Warlock in the Iron Mask

Chapter Four

When Merlin fell back to sleep Arthur relaxed a little. It had been extremely difficult but he has summoned all of his courage to make it through that initial encounter. His heart ached. He tucked the covers up and got another blanket to drape over him.

Once Merlin was snug and secure, Arthur's mind raced back to the report and the reason why he'd kept himself completely in check. He knew, he wished to god he didn't but he knew the full extent of what his friend had suffered. It made him boil with rage at the warlord that did this. Once Merlin had recovered, he was going to take care of that man. He was going to capture him alive and give him to Merlin as a present. What that man had done... Arthur shuddered. He had to force himself to think about it, to remember because every action from him could hinder Merlin's fragile grip on reality.

When he thought about it, it only made the anger worse. He had to fight back tears of frustration and sorrow, for Merlin had suffered the thing that no one should. Not Ever, not in his Kingdom at least. He would never condone it, never allow it, and never let anyone get away with it. He closed his eyes and finally acknowledged it to himself because he had to process it. On top of everything else, Merlin had been, Arthur sighed as his heart clenched. He had to call it what it was. He had been raped. Gaius was very thorough in his examination.

His precious, innocent Merlin had suffered unspeakable agony because of him. Arthur wiped away the tears since he had no right to cry. He was responsible for this. Him alone, he sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He'd spend the rest of his life just trying, trying to make up for what happened. He'd try anything.

Though he had been there stewing for hours, he refused to leave Merlin's room. Once or twice, messages came for him. Leon had come by pay his respects and so had Morgana and Gwen. Most surprising of all, his father had stopped in. He'd read the full report and even a hardened King had been moved.

"Amazing," Uther had said, "The loyalty the boy has for you, Arthur. I will do something for him when he is back on his feet and out of that contraption."

It had set Arthur's mind at rest regarding his father. Apparently Giaus had had a long talk with Uther. Gaius had apparently convinced Uther that someone had mistaken the boy for a sorcerer and by the time the mask was on him it was too late. Uther and he had fought endlessly over it and he was glad to have his father's support. Uther laid a hand on his shoulder. "No one deserves what happened to him." There were times when his father could be human and this was one of them. He might be singing a different tune if he knew about Merlin's magic, Arthur knew, but for the time being he just ... he needed Uther's support. He couldn't deal with an emotional war on two fronts. Uther had stayed for a little while and talked to him about passing harsh laws against this kind of thing and eventually left him to his watch.

The chair in Merlin's room wasn't very comfortable but Arthur was not in the mood to care. Sometime early in the afternoon, Merlin began to mutter fitfully in the bed. Arthur immediately snapped to attention and moved towards the bed. He was worried about touching him but Merlin was flailing.

"No! No! Leave me alone!" Merlin cried out.

"Merlin, Merlin it's okay." Arthur said urgently. "It's just me. It's Arthur. Calm down, you'll hurt yourself, break open a stitch." Arthur leant over the bed and tried to calm him down by touching his shoulder gently. "You're ok. You're safe now."

"NO!" Merlin shouted desperately. "I know it's not real. You're not real! Merlin kicked out and then threw the bedclothes off in his struggle to get away. He kicked and punched and landed quite a few heavy blows. "I don't know anything, I swear!" he whimpered. "Please... please don't." And that's when the screaming started and he sobbed with terror.