"Gwen, Arthur... what happened?"

Gaius's voice shook as he watched them support a now fully unconscious Merlin into his chambers.

"I found him like this, Gaius," Arthur panted, "in the dungeons. Halig... Halig took him in for questioning."

"Well, quickly, quickly, bring him inside," Gaius told them. "And lay him on the bed."

This was no mean feat- they had to be careful not to jostle Merlin too much as they didn't know how badly injured he was. Once they had managed to rest him on the cot by the fireplace, Merlin's head lolled unpleasantly to the side, and they could see strips of white eyeball under his bruised lids.

Gaius leaned over him.

"Merlin, Merlin can you hear me?"

There was no reply. Gaius gently slapped his cheeks with the back of his hand- nothing.

"This might be for the best while we clean his wounds," Gaius said, looking over his shoulder and Arthur and Gwen who were hovering uncertainly behind him. "Although we'll need him to regain consciousness sooner or later, so he can tell us what happened."

Next, Gaius- with the help of Gwen- wasted no time in pulling off Merlin's shirt to lay bare his chest and torso.

Even Gaius flinched.

"Oh my-" Gwen exclaimed, clapping a hand to her mouth.

Arthur stared at his servant's- no, his friend's- body, and felt bile and rage rise within him.

Merlin's whole body was covered in sweat and his face was grey. It was clear that his nose was broken. Both of his eyes as well as his nose and lips were puffy, swollen and bruised. Blood ran freely from his nose and mouth. His shoulders were swelling rapidly, looking to be dislocated.

Purple bruises littered his stomach, he had an egg sized lump on his forehead and another on his temple, and one of his large ears was torn away from the side of his head. Blood ran from the sickening wound; an act of pure brutality.

The most scary thing was that he still appeared to be having real trouble breathing. His throat was swelling too, mottled black with heavy bruising.

"The cloth, Gwen, pass me the cloth," Gaius said horsely, recovering first.

Arthur leaned heavily against the work table, shaking, having just emptied the contents of his stomach out of the window.

"I'm sorry Gaius. I've seen battle injuries before... but it makes all the difference in the world seeing wounds like that on a friend."

"That's quite alright, Sire. I... I feel the same. It's not like working on a patient you don't know." Gaius didn't look up, didn't stop cleaning the dried blood away. "Could you fetch me some water?"

"I'll go," Gwen said at once, and hurried from the room. She too, it seemed, found watching Gaius's process of patching Merlin up a difficult sight. Or perhaps, Gaius thought riley, she was remembering the incident of Merlin's poisoning, and how for that terrible moment they had thought the worst... and Gwen had blamed herself for not being fast enough.

"My father will know by now..." Arthur muttered, pacing back and forth before the bed. "I want to wring Halig's neck for what he's done..."

"Quiet, Arthur. Don't speak of such things," Gaius remonstrated, still working.

"But Gaius- how can you say that! Look what he's done to Merlin!"

"What's done is done, and more violence will not improve matters..." Gaius murmured, squinting at his own tiny writing on a small bottle to check it was the right one.

"Aren't you angry, though?" Arthur demanded, still pacing.

"Of course I am!" Gaius snapped, slamming the bottle down on the table and whipping around to face Arthur. "I'm furious! I'm livid! If Halig were in my chambers right now I'd rip him limb from limb! But right now we need to focus! Merlin needs our help, and raging won't set bones."

This seemed to pull Arthur out of his stupor.

"Set... bones?" He repeated, looking nervously at Merlin's unconscious form on the bed.

"His nose, Sire," Gaius sighed, turning back around and setting to work again. "And I fear his arms, too. Dislocated at least. See the swelling?"

"I- yes, I..." Arthur ran a hand through his hair, feeling useless. "Can I... what do you want me to do?"

"Fetch me bandages," Gaius said.