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As Leon approached the Physician’s Chambers, he mentally prepared himself upon seeing the very person he was looking for. “Merlin,” he called.
After everything had wrapped up in the Armory with Arthur and the other knights, Leon wanted to find Merlin. It was not only to check on him and make sure he was okay, but to also talk with him about what happened with Sir Vaughnes. Leon didn’t know if Merlin would feel up to talking, but he felt like he had to try. He wanted to try.
Merlin looked away from where he’d been watching Lancelot and Gwaine leave in the other direction and flashed him a smile. “Hey, Leon,” he greeted.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked, taking in Merlin’s appearance. The dark bruises were, unsurprisingly, still around his throat, and while his nose didn’t look nearly as bad as Leon expected, it was still slightly crooked. His chest tightened with guilt.
“Sore. But nothing I can’t handle,” Merlin answered with a small shrug. “Gaius fixed me up pretty well.”
“He did good,” Leon acknowledged, then let out a sigh. “Merlin, I want to apologize for Sir Vaughnes’ behavior and actions—”
“Leon, you don’t need to apologize,” Merlin cut him off, shaking his head.
“He’s one of the men under my watch as First Knight. I have a duty to ensure that all of the knights honor the code they swore to and to take action whenever they don’t. The fact that Sir Vaughnes was able to act as he did towards the servants for so long and I failed to see it is a failure of my duty as First Knight. So I, in fact, do owe an apology to you and all of the servants that had to ensure his… abuse,” Leon explained. The guilt twisted his stomach and made him want to look away, to hide how awful he felt inside. But instead, he maintained eye contact with Merlin, trying to show his sincerity and how sorry he was.
Merlin gave him a small smile, but shook his head once more. “When he was in front of his fellow knights and peers, he was always on his best behavior. He did that on purpose. Mostly to keep his job, but also so that if any of the servants ever dared to speak against him, they wouldn’t be believed. Not that any of them wanted to.” He let out a sigh. “Sir Vaughnes hid behind manners and performance. Unless you managed to catch him in the act, you never would have known how he truly was, Leon. No one would blame you for not knowing. I certainly don’t.”
Leon frowned slightly, doubtful. Merlin’s reasoning made sense, but a part of him still didn’t quite believe him. He should have known, he should have sensed something was going on earlier! It was his job, it was part of his duty to make sure all of the knights honored the code! Leon felt a hand on his arm suddenly, stopping his thoughts and turning his attention to Merlin once more.
“No one blames you, Leon. I’m sure the other servants wouldn’t and as I said, I don’t either. The only guilty one is Sir Vaughnes. Don’t blame yourself, no one else is,” Merlin explained gently.
Leon gave him a small smile and while he still didn’t quite believe Merlin fully, he felt a little more convinced than he did before. He needed to handle his feelings alone, but hearing that Merlin truly didn’t blame him helped a bit. “I hope that the other servants will be okay now that Sir Vaughnes will be all the way in Archenland,” he commented.
“Oh absolutely. I’m sure that once word spreads, everyone will feel better and start to… recover.” Merlin assured him.
”Are you going to tell them about your little stunt once everyone finds out?” Leon asked, raising a brow with an amused smile on his face.
In response, Merlin only gave him a smirk. “I should go find Arthur. I’ll see you later, Leon,” he said and nodded before walking away from the Physician’s Chambers to go inside the citadel.
Leon raised a brow at his cryptic response, but merely shook his head and made his way back to his room. Knowing the servants in the citadel, the story of what happened would spread soon enough. It was just a matter of how fast it would spread. Pretty fast, if he had to guess.
His stomach still turned at the idea of one of his knights hurting the same people they swore to protect and guilt still weighed on his mind, but with Sir Vaughnes going away to Archenland, he wouldn’t be able to harm anyone else.
And as long as Leon was First Knight, no one else would harm the servants —or anyone innocent— ever again