Later on, bundled in lots of blankets, Merlin felt almost too warm. But he didn't want to complain, he didn't think he even had the energy too. There were people talking around him, and a hand holding onto his wrist through the blankets, fingers pressed over his pulse. The people were talking in low, hushed voices, and there seemed to be a lot of swearing involved.
When Merlin finally woke, properly this time, it was very dark. He was on his side, laying near a roaring fire. He watched the flames dancing for a minute, until someone said, "Merlin?" He twitched his eyes over to where Lancelot was sitting, watching him intently. Lancelot quickly scooted closer, looking at him intently, and again, he said, "Merlin? How're you feeling?"
"Not too good," he answered, resisting the urge to close his eyes again.
"Here, eat this" Lancelot said, holding out a medium sized chunk of bread.
Merlin shook his head, and said, "No." He felt sick at the thoughtif any food.
"I'm not offering," the knight said, grabbing one of Merlin's arms and forcing the food into it. "It's not that much."
Merlin took a very small bite, and swallowed it. Suddenly ravenous, the bit of bread was gone in an instant. Lancelot lifted a water skin to Merlin's mouth, and Merlin drank it with the same ferocity he'd eaten the bread. Lancelot had to pull it away several times and caution him to drink slower. Finally, Merlin, feeling like his stomach was full to bursting, said, "Where's Arthur?"
"Sleeping. Same as the others," he said, "Except for Percival, he's on watch."
"You're not sleeping," Merlin said. Even with the water, his voice refused to grow louder than a ragged whisper.
"I'm on Merlin Watch," said Lancelot, a small grin flitting across his face, gone as soon as it appeared. "You really scared us this time."
"What happened?" Merlin asked.
"You don't remember?"
Merlin shook his head. "I…there's nothing," he said, "Just…nothing. What happened?"
"Later," Lancelot said, "Don't worry yourself about it now."
Right. Because there were so many other things for him to be thinking about. "Lancelot, please tell me" he said.
Lancelot hesitated for a moment, glancing somewhere off to the right. Merlin could only assume that's where the others were. Then, he said, "You were jumped by some outlaws in the woods, after the – anyway, Arthur got a demand for ransom, and we rode out, but they were all gone, and so we've been searching –"
"How long?"
"You need to rest."
"How long?" he repeated, and by the sounds of Lancelot's words, he had been wherever he was for quite some time. "How many days have I been gone?"
Hey guys I'm trying to make up for not updating I am gona try update everyday this week. Hope you liked it.
