Chapter 2
It took a few moments for that information to settle into everyone's heads, but when it did, it sent the majority of them into a state of panic. Arthur kneeled down next to the girl and looked at Merlin as he pulled off his red cloak.
"How is she?" He asked. Merlin gave a quick rundown of any injuries he could see and what he knew.
"She mostly has scratches and bruises possibly from running through the woods but there are some injuries that are clearly man made." Merlin rolled up one of her sleeves to the elbow. A bruise the shape of a hand sat there. "There is another one on her other arm as well. But what worries me the most is left leg. It seems to have been rolled, possibly if she was running from something or someone and tripped. We need to get her back to Camelot so Gaius can do a more thorough inspection." Arthur nodded and called the rest of the still panicking knights over to him.
"Percival! Leon! Come over here and stabilize her body. We need to wrap her in a cloak. Gwaine and Elyan I need you to ride ahead towards Camelot and alert the King and find Gaius. Immediately!" The four nodded. Arthur turned to address Lancelot. "Get my horse ready. We will need to move quickly and I would prefer it if she rode with me." Lancelot replied with a quick, "Yes sire!" and they all set off to do what they were told. Percival and Leon each chose a spot around the girl and all four men quickly wrapped the foreign royal in their cloaks. Merlin made sure to stabilize her head in case something was wrong with her neck then gave the signal to Arthur to lift. Arthur counted down from three and when he got to one, they all lifted making sure to move slowly so they don't harm her more than she already had been.
They moved as close to the trail as they could before the sound of horse hooves on the forest floor greeted them. Lancelot jumped off of his horse in case he was needed. Lancelot traded places with Arthur before the prince mounted his horse. When he was seated in a comfortable position, the men lifted the girl in their arms. Carefully they placed her into Arthur's arms, Merlin making sure to angle her head into the crook of his arm. Her circlet amazingly stayed on her head the whole time. Her left shoe on the other hand did not. Lancelot picked up in a hurry and brushed off the mud before trying to fit it back on without causing her pain. With no success he just handed it to Arthur who held on in one of his hands.
In a matter of minutes everyone was ready to ride back to Camelot. With everything and everyone who was still there ready, the group took off and rode swiftly. They made it to the castle walls by midnight, with Arthur and Merlin riding forefront and the square soon afterwards. 20 minutes later, and the group had arrived at Gaius's makeshift med-bay. It had been a long day for all of them.