Valiant (Merlin)

Chapter 9

Meanwhile, Arthur sat in his room in silence with Morgana and Gwen. They had gone to visit him to give him some company, but Arthur was distant and distracted by his own thoughts. Suddenly, Arthur slammed his hand down on the table, groaning. "Ugh, if only I could just talk to Merlin! I could be out there, searching for him, but I'm stuck in here, useless!" Morgana walked over and rested her hands on his shoulders comfortingly.

"It's going to be okay, Arthur. Merlin will be able to look after himself."

"I just need to ask him. Ask him why he did it."

"Arthur, he used his magic to save your life. It doesn't need much more explanation," Gwen said.

"That's not what I mean, Guinevere. I want to ask him why he came to Camelot if he knew about what the law is here. Why he even learnt magic at all. I can't stand being out of the loop about this situation," he sighed. No one was telling him anything about the search, Uther refused to speak to him, though he wasn't sure why. Arthur certainly had no idea about Merlin's secret.

"Uther is just trying to protect you, that's all. We can talk to Uther tomorrow, once the panic has calmed down a bit," Morgana suggested. Arthur nodded. "Come on, Gwen. Arthur needs to rest."

They left the room, leaving Arthur alone. He didn't rest, just lay in his bed, mind overtaken with the chaos that had happened that day. He couldn't make sense of it all. He knew he should at least shut his eyes, even if he couldn't get to sleep. It had been a long day and would be an even longer week. He shut his eyes, and soon after, exhaustion took over and he fell into a deep sleep.