Scared For You

As the physician's apprentice, Merlin had acquired some knowledge of how the human body worked. Some very useful things, such as what parts of the body can get away with being stabbed and what parts can't, or how to splint a broken limb or even which remedies to prescribe for certain diseases.

To a dim extent, he even knew how some of the brain worked. He wasn't sure where he'd read it, but he was aware that when a person is faced with a stressful situation, they do one of three things.

Fight, flight, or freeze...

...and somehow, Merlin felt as if he was doing all three at once.

*** 

Merlin felt the golden light fade from his eyes as he looked to Arthur, who was standing mere meters away from him. He didn't even have to look at the King to feel the expression on his face.

No sooner had he looked to the other man; Merlin had frozen on the spot. It was as if the world had stopped at their feet and that he and Arthur were the only two people standing in it.

Arthur's crystal blue eyes morphed from confusion into shock by the seconds as he realised what he'd just seen. The man that was about to run him through had been blasted several feet away, killing him instantly. But it wasn't Arthur who had dealt the blow.

It was Merlin. With no sword, no physical weapon of any kind.

With magic.

Had his adrenaline not been sky high, Arthur thought he might've succumbed to the shock and collapsed. Instead, he watched Merlin's...no...the sorcerer's breath become dangerously fast for his body.

"You have magic..." he whispered, unsure if it was to himself or both of them. Arthur could feel a million different emotions writhing in his chest at his own words.

Merlin, on the other hand, was feeling a million more.

At Arthur's words, Merlin felt his fighting instinct rise within him. He wasn't sure why as he had no intentions that involved attacking Arthur. He supposed it was the adrenaline mixing with the worry he was feeling.

Or it could've been the fact that Merlin would've done anything to fight this moment away, to turn back time and change what he did only seconds ago.

Something invisible then started tugging at his legs which were still cemented in place, and Arthur very quickly realised that he wouldn't have time to decipher what emotions he was feeling.

Because his manservant had turned away from him and had started running, fast. But not before Arthur saw tears form in Merlin's eyes and a voiceless whisper escape from his lips.

In a heartbeat, Arthur dropped his heavy sword and ran after the other man. Despite his conflicted emotions, Arthur just couldn't let Merlin...go. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

He had to talk to him, understand what the hell he just saw. Make sense of it...

...he had to talk to Merlin.

***

Merlin ran as fast as his legs could take him through the forest, knowing damn well that Arthur was pursuing him from behind. His breath heightened with every fallen branch he encountered as he tried not to fall over them.

In his run through the forest, he didn't look back. Not once did he look back. If he did, he knew he'd see Arthur's face.

Arthur's face that he had no doubt would be angry and confused, and Merlin couldn't bear to see that. He tried to ignore the shouting of his name that was coming from his King, yelling for him to stop running or to wait.