Percival

Shortly before the wedding ceremony was scheduled to begin, Percival was standing at the far end of the aisle in the great hall with Gwaine at his side. He was thinking about a conversation he had had earlier that day with King Arthur, about Drea.

"It seems to me she has a very fragile mind," Arthur had said.

That was true. And that was one of the things that had made Percival fall for her. It induced a strong urge in him to protect her. But he hoped to see her wounded soul heal, sooner rather than later. When she felt pain, his own heart ached as well. To see her smile and laugh, to see her embrace life, was his most fervent wish of all.

"I don't know how to make her realise what she is worth," Percival had said.

"I think she needs time. Time and patience. Perhaps years of it," was Arthur's advice. "We all need to keep showing her that we have faith in her."

"But I most of all," Percival had replied. When they were married, she was his responsibility, and he was ready to honour it.

"You should take the next three days off. To spend time with her. Perhaps take her out of Camelot," Arthur offered.

Some days ago, Gaius had come to see Percival in his private chamber. The physician had told him that he was concerned about Drea and wanted to speak to him.

"What's the nature of your concern? Is she sick?" Percival asked warily.

"Maybe what I observed carry little meaning," Gaius had said "Because I do not know what lies behind it. But if it does carry any meaning, then my answer to your question is both yes and no."

"I don't understand."

"Let me explain. When you first brought Drea in, after she'd been attacked, I examined her. And I noticed some old, but quite severe scarring on her arms."

"Scarring?"

"Yes. But it did not look like it was caused by any sort of accident or ordinary injury. They could be either the result of deliberate torture by someone else, or of self-infliction of pain."

"Self-infliction?" Percival could not see why anyone would want to cut themselves deliberately.

"It is not unheard of. But it is a symptom of a very high degree of emotional stress and depression of spirit."

"I see."

Those scars would have come from something, and since Drea had claimed that Elvin had not harmed her, Gaius' explanation of self-infliction seemed the most probable one. Percival had then begun to understand how deep Drea's despair had run. Why she could not simply let her self-doubt go. And he was glad that Gaius had given him a heads up. If he'd reacted in shock in front of Drea when discovering the scars, she might have interpreted it as disgust and felt unwanted. That was not going to happen now.

But Percival sensed that if Drea was to recover, things had to happen on her terms completely, at least for a while. And he was determined to give her the time and care that she needed.