Two secrets- Merlin x Arthur

Two secrets.

"He is dying sire," announced the king's physician gravely as he gently put his hand to the prince's neck. " I think we are going to need the priest."

"You are sure?" asked the king his face grey with torment and distress " there must be something we can do, the boy is the future king of Camelot we cannot let him die."

"I cannot feel a pulse." The physician lay his head upon the young man's chest, desperately hoping to hear his heart beating or feel the rise and fall of his chest.

A teenage boy named Merlin stood anxiously at the other side of the heavy, oak framed four poster bed upon which the dying prince lay, his precious life blood poured crimson onto the white linen sheets from the deep wound in his back.

Merlin's unusual blue eyes were clouded over with hot tears which he fought desperately to control lest the king catch site of him weeping like a girl, he shook his head and gulped to swallow the lump that accompanies unshed tears. Merlin was Prince Arthur's servant and after many months of serving him he had grown desperately fond of his young master and could not bear to think for a moment that the wound was fatal.

The young servant knelt beside the prince and appeared to be praying, he was in fact muttering incantations silently under his breath, his eyes wide and focused all the time upon the dying youth beside him, no one noticed him but had they looked upon him they may well have noticed that the blue eyes became a golden colour for Merlin was no ordinary boy, he was magical.

Of course his magical powers were a secret between himself and Gaius the physician for King Uther Pendragon could not tolerate magic, even good magic, for it was magic that had cost the life of his dear wife Igraine, Arthur's mother.

"So my son will die because he protected an enemy? this will bring great shame upon the family and upon this kingdom, this is indeed a most terrible thing to befall me."

King Uther paced the floor ringing his hands, his face still grey with his pent up rage, he  wanted to weep for the loss of only son, the boy who had been begotten by a magic spell, a spell that had killed Igraine at his birth, inspite of all that Arthur was precious to him. The king seized the arm of his sobbing niece who stood beside the bed and had been passing hot water from her maid servant, Guinevere, over to Gaius.

The girl turned  to look at her uncle, her large eyes full of fear. She was shaking with fright and with sorrow for she loved Arthur too.

"To think you were in on this Morgana!" thundered the king causing her to wince and attempt to pull away from his tight grip on her arm. "It is you who put this foolish notion into his head about saving an innocent child."

Morgana shook her head as her tears poured like rain down her beautiful face.

"Oh no uncle" she wailed "he is truly brave, he would have been a great honour to you and a wonderful and good king, to give his life to save a frightened and innocent child, to think that had he not done so that boy's people might well now be planning to wage war upon Camelot to avenge the death of the child and of the man who was with him who you had executed for sorcery. Prince Arthur has averted a war and the death of many and maybe even the return of sorcery to the kingdom."

The king looked long and hard at the tall, slender girl, she was the most beautiful girl in all the kingdom with her long,curling black hair, large dark eyes and full rose bud lips and she was as good and compassionate as she was beautiful, King Uther had desired  that his son would some day marry her and she would be Queen one day. He gave her a sour and angry look.

"He is alive!" cried Merlin just as the priest rushed in armed with holy water and incense and two young monks holding white candles.

"Look, look, see his hand it is upon mine and he is gripping it and see his eyelids fluttered, Oh Gaius listen now to his chest and you will hear his heart beating I am sure."

The king, Morganna, Guinivere and the priest and the two monks all looked upon the pale, lifeless form of the beautiful prince his face as white as the linen upon which he lay, his golden hair was damp and clinging to his forhead in wet clusters, his lips were almost blue as blood poured from the wound in his poor body.

Gaius put his head to the prince's chest .

"Merlin is right the boy lives"

"My prayers were answered!" cried Merlin his tears now falling freely as he smiled "my master lives."

The physician gently turned the prince onto his front with the help of Merlin to once more inspect the wound, Arthur's head turned to look at Merlin and his blue eyes opened and he began to cough and splutter, blood oozing from his mouth. His face became a grimace of pain but at least he was not dead.

Gaius continued to apply a potion to the deep laceration under the boy's rib cage on the left side of his back.

"It is a deep wound and it will take time to heal, it is early days yet, I have cleansed it with a potion of witch hazel and this is a potion of Dittany which is good for healing cuts and bleeding. Now my dear Gwyn would you pass me more clean linen so that I might dress the wound?"

The amazing thing about Arthur's wound was that it was healing already deep inside, a normal wound  such as he had received would have killed anyone having torn and damaged the blood vessels and tissue inside his body and from all the blood loss, but then Merlin could some amazing things with those eyes of his.

Gaius bound the boy's wound as the others in the room,even the king himself scurried around fetching clean linen, taking away dirty water and fetching clean water, between them both, Gaius and Merlin made the prince comfortable and clean and lying upon clean linen. The poor young man looked exhausted and feverish as he held onto Merlin's hand.

"Do not leave me Merlin." and at those words he collapsed again into unconciousness.

"Please sire" Merlin addressed the king " I would like to keep vigil over the prince, my master, all night if I may, I am his loyal servant and I cannot leave him, if I need to sleep then I will sleep on the floor but I know I will not sleep at all, not until I know that he is fully well again sire."

The king nodded, deep down feeling touched and moved at Merlin's loyalty towards his son.

With the servants and the household gone and the priest having said prayers and lit candles in the chamber,  Merlin sat by the prince's bed reading the long list of instructions from Gaius, in the morning Gaius would return with more potions and medicine for the prince.

