Deafening Silence

Armoury Interventions

The King went silent at the revelation. Allowing his face to melt into horrified shock, much like when he first saw that Merlin went down during the attack. But his silence did not last.

"What?! He can't...he hasn't been able to hear me all this time!?" Arthur practically exploded, not taking his eyes off Gaius for a second.
"He can't hear anyone, my Lord. The blow to his head has rendered him temporarily deaf."

Arthur only became more distressed after hearing more. He hated himself for not figuring it out. Merlin was without a doubt his closest friend, why hadn't he realised sooner? Then, he started to question some things.

"But...I was talking to him earlier, he responded to me..."

"He's relying on lipreading, it's the only way he's been able to understand anyone."

Arthur felt as if the world was spinning, he was struggling to comprehend what he'd been told. The idea that Merlin was quite badly injured without him knowing frightened the King, who had one question on his mind at that moment.

"Why the hell didn't he tell me!?" Arthur more or less shouted at Gaius, who saw what looked like fear flash in the physician's eyes. Arthur knew he needed to calm down for Gaius' sake, and Merlin's for when he found him later.

"I'm really not sure, Arthur. That's something you'll have to ask him I'm afraid." Gaius obviously knew Merlin's reason and understood it completely. But he also knew that Arthur wouldn't go on any kind of trip without his ward.

Arthur turned away and let out a loud sigh, holding one hand over his mouth whilst he thought to himself. He was a trained warrior; he was literally trained to observe the behaviour of others and interpret their next move. Sure, he noticed something was off with Merlin, it was why he came to Gaius in the first place, but Arthur still cursed himself for not realising that Merlin's injury was more serious than he let on and vowed to get to the bottom of why he hadn't told him.

Without looking back at Gaius, he headed for the door. "I need to find him." He said sternly with a tone of voice that commanded no one get in his way. Unfortunately, Gaius wasn't going to let him go without a final word.

The physician moved quickly and advanced towards the door as if he was going after the King. "Arthur!" He shouted, desperate to get his attention before he ultimately left to find his injured ward.

Arthur, holding onto the door, turned and one serious face met another.

"Go easy on him. I'm not sure what he'll be like." Arthur only nodded in response and closed the door to Gaius and Merlin's chambers. Once he knew the door was fully shut, he took off in a run.

Many servants who happened to be roaming the halls of the castle gave a confused look to each other as they watched Arthur storm past. Some servants, on the other hand, made an educated guess as to where their King was running to, or rather, who he was running to.

Arthur passed the kitchen and winced at the noises that accompanied it. He briefly thought if Merlin could even hear that but then switched his mind to the task at hand. Finding Merlin. He turned the corner and ran further down the hall towards the stables, where he knew he had sent Merlin last. He skidded to a halt at the entrance to the stables but saw no scruffy incompetent manservant mucking them out. Arthur thought that maybe Merlin had already finished there but then noticed how incredibly un-mucked out the stables were, citing that Merlin hadn't even been there. This only worried Arthur.

"Damnit, Merlin!" He exclaimed as he hit the nearby wall, taking off in another run in the attempt to find his manservant. Arthur rattled his brain to remember what he had told Merlin to do that morning, but it had been fogged with Gaius' revelation. Eventually, he remembered that he'd told him to sharpen his sword, leading to a quick change in direction where he hoped that this time, he would actually find Merlin.