Gwaine had been getting used to Mary, who was kind enough but didn't particularly like the insinuation that she needed him. She'd even started paying tribute to the local bully, Dagr, and wouldn't let Gwaine chase him and his men off. He missed Tara, but he supposed change was the way of life.

He watched Mary flirt with customers on a sunny day and watched carefully as the door opened and Dagr walked in. The whole tavern went silent as he walked through and stood in front of Mary at the bar. Gwaine sat forward, in case he needed to get involved.

"Afternoon, Mary," Dagr said. "Business looks good."

"We have our better days," Mary said.

"I don't suppose you'll begrudge me my share, then."

Mary put a bit of money in front of him and watched him count the coins. Gwaine knew she was holding some back, as he'd warned her to do, and he'd even helped her find the right hiding place for her stash, but it was only a matter of time before Dagr wouldn't be satisfied with what she could afford to give him.

"And the rest?" Dagr said.

"That's all we've got."

Today looked like the day. He grabbed her and held a dagger at her, and Gwaine sat a bit further forward.

"I'll not ask again."

"Take your hands off her," a blond man said calmly when he approached.

The man was new, and Dagr swung at him, but the stranger ducked the blow and pushed Dagr into a shelf. The two men stared at each other, and Gwaine narrowed his eyes, watching. Surely Mary couldn't blame him for keeping the peace or helping customers who were helping her. Surely.

"I'm going to make you pay for that," Dagr said.

The dark-haired companion of the blond stranger laughed and said, "I'd like to see you try."

Gwaine tried not to laugh, knowing better than these strangers the direction this would go. Dagr whistled, and some of his goons came in from outside the tavern.

The blond said, "You had to open your big mouth, didn't you, Merlin?"

Gwaine stood, tankard in hand, and approached the strangers.

"You two have got yourselves in a bit of a pickle, haven't you?"

"You should get out of here while you have the chance," the blond said.

Gwaine took a drink, looked around at the bandits gathered, and nodded. Mary would be mad at him later, but this was the promise he'd made with Tara, and if Mary turned him out for it, at least it was a parting gift.

"You're probably right," he said.

He held up his tankard in Dagr's direction, smiled his best smile, and punched Dagr directly on the nose. That was the start of the brawl, and Gwaine went with the flow of the fight, relishing the change of action.

The young man with the dark hair joined Mary behind the bar at some point, and Gwaine fought near them, determined to not let any harm come to Mary, for Tara's sake. Mary and the young man were breaking jugs on the bandits.

"Pass the jug," Gwaine said to the dark-haired man, who did. Gwaine took a long drink from it. A bandit took a swing, and Gwaine ducked, then punched the bandit. He turned back to the young man.

"What do they call you, then?"

"Merlin."

The two men shook hands, and Gwaine said his own name. "Pleasure to meet you."

He turned, hearing someone approach, and he broke the jug in his hand on the head of the bandit.

"Such a waste."

As the brawl continued, Gwaine saw Dagr brandish his dagger, about to stab the blond man. He threw himself in the way. In the fall, he managed to knock Dagr out, but he felt ever second of the blade going into his leg. He tried to stand, but his knees gave out, and before he hit the ground, he lost consciousness.

/-/

Leon watched Krysia from the battlements as she had a conversation with a young maid in the courtyard. He startled when a hand touched his arm, and he bowed hurriedly when he turned to find the Lady Morgana beside him.

"My lady," he said. "Can I assist you with something?"

"No, no, I just noticed you were…distracted," Morgana said, smiling. "She looks lovely today, doesn't she?"

Leon didn't know what to say, so he said nothing, unable to stop himself from looking at the courtyard again. Krysia examined a brush the maid handed her, checking the bristles.

"You know, some women appreciate secret admirers," Morgana said. "They find it romantic."

"I don't believe Krysia is such a woman," Leon said, bowing his head again. "Enjoy this fine day, my lady."

He had the sense that Morgana was watching him walk away, but he didn't dare look back to see the pity in her eyes.

/-/

Krysia had just arrived back for the evening and was about to ask why Merlin and Arthur weren't back yet when both of them entered abruptly, and the man they were carrying was shockingly familiar. She stood, still and silent, watching them carry Gwaine in, watching Gaius usher them into the chamber she and Merlin shared, and then she realized she should follow them.

They put him on the bed, and Gaius was examining a wound on Gwaine's leg. She couldn't breathe.

"Merlin," Gaius said, "fetch me some fresh water, towels, needle and a silk thread."

"And honey?" Merlin said.

"You're learning." Arthur gave Gaius a confused look, and Gaius said, "It helps fight the infection."

"But he'll be alright?" Arthur said.

"Providing he's strong."

Strong was the very word Krysia would have used to describe Gwaine, but it didn't make her feel better to hear. Even the strong had their breaking points.

"He's that, all right," Arthur said. "The man saved my life, Gaius. He's to be given anything he needs."

He left, and Krysia stood, silent, watching Gaius work on Gwaine's wound, not sure what to do or say, but feeling that she was failing him by doing nothing.

