The cold November air chilled Guinevere's cheeks as she made her trek through the lower town to her small home. She wanted nothing more than to sit by her small hearth and enjoy the peace and quiet. She smiled to herself as she thought about her betrothed, Arthur.
Their day had been filled with chaos, moving swiftly from meeting to meeting. Gwen barely had time to smile, or so she felt.
She soon reached her home. The small house was somehow still warm from the morning fire. Gwen sighed as she shut the door and nearly fell into a chair. Her mind was filled with nothing but the image of herself in bed, asleep.
She quickly changed into a pair of night pants and an over sized shirt, which she had been given to her from Arthur. Although she was to be "mending it", he had really given it to her because it was thick and good for the cold weather. She smiled as she put it on, it stilled smelled like him.
She moved to her bed and was about to slide into the blankets when she heard an awful sound. It sounded like the entire world was collapsing in on itself. She sat up right, jumped out of her bed and in one swift movement pulled off her night shirt and put on her hunting shirt and coat, slid on her boots and headed out the door grabbing a sword as she left.
Her eyes immediately went to the sky. To her dismay, circling above her head was a dragon preparing to strike at another helpless person or house. This was going to be a long night.
Arthur and his knights were busy fortifying Camelot. Arthur had sent out a party to collect the town's people and the wounded and bring them to the palace where Gaius was awaiting them. He was in the side the entrance to the palace giving instructions to Elyan, Percival, Gwaine, and Merlin. He looked to the knights first.
"You three, take four knights with each of you and go to different sections of the lower town, I want all of the homes evacuated. At least until we find out why this is happening and where the dragon is aiming for." The knights nodded back to him and swiftly went on their way.
"Merlin," Arthur said turning to him, "I want you to keep an eye out for the Knights and Guinevere. The knights may need you to show people to the citadel if there is a lot of people at once. If you do not see Gwen soon, come and tell me." Arthur eyes had pleading in them. Merlin knew that he valued the life of his future queen as much as he valued his own, if not more.
"Of course, sire" Merlin said, quickly leaving the prince to his work.
Arthur quickly summoned a few knights and headed for the square. He wanted to see for himself how bad it really was.
Gwen~
She ran through the streets of the city, directing those that were confused or lost to the palace, knowing that's where Arthur wanted them to be. She was running through a street and made it to the main square. She was about to turn in the direction of a screaming voice, but instead she was greeted with a cloud of smoke and a sharp pain in her head. She fell to the ground, unconscious.
Arthur~
He still had seen no sign of Gwen. His heart was racing. The lower town had been evacuated. The death toll was at a mere 17. Not horrible, but still too large for his liking. That number did not even count the wounded, which was a much higher number.
Arthur ran through the lower down and started for the palace. He then heard a voice calling his name. He quickened his pace and saw Merlin running toward him.
"What's happened now?" Arthur's voice was more frightened than angry and annoyed. Merlin's face was nearly white and he was sweating and breathing heavily.
"I can't find Gwen." Merlin said, placing his hands on his knees.
Arthur, although already out of breath and exhausted, stopped breathing and felt his knees weaken.
"What do you mean you can't find her?" His voice cracked.
"I have looked everywhere, the lower square and the palace. One of the girls said she was helping people out of the lower town to the palace. Elena said she saw her running into the square but I have no idea where she would be. The main square is a disaster." Merlin looked at Arthur. He was helpless; Arthur knew that he was showing that he was scared, but he no longer cared.
Arthur left Merlin standing there. He ran straight for the square. He held back the tears that were piercing his eyes. He had to save Gwen. Soon he was skidding into the main square. His eyes darted about at the figures spread across the cobble stone square. He was about to go look somewhere else when he saw a familiar shirt. A little darker than cream, the shirt was long sleeved and a vest of animal skin covered it at the shoulder: Guinevere.
She was lying almost lifeless on the street, buried in debris. Her chest was slowly moving up and down, but she remained unconscious. As Arthur approached her he could see a dark bruise already forming on the rights side of her forehead, and cuts along her hands and face. As he uncovered her she opened her eyes. She tried to speak, but could only murmur his name.
"Arthur." Her voice was hoarse with fatigue.
"Shh- my love, I have you." He said calmly to her as he scooped her into his arms. She barely put her arms around his neck before going unconscious again. He quickly ran toward the palace. He made for an empty makeshift bed that had been set up in the corridor.
Merlin entered moments after he did. He told Arthur to go help the knights, worrying about Gwen wasn't going to help. He and Gaius would take good care of her. Arthur, although reluctantly, listened and ran to see his knights.
After another hour of shooting arrows and rocks with catapults, the dragon left Camelot alone. Arthur and the knights were exhausted. They gave the ok for the town's people to return to their homes. Not much damage was done to the lower town or to Camelot on a whole, but one the outer towers of the castle had been nearly destroyed and the square was a mess, both problems could easily be fixed.
Arthur ran to the place where he had left Merlin and Gwen, only to be greeted by Elyan. He looked at Elyan with terror in his eyes. He was about to speak when Elyan smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, but Elyan already knew what he wanted to know.
"I put her in your chambers, Gaius is with her." Elyan gave Arthur an assuring nod as he walked away.
Arthur sighed with relief. He quickly turned and headed to his chambers. He had no idea of her condition, but he knew that, in the end, she was going to be alright.
He entered his room to see Gaius administering some kind of ointment onto Gwen forehead. When Gaius heard him enter the room he turned and smiled. He was soon finished and approached the young prince.
"She will be fine, you highness." He smiled, "she should be awake very soon, but her head will hurt quite a bit. So don't talk too loudly and make sure she does not oversleep. Just to be safe." The old man gave him a kind, fatherly smile. As he left the room, Arthur turned to him,
"Thank you for everything you did, Gaius." The old just smiled as he pulled the door shut.
Arthur made his way to the bed where Gwen laid, sleeping. He pulled a chair next to the bed so that he could be near her. He took her hand in his and gently kissed her fingers. He let a tear slip out of his eye, seeing how helpless she looked.
He laid his head down beside her willing her to wake up. After a few moments, she began to move.
She winced in pain as her turned from her back to her side. She opened her eyes to see Arthur standing there. Tears filled his eyes and small smile encompassing his mouth. She smiled back, weakly.
"Thank you for saving me." She weakly and putting he hand on his cheek. "You're my guardian angel."
He smiled back. He kissed her forehead and spoke quietly, "I will save you a thousand times over again, you're my true love. I would do anything for you to be safe. Even if it means risking my life."
She looked at him as tears filled her eyes, she was overwhelmed with love for this strong, yet incredibly humble man. They sat they just looking at each other for a long time. Not wanting to end this moment together.
"I love you, Arthur." Gwen said, breaking the beautiful silence.
"I love you, too Guinevere." He said kissing her hand.