A/N: Yeah, I'm putting in my A/Ns after I've published. At least then only these are spelt like a horse's faecal matter and the chapter (hopefully) isn't. How is everyone on this very late evening? It's five to eleven - at night - over here. In the UK. Good ol' England. Yay. Hope you're all enjoying your days/nights/weeks and whatever series you're currently watching (5, for me!). Hope you enjoy the chapter. Things won't be getting this dark again.

Gaius left Elaina's sickroom, thoroughly exhausted.

'Gaius?'

The physician stopped, looking at the source of the voice with weary eyes.
'Gwen – it's late.' He frowned at the thought of her being caught by the castle guards. Since Morgana's reign of terror, they'd doubled their patrols and thrown almost everybody into the dungeons. 'Why are you still awake?'

Gwen sighed.
'The king needed tending to again and you were busy – I've had trouble sleeping anyway,' she admitted, covering her mouth as she yawned. 'Sorry – how is she?' she asked, nodding towards the door Gaius had just closed.

'I believe she'll live,' Gaius reassured Gwen. 'If she starts to heal and there are no hidden injuries, Elaina will – in time – recover.'

Gwen hesitated before she remarked,
'But mentally? That was a gross invasion of privacy –'

'Physically, she will recover; mentally?' Gaius shook his head. 'I don't know, Gwen – just look at Uther.' Gaius paused before asking, 'I hear it was Lancelot who caught the dagger? Remarkably quick reflexes.'

Gwen smiled, nodding. She was proud of him.
'Yes, he did; he said that he "knew she'd do something like that; noble but dangerous".'

Gaius gave Gwen a brief smile.
'She's always been a very noble young woman,' Gaius agreed, 'but so was Morgana. I'm glad Elaina has at least one friend from Camelot – she'll need as many as she can get to face up to Arthur.'

Gwen walked with Gaius, saying rather sharply,
'Elaina didn't take part in those atrocities –'

'Yes but Elaina was the one who originally sided with Morgana,' Gaius reminded the maid.

Gwen elected to ignore this point.
'Has Arthur been to see Elaina?'

'Oh, he's certainly been but Elaina's mother has refused him entry time after time. She is not a force to be reckoned with; she doesn't seem too fond of our crown prince either,' Gaius informed Gwen.

Gwen's eyebrows shot up; she was more than a little shocked.
'But it's Arthur and Elaina… Arthur's always been so… nice and loving to Elaina.'

Gaius stopped and put a hand on Gwen's shoulder. Looking her straight in the eye, he told her,
'No amount of niceness would get Arthur into that room and I'm not too sure mother or daughter – when she wakes up – believe in love. Apart from myself and one other, Queen Emilie won't let any other male into Elaina's room.'

'She'll be fine, your highness.'

Queen Emilie looked up at her daughter's friend, an anguished look upon her face.
'I hope you are right, Marcus; I really hope you are right.'

Marcus, wanting a distraction, decided to start going through Elaina's chest of drawers. He needed a distraction – he'd been in this boring world of mortals for days and Elaina wasn't really making things very interesting. And he didn't want to look at his childhood friend lying in bed like that; it made his blood boil. He opened the top drawer and sighed – jewellery. It was better than nothing.

Apart from their breathing, the room was completely silent.

Suddenly, Marcus slammed the drawer shut.

Queen Emilie started, staring at Marcus.
'What's wrong?'

Marcus rolled his eyes.
'Your daughter – lying in that bed, doing an excellent impression of what these mortals call a potato – is what is wrong!' Marcus half-roared. 'Her, lying there, with broken bones, bruises all over her and immortality in shreds. That, Emilie, is what is wrong.'

Queen Emilie left Elaina's side and placed her hands on Marcus' arms. She was shocked by how muscular and tall he'd grown.
'I know this is hard on all of us, Marcus – especially when you grew up with my daughter – but Elaina will return to us.'

'Yes – but will it be the Elaina of old who will return to us or some broken shell? A mere shadow of the woman she was before?' Marcus pushed his queen away from him, storming over to Elaina's bed. He stared down at the sleeping princess, eyes wide. 'We grew up together; we did everything together. Everything.' it was here where Marcus' voice broke.

Emilie nodded.
'I know – I did bring her up, after all. And I was always the one cleaning up the messes you left behind you,' she added ruefully.

