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Chapter Text

The sweating sickness in the lower town had been a bigger outbreak than expected. Both Gaius and Merlin had been treating it for almost a full week at this point meaning they were both exhausted. Merlin had been allowing Gaius to sleep as long as possible meaning he was up working in the lower town most of the day catching whatever little sleep he could in between patients.

Maybe that's why he wasn't on guard when he entered his and Gaius's chambers to see a boy a little younger than himself sitting on the bench. Gaius was still out treating the sick but after Merlin's eyes fluttered shut for the third time while dabbing a patient's head with a wet cloth he ordered him to bed.

Merlin took in the state of the boy. He wore commoner clothes that were dirty and wrinkled. His sandy blonde hair had leaves in it so he must have come from an outer village. His hazel eyes looked worried but as Merlin entered the room they narrowed on him.

"Hi," Merlin started hoping this would be quick so he could crawl into his bed and get some much-needed sleep.

"Hello, I need some help." The boy replied, " My sister came down with the sickness and is not doing well. I traveled to get her some medicine. I was told this is the physician's chambers but you don't look old enough to be one."

"I'm his apprentice, Merlin, What are your sister's symptoms?" Merlin turned around to start going through the herbs that lined the shelves so he could start a tincture.

Picking up a vile of feverfew to start with Merlin felt an arm wrap around his chest and a cloth cover his mouth and nose. As soon as he breathed in he felt the potion at work. His arms felt heavier and his knees started to buckle. He grabbed at the boy's hands trying desperately to get them off but the boy had a death grip on his face and chest. He scratched and pulled to no avail. His arms slowed in their constant movements and the motions started to get sloppy. He felt like he was moving through honey. His knees finally gave out but the boy held him up not allowing him to move away from the retched cloth. Finally, his arms dropped and his head lolled forward. His last thought was a desperate pull on his magic which seemed just out of reach as the world finally slipped away into darkness.

Gwaine had just finished training and was skulking around near the stairs that lead to the physician's chambers. He hadn't had a conversation with Merlin since the outbreak in the lower town began. Every time he got a glimpse of his friend he looked dead on his feet running either to or from the lower town, carrying books or water or a bag full of herbs. Even Arthur hadn't seen much of him since he had given him the time to help Gaius.

So when he saw the younger man stumbling back to his chambers, arms empty, he decided to follow and make sure he got put to bed. And if Gwaine followed him into that bed who was going to tell? Merlin had never shown that type of interest but Gwaine was really hoping to get with him at some point. He honestly wanted to worship the ground Merlin walked on. His devotion to the younger man scared even him sometimes. He really needed to get his thoughts together there was no reason to ruin a perfectly good friendship. Even if his heart did a little flip every time he was near or the butterflies that erupted when he touched him were enough to send a lesser man to the skies.

He approached the thick oak door and tugged it open without knocking. What he didn't expect was to open the door to see Merlin on the floor with some asshole on top of him carving into his chest right above his heart with a knife.

Gwaine's body reacted quicker than his brain and the next thing he knew the boy was on the floor, the knife skidding across the floor, and Gwaine's forearm against the attacker's neck. 

"What were you doing?" Gwaine hissed

Instead of answering the question the boy uttered "fealle hêo oððæt his of hê s¯æmest su ælfâdl" His eyes sparking gold.

Gwaine took that as his answer and punched the kid so hard in the face his eyes rolled to the back of his head before shutting.

He spun around looking at Merlin before releasing the attacker and getting to his feet. He gingerly picked Merlin up and placed him on a cot while spinning around looking for a cloth to clean the blood off his chest. Once he got the first layer of blood out of the way he noticed the strange pattern. It almost looked like an arrow that had a broken left side with an X going through the center of it.

He ran to the door as fast as he could telling the first person he saw, a young serving girl, to go get Gaius and that it was an emergency before returning and putting pressure on Merlin's wound hoping to stop the bleeding as quickly as possible.

Chapter Text

Merlin came back to himself slowly. He remembered helping Gaius in the lower town and making his way back to his room but not how he ended up in his bed. He must have been more tired than he thought if he was losing time. He got up and checked outside the morning rays were just barely poking through the horizon. He definitely hadn't meant to sleep through the afternoon and the night. He moved his way around his messy room changing into new clothes since he hadn't changed out of the old ones when he had apparently fallen asleep last night. Once he was dressed he came down the couple of steps into Gaius's workshop. He saw the old man asleep in his cot and decided to leave him to it. He deserved to get some good sleep after the past week.

He decided that he would check on the couple of patients that he knew were still sick before returning to help Arthur with his breakfast if everyone was healthy. He grabbed his satchel and the tonics Gaius and he had created for the current sickness. Adding a little of his own magic to it to help boost the natural properties.

As he skipped down the steps he spotted the red cape of his favorite knight. His heart did the little flutter it always did when Gwaine was around. The man himself spotted him and gave a little wave as he walked up towards Merlin. 

"Hey Gwaine I didn't realize you could get up this early"

"Hey Merls, I'm actually just getting back from a late-night patrol. Where are you heading off to so early"

"Just going to check on a couple of patients in the lower town so Gaius won't have to."

"Well want some company"

always Merlin thought to himself but replied with a "Sure"

They walked down to the lower town with Gwaine retelling a story Merlin had heard multiple times at this point. He wasn't complaining though, any time with Gwaine was always nice. Every time their shoulders touched his stomach did a little flip. Gods, he needed to get himself together.

They reached the first house all too soon and Merlin had to remind himself that he did actually have a job to do. He walked into Oliver and Edith's house and imminently realized something was wrong. Edith was one of the first people who had gotten sick and as such was on the mend thanks to Gaius's medicine and the aid of Merlin's magic. But as he entered death seemed to be lording over him. He could almost taste it in the air. Oliver was kneeling next to the bed his wife was asleep on. He had tears in his eyes.

"What happened" Merlin exclaimed

"I am not sure she developed the fever last night and since then she hasn't woken up. She's always been an early riser" The tears in his eyes started to fall tracking down his face.

Merlin looked to Gwaine "Could you take him outside so I could look her over"

"Of course" was Gwaine's immediate reply.

Pring Oliver off of his wife was a long process but once he was outside Merlin set to work checking Edith's pulse and temperature. Oliver had been right that her temperature was elevated and her pulse was thready at best. Edith was going to die and no medicine could help her. Merlin took a deep breath and checked his surroundings to make sure he was alone.

He put his hand on her head and used the best healing spell he knew "Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare"

Halfway through the spell the door swung open and Gwaine walked in saying "Are you sure you don't need any ..."

They locked eyes and Merlin was sure there was still gold swirling in his.

Gwaine's mouth fell open and he reached for his sword "You're a sorcerer" he more stated than asked.

Merlin had thought about telling Gwaine many times before. Lancelot was sure that he would be understanding and had tried to get him to tell him for months now. He was expecting a lot of things hurt pain betrayal what he was not expecting was the rage that burned in Gwaine's eyes. The disgust that lurked there too. He didn't realize until this moment how much that hatred and disgust would hurt. It felt like a million razors were trying to dig his heart out. Before he could even begin to answer Gwaine had turned and was yelling for the guards.

Chapter Text

Gwaine was sitting next to Merlin holding his hand as Gaius wandered around the room. Merlin still hadn't woken since the attack that happened a few hours ago. The man who attacked him was currently sitting in the dungeons where Gwaine had left him. His chest was now bandaged neatly. It would have seemed like a peaceful sleep if not for the fact that Merlin always moved around in his sleep. When Gwaine noticed that he wasn't sure but seeing the absence of now felt like someone took a spoon and scooped out his heart. 

Gaius had come in like a hurricane yelling for Gwaine to fetch him this and that while he cleaned and sewed up Merlin's wound. Now though it was quite a very unmerlin-like quiet. Between the stillness and the silence, Gwaine could almost picture Merlin as dead. He placed his hand on his chest being careful to avoid the wound just to feel the steady rise and fall of Merlin's breath.

Gaius was looking through his books looking for the rune carved into Merlin's chest. He started looking as soon as the bandages were placed and he still hadn't found anything. Gwaine was definitely not freaking out about the fact that Camalots resident magic expert didn't know what was happening to Merlin, his favorite person in the world. Definitely not. Nope, this was totally fine. Gaius always finds the answers. This is not worrisome at all.

"Any ideas" 

"Not since the last time you asked me fifteen minutes ago, Sir Gwaine" Gaius's eyebrow was slowly climbing up his forehead

Gwaine sighed. This was a lot. Merlin was always the one to have the answers and now he was out of commission. Gwaine's leg started bouncing. Merlin was supposed to be safe. Merlin was supposed to be nursing him back to health, not the other way around. He was the knight after all. Merlin was just a servant. A servant to the king but still a servant. Gwaine's thoughts were full-blown spiraling now. Who would want to hurt Merlin?

Gwaine was almost too distracted to notice at first. If it wasn't for Gaius intake of breath he would have missed it. The air suddenly felt warm. Not uncomfortably warm or for that matter an outside warmth. This felt like it came from the inside. Like it was radiating from his heart out of his. It felt like love and joy and happiness and all the things that Merlin makes him feel. He looks up to Gaius for an explanation but the man looks pale and there is fear in his eyes.

Gwaine never considered himself a smart man but he wasn't stupid either. Pieces of a puzzle were slowly coming together. Gwaine looks down at Merlin again. He moves slowly or that could just be his perception of it with his heart beating as fast as it is. He takes his hand out of Merlin's cold one and gently lifts his eyelid. He can feel his eyes go wide and his jaw drop as he takes in the gold yellows that somehow replaced the blues that he thinks about probably a bit too much. 

Gaius is faster than anyone gives him credit for because Gwaine only has milliseconds to take in what he is seeing before Gaius is there slapping his hand away but those precious seconds are all he needs. He knows now. He thinks he always knew to some extent if he would have taken the few extra seconds to think about it. Flying plates and falling tree branches and frankly too many magical beasts that should have only been able to stop with magic. Magic, Merlin has magic.

He looks back up to Gaius and if his whole world is shattering it looks like Gaius's world is crumbling down around him. He looks anxious, his shoulders basically hitting his ears, and he's got a nervous twitch as his eyes dart around the room probably trying to take in escape routes. Gwaine has seen that look many times before in the animals that spot him in the woods. He knows what it looks like to be about to run. He takes a deep breath and counts to 10 in his head to calm himself before he says, "I would never do anything to put Merlin in danger"

Gaius's eyes snap to him and seem to be dissecting him for any sign he's lying. Gwaine lets him he needs to know how serious he is about this. Merlin has always come first no matter what. He was Merlin's knight long before he was Camalot's. 

"Ok," Gaius whispers.

"Ok," Gwaine repeats.

"Do you want to tell me why Merlin is using magic now or why he was targeted in the first place or maybe why he is in Camalot in the first place" Gwaine's voice rises through his questioning enough to make Gaius wince and check that the door is close and then shush him for good measure.

"I don't know why he is using magic in his sleep. He hasn't had that problem since he was a boy." Gwaine took that in and decided to question how long Merlin has had magic later since Gaius didn't seem to be stopping. "It could be a reaction to the spell he was put under. That felt like a healing spell to me. He could be trying to heal himself and it somehow exploded outwards. He could have been targeted for a number of reasons. It would be hard to narrow it down without knowing the exact extent of the spell and the person who put it on him." Gwaine had even less time to process the idea that Merlin had several possible assassins out there as Gaius just kept talking "He came to Camelot to seek my help with his magic." Gaius barely breathed the word magic out. There was a tightness to his face that Gwaine had never seen before.

"...Ok," Gwaine said again because what else are you supposed to say to that. He took a deep breath and decided to go with something easy as his first question, "Could he do that again" 

The tigtness around Gaius's eyes seemed to get tighter and his lips formed a thin line "Ok" Gwaine replied for the fourth time. Words were escaping him at this point. He ran a hand through his hair "Arthur can't come here then"

"Yes," Gaius said not relaxing at all

"He's going to want to see him if he realizes he's cursed or whatever"

"Most likely he would" Gaius nodded along with him. He seemed to be relaxing ever so slightly.

