs too had taken on a rubbery quality as the numbing sensation racing through his muscles spread. Whatever venom had been in that snakebite, it was acting fast and feared he would never make it to Gaius in time. His heart raced as he realized that he just might die right there in the middle of the marketplace.

Unable to feel his legs anymore, Merlin's knees buckled. Fadil suddenly appeared at Merlin's side and wrapped an arm around his waist to hold him up as he called for his brother to come and take hold of Merlin's other side.

Merlin felt his head dip, too heavy to hold up anymore as Fadil spoke to him in reassuring tones, "Fear not, my friend. We find physician. You will be well."

OoOoOoOoO

Gaius didn't usually nap during the day, but after the week he had had, he felt it was justified. It seemed as though all of Camelot had decided that this was the week that everyone and his brother had to injure themselves or fall ill. After the old physician had run himself ragged doing all that he could for his patients, he felt that this one afternoon nap was one that he had justly earned.

He had just begun to drift off, lying on top of his bed's covers, when the door suddenly burst open, nearly causing his poor, old heart to jump straight out of his chest. He shot up as two men he had never seen before entered his chambers, both practically carrying his ward between them. Merlin's head hung towards his chest as the two men held him up, each with an arm encircling his waist.

Gaius was off of his bed in an instant, "Merlin! What on Earth –"

"You physician, no?" the shorter of the two strangers asked quickly in thickly accented English before Gaius could get a response from Merlin.

"Yes." Gaius replied, gesturing for the men to place Merlin on the patient's cot in the middle of the room. Merlin's legs dragged along the floor like two soggy pieces of rope as the men pulled him along and gently deposited him onto the bed.

Gaius didn't have time to question who these men were, his attention was solely focused on his ward. "What happened?" he asked of the man who had spoken before.

"Cobra … it bite his hand." The young man replied as best as he could, in broken English. "It is snake – very bad. You must help."

"A snake?" Gaius questioned as he knelt beside Merlin and began to assess his condition. "What kind of snake?"

"From my country." The short man replied, "It hide in box. It travel with us. We did not know."

Gaius nodded, trying to understand. From what he could gather, the snake that bit Merlin was not native to Camelot, but must have slipped into a box the foreign men had traveled with. Leave it to Merlin to find the one box containing a stow-away snake and get bitten by it. Gaius shook his head - that boy was going to be the death of him, but for now, he was more worried about getting Merlin to survive this than in berating the boy's luck.

Said boy was barely conscious though and Gaius knew that if he didn't do something soon, Merlin would fade fast. With his eyes drooping, Merlin struggled as he breathed in shallow pants. Gaius touched the side of his neck to feel his pulse, which he found to be racing and beating erratically while Merlin's skin, which was already a shade lighter than alabaster on even his healthiest of days, was chalky-white, clammy and covered with sweat. Gaius picked up the hand the short foreigner had pointed to and examined the two, red puncture wounds that stood out in stark contrast to Merlin's paleness. The appendage was swollen and hot, but Merlin didn't seem to show any kind of pain reaction when the physician pressed on the wounds.

"Gai's" Merlin slurred as he tried to speak, forcing his eyes open, looking about with focusing on anything, "Can't … feel. Evry'thing … s'numb. "

"Shh, Merlin … you're going to be fine." Gaius tried to assure him all the while feeling hopeless confusion wash over him. No snake that the physician had ever encountered before had caused this to happen in any of his patients. Most snake bites he had seen could be treated with nothing more than a bandage and a day or two of rest. Sure, a person that was bitten by a native species of snake might feel a little nausea or pain, but Merlin had been bitten by a snake Gaius had never even heard of before and its venom seemed to be affecting his entire body; paralyzing his muscles. Gaius feared that if the paralysis spread to his lungs, then his ward might lose the ability to breathe altogether.

Gaius had never encountered anything like this before and he had no idea if there anything at all he could do for Merlin. All at once, it hit the physician that barring some kind of miracle, Merlin was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it.

OoOoOoOoO

Fadil had traveled to many lands and encountered many different kinds of people since he and Anum left Egypt with only their cart and horses looking to find a better life for themselves after the death of their father, but he could say with clear certainty that none of them had been anything like the young man that he had met that morning.

While most people barely tolerated the presence of the two brothers as they journeyed, only allowing them to enter their cities or villages because they had goods to offer that the people could not find elsewhere, others were outright hostile towards them and their 'strange ways', pitching rocks at them or threatening to kill them should they enter their lands.

