Merlin- Bleeding Hearts

The Attack

Arthur was in his chambers waiting for Merlin, he was worried. The chambers door opened suddenly and Merlin entered, Arthur saw him and froze. Arthur's blood ran cold when he saw Merlin, his lip was busted open and bleeding a bit, his check was swelling slightly and a gash on his forehead was bleeding slightly. The injuries were new, less than a day old and Arthur's heart was beating in his chest. Arthur asked, his voice literally dripping with worry and tension.

"M-Merlin? What happened to you..?" Merlin didn't look up, he just muttered,

"Nothing sire. Sorry I'm late, forgive me." Merlin brushed past Arthur, who grabbed him by his upper arm. Merlin winced in serious pain and Arthur let go, but demanded,

"Merlin, tell me what happened. Now." Merlin straightened his coat and said, his tone harsh and cold,

"Nothing happened Sire." Arthur narrowed his eyes, he demanded,

"Fine, don't tell me. But I'm ordering you to show me the injuries." Merlin lowered his eyes and said, almost sarcastically,

"What injuries sire? I don't know what you're talking about.." Arthur looked at Merlin, stepped forward and grabbed Merlin's wrist, causing a huge jolt of pain to buzz through Merlin's entire body. Arthur grabbed Merlin's sleeves and rolled them up violently and he tensed up entirely. Fresh bruises and cuts layered Merlin's arm, Arthur checker the other arm and it too was layered in cuts, bruises and other signs of beatings. Arthur looked up at Merlin's pale face, he tried to talk but nothing came out. Merlin ripped his arms from Arthur's grip, he then proceeded to violently rip down his sleeves, hiding the cuts and bruises. Arthur looked at Merlin, his face was pale and he was breathing deeply. Merlin swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat, and looked at his shoes. He muttered loudly,

"Nothing happened Arthur. I'm fine, just leave it alone." Arthur looked at Merlin, narrowing his eyes, and Merlin turned so his back was to Arthur. Arthur thought of something, he walked over and grabbed Merlin by his upper arms. Merlin winced and cried out in pain. Arthur grabbed Merlin's pull on jacket and eventually was able to pull Merlin's coat off. Arthur caught a glimpse of lashing cuts and other injuries on his back, he froze again. Merlin looked at Arthur again and hissed,

"Arthur, stop it! I'm fine, stop it and leave me alone!" Arthur looked at Merlin then said, angry and still holding Merlin's coat.

"Merlin, if you don't let me help you with the injuries.. I will have to help you using force!" Merlin scoffed and turned, Arthur almost snapped when he saw the blood seeping through his light blue shirt. That's when Arthur snapped, he leaned over and quietly grabbed a metal tray from the table near his window. He looked at Merlin and, to his regret, he smacked him over the head with the tray, knocking him unconscious.

Merlin could feel the blood from the cuts seeping through his shirt. He felt bad, knowing he couldn't tell Arthur about his injuries but he wanted to. He heard Arthur shift but he didn't turn. Suddenly, he felt the metal hit the back of his head and he fell forward, his head was throbbing and his vision was blurring. He fell unconscious a few seconds later, his head a fuzzy pain.

Arthur leaned over at Merlin's unconscious body and saw his face, it was almost as if Merlin was sleeping. He felt a pang of guilt, but he knew Merlin wouldn't let anyone help him. He lifted Merlin up, surprised by how light he was, and rested him on the king sizes bed. Before he did anything else, he rushed over and locked his chamber doors. He didn't have to do anything so no one has any reason to bother him in his chambers. He rushed back over to Merlin, who was still unconscious and muttering under his breath, and thought of something. He stood again and looked at Merlin, he knew that if Merlin woke up while he was gathering supplies, if he woke up he'd leave as if nothing had happened, Arthur grabbed something from a drawer and walked back to Merlin. He clicked one of the handcuffs to one of Merlin's wrists, the wrist that wasn't as injured as the other, and clicked the other cuff to a column on the bed. He leaned over and muttered,

"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." He straightened up and left his chambers, then rushed to Gaius's chambers. He talked to Gaius for a few minutes and after a few minute, Gaius gave Arthur the medicine and other things to Arthur. Arthur nodded in thanks and ran back to his chambers. Merlin was still unconscious, so Arthur quickly uncuffed him. He looked at Merlin and sighed heavily. Arthur rolled Merlin onto his side and pulled off his shirt, revealing hundreds of cuts and bruises along his upper body. The cuts looked almost exact to lashing wounds. Arthur's breath caught in his throat when he saw all if the wounds, he honestly couldn't believe it. He stood up and rushed to the table, grabbing a pitcher of water, a bowl and a rag from a torn shirt in his closet. He sat on the bed with Merlin and started to clean the wounds, even in unconsciousness, Merlin still flinched slightly from the pain. As Arthur cleaned the wounds, thoughts ran wild through his mind,

'Who did this to you Merlin?'

'Why didn't you let me help you before?'

'What happened to you..?' After about an hour, Arthur had bandaged almost all of the cuts. Merlin was still unconscious and Arthur said out loud,

"How hard did I hit you?" Arthur finished cleaning the wounds and bandaged them. He sat down at the table in his room, and watched Merlin wince in pain slightly every once in a while. Arthur felt bad for knocking Merlin unconscious but he tried to convince himself,

'It was to help him..'