Disclaimer: Nope. Merlin's def not mine.


Eva heard a quiet groan from behind her, when she turned she blushed at the sight of Percival's half-naked torso. She let her eyes rake over his chiseled chest, to the flat planes of his stomach. She knew he was strong, stronger than most of the other knights even, but seeing it for herself made blood rush to her cheeks.

Compose yourself Eva! She thought. It's not like you've never seen this kind of thing before!

Forcing the blush away, Eva moved to kneel next to Percival, deliberately avoiding his eyes as they followed her movements.

Glancing at the gash on his side she was glad to see it wasn't very deep, and probably would not need to be stitched. The wound on his shoulder however, proved to be worse.

The blade had indeed gone in quite deep, and it looked like it had been twisted a bit given the torn muscle she could see. The good news was that it didn't look like any bone had been hit.

"How bad is it my lady? Will I survive the dawn?" Glancing up at him, Eva could see the jest in his eyes.

"I'm not sure sir knight, only time will tell." She joked back, turning to pull the pot of water from the fire. After dipping a clean cloth into the water, Eva pulled a small poultice from her satchel and wrapped it in the warm cloth. "Hold this against your shoulder while I clean your side, it'll help prevent an infection."

He took the bundle from her, their hands grazing for just a moment, but it was enough to make her heart beat a little quicker. Stop it Eva. You're being ridiculous. Shaking her head she grabbed another cloth, and began to wipe the cut on his side clean.

She felt him wince, then saw his hand clench. When she looked up at him she saw the pained look on his face. "Sorry, should have warned you that poultice would sting a bit." He just nodded at her, and let his muscles relax again.

After cleaning the wound, Eva determined it would not need stitching, just a bandage. Grabbing a jar and a roll of bandages from her bag, she opened the jar and scooped some of the sweet smelling substance onto her hand.

"What is that?" Percival asked.

"It's a salve my mother created; a combination of herbs, berries, and other remedies to help healing and fight off infections. Don't worry, this one shouldn't sting." She grinned, earning a slight chuckle from him. With faintly shaking hands, Eva spread some of the salve onto the cut, feeling his muscles contract a bit under her touch. Eva moved to wrap the bandage around him, and felt herself blush even more than she had upon seeing him shirtless. Wrapping her arms around him brought her in closer than she'd been to him before. She could smell the salve on the wound, but also a combination of sweat, smoke, and something else that had to have been uniquely Percival's. She glanced up once, just for a second and saw a slight stain on his cheeks as well. When his eyes made contact with hers, Eva quickly returned her focus to the task at hand.

She finished with the wrapping, a tinge of pink still gracing her features, and she moved to his left side to tend to his other wound. She took the poultice from him and tossed it into the fire, along with the bloody cloth. She rested her hands on his shoulder beside the wound, and felt his muscles contract beneath her touch.

"I think you might survive this, sir knight." She jested, trying to keep her calm, "you've lost less blood than I thought, but it will leave a nasty scar."

She looked up at him, and found his face painfully close to her own, a hint of a smile on his lips. "It's not the first," he whispered, "and I doubt it will be my last." He leaned in closer to the young healer, and she could feel the butterflies in her stomach beat harder than ever. She could feel his breath on her cheek and his lips were nearly touching her's…

"All cleared!" Gwaine called, stomping back into camp, causing the two to jump apart. "And what pray tell is going on here?" he asked, the smirk evident in his voice.

"Just wrapping up his shoulder," Eva said to him, shielding her blushing face with her hair. She grabbed another roll of bandages, and quickly tied off Percival's wound, pointedly ignoring his stare.

"Will he be able to ride today?" Arthur asked, making his way through the trees with the other knights and Merlin. "It would be best if we didn't linger here for long."

"If we ride slowly, and he uses his left arm as little as possible, we can leave whenever you're all ready." Eva said, packing her supplies back into her satchel. "I'll replace his bandages with clean ones when we make camp again."

"Wonderful! Merlin, pack up my things, saddle the horses, and get them ready to leave." Arthur ordered.

"And why can't you pack your own bags?"

"Because I'm the King, you're my servant, and I told you to do it. Hurry up."

With an indignant huff, Merlin set about his work, muttering to himself all the while.

Grinning to herself, Eva saddled her own horse, and put her belongings into the saddlebags, all while ignoring the stares of a certain knight with piercing blue eyes.


Wehey lookie here! Tis an update! I'm FINALLY done with papers and presentations, and I don't have to start revising for exams for another two weeks. In theory that means more time to work on this story. In practice... well we'll see how that goes. If anyone has any requests/suggestions for the story let me know! I have some concrete plans/events that will eventually take place, it's all simply a matter of when, but I'm open to suggestions as well! Just please, no requests for more Eva/Percival time! The placement for those moments are where they are for a reason, and I promise there is more to come! The nature of those moments well.. you'll just have to wait and see won't you ;)

Love it? Hate it? Want me to burn in purgatory for all time? Let me know!