Marcus nodded, apologising.
'I know – I'm sorry, my lady. It's just that… for the first few months, I went to the gateway every single night, hoping that she'd stride back through with that cocky smile on her face. Towing you along behind her and then we'd spend the nights talking about all the worlds she'd seen, the monsters she had fought and how she was still a better swordsman than me. Marcus perched on the edge of the sickbed. 'After that, I thought her to be dead and I waited for her body to drift back; I imagined telling my king that both his daughter and his wife were lost, one dead, the other as good as.' He stared down at Elaina's face as if he was just seeing the bruises and cuts for the very first time, not the fifteenth. 'I always hoped that she would be alive; but now?' Marcus drew in a shaky breath before his confession. 'Now, I wish she was dead. Dealing with this in a mostly mortal state… It'd be better is she was dead,' Marcus spat.

'Never say that about my daughter.' It was the first and last warning Queen Emilie would give to Marcus. It was the only time she had ever had to. 'Never again. We would both be broken things if our Elaina died –'

'No.' Marcus shook his head, adding bitterly, 'We would both be tearing this world apart in our anger and grief.' He took a deep breath, wiping his tears away with the back of his left hand. 'Why does her father not come?'

The grieving mother looked out of the window, across the courtyard that was bathed in moonlight. She stared down at Arthur and his knights returning from a patrol.
'He would make this world burn if he saw his daughter like this. He knows she is hurt but he does not know the extent of her injuries. He also knows that Vayle still needs a ruler so, whilst I am here, he must be there.' She paused, glancing at the floor and the back down into the courtyard, her arms folded across her chest. 'As much as I dislike these mortals, Marcus, I would wish them all to suffer.'

Marcus shook his head again.
'I find it hard to believe, my lady. That the king would want the mortals dead and that you do not wish them all to suffer,' he clarified when Emilie raised her eyebrows. Suddenly, he remembered something. 'I hear she was – is - in love the prince of this place?'

Emilie nodded. Her voice was sour.
'Yes – a mortal; a boy –'

'He looks old enough to me; a mortal man,' Marcus corrected her. He stared at Elaina, a deep frown settling onto his face. There was something… peculiar. Like there was somebody else in the room, watching them. Extremely disconcerting. He shook himself. 'What's his name?'

'Arthur Pendragon,' Queen Emilie answered through gritted teeth.

Marcus nodded, standing up abruptly.
'If she wakes up, tell her I'll be back soon enough.'

Queen Emilie nodded.
'I will do – she doesn't know you're ever here anyway.' She strode over to her daughter's bed. 'Where are you going, Marcus?'

Marcus smoothed out his clothes, stood up a little straighter and walked over to the door. He threw the words over his shoulder like he'd have thrown a smile at his friend.
'I have some business to attend to.' He wrenched the door open. As soon as he was out of the room, he let his face pale. As soon as the door was shut, Marcus let out a sigh and bit down on his lip until he drew blood. When he was six steps away from Elaina's door, he wasn't walking. He was running.

Merlin picked up Arthur's armour off the floor, grumbling under his breath,
'It wouldn't kill him to clean up after himself once in a while.'

'He doesn't treat you well? Your master – is he cruel?'

Merlin jumped, sending the armour flying into the air, spinning around.
'Who are you?' he cried, staring at the man now standing before him.

The man was very tall – taller than Arthur and only a few inches shorter than Percival. He had blonde curls, piercing blue eyes and high cheekbones. He was also slimmer than Arthur – he'd probably never needed extra holes putting into any of his belts. He wore no crown but there was no mistaking that he was nobility.

Marcus caught the armour without even having to look at it, placing it on the table in the centre of the room.
'I'm sorry if I startled you – I'm Prince Marcus. Not from around here. That would explain why you've no idea who I am. Sorry. Really. I am sorry for scaring you –'

Merlin raised his eyebrows.
'You apologise a lot, don't you?' he asked bemusedly.

'Sorry.' Marcus couldn't help himself. 'Anyway, is your master Prince Arthur Pendragon?'

Merlin nodded, going over to the armour. He began to polish the chest plate.
'Yes, my lord –'

'Please. Don't call me 'my lord'. I shouldn't have even said 'Prince'. It's just Marcus.'

Merlin smirked. Of course.
'You're from Vayle, aren't you?' he glanced around to smile at Marcus. 'Elaina has the same problem with titles.'

Marcus chuckled.
'She always has. Where's Arthur now?'

'Going over some things with his knights; obviously, he had to dump his armour in here first. Why?' Merlin asked, regarding Marcus warily.

'I'm here for two things: one, to get some answers; secondly, to protect Elaina.'

'From who exactly?'

