In a matter of moments

Chapter 3

AN:

Hi. I am very sorry it has taken me sooo long to post another chapter, I honestly have no excuse for it. I'm hoping to get back into writing so my aim is to begin updating this regularly but I have no idea how likely this will be. I have every intention of finishing this story, I am just terrible at updating it. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

This chapter contains some graphic descriptions of an injury.

"Arthur this is absurd!" Uther hissed, climbing off his horse and strolling towards his son. "We cannot just abandon our day's activities because some lowly servant couldn't control a horse." Arthur turned slowly toward his father, looking the man straight in his cold eyes, "That lowly servant", he began forcing as much sarcasm into his words as possible, "Has saved my life more times than I care to count, so if you think I am going to stand back and do nothing than you are sadly mistaken father. He is in desperate need of medical assistance so please kindly get out of my way".

Uther was seething. No one disrespects the king, not even his son, especially when there are visitors. " How dare you! That boy is nothing more than a peasant, he can die there for all I care but this tour of the lands will continue!" Uther commanded, almost daring Arthur to respond. Which of course he did. "When you were crowned king, you swore to protect ALL of the people of Camelot which includes servants and peasants. And if you want to explain to an old man how you let his son die then by all means be my guest, but I will care and protect all of our people and right now that includes taking this man to the physician. By all means, carry on with the tour but it will be without me."

Arthur turned to Leon with the question of help on his lips, but without even asking the knight understood what was needed of him. He dismounted and strode over to the prince, helping him to lift Merlin as carefully as possible onto a horse. Arthur mounted behind and placed a sturdy grip on his unconscious friend to keep him secure. "Sir Leon, you will accompany me back to Camelot please." With a nod, the knight swiftly returned to his horse and prepared to leave.

"If you leave now Arthur there will be serious consequences, and not just for you", the King shouted.

"Then so be it." His son replied before riding off towards the castle, with Leon in tow.

To say Gwaine was bored would be an understatement. At first all this time off seemed like a great idea but as the minutes slowly rolled into hours the novelty of it began to wear off. He had considered pulling a great prank on Lancelot but nothing spectacular came to mind. Even if he did think of something it would be hard to pull off in secret with half the knights left to hide in their quarters. Maybe next time he thought as he began a slow trek through the castle grounds. It was quite quiet without a prince constantly shouting orders but thinking of ways to entertain himself was once again boring. After a while Gwaine found himself at the top of the castle lookout, watching the bustle of the courtyard below. Due to the seriousness of the sickness that was spreading, anyone living in the castle, and attending to the royal family was not permitted to leave the castle grounds; a plan to try and contain it, especially with the visiting royals. Anyone with the sickness was not allowed to leave their homes. Even Gaius was not allowed to attend to the sick until the kingdom's visitors had left, leaving him holes up in his rooms working on a cure. Gwaine sighed. He couldn't wait for this visit to be over.

A sudden commotion in the distance broke Gwaine's thoughts. Two horses were rapidly approaching the rear entrance. At first, he was confused. That entrance had been used that morning to allow for the royal parade to leave through the countryside to once again protect Lord Elrond and Lady Valentina from becoming exposed to the illness. No one was allowed through there without permission and it was definitely too early for the riding party to have returned. Something wasn't right. Gwaine quickly made his way down the stairs of the lookout and sprinted toward the rear entrance. As he got nearer he noticed he wasn't the only one who had seen the approaching horses. Lancelot was pacing back and forth in front of the gate, his hand placed on the hilt of his sword. The two knights' eyes met in a shared look of confusion and fear. Whatever was approaching the gate couldn't be good. However, before the two had a chance to voice their fears the gates flew open in a mad rush. Arthur had barely waited for his horse to stop before clambering off.

" Quick, I need help over here!" he exclaimed loudly. Lancelot was the first to move, "What's going on?" He asked, the worry clear in his voice.

"It's Merlin! There was an accident," Arthur stammered "He needs Gaius, he's lost a lot of blood."

"I'll go ahead and inform him," Gwaine began but was swiftly interrupted.

"No, fetch him and bring him to my Quarters. You said Merlin has lost a lot of blood right? The knight's chambers are closer than the physicians' ones, so we can take him there and try and control the bleeding until Gaius gets there. He will also be more comfortable there." Lancelot stated, hoping that he was doing the right thing. He glanced at Arthur, who gave a curt nod - a silent gesture showing he agreed with the knight. Gwaine left instantly heading straight for the court physician's chambers whilst the others helped Leon carefully remove Merlin's still body from the horse. He barely stirred as he was placed bridal style into the older knight's arms. "Hold on Merlin," Lancelot whispered to his friend as the group made their way to his room, "You've just got to hold on."

After what felt like an eternity Gwaine returned with Giaus in tow. The old man was pale and shaken as he took in the state of his ward.

"Out of my way!" He ordered. " I need room to work."

The knights filling the room shuffled around to allow the physician access to the bed.

"That's no good, I need more space!" The old man exclaimed. Gwaine, Leon and Lancelot looked at each other but none of them made an attempt to move. None of them wanted to leave their friend. Gaius looked pleadingly at the prince.

"Everyone out now!" He commanded. Not wishing to disobey, the men left to make camp outside the door. None of them would be going very far for a while. Just as Arthur made to join them Gaius grabbed his arm. "Stay. I'll need your help." He turned back to watch the old man work.

Gaius started by cutting Merlin from his blood-stained clothes, leaving him with nothing but a blanket to protect his modesty. The sight he was met with was shocking. Bruises covered the entirety of the young man's chest, the darkest of which started at his abdomen around the indent of a horseshoe. Next, the Old man checked his ribs. If his ward's strained breathing was anything to buy there was definitely damage there. After gentle prodding, Giaus was relieved to find them only cracked. It would be painful but not life-threatening. The best he could do was bind Merlin's chest tightly The final part of Gaius' observations was Merlin's leg. Bloodstained through the bandages that had been used to apply pressure to the wound. He gently pulled them off to reveal the bone poking out through torn flesh. The sight would be enough to turn a weaker man's stomach.

"This needs to be fixed before I can close the wound. I need you to find me something strong enough to be used as a splint for after." He said to the prince, not even taking his eyes off Merlin to see if his words had been acknowledged. The sound of the door closing behind him told him all that he needed to know. As gently as he could, Gauis moved Merlin so that he was lying as straight as possible. He hoped that Merlin was out far enough that he wouldn't feel the pain of the next bit. The door opened once more to reveal Arthur returned with two planks of wood.

"Good. Now I need you to come here and hold down the top of his leg. I need to physically realign his bone." Arthur nodded and went where he was needed. With the prince in position, the physician manhandled the young sorcerer's leg until the two halves of the bone met once again. New blood seeped through the tear in the flesh as Gaius worked quickly to close the wound. He cleaned it thoroughly before stitching it shut. A clean bandage was next wrapped tightly around it before he fastened the splint securely. The bandage would have to be changed regularly and the wound checked, as Gaius knew injuries like that were prone to infection. Finally done, Gaius stood and covered his ward with a second blanket. He did not want him to catch a chill on top of everything else. Merlin was incredibly still. He hadn't stirred during the entire ordeal. The rise and fall of his chest was the only indication that the boy was still alive.

"How is he?" Arthur asked from his spot in the corner he had moved to after assisting the man. Gaius sighed.

"I've done all I can for him. Now all we can do is wait."

A/N:

Sooooo. What did you think? Will Merlin start to get better or is this only the beginning? All follows are greatly appreciated and feel free to leave a comment :)