Gwen walked up to Morgana's door feeling happy that it was a new day and that it looked like it was going to be a warm one. Maybe she and Morgana would go for a ride today. It seemed like they hadn't been riding in ages and she enjoyed it just as much as Morgana. Maybe she would invite Freya to come along too. She seemed so lost without Jaya around. It would be good for her to get out and do something to take her mind off of it. She knocked lightly on the door, more out of sheer habit than of anything more than that. It was simple to slip into the room quietly and shut the door with only a small click.

Morgana was laying on her bed still. In fact nothing but her breathing indicated that she wasn't perfectly still.

Gwen's brow furrowed slightly. Usually Morgana was up and sitting on the corner of the bed or in the sill of the window because of her nightmares. The fact that she was still sleeping when there was this much light streaming through her windows was both terrifying and exciting for Gwen. After a moment of indecision Gwen decided that she would let Morgana sleep. She didn't usually get much sleep, and she looked so peaceful. It took a few minutes longer than normal to clean up the small mess that was Morgana's room. Being quiet tended to make things go a little more slowly than normal. With one last look at Morgana, Gwen went to get her breakfast. It wasn't until she was halfway to the kitchen that she realized that the King had asked Morgana to dine with him that morning. Gwen spun around and gathered up her skirt and started running back the way that she had come from. Uther was not known to be an easy tempered man, and he seemed to be a little short tempered since Arthur had left. Her only saving grace was that Morgana wasn't like the other ladies of the court. She was easy to get out of bed and prefered simple dresses and jewels to the overdone finery of some of the lesser Ladies. Hopefully she wouldn't take too long to wake up.

"Morgana! You have to wake up now! The King wanted you to have breakfast with him and you're going to be late!" Gwen flew into the room and over to the wardrobe, not looking over at the bed, knowing just the sound of her voice would wake Morgana up. "I'm so sorry. I completely forgot. I was on my way to the kitchens to get your normal breakfast before I remembered. I ran the whole way back. I think I ran over one of the newer serving girls." Gwen pulled out a simple purple dress that Morgana preferred to wear when she was meeting with the King right away in the morning. The King had given it to her for a present a few years ago. She turned around and looked at the bed.

Morgana was still lying where she had been when Gwen had come into the room the first time that morning. She hadn't even turned her head or moved her arms.

Gwen paused in the middle of her next movement, the dress clutched to her tightly. She was starting to think that Morgana sleeping in the morning was a curse more than a blessing. Why didn't she wake? She was such a light sleeper. "Morgana. Morgana, you have get up now. Uther will be expecting you any minute and we still have to get you dressed."

Not even Morgana's breathing changed.

Gwen's did. She started to breathe quick, shallow breaths. She felt her heart rate jump up to her throat. This was something that was straight out of one of her worst nightmares. "Morgana." she tried again, her voice high pitched and tight. She struggled with the dress over to the chair that was closest and tossed it, much more haphazardly than she would have ever dreamed she would do, over the back. The next instant she was rushing to the bed to scramble on it and shake the closest arm that Morgana had on top of the blankets. "Morgana! Wake up. Please pleeeaaase wake up."

Morgana didn't move. Her breathing didn't change, her eyelid didn't even flutter.

Gwen stayed where she was for a moment, frozen by the realization that Morgana wasn't waking up and that something was wrong. What should she do? What should she do? Gaius. Gaius would know. She didn't stay that way long. The next moment she was flipping around and half crawling half falling off the bed, her skirts tangled up around her legs as she took a couple of stumbling steps toward the door. She flung it open and only paused long enough to be sure that it was closed behind her. Gwen bent down and grabbed two big handfuls of her skirts and started running, not caring who saw or who stopped to wonder why she was running so quickly. When had the castle become so large? Gwen was sure that it was some cruel trick that she still hadn't reached Gaius' yet. She finally made the last turn and all but leapt up the three steps that lead to the hallway that Gaius' tower chamber door was on.

