It had been a few days since the debacle with the witchfinder, and Merlin was still trying to nurse Gaius back to wellness. He could have tried to keep up with the usual tinctures and potions to supply the citadel, but he chose for once to prioritise his time for Gaius. There wasn't currently any major illness sweeping through the citadel – thankfully – and he'd decided (only a little vindictively) that until Gaius was better, the ungrateful lot living here could deal with their regular aches and pains themselves. Just like they would have had to if Uther had allowed Gaius to be murdered as they all stood by and spat on his years of service.

Sometimes, it was all he could do to hold it together, and the only thing keeping him going was the fact that Gaius was alive and breathing and right in front of him. He was still weak, and tired much too easily for Merlin's peace of mind, but by some miracle, he hadn't broken any bones during his stint in the torture room. It was more of tending to sprains and bruises, and ensuring his cuts didn't get infected. Merlin could handle that well enough, but what really concerned him was how quiet and withdrawn Gaius was.

Gaius had just fallen asleep, hands lying limp in his lap along with the metal mug he'd been drinking from. It was lukewarm at best, so there was no threat of anything worse than an embarrassing spill. Still, Merlin turned to deposit the fresh linens he'd gotten his hands on in his little room, intending to return and retrieve the mug. He'd given the room up for Gaius to use, ostensibly because he was recovering and a proper bed should be easier on him. In reality, it was to give Gaius privacy and space to heal, and so that he could intercept anyone who might have come demanding to see the Court Physician and not Gaius himself, or any other dedicated Camelot citizens who decided to take their own version of justice into their own hands because of Gaius' acquittal. Gaius didn't need to know that bit.

He ran back out at sound of the door slamming, loud voices, and a clatter to find Gaius pale as a ghost in his chair with Arthur and two of his knights looming over him. Merlin didn't give himself time to think, mind already jumping to worst-case scenarios, and was suddenly in-between the offending knights and his mentor.

"What's going on?" he demanded, eyes flickering between the three knights standing before him, and Gaius' breath still heavy behind him from the fright.

"Merlin," Arthur started, tone exasperated. "These are the physician's chambers, so why don't you take a wild stab at the answer?"

"There are signs on the door that clearly say Gaius is unavailable," the servant answered, with none of the good humour that would have coloured his words on any other day. "So why are you lot here?" he repeated, tone no more friendly than before.

One of the knights with Arthur, Sir Auric, a few years older than Arthur, with a wife and sweet-faced infant son at home, lifted his hands genially with an open smile on his face. All Merlin could remember was hearing him say to his sparring partner on the field that he'd always found something off about the sorcerer and he finally knew now what it was, and look how he'd hidden himself so well by taking on a 'respectable person's' job.

Merlin's expression grew stony.

It was common knowledge and habit that people were denounced as soon as they were accused of sorcery. It was as much for self-preservation as it was out of the pervading hatred of it – no one wanted to be linked to anyone accused of sorcery because they'd be next on the pyre. And it was always very public. It had never been a problem because people usually weren't cleared from the accusation. Gaius, being the only physician left in Camelot, had been the only one treating its citizens for years. It meant that everyone would have had something to say, and Gaius, having been around so long, would know what they'd done.

"We're here for Gaius," he began. Gaius' breathing hitched behind Merlin at the poor word choice. "But he dropped his mug and we were just trying to help him tidy it up."

Without taking his eyes completely from the men in front of him, Merlin saw the mug on the floor with the spill, and was sure there was a mess on Gaius' robes as well.

"Well you weren't helping, and you shouldn't have been in here in the first place. So please step into the corridor and I'll meet you there," Merlin said politely enough, but his body was still taut with tension.

Arthur rolled his eyes in exasperation, wondering where on earth Merlin ever got the idea that he was supposed to be ordering the Crown Prince and his knights about.

