One Of Us Is Lying - Merlin Apply Fic

Chapter 4 - Recovery

IT'S BACK!!!!!! Hooray! Thank you  all so much for your support, especially Definitely-Lost , PackWolfLegolas and dobblewolf ! Idk what I would have done without you!

So. Yeah. It's me. Erm... oh yeah, story. Here ya go:

Welcome to chapter 4 and thank you so much for reading! Don't forget to comment and vote.

Don't hesitate to correct my many typos - I'm always tired when I get enough time to write so my work is littered with them!

I've been busy, so this chapter is just a filler. Oh and then there's the fact that it just vanished for a while.

The first section leads on from Chapter 2, but after that it's from Chapter 3.

Also, from this chapter onward, you can PM me if you want your character to accuse another of sorcery, or do something big like make a move towards a love interest etc. Thank you!

Oh, I forgot: best comment goes to Definitely-Lost with the poem:
"Roses are red,
Wings go flap,
SIT STILL TIV,
JUST TAKE A NAP!"

Enjoy...

Gaius' frowning face was the first thing that Lady Amber saw when she opened her eyes. She was sitting, if it could be called sitting, propped up on pillows on the patient's bed of the physician's room, and he was bent over her with one eyebrow raised and worry plastered on his old features.

He straightened up as soon as she opened her eyes and a thin smile broke through his concentrated expression. "Ah. Amber. There you are, I was beginning to worry there was something seriously wrong."

In return, she squeezed her eyes shut, letting her head loll back and sighing. What am I doing here? "Gaius?" The words were murmured and barely audible to the physician's old ears. Amber's head was throbbing and her eyelids felt heavy. She was tired, so tired... If only Gaius would leave her alone so she could get some sleep...

"Amber!" His voice had a sharper edge to it than before, and she thought she heard desperation in his tone, but she pushed that aside. Still, her eyes opened once more and she allowed him to help her sit up more fully. Her memory of recent events felt a little fuzzy and she was having a hard time remembering what was going on. Blinking slowly, she looked dazedly at the old man before her. "You must stay awake, My Lady. Sleep will only worsen your condition if you are not treated first and make it more difficult to think."

"What happened, Gaius? What condition?"

Thinking back, random images seemed to swirl from the mist of her memory and take form before her eyes, growing until she felt bombarded by the memories. She curled in on herself as Gaius' voice receded to a faint buzz. The images were everywhere: Tiv had come in, rumours, something about rumours, running down the corridors, Gaius' chambers and - nothing else after that. It was like stepping into a void, especially after the frantic attack of her own thoughts.

Hesitantly, she looked up and opened eyes she didn't realise she'd closed. The physician was pale. "That condition." He whispered to himself. "My Lady, you are... unwell. I suggest you get some rest and eat a little." He handed her a small bottle from one of the shelves in his room. So many things on those shelves, she thought absent-mindedly.

"Drink this." His voice cut through to her and jerked her back to the present. Obediently, she uncorked the vial and swallowed the foul contents, grimacing as she did so.

Tiv was at the door. How did he get there? Gaius must have summoned him. He took her by the arm and led her slowly back to her own chambers. "Gaius told me that you should get some rest, Amber." (The physician had just left to return to his own chambers.) Tiv's voice was quiet and shy, but she was grateful that whatever anger he was feeling towards her, it seemed to have subsided. He helped her into bed and she felt her eyes close once more. Funny, she thought, usually it takes me hours to get to sleep...

———

By the time Gaius got to Uther, it was too late. The king's veins had carried the poison throughout his body and the physician was helpless but to watch as his friend's last breaths became shallower and shallower. Gaius buried his face in his hands. There was nothing he could do.

He felt rather than saw Merlin sit heavily down beside him. The warlock's face was determined and thoughtful. The lack of grief on it surprised Gaius. But then, the king had hunted Merlin's kind since before his ward was born; he had no reason to grieve his loss when it was Arthur, not his father, who was destined to bring about a greater world.

He patted Merlin's hand sympathetically and rose to find Arthur. Of course, the prince had already been informed, but it fell to Gaius to tell him that Uther wasn't going to make it. The physician was loathe to do it, but it was necessary. Arthur would need time to accept his father's passing, and as much of it as possible. With a heavy sigh, he left the chambers.

———

His father? Dying? Perhaps even dead. He stared at Gaius. Shock made his whole body rigid but his mind numb. Who could have done this? Only a few people would have had the opportunity to do this. And he was going to find out who.

With the help of his father, of course. His father the king. His father who wasn't dying. His father who was going to recover, who was going to find who had done this. There weren't that many who even knew about the party. And so he was forced to draw only one conclusion. One of us is lying. One of us is false.

And now my father is dying.

Stirring from his frozen position, he raced past Gaius, but froze in the doorway of the chambers. For there was Merlin, helping Uther out of the bed. Uther was alive.

The king had survived.

So this was a bit of a short filler-thing (only 1056 words) the next chapter will be all the evidence! Also next chapter I'm introducing a new character of russetfox12345: Aithlin!

Don't forget to comment and vote!

I hope you enjoyed!