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Description
Arthur gently covered the bruised and battered body of his friend with the blanket. Leaning back in the chair he tried to make himself comfortable for the long night ahead. There would be no sleep for him this night.
He sat and watched as Merlin struggled for every breath, the boy's broken ribs popping and cracking with every small shallow breath he took. Even the drugs and sleeping draught could not completely take away his friends pain and that only seemed to make the guilt he felt even stronger.
The kings thoughts drifted back to when this whole nightmare began. Bandits had raided there camp in the middle of the night. The knights thought as he did and assumed they were going after him. So they fought to protect their king. Nevertheless, it wasn't him they were after. During the battle Merlin had be snatch away. It took him and his men days to track down the kidnappers. It would have taken longer had it not been for the trail of his servant's tattered clothing left behind. At first they found Merlin's coat, than his neckerchief and then nothing more than blue strips of cloth that were stained red. This frightened him more than he cared to admit and forced him to drive his men to ride harder and faster than he could ever remember going. However, it worked, they finally had caught up to the thieves and he was horrified at what he found.
Merlin's wrists were bound in front of him so tight that blood was flowing freely from underneath the ropes down his arms. The other end of the rope was tied to one of the thief's horses. Whoever was paying them obviously did not care what condition there prize was in, because Merlin did not have the strength to keep up with the horse and was being dragged across the forest floor. It was only after they over powered the thieves that Arthur learned that Merlin had also been drugged. For days, they forced the servant to drink a nasty concoction that left him weak and confused.
Arthur never did learn why they took Merlin or who had paid them, for the thieves took their secrets with them to the grave choosing to kill themselves rather than reveal anything. However, Arthur did not care he only had one priority now and that was to help his friend. They bundled there unconscious friend up and gently placed him with their king on his horse and made way for the closet village.
They found a small tavern, but the rooms were full for the night, but as soon as the innkeeper saw the red capes and the Pendragon crest, he quickly evicted the current tenets to make room for his king.
Arthur spent hours in the small room, cleaning and bandaging his servant's wounds. The guilt was so strong he refused to let any of his knights relieve him and watch over the boy. Merlin was his responsibility and he would be damned if he ever let anything happen to him again.

Description
Arthur gently covered the bruised and battered body of his friend with the blanket. Leaning back in the chair he tried to make himself comfortable for the long night ahead. There would be no sleep for him this night.
He sat and watched as Merlin struggled for every breath, the boy's broken ribs popping and cracking with every small shallow breath he took. Even the drugs and sleeping draught could not completely take away his friends pain and that only seemed to make the guilt he felt even stronger.
The kings thoughts drifted back to when this whole nightmare began. Bandits had raided there camp in the middle of the night. The knights thought as he did and assumed they were going after him. So they fought to protect their king. Nevertheless, it wasn't him they were after. During the battle Merlin had be snatch away. It took him and his men days to track down the kidnappers. It would have taken longer had it not been for the trail of his servant's tattered clothing left behind. At first they found Merlin's coat, than his neckerchief and then nothing more than blue strips of cloth that were stained red. This frightened him more than he cared to admit and forced him to drive his men to ride harder and faster than he could ever remember going. However, it worked, they finally had caught up to the thieves and he was horrified at what he found.
Merlin's wrists were bound in front of him so tight that blood was flowing freely from underneath the ropes down his arms. The other end of the rope was tied to one of the thief's horses. Whoever was paying them obviously did not care what condition there prize was in, because Merlin did not have the strength to keep up with the horse and was being dragged across the forest floor. It was only after they over powered the thieves that Arthur learned that Merlin had also been drugged. For days, they forced the servant to drink a nasty concoction that left him weak and confused.
Arthur never did learn why they took Merlin or who had paid them, for the thieves took their secrets with them to the grave choosing to kill themselves rather than reveal anything. However, Arthur did not care he only had one priority now and that was to help his friend. They bundled there unconscious friend up and gently placed him with their king on his horse and made way for the closet village.
They found a small tavern, but the rooms were full for the night, but as soon as the innkeeper saw the red capes and the Pendragon crest, he quickly evicted the current tenets to make room for his king.
Arthur spent hours in the small room, cleaning and bandaging his servant's wounds. The guilt was so strong he refused to let any of his knights relieve him and watch over the boy. Merlin was his responsibility and he would be damned if he ever let anything happen to him again.