/-/

In the morning, Krysia put off going to work as long as she could possibly justify, sitting beside Gwaine while he slept. Gaius told her that there wouldn't be a guarantee that he would wake with so much blood lost, but she thought she might be able to will him awake.

He did groan just as she was standing to leave, and she paused, watching him open his eyes.

He smiled at her and said, "This is a dream."

"I swear it isn't," she said. "I wish I could stay but I have to go to work."

"No, you don't," he said, raising an arm to her.

She couldn't stop smiling, and she did sit down beside him, taking his hand. He kissed her fingers lingeringly.

"Stay," he said. "Stay with me."

"I can't," she said. "I've stayed too long already. But I'll be back later, I promise."

She leaned and kissed him, and he kissed her back, trying to pull her into the bed with him. Krysia laughed and started to leave.

"Wait," he said, sitting up. "Where am I, lovely?"

"You're in Camelot," she said.

/-/

Gwaine had half a mind to go after her, but as soon as he went to swing his legs out of the bed, he felt a stab of soreness and immediately gave up the plan. Merlin, the man from the tavern, entered with a plate of food.

"What am I doing in this bed?" Gwaine said.

"You were wounded," Merlin said. "Arthur wanted to make sure that you were treated by his physician."

"Arthur?"

"Prince Arthur," Merlin said, smiling. "You saved his life."

The blond, Gwaine realized. He took the food and tried it.

"If I had know who he was," Gwaine said between bites, "I probably wouldn't have." Merlin looked confused, so Gwaine said, "He's a noble."

"Yeah, but he's a good man," Merlin said.

Gwaine snorted and said, "If you say so."

"Well," Merlin said brightly, "you're a hero. The king wants to thank you in person."

Gwaine almost spat out his tea, he was so shocked and horrified. Kings were not his favorite people, and from what he'd heard all his life about Uther, he seemed like the worst of the lot.

"Please, no," he said. "I've met a few kings… Once you've met one, you've met them all."

"He'll probably give you an award."

"I'm not interested," Gwaine said. "Besides, I've got everything I need right here."

He patted his bag, which Mary must have given them when they brought him with them. The gesture made him feel a bit sad, though, thinking of Krysia and how whatever was going on here, she didn't seem to have mentioned to this man she must know that she knew Gwaine.

"Why did you help us?" Merlin said.

Gwaine considered the question. It was a complicated answer, too complicated to explain. How did he begin to express that he'd taken a job with the father and step-mother of the tavern owner once upon a time so he could always be in Willowdale whenever Krysia happened to be there because nothing in life had ever seemed as important as gathering every moment in her presence that fate would give him?

"Your chances looked between slim and none," Gwaine said with a shrug. "I guess I just kind of liked the look of those odds."

Merlin didn't seem to understand, but as he was about to leave Gwaine to finish his breakfast, Gwaine sat up a bit straighter and said, "Hey, the girl who was here when I woke."

"Yeah, Krysia," Merlin said.

"She…she works for the physician?"

"Sort of," Merlin said, amused. "Not really. She lives here. That's her bed actually, next to the one you're in."

"Is it?" Gwaine said, looking at it. "So if she doesn't work for the physician, where was she off to in such a rush?"

Merlin, looked almost wry as he said, "She's the head of King Uther's servants. She was going to serve his breakfast personally."

It suddenly made sense to Gwaine, why she never felt like she could just run away with him, why she didn't want to talk about where she was from or what she did, just that she was a servant. The man who killed her family, the man he'd heard not a good word about his whole life, this man relied on her for breakfast and god knows what all else.

"Oh, Krysia," he sighed when he was alone with his bread. "What are we going to do about you, lovely?"

/-/

Krysia was making a trip to the well when she saw the mass of people arriving for the melee. The melee was always her least favorite tournament, between the extra work of so many knights gathered from all around and the memories it stirred up of Sir Bors's death. Leon's elder brother had been a bright star, the right hand of the king, perhaps the most promising knight. His death in the melee several years gone had never been fully discussed, and many said it was that heartbreak that killed their mother, Lady Evaine. Krysia had sat by her side trying to feed her for a weak before it was clear there was nothing to save her.

Geraint, talking with a few knights who had made the journey, waved her down, grinning.

"Krysia, you're not smiling on a beautiful day," he said. "Come, I'm going to spar with Leon. You should come with me. You should give him a favor."

He winked, and Krysia nearly dropped the water she'd gathered.

"He told you about that?" she said.

"Told me about what?" Geraint said.

"Nothing," she said quickly, realizing that he'd just been teasing. She should have known.

Geraint did not let the matter go, grinning and leaning into the idea, taking the water from her hands so he had an excuse to walk with her.

"No, no," he said. "Tell me everything."

"I think it's typically safer to tell you nothing," she said sternly. "Now, give me that, will you? Go meet Leon and beat each other senseless. I've work to do."

"This conversation isn't over," Geraint said when she took the water and walked away.

She certainly hoped that it was, because the last thing anyone ever needed was Geraint stirring anything up.

