Author Note: I am so sorry for the wait guys, I been having some trouble writing plus I wanted to make sure this chapter was just right. So please enjoy and I promise to try and get the next chapter as soon as I can.

Chapter 9

Arthur sat at his desk at the back of his chambers, pondering and doing his head around the fact that Anna escaped her cell. He sent all the knights that he could spare, to scout all the roads in the hopes that they might able to find her before she got away. But so far all the reports that he had been giving so far say that there was no sign of her walking or riding on the roads.

It confirmed that Arthur was right, and her running away was a sign of her guilt for what she did to her people. Arthur sat there in deep in thought for the longest time, that he didn't even realize that it was late and the sun had gone down. It wasn't until Arthur felt a pair of arms wrapping around his neck, and a sweet kiss on his left cheek that he realized Gwen had entered the room.

"Arthur, people have been wondering where you have been. Are you feeling alright, should I get Gaius?" Gwen's voice sounded very concerned for her husband, with the illness going around it gave her cause to worry more about him.

Though without Merlin around, it made her wonder if what was causing him to be so quiet was the fact he was worried for his friend. Soon Arthur removed Gwen's arms from his neck and turned in his chair to face her, he then spoke in a low tone of voice. "I am alright Gwen." The first thing that Gwen picked up when she heard Arthur talk was the slight pain in his voice.

"Arthur I know you and I know that you are not alright, I can see that there is something is wrong and I want you to know you can talk to me about it." Gwen kept her voice low as she spoke and as she said that she stared deep into Arthur's blue eyes and could see how worried he was. The one thing that she was wondering was why he told her he was alright when she could clearly see that he wasn't.

Seeing that he was still not willing to talk to her, Gwen was about to say something else when Arthur grabbed her and placed her over his lap. "Really I'm fine Gwen, I am more concerned about you since you're helping Gaius with the sick it concerns me that you might get it too." Arthur's eyes never stray away from Gwen, not even when the sound footsteps going past the chamber could be heard loudly.

At that moment all Arthur and Gwen cared about, was being in that moment together since they had no idea when they have another during the crisis. They weren't sure how long they had been staring into each other eyes, but Gwen's butt started to become numb and she slightly shifted her weight.

"Arthur I promise you I am being as careful as can be when helping them, no one helping as become ill yet so there no need to worry." Her voice was very calm a soft as she spoke to him, he was going to say something when there was a soft knock on the door. As soon as they heard the knock, Gwen got off Arthur's lap and stood beside his chair doing her best to fix her dress that was a bit crooked.

Once Arthur was sure that there was no sign of what he and Gwen had been doing, he stands up straight in his chair and in a forceful voice said. "Enter." Without a pause, a young servant boy with short light brown hair entered carrying a tray of food and a jug of wine.

Once the boy closed the door behind him, before bowing to both Arthur and Gwen making sure to keep a straight face while doing it "My king, I have brought food for you and the queen." The young servant spoke in a very low tone, Arthur nodded his head and kept his eye on the boy as he placed the food and wine on the table. He placed on plate and goblet at the head of the table, then the other plate and goblet on the left side of the head.

Once he was done he poured a glass of wine in both goblets, before turning to face Arthur and Gwen again and then asked again in a low tone. "If there is nothing else my king, I shall return later for the dishes." Arthur nodded his head and waved his hand, with that the servant boy bowed to them again and left as quickly as he arrived.

Once Arthur was sure that they were once again alone, he got up from his seat then turned to face Gwen with a smile on his face and asking in a soft voice. "Shall we?" Gwen nodded her head and started to reach out to take his hand, as soon as her hand was an inch away from Arthur when she reached out and took a hold of the chair to keep herself from falling. To try and stop herself from falling over Gwen grabbed the back of Arthur chair, who as soon as he saw something was wrong was quickly at her side.

"Gwen are you alright?" Arthur's voice was very concerned about his wife, especially since there was an illness killing people. Arthur kept his eyes on his wife, while she didn't say anything he noticed her eyes were slowly closing which sent him into action. He scooped Gwen up into his arms and carefully laid her down onto their bed, Arthur kissed her on the forehead still worried for her.

Arthur watched her for a moment and heard footsteps going by his bedchamber, he looked at the door than in a forceful voice yelled. "GUARDS!" The footsteps stopped at the door and a young guard not much older than Arthur, stepped into the room and bowed at his king and queen.

"Sire?" The guard stood there waiting to get his orders, he didn't look over at Gwen instead he kept his eyes forward so to be respectful. The young man had only been a guard for three days, so Arthur wasn't really going to yell at him for small mistakes since he was so new. Arthur was already known to be a better man than his father, especially since he allowed normal village people to become knights.

