Fireheart (A Merlin Love Story)

Chapter 4, Part 2

Ariella's P. O. V:

"Lay him on the bed. He's struggling to breathe," Gaius instructs Arthur, and they place him on the bed. "Your Grace, make up some water and a towel."

I nod and fetch the items.

Arthur asks, "Is he going to be alright?"

"He's burning up," Gaius says as he takes the cloth from me.

"You can heal him, can't you, Gaius?"

"I won't know until I can identify the poison. Pass me the goblet." I give him said item as he presses a wet cloth to Merlin's forehead. Gaius looks inside the goblet and frowns. I sit down beside Merlin and press my hand on the cloth. "Ah. There's something stuck on the inside."

"What is it?" Arthur asks, getting up and going over to him.

"It looks like a flower petal of some kind." Gaius uses a pair of tweezers to pluck it out of the cup and lifts it up to examine it.

I say worriedly, shifting the cloth a little, "His brow's on fire."

"Keep him cool. It will help control his fever."

I dip the cloth in the bucket and squeeze some excess water out before placing it on Merlin's forehead.

Gaius flips through the pages of a book on flowers and reads when he finds the right page, "Ah. The petal comes from the morteous flower. It says here the suffered poisoned by the morteous can only be saved by a leaf from the very same flower. It can only be found in the caves deep beneath the Forest of Ballard. The flower grows on the roots of the morteous tree."

Arthur says, "That doesn't look particularly friendly."

"Cockatrees. They guard the forest. It has venomous potent. A single drop can mean certain death," Gaius explains. "None who've crossed the mountains of Isgard in search of the morteous flower have made it back alive."

Arthur stands with his hand on his chin thoughtfully for a moment. Then, he says, "Sounds like fun."

"Arthur, it's too dangerous," Gaius warns him.

"If I don't get the antidote, what happens to Merlin?"

"The morteous induces a slow and painful death. He may hold out four—maybe five days—but not for much longer. Eventually, he will die."

I look back at Merlin with a worried expression, as I continue to press the cloth to his forehead.

Arthur doesn't say anything as he leaves the room, no doubt to get the antidote for Merlin.

🗡🗡🗡

The next morning, I change into my sleeveless blue dress before going to check on Merlin. Gwen had come back after checking up on Morgana to help Gaius and I look after him.

Currently, I'm sitting beside Merlin's bed, pressing the wet cloth to his forehead. I say worriedly to Gaius, "He's getting hotter."

Gaius sits down beside me as Merlin starts to mumble something in a different language.

Gwen asks, "What language is that?"

"None. The fever's taken hold. None of those words are his own," Gaius says, holding his wrist as he checks Merlin's pulse. He sets Merlin's arm down. "His pulse is weaker." Suddenly, Gaius picks up Merlin's wrist again and tugs back the sleeve. I see a nasty type of rash, thing.

I ask, "What is it?"

"It can't be right," Gaius mutters, before looking at me. "The rash is not supposed to appear until the final stage."