So Many Questions (Hunith and Merlin)

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Hunith rested quietly in the small bed, still stiff and a little sore. She did not feel a great deal of pain right now, Merlin had eased the pain with a spell. She wished he could simply heal her, but it was too risky being so close to Uther and Arthur. They couldn't risk it. She had been too shaken from the ordeal to talk much to Merlin during the trip home, and after Gaius had treated her injuries and bandaged her, she'd tried to get some rest.

Now that it was morning, she hoped Merlin would come in soon, she had so many questions, so much to talk with him about. She thought of the fury in his face and eyes at seeing her being hurt, and the way she'd had to beg him not to use his magic to tear them apart. It made her glad to have a son who was so strong and brave, but he was so furious at what happened that he'd reveal himself if he wasn't careful.

She would return to Ealdor, but it wasn't possible now. Winter was nearly here, and without crops for the winter, the people would have to find other refuges until spring came and they could plant again and rebuild their homes. She would stay here for now, letting her injuries heal and letting Merlin take care of her when he could. She only hoped Camelot itself would be safe, as the scars of its recent ordeal were still visible around the castle. At least, she thought, they had Merlin looking out for them, as well as Arthur and the knights.

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Merlin stretched and yawned, sitting up in his bed. It was morning, and eventually he'd have to drag himself off to Arthur's to do his millions of chores and... He groaned and plopped himself back into bed, dragging the blanket up over his head at the unpleasant thought... Perhaps just five more minutes... But then the memories of the recent problem flooded through his mind, and he sat up so quickly again that he rolled right off of his bed and onto the floor with a loud THUMP! He continued to lay there, glaring up at the ceiling. "Why, oh why does this have to happen so early in the morning?" he mumbled, untangling himself from the covers. Standing up and throwing the opressing blanket into a corner of his -- messy -- room, he dragged himself to his door, rubbing his sleepy eyes as he closed it behind him.

Recently, him, Arthur and Lancelot had gone off to rescue his mother and the rest of Ealdor. Ealdor had been attacked by bandits in the absence of a King, as Cenred had been killed by Morgause -- what a lovely friend she had turned out to be to him, eh?--. They had kidnappened his mother, and quite a few of the other villagers, and the whole thing had just ended badly for them. Merlin had wanted to tear the bandits apart, blow them up, anything to release the anger he had felt at their acts, but his mom had stopped him. He hadn't been inclined to listen at first, but she was right to stop him. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself very well afterwards if he had gone ahead and did it anyway.

But now his mother was in Camelot, downstairs, and he intended to go talk to her. If she was up -- and if she hadn't been up previously, she surely would from his loud fall --, she would certainly hear him walking down the small set of stairs, he wasn't exactly going quietly. "Mom?" he spoke, which came out as a strange mixture of a yawn and a groan at the same time.

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She started a bit at the sound, and it told her that the order had affected her more than she truly wanted to believe at first. It was difficult not to be somewhat nervous and on edge, to be easily frightened by sudden noises. She was managing to avoid as many nightmares as she'd feared having, due to Gaius's draughts, but she couldn't stop them altogether. She wouldn't let herself be held back by what had happened, but it would still take time to heal. That was impossible to avoid.

She found herself thinking about Merlin as she heard the footsteps on the stairs. She only hoped his fury would not bring him harm one day. He was not angered easily, but he was not to be trifled with when he was angry-usually when someone he cared for was in danger. She saw him come in and offered a smile. She'd like to have sat up, but it was less painful not to.

"Good morning. Is everything all right? It sounded like someone fell." She sometimes worried for Gaius because of his age, he was quite healthy, but still dealing with the wear and tear of age. She suspected it was her son, though, Merlin was unfortunately slightly clumsy sometimes.