Take 65

Gwaine???

"Well, lookie here!" A familiar voice echos in my mind. "Good morning, Arthur."

I open my eyes and see the face of Merlin's best friend.

"Gwaine???" I exclaim. "How did you find us??? Merls, wake up. Someone found us."

"Ggggwaine?" He croaks, voice raw.

"Hey, Lin." He says, ruffling Merlin's hair. "When you two didn't return I was sent to find you."

"Stay here, we'll be right back. Merlin looks at me as if to say 'like I can go anywhere by myself anyway?' I chuckle, kissing his forehead. Gwaine frowns and pulls me aside, away from the ill warlock.

"What happened to him? He looks terrible." Gwaine notes as we look for something to hunt.

"He got shot with an enchanted arrow meant for me. It was supposed to kill me instantly but since Merlin has magic, it's tearing him apart slowly. It'll kill him slowly and painfully over 16 days." I spit out, furious that I had let him jump in front of me. "If we can't get him back to Gaius-" My voice cracks.

"We will, Arthur. He's going to be okay. I know how you care for him and I won't come between you." Gwaine says, something hidden in his eyes.

Gwaine fancies Merlin. My Merlin.

"You fancy him as well." I note, resisting the urge to do something I'll regret later.

"Who doesn't?" He questions in a sad tone. "Gwen, Morgana, Freya, Will, you, me, and God knows who else. He's Merlin, it's impossible to not fancy him."

I grit my teeth and try to calm down. If I'm agitated when we return, Merlin will suspect something. I never was able to keep anything from him, we can read each other too well.

"Gwaine." I start.

"Stop. Let's go get Merlin and get going. Do you have an extra horse perhaps? Mine broke its leg and I left it in some town." He interrupts, clearly upset.

"You can ride Merlin's." I say, and go back to collect our things. Gwaine helps Merlin up and a shot of angry jealously courses through me when Merlin stumbles and Gwaine supports him, arm around Merlin's waist.

Arthur, Gwaine is just being a friend. He promised not to interfere. Merlin loves you, you dollop head. Stop worrying about Gwaine and start worrying about Merlin! He's dying you know!

We start riding and Merlin passes out almost instantly.

"How long does he have?" Gwaine asks tentatively as we water the horses.

"Today is the third day. It'll take us at least another two weeks to make it to Camelot if I say sadly. "He has 13 more."

"Then we ride fast and we ride hard." Gwaine affirms. "We can't let him die." His eyes drop towards the raven, instantly somber.

"Let's ride. We can get within 20 leagues of the border if we ride hard." I order.

Hold on, Merlin. Just hold on.