Merlin looked up occasionally from his reading to look at Arthur's face  in the gentle candle light, he was peaceful now and sleeping well, if not just a little feverish. Merlin touched the fevered brow and got up to soak a clean cloth  in a potion of lavender and chamomile flowers with which to bathe the prince's head.

Meanwhile in the king's chamber Morganna had entered and had flung herself into her uncle's arms sobbing pitifully.

"Oh uncle, oh sire," she cried " forgive me please."

He was a cold and ruthless man and Morganna was sure that she would be punished most severely for what had become of Arthur and of her involvement in helping him and Merlin to rescue the Druid child and return him to his people. Poor Arthur had been caught by an arrow in his back as he returned from assisting the child as the guards did not know who he was, only that he was a hooded man smuggling out the king's enemy, destined for the scaffold that very morning.

"It is I to blame " she wept.

"No child" he said firmly as he lifted her face towards his own "it is only natural that a woman should want to protect and help a child after all, and that son of mine, God's bones, I do not know what came over him but he will learn in time not to be  so impulsive and perhaps you are right in saying that he has saved us from an attack by angry and vengeful druids, but we are going to all have to remain very vigilant."

Alone in the prince's chamber Merlin continued to bathe his master's head, he was still grieved to see wounds in the body of the man he had grown to love and serve, he was just too white and still, like a corpse, so weak and vulnerable, that was not his Arthur, a robust and ruddy cheeked young man, strong and comely, demanding and stubborn.

" you have to be the most handsome man I have ever beheld " muttered Merlin as if he was a love struck maiden, he dipped the cloth once more into the potion and wrung it out over the bowl, Merlin was rambling on and gibbering away about how brave and strong Arthur was and what a hero he was and that he would be the best king Camelot had ever known and how even in a thousand years from hence he would still be remembered as a legendary king almost as famous as Christ himself or King Alexander the Great.

Merlin lay the cloth over Arthur's forehead and gently stroked the young man's cheek and down the side of his neck and across the collar bones towards the top of his sturdy, handsome chest.

"I love you." he muttered."you are far more than just my master."

Merlin lay his dark head upon Arthur's bare chest, his tears fell warm upon over the pale skin as Merlin gently touched the soft brown hair upon the prince's body, he tingled with desire as he did so and lay like that for hours weeping upon Arthur's body in such a way until all of a sudden the bright, blue eyes of the golden haired prince opened wide.

"Oh whatever is this wet thing upon my head! Get rid of it" and he impatiently flicked the potion soaked cloth from off his brow onto the floor.

"Really Merlin what a complete milk sop you are! Fussing over me like a nurse maid.And was I dreaming or were you really babbling on about how brave and handsome I am? just like a silly girl?"

Merlin sat bolt upright, his mysterious but beautiful eyes large and sparkling.

"Oh Arthur I was just doing as Gaius bid me do,keeping vigil over you." Merlin was quite hot and flustered.

"What by being my nurse maid?" he sneered.

Arthur's mouth curved into a smile and he laughed

"Ouch! that hurts" he muttered " I had best not laugh for a bit" he said " but seriously Merlin I like it, I like being nursed, I never got much of that after my childhood, I have been trained to be tough, manly and strong from my cradle and I really do need a gentle touch you know. I like it you know when you massage my shoulders after a tournament."

The prince blushed.

"Merlin, I want to tell you something and you promise it will be our secret, I love you, in the way father wishes I would love Morganna but as beautiful as she is I see her as a beloved sister, I have never been stirred by a girl in the way you have stirred me and filled me with desire and love, yes, there was that bizare damsel who bewitched me but that was weird, supernatural stuff not true love. No there is only one person I desire  and he is right beside me caressing the hairs on my chest and soaking me with his tears, now you cannot sleep there sitting up and you cannot stay awake a ll night, this is a command, now get in beside me and keep me warm."

Arthur slowly raised the covers to allow the small, wiry Merlin in beside him, smirking like a school boy Merlin clambered into the bed and  huddle close against Arthur's body as Arthur wrapped the covers around them both and held his precious serving boy against his warm chest.

"We have got secrets now Merlin." he whispered kissing Merlin's black, smooth hair .

"Two?" Merlin lifted up his face towards the prince, looking very puzzled indeed. " Maybe just the one that you and I love each other in a special way but what is the second secret?"

"Your gift Merlin, your gift of being magical of course."

Merlin's already big eyes grew even larger and his once flushed cheeks became pale with shock , he sat upright in the bed.

"Oh lord have mercy on my soul" he cried out "you know? I am doomed, God's teeth I am doomed."

"lay back down Merlin I am far too weak to pull you down" ordered Arthur " you are making me cold by sitting up, and your secret is safe with me I promise on all that I hold dear that I will never betray it. One day, when I am king of Camelot there will be room for good magic, my father, and God knows that I love him, cannot tolerate magic of any kind, but Merlin you shall be my advisor and you will guide me and use magic for good and not evil and we will be great and legendary, you and I. I trust you. I love you."

Taking the slender, dark youth into his arms Arthur kissed him upon the lips and ran his hands over his bony white back and sharp, jutting shoulder blades. Merlin returned the kiss and lay back beside his beloved Arthur, comforted and yet aroused at the same time.

"How long have you known?" whispered Merlin.

"My dear Merlin since that day you challenged me in the market square I knew there was something different about you and then when you saved me from that witch who had taken on the body of poor Lady Helen, well I knew you had some sort of extra power, either you were a Saint or a Wizard and you are such a cheeky and insolent  fellow I knew that you could not be a Saint."

"So how come you did not betray me to your father?"

Arthur stroked Merlin's face softly.

"Because, you complete idiot,I love you."