While Fadil had always believed that in the heart of every man there was a shred of good, the last few months of their trek had started to erode that notion away. It seemed as though the further away from their homeland that they traveled, the more wary and hostile people became towards them because of their differences. Fadil knew that most people only acted the way they did out of fear of things they did not understand, yet still, he thought of himself as a good man, a nice person, and it hurt when people treated them as a threat.

But Merlin had been different. He had shown genuine care and interest in them – he had offered a hand in friendship when others would rather use their hands to beat them. Merlin, he deemed, was a kind soul, worthy man and he was not about to let his new friend die because of a snake that had hidden in their supplies. The fault was on him and he would need to fix this.

Fadil walked over to Anum and spoke quietly to him in their tongue. "I must help him, Anum. You know I can, I only need my book. It is in my pack in the cart. Will you go and get it for me?"

"No, Fadil." Anum whispered back, "I have heard things about this kingdom. Their king is an evil tyrant and would kill you should he find out what you can do. We do not know this physician or the boy – they could turn you in, even if you save his life."

"I cannot let him die."

"And I cannot let _you_ die. You are my only family now."

Fadil sighed heavily and rubbed a hand across his bearded face, aggravated by his older brother's constant over-protectiveness. He then watched as the aged physician sitting beside Merlin glanced their way with a hopeless expression and shook his head dejectedly. From that one look, Fadil knew that the old man needn't say that there was nothing he could do for the boy. But, deeper than that, Fadil could see just how much that knowledge was tearing the physician apart – there was a bond there that even an outsider such as himself could feel – it was that same bond that held him and Anum together – the same bond he remembered of the long nights when his father would tell him stories and teach him their ways – it was the bond of family and it was love.

Fadil knew then what he had to do.

Without another word, he tore out of the physicians's chambers, his brother calling out after him. He ignored Anum and ran back to the marketplace to where their cart still stood unattended. He found his pack exactly where he had left it under the bench seat at the front of the wagon and he was grateful that the people of this town had left their possessions alone. He grabbed the plain, leather satchel and clutched it to his chest, jumping down from the wagon before running as fast as he could back to the castle.

Anum was none too pleased when Fadil returned to see that he had gone back for the book he had stashed in his pack. "Do not do this, Fadil." Anum demanded strongly, fear shading his eyes.

In their country, Anum's status as older brother meant that Fadil was the subordinate and was meant to obey the orders of his brother. But, he reminded himself, he was not in his country now and strictly speaking, he was completely justified in blowing his brother off this one time and doing what he wanted – no, needed to do.

Fadil reached into his pack and pulled out the small book of papyrus bound in leather that had been handed down to him from his father. Fadil had never had much opportunity to actually put the lessons his father had taught him into practice, but his father had always said that his abilities were a natural gift and were meant to be used to help others and Merlin definitely needed his help.

Walking over to the physician, Fadil placed a hand on his slumped shoulder, "I wish to help. I will heal him."

The old man turned and looked up into Fadil's face with a raised eyebrow, "How? There is no medicine –"

"I need no medicine." Fadil assured him, fighting to find the right words in the other man's language. Understanding the tongue these people came much easier to him than speaking their hard to pronounce words, but as he opened his book and searched for the right page, he knew he had to explain what he was about to do in some way, "I pray to Apophis. He give me … power ... and I heal."

"You mean magic?" The old man asked, but not out of fear as Fadil expected, but more out of curiosity and something close to relief.

"Yes … magic. Apophis give me magic. I use and he live." Fadil said, gesturing to Merlin who had given in to unconsciousness, his skin whiter than Fadil ever thought would have been possible in any person. Merlin's breaths had grown shallower since his race to retrieve his book and there was very little time for him to explain what he was about to do any further. Merlin was dying and he needed to act quickly.

"May I?" Fadil asked of the old man. As his father had taught him, using the power of the Gods on another person always required permission and he would not proceed without it.

"Please." The white-haired man begged as he stood up from his seat next to the cot, "Anything you can do is greatly appreciated. He's very … well, Merlin is very special to me – to everyone here. However, I must warn you that magic is banned in Camelot on pain of death. I cannot ask you to break the law and put your life at such risk, but I promise you, if you decide to do this, I shall keep your secret as long as I live."

Fadil shook his head slightly, "I know not why your king fears magic, but I know what I do and I wish to help. Merlin is good man."

"Indeed he is." The physician agreed, bowing slightly to Fadil in gratitude. "Thank you."