Gaius startled slightly when Gwen burst, more or less fell really, through the door, breathing heavier than he had ever seen her. He pulled off his spectacles and tilted his head slightly. "Gwen?" He inquired, his voice confused.

"Did she tell you what happened? Is that how you know about it?" Gwaine wondered.

Jaya bobbed her chin. "Yeah. She was quite traumatized honestly. We talked about it at length a couple of times. Plus I was there when she told Morgana all about what happened."

"I bet she had a lot of questions."

Jaya nodded. "She really did."

"How far away were you at this point?"

"About a day or so…I think. If I remember right. I know it wasn't all that long before we were back. The timeline is a little shakey in my head. Since I wasn't there, and I was out riding with Arthur. Which was exhausting."

"Weren't you used to riding for long stretches of time?"

"Oh. No-no. I don't mean physicially. Physically I could ride for weeks on end at that point." Jaya smirked. "I meant mentally. I know you haven't talked to him in a few centuries, but eventually you'll remember what it was like to spend long hours with him on horseback."

Gwaine tilted his head and shifted so he was sitting a little closer to her. "Are you telling me that I'll remember things soon?"

Jaya looked at him and a haunted expression crossed her face. "I wouldn't wish for it so eagerly Gwaine."

He tilted his head. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You say that you want to remember things. And I don't blame you. The problem is, these memories we're talking about…it's not just the good ones. The bad ones come back too. The nightmares feel real. Because…frankly there was a time that they were."

Gwaine leaned back in the grass on his hands. He pursed his lips and took a long breath, pondering what she had said. "Nightmares."

"That's what they used to call them. Now they call them night terrors." Jaya reached over and lightly touched his cheek with her fingers. "You and I have lead some terrible lives. The sound of us traipsing all over in the gorilla warfare that we conducted…it sounds romantic. But Gwaine…we did things. Bad bad things. For the right reasons. Or what we thought those reasons were. Didn't make them right."

"All's fair in love and war?" Gwaine wondered lamely.

"Sure. They say that." Jaya nodded. "And you have to believe it. But war is hell. You do what you have to do to get through the hell alive with as many buddies as you can manage…and then you come home. And you do your best to survive the next level of hell."

"You're talking about PTSD."

"War sickness, the thousand yard stare, combat disorder, combat fatigue, cobat neurosis…shell shock." Jaya ran her hands over her face and up into her hair. She looked exhausted, the entire weight of all the things that she had done suddenly on her face, making her look decades older despite her features. "Call it whatever you want. It's real and can jump up whenever it desires."

Gwaine sat up and hooked his arm around her. "When was the last time Moondust?"

Jaya blew a slow breath out from between her lips, seeming to relax just at his touch. "Three weeks ago."

"Which decade?"

Jaya scoffed. "Yes. That's my point. You're going to get a rush of memories and it's going to be brutal. Just..perpare yourself."

Gwaine grunted and touched her jaw softly, starting to get braver touching her. "So…Gwen went to go get Gaius."

Jaya nodded. "Yeah. She ran the whole way there she told me. Made her so out of breath she could hardly tell him what had happened."

"Gaius…..Morgana….she's not...getting…"Gwen took a huge breath, her hands on her hips and breathed it out almost as quickly. "Morgana's notgettingupandIdon'tknowwhy."

Gaius blinked and puzzled for a moment, trying to figure out what it was that she had said. "Morgana is…sick?" he clarified.

"She's not waking up. I've tried everything." Gwen nodded. "I even shook her. Hard! And not so much as a stir."

"Show me." Gaius ordered, standing up quickly and scooping up his round medicine bag, tossing the strap over his right shoulder.

Gwen took another deep breath and nodded, pulling the door open and rushing out into the hallway to allow Gaius the room to get out of the door unhindered.

It felt like it took four times as long to get back to Morgana's chambers even though Gaius was moving at a pace that was surprisingly quick for his old age. He didn't complain or point out that he couldn't go any faster when Gwen begged him to hurry for the fifth time when they reached the end of the hallway that Morgana's chambers were on.