Marcus paused thoughtfully.
'I'd argue grammar with you but I'm not too sure myself – and for some reason, it is more likely to be from what. It is a question that will be inevitably answered and – I'm sorry! I'm rambling again. I'll just wait here for Arthur.' Marcus sat down by the fire, looking into it as if he'd find his answers in there. 'Sit down with, Merlin, please. Maybe you could answer some of my questions.'

'Yes, my lord – Marcus. Sorry.' Merlin sat down next to Marcus.

Marcus laughed.
'It's contagious.'

Elaina opened her eyes and sat up. She was on… a beach? Well, there was gravel underfoot and a lot of water with some waves. She raised her head and looked at the sky. Grey. She looked at the sea – Really? A beach? – that was also grey.
'You expected it to be a different colour?' she asked herself, shivering. It was far too cold. She looked down at what she wearing.

A sheer white dress was all that covered her body. With every gust of wind, a tiny part of it ripped and flew away.

'Do you feel it?'

'The cold?' Elaina tilted her head to the side. 'Yes – that might be the reason I'm shivering.' She turned around and raised her eyebrows. 'Hello, E.V – I might have known it was you.'

E.V. – features harsh but beautiful – moved forwards. Her leather boots made the gravel crunch as she walked.
'I wasn't asking about the weather. Do you feel it? Inside of you? How do you feel?' She sounded desperate for an answer.

Elaina shrugged, crossing her arms in an attempt to keep warm.
'I don't know – how am I supposed to feel?'

E.V. stopped, kicking a large rock as she did so.
'You don't feel anything?'

There was a strong gust of wind – a sizable piece of the dress floated away into the ocean.

'You…'

Elaina met E.V.'s gaze, asking in a voice that sounded much braver than she was feeling.
''You' what?'

E.V. stayed where she was, disgust etched onto her face.
'You whore.'

Gaius looked at Queen Emilie, a worried expression upon his face.
'When did the fever set in?'

Queen Emilie pressed cloths soaked in freezing cold water onto her daughter's body. She picked up the bowl and poured it over Elaina, soaking both her daughter and Elaina's nightdress.
'About fifteen minutes ago – she shouldn't be like this. She shouldn't… What if she – Oh god!' Queen Emilie stumbled backwards and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Even Gaius stopped what he was doing, transfixed by the horror that was taking place in front of him.

'Pardon?'

Marcus slammed Arthur up against a wall, pushing a bicep down onto Pendragon's windpipe.
'I'll only ask once more! Tell me the truth, mortal – did you take anything from Elaina that wasn't you?' Marcus snarled.

'No!' Arthur's face was quickly turning bright red. 'No! Merlin –'

'Stay there, Merlin,' Marcus ordered, his nails digging into Arthur's neck. 'You are a liar and unworthy of Elaina – you have taken advantage of her feelings for you, haven't you?'

Arthur managed a frown.
'What are you talking about?' he choked out.

'I know you have slept with her.' Marcus pressed down a little harder on Arthur's windpipe.

Merlin's eyes popped out of his head and he stared at Arthur.
'When was this exactly?'

'Let me go… and I'll tell you –' Arthur looked very pointedly at Marcus. '- everything that's ever happened.'

Marcus dropped Arthur to the floor, glaring down at him.
'Tell me now,' he ordered.

Arthur nodded, massaging his throat.
'At most, five times – not like that! I've never slept with Elaina as in… Well, with Elaina. All that happened was that we talked about a few things and we fell asleep next to each other.' He coughed. 'I'd never take advantage of Elaina –'

'Well, you –' Merlin began to remind Arthur.

'Shut up, Merlin,' Arthur snapped.

Marcus looked between Merlin and Arthur, deciding whether to push the matter any further, He decided against it. He could tell a true liar a hundred leagues off; Arthur wasn't a liar. He nodded curtly.
'Fine. You love Elaina. I am… glad.' He offered a hand to Arthur and pulled him up. He had been right. He'd been right.

Arthur let go of Marcus as soon as he could.
'Why were you asking? It's not as if…'

Marcus had wanted to be wrong.

Arthur met Marcus' horrified gaze and shook his head.
'No. Marcus, tell me that what I'm thinking is completely wrong – Marcus!'

Marcus had needed to be wrong. For the sake of Elaina's life, he'd needed to be wrong.

'Tell me I'm wrong!' Arthur screamed, shaking Marcus.

Marcus turned his teary gaze onto Arthur, shaking his head. He placed his hands on Arthur's arms.
'I can't…'

Arthur sagged; he almost fell to the floor but Merlin caught him.