"Merlin," he said with his usual drawl, little half-smirk in place. "You don't give the orders. You're actually meant to be taking them," he said in the manner that persons usually reserved for particularly slow children. "Now that we've covered that for the day, I'll assume we're doing it again same time tomorrow. We need to see Gaius, so step aside."

To Arthur's surprise – and growing annoyance – Merlin remained in place, face still set and eyes hard. "Gaius is not in any state to be seeing any of Camelot's knights, so I'll meet you lot in the corridor outside."

All the of them looked at him with varying levels of surprise, but neither of the two knights made a move to do anything about his impertinence. Merlin being the prince's personal servant, his disciplining fell directly to Arthur unless he ordered their assistance.

"Merlin–" Gaius' voice called from behind him. It was meant to be strong to command his attention, but Merlin could hear the waver beneath it.

The servant spun around, Prince and nobles ignored in favour of trying to calm Gaius out of what he realised as the remnants of another nightmare following him into waking (thanks to the idiot nobles BARGING in where they weren't wanted).

Arthur initially thought that Gaius was going to try to talk some sense into Merlin, as he often did when the servant forgot himself in public. But as he looked on, amidst Merlin's steady assurances to Gaius that everything was okay and Arthur and his knights were leaving immediately – which he really couldn't believe because they still had not gotten what they'd come for – he realised with a start that Gaius was actually frantically trying to get Merlin to leave – to run.

"Merlin, I can't watch them come after you next," Gaius whispered fervently, Merlin's hand clasped tightly in his own trembling ones.

The young knight with him – the main reason they were in the physician's quarters in the first place – interrupted the scene before Merlin could respond.

"He sounds like he needs to see a physician," he joked.

Gaius froze, as though suddenly reminded of his audience, and paled even further, though Arthur hadn't thought it could be possible.

Merlin whirled to look at them, eyes practically blazing as he stood up. "Get out," he seethed in a voice that was no less dangerous for its quietness.

Young Sir Tebald's eyes widened where he was still hanging off of Auric's shoulder to keep weight off his swelling leg, having never seen Merlin lose his temper, much less been on the receiving end of it. The gangly youth was normally so easy-going, even when Arthur had him doing things everyone knew he didn't like – hunting for sport, being Arthur's moving target on the field, mucking the stables – that no one had ever actually seen him pushed too far.

Looking at the normally bumbling servant now, Arthur was vividly reminded of a reprimand he'd received during his time as a squire to Sir Ector. Both he and his older brother, Sir Erec, had been trusted knights of Uther's, though Erec had lost an arm from the elbow downwards to infection after being injured by a sorcerer years prior. Now retired to his own estates, he had been visiting with Ector as he often did. On this particular visit however, Arthur had happened to be passing the courtyard Erec had fallen asleep in when he suddenly started awake, bellowing an incoherent battle cry. He'd reached to his belt with the stump of his arm, only to yell even louder when he saw it, as though he'd somehow forgotten it wasn't there anymore. He'd begun running about, calling for persons Arthur didn't know, dodging and spitting insults at unseen enemies, and generally making a rather entertaining spectacle of himself. Arthur, finding the whole thing all the more amusing because of how dignified and stoic the man usually was, promptly burst into gales of laughter, even as some of the larger servants ran out to calm him.

He was still occasionally chuckling to himself about it, right up until Sir Ector cuffed him sharply round the head later that afternoon in his study. Never having actually been on the receiving end of such an action, young Arthur had opened his mouth to demand just what he thought he was doing, but was silenced by the look on the man's face. Sir Ector had proceeded to give him a very thorough dressing down for making sport of a man suffering the effects of all the sacrifices he'd made for Arthur's father's kingdom. Until then, Arthur hadn't known that most if not all seasoned knights suffered with battle dreams and flashbacks, had never witnessed it. It still sounded ridiculous to him – everyone had nightmares, so what made theirs special? And knights who were absent enough to be daydreaming shouldn't be upset if the daydream became frightening halfway through. It would only serve them right for drifting off.