/-/

Gwaine sat up and tested his leg. The physician had checked him and said that while he would be sore, he should be alright to walk around, and in fact it was encouraged, provided he wasn't too vigorous. He pulled on his boots and heard the chiming of a bell. He threw open the window and looked out on the city, full of things to do, places to see, and people to meet. It was full of possibilities, but there was only one thing on his mind.

Where, in all this activity, might Krysia be?

/-/

Krysia had neared the end of the lower town when she startled, seeing Gwaine approaching. She didn't know why, but she felt the urge to hide. It was foolish, it was senseless, but she was almost embarrassed to come across him in the streets of Camelot.

Too late, he had seen her, and he snatched a flower from a passerby, wielding it for her.

"I believe this belongs to you," he said.

"Does that line ever work?" she said, allowing him to put the flower in her hair.

"Not sure," he said. "I've never tried it before. You shouldn't be carrying that, lovely."

"Of course I should," she said, continuing walking. He walked with her. "It's my job."

"Lugging water for a king," he said. She inhaled, and he said, "Merlin told me. But you see, a princess shouldn't be doing this kind of labor."

"I'm not a princess," she said.

"You are," he said, taking the water from her, more gently than Geraint had. "You are to me."

Krysia stopped, staring up at him. He stopped, too, and she only half-noticed when he set down the water. He took her hands in his, and she thought for a wild moment that he might kiss her there in the street, in full view of everyone, but instead he took her hands and kissed her fingers again, brushing his lips lovingly over her knuckles.

"You can't spare me an hour?" he whispered.

Gods, she wanted to. She wanted to spare him all her hours. Just standing with him was a kind of warm and pleasant feeling that was so overwhelming it its power that she couldn't align it with the other factors of her life: her chores, the normalcy of being home, the melancholy and dread of the melee. None of those things fit with the sensation of being with Gwaine.

"I can't even spare me an hour," she said with a weak laugh. "I will see you tonight, though, after work."

"When you're totally exhausted, coming in too late," he said, "and then you won't have the energy to enjoy any time with me. Darling—"

"I have to go," she said, squeezing his fingers. She gathered up the water, and she didn't notice that the flower was missing from her hair until she was most of the way to the castle. It must have fallen, she realized, and the disappointment from that realization was stronger and more bitter than it had any right to be.

/-/

Krysia was a bit disappointed that night, sitting around the table with Merlin and Gaius, that Gwaine wasn't there. She had a guess where he might have got to, but he was right, she didn't have the energy to go to the tavern to look for him. He would come back when he was ready, and she hoped he wasn't cross with her for any reason.

Merlin was slurping his soup vigorously, and Krysia kept looking at the door, and Gaius said to Krysia, "Our young guest will return soon enough, I'm sure."

"Yes," Krysia said, forcing a smile. "Yes, he…he will. I'm just thinking, he may tire his leg."

"He'll be fine," Gaius said. "Merlin, it's hard to work out whether you're eating or inhaling that soup."

"I haven't had anything all day," Merlin said. "Sir Oswald had me at his beck and call."

"How is he?" Gaius said.

"I hadn't realized he arrived," Krysia said, "I'd have sent something to his room."

"He's awful," Merlin said. "He treats me like dirt.

Gaius and Krysia looked at each other with surprise over the table.

"That doesn't sound like the young man I knew," Gaius said. "He struck me as a rather kind and thoughtful soul."

"Then he must've changed," Merlin said.

Krysia shook her head and said, "No, he was so sweet. He used to sneak me lemon cakes from the kitchens when we were children."

"I knew that must have been him," Gaius said sternly. "You were sick for days. You weren't meant to be eating food so rich while your stomach was recovering. Merlin, you must remember that not all masters are as good to their servants as Arthur."

Merlin spat his soup in surprise, getting the pea soup all over Gaius's face. Merlin and Krysia both stared at Gaius in shock, but the physician just blinked.

"Thank you, Merlin," Gaius said softly.

"Sorry," Merlin said weakly.

Krysia passed Gaius a cloth to clean his face, and the door opened. Gwen peeked in, looking nervous.

"Merlin," Gwen said, "I think you need to come with me."

Krysia didn't have to ask. She had a feeling anywhere Gwaine was, he was trouble, so she followed Merlin and Gwen out the door and only hoped that he was being foolish and not lying in a ditch somewhere bleeding out from pulled stitches. And if he was merely being foolish and she found him drunk out of his mind in the tavern, well, she might just kill him herself.

A/N:

So, yes, this has two chapters. That means MORE GWAINE next chapter, which will be out today or tomorrow. I'm also really glad that I'm on a break from work for most of this week, because y'all, we've got so much big stuff coming in the next few chapters. I'm buzzing with excitement. I just want to tell you all everything, but that would be the wrong choice, naturally.

To tatysantannag:

Bem-vindo e obrigado! That's the extent of my Portuguese. Thanks so much for your kind words, you didn't say anything wrong at all! I'm so glad you decided to leave a review. I'd been feeling a little put out that no one had reviewed in a while, and then I got two lovely reviews in one day, including yours! It was a bright spot I definitely needed, so thank you!

-C