Chapter Text
Merlin thought his heart had fallen out of his chest as two knights carried Arthur into the healing tent with blood staining his shirt. There was so much of it. Too much of it. Enough that no man could survive.
His eyes were closed, and his body had completely sagged between the two men. Usually, Arthur’s very presence had a way of taking up a whole room with his blustering and shouting. Seeing him so completely silent sent a chill down Merlin’s spine.
Gaius had been in the middle of wrapping a soldier’s wounded leg, but in a heartbeat he was abandoning one patient for another far worse off. He gestured for them to lay Arthur out on the pallet they’d set up on the floor. “What happened?”
“Its not all his blood, but he was taken by surprise,” one of the knights explained. “I saw it. An already felled opponent got in a lucky strike before succumbing to his own wound."
A lucky man indeed, because Merlin thought if the man was still alive he might have razed the battlefield to nothing but cinders for hurting Arthur. But there was no time to worry about that now.
Pulling back his blood-stained shirt, Gaius revealed a wound that was not as terrible as Merlin feared. It looked like a dagger had slipped between Arthur’s plates of armor and cut into his side. There was a lot of blood, but it hadn’t struck anything vital. Merlin had learned at least enough anatomy from Gaius to know that without being told.
In fact, now that Arthur’s wound was being prodded, he began to rouse.
“Damn,” he swore, his voice a bit shaky with pain. “He got me, didn’t he.”
“What could have possibly made you think that?” Merlin said in a joking tone. Because right now was a great time for jokes, way to go Merlin.
Yet it seemed to have a positive effect on the prince. “The fact that I suddenly woke up to see your ugly mug. Must be in hell then.”
“Oi, what makes you think if you died I’d be in hell waiting for you?”
“Don’t you know, Merlin, there’s a long history of prince’s being buried with their loyal servants so they can care for them in the afterlife.”
“You’re right. I must be dead if you are calling me your most loyal servant. Or else it means you’ve just lost your senses all together.”
“Will you two stop bickering for a moment,” Gaius scolded.
Merlin snapped his mouth shut, and he sure didn’t watch the way Arthur’s eyes went glassy with pain without the distraction. But it was utmost important for Gaius to have quiet as he examined the wound.
“I need to stitch this closed. You’re not in danger of bleeding to death from this wound, but it’s going to be painful. Greatly so.”
“I hadn’t noticed, thank you, Gaius.” Arthur hissed.
“Merlin, fetch me my bag. I need my supplies and a tonic for the pain,” Gaius ordered. He was on the bag like a flash, pulling out everything Gaius needed. “Now Arthur, I want you to lay back. The tonic will take away the pain, but it will likely make you drowsy.”
Arthur had been halfway through lifting the vial to his lips when he stopped. “Drowsy? Gaius, I can’t afford to be drowsy. I have to get back on the field. The battle is precarious enough without their leader.”
Which was true enough. The fact that Arthur, the crown prince, was out here leading the battle himself was proof of that. The Noranian army had advanced far into Camelot’s boarders and had already destroyed two small villages. If they broke through the lines now they would be upon the very gates of the city.
“Skip the tonic.” Arthur was already shoving it back at Merlin.
“Sire!” Gaius looked uncharacteristically panicked. “You can’t return to battle with this wound. Even if I stitch it closed, you’ll reopen it.”
“Will I bleed to death if it’s reopened?”
“Not likely, but every swing of your blade with bring great pain. You can’t fight like this.”
“I’m no stranger to pain, Gaius. Just do it, and quickly, that’s an order from your prince.”
And what could Gaius do but obey.
“Yes, sire.”
“Wait!” Merlin was not about to watch Arthur put himself in this much pain, even if the prat did have a point. He was desperately needed on the battlefield. Not while Merlin could do something about it. “There is one other potio—I mean tonic that might be able to take the pain away without making you drowsy.”
Arthur didn’t even question him. “Then fetch it. Anything is better than nothing.”
But Gaius had sure seen through the oddness of his claim.
In a whisper he took Merlin aside. “What are you up to, boy?”
“I do have a tonic. Just, a magical one.” Merlin admitted, keeping his voice so quiet he could barely hear himself.
You can’t use magic on the prince you absolute buffoon. Gaius’s eyes seemed to say with one single raise of his eyebrows.
“I’ve not tried it yet, but there shouldn’t be any side effects. At least none that Arthur would notice.” Merlin was honestly getting much better at lying. There was actually a huge side effect to the potion. Even magic could not take pain away completely, but this potion allowed for it to be shifted to the person who made it.
Of course, if Merlin told Gaius that the old man would never let him go through with it.
Arthur needed his full strength to go back out there. If anything happened to him…
In the short time that Merlin had been in Arthur’s service, he’d grown to care about Arthur in ways that went far deeper than he should have. He would do anything to keep Arthur safe. Anything.
“Here.” He handed the potion over to Arthur.
Without so much as a single doubt, Arthur drank down the potion.
Merlin had expected there to be something. Some tingle in his chest or immediate pain to tell him that the potion had worked. There was nothing.
Whether that meant the potion hadn’t worked or needed time to kick in was hard to tell.
Gaius set about his work of stitching up Arthur. Each time Arthur flinched in pain, Merlin grew more and more nervous that it wasn’t working. Then there was a sharp piercing in his side. It took all Merlin’s self-control not to react or let the pain show clearly across his face. Thank the gods Arthur wasn’t the only one who had learned to carry pain.
Slowly, Merlin watched as the glassy pained expression drained from Arthur’s face. He could have measured it with the way his skin screamed out with his every breath. Merlin couldn’t believe that Arthur had been able to sit there in this much pain without screaming.
Knife wounds were a bloody bitch.
“Wow, Merlin. I must say I am greatly impressed with your tonic. I don’t feel any pain at all.” Arthur said just as Gaius finished wrapping up the wound.
Gritting his teeth, Merlin smiled. “I’m glad something of mine finally worked out.”
Arthur took sword in hand once again, ready to go back out into the battlefield. Ready to face death with his men without a single hesitation.
“Wait,” Merlin knew it was dangerous to keep talking when he was in enough pain he was ready to fall over. But this was important.
Arthur stared at him, waiting.
“Come back safely this time, all right?”
“All right.” Arthur agreed softly.
Once he was gone, Merlin hid the pain for exactly ten more seconds. He doubled over. Sweat already gathering on his skin. His whole body screaming in agony as he felt a sharp pain with every beat of his heart. And it was only likely to get worse.
Thankfully, the other wounded soldier was already asleep from Gaius’s tonic and no one else had been brought in to witness Merlin’s idiocy.
“What the hell is going on? I thought you said there were no side effects.”
“Well,” Merlin grit out. “No side effects for Arthur.”
“You’ll be the death of me I swear boy. What exactly did you do?”
So, Merlin explained the potion he’d made.
Gaius’s face had gone sheet white. “Oh dear.”
“Look, I know it’s dangerous casting magic on Arthur—”
“It’s not that my boy, at least not just that.” Gaius said. “It’s just…did the potion you made come from a sorcerer named Idova?”
“Yeah,” Merlin didn’t like the fact that Gaius knew that from memory.
“My dear boy do you have any idea what you’ve just done.”
“I can handle the pain from one battle, really I can.”
“That spell is permanent, Merlin. It won’t just be for one battle. You will carry Arthur’s pain for the rest of your lives.”
Oh.
Oh.
He’d really fucked up this time.