"So we pretend you and him are still in the lower town"

"I think that would be best. Yes."

"How are we going to do that" Gwaine was almost full-blown panicking again. He started pacing around the workshop. "I mean I am not going to leave Merlin. And we have the guy who did this in the dungeons. Someone is eventually going to notice that But someone should question him eventually. And then there are your patients to think about. Who is going to take care of them"

"Yes I agree we will need help"

That grabbed Gwaine's attention. Someone else must know if Gaius is going to bring someone else into this madhouse. He locked eyes with the old man, "Who else knows Gaius"

Gaius for his part did look a bit guilty. He took a second to reply "Lancelot and Mordred" 

"Lancelot and Mordred" Gwaine did not squeak he definitely didn't. "Merlin doesn't even like Mordred" Gwaine knew that for a fact with all the death glares sends towards the younger man.

"He didn't exactly tell him. Actually, he didn't tell either of them" And that for some reason made Gwaine feel a shit ton better.

"Ok" Gwaine had decided that word had lost all meaning at this point. "I will go get the two of them and we will figure this out" He told Gaius as he marched over to the door and opened it to leave.

Chapter Text

Merlin had literal seconds to process what had just happened before the guards were busting into Edith and Oliver's house. He could feel his heart shatter as the cuffs were put on him and he was marched down through the lower town up to the castle. He was thrown in the dungeons rather forcefully ending up on the ground on top of the old hay they put in there. He couldn't feel it though. He couldn't feel anything. He didn't even want to sit up. Gwaine had seen him do magic and he had thrown him in the dungeons for it. Gwaine, the man who always said Merlin came first, had called the guards on him. Merlin had thought he had gone through all the scenarios in his head but that one had never come to him. He thought the worst thing Gwaine would ever do would be to not talk to him again. Gwaine was always there for him but he hadn't even given Merlin a chance to explain before he got the guards.

Finally sitting up he laid his head against the cool stones that encompassed three walls of the cell he was currently in. He let the tears fall down his face, Processing everything that had gone wrong that day. He barely registered the sun's movement across the sky. He had gotten so caught up in his thoughts he didn't hear the sounds of metal on stone as somebody made their way down the stairs toward his cell. 

"Come with me" Leon stated with his most stern 'I am the first knight of Camelot' voice. That voice he hadn't heard since before he drank the poison for Arthur all those years ago. 

Merlin had seconds to wipe his face of the tear stains before he was roughly grabbed and hauled up the steps. He barely registered the direction the guards were taking him until the doors to the throne room were flung open. Sitting on top of their respective throne were Gwen and Arthur. Both looked angry. To their sides stood all of the round table members including Gaius and Gwaine. Lancelot gave him a sympathetic look while everyone else looked ready to kill him any second. Hands-on the pummel of their swords. He was roughly pushed to the floor by Leon forced to kneel before the King and Queen.

Arthur started, "Merlin of Ealdor you have been caught doing sorcery how do you plead?"

He didn't know what he was going to say. He could lie. Say it was the trick of the light. Gwaine didn't see what he thought he did. He looked to Gaius who seemed to be trying to communicate with his eyebrows alone. Saying to lie. His eyes dropped back to the floor. Merlin's always been a shitty liar though.

"I have magic" came out of his mouth before he could think things through. It seemed his mouth had grown a mind of its own. It came out soft and meek even to his own ears but it rang out to the deathly silent room.

Merlin looked back up just to see Arthurs's eyes harden and Gwen's fill with disgust. He barely had a second to think before Arthur's voice rang out loud and clear seeming to bounce off the walls of the large room "Then I have no choice I sentence you to death by pyre we will burn you come morning" and With that, he rose from his seat taking the hand of Gwen and leading her from the room. As the passed Gwen took the second to spit on him. He flinched but didn't try to avoid it. It was what he deserved after all. 

He was hauled back to his dusty wet cell after the royal couple left. He's not sure who took him back to the dungeons to stuck on his best friend's actions. He hadn't been afraid of Arthur killing him by pyre since Arthur had become King. He was sure if Arthur felt the need to kill him it would be something more humane. Beheading of the rope but it seemed he was being let down by everyone today. The looks his friends had given him swirled in his mind. He was crying again he knew that but he was so numb at this point that he wasn't sure which of his friend's reactions had caused it. He curled in on himself and rested his forehead on his knee. He had told himself the second year he was at Camelot that he would follow through on whatever Arthur decided to do with him after he learned of his magic but now facing the pyre, the thing that has haunted his nightmares since he was a child and the older boys in the village took great care to explain that method of killing. The thing that had him starting awake even now. The thing that made him summon rain in the middle of the night every night when he was still in Ealdor. He didn't know if he could do it.

He heard the steps this time. Softer no metal in them. He looked up confused until he made out the soft brunette hair and the kind brown eyes. Lancelot was dressed in the clothes he used to wear when he was traveling. a flowy blue shirt and black pants. He had a bag flung over his shoulder. He smiled as he approached the bars. Not his usual smile. Not the smile Merlin had seen a million times no this was sadder. There was stress in his eyes. He looked around quickly before he took out a set of keys all the knights had. He unlocked the door and gestured for Merlin to follow. Merlin started shaking his head trying to get Lancelot to go away so he would be safe but the stress in his eyes was overtaken quickly with determination. he grabbed Merlin's arm hauling him up. "You are not dying here," He said with a seriousness that scared even Merlin.

Before he could come up with his own argument as to why he should leave Merlin there he was being dragged through the halls towards the tunnel they took Mordred through all those years ago. They got about halfway through before the warning bells started ringing. Merlin took off trying to get as far away as possible Lancelot hot on his heels. Once they were at the end where bars bade their exit Merlin stopped and lifted his hand. He whispered the spell he'd used so many times before "Ic ábíetee þæt stánhol" He waited for the usual destruction that follows that spell but none came. He tried again "Ic ábíetee þæt stánhol" Still nothing. He tried a different spell "Tospringe" but nothing happened. He searched for his magic to brute force it. He could feel it warm and alive dancing around his heart. He didn't know what else to do so he pushed. Using without a spell could be dangerous at the best of times and disastrous at the worst but nothing happened this time. He looked down at his hand as if there was some way to force it to do magic.

"Come on Merlin we need to get out of here" Lancelot whispered behind him. Merlin turned back around. He wasn't sure what Lancelot saw on his face but he watched his face fall. He looked behind Lancelot and saw the warm glow of torches coming down the tunnel. Lancelot turned with him and pulled his sword out. He looked broken. Merlin could see he didn't want to fight his friends. Merlin took a deep breath and said to him as sternly as he could "Pretend you caught me escaping" 

Lancelot whipped his head around so fast Merlin felt it in his own neck. He could see it on his face before he said it. "No." and that was that. There would be no changing Lancelot's mind. He eased the grip on his sword and swung it around waiting for the first target to take the corner. Merlin felt the panic rise again. He turned back to the bars that stopped their exit. He pushed harder with his magic. He could feel it leaving him but saw it do nothing to the world around him. He kept trying. He pushed as he heard swords start to clash. He pushed when he heard bodies hit the floor. He pushed as he felt someone come up behind him. He pushed until he felt the pummel of a sword come down on his skull. Then all he knew was darkness.

Chapter Text

Gwaine found Lancelot quickly. The man was always up at the crack of dawn. He grabbed his chainmail and hauled him into the first empty room he found. A closet that held linens for all the guest chambers. "What do you think you're doing Gwaine" He sounded mainly amused by Gwaine's antics probably thinking he was going to get dragged into a prank war or something.

Gwaine hated to ruin the fun but he took a second to look both ways before closing the door and returning his gaze back to Lance. Once Lance saw the serious look Gwaine had not shown anyone, other than Merlin, on his face the amused look dropped and something concerned took its place. "What's going on," Lance said this time with worry written on his features.

 "It's about Merlin" Gwaine didn't think Lance could get more anxious if he tried. His eyes got big and his eyebrows drew together. 

"What about him"

Gwaine took a deep breath. He should approach this delicately. Merlin and Lance were good friends. Best friends really if Gwaine was being honest with himself. He should say something that will calm him down and not send him running to Merlin's side. He needed to be at Merlin's side and he could not do that if Lance was there. But Gwaine. Gwaine was never good at delicate.

"He's under a spell. Gaius doesn't know which one. But he's doing things in his sleep. Things the king definitely should not see or learn about. So I need your help to get the asshole who did this to tell you what he did so we can fix it. Or I need you to tell Princess Merlin is helping out in the lower town and go down there and deal with the patients Gaius has." He said all of this as quickly as possible leaving very little room for breathing so at the end he had to take a couple of large lungfuls of air.

Lance looked him up in down. If possible his face got more tense. "You know then" It took everything in Gwaines albeit lacking willpower to not facepalm right then and there. Instead, he ran a hand through his hair and nodded.

"He told you?" Lance sounded almost proud. That was something to unpack later. Now Gwaine shook his head.

"No, I saw him trying to heal himself in his sleep." Lance deflated at that. But before he could take a second to process the reaction he picked his shoulders back up and started moving towards the door.

"I'll go to Gaius and get the medicine for the people in the lower town. I'll check in on the prisoner after I'm done. I am supposed to have the day off anyway so no one will miss me at patrol or anything. What are you going to tell Arthur to get out of your patrol today" Shit. He totally forgot about that. He guessed Lance could read that off of his expression "I'll tell him you caught what was going around on the lower town and Gaius ordered you bedrest." And that, that might actually work. He spends enough time with Merlin to pick it up from him and everyone knows the best taverns are in the lower town. He should come to Lance with his problems more often. The man was full of good ideas.

As Lance turned to go Gwaine managed to get out "Have you seen Mordred. We might need his help to"

"Overnight guard duty. He will be sleeping. I'll get him later if we need him."

Gwaine nods and heads back toward the physician's chambers Lance following him. Taking back paths and servant's channels to try and stay out of sight of other knights. He bursts through the door without knocking and all but runs back to Merlin's side. Merlin's chest is bare minus the bandages that have blotches of blood on them running from his left shoulder to his lower ribs. The stark white makes the purpling appearing on his right shoulder more apparent. He picks up his hand to hold it again and notices the chafing around his wrist. He picks up his other hand and sees there on that wrist as well. They don't look like rope burns more like he was held in monacles. He looks up to Gaius. "Was Merlin held prisoner recently?"

Gaius whips around quickly. "I don't believe so. He's been working with me all week. He barely had time to eat or sleep let alone get kidnapped and escape."

Gwaine holds up Merlin's wrists gingerly "Then how did he get these? The bruise could have been from him getting attacked earlier but I've only ever seen this on prisoners before."

Gaius is up before Gwaine even finishes speaking. Grabbing Merlin's unoccupied hand and holding it up to the light. "Huh. Maybe it's part of the spell. Showing he's a prisoner or something." 

That made sense but didn't sound like it was exactly correct to Gwaine. Gaius put Merlin's hand back down and grabbed some salve for the bruise, some bandages, and a poultice for the wrists. As he returns Lance comes up to take a look. He looks about as concerned as Gwaine feels. After Gaius finishes taking care of Merlin he turns to Lance with a question in his eyes. Lance doesn't need any prompting "I am going to take care of the lower town patients while you take care of him. Just tell me what to give whome."

Gaius looks relieved as he starts picking things up and giving small explanations to Lance. Gwaine tunes them out all his focus returning to the to still to quiet Merlin. He hadn't even noticed Lance leave until Gaius rested his hand on Gwaine's shoulder. "We are going to figure this out." Gwaine nods wiping his eyes. He hadn't even noticed them filling. "What can I do".

Gaius returns to his work table and brings over a couple of books "What languages can you read"

Gwaine replies without thinking "English, Latin, Fench, and Greek" Gaius's eyebrows raise with each additional language. Right, Commoners rarely knew how to read let alone in multiple languages. Shit.

Gaius though lets him off easy. He hands him a couple of books in the designated languages and returns to his table. Gwaine lays down the books on the floor picking one up and laying it on the cot next to Merlin never letting go of his hand.