That changed when he had his first battle dream after a border skirmish with Alined's men, and kept seeing flashes Sir Manifred's entrails spill out of him when he jumped to protect Arthur from an enemy in his blind spot, interchanged with young Sir Conayn's blank eyes staring at him from his severed head. Sir Manifred had been planning to retire after this skirmish, having served faithfully for many years. Conayn had been a new knight, like Arthur himself, and always spun entertaining tales at the campfire or in the armoury.

Coming back to the present, the look on Merlin's face was eerily reminiscent of Sir Ector's expression all those years ago.

Abruptly, Arthur realised that Gaius was probably the closest thing Merlin had to family in Camelot, and Arthur had seen enough threatened mama bears to know that it was probably best that he actually do as Merlin said (just this once!) and get Tebald as far away from Gaius as possible. Ector had only cuffed Arthur round the head the one time, but Merlin, who was responsible for meals during hunting trips and patrols, still often managed to somehow ruin Sir Acollyn's food since he'd made a particularly crass remark about one of the serving girls that Merlin was friends with. It hadn't mattered if someone else switched rations with him, or he brought his own – Acollyn's meals were always ruined in some way, but no one could actually pin it on Merlin. Arthur hadn't appreciated hearing one of his own knights say such a thing, and so, with no proof, Merlin went unpunished. However, it had been months, and although it was no longer every meal, there were enough inedible meals randomly sprinkled in to keep the man miserable. Arthur was considering switching him to a different patrol group altogether to spare him.

Arthur was spared having to figure out how to maintain his dignity while seeming to follow instructions from a servant by the fact that said servant somehow managed to strong-arm them all outside and close the door behind them. The three men blinked at each other, none of them too sure how exactly they'd wound up outside despite the fact that they'd been present for the whole thing, but also not willing to risk Merlin's heretofore unheard-of ire by trying to get back inside.

It was a while of waiting – and that was galling in and of itself, waiting on a servant to come out to see them like they were peasants – and hearing muffled shuffling and murmurs behind the sturdy door (they would never admit to anyone to pressing their ears up against the door to try to hear what exactly was being said, especially since they didn't manage to make out anything anyway).

Merlin slipped out the door, closing it quietly behind him in a fluid, quiet motion like an actual servant. Arthur hoped that the two knights had picked up on the fact that Merlin's mood was tied to Gaius and that they'd proceed with some level of caution. Merlin was temperamental and difficult on a good day, never mind whatever would happen now when he'd got his knickers in a twist.

"How may I help you, sir knights?" he asked, expression still closed off. The words were correct and respectful and all those things servants are supposed to be, the tone was bland and quiet – again, like servants were meant to be. But the fact that it was Merlin, who seemed to take it as a challenge to be as un-servant-like as possible, made it all very disconcerting.

Tebald at least had the good sense not to say anything after his recent jest was taken so poorly. Auric looked to Arthur, probably for fear that he'd somehow manage to antagonise the finicky servant. At least, he usually reserved respect for Arthur (Arthur himself begged to differ, but all the knights knew that Merlin's respect, beyond common courtesy, was earned and not merely given, as well as that Arthur had somehow earned it).

Arthur reined in the urge to roll his eyes, but only just (there was a time when Morgana was the only person who could push him to such a lack of decorum, but Merlin had made himself known for breaking barriers). Apparently, being prince meant he was also supposed to brave the dangers of grumpy servants. Honestly, how the kingdom was still standing when the knights were so terrified of a servant of all people – and not even a good servant; it was Merlin The Clumsy – he had no idea.

"Tebald needs a pain tonic and something for the swelling in his leg from training this morning," Arthur said, deciding to forgo a joke about Tebald being as clumsy as Merlin. He'd never had to deal with Merlin in a mood like this one before, so probably best to just leave him be until he sorted himself out. Honestly, he was such a girl sometimes.