Gwen ran ahead and waited impatiently at the door for Gaius to get close enough that she could open the door and allow him to go straight in and then quickly rushing into the room after him and closed the door. "I didn't think anything of it when I got here this morning. In fact, if anything I was relieved that she was sleeping. She's been sleeping so poorly lately I thought that I would leave her be. I tidied up a little bit and then went to get her breakfast. I was almost all the way to there when I realized that last night before Morgana went to bed the King asked her to have breakfast with him this morning. I ran all the way back here and started talking to her like I'm talking to her now, and normally that alone will wake her up. I noticed once I got her dress out of her wardrobe that she wasn't awake, so I called her name. She still didn't respond so I crawled onto the bed there and shook her. And when that didn't work I left to get you." Gwen informed while she watched Gaius examine Morgana. Gwen took a steadying breath and fisted her hands in her apron, looking on and feeling useless.

"Does the King know yet?" Gaius wondered, not bothering to pause in what he was doing.

Gwen shook her head. And then realized that he didn't see the motion. "I told you first."

"I think he should be notified."

"I'll find a guard." Gwen nodded and rushed out of the room suddenly feeling like she was useful again. It took her longer than she would have liked to admit to find a guard that she could send to the King. It seemed like there were guards everywhere when she was just trying to get work done and she felt like she was tripping over them. And now that she needed one she didn't find one until she was almost all the way to the throne room herself. It probably would have been faster if she had just gone to tell the King herself at the rate that it took her to find a guard.

Jaya stifled a yawn and dropped her reins on Courage's neck and stretched her arms up over her head and leaned back over the back of her saddle. She slowly sat back up, her arms dropping down a little so that she could grab her saddle to twist and stretch her back first to the right and then to the left. "Do you suppose we've missed anything exciting since we've been gone?"

Merlin snorted. "No. Arthur's the accident prone one. I'm sure that everyone else in Camelot is fine."

Arthur's mouth slowly fell open. "Hang on."

"You're probably right, Merlin. I've never seen a man just fall flat on his back when mounting a horse." Jaya mused, a giggle barely held back in her voice.

"He said the horse was ready."

"Aye. And you didn't check. And look how it ended up." Jaya mused, her eyes sparkling and her voice strained from mirth.

Arthur looked over at her and glared.

Jaya beamed at him and giggled.

Merlin snorted and didn't even bother to stop smiling at him when Arthur looked over at him with a look that could have started dry grass on fire.

"Oh, I assure you, I will never not check my own saddle from now on." Arthur directed his comment at Jaya, but he didn't look away from Merlin.

"You could just get your own horse ready. Save time." Merlin offered.

"Merlin, I'm a prince. I don't get my own horse ready. That's what you're for." Arthur looked at him sharply.

"Jaya's a princess and she gets Courage ready by herself." Merlin protested.

"Her servant's not along."

"Freya's never gotten Courage ready for me." Jaya interrupted.

Arthur whipped around and looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"I have Ryan for that." Jaya smiled. "And when I'm traveling then I do it myself." Jaya shifted slightly so that she could see the two boys better. "And Ryan's a relatively new development. Most just think Courage is too much to handle. Which is ironically why I ended up with him in the first place." Jaya mused the last sentence to herself, though it was loud enough to include the boys if they were still listening.

"Who's Ryan?" Arthur demanded, looking at her his eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes confused.

Jaya looked over at him and pulled her head back slightly. "What do you mean who's Ryan?" she wondered.

"Generally when someone asks who a person is that means that that someone doesn't know the person that they are asking about." Arthur snapped.

Much to Merlin's shock Jaya laughed. The kind of laugh that tossed her head back and made her curls, loose from the braid that she had had them in the last few days, bounce and bump against her shoulders.

"What?" Arthur demanded, his temper short.

Jaya calmed down to a giggle and looked at him. "That's simply got to be the most royal answer I've ever heard. Did you know that you get more imperial sounding the more upset you get? It's really entertaining."

"I do not sound imperial!" Arthur retorted.

Jaya's eyebrows rose and she tilted her head to the left slightly.