He's flipping through his fifth book and the sun is long gone when it happens again. First comes a rather small blast from Merlin. it sends Gwaine toppling out of his stool and hitting the floor but it doesn't do much damage. The next one is stronger vibrating all of Gaius's jars on the shelves. Gwaine is still on the ground and he sees the roof start to crack. The next one results in the door flying open. Gaius is quick to go close it again. Then all hell breaks loose. The world starts shaking. Storm clouds started forming outside. The roof is officially coming down in chunks. potions start exploding where they are set. Wind starts picking up from sweeping papers around the room. lightning streaks across the sky. Gwaine had seconds to recover before it started again. Random items start flying across the room. Gwaine puts his arms over his head and tries to stand to cover Merlin but every time he gets close he is thrown back. The last time he was thrown into a wall so hard he slumps and has to take a second to catch his breath. A moment later the door flies open and in runs Mordred dressed in casual wear. He takes a second to try to regain his breath to yell at the younger knight to take cover but as the door slams shut behind him his eyes turn gold and the items around the room slow to a stop.

Mordred yells "I can't hold this for long" as the wind starts picking up around the room again. Gaius seems to take that as his cue as he runs around the room trying to collect something to help in the situation. Gwaine finds his feet again and starts moving towards Merlin again. Slower this time. Just as he's about to lay his hands on the younger man everything stops. The world stops shaking. The sky clears and the items that were previously airborne fall to the ground. Gwaine notices all this out of his peripheral as his eyes are drawn to the red that started flowing from Merlin's crown. The blood that definitely wasn't caused by anything in the room. Nothing touched him Gwaine is sure of that. 

Gaius follows his eyeline towards the red and tuts as he goes to grab water and a rag. But Gwaine knows that nothing in the room touched him. He knows that. So something else is causing the blood to flow from his forehead down to his eyebrow. pooling there before falling to the pillow. All he can see is the red of it. The red starts filling the rest of his vision and he turns because if he lets himself look at it for much longer he's going to kill that idiot in the dungeons and they need him to tell them what he did to Merlin so he can fix it. Gwaine takes a deep breath. Then another. Then another. Until the red leaves his vision. When he turns back around Gaius is wiping the blood away and Mordred is staring at him like he just signed his death warrant. Right the magic that he was not supposed to know about.

"Mordred I am not going to hurt you. Ok" and there that stupid fucking word is again. Gwaine is never going to use that word again after this mess is over. but the words seem to soothe Mordred and that's all he cares about right now. A calm Mordred means a Mordred who can help Merlin. 

Lance picks this moment to come barreling through the doors. "What the fuck just happened" In any other situation Gwaine would have laughed at The Most Noble of Us Sir Lancelot swearing but he's honestly so dumbstruck by all the events that happened today to really take in the fact that he just heard Lancelot swear.

"Merlin happened" is Gaius reply "He could be trying to fight the enchantment and as such is lashing out. I have no idea. I need to do more research"

Mordred steps forward. "Enchantment?" he asks

"I walked in on this boy carving a symbol into Merlin's chest and he hasn't woken since," Gwaine says. He really might kill that idiot if he keeps picturing him with a knife hovering over Merlin's chest.

"Can I see the symbol?" Mordred inquires.

Gaius looks over and nods "I have to change the bandages anyways" He takes his sheers and starts cutting around bandages around the wound. As he peels them away Gwaine sees them. They look uglier than before. Bright red and swollen. Mordred takes in a large breath of air as he sees it. That has Gwaine's head snapping up. Gwaine can see it written across his face. He knows the rune or whatever. For the first time since this whole ordeal started Gwaine can feel the start of a smile on his face. Cause if they can figure out what this thing is they can fix it.

"It's the curse of mare" and that does not sound good. Not at all. That sounds really bad. The smile is falling away. Shit. ok. one step at a time.

"And that means?" Gwaine asks cause no one else seems to be doing well stringing words together.

"It's a curse that puts a person into their worst fears. It was taken from a sleeping spell to allow one to feel what's happening in their dreams but someone twisted it so that someone would be forced to live through that person's worst fear. Anything that happens to the person in the dream-like state happens to their body in this world."

"So he is currently living his worst fear right now. and all the damage that's being done in there is happening to his body. Fuck" Gwaine feels like he's going to explode. Merlin is living through the worst thing that he can think of. Gwaine doesn't even have an inkling of what that might be. All the magical foes that haunt his nightmares. God knows Merlin has seen worse. With the way Gaius pales he probably knows something. Someone might want to get him a chair. He looks ready to pass out.

Lancelot finally pipes up "How do we stop it."

"We don't. Merlin has to. He's the only one strong enough to possibly be able to stop it. Every other time I have even heard of this curse being used it ends in the slow and painful death of the victims." Right. Gaius is full-on going to faint. Lancelot looks like he's about to have a meltdown. See this is fine though. Gwaine is sure Merlin can fix this. Merlin fixes everything. All he has to do is use some of that insane power he just used to almost blow up his own chambers to make the curse go away.

"So we just have to tell Merlin to take the curse off himself. Easy. Can you send us into the dream?" Mordred looked a bit shocked at being asked that but Gwaine had a mission now. He can tell Merlin to make it better and then Merlin will be safe and he can kill the guy who did this to him. Mordred slowly nods. He looks a little unsure but Gwaine is so sure this will work. It has to.

"How will it work?" Lancelot the pragmatist says.

"We will enter our own bodies in his dreamscape. We won't be able to feel anything when we're in there only see and hear it. We should be able to make changes but nothing will be able to hurt us there. I will make sure of that." Gwaine was already nodding along before Mordred started

"Ok what do you need"

Chapter Text

Merlin wakes to a dull ache at the top of his skull. He pries his eyes open and for a second all he sees is red. He reaches up to rub his eyes and his hands get stuck on a sticky substance that's flaking around the edges. Blood then. Right. The escape attempt. He sits up with a jerk. Lancelot. Lancelot was there with him. The others saw Lancelot protecting him. The others wouldn't hurt Lancelot though they love Lancelot. That's what he thought about himself though and now look at him. Covered in his own blood. About to be burned at the stake. Ok, first things first get Lancelot out. Then he can explain to the others that magic isn't bad. Or he could just take Lancelot and run.

He tries to stand up only to find himself chained to the floor by his arms and his ankles. Well, this will make things harder but he has magic he can get out of these quickly. And then as suddenly as he thought it he remembered. His magic failed him over and over again. He sinks to his knees. His magic had never failed him before. Even when he was tapped by Morgana and Morgause in magical chains he was able to call Killgarrah. Maybe he was just depleted last night. Healing magic usually makes him tired. He went for something simple. Something he had done a million times before he could even walk. He spots the cup sitting just a bit too far away for him to reach. That will work. He doesn't use an incantation just a blast of magic. Nothing not even a wobble. The cup seems to be mocking him. He can feel the magic leave him but it seems to be doing nothing to the outside world.

He tries again this time with an actual spell "Strangaþ." Again the cup doesn't move. He huffs. Ok, he can do this. Spells sometimes didn't work the first time. He tries it at least 20 more times before the sun starts its approach across the horizon. No. No this was unacceptable. He's been doing magic his whole life there was no way it was going to fail him now. Unless it was. He'd been told how his magic was created for Arthur. Maybe now that he's rejected it the Gods have decided that he no longer gets magical protection. It wouldn't be the first time Merlin takes the fall for Arthur's failure.

Well, shit if this was what the gods want who was he to tell them no. Not even Emrys could escape the gods' judgment. He was going to burn for the Gods' entertainment. He pulls at his hair and curls into himself. No. That is not what is going to happen. He was created to be Arthur's other half not to give into his every demand. If Arthur is being a prat he doesn't get to make judgment calls for Merlin. He can do this. He stares at the cup again. He starts repeating the same spell over and over again. He can hear the pyre being put together. He can hear citizens lining up to see who would be burning. He can hear the knights start to line up. Yet he still tries to move the damn cup.

After a while, he hears footsteps approaching. He wipes the tears he didn't even notice falling. He tried to rise only to get about halfway before the chains stopped him. Leon rounds the corner with Elyan and Percival surrounding him. "Ready Sorcerer" and that voice is back. The first knight voice is back. Gods Merlin hates that voice. Without waiting for a response they unlock his cell and unchain him from the floor. They grab the length of chains and pull through. As Merlin stumbles, he can hear the laughter rising from the three knights.

He walks behind them trying to keep his balance as they drag him towards the pyre. Every couple of steps they give a hard pull on the chains so he continues to stumble as he walks out the doors. He hears the people before he sees the bright light too much for his retinas after spending so long in the dark of the dungeons. Their boos rise up around them. As he stumbles through the crowd some go as far as to throw rotten fruit at him. He's too focused on placing his bare feet on the ground to look up at any of them. He wouldn't want to even if he could. As the knights stop in front of the pyre Merlin almost slams into the back of them, too focused on his feet to keep watch on what is in front of him. He would have to if someone hadn't pushed him down before he could. He looks up for the first time since he left his cell to see Gwaine sneering at him.

He can't take the sight of Gwaine's perfect face twisted in disgust and anger. He's seen it before directed at many enemies. He never thought it would be directed at him. He looks back down to his lap hoping that won't be the last face he sees.

He is eventually dragged up to the pyre and tied to it. His hands are forced behind him and tied in a secure knot of rope. No need to waste precious metal on a sorcerer's death if they didn't have to. After last night's debacle, he's sure they think him a weak sorcerer they don't have to worry about. At this point, he would take that over being powerless. Even a weak sorcerer can get themselves out of ropes.

He finally lifts his head when he hears Arthurs's voice. "Let this be a lesson to all. This man, Merlin of Ealdor, has been adjudged guilty of using enchantments and other magics, and pursuant to the laws of Camelot, I, King Arthur Pendragon, have passed judgment of guilty and sentenced him to death." That speech which was so similar to the one heard on his first day at Camelot by Uther jarred Merlin to his core. Arthur truly planned to burn him.

He saught the King's eyes to give one last plea but Arthur wasn't done. "Two others have been found guilty of aiding and abetting a sorcerer and have had their fate dealt with swiftly this morning. He gestures and for the first time since he looks out towards the crowd. He spots them quickly. It would have been hard to miss. There above the crowd on spikes are the heads of Gaius and Lancelot. Their eyes open but unseeing. clouded over and mirky. There is still fresh blood dripping done the poles keeping their heads up along with dried blood turning Gaius's white hair pink and sticking to Lancelot's face. Crows are circling overhead waiting for their next meal. 

Merlin may have screamed he's not sure. He had thought he had gone numb last night but now, now he knows that that was nothing. Seeing his dead mentor and best friend staring unblinkingly back at him he broke. He's sure he is crying but he can't feel it. He can't feel the ropes pulling on him as he tries to move towards them. He can't feel the gag that eventually gets placed on him once the King realizes he is not going to quiet down any time soon. He can't feel anything. He is sure if he wasn't tied to the pole he would have sunk to the floor. He doesn't hear the end of Arthur's speech or feel the magic escape him as it tries to reassure him that he's ok. He doesn't even notice when the pyre is finally lit. Still looking into those cold dead eyes ahead of him.

Chapter Text

Gwaine had been waiting very patiently for Mordred to gather the necessary supplies to send them into the dream world if he did say so himself. He had started off helping but after he had tried to find sage for the third time and came back with bay leaves he was sent to sit next to Merlin to watch for any new updates. Merlin still hadn't moved but he also hadn't gained any new injuries since the head injury which was now cleaned and sewn back to gather with a layer of honey on top of it. So yes Gwaine had been very patient. That was until things started flying around again. 

It started small with a cup levitating towards Merlin. They all watched it land on the table next to Merlin's bed with a soft clink. Gwaine had made the mistake of letting the breath he was holding out. After that, he saw a couple of different culinary items launch themselves at Merlin at a much greater speed. He had caught a couple of them before they could smash into Merlin's face. Lance had caught the others. They placed them down next to the cup just in time to start catching more items that had decided to get a mind of their own and fly around the room.

He could almost see Merlin's rising frustration in the magic surging around them. Whatever nightmare he was in it was clear that his magic was not working like he hoped it would. Arms full of glassware and silver plates Gwaine finally decided patience was not a virtue he had any need for. "Any luck yet" He called.