Fadil nodded and walked over to the cot where Merlin lay, taking the seat that the physician had just vacated. Holding the book open to the page he needed, Fadil began to read, the words of his people flowing from his tongue, turning into a song sung to the snake god, Apophis, asking for his mercy and protection. Fadil began to feel the power of the God flow into him, giving him strength as he took Merlin's injured hand into his own. Fadil sang the song over and over again until he could feel the power within himself reach out in tendrils towards the ailing boy, entering his wound and seeking out the venom that coursed through his body, attacking it and destroying it. Fadil kept singing, his eyes glowing bright in a golden hue, letting the ancient melody his father had taught him to continue to sing from his throat until he could sense that every last drop of the Cobra's venom was eradicated.

Within his hand, Fadil felt the presence of another power join in with his own as Merlin squeezed his hand in return. The magic that met his own was refreshing him in a way he had never known before, adding strength to the power Apophis had given him. Fadil couldn't help the smile of pure delight that stretched across his face as he sang the final verse of the song; the magic the boy had given him was so pure, so good that it felt as if every nerve and fiber in his body was alive with hope and love. It was like being fed pure joy and Fadil understood just how right the physician had been about Merlin – he was beyond 'special' – he was a gift to the world from the Gods themselves and Fadil was humbled and proud all at once for having touched such raw, unadulterated, and powerful goodness.

As Fadil's allowed his song to Apophis fade away from his voice, he looked down to see that some color had returned to Merlin's face and he was breathing steadily and deeply, blissfully asleep. He sighed in relief, knowing that the boy would live and that whatever great things Merlin was meant to do now had a chance of being accomplished once again.

Reluctant to let go, but satisfied that the boy would be well, Fadil released his hold on Merlin's hand and gently laid it across his chest. As soon as Fadil sat back in the chair, the white-haired physician bent over his patient and began to check him over, laying two fingers against his throat to feel his pulse before lifting his eyelids and examining his pupils.

"He's asleep, but it looks like he should be fine." The old man turned to face Fadil with a genuine smile of gratitude "I don't know how to thank you."

Fadil shook his head, grinning in a manner that told the older man that no thanks was needed. Saving Merlin had been an experience he would never be able to fully put into words and one he would certainly never forget. And he was happy and satisfied that he had not only saved a good and clearly powerful man, but that he had found a renewed sense of worth – that he had done something that proved to the world and to the Gods that he was worthy of the power they had bestowed upon him.

Feeling a hand resting on his shoulder and squeezing it gently, Fadil looked up to see that Anum standing behind him, his face forgiving and supportive in a way that reminded him so much of their father that he nearly cried. "You have done well, Fadil. You disobeyed me, yes, but I see now that you have done a very noble thing. Father would be proud."

OoOoOoOoOoO

Merlin pried open sticky eyelids as he slowly awoke and took in his surroundings. His head throbbed a little, but it was a far cry from the fear and panic that had consumed him before everything had gone dark. In all honesty, he was just thankful that he could even open his eyes at all.

He remembered everything – meeting Fadil and his brother, showing them to the marketplace, being bitten by the snake, but worst of all he had been aware the whole time as his body slowly shut down and each muscle became numb and paralyzed by the snake's poison, robbing him of his ability to move, to speak or to even open his eyes.

But then he remembered the song and Fadil's voice echoing through his mind, reaching out to him and pulling him back from the edge. He recalled how it had touched his magic, making it sing along with the melody, giving him a sense of peace and calmness as it lulled him into a deep and restful sleep. It was an experience that he knew he could never forget - in a word, it had been amazing.

Merlin had met many people with magic before and most of them had used their power for ill intent. There were so many of them who abused their magic that Merlin had begun to wonder if he was the only one out there that vowed to never let his power corrupt him. Deep down, Merlin knew that wasn't true, but the past few years as he tried to protect Arthur from one magical attack after another had started to file away at that belief, to the point where even he wondered if one day he might succumb and become what he feared most – a monster.

Yet Fadil's magic had felt so right, so good, and so pure, that he knew he wasn't alone anymore. There were still people out there that used their power for the noblest causes and it gave Merlin a new sense of hope that one day people like him and Fadil could live without fear or prejudice and would be accepted by others, free to practice their magic in peace.

Merlin felt a hand rub his shoulder and he turned to see Gaius sitting next to him, holding out a cup of water out for him. He hadn't even realized how thirsty he was until he saw the cup and he took it gratefully, swallowing its entire contents in just a couple of gulps.

"It's good to see you awake. You gave me quite the scare and I beg of you not to do that again. I don't think my poor, old heart could take it," Gaius spoke as Merlin drank and then added; "How are you feeling?"

