5 Times Arthur And The Knights Broke Merlin And The 1 Time He Let Them Fix Him

The Time Six Knights Nearly Had A Heart Attack

*Cross-posted On Archieves Of Our Own*

*(The Author's Note Nobody Has To Read: MENTIONS OF DEPRESSION, POSSIBLY SUICIDAL THOUGHTS

DON'T READ IF YOU ARE EASILY TRIGGERED OR IF THAT BOTHERS YOU. STAY SAFE BECAUSE YOU MATTER!

Through the years, many people had snuck into his rooms after curfew, for many different reasons. There'd been his father, of course, the guards to wake him for the various emergencies, Morgana to drag him on her various escapades, and, sadly the most often, asasins after his neck.

But never a giant.

Until that day...

He was sound asleep, cacooned beneath his soft quilts and resting atop his downy pillow, his counciousness willingly trapped in that blissful place between reality and possibility. Then two hands locked on his shoulders and shook, yanking him from the sleepy warmth and dragging him cruelly into the cold of awake.

Arthur's eyes tore open and his body locked.

Knife. Table. Throat.

Instantly alert, adrenaline flooding through him, Arthur's body automatically moved in time with his thoughts, his hand fisting around the handle of the knife before his mind registered that the intruder was talking.

"Arthur, stop- it's me, it's Percival-" Arthur's mind registered the voice and he dropped the knife, thankfully before he reached phase three. He bolted upright as Percival's hands fell off his shoulders, leaving him only able to guess where his knight was in the dark.

"Percival- what're you doing here?" He flung off the covers and swung his feet over the edge, the panicked adrenaline slowly ebbing from his veins, leaving him with only a clear head. He reached for the scarlet shirt on the bedside table. Percival wouldn't have woken him unless it was important.

"We weren't sure what else to do, Sire, it's Merlin."

Important, indeed.

***

"And you don't know what's wrong with him?" Archer asked as he charged through the silent halls, occupied only by the flickering torches and their own light breathing.

"No, Sire. He's unresponsive to anything we do."

"Have you gotten Gauis?"

"He's still treating the shakes in Riversford, he's three days out at least." Arthur sighed. He'd known that. He'd sent the physician to the town. Said they'd be fine for a few days. Gaius should go help the people who actually needed him.

His big mouth!

"Sire," Percival began, and Arthur realized he couldn't remember the quiet giant ever saying anything unprompted before.

"You don't think- he hasn't been... cursed ?" The man's soft tone didn't change, but Arthur could hear the unspoken worry in it. He felt the same stab him in his heart.

"Don't worry, Percival. If he has, we'll fix him."

We have too.

They turned the corner to the armoury and Gwaine's silloette popped out of the open doorway, looking garrish in the night's poor light and making Arthur and Percival reel back..

"Princess, thank heavens!" he breathed as his face, which had been held up in the mask of assurance he always wore when he didn't know what to do, sagging with relief.