Arthur didn't leave Gwen's side, so instead, he gave a strong look before quickly letting the guard know what he needed the guard to do. "Go get Gaius, he should be attending the sick and let him that there is something wrong with the queen and to come right away." The guard bowed and ran out the chambers closing the door behind him, making his way to where the sick were being tended to. Once he was alone again with Gwen, he sat on the right side of the bed and took to her left hand into his and kissed it tenderly.

He watched as her chest rise and fall at a normal rate, Arthur kept Gwen's hand at his mouth while her ever so closely. Arthur was so forced on Gwen that he didn't realize that Gaius had entered the room until he felt a hand being gently placed on his right shoulder. He looked over his shoulder to see the old healer giving Arthur a sympathetic look, before turning his attention to Gwen.

"Sire, can you tell me what happened?" As he waited for a reply from Arthur, Gaius took Gwen's wrist into his left hand and started to check her pulse while keeping a straight face. Once he was done checking her pulse, he laid her wrist down on her stomach before turning his attention back to Arthur. Who he noticed was still focused on Gwen, and was so out of it that he hadn't even realized that Gaius was still waiting on his answer.

So Gaius once again walked over to the other side of the bed, before placing a hand on Arthur's right shoulder again. Arthur's eyes turned to face Gaius realizing that the old man was standing there, it took him a second to progress what Gaius said before replying by saying. "We were about to eat when she suddenly got dizzy and was almost about to pass out when I carried her to the bed. Gaius, please tell me, it's not the illness that is killing people...I can't lose her too I just can't."

Gaius sat there for a moment listening then he gave Arthur a smile, before saying in a soft tone of voice not wanting to make Arthur more worried. "Sire, Gwen does not have the plague." Arthur looked at Gaius looking even more confused about what was wrong with his wife, seeing the confusing Gaius then added. "Congratulations, you and the queen are expecting a child."

Arthur sat there in complete shock, upon hearing the news that he was going to be a father. He smiled a for a moment at the thought of being a father, then he felt a sense of dread take over. "Gaius, what if I become like my father and push this kid too far as my father did to me." Arthur's voice sounded concern, as he spoke to Gaius while looking down at his wife.

Gaius gave Arthur a warm smile, before shaking his head and responding in a comforting voice. "Arthur you are a great king to your people, I have no doubt that you will be a great father as well. All you have to do is be yourself, and you will be just fine plus you have Gwen." After hearing that, Arthur gave the old healer a slight smiling feeling less fearful about being a father.

"Thank you, Gaius, for your wise counsel, I am glad to hear that Gwen will be alright. She will be fine, won't she?" Arthur asked sounding still very concerned about his wife and unborn child.

His concerns were soon put to rest when Gaius replied, keeping his voice low so not to wake Gwen. "Yes, Sire she will be fine. All the Queen needs is some rest, I think it is best if she stayed in bed for a while." Once Arthur heard that he let out a sigh of relief, now feeling more at ease as he watched Gwen.

Arthur was starting to get himself comfortable when there was a soft knock on the door, shortly after Lancelot and Gwaine entered the room. The first thing that Arthur noticed when the two knights entered the room, was the red marks all over Gwaine's face and arms. "What happened to you?" Arthur asked as Lancelot did all he could to hold back his laughter, as Gwaine looked at the group with a straight face.

It was Lancelot who finally answered Arthur's question, while Gwaine did his best not to touch the places where there were red marks. "Gwaine here decided to go and pick on berries on the way and ends up kicking a hornet nest. They ended up chasing him around for the longest time, but our mission was successful." Arthur and Gaius let out a laugh when they heard about the hornet chasing Gwaine.

"So you were able to locate Maverick and brought him back so that he can help you us before more people my people died." Arthur stood up and walked towards them, waiting for the answer to his question hoping that they were able to bring the warlock back with them. Now more than ever was Arthur more worried, now that he knew that he was going to be a father it made him more determined to stop the illness.

As soon as Arthur asked that he watched as Lancelot and Gwaine, stepped aside and an older man with a short grey beard walked in. The elderly men were slightly taller and older then Gaius, on his face there was a long scar that ran from his nose to his ear. "King Arthur, I have heard about what is going on and have decided to help, the last thing I want is an innocent to be killed in such a horrible way." The warlock said in a low tone of voice, which made Arthur nod his head and for the first time, he felt hopeful that they would save people, Merlin.

There you go everyone, I do hope you like it as I said above I wanted to make this just right for you guys. Thank you to all of you who have a favourite, followed and reviewed this story. I am so glad to hear that you guys like it, and I hope that the next chapters will not disappoint you. So please review and let me know what you think, I will get the next chapter going.