The room had not been put back together from Merlin's last outburst which he thought was a rather smart decision considering it again looked like a hurricane came through it. After almost everything that was on shelves was in either Lance or his own arms the chaos seemed to settle. Which would have been great if not for the fact that meant Merlin had stopped doing magic. He dropped everything he was holding onto the table next to Merlin and ran over to grab his wrist. It took a second to feel the solid beat of his heart but when he did he let out another breath. As he turned around he saw the others do the same. Their brief reprieve from the floating objects only lasted a couple of minutes until it was back with a vengeance. The bowl that Mordred and Gaius were crushing herbs in went flying and Mordred had to use his own magic to get it to settle back down.

The storm outside came back and the early morning sun was drowned out by the darkest moodiest cloud Gwaine had ever seen. He took a second to appreciate that Merlin was powerful enough to bring a storm without even really trying to before he was back to running to catch different viles and wooden cups. After another couple of hectic minutes, things started to settle back down. Although the storm outside still raged Gaius's workshop no longer was trying to float away.

Gwaine took that as a good sign. Right. It had to be a good sign. It couldn't have meant Merlin was unable to stop whatever terrible thing was trying to kill him and he was now bleeding out or knocked out. Gwaine spared another glance at Merlin and saw him in the same condition he was the last time he checked. He noted the rise and fall of his chest before turning back around to the two sorcerers who were currently talking in hushed tones.

Gwaine jumped a bit when Lance put his hand on his shoulder. But the easy smile he gave Gwaine made him feel a bit better even if it was a little tight around the eyes. "Welcome to the club"

"Is this how it always is" Gwaine felt he needed that answer. Not that it would change anything about how he was going to proceed. He knew the moment that Merlin entered his life he would do anything for him. That included dealing with this chaos.

"No" Lance finally replied "Merlin is usually over there being part of the craziness" That did make Gwaine laugh.

"How long have you known anyways"

"Since the first time, I came to Camelot when he slayed the Griffin"

"Ohhh that makes sense I always thought you were insane for not carting around that win for all that it was worth but it makes sense if it wasn't your win"

"Yeah, it always felt weird taking credit for the things Merlin does" That made way for more questions. What else had he done? Before he got a chance to ask Gaius and Mordred were turning around with a disgusting smelling concoction.

"Ok we each take one of these and I do some magic and we should be transported into the dream"

Before he could ask any more questions he grabbed one of the viles and took it in one. Years of drinking shitty alcohol allowed him to do it without really tasting the liquid. Lance looked a little bit unsure before downing his. It had been decided that Gaius would stay behind to watch over them. Make sure no one walked in on them performing magic in Camelot. They seemed to have planned for there is more than one trip as there were a few extra viles behind Gaius.

After Lance had finally sipped his down and Mordred shot his, both with a grimace, They all laid down. Gwaine decided to sit in the stool and rest his head on Merlin's cot while Mordred and Lance got cots of their own. He didn't want to be that far from Merlin if something were to happen. But nothing was going to happen. He was going to go into Merlin's pretty little brain and tell him to wake himself up and then they would skip off into the sunset. Yep. It was the perfect plan. Mordred just had to say the magic words and they could put this whole mess behind them.

Gwaine heard Mordred start the spell "ûs of pro ic ingangan sîn âsl¯æpan" His eyelids grew heavier and heavier until it was impossible to keep them open and he was out.

When he blinked his eyes open he was staring at the courtyard. It was full of people. The bright light of the sun was debilitating after the darkness of the Merlin-made storm. He kept blinking until he could finally see. They were standing in the courtyard it looked like a normal day except for the fact there were a million people around. He could barely move he was surrounded. He looked around for Lance or Mordred but then his eyes landed on it. Gwaine had never seen a pyre before. He had heard plenty of stories of that manner of death, none of them good, but he had never seen one in person before. Gaius and Lance had speculated on what could possibly be Merlin's greatest fear. Arthur killing him after he found out about his magic had come up but Gwaine never truly thought that the pyre was an option. He looked up past the pyre to see Merlin tied to the wood pike in the center. He was gagged Gwaine noted. His brain was moving too slowly. He needed to get Merlin's attention so he could get himself out of there. But Merlin was not looking at him. His gaze was somewhere over Gwaine's head. The look of utter defeat on his face was so devastating that Gwaine thought he would rather string himself to the pyre than see it again.

He noticed the fire far too late. It was being lowered down slowly, or Gwaine's heart was beating way too fast again. He still wasn't quick enough to stop it. It dropped as he pushed himself to the front of the crowd. By the time he reached it, the fire was up to Merlin's ankles. Merlin didn't seem to notice though too busy looking dead ahead. He had tears rolling down his face. Gwaine ripped off his cape and bundled it around his hands. It would do nicely to put Merlin out if any of his clothes caught fire. Gwaine backed up as far as he could and took a running jump onto the pyre. He could feel the fire on his ankles steadily climbing but it didn't hurt. Gwaine remembered what Mordred said about not being able to get hurt and he thought he might have to give that kid an extra drink after this was all over.

Gwaine reached Merlin quickly after he realized he couldn't be harmed. With no fear of the fire, nothing would stop him from getting to Merlin. Merlin still didn't seem to notice which was starting to get worrisome. If it were Gwaine he would have been ecstatic that someone was coming to save him. But those blue eyes refused to meet his. He took out his dagger and moved behind Merlin. As soon as the bounds were gone Merlin fell to the burning floor. Gwaine was not going to allow any other part of Merlin to get burned if he could stop it. He grabbed Merlin and hauled him over his shoulder as far away from the blaze as possible.

Merlin still didn't seem to notice or if he did he didn't care. Gwaine jumped off the pyre and was already running when he heard the shouts from the other knights around him. He was up the stairs before the first arrow was shot. Closing the doors before the others had taken out their swords. He took off down the hallway hoping Merlin's mind constructed a castle at least slightly accurate. Gwaine knew the best hideaway spots the first week he entered the castle. Had even pictured dragging Merlin into one a time or two or let's be honest hundreds of times. He knew the places the guards wouldn't think to look he just hoped Merlin's mind had created those parts of the castle.

He turned the corner and entered the first door on the right. He spared a moment to think about how Mordred and Lance would find him before he remembered that Mordred had magic and probably had a way to track them. He hoped. Really he had no idea where magic was concerned.

As soon as he closed the door to the guest chambers that were only used when all the others were full, he plopped Merlin on the bed before going over to pull the curtains. He turned back to Merlin who was sitting on the edge of the bed staring at his hands. Gwaine slowly moved closer to Merlin. As he approached he knelt down and inched his hands up to remove the gag that Merlin still hadn't touched. After it was removed he moved his hands to rest on top of Merlin's blocking Merlin's eyeline to them. The tears hadn't stopped but Merlin finally looked up. His face twisted from devastation to pure hatred. It didn't fit Merlin's face as Gwaine's first thought. "Why did you do it" Merlin spat at him. 

"Do what? Merlin, you have to listen to me this is all..." but he was cut off by Merlin rolling across the bed and moving to the opposite wall.

"You turned me in. You are the reason I was on the pyre in the first place. You are the reason they're all dead" His voice raised as he went. Gwaine was too stunned to speak but he didn't have to as Merlin took a shuttering breath before saying in a much quieter voice "I'm the reason they're dead" he sank to his knees and curled in on himself. The silent sobs shook his slender frame. 

Gwaine slowly rose from his position. Moving towards him like he was a scared animal. He put both hands out in a placated motion. Not that Merlin could see him with his forehead resting on his knees as it was. He inched towards him trying to make his movements as obvious as possible. 

"Merlin this isn't real" Gwaine tried as he made his way over "No one is dead. We just need you to fix it. I would never turn you in and I think you know that." If Merlin heard him he gave no sign of showing it. His body was still vibrating from the cries or the fear Gwaine wasn't sure.

As Gwaine was about to rest his hand on Merlin's shoulder the door slammed open. Gwaine jumped around, instinctively moving his hand toward the sword he was wearing in the dreamscape. He lowered it as he saw Mordred jogging in red-faced and breathing heavily. "We need to move" He breathed out. 

Gwaine made a motion to Merlin who was still on the floor having not even moved with the sudden appearance of Mordred. Mordred didn't waste any time running towards the heap that was Merlin. He paused before resting his hand on Merlin's knee. At that, Merlin did flinch but made no move to raise his head. Mordred looked up to Gwaine a question written all over his face. Gwaine shrugged not sure how to explain his best friend's behavior. Merlin was never like this, completely defeated. He always had a solution to any problem that came his way. Gwaine didn't know how much he missed that until it became obvious that Merlin was not going to be adding to the conversation.

"Did you see Lance out there? I assumed he would be right on my heels but I didn't see him." Gwaine was sure if anyone could fix this it would be Lance. Lance always knew how to help Merlin. Even before Gwaine understood why he saw how Lance's presence seemed to life Merlin's mood. Gwaine had always been a little jealous of that effect. Ok really jealous.

"I don't think he is going to be able to join us. He's dead in here." Merlin did flinch at Mordred's answer but Mordred kept going "No body to jump into. I assume he just woke back up. Hopefully, he's helping Gaius."

Pieces were fitting together and the picture they created was not one Gwaine ever wanted to see. He had turned Merlin in in here. Lance must have been outed for knowing about Merlin's magic and as such died by Arthur's hand. Well fuck. He never pictured Merlin as having such dark thoughts before. He had seen the darkness that lingered in the younger man's eyes when he tried to put on a brave face for everyone. He had always tried to be closer to him on days like that. He could never imagine it was this. 

There were footsteps coming down the hallway now. He turned towards the closed door. They really did not have time for this now. Gwaine really did not want to be next in the pile of bodies collecting in Merlin's nightmare. Even if he couldn't feel it, he didn't know if Merlin could handle any more dead friends.

Gwaine moved back towards Merlin but as he drew closer to him he felt a weird sensation come over him. It felt like he had been hit in the head minus the pain. His vision blurred and he had to grab onto the wall to keep upright. His stomach seemed to do a backflip and his breathing started to come in labored breaths. He looked to Mordred who had the appearance of a ghost with how pale he got. Before he could even get the question out Gwaine was sinking to his knees. He could hear shouting but it seemed to be coming from a different room or really like it was coming from different ears. he slumped forward resting his head on what should have been the cold tile of the floor instead he felt a soft warm form under his head. Before he had a moment to process how wrong that was his eyes were sliding shut.

Chapter Text

Arthur was having an absolute shit week. It had started with Gaius reporting an illness in the lower town that needed to be tended to. That he absolutely could not do it alone was brought up by Merlin shortly after Gaius's report. Merlin had been studying under Gaius since he arrived in Camelot so he told Arthur in no uncertain terms that he was going to help Gaius and Arthur would have to have someone else clean his socks until the illness was gone. Arthur barely had time to agree to that before Merlin was stalking out of his chambers after Gaius. He really wanted to point out that as King he should be the one telling Merlin what and when he should be helping Gaius but he knew that was a losing argument. Merlin would bring up how he was Gaius's apprentice first and how Gaius was not as young as he used to be. How an outbreak could get bad quickly if not treated properly. How Arthur had promised at some time or another that Merlin's duties to Gaius came first since his citizen's health was always a top priority. Then he would call Arthur a stuck-up prat.

Arthur really hated how he could predict the entire argument without even having to have it.

So Arthur was stuck with competent servants for the week. Which should have been a grand break from Merlin's chaos. Except Arthur was used to Merlin's chaos. Even liked it if he were honest with himself. So the week was already going to shit and Merlin had only been gone for a couple of hours. A servant came into his room and tidied which would have been great and a nice break from the mess Merlin usually left it as except he could not find a single item he was expecting. His sword which Merlin always left near his bed so he could have it close when he slept since he was so used to getting attacked in his sleep, had made it onto the hook it was supposed to be on in his closet out of the way. It took Arthur over an hour to find it. His notes which Merlin always organized in order of importance were stored in his desk drawers instead of on his table where he liked to puruse them during breakfast organized by date. It took Arthur another hour to sort them how he liked which made him late to the council meeting he was supposed to be leading. The servant who helped dress him had put him in the nicer clothes that Merlin always avoided since they were ridged and itchy and always put him in a bad mood.