Instead of running inside to fetch the tonic and getting whatever other bandages may be necessary, Merlin asked them: "How exactly did you plan to deal with these sorts of things last week?"

All three looked at him with surprise, and Arthur wondered why Merlin would ask such a stupid question. Make no mistake – he was an idiot on a good day, but sometimes, he still managed to surprise the prince and hit new lows.

Auric spoke up, his confusion evident. "Gaius always has pain tonics for when the knights are injured in training."

Merlin raised an eyebrow, eerily reminiscent of Gaius. "Gaius?" he asked conversationally. "Do you mean the evil sorcerer disguised as a trusted physician Gaius? Or do you mean the Gaius who made sure your long-awaited newborn son didn't die of winter illness last year? The one who made sure that you didn't lose your arm to infection after that terrible skirmish?" Auric paled, with an expression that Arthur wouldn't call aghast only because it sounded too much like something one of the ladies of the court would use.

"You see, you'll have to specify, because the Gaius who's been the only thing keeping you ungrateful lot alive for the last twenty years just spent a week being tortured in the dungeons while you all raided his stock for whatever minor injuries you got beating each other up with pointy metal sticks," he continued, completely ignoring their stunned expressions at his accusations.

"So no, Noble Sir Knights," none of them missed the sarcasm in the address. "Gaius does not, in fact, have any stock left to supply you. So, I suggest you go use whatever alternative you'd intended on when you were planning to murder the only trained physician in all of Camelot."

There was a moment of silence in which all three knights were quietly grateful that there was no one else about the corridor to have heard any of this. "But," Tebald began, voice quiet and uncertain. "You're his apprentice. Surely you know how to make them."

Merlin affected surprise, though how he managed to mix so much sarcasm into it, Arthur didn't know. Morgana would be envious. "Me?" he asked. "As we all know, I'm rather clumsy and incompetent at the best of times. And I don't get much time between mucking stables and being a punching bag to learn anything from Gaius other than how to fetch water and clean wounds. You wouldn't want someone like that trying to see after a knight's health when it could mean the difference between recovery or permanent crippling, would you?" And then, before they could open their mouths to answer, "No, no," he shook his head as though to dismiss a preposterous suggestion. "I really think you should use the plans you had in place until Gaius recovers."

Before he slipped back inside, he politely requested that they ask the other knights not to show up unannounced, especially not in their armour, as it really wasn't good for Gaius' recovery to be constantly seeing the people who had dragged him off to be tortured.

There were a few moments in which none of the three men spoke, all of them staring at the sturdy door – firmly shut – as incongruously cheerful sounds of day-to-day Camelot filtered in through the windows with the sunlight. Auric closing his mouth with a click of teeth was what finally snapped them back to reality.

They really couldn't do anything but wait for Merlin to cool off. Gaius was the only person trusted to reliably brew any sort of important remedies, and Merlin's point was valid, even if they weren't sure they entirely believed that he didn't know how to brew a pain tonic. If they tried to force him, he could feed them anything from an actual tonic, to leech tank water, to a laxative. None of them doubted that he was in a mood to do such a thing either. Merlin was the only servant any of the knights had ever met who was not cowed or intimidated by the difference in their stations, and it was known that he had acted in defence of, or retribution for, some of the castle maids who'd been wronged by some of the less honourable knights among them. Arthur never punished him for it, and none of the knights had been bashed hard enough in the head to think they could mess with prince's longest serving personal manservant. Arthur still had control of their training and patrol shifts after all.

In short, if Merlin felt like feeding them a bogus potion, he absolutely could, because he was the only one who could take care of Gaius until the Court Physician was back to full health. If they killed him or banished him for the impertinence, there was every chance Gaius would never recover because there really weren't any other physicians in Camelot. Nobles may have had their own resident sort-of physicians, but those were usually lost in raids for sorcerers because of suspect herbs, and not fully trained besides. There was a reason that they still made the trip to the citadel proper for their more serious ailments after all.