CHAPTER 1 : A LITTLE BABY BOY
The Court Physician had been called to the bed chamber when the midwife had realised that she was in way beyond her depth.
Igraine had delivered a healthy baby boy but complications arose after the birth so, before dawn, Gaius was notified by Sir Rupert that he had been summoned by Uther to attend to Her Majesty the Queen.
The bedchamber was hushed, Uther standing with bowed head beside the bed in which his wife lay, slowly slipping away. The Queen's maid servant was sobbing quietly by the window. Two servant girls were standing in the corner waiting to be notified if they had any jobs to perform. Gaius approached the King who waved him over to his wife.
He approached the bed raising his eyes to the castle midwife who had many live-births to her credit, she shook her head. Her wringing hands were all Gaius needed to know that the situation was probably beyond them both.
He leant over the Queen and found a feeble erratic pulse and noticed the basins of bloodied linens, too many for a normal delivery. The midwife nodded and one of the girls stepped forward and removed them. They had been left to give Gaius an idea of the seriousness of the situation.
He realised that the Queen would not survive more than a few hours. He told the midwife to tell her maid servant to put a clean nightdress on her, in other words to freshen her up and he would notify Uther.
You would have thought that Gaius was the reason his wife was dying, the way Uther berated him. How dare he tell him that his wife was dying? Why hadn't he done something before this? He would not be responsible for his actions if his wife died. Threats after threats, none of them made any sense or helped.
Igraine was drifting in and out of consciousness, Gaius led Uther to the bed and told him that she could hear him and that he should talk to her. Nothing. Gaius bent over and took Igraine's hand and told her that Uther was beside her. When Gaius offered it to him, Uther grasped her hand and sank to his knees.
Igraine opened her eyes and gave a weak smile of recognition as she realised that her husband was close. She whispered, "Love my little boy!" and slipped into unconsciousness.
Uther's anger was magnificent but totally misplaced in this situation. He roared; he spluttered; he screamed; he yelled. He drove everyone from the room save, Sir Rupert, Gaius, the Queen's maidservant and the midwife, whose life, if his wife should die, he threatened he was going to snub out. The woman petrified, sank to her knees in the corner.
Suddenly, into the morbid stillness of the room, a little whimpering was heard. Gaius spun around to the midwife and raised his eyebrows questioningly, where was the baby? Uther never heard his son as his mother's death gasps drowned it from his ears. She never rallied and she would die within the hour.
The midwife nodded at Gaius and motioned to a cradle near the bed. Gaius moved behind the king and there nestled in linens was the son of Igraine, who was to be called Arthur.
He reached for the little one and it cried again. Gaius cuddled it to his chest and the bond was formed. He would protect this little mite from anything that tried to hurt it. He threw a blanket over his shoulder hiding the baby and let it rest in the crook of his arm across his chest. The baby automatically turned its head toward the warmth and the sound of Gaius's heart.
Igraine was dead. Uther railed against all that was on earth and in the skies above. He blamed everyone but himself. He threw himself over his wife's body on the bed.
Gaius knew that he needed time but felt that his baby son might melt his heart. Gaius, held the baby in his hands and offered it to the grieving husband. Luckily, that the bed was there as Uther struck out at the baby, yelling that he didn't want it, to get it out of his sight or he would do it harm. The baby was pushed out of Gaius's hands and landed on the bed, gasping on landing and started to cry.
Gaius swept it up before Uther could carry out any threat. The midwife came to retrieve it but Gaius was faster; she stood back relinquishing the Crown Prince to the Court Physician. Once again, Gaius put the baby close to his heart under the blanket.
Gaius turned to the King and bowed saying "Sire!" and he and Sir Rupert, escorting the midwife, walked out of the Royal Chambers into the corridor. They could still hear Uther raging against the child and Gaius felt a shard of ice puncture his heart. 'Welcome into the cruel world, Little One,' he thought.
Rupert came over and Gaius moved the blanket to let him see his new Prince. The knight who had fought many a battle and who was one of Uther's advisors, smiled and said, "Welcome home to Camelot, Sire!" Gaius smiled with knights like Sir Rupert to look out for him, the baby Prince was going to be safe.
The midwife asked if she should take the baby to a wet-nurse in the village but Gaius said that he was taking the baby to his chambers until all the trouble had settled down. He asked if she could arrange for the woman to come to the castle to feed the baby.
Rupert and he made their way to the physician's chambers. He left the baby with Rupert, picked up supplies and returned to the Royal Chambers, handing the King's manservant a sleeping draught for Uther and one for the Queen's maidservant, a youngish woman who was understandably very upset.
He had one thought to return to his chamber where he had left Sir Rupert with the love of his life, a brand-new baby boy, Arthur Pendragon, the Crown Prince of Camelot.