Sufficed to say he was unhappy. Even Gwen, who was always known for her brilliant treatment of servants, looked annoyed at the spotlessness of their rooms. The constant "my lady" and "Sire" were really starting to rub her the wrong way. They took to kicking the servants out at night so they could complain over dinner.

The bad mood had drifted to the knights. He expected Gwaine and Lancelot to be upset that Merlin was not there during training. Everyone knew how close those two were to Merlin. He was not expecting Elyan, Percival, and even Leon's disappointment when he explained that for the moment Merlin would not be joining them at training. 

His bad mood also was not helping the knight's mood. He knew he was snapping at them over nothing and that he was quicker to anger but he couldn't help it. The world felt wrong when Merlin wasn't around.

Any time any of them spotted Merlin he would always be running to or from the lower town carrying god knows what. The nightly reports Arthur had requested on the status of the lower town residents were coming later and later into the night until Merlin just took to writing them down and having them appear on his desk while he was sleeping.

Arthur could admit in the safety of his own mind that he missed his friend. He would never tell Merlin that but he would pat him on the shoulder once he returned.

Near the end of the first week, he got the news that the illness was finally starting to be contained and hopefully in the next couple of days Merlin would be able to attend to him again. God, he hoped so. He had a little more pep in his step as he read that report over. He should have known that was when it would all go to shit.

The next morning Lancelot approached him with the news that Gwaine had taken to the same illness as was going around the lower town and would be out of commission for the next couple of days along with the news that there was an uptick in illness in the lower town and Merlin might be out longer then expected. He didn't really question why Lancelot knew that when all of his reports so far had been coming from Merlin himself. Maybe he should have but he was so disappointed he didn't really think about it.

That night he was still moping. Even Gweniveres' attempts to cheer him up weren't working. He really wanted his manservant back. It was as they were getting ready for bed that things really started to go sideways. He could sense the magic in the air even before he could see it. All the hairs on his arms rose. That was all the warning he got before the ground started to shake. The bright moon in the sky disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds. Lightning started touching down on the cobblestone outside his window. He turned to see Gwen's eyes wide her lips slightly parted. "Stay here," he told her as he clipped his sword back to his belt. He ran from the room but didn't get far before bumping into Leon. He looked confused running in the opposite direction as to where Arthur was going. "Report," Arthur said in his very kingly voice thank you very much. Leon turned on a dime to follow him down the hallway at a very brisk pace.

"The disturbances are being felt as far as the outer city walls." honestly Arthur was always curious how Leon got his information so quickly during a crisis. He would have to ask at another time. 

"Does anyone have any idea where the magic is coming from" Arthur was pretty sure an attack on this scale would lead to a very angry sorcerer revealing himself to kill him and take over Camelot. That's how this usually went. Sorcerers weren't usually quiet about what they were doing.

"No one had reported any sightings yet" Leon replied. And that was concerning in of itself. This must be a distraction then. 

"Gather as many knights as you can. Have a couple guard the Queen and have the rest go down to vaults" Leon nodded like he expected that response.

Arthur parted ways to go to the war room where he could better coordinate. As he pushed the huge doors open the shaking stopped. The clouds seemed to retreat as quickly as they came in. He looked around at his advisors and saw them with the same confused expression Arthur was sure he was wearing. Not what he was expecting. He waited a couple of minutes and sent a servant to gather the round table so they could figure out what was going on. Percival and Elyan entered first both looking very confused followed by Gwen right behind them. She had changed back into a respectable gown. Only then did Arthur realize he was still wearing his night clothes. He would have to change once he got their report. 

Once he took in Gwen's appearance he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Gwen looked fine. No one had attacked her then. He looked back to Elyan and Percival who seemed to refuse to leave the Queen's side. They were probably guarding her then. Leon came back into the room looking around. He seems to scan the entire room before turning his attention back to Arthur. He strode up to his side and quietly explained, "The vaults have not been entered. I have been unable to find Gwaine, Lancelot, or Mordred though." 

That piqued Arthur's interest. He was not expecting Gwaine since he knew him to be sick. Though Gwaine had surprised him before he was sure Gaius was keeping him on strict bedrest. Lancelot had the day off but everyone knew he didn't really leave the city and was an early-to-bed early-to-rise type. Maybe he was helping Merlin and Gaius in the lower town and stayed to protect them. He would have to send out someone to go check to make sure they were all alright. Mordred had been out all night on guard duty. He should have been in his room sleeping. Everyone knew though Mordred had a sixth sense for trouble and could be found wherever the trouble was. That could be dangerous if he was alone. He nodded to Leon and told him to go get someone to check the lower town for any sign of the five of them.

They stayed up far too late waiting for another attack and getting reports that nothing was missing or wrong. Someone had come to tell Arthur that they talked to Lancelot and he said he got Merlin and Gaius to their chambers where Gwaine was. That they were all exhausted and Lancelot would be forcing them to get some sleep. That should something else happen he would be guarding them. Arthur decided it was as good of a plan as any. 

As he crawled into bed trying to get at least a few hours of sleep before the sun rose he decided it was probably someone pulling a prank. A dangerous prank but no one got hurt so no harm done. He didn't need to make it a bigger deal than it was. A couple of scared people were not the end of the world. He let these thoughts ease him into a quiet slumber holding his wife a little tighter than he had previously.

When the first rays of sunlight started streaming into his bedroom he felt it again. A slight tingle. Magic. Shit, any plan for a lie-in was thrown out the window. As he turned to look out the curtains that he forgot to draw the night before he saw the storm return. Fuck. So not a prank then. He got out of bed and dressed quickly again telling his wife to stay put. She did roll her eyes at being told not to help out but he was too busy running out the door to really take that in. He passed Elyan and Percival returning to Gwen's side. He thanked them for their quick action even though they both looked exhausted. He ran into Leon again. "There have been several people mentioning that items are floating in the west part of the castle." And that just did not make sense. There was nothing on that side of the castle other than some guest rooms and the court physician's chambers. Shit. No one had seen Merlin or Gaius since the chaos started.

"Go grab Elyan Percival and Gwen and meet me at Gaius's chambers" Leon's eyes went wide at that as he probably realized what was over there as well. Arthur took off at a run to the side of the castle.

By the time he got there, the shaking had returned making it very hard to keep his balance. He had stumbled more times than was probably proper of a king. He didn't really want to think of what he must look like. Hair a mess and chainmail probably crocked. He didn't have time for armor. Sword in hand he took a second outside of Gaius's chambers to listen in. He heard Lancelot's voice first. He sounded exasperated "Why didn't it work for me like the others Gaius"

"I'm not sure it could have been a multitude of things but for now we have to wait and see" They sounded stressed but not scared. Almost resigned. Arthur wasn't sure what was happening but he did feel a little better now that he heard both Lancelot and Gaius's voices. Then he heard the sound of an explosion. He quickly busted in the door sword in hand and stopped dead in his tracks. The room was a disaster. He knew he should be paying more attention to the mess but he couldn't not with all the magic that was around them. Things were floating in the air all around them. The explosion from before must have been a vase dropping to the ground or something. Multiple orbs were glowing around them. The lightning from the storm seemed to be hitting down randomly and far too quickly lighting up the room more. Gwaine was sleeping next to Merlin's unconscious form Head resting on his arm which was sitting on Merlin's stomach. Mordred was lying down on a cot seemingly asleep as well. 

Gaius and Lancelot's attention had shot to him as soon as he entered the room. Both going silent. He was too exacerbated by the insane amount of magic going on to really take in their expression but they both had dark bruising under their eyes showing they obviously hadn't slept. In Lancelot's hand was a vile of bright purple liquid. A color that should have been impossible for a tonic to get to. He quickly moved in behind his back and stepped in front of the table that seemed to contain more viles.

Before he could really take it all in the other knights and Gwen came bareling in stopping just behind Arthur. Gaius actually looked scared now. Right. Someone was going to have to take charge and that should probably be him. Deep breath. Then in a quiet steady voice that should have been impossible considering the situation he looked back to Lancelot and said "What is going on here"

He saw Lancelot tense. Lancelot shared a look with Gaius whose eyes had gone wide as his eyebrows shot up. Arthur could see the lie before either of them could even open their mouths. He was not going to let them start this with a lie so in that steady voice no longer as quiet "If either of you lie to me right now I will have you in the dunguons before you can finish" That was a lie. He knew he couldn't get away with sending Lancelot or Gaius to the dungeons. He would have a mutiny on his hands. He really did not want to add mutiny to the insanity of today's events. He still needed the treat to hold though. He needed the truth.

The two of them shared another look. He saw it again. The lie was coming either way. Lancelot opened his mouth but before he could even speak Arthur turned to Leon, Elyan, and Percival. "Wake them up" He pointed to the three unconscious bodies laid out before him.

That got Lancelot to finally look scared. He all but shouted "No!" but it was too late the three of them were walking around ready to do as Arthur commanded. Gauis started in a voice filled with anxiety "I really must insist that they be left alone" and that was the last of Arthur's tenperment jumping out the window.

"if you two are so keen to lie to me I will have to question all five of you separately to figure this out." The words this time were not as quiet and not calm. Lancelot moved to try to stand in front of Mordred but Arthur had his sword pointing to him before he took a step.

Leon nodded at him and moved to Mordred first shaking him and yelling his name. Arthur yelled, "I don't care if you have to pour water on them I want them up." It didn't get that far as a second later Mordred bolted up. He locked eyes with Leon before turning his attention to Arthur. 

Arthur had milliseconds to take in the gold that was quickly retreating from his eyes but he did see it. Fuck. Mordred had magic.

Chapter Text

Merlin had decided that nothing made sense anymore. Gwaine had seen him do magic. Gwaine had turned him in. Gwaine hated him. Lancelot and Gaius were dead because he got caught. Arthur and Gwen were repulsed by him. He was supposed to be burning alive. Instead, he was sitting in a dusty guest chamber. Gwaine had saved him. That didn't make any sense. Why would he do that? Mordred was here too, trying to get him to talk to him. Merlin didn't want to talk to anyone. He didn't want to deal with his mistakes. The two people that were always there for him with his magic were dead. Arthur had turned into his father. The knights were ready to throw him on the pyre.

Even in his deepest darkest thoughts did he think it would be this bad. He could feel his magic trying to make it better but it still was not working. Nothing was happening. He curled deeper into himself. His ankles burned where the fire had licked at them. Maybe if he just sat there and retreated into his own mind he could picture it was all ok again. That he hadn't failed so spectacularly.

He finally looked up when he heard metal hitting the floor. He didn't want this to happen but it was. He needed to try and help whoever was left. He couldn't let anyone else die because of him. He saw both Mordred and Gwaine unconscious on the floor. What the fuck was happening? He pushed over to Gwaine first letting his physician's training take over. He first checked for a pulse. It was even and steady. He then moved to his chest. He bent down and let his head rest on his heart. He could feel the steady motions. Before he could continue though Gwaine jerked awake.

"Get off of me you filthy sorcerer" Oh. So it had all been a sick joke. Trying to get him off the pyre. Speaking softly to him. Trying to get him to calm down. It was all a sick joke to prolong his death. He didn't think there were any pieces of his heart left to break but he felt it again tearing itself apart.

Gwaine pushed him roughly to the ground. He stood up and retrieved the sword that he dropped when his body hit the ground. At this point, Mordred was stirring too. He was outnumbered and outpaced in here. He slowly rose to his feet. Maybe he could run. Get to the woods. Seek the druids. Maybe they could help.

The sword was pushed harder against his throat. He could feel the blood drip down his neck and rest in the hollows of his collarbone. First thing first he needed to get away. As he slowly backed away the sword following him as he moved he felt another poke at the small of his back. So Mordred was awake. That was not good. He opened his mouth to try to plead with them. Before he could Gwaine was snarling "Say a word and I will slice your tongue out" He snapped his mouth shut with a sharp click.

Gwaine was nodding to the door. Merlin now heard the footsteps over the rushing blood. He could do nothing as Gwaine yelled "In here boys."