Merlin finished the water and then wiped his chin where some of the water had dribbled out during his race to quench his thirst, "I'm fine, thanks." he replied honestly. "Where is Fadil?" he asked, seeing that the foreign man and his brother were no longer around.

Gaius took the empty cup from Merlin and placed it on the table beside him, sighing, "They returned to the marketplace. I'm afraid that the older brother, Anum, was anxious to pack up and leave Camelot as soon as possible. While they know we would never turn them in for using magic, I think he's still afraid that staying here, even for a few days, is too much of a risk to Fadil."

"What? They're leaving? Already?" Merlin exclaimed, shucking off the blanket covering him and practically jumping to his feet. The sudden movement upwards, coupled with Merlin's headache caused him to pause as purple and black spots filled his vision, but he fought for equilibrium and righted himself before Gaius could stop him from heading towards the door.

"Merlin! What do you think you are doing? You need your rest." Gaius protested.

"I have to see them and at least say thank you, Gaius. I can't let them leave yet!" Before the old physician could raise his voice at his ward once again, Merlin was out the door and rushing for the marketplace. Quickly, Merlin was winded and tired by his run, but by the time he reached the lines of stalls, he was overjoyed to see that the brothers' cart was still parked where he had last seen it.

Fadil and Anum were working together to place one of the last boxes of their supplies back into their wagon as Merlin ran up to them, out of breath.

"My friend!" Fadil looked to him in surprise, dropping his end of the box he had been carrying and causing his brother to scowl deeply, muttering a few choice words under his breath.

Fadil ran up to him and grabbed Merlin by the shoulders with a wide, toothy smile, "You are well, yes?"

"I feel great, Fadil, thanks to you. I remember what you did – it was … I don't even know what, but it was pretty incredible."

Fadil blushed and dipped his head a little, grinning, "You are special, my friend Merlin and good man. I shall never forget you."

"The pleasure was mine, Fadil. Are you sure you can't stay a little longer?"

Fadil shook his head, his smile fading, "Anum wish to leave. I must go."

Merlin sighed, sad to see that his new friend would be gone soon. He had finally found someone that he thought could completely understand him, who had magic and knew what it was like to live with it, but he was already having to say good-bye after only one afternoon.

"I too am sad." Fadil admitted, "I shall miss you."

"And I you." Merlin agreed, sticking out his hand for Fadil to shake. Fadil hesitated, seeming to be unaware that this was a common custom in Camelot and looking at Merlin's hand as if unsure of what he was supposed to do. Eventually though, Fadil appeared to understood that this was Merlin's way of saying good-bye and he grasped his hand, adding a couple of friendly slaps to Merlin's shoulder for good measure.

"Be well, my friend." Fadil said with true conviction before turning and heading back to his brother. Merlin watched as Fadil leapt onto the cart agilely just before Anum snapped the reins of their horses to get them moving. As the cart disappeared around the bend in the road, Merlin lifted his hand and waved sadly, "Bye."

"MERLIN!" A clipped, angry voice shouted, bouncing off the walls of the vendors' stalls and causing the warlock to nearly jump in surprise before he turned around to see Arthur marching towards him. His strides purposeful and his face showing him to be more than just a little miffed about something, Arthur opened his mouth and raised his voice once again.

"There you are! Where have you been? You were supposed to be back ages ago. It's almost time for my supper and my floor is still a filthy mess. What have you been doing all of this time?"

"Uh … " was all Merlin could manage to think of saying. It wasn't like he could come right out and say,_ 'Nothing much, Arthur. Just got bit by a deadly snake and then almost died, but was healed by magic. How was your day, sire?'_

"Oh well … that's just brilliant!" Arthur scolded. "Do you think maybe, just maybe, you could come back to work now, or do I have to write you a formal invitation?" Arthur shook his head incredulously, "You know, it's a wonder I haven't sacked you yet."

Merlin gave Arthur a sheepish grin, "I know you wouldn't so that, Sire. You'd have no fun without me around."

Arthur whirled on Merlin with a devilish glare, "Do you want to know what fun for me is, Merlin?"

Merlin had a feeling he really didn't want to know and as Arthur continued to rant, he was proved right.

"Putting you in the stocks is fun, making you shovel horse manure is fun, oh … and the best fun of all is watching you scrub every chamber pot and latrine in the castle until they're shiny enough to eat off of. Now, what do you think of that for an evening's entertainment, Merlin?"

Merlin gulped, "I think, Arthur, that we need to get you some new hobbies …"

**The End**

**Have any ideas or prompts for stories that you like me to try and write? Just let me know and I'll give it my best shot. :-)**


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Merlin, Friendship, Hurt-Comfort