CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Gaius was searching for her when she approached. 'Seren! Quickly!'

She hurried over to the bedside. Gwaine had been stripped and covered in clean sheeting, but the blood was already seeping through. Arthur was pacing alongside the bed, a muscle twitching in his cheek, a bloody Excalibur still gripped in his hand.

'Arthur, please, leave us to deal with this,' Gauis said desperately.

'I will not leave his side. He saved my life. I want to be there if . . .' His jaw was so tensed that he could barely speak. But they needed him to be gone.

'My lord, is the day ours?' Seren asked.

'Yes, thanks to this man here,' Arthur replied.

'Please,' she said gently, 'leave Gwaine with us and speak to the people of Camelot. They need you as well,' and she indicated the room set aside for the dead. 'Gaius, Merlin and I will deal with Gwaine, my lord. We will send word if . . . if anything changes.'

Arthur was finally persuaded and swept out of the infirmary. Merlin pulled some makeshift curtains around and stood with Seren opposite Gaius over Gwaine's body. Gaius slowly drew back the sodden sheet to expose a body bruised and cut, but there was one major wound. Seren recoiled in horror. The gash was deep across his stomach, the blood pulsing ominously from the wound despite the poultice that had been applied. Gwaine was worryingly still, but there was a blotchy redness that was creeping up his body from the wound. This was no ordinary injury.

'Oh!'

'Seren, keep calm. We can do this. We must.'

Merlin was tapping the tips of his fingers together. 'If he was out like this in the tavern, I'd just throw a bucket of cold water over him.'

'Merlin!' Gaius said.

'Sorry,' but Seren knew that Merlin was jesting to cover how worried he was about Gwaine.

Seren took a deep breath and flexed her fingers in readiness. This was going to take all the magic she had. She looked to Gaius for guidance.

'You start with the wound, Seren. Merlin, you and I will take on the fever. Or whatever it is.'

Seren took hold of her own recipe tincture and began to paste it at the base of the wound. She sang the incantation, the sound low and sweet as she tried to heal the wound. But there appeared to be no improvement, the skin refused to bind and the blood still flowed.

'Gaius, this isn't working,' she said, looking up at him in pain.

'Keep trying, Seren,' was all he said.

She leaned over the wound, her voice breaking as she continued to sing, but no response. He could not die. She would not let him die, this brave, beautiful man. But the rise and fall of his chest was slowing, his breathing more shallow. The redness had spread to the top of his chest, over his collar bones and onto his neck. He would not last much longer despite her ministrations and those of Merlin and Gauis. Tears flowed down her cheeks and before she could stop them, dripped onto the wound.

There was a hissing sound and a puff of steam rose from Gwaine's skin which was revealed as a healthy looking pink as compared to the surrounding blotchy redness. Seren dripped some more tears onto the wound with the same result. Her relief was palpable and she had no problem allowing the tears to flow freely. She continued to breathily sing, her voice breaking with emotion as she worked up the wound, not even pausing to collect the tears, just allowing them to fall directly onto him.

Merlin and Gaius stood back and allowed her to progress up the wound, using her fingers to draw the edges back together. The redness was also receding, his skin returning at first to pink and then back to the natural tan gained from training without shirts in the summer sun. It was as though the wound had never happened.

As the final tip of the wound was healed, Seren stood back. Gaius and Merlin were both looking at her. There was no trace of the wound that had been bleeding profusely a short while earlier. Gwaine's skin was now smooth to the touch with no hint of a scar and his breathing was deep and slow. It was Merlin who said what they were all thinking. 'This is going to take some explaining.'

'Let us treat the rest of his wounds, bandage him and keep him sedated,' Gaius said. 'If there is any explaining to do to Arthur, I will do it. Merlin, go and fetch Arthur. He will want to know about Gwaine. Seren, help me bandage him.'

Arthur arrived and looked almost disbelievingly at Gwaine who was sleeping peacefully. 'But . . . I . . . I thought he was dead, for certain,' he said, looking closely at Gaius.

'He was lucky,' Gaius replied. 'We caught him just in time.'

'There was magic involved?' Arthur asked directly.

'We believe the wound was enchanted, my lord,' Gaius replied carefully.

Arthur opened his mouth to ask another question, but appeared to think better of it. He probably did not want to know the answer, Seren concluded. Instead, he merely nodded. 'Thank you,' he said quietly. He patted Gwaine's arm and then turned to leave.

They all breathed a sigh of relief at Arthur's exit.

'Seren, keep Gwaine sedated,' Gauis instructed. 'We will call you if we need you for any other patients. Come, Merlin.'

She sat with Gwaine, watching his face, calm in sleep, but still the furrows between his brows, his life etched on his features. Occasionally her assistance was needed with other patients, but none of them had any enchantments attached to their injuries. There were some they simply could not save, their spirits already promised or departed to the care of whatever god they believed in. Seren cried bitter tears over each and every one of them, wishing them a safe passage to their eternal rest.

They were all exhausted, sleeping in only fitful bursts. At one point Gauis fell asleep at the work bench and Seren was alerted by the acrid smell that his hair had fallen into the burner he was using to heat the potions. She quickly put it out but frowned at Gaius.

'You cannot stay like that,' she said. 'Where are the scissors?'

'There is no point, my lady.'