Marcus looked down at Arthur and shook his head.
'I didn't want to be right –'

Queen Emilie's scream ripped through the castle and into their brains.

Arthur didn't need Merlin's support now. He had been spurred into action.

And, for the first real time, Merlin was afraid of Arthur. Not because of how quickly he was running to Elaina's room – one minute, he was in front of you; the next, he was halfway down the next corridor – or with the power with which he had almost ripped the door open. But it had been the look on Arthur's face.

The look of sheer terror.

'Whore? I don't understand –'

E.V. launched herself at Elaina and clawed at her face.
'You claimed you loved Nathan – our Nathan – and yet you feel no grief! No sorrow! No pain for his passing! His murder!' She pinned Elaina's wrists down with her knees and continued to claw at her face. 'You never loved him! You gave him everything and you feel nothing –'

Elaina tried to fight off E.V. – it was impossible. It was like having an entire statue crushing you into… into even more statues. Realisation dawned on Elaina's bloodied face.

'Yes, yes, yes! You're in a graveyard, Elaina!' E.V. cackled. 'I thought you'd have been strong enough to fight – don't you know that's why I let you come back in? So you could fight?'

Elaina stared up at E.V. and tried to throw her off by jerking her body to one side. She only succeeded in pulling a muscle.
'Let me go!' she screamed, her heels digging into the sharp gravel – bones – beneath her feet. 'I don't remember giving him anything! What did you do to me?'

E.V. leered down at Elaina – her prisoner, once again – as she dug in her talons a little further.
'I gave him what you would have given him. Your purity –'

'What?' Elaina let E.V. push her face down into the sharpened skeletons. 'No, no, no –'

'You let him believe that you loved him but you wouldn't have given him something as insignificant as your purity? You would have led him on –'

'No, no, no, please be a dream, please don't be true,' Elaina sobbed, the stones cutting into her cheeks. She could taste her own blood in her mouth.

' – that is the reason you are a common whore!' E.V. pressed the heel of her palm into E.V.'s head, pushing her down into the skeletons even further.

'No! You are the reason I am now to be called a 'whore'!' Elaina screamed, finally managing to push E.V. off her. She ran away as fast as she could, as fast as her bloodied legs would carry her.

The wind had ripped away most of her dress now. There was barely anything left.

E.V. watched Elaina run away and looked down at the bloody gravel.
'I'm sorry, my love. But she does not know of my final act.' She picked up a spear shaped shard from the mass grave and threw it Elaina. She watched as it pierced Elaina's body – her womb.

Elaina fell.

Arthur burst into the room – the room full of screams, cries of anguish and orders. The room where the bed was covered in blood and where half of the screams came from its occupant.

Lancelot was holding Elaina's torso and Leon was holding down her legs.

'Gwen, pass me the scalpel,' Gaius barked, looking down at Elaina's swollen stomach.

It wasn't just swollen though – it was being ripped apart from the inside.

'Lancelot, I'll need you to hold the incision open once I've made it – I don't want Elaina healing over. Arthur,' Gaius ordered, 'take Lancelot's place.'

Arthur ran over to the bed and replaced Lancelot, sitting with his back with to what was about to take place. He held Elaina down as she sobbed and screamed.
'Elaina, Elaina, it's me – look at me.'

Elaina's eyes found Arthur's through the tears.
'Arthur? No, no, no, no –'

'Shh, Elaina – everything's going to be fine,' Arthur reassured her, wincing as he heard the gut-wrenching squelch of the scalpel cutting into Elaina. 'It's good to see you awake –'

'No, no, no, no, no, no.' Elaina shook her head, trying to bury her head in the mattress. 'No, no, no –'

'Elaina, don't speak. Don't do it right now – we can talk after this. When you've recovered,' Arthur told her, goosebumps rising up over his arms when Elaina started screaming again. 'Gaius, save her!' he ordered. 'Save Elaina – please. Please, please, please –'

'God, god, god, god, god, god…' That was Queen Emilie, backed into a corner by the horror of this.

'No, no, no, no.'

The words made perfect – and terrifying – sense. They echoed around Arthur's mind until it was finally done.

Please, God, no.

A/N: Cake baked full of rainbows anybody? ...Just me then. Thank you for reading the chapter. And the story, so far, I guess. I want to hug you all. I'll probably read this in the morning and cringe but oh well. I'll cringe away.

Yours truly, until the next chapter,

Exhausted Gracicles (my nickname. You all have permission to use it.) x