"Oh what would you know. You wouldn't know how to be imperial if your life depended on it. You're too busy fighting and getting your own horse ready, and not using your maidservant to the fullest of her abilities." Arthur snapped.

Merlin had never seen someone's expression change so quickly. Once moment Jaya was laughing and goading and having a good time, the next her face was a mask of collection and her eyes were hard.

"Ryan is a stable boy. He's going to be a stable master when he gets a little older. I'm sure of it. And I don't use people, Arthur. It would do you some good to learn that practice before you become king. Might make a man out of ya." Jaya's voice was cool and aloof. She pinned Arthur with a sharp look and then looked around to make sure that she knew where Ridire was, completely dismissing Arthur and discontinuing the conversation that they had been having.

Arthur gaped at her. Had she really just dismissed him? Had she really just insinuated that he was a child? And the real question that was bothering him the most...was he going to let her get away with it because of her station and who she was? It was a few moments of tense silence before he realized what it sounded like to her. He had just insinuated that she wasn't royal enough because she did some things herself. He thought back to when she had sat down with him and his father and explained what her childhood had been like. How she had spent years on the run. Of course she would do things herself. When on the run there was no time to wait for a servant to get things ready for you. It had to be done quickly and by yourself. "Jaya-"

"No. I understand." Jaya cut him off. "You're a bigger prat than I thought."

Merlin would have laughed, if it hadn't been for the look on Arthur's face, and the harsh way that Jaya had said it. He had never heard her talk to Arthur like that. Like he was beneath her and like he wouldn't understand. He wasn't sure why the conversation had suddenly turned icy, but he could tell that Arthur was feeling bad about it. He had never seen so much remorse on Arthur's face before.

"I'm an idiot, Jaya." Arthur mused quietly.

"Well as long as you know it." Jaya returned, her tone still distant, but not nearly as cold. She looked at Arthur and the corner of her mouth twitched ever so slightly.

Arthur's face flushed and he dropped his head.

Merlin let out an internal sigh that he didn't know that he had been holding. Jaya and Arthur were always the best at getting along, and he had never seen them get that close to actually fighting before. It was strange to see them at odds for real.

Water sloshed onto Gwen's leg again. It was the fourth time since she started back toward the castle from the well in the courtyard. A big water splash mark appeared on the flagstones in the middle of the hallway that she was rushing down the water jumped out of the bucket on the other side. She slowed to a stop and hung her head slightly and sighed before putting the bucket down and doubling back to use her apron to mop up most of the water. It wouldn't due to have anyone slipping on the wet stones. It was bad enough in this hallway when it rained, she didn't need to catch anyone off guard on a day when there wasn't rain to make them wary. She stood up and rushed back to the bucket and scooped up the handle as she passed it, barely stepping out of the way before the momentum of the swing brought the bucket back to just miss her right calf. She trotted down the hallway and quickly ducked around the corner. She made it to Morgana's door finally after what seemed like a lifetime of rushing but trying to keep her shoulders level so that she wouldn't knock her bucket anymore.

"You're the Lady Morgana's maid, are you not?"

Gwen froze with her hand on the latch of Morgana's door at the sound of Uther's voice. It still sent shivers up her spine after how close she was to dying for crimes that she didn't commit. She put a smile on her face and turned to look at him. "Yes your Majesty. Good morning."

Uther brushed off her wish of good fortune with a halfhearted return and gestured to the door.

Gwen quickly pushed it open and stepped back to allow the King to pass through, following him a moment later, quietly pushing the door shut behind her. She didn't want him to realize that she was there anymore. And she didn't want him to finally put together how it was that he knew her.

"Gaius. What is this I hear about Morgana falling ill?"

Gwen winced. That wasn't what she said at all...leave it to a guard to completely bungle the message. She should have found one of the knights. They have to remember details and recite them correctly.

Gaius looked up from searching Morgana's face and eyed the King with a somber look. "I'm not sure what's wrong, Sire. She's not responding to anything I've tried so far."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Uther demanded, though there was a hint of fear that laced his words