It had been a long day for everyone. The King was going over procedures that were to be taken with the knights. Gaius was sitting in his chambers, trying to find some way to turn Arthur back in one of his many books, and Merlin was getting Arthur settled into his bed. Not the prince’s own bed, but Merlin’s. They wanted to make sure there was no one trying to kill Arthur before they let him back into his own room.
“So,” Merlin said awkwardly, “I guess you should go to sleep now.” Arthur shook his head and stared at Merlin.
“Aren’t you tired?” Merlin asked him.
“Yes,” Arthur said quietly, “But I’m scared.”
“What are you scared of?” Merlin asked, but Arthur just shrugged.
“I want my daddy to come and stay with me,” Arthur said quietly, looking down at the blanket, embarrassed.
“Your father is making arrangements to make sure you stay safe,” Gaius said gently from behind them. Merlin and Arthur both jumped, neither of them had heard him walk into the room.
“Oh,” Arthur said quietly, “Will you stay with me?” He looked at Merlin, his eyes wide and hopeful.
“Yeah sure,” Merlin said simply. Merlin pulled the chair closer to the bed and saw Gaius leave the room. Arthur moved over on the bed and looked back at Merlin, biting his bottom lip. Merlin laughed quietly and stood up. He sat down on the bed and leaned back. Arthur immediately leaned into him and Merlin put his arm around the boy. He so hoped Arthur remembered this when he was back to normal. He wouldn’t say anything to him now, but when he was back to his normal pratself, well, that was another story.
Gaius walked back into the room a few minutes later, but by that time, both Merlin and Arthur were asleep. He covered them both with the blanket and then left to find Uther.
YOU ARE READING
Doing it Over
FanfictionAfter an encounter with magic Arthur is turned back into a 5 year old boy. Now Uther has a decision to make: Does he wait until his son's back to normal and allow everyone else to deal with it? Or does he fix all the mistakes he made when Arthur was...
