Summary: “The fire...” He whispered, his voice quiet and thick with exhaustion, “the fire went out... I need to relight it.”
“No!” Arthur exclaimed, immediately by his side and gently pushing Merlin back down as the warlock tried to sit up, “no... Just—just stay down. Stay down and r-rest... Okay? Just... Close your eyes, go back to sleep. I’ll relight the fire, don’t worry.”
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Merlin took a shaky breath. In... Out... In... Out...
“Merlin? Merlin, are you really awake?” Merlin’s eyes snapped over to Arthur, stinging and straining to see in the dark.
His voice sounded oddly forced, and rough, as if he’d been crying.
Merlin opened his mouth to speak, but found the words unable to form. His eyes travelled back to the fire, which must have had gone out. It was so dark, and they were so far from home...
“The fire...” He whispered, his voice quiet and thick with exhaustion, “the fire went out... I need to relight it.”
“No!” Arthur exclaimed, immediately by his side and gently pushing Merlin back down as the warlock tried to sit up, “no... Just—just stay down. Stay down and r-rest... Okay? Just... Close your eyes, go back to sleep. I’ll relight the fire, don’t worry.”
Arthur paused. “We’ll... get home, soon. Tomorrow. We’ll get home tomorrow, both of us.”
Now Merlin was sure, Arthur—his brave, composed Arthur... His voice was shaking. He was scared. Merlin frowned deeply.
Why was he scared?
Merlin looked up to the sky and tilted his head.
“Arthur?” Merlin hesitated, “Arthur why is it so dark? Where are the stars? Arthur, where are we...?”
“Shhh...” Arthur shushed him, “don’t—don’t speak. It’ll be okay. It’ll all be okay... We’ll get you home, we’ll get you to Gaius... I’ll... I’ll explain it’s all my fault... You’re going to be okay.”
“Why is it so dark...?” Merlin repeated, his voice softer than before, his exhaustion beginning to overwhelm him. “Why is it so...?”
The last thing he remembered before succumbing to the sweet embrace of sleep, was a heart-wrenching sob echoing through the dark camp.
“Is he going to be alright?”
Arthur... Arthur’s voice. Arthur was talking. Who was Arthur talking to? Bed, was he in bed? There was a mattress beneath him but it felt too soft to be his... Where was he?
Why was it so dark?
“You’re lucky, Arthur...” Gaius. Gaius, why was Gaius there? Where was there? Why was Arthur lucky? What was going on? Why was it so dark? “He...He will make a full recovery. If you had gotten here a moment later...”
A moment later what? What was going on? Why was no one telling him what was going on? Why was it so dark?!
“I know. I know... His sight would’ve been gone forever...” Merlin tensed when he heard the words from Arthur. Sight... Gone forever... His sight... His sight!
It was so dark!
Merlin shot upright, beginning to hyperventilate. His eyes were open wide but it was so dark, it was so dark, it was so dark!
Oh, gods.. Oh, gods, he couldn’t see!
“Ar—Arth—I can’t—I can’t see! Why can’t I see?!” Merlin panicked, thrashing around, trying to grab for Arthur. Firm hands grabbed his shoulders and gently pushed him back down onto the soft mattress, and though he wanted to keep fighting, he forced himself to relax. His eyes were stinging with unshed tears.
It was only then, he finally registered a strange pressure against his eyes, a fabric. His eyes were covered... He wasn’t...
“Relax, Merlin, your eyes are fine,” Arthur’s voice reassured him, “Gaius just has you wearing some bandages that are obstructing your sight... Your eyes are going to be fine, though, I promise you.”
Merlin’s body slumped against the bed in relief, and a shuddering breath left him. “What happened?”
The sorcerer felt the bed slump next to him, and recognized it as Arthur sitting next to him. A hand grabbed his own, and despite his confusion and retreating fear and anxiety, he smiled.
“We were attacked,” Arthur began to explain, “a sorcerer. He was furious. He... He did some sort of spell, and you, you insufferable, self-sacrificing, delusional idiot... You jumped in front of me and took the hit. I don’t know what it was, but you were down. The sorcerer was distraught, realizing he’d struck his Glorious Emrys, instead of me, and ran... I carried you back to camp and laid you down. When you finally woke up—the first thing you mentioned was how dark it was...”
There was a moment of silence, Arthur hesitating. Merlin could hear him take a deep, shaky breath.
“The first was still lit, and the moon was shining on our camp. But you said it was so dark,” The King murmured, “And... that was when I realized... There was something wrong with your eyes. So, I—so, I told you to go back to sleep... And I brought you to Gaius.”
Merlin took slow breaths, trying to calm his racing heart as he processed it all. He didn’t... He didn’t remember it... He remembered waking up, remembered the darkness... But he didn’t remember the attack...
“Where am I?” He finally asked.
“You’re in Arthur’s chambers.” Merlin turned his head in the direction of Gaius’ voice even though he couldn’t see him. “He insisted you be brought here, for some reason.”
He may have bandages over his eyes, but he didn’t need to see Gaius to know he was raising an eyebrow. His face felt hot, and he cleared his throat.
“How long have I been out?” Merlin changed the subject. There was a cautious pause, before Arthur replied.
“Two days... You’re awake now, though, and your eyes will be fine.”
“Can I get these off? You said my eyes are fine, right? I want to see again, I want to see, please, Gaius,” Merlin quickly asked, eager to see once more and taken aback by how long he was out.
“Alright, but your sight may be a bit fuzzy for a while,” Gaius sighed after a moment. Merlin let out a breath of relief and sat up slowly, propping himself up on his elbows. “Arthur, close the blinds, he’ll be sensitive to the light.”
He stayed still as Gaius carefully removed the bandages, listening as Arthur got up and walked over to close the blinds. The moment the bandages were taken from his face, Merlin began to blink rapidly.
Slowly, the world began to come into focus, after initially being nothing blur a blur of colour. He was so relieved, tears began to well up in his eyes.
“I can see...” He murmured, a smile forming on his face.
He looked over when he heard Arthur let out a sigh, and his heart leapt when he saw the King standing by the bed. “Thank the gods...”
Merlin huffed out a laugh and reached out for Arthur, who immediately climbed onto the bed, hugging him close.
“You’re staying with me tonight,” Arthur mumbled into his shoulder. Merlin just grinned, holding Arthur tightly as he looked around the room. The beautiful, beautiful room...
Both seemed to forget about Gaius, who slipped out of the room once the embrace began.
“Gladly, but we’re keeping the fire lit,” Merlin replied firmly, “I’ve had enough of the dark for a while...”
By TheCourtSorcerer on ao3