'There is every point. It is about time you had a decent hair cut.'

Gaius made to protest but then changed his mind with a smile. 'Feel free,' he said.

She trimmed several inches off his hair, standing back and admiring her handiwork. 'Much better,' she said. 'You look ten years younger.' However, the following morning, she was horrified to see that his hair was back to its previous length. 'Gaius!' she said. 'What . . . What happened?'

'It was a curse,' he replied. 'You think I WANT my hair to look like this?'

'But?'

'It is a long story, my lady, but do not place a bet with the Witch of the Dark Woods if you cannot afford to lose.'

When she was not required, she returned to sit with Gwaine. Occasionally he would become restless as though caught up in some disturbing dream. He would throw the sheet from him revealing his nakedness and sometimes his arousal, and Seren half hoped he was dreaming of her as she gave him more sedative. On other occasions he merely stirred and frowned and Seren stroked his forehead back to calmness. 'Sleep, my lord, sleep,' she said. He smiled briefly and returned to silent slumber.

His brothers came to visit, sitting quietly by his bedside looking worried until Seren reassured them he would make a full recovery. Seeing the three of them together made her realise how similar in appearance they were, although they looked so much younger than Gwaine, his handsome face showing a life well-lived.

From talking to the other patients, Seren began to piece together the events of the battle. It had been evenly matched for the majority of the day, but then Iustig had released what most described merely as a demon or a monster on Arthur's army. It was a fearsome creature, towering over the men, even those on horseback, swinging a mighty axe in one hand, a giant club in the other, scattering men before him. Most were agile enough to avoid the axe, but it explained the number of bruising blows they had treated as Arthur's men had tried to bring down the demon.

However, she only learnt of Gwaine's fate from Arthur himself. He had taken to visiting Gwaine in the early evening, but as there was no change in Gwaine's condition, Seren felt it was more for a little peace and solitude than anything else.

'You look tired, Sire,' she said on the fourth day after the battle. She fetched him some wine and he sipped it gratefully.

'I am having to make some difficult decisions, Seren.'

'The prisoners?' she prompted.

'If they will not accept the laws of Camelot and me as their king, then . . .' He pursed his lips.

'You are a fine king, Sire. Needs must you make difficult decisions.'

'That is what Guinevere said.'

'She was right. Which is why you deserved to win the battle.'

'We very nearly did not, Seren.'

'My lord?'

'The demon they unleashed was meant for me. It . . . it had some power over me, I could not move. It would have slain me where I stood if it had not been for Gwaine. He threw himself in front of me, breaking its gaze.' He paused and Seren could see him trying to control his emotions before he looked up at her. 'Thank you for saving him.'

'It was not just me, my lord.'

He flickered a smile at her. 'Whatever you say, Seren.' He stood and sighed. 'Oh well, back to work.'

Gaius decided that it was time to let Gwaine waken. 'He may be confused when he wakes,' he warned Seren and Merlin. He dribbled a little liquid into Gwaine's mouth. Gwaine swallowed and then frowned. He blinked open his eyes and then focused on Seren.

'I'm in heaven?' he croaked.

Seren smiled at him. 'You're in the infirmary,' she replied.

He reached up stiff fingers to her face. 'Looks like heaven from where I am.'

She took hold of his hand and pressed it against her cheek. 'Welcome back, Sir Gwaine.'

'Well, he appears to be unchanged by his experience,' Gaius muttered drily.

'Experience?' Gwaine asked.

'A blow to the head,' Gaius said quickly.

'Really? I don't remember . . .'

'What do you remember?'

'The battle.' The familiar furrowed lines returned and Seren longed to stroke them away. 'This . . . this monster that went to attack the king. Arthur! Is he . . .?'

'Thanks to you, Gwaine, the king is well.'

Gwaine lay back on the bed and smiled. 'We won?'

'You did.'

Keeping tight hold of Seren's hand, he drifted back into sleep.

She stayed with him until he woke again. 'Tell me the truth,' he murmured.

'About what?'

'My injuries. There was no head injury, was there?'

'No, my lord.'

'I remember the monster's axe falling, but that is all.'

'You saved the king's life.'

'The injury?'

'It was . . .' she paused as she wondered how to describe its extent.

'Show me,' and he pushed back the sheet to his waist.

She traced a line from his right hip bone across his stomach to just below his rib cage on the left. He took her hand and pressed it against his heart as he looked up at her. 'No scar,' was all he said. She couldn't meet his look. 'Was it Merlin?' She couldn't lie to him. She shook her head. 'Gaius?' Another shake. 'As I thought. You have magic, Seren.' It was a statement, not a question and needed no response except for her to look directly back at him. Her blue eyes met with his hazel and she saw the understanding in them.

'You . . . you don't hate me then?'

'Hate you? You saved my life, Seren. Do not worry, I will not tell Arthur.'

They were interrupted by the king arriving. Seren withdrew and went to visit some of the other patients who were always pleased to see her.

Gwaine's other injuries were only minor, so there was no real reason for him to stay in the infirmary, but he knew that to leave too soon would have caused suspicion, so he stayed. Gaius put him to work grinding herbs and spices, but his eyes followed every move Seren made, and he would spend the evenings sitting talking with her. But she would allow the relationship to go no further although it was becoming clear that his feelings for her were growing stronger.