Sorry for the long time between updates, I have been writing a Rose one shot for Doctor Who, which wasn't going as smoothly as hoped. It will be posted soon hopefully, for those who are interested.

Enjoy the chapter, and a big thank you for all the recent reviews and new subscriptions. It really means a lot!

Chapter 7; I'm sorry.

Gaius looked up as the door banged opened, he frowned as Gwen held it open as Arthur strode into the room with Rose in his arms. Merlin followed behind, looking particularly worried. Gaius showed Arthur over to the bed and Arthur bent down carefully depositing his load onto the bed.

It had all happened quite fast, Gwen had remained calm; she'd grabbed the piece of cloth she had been sewing and ran over to her friend wrapping the flimsy material around the wound to try and stop the blood. Merlin had half jogged over to Rose, trying not to let the fear show in his face, Arthur had dropped his sword, ran the few feet over to her, and swiftly picked her up as Gwen finished tying the material, he had ignored Rose's protests and instead had walked as fast as possible to Gaius's apartments, he'd kicked the door down and watched as Gwen went forward to catch it. And so the group of four had ended up here, he looked down at Rose and his gaze was met with a half scowl.

"It's just a scratch" Rose said

"Rose, please let Gaius help you, it must hurt, and I cut you quite deeply"

Gaius was sat on his stool; unravelling the material Gwen had tied round the wound, "Good idea Gwen, you have saved her a lot of blood" Gwen blushed at the praise, and looked at Arthur who was smiling at her, she quickly moved her gaze to her friend's wound, watching as Gaius wiped the area clean. Rose winced slightly as he applied a paste onto the cut.

Knowing that Gaius would care for her appropriately Gwen quietly left the room to go and see Morgana. She smiled at Merlin as she pulled the door to close behind her.

"You gave me quite a fright carrying her in like that Arthur" Gaius said, as Merlin went out to fill up a bucket with clean water. Arthur looked down at the cut he had made, now all neatly bandaged up. As Gaius stood up to empty the pot of paste, Rose swung her legs round so she was sitting up on the bed Arthur had laid her on. He sat next to her and took her left hand.

The part of her anatomy he had cut.

He rubbed his finger over the bandaging, and stopped abruptly as she winced almost silently.

"I'm sorry"

"You say that a lot" she said smiling.

"I feel awful Rose" he said, blushing slightly, Rose noted his embarrassment.

"You know, you won't be any use as an soldier in war if you apologise to everyone you hurt"

Arthur looked up to her and smiled. "I hope it doesn't leave a scar"

"Oh don't worry, it wouldn't be my first. Besides I'm sure that when a man takes my hand, he will see it as a sign of beauty"

Arthur looked down at her hand, and suddenly understood her last comment; he had cut her left hand, the hand her husband would place the ring upon. He inwardly cursed knowing that blemishes on the left hand were seen a sign against marriage, a warning signal. He sighed, knowing what hurt he may cause her in the future, not just now.

"Arthur" she said, catching his attention, pulling him out of his thoughts "One day you will be King" he briefly sighed, hearing the sentence for the millionth time, he did not understand what significance it held, being spoken by her "You will hurt many people, and you will have to suffer guilt, you cannot blame yourself for every wrongdoing in the world"

"But I can blame myself for the ones I cause"

"Yes"

He looked into her eyes, and saw that she was a woman wise beyond her years, he did not quite understand how wise. His head swung round as he heard the door squeak open as Merlin walked in carrying a full bucket. He stepped up and smiled at Rose again, he nodded at Gaius and walked over to Merlin

"See me in my chambers in half an hour"

Merlin nodded setting down his bucket. He walked over to Rose who was still sitting on the bed; he noticed she was looking sad so he sat down next to her and smiled.

"Even though you didn't move in time for the last shot you did really well" he stated grinning "If it's any consolation you were better than me at fighting" he looked at her face, side on, and after much thought gently put his hand on her shoulder to try and cheer her up.

"I killed them" she whispered as Gaius left the room, on a search for a glass jar he had lent a friend and never received back.

"What?"

Rose looked up at Merlin, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"I did not move because he said that he had killed those magicians, it was my fault"

Merlin frowned, it wasn't unusual for him to miss a point in a conversation, but he was completely confused as to what she was saying.

"Rose, you weren't there when he … murdered them. There wasn't anything you could have done"

"No Merlin, they were my friends, I met them travelling, they knew about me; they must have been speaking of me when Arthur decided that they were magicians"

"He could have been speaking about anyone"

"Merlin, how many people do you know who put carrots in their porridge?"

Suddenly everything clicked, the conversation was complete, and his mind remembered the conversation they had shared over breakfast the day before.

"It's not too bad, trust me, I've had worse. There was this one man I met travelling who put raw carrot and onion in his porridge claiming it gave it an exotic taste!"

Then he remembered the words Arthur had spoken before he had cut her hand.

"When riding this kingdom of evil magic sword combat has proved by far the most effective skill. When there were two evil magical men, whose porridge contained orange things – which is beside the point – when these two men came under attack, the fatter one was left defenceless but the slighter one carried a sword and it was he who battled for his life, of course he lost but he still had a chance"

Rose watched as Merlin's face fell, understanding what she meant. A few tears feel down her cheek as her eyes became too full to contain them all, and like a waterfall the tears dropped one by one down her cheeks. Slightly embarrassed she stood up and tried to dab at her eyes, before Merlin caught her off guard by embracing her in a hug. And so Gaius walked in – jar in hand – to see the two young friends together, Merlin's arms wrapped around Rose's upper back, Merlin saw him enter and Gaius understood from Merlin's grave face that all was not well.