Bound

Chapter 19

After the long journey, Merlin's short supply of energy was spent. He hobbled up to Gaius' chambers being half carried by Arthur and Lancelot. They quickly got him into a cot in the physician's chambers so that Gaius could examine him. Gaius had to take Merlin's shirt off to better examine him and treat his wounds. Gwen gave an involuntary gasp and the knights could only stare. Gaius, however, got straight to work. He had seen many of the scars before; in fact, he treated a lot of them. The thing that worried Gaius most were a few cuts on his arms and some ugly bruises on his protruding ribs. Gaius also had noticed the cuffs by now.

"What happened?" Gaius looked at Arthur.

"Well... we were captured. Merlin got the worst of it."

Gaius raised his eyebrow. That was a half answer if he ever did see one.

"What are these?" Gaius gestured to the cuffs.

"Oh- umm..."

Arthur looked at his surroundings. The door was closed and the only people in the room were Gaius, Merlin, Gwen, Lancelot and himself. Still, Arthur didn't want to talk about Merlin's magic without permission first. He looked to Merlin, who gave him a tired nod.

"The woman that captured us had these cuffs that could control someone's magic. She put them on Merlin," he looked down at the servant one more time before continuing.
"She used them to control Merlin's magic for the past few weeks."

Gaius looked at Arthur with wide eyes, and Gwen's hand went to her mouth.

"You know?"

"I do now. She used him to hurt others and himself. Only yesterday, he had to fight Morgana. He fought over control for his magic, but it drained him. He still needs to heal."

"I see. How did you get out? And why does he still have the cuffs?"

"Well... she let us go. She said she had no further use for him. She gave me the key that controls the cuffs, but they can't unlock them. For now, this is the best that we got. Also, Morgana is in the dungeons."

At this point, neither of the others could contain their shock. Gwen had to go find a chair, mostly due to the news about Morgana. Gaius had a look of fear to him. Could Arthur really be trusted with such a thing? Especially growing up with such a hatred for magic? Gaius was about to ask what Arthur was going to do with this key, before Arthur interjected.

"Gaius, I believe Merlin needs some rest. He's had a rough few weeks. I believe this is something that should probably be discussed later."

Without Merlin. From the tone Gaius knew that was what he meant.

"Of course, sire. I'm just going to treat some of the wounds on his arms and ribs, then he can get some rest."

"Good. Let me know if his condition changes."

With that Arthur walked out and signaled to the others to do the same. This left Merlin and Gaius in the room alone. Merlin let out a shuddering breath that he didn't know he was holding.

"Arthur doesn't trust me. Edith showed him every cruel lie I have ever told him. I'm lucky not to be in the cell next to Morgana."

Gaius patted Merlin on the shoulder.

"My boy, it will be alright. You're back now; you're safe."

"But am I? Arthur doesn't trust me, yet he has this key that can control my magic. What if he does something stupid? Or what if he uses it against me?"

"Arthur may not trust you, but I am sure that he would never want to hurt you. He brought you back. You mustn't worry about these things right now. Arthur's right, you need to rest and heal."

Merlin nodded his head and chose to stay silent as Gaius treated his wounds. He quickly dozed off to sleep afterwards.

***

Merlin slept soundly all the way through the night, and most of the next morning. Early in the morning Arthur came in to check and make sure everything was okay. In addition, he wanted a chance to talk to Gaius. When he walked in, he found Gaius mulling about his chamber messing with potions and such. He looked up noticing Arthur in the doorway.

"Your majesty," Gaius have a slight bow of his head.

"Gaius. How is he?"

"He's been asleep since last night. He has yet to stir. I believe that he is exhausted, but physically he should be fine."

"Okay... but how is he?" Arthur asked, referring to more than his physical wellbeing. Gaius sighed.

"Shaken up, and rightly so. It's been a long few weeks, and I don't even know close to the extent of what happened. He seems to be troubled about many things at the moment."

"You mean me," Arthur felt the need to clarify.

"Well... with all due respect, sire, this is quite a lot for him. You found out about his magic, he lost control of it entirely, and now you have that control. You were raised with a hatred of magic. You must understand why he's nervous."

"I know," Arthur sighed. "And if I am to be completely honest, I could've handled it better. When I first found out, I didn't take it that well. But over time, I came to terms with it. However, after that Edith just kept revealing lie after lie. I didn't know what to do with that. Then she gave me a choice: leave with Merlin and the key, or leave Merlin there while the rest of us left. I couldn't leave him, but I also couldn't forget everything that happened. I guess now I'm just left with a rusty key and broken trust."

Gaius couldn't help but pity him. This woman manipulated him to no end. Then, she left him in an impossible situation.

"I'm sorry, sire. I know Merlin didn't want you to find out this way."

"I don't know what to do, Gaius. I have no idea. I want to help, but everything is just so wrong right now."

"Well... I believe the best option would be to talk to Merlin about that. It seems that you need to work things out between the two of you."

"You're right... of course you're right, Gaius. Thank you."

Arthur turned to leave, but not before Gaius thought of something.

"Sire?"

"Yes?"

"I don't believe I should have to warn you of what would happen if your father found out."

"He won't. I promise, Merlin's secret will be kept safe."

"Have you taken time to consider what will happen to Morgana? I assume she knows."

"She does, but I plan not to let my father know that she's here. He hasn't acted as ruler in months. She will remain in the dungeons until I figure out what to do with her."

Gaius nodded in affirmation, then Arthur proceeded to turn and leave. True to his word, Arthur had only told a few select knights that Morgana was to be kept in the dungeons. Fortunately, they arrived at nighttime, and not too many people noticed. She was kept in a cell with concrete walls, so it was harder for people to see in to it. The minute that Uther caught wind of her presence, she would surely be executed. Arthur couldn't do that to her, at least not at the hand of Uther.