The door swung open and Elyan, Percival, and Leon strolled in. To Merlin's surprise so did Arthur. They all looked murderous. But it wasn't pointed at him. 

"Why Sir Gwaine were you seen carrying him off the pyre?" Shit. They were going to kill Gwaine too. Merlin couldn't have that. Gwaine might have turned against him but he needed to live. He had to. Merlin would not be able to live with himself if someone else died for him.

"I enchanted him" he yelled. The two swords on him drew even closer. Now a stream of blood was rolling down his neck. He could feel the back of his shirt dampen. That was ok though. Arthur and the knights were now looking at him instead of Gwaine. Gwaine wasn't going to die.

He felt all their gazes on him but he kept his eyes on Gwaine. Even as his eyes hardened. Gwaine had to live.

"You will burn Sorcerer" Leon snarled.

Right his getaway plan. Well all the people that may have helped him are dead. Mordred apparently was ok with seeing another person with magic burn if the sword in his back was any indication. There was no way to get out of this. Not with the best knights having their weapons on him. He couldn't even nod since the sword was pressing so deep. He held out his hands towards the knights so they could put the chains back on. He never let his eyes drift from Gwaine though. Even if they were filled with anger and disgust. He wanted to memorize those eyes for as long as he had left.

The cuffs were put back on his bleeding wrists. Only then did Gwaine turn away. He missed those eyes as soon as they were no longer in his sight. He was led from the room by Mordred. He had to know why the young warlock was ok with letting him burn when he knew he shared the same fear. He dropped his voice so only Mordred could hear. No need to kill Mordred as well.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Think about how easy it will be to kill Arthur if you're not around to stop me" and that made his blood turn to ice. If he wasn't there who would stop Arthur from dying? Merlin had been the one stopping all the magical attacks and a lot of the nonmagical attacks since his first week in Camelot. How was Arthur going to survive without him? 

He didn't realize he stopped walking until the sword Mordred was holding on him dug deeper into his back. The pain made him hiss. Before he had a chance to recover Percival who was the closest knight to him swung around and slapped him across the face. Black dots played across his vision and he tasted blood. "Move sorcerer"

The chains around his wrists were pulled tight until he stumbled into motion again. His breathing had picked up. He can feel the start of the panic enters his mind like a physical blow. He was going to die. He was going to die and no one was going to help him. He was going to die and everyone was ok with that. 

Chapter Text

Gwaine wakes with a start. The yelling he had heard before was louder now. Right in his ear actually. He takes in the room. There was a shit ton of Merlin's magic whizzing around. Not good. Arthur and the other knights were there. Really not good. Mordred had several swords pointed at him. Extremely not good. Merlin was still unconscious. Exceedingly not good.

He took a deep breath. He needed to get back to Merlin. To do that he needed Modred. Mordred who currently had four weapons on him. Mordred who had true terror written all over his face. Right. Gwaine has never been known to keep his mouth shut anyway.

"Ok" Fuck that word. He was going to burn that word to the ground. Probably not the best analogy when his... whatever Merlin is to him was currently trying to die by it. "Ok, there is no need for that." He strolled over to Elyan and put his hand on his arm holding his sword. "Mordred here is just helping out our friend Merlin" he nodded they would have to understand. He was not going to let Merlin die in that hellhole.

Arthur snapped his gaze to Gwaine. "He's a sorcerer" he snapped out "He had you under some spell. Look at what he's doing to this room. Let alone the rest of the castle. He needs to stop." well that was so far off Gwaine didn't know where to start. He looked around at the absolute chaos that was happening around him and then back to Mordred's clearly blue eyes. "He's doing all this with his eyes staying blue?" Maybe if Gwaine pointed out the obvious they could move on and hopefully keep searching elsewhere.

Arthur did start at that question. But as quick as the surprise was there it faded to a blank face. "We all saw his eyes flash when he woke up" That was super not good. He was banking on the fact that no one had seen it. Probably a stupid assumption on his part. He watched as the little color that was on Mordred's face rapidly drained. 

Gaius, sharp as ever, took over where Gwaine had stalled. Stepping up and saying "Perhaps it was a trick of the light. The storm outside is pretty extreme. Could have been a flash of lightning." God bless him. He always knew how to divert attention. Gwaine was nodding along before he even finished.

Arthur for his credit did let his mask slip a bit showing he was actually considering it. But again the blank mask took over "No. We all saw the gold. You only woke up once his eyes cleared. He has magic" Well shit. There was no getting out of the one. Lance was looking around probably plotting escape routes. Gwaine's attention snapped back to Merlin. He hadn't meant to let this go along for so long. "Fuck" Gwaine uttered as he saw the crimson slowly trailing down his neck.

It was like Gwaine had shouted free meed as everyone's attention snapped to him. They seemed to follow his gaze to Merlin's bleeding neck. Gaius quickly moved over with a cloth and some bandages but Gwaine was looking back at Mordred. "We need to go back in" He walked over to the table and moved Lance out of the way to grab a purple vile. Before he downed it in one again Arthur had snatched it out of his hand. Gwaine barely held back his snarl.

"You are not going to do anything until someone explains." Gwaine was going to strangle him. Before he could Lance had grabbed his arm.

"Ok, fast version then." Lance said, "Merlin is cursed to live out his worst nightmare. He is going to die in there if we don't somehow convince him it's not real so he can wake himself up" The way Lance expertly avoided mentioning Merlin's magic was impressive. Gwaine would have to ask how he got that good avoiding the truth. "Mordred" Lance looked at him and Mordred gave a slight nod, "Is the only one who can get us in and out. Anything that happens to Merlin in the dream will happen to his body out here. Hence the state of him"

Gwaine looked back over at him. He looked truly horrible bandaged around his chest and head. Bruising on his other shoulder. The blanket covered up the burns he was sure were trailing up his legs. The newest addition on his neck being cleaned by Gaius.

Gwen acted first running over to him. Looking to Gaius before she looked back to Arthur. "So help me God if Merlin dies I will never forgive you." She stated it with the utmost seriousness. After the shock that overtook Arthur's face faded a bit he nodded his head.

He looked back to Mordred. "Ok let's go get him" That had the four of them sharing a look. There would be no hiding Merlin's magic if Princess and posse decided to go in. 

"That's not necessary," Mordred said first. But Arthur wasn't listening. He walked over to the table and grabbed another vile handing it to his wife.

"I am not going to let Merlin die without at least trying to help" Gwen was nodding along. The others started to move towards the table to pick up a vile. Gwaine turned back to Merlin just to see his lip split open and a large hand print overtakes one side of his face. Right this can't wait for an argument. He can see Mordred looking at Merlin's face as well. Gwaine nods to him before walking over and picking up a purple vile. Mordred doing the same. Lance reached for one too but Gwaine put a hand on his shoulder. "You and Gaius should stay here. I don't think you'll be able to enter anyway."

Lance looks really distressed at this but nods. "I'll keep guard then" He moves to the door but before he gets too far he whispers "Bring him back will you"

Gwaine feels the weight of that statement and nods. He moves back to his previous position sitting at Merlin's bedside as Mordred directs the rest of them into suitable positions, allowing Gwen to take the bed and Arthur the floor next to her. He can see them reaching for each other.

Arthur turns to him and asks, "What is Merlin's worst fear anyways"

Gwaine grimaces. No point in trying to lie but maybe not the full truth either. "We were trying to kill him the last time I went in."

Arthur looks shocked but before he can ask any more questions Mordred sits down at the table next to Leon and Percival and says, "Bottoms up yeah" They all uncork their bottles and swallow down the terrible liquid. Gwaine hears a few gags but Mordred is quickly saying the spell again. Gwaine lets his eyes slide shut and he falls back into darkness.

Chapter Text

Arthur has the distinct feeling of falling before he blinks his eyes open. He's walking which feels weird. He's never woken up standing before. He recognizes the castle hallway. It's a little disorienting and he has to stop moving to gain back his bearings. He hears the clanging of something metal hitting the ground and whirls around. The other knights look as perplexed as him. Percival is grabbing at the wall. Leon is squeezing his eyes shut. Elyan looks like he might throw up.

He looks behind them to Gwaine who is already walking away from him. He follows the knight's movement to their seeming location. There behind them all is Merlin. His shoulders are about hitting his ears. His eyes are squeezed shut. His body reads of tension. It's not what Arthur focuses on though. If Merlin looked bad in the real world (Which he did) he looks horrendous here. Without the bandages blocking his view he can see the large gash on the crown of his head. The blood long since dried, caked in his eyebrow, and flaked apart down his face. There are tear tracks down his dirty face. His split lip bleeding down his chin and dripping to the floor. The cut on his neck is deep and there's blood falling into his neckerchief. The originally blue material turning almost purple. His wrists in chains, blood seeping through the sides of the manacles and dripping to the floor. He's barefoot and his pant legs are charred and cropped short. There are angry-looking burns crawling up his legs. It takes all of Arthur's willpower to not go running to him.

He watches as Gwaine goes strolling up to him about to lay a hand on him, then thinks better of it. He looks to Percival who seems to be getting his decorum back. Arthur just then notices the chains are being held by Percival. Percival takes in both of them staring at him before looking down to the chain in his hand. He quickly drops it letting the sound reverberate around the stone walls.

The sound reminds Arthur of the crash he heard when he first woke up and looks to the ground where he sees a discarded sword directly behind Merlin but in front of Mordred. Gwaine hadn't been kidding about the whole 'We are trying to kill him' thing. Arthur doesn't know whether to laugh or throw up.

The sound of Gwaine's voice breaks Arthur out of his musings, "Merlin mate I need you to calm down."

Arthur looks back to Merlin whose breaths are coming in a too rapid manner. Gwaine approaches Merlin slowly now making sure he hears his footsteps. Merlin still hasn't opened his eyes but as Gwaine's hand slowly rests down on his shoulder he visibly flinches back. Gwaine takes his hand off of him as if it burned him. The other knights look as if they took a physical blow at that. Gwaine was their best bet on getting him to calm down minus maybe Gwen.

Right, Gwen. Where was she anyway? He turned to Elyan and quietly asked him to go find her. He left without complaint. Eager to find his sister. Merlin's breathing still hadn't settled and Arthur was sure he was about to pass out. Mordred still behind him looks about ready to catch him. 

Leon slowly approaches forward. He takes the keys from Percival and moves to grab Merlin's hand. Merlin flinches again but does crack his eyes open. Arthur can see Leon giving him a small smile while he unlocks his chains. He bends down and carefully places them on the floor still holding Merlin's wrist with one hand. He never lets his eyes drop always watching the younger man. Arthur had never been more thankful for the man in his life.

Even with Leon's sweet slow movements, Merlin is still breathing too quickly. Arthur is reminded of a spooked horse and slowly raises his hands in the same way he would the scared creature. Leon had started saying quiet reassurances into Merlin's ear not letting go of his wrist. Arthur can see Gwaine looking around desperately for a way to help. As he looks back Merlin is falling to his knees. He rushes forward but Mordred grabs him from behind by both elbows and Leon still hasn't let go of his bleeding wrists. They both ease him to the floor as he squeezes his eyes shut again. Leon gestures for the rest of them to follow and soon they are all sitting on the ground waiting for Merlin to calm down or pass out. Leon had placed Merlin's hand against his chest at this point and was taking exaggerated breaths trying to get Merlin to copy. Gwaine had moved to his side and was rubbing small circles into his back. Mordred still held his elbows preparing in case he slumped in any direction. Percival had started humming softly. Arthur wasn't sure how to help so he waited watching the corridor for any movement.

Merlin eventually loses the fight and slumps backward. Mordred catches him. Gwaine seems visibly distressed by that turn of events but quickly nods to himself and whispers, "We should probably move him to a bed. We don't want to be out in the open like this." Arthur nods as well before slowly rising. Gwaine picks Merlin up bridal style his head lolling to the side. As they all start rising they hear footsteps approaching from around the turn. They all minus Gwaine take their swords out and wait for the intruder to turn the corner. The sounds of high heels clicking on the ground finally reach Arthur and he lowers his sword as Gwen and Elyan turn the corner. Gwen takes in all of them her gaze quickly finally finding Merlin. She runs up to him holding her skirts in her hand and starts wiping his fringe out of his eyes.

