AN: Thanks for the reviews! Looks like this will be 5-6 chapters total. Hope you enjoy the continuation, sorry in advance for what I am about to do.

Part 3:

His hand lifted, prepared to knock on the door of the king's bedchamber, and fell once again to his side.

The trip to Mercia had been disappointing to say the least. Bayard had chosen to present Arthur with a revised treaty that tried to take advantage of the new king's inexperience. The entire visit had ended on a foul note; just shy of a declaration of war.

They hadn't taken the road through Ealdor on their return trip as Arthur's foul mood had them all on edge. Percival had promised Hunith that he would return and he meant to keep that promise, no matter what the consequences might be.

Finally, he raised his hand again and rapped on the wood.

Merlin opened the door while holding a pitcher of wine in his hand and gave the knight a nod. Turning back into the room, he announced Percival's presence to the king.

The royal couple sat at the table, eating their supper and for a moment, Percival almost backed out. Arthur waved him in with a smile and bade his knight to join them.

"What's on your mind, Percival?" Arthur asked, stuffing his mouth full of food.

"I need some time off, Sire." Percival caught Merlin's curious glance out of the corner of his eye.

Arthur put down his knife and wiped any lingering crumbs off of his lips. "A day? Two? Of course, you can have it."

"It would be longer than that, Sire." Percival didn't know how long his journey to Ealdor would take. While the time to travel there would be relatively short, convincing Hunith to come back to Camelot with him was another matter.

"Percival, I can't do that. We might be on the verge of war with Mercia and I need my best knights ready at a moment's notice. That includes you."

"Perhaps, if you explain why you need to be relieved, it would help us understand." Gwen offered as a compromise.

The large knight blinked. He pursed his lips, unsure how to describe his situation. Blurting out his intention to marry Merlin's mother didn't seem like a wisest choice. "I have some personal matters I need to attend to."

"Percival, do you have a girl?" Gwen smiled coyly.

The knight grinned before he caught himself.

"He does have a girl. Come, now. Tell us all about her!" The king encouraged after giving his wife a conspiratorial wink.

"I'd rather not, Sire. I'm not sure if it..."

"What do you need, then? A week to go and retrieve her and bring her back to Camelot? With the current state of affairs, I don't know if I can give you more that that, but I will write a letter to her father approving of the union if you need me to do so."

"I honestly don't know if that will be enough time. She is a beautiful woman, but I don't know if she is willing to come to Camelot."

Arthur leaned forward and took a drink of wine. "Well, you have a week to convince her and then I need you back here."

He dismissed Percival with a wave of his hand. The large knight frowned, but bowed his head and left the room.

"Arthur..." Gwen started.

"It's all I can do. Bayard might actually decide to declare war on us at any time. Plus, Morgana is still out there. I can't have my best knights out following their hearts when the kingdom is at risk."

"It is clear he loves this girl. I remember when you told me you would gladly become a farmer just to be with me. Percival isn't of noble blood. If he truly loves her, he might decide to become a farmer himself."

The king smirked at the reminder. "The circumstances were different and the kingdom was at peace. If I wasn't so concerned, I'd gladly let him be on his way and wish him well in the endeavor."

She leveled an admonishing glance at him, which made Arthur squirm and search for support. "What do you think, Merlin?" Arthur looked around the room and was surprised to see that his manservant had disappeared.

Guinevere had to laugh at the confusion on her husband's face. She had noticed the way Merlin had stiffened and become silent while Percival was in the room. There was a sense that he knew the girl who Percival spoke of. When he had left just after the knight, it cemented that thought in her mind.

Arthur had told her of their stop in Ealdor and the way the smith's daughters had called out to the knight. She remembered the girls from her own stay. The two were nearly identical and she couldn't see one leaving without the other, but she hoped for Percival's sake that they could find a compromise.

"You don't think Percival would truly leave, leave, do you?" He asked as the realization of his wife's words caught up to him.

"She's not going to want to come back here." Merlin stood in the doorway of the stables. His lean body was silhouetted by the torchlight and braziers in the street.

Percival continued to saddle his horse; checking the buckles on the cinch and the straps on the stirrups. "Then, I will stay with her." He said plainly.

Merlin nodded. He was still unsure of his own feelings about his mother's relationship. It worried him to think of his mother alone in the house and trying to survive without help. But, he knew his place was in Camelot and that it couldn't be helped. Knowing his mother cared romantically for someone his own age seemed odd, but he took comfort in the idea that Percival would be able to support her.

"She loves you." Merlin finally said, "Don't let her try to convince you otherwise."

Percival turned toward his friend with his arm outstretched. "I won't. I promise."

Taking ahold of the massive forearm, Merlin smiled his thanks. He helped Percival pack the horse in silence and watched as his friend headed down the road toward the east gate.

"I don't think I saw that coming."

Merlin spun around to find Gwaine leaning over a hitching post.

"Arthur sent someone to find me. He thinks Percival is in love with one of the twins and is planning to become a farmer, or something." The flirtatious knight chuckled.

"So, Arthur is sending you after him?" Merlin's face contorted in disbelief.

"Well, I was instructed to charm the other twin into coming back with her sister, if that was the case. But...I don't think that's the issue, is it? Unless..."

"My mother does not have a twin sister hidden in the village."

"Hmm. Too bad. She is a beautiful woman."

The look of disgust on Merlin's face caused Gwaine to laugh out loud. He was much more accepting of Percival being in a relationship with his mother than he ever would be of Gwaine.

"I promise, I won't try to woo your mother." Gwaine stretched and glanced into the stables. "I am however going to relish in a few days away from playing soldier and follow Percival as I was instructed to do."