"What happened" Gwen asks quietly.

"He was panicking when we got here. He hyperventilated" Arthur replied.

"We should move" Gwaine repeated and turned on a dime to walk towards where Arthur knew the guest chambers were.

Gwen's hand fell from where she was messing with Merlin's hair and before it got all the way down Arthur strolled up and took it. He then noticed the tears rolling down her face. He takes his other hand and wipes them away,

"It was the pyre Arthur" She whispers before falling into his arm with quiet cries.

Gwaine gingerly placed Merlin down on the bed. He had seen his fair share of panic episodes before. He knew how to help with them. His sister got them all the time after his father died. He had never felt as useless as when Merlin had had his. Merlin flinching when he touched him ripped his heart in two. How was he supposed to fight this? He was the source of Merlin's pain. Not the cause but the source. Gwaine was sure he was going to kill the asshole who did this to him. Merlin only deserves the most wonderful things, not his worst nightmare playing out in front of him.

Gwen came over with the washing bowl which was full of water. She rips a strip off her dress and dabs it in the water and then brings it to Merlin's face to wash it off. Gwaine takes a seat next to her running his hands through Merlin's hair. He takes in her face the red-rimmed eyes and the sniffle giveaway that she had been crying.

"You saw it then," he stated more than asked. She still answers.

"Yes"

He knows the queen is smart. Definitely less oblivious than the Princess. He knows she knows the significance. He should probably say nothing.

"You're not scared of him?" That one was definitely a question.

Her eyes snap to his. The response is written on her face before she says it.

"No"

He visibly relaxes at that and she returns to her ministrokes across Merlin's face.

Merlin starts to stir as she moves the cloth down his chin. His eyelids flutter and then snap open. He scrambles backward against the headboard. His breathing starts to pick up again. His eyes desperately flicking around the room, taking in all the knights strewn around the room. Right. Gwaine moves towards him slowly again. Merlin's blue eyes flick to him taking in the slow motions. He scrambles back as Gwaine is about to touch him. Right. Yep. No touching. He can do that.

Merlin is back on his feet. He seems to be taking in everything he can. His eyes finally rest on the sword Arthur is still holding. Gwaine wants to strangle him again. Arthur seems to take in what Merlin is looking at and with a soft "oh" he returns the sword to his belt before holding his hands out in front of him. Merlin looks about ready to book it. Someone really needs to start talking because Gwaine is about to say something really stupid if someone doesn't start Fucking Talking.

"Merlin" and even Gwaine is surprised it was Percival. Percival who was now sitting in a chair looking at Merlin with a softness Gwaine can only pray he's replicating.

Merlin's eyes snap to Percival. He honestly looks so confused it's kinda cute. If it weren't for the blood still dripping from his mouth and down his back.

"Merlin" Percival repeats "Listen, this, whatever it is, isn't real ok" but Merlin is already shaking his head. The man was always rather stubborn.

"If this is just some sick joke I don't want to be a part of it. If you're going to kill me kill me don't drag this out more than you already have" The venom dripping from each syllable destroys the last remaining pieces of Gwaine's heart. But Merlin continues just to stomp on the crushed bits, "Gwaine and Mordred already had their fun. I am not about to fall for it again so just kill me now or drag me back to the pyre. I don't care anymore" He sounds so defeated as he wraps his arms tightly around himself.

Gwen's tears are falling in earnest again. She puts a hand to her mouth. Gwaine can feel his own eyes fill. He didn't really think about what Merlin must have experienced when Gwaine and Mordred were ripped from this world the first time. The whiplash from being told this world wasn't real to being beaten and dragged away in chains.

It suddenly comes to Gwaine. How to convince Merlin, "Two days ago" Merlin whips his head around to start at Gwaine. Gwaine feels the piercing glare in his very soul but he forces himself to continue. "You were coming back helping Gaius remember? You looked dead on your feet." The confusion is back on Merlin's face but he nods anyway so Gwaine keeps going. "Do you remember what happened?"

Merlin takes a second before he replies stuttering slightly "I...I must have fallen asleep"  Gwaine starts shaking his head

"But do you remember falling asleep"

That gives Merlin actual pause "Li..like you said I was tired"

"So you don't" and Gwaine might have sounded a little too excited about that prospect if the way Merlin flinched again was any indication. He sombered quickly as he saw it.

"Two days ago I saw you walking home and I followed you to make sure you got home safe" There was a scoff from someone. He's not sure who, too focused on Merlin. He will revisit that later. He should honestly start keeping a list of all the things he's saving for later "You were already inside when I got there but when I entered there was a boy. He had sandy brown hair and these intense hazel eyes." There. There was recognition in those blue eyes of his. Gwaine stepped closer. "By the time I got there, he was sitting on top of you carving a rune into your chest right there." He pointed to Merlin's heart. "You haven't woken since"

He is sure Merlin is about to believe him. He's so close to figuring it out. Gwaine can almost see the gears turning. But then the eyes steal over again. Shit. "All I remember is you turning me in and then laughing in my face. You may not have killed Lancelot and Gaius but you signed their death warrants." That had Gwaine flinching this time. He quickly looked over to Arthur to make sure he didn't figure it out. If the confusion plastered on his face were any indication he hadn't.

Before he can direct the conversation back to safe terrain he hears Leon pipe up. "Turn you in for what?"

Merlin's gaze leaves him turning back to Leon. "What do you mean for what? You really want to rub it in that badly to make me say it." Gwen is moving towards Merlin looking between hugging him and telling him to shut up before he says something he can't take back. Gwaine is right behind her. He will slap a hand over that adorable mouth if he has to.

Leon is talking again but Percival looks like he figured it out. Shit. "We are just trying to understand"

Merlin to his credit actually looks mad now "You understood well enough to throw me on the pyre"

Ok. This conversation is flowing out of control. Gwaine needs to steer it back on track. Percival to his credit is pulling at Leon's sleeve like a toddler would and shaking his head.

This does stop Leon's questions but Arthur is nothing bull bullheaded. So he picks it up "Why are you scared of the pyre" God Gwaine is going to kill him. Actually. He doesn't care if it's treason. As long as Merlin is ok he doesn't care.

Merlin turns to face Arthur now and he looks livid. "Because I was born with..." Before he can finish Gwaine is surging forward. He places his lips directly on Merlin's. He tastes of copper and salt. Not exactly how Gwaine was imagining it but he'll take what he can get. To his surprise, Merlin doesn't move away. He doesn't kiss back but he doesn't move away.

Gwaine separates shortly after. "See if I was trying to kill you do you think I would kiss you first"

Merlin honest to god looks so lost. It's sweet in a way that's kind of sad. Another thing to add to the list of things they need to talk about later. He keeps going before Merlin can catch up and start spilling secrets to the one person he shouldn't "This is not real. You are stuck in some curse or another and we are trying to get you back to the real world so you can stop getting hurt, Ok" and for the first time since this bullshit started that word sounded right. He watched as Merlin scrutinized him probably looking for any indication of a lie.

After a long minute, Gwaine was sure Merlin was going to fight again but then he softened, his whole body sagging. "Ok."

Chapter Text

Merlin wasn't really sure why he said it. It slipped out before he had thought it all the way through. 

"Ok."

He wasn't sure he really believed it. It sounded so far-fetched. But was it really crazier than what had been happening the past day? Gwaine just looked so sincere. He looked heartbroken too but there would be time to deal with that later. Hopefully. If this didn't turn out to be the worst setup for a prank he'd ever experienced. He took a deep breath. Gwaine's arms were still around his shoulders and he leaned into a touch that wasn't painful. If he got out of this he promised himself to kiss Gwaine back next time. He really hoped there would be a next time.

"How do we get out of here?" Merlin moved his hand in an all-encompassing movement. Gwaine was nodding. He opened his mouth but then closed it again. Merlin was so tired. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You don't know?" 

"Well, we were a bit preoccupied with trying to stop you from getting hurt." Deep breath Merlin told himself. He loved his friends but they could be idiots.

Gwaine looked around for the first time since he kissed him. "Where is Mordred he will probably know." 

Merlin furrowed his brows at that. What did he mean by that? He couldn't be insinuating what Merlin thinks he's insinuating. Otherwise, that would mean everyone knew about Mordred. As much as he was scared by the possible future of the kid he didn't really want to see him hurt. Merlin guessed he tensed up under Gwaine's hands because Gwaine was turning back around looking him over like he was assessing for injuries. He finally took in Merlin's expression and a smile crossed his delicate features. Gods how Merlin missed that smile. "Oh they all know about Mordred's talent"

Bad. That was bad. The very same secret that Merlin almost burned at the stake for. He had to get Mordred out of here. He didn't want him to get hurt too. He wasn't sure when he started shaking but he was sure when Gwaine noticed. He quickly steered him back to the bed and sat him down. Careful of his injuries he started rubbing small circles into his arms. "It's ok. Princess isn't going to do anything to Mordred. Are you Arthur?" The last question was said with a very pointed stare. 

Merlin looked over at Arthur. He looked visibly torn. Like he was being forced into a decision before he was ready. Arthur's eyes flicked to Merlin and softened. "Of course not. We are just going to have a long discussion when this is all over. He stayed in the hallway to watch for the guards"

Merlin felt a little better at that. Maybe that would be good for them all. They could see that magic wasn't all bad. Mordred was like a younger brother to the knights. If he explained he didn't choose it they might be more sympathetic. He's not sure what it means for him. If it means Arthur might forgive him. He has been lying for so much longer. Then comes the thought that he hadn't quite put together yet. It fell over him like a bucket of cold water. He looked over as Arthur went to retrieve Mordred before tugging at Gwaine's arm to get his attention and whispered. "Who knows about my magic?" 

"Not Arthur if that's what you're asking. He's only been here since the hallway and hasn't seen outside." That was the first good news he heard all day. Arthur wasn't going to kill him if he still didn't know. Along with the relief came the guilt like a stone in his stomach. The one good thing about this place was that he didn't have to lie. Gwaine traced another circle with his thumb into Merlin's arm effectively bringing him back into the moment.

Arthur returned a couple of seconds later with Mordred. Mordred looked around and took in all the faces before locking eyes with Merlin. "You with us then?"

"Yeah" Merlin replied and the younger man looked so happy Merlin wanted to laugh. Gods if they get out of this he was going to sit Mordred down and talk with him about all this destiny thing. Maybe he could get him to understand.

Mordred came over and stared at Merlin as he announced. "OK, we are going to need the room" Arthur looked ready to argue but Gwen stepped up to him and pulled him from the room. The other knights followed. As Gwaine started moving away Merlin grabbed his hand. "Stay?" He hated how desperate that sounded. but Gwaine just gave him a soft smile.

"Of course."

Mordred turned and noded. He sat down on the ground, his legs crossing in front of him, and gestured for the two of them to do the same. Merlin followed and copied his position. "Ok so this curse has never been broken before but if anyone can do it it would be you Emrys." Gwaine looked confused at the name. He would have to explain later.

"We will start with getting you in a meditative state. You should be pretty intune with the magic around you so you should be able to sense it and hopefully, you'll be able to remove it." Ok, so there was no plan. Merlin let his eyes roll. This is just hoping by sheer power alone he would be able to fix it.

"I don't have magic right now" He looked down towards his lap and when he looked back up Mordred and Gwaine were sharing a look.

"Your magic might not be doing anything in here but you definitely still have it" Mordred said turning his gaze back to Merlin.

"You should see Gaius's workroom" Gwaine had meant it as a joke surely but that was too much.

"You mean to tell me all the magic I've been releasing has been working. Holy fuck. I let it go at one point. I never let it go. Is everyone ok? Is anyone hurt?" So maybe he was panicking a little. This was a lot. Gwaine's hand returned to his arm and started rubbing circles again. Merlin felt his breathing level out and WHEN did it pick up? How had he not noticed?

Gwaine was talking he should be listening to what he was saying. Merlin tuned back in just to hear "..one is fine. A little spooked by the ground shaking and the storm" Merlin must have tensed at that because Gwaine's hand tightened just enough to bring him back "...but no one is hurt and the crops are probably enjoying the rain."