"Maybe get sidetracked in one of the taverns along the way?" Merlin suggested hopefully.

Gwaine hemmed and hawed for a few seconds. "Maybe. Perhaps, I'll just follow him and say hello to the twins before finding my way back to one of them."

The full harvest moon began its descent across the night sky. The sun had moved beyond the horizon a few hours before, but Percival had felt confident enough in the roads to push on as long as he had light. The road from Camelot was so well traveled this close to the citadel that he didn't fear the night.

Finally, he reached the first campsite marker that the knights typically used when returning from patrol along the border of Essetir. He settled his horse, putting a feed bag with some grain over his gelding's muzzle and grabbed an oat cake from his saddlebag for himself.

He fed a small campfire with some downed tree limbs and settled in for the night. Perhaps he should have waited until the morning to ride out, but he was anxious to get back to Ealdor and prove to Hunith that he was a man of his word. There was also the fear of the king or someone else distracting him from his goal, if he had stayed one more night in Camelot.

Beginning to doze off, Percival found himself remembering the nights he had spent with his arms around her. He was jerked awake by the sound of hooves coming down the road.

His hand went for his sword. His movements were slow and careful as he reached out.

"Eh, don't bother. I know you're awake."

"Gwaine!" Percival looked up in surprise at hearing his friend's voice. "What are you doing here?"

The other knight shrugged as he tied his horse next to Percival's. "Saw you riding out tonight and thought I'd come keep you company."

Sitting up, Percival stared at the ground. "You should go back to Camelot."

"...And deal with Arthur and his moods? No, thanks."

"Seriously, Gwaine..."

"Oh, come off it. I heard you and Merlin talking. I know where you're going and why." He plopped down next to the fire and leaned back against a rock. "Actually, the king wanted me to keep an eye on you. Make sure that you come back."

"What if I don't want to go back?"

Gwaine linked his hands behind his head and yawned, "That's your choice. I'm just following orders...for now."

Shaking his head, Percival stretched back out on the ground. "Am I doing the right thing?"

"If you love her, then yeah. You do whatever it takes."

The next day they rode hard and reached the small village just as dusk was falling. Percival's smile grew as they drew closer to Ealdor. He laughed and mostly ignored Gwaine's advice for how to woo a woman like Hunith, but he was glad for the company none-the-less.

They reached the door of the small house and Percival took a deep breath before rapping on the door.

The house was quiet and there was no response. Pushing the door open, his eyes searched the dim room; noticing that the hearth was cold and not a single candle had been lit.

"Hunith?" He called out, his voice filled with apprehension.

No one answered his call.

"Oy! Lad!" Gwaine caught the attention of a boy running by in the street. "Any idea where we might find Hunith?"

The boy shrugged, "She went to get wood from the forest this morning." He looked up sharply, as a woman called from another house. "I need to go!"

The two men shared a look of concern. Percival turned toward the nearby forest. His heart thudded erratically in his chest and his breath caught in his throat.

Gwaine grabbed a torch from his pack and lit it, as they headed out into the deepening twilight.

"Hunith!" They called out, searching through the woods. The men would pause occasionally to listen for a response. After nearly an hour, Gwaine held up his hand and cocked his head.

"Does Hunith have a goat?"

Percival nodded, "An old milk goat she has trained to pull a small cart." He then heard the same thing that had caught Gwaine's attention. A goat bleated in the darkness.

Racing toward the sound, he hoped that the way the forest caused sound to echo would not lead him astray.

The goat was found easily enough, still hooked to the small cart. Although, a wheel had been broken and the whole contraption was tangled in some brambles. Tracking the cart's path wasn't as difficult as they feared, even in the dark.

The small load of gathered wood had spilled out on the ground close to an axe. Percival's fear increased and he began crying out for Hunith frantically, as he searched the area.

"Over here!" Gwaine yelled and Percival raced over to his friend.

He spotted Gwaine down a small ravine. No more than ten feet below the edge, Hunith laid with her right leg at an awkward angle. Her face was covered with mud or blood. In the torchlight Percival couldn't tell which.

"She's unconscious, but there's a log pinning her arm."

The large man wasted no time in finding his way to the bottom. His strength made short work of moving the fallen tree trunk, though he nearly dropped it when he heard his love cry out in pain.

They managed to get her back to the house. Gwaine started a fire in the hearth before rushing off to find out if there was a healer in the village.

Percival laid her on the bed, careful not to jostle her anymore than was necessary. After lighting a few candles and putting on a pot of water, he began to remove some of Hunith's outer clothing. He tried to keep his composure while evaluating her injuries.

He wasn't a physician, but he'd seen enough injuries in battle and training to know her's were bad. When the water was warmed, he took a rag and began to gently clean the dirt and blood caked on her face.

She woke slightly under his touch and he shushed her quietly, telling her everything was going to be fine.

Gwaine finally returned with an older man at his side. After looking Hunith over, the healer's prognosis didn't offer the men hope.

"I can try to set the leg, but..."

"But...?" Gwaine prompted the man to continue.

"I'm usually only good at making a few teas and tinctures for the cold season. She needs a real physician for her other injuries and the closest one is in Camelot."

"I'll ride back to Camelot. First thing in the morning, you get her into a cart and start heading that way. I'll meet you on the road with a wagon and Gaius, or Merlin."

Percival nodded and watched as his friend left the house. He glanced at the healer and could see the man looking nervously at Hunith's leg.

"Do you think we should try to set it?" It was painfully obvious that the man didn't have the experience needed for such a bad break.

"I will do what I can to stabilize it, but I would rather an actual physician deal with it...and it sounds like the two of you know one."

"Yeah." Percival just hoped that he could get Hunith to him before it was too late.