Merlin took one deep breath and watched as Mordred slapped Gwaine on the arm closest to him. He gave a little chuckle at the"ow" that Gwaine let out.

"He was going to find out eventually better to get it all out now than when he gets back" Merlin did laugh at that. Gwaine always had trouble keeping his mouth shut.

"So this meditative state" Merlin finally said as the silence stretched on

"Right. So we get you to meditate until you sense the real world and hopefully, your magic will pull you back"

Merlin nodded this was a ridiculous plan but he had come back from worse odds "OK what do I do"

"Close your eyes. let your magic seep out of you try not to restrain it but let it help you instead of attacking" Merlin nodded and complied closing his eyes.

He had felt his magic leaving him earlier. He searched for that feeling again. He could feel it flowing out of him. He could feel the storm it had created. He could feel the objects it picked up. He could feel it seeping into the ground and the ground responding to his distress. He stopped it all. Not containing it back in his body but letting go of the violent things. He stopped the storm but let it seep into the sky feeling the birds flying and the clouds rolling overhead. He released the shaking feeling instead the soft bed he was lying on and the hard cobblestone below the palace and deeper than that he felt the dirt and the worms and the bones and the decay. He let the winds around him slow and the items being carried by it slowly lowered the items to the ground. He felt the cooler air around him smelt the herbs that always indicate Gaius's chambers.

He felt everything and eventually, he felt his own body. He could feel the curse that had overtaken him. The cuts right above his heart. The darkness that was infiltrating his mind. He let his magic poke and prod at it looking for how to destroy it. In the end, the answer came to him like a slap to the face. It was so obvious. Instead of chasing it with his magic, he let his magic grow hot and bright. Let it engulf the darkness like a flame. Let the fire inside him roar to life.

He blinked his eyes open to a very familiar ceiling and a pair of painfully familiar eyes looking down at him. "Lancelot"

Chapter Text

Being pushed into his body felt a lot better this time around. 

Gwaine slowly opened his eyes. He could feel the magic wrapping around him much more like the healing magic from the first spell Merlin put off than the chaotic mess that had surrounded him the rest of the time. He liked this side of magic a lot.

He lifted his head to see Lance's eyes blown wide staring at Merlin like he couldn't quite believe it was him. Gwaine did laugh this time. He watched as Merlin's eyes fluttered as he started moving. Much more like his normal sleep the the awful unconscious state Gwaine had been getting used to the last couple of days. Merlin reached out and grasped his hand and Gwaine's heart did the flip thing it liked to do whenever they touched. Lance never let his eyes leave the warlocks. Not until Merlin finally won the battle and pried his eyes open. He took a second blinking a few times as his eyes focused.

Once they did they locked on Lance's and he whispered out "Lancelot" sounding like both a promise and a heart-shattering revelation.  He flung himself at the man but didn't remove his hand from Gwaine's. His other arm wrapped around the man's neck and pulled him down on top of him. Gwaine felt the jealousy rise in him but Merlin gave his hand a gentle squeeze and that made his entire world feel right. 

Lance was laughing and hugged him back "Good to see you too, Merls"

When Merlin finally pulled away he had tears rolling down his face but a huge lopsided smile spread large across his mouth. He sat up fully looking around until he locked eyes with Gaius. Gwaine saw what he was about to do seconds before he did and held the hand he was attached to tight as he moved his other hand to the man's chest. As soon as Merlin tried to launch himself out of bed Gwaine pushed him back down.

"No no no. Gaius can come over here you are not getting out of this bed until you're healed up more."

Gaius who was standing over by the table with multiple herbs sitting on top did come over. "Oh my boy," he said before he wrapped him in a tight hug.

Gwaine took a second to make sure the others were alive as well. He turned to see them all sitting up with soft smiles on their faces. Gwen had tears in her eyes again.

Gaius eventually let go and had a seat at the edge of Merlin's cot. Lance moved up to ruffle the boy's hair avoiding the bandages that were still there.

Gwaine took in the sight of Merlin. Broken and bruised but alive. He let a smile creep its way onto his own lips. Fuck he had it bad. He squeezed Merlin's hand and Merlin slowly turned his eyes back towards Gwaine. He could feel his eyes filling with liquid. He looked deep into Merlin's eyes and saw the pain there with the joy. He was sure this experience was going to need more than a couple of hugs to get over. For Gwaine and Merlin alike.

Arthur cleared his throat. It took all of Gwaine's, again a small amount, of willpower to turn his stare away from Merlin and onto the Princess. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed. "Welcome back Merlin." He eventually got out before turning to Mordred "We need to have a conversation. Round table meeting in my chambers in 15 minutes" He nodded to the other knights before grabbing Gwen's hand and leaving the room. Gwen gave Mordred, whose coloring was ghost white at this point, a little smile and a nod before following behind her husband.

Merlin's smile had slipped from his face a small frown forming there instead and his eyebrows pinching together. Gwaine wanted to kiss away the tension he saw there. Mordred nodded before standing "Right best not be late." He all but ran towards the door Merlin's reflexes were faster though as he grabbed the young man's arm effectively stopping him. His eyes brimming with so much sincerity that Gwaine felt a little bad for the kid.

"Thank you for saving me. I'll talk to Arthur and make sure he makes this right." He made a move to stand again but Gwaine was pulling him back down by his hand. He saw a pout form on his face and his mouth open to argue but Gwaine was faster "Not until Gaius checks you over"

With that Percival stood up and ruffled Mordred's hair. "Don't worry Merlin we'll make sure Arthur sees sense" he nodded to Mordred first before turning his gaze to Gwaine and nodding again. Gwaine saw confusion flick over Merlin's expression before he smiled back up to Mordred. 

Elyan followed Percival as he walked up to the door ruffling Mordred's hair just like Percival had before laughing. 

Leon looked a bit hesitant but nodded along with Percival's statement rising and adding an "Of course" before following the other knights from the room.

Mordred looked a bit stunned but eventually followed after them.

Gwaine turned to Lancelot once the door closed. "You want to explain why you both were looking like Merlin had grown an extra head when we woke up"

"Mhm" Lance nodded before turning to Gaius who shrugged and went back to sweeping the mess of herbs and broken glass from the floor.

"Right," Lance started "It was just before you woke up. All the magic stopped except not really. We could still kind of feel it in the air." Both Gwaine and Merlin were nodding along with that. That was what Mordred decided to do anyway. "Then the magic kind of flickered around us before it disappeared. We both panicked fearing the worst but before we could check a pulse this bright light kind of just encompassed you. I swear it was as bright as the sun and it was so warm. It felt like pure joy. It then kind of exploded out of you before fading. Then you lot woke up."

Gwaine now really wanted to see a glowing Merlin. He swore to himself to get Merlin to do it again at some point so he could see. He looked back to Merlin who STILL HADN'T LET GO OF HIS HAND. He never wanted to be in a world where Merlin's hand wasn't in his. It was like the World had been floating off-kilter until it snapped back with Merlin's presence. Gwaine was never going to let it be off its axis again if he could help it.

Gaius eventually put down the broom and came over to check on Merlin's wounds. Before he cut the bandages off Merlin looked to Lance and asked "Would you go sit in on that meeting and let me know what happens?" Lance nodded and walked to the door opening it and leaving.

Gaius sliced open the bandages around Merlin's chest first. As he peeled it away Gwaine adverted his eyes. He didn't need to see that which started this mess. He still had an asshole to kill in the dungeons as is. He should probably learn his name at some point. He didn't want to speak ill of the dead. Gaius's sharp intake of breath had Gwaine's eyes shooting back to Merlin's chest. He felt his own breath leave him as he looked on. The cuts looked much more healed than they should have considering he only got them two days ago. But that wasn't the most amazing part. There were thin lines of gold shining under Merlin's skin. It wrapped its way around the cuts spilling bright light out of him. The gold swirled and faded and brightened under the skin. Gwaine had never seen anything as beautiful and he doesn't think he ever will again. He would do anything to watch it for all eternity but slowly he peeled his eyes off of it to look up at Merlin's face. He looked confused again as he reached out with his free hand to rub down the lines.

"I'm not healing it" was his answer to the question that no one asked.

"No my boy I don't believe you are. I've never seen anything like it. Hopefully, it will fade with the cuts" And Gwaine felt the disappointment enter his face. Merlin looked over and laughed. 

"You do realize glowing is a good way to get caught right." 

"Yeah, but it's just so beautiful" Gwaine mouth was faster than his brain on that one. He looked back up to Merlin's face to see him blush a vibrant red. Gwaine never wanted to see the blush leave his face. It looked so perfect. Before he could talk himself out of it he lowered his head and took Merlin's lips in his. This time it tasted sweater. No more Cooper replaced with a taste so Merlin Gwaine wasn't sure how to describe it. Merlin seemed to startle at first before he kissed back fiercely. Like Gwaine was air and he had been stuck underwater. Gwaine felt the analog fit himself as well. 

After what felt like years but also mere seconds Gaius coughed. Merlin pulled away flushing bright red again before turning back to Gaius and saying "Sorry Gaius"

"Do you think you could let me finish the examination before you try to swap spit?" Gwaine felt a blush of his own climbing to his cheeks as he locked eyes with Gaius.

Merlin just huffed out a "Gaius" before  Gaius flicked his hand at Gwaine effectively moving him back to a sitting position then continued his exam. None of the other wounds had the same golden light behind them. Gwaine was a little disappointed. As Gaius moves down to check the burns out on his legs Merlin's hand squeezes Gwaine's so tight it starts to hurt. He looks up to Merlin's face and sees the tension is back. His eyes shut tight. His breathing became quicker. Gwaine can tell it's not from the physical pain. Can see that in the lines on Merlin's face. He takes both their hands to his chest and starts the exaggerated breathing Leon had done earlier. That seems to calm Merlin as he starts breathing at the same time as Gwaine. This was going to be a lot to work through. After Gaius is done rubbing ointment and bandaging his legs and feet he looks back up.

"Well you're not going to be walking anytime soon but they should heal. Might not even scar" That last bit was definitely a lie. Gwaine can see it written all over Gaius's face. He briefly ponders how two of the worst liars he has ever met kept such a huge secret from everyone for so long.

"You should get some rest, my boy," Gaius says as he moves back to clean the mess up around them.

Merlin looks over to Gwaine looking a bit embarrassed before he asks "Can you help me to my room"

Gwaine nods and lifts him for the second time this day. As he sets Merlin down on his own bed he thinks about heading to the dungeons to take out some of his frustration on the idiot who started this whole mess. As he moves to leave Merlin's hand finds his.

He looks down and those pleading eyes already look heavy but he manages to whisper out a "Stay?"

And what is Gwaine to say but "OK," as Merlin pulls at his arm. He crawls into bed next to him watching for all the wounds he knows are there. Merlin rests his head on his chest and quickly falls asleep. Gwaine looks back down at him and kisses his brow before following him. Hoping the nightmares stay away for at least one night.

Arthur climbs into bed after his wife. The conversation between the round table and Mordred went better than expected. Mordred explained a lot firstly about his druid heritage to the magic that he apparently didn't choose but just manifested one day. He explained how he was the very same druid who he helped escape all those years ago. At that Arthur almost facepalmed. He had gotten the druid's name. How many Mordreds could there have been in the world? Luckily Mordred had left that part out so no one else had to deal with Arthur's stupidity.

Gwen and the rest of the knights had been adamant that Mordred should be allowed to stay and that he shouldn't lose his knighthood. After the various telling from Mordred, Arthur was beginning to believe it too. The kid had been through a lot in his short life and he had saved Merlin's life.

He would get Merlin's opinion in the morning just to be sure. 

As he snuggled closer to his wife he thought over the day's events. One thing still stuck out to him. The magic coming from Gaius's chambers. He had looked dead in Mordred's eyes. There was no gold to be found there. Merlin fearing the pyre was weird too. Gwaine kissing Merlin (gross) right as Merlin was about to say something. All of it was weird.

It hit him like a rock to the face. His eyes flung open and he sat straight up effectively waking up his wife as well.

He looked at her confused eyes before whispering out 

"Merlin has magic!"