A/N: Thank you SnidgetHex, GuestM, PadrePedro, Buckhunter, and Guest for reviewing! Final chapter!
Chapter 7
Gwen couldn't get up even if she wanted to. When the next sequence of crippling pain hit, she thought it was just more of Sarrock's potion. It took her several minutes to realize this was different. And then her water broke.
Gwen cried out with the next contraction, and the unicorn leaned in to try to brace her. Her screams must have resounded beyond the cell walls because it wasn't long before Sarrock came in. He took up position against the opposite wall and merely watched, a manic gleam of anticipation in his eyes.
Tears streamed down Gwen's face and she silently pleaded to the gods that the baby not come; she couldn't let Sarrock take it.
But his potions had taken control of her body, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
The unicorn magic worked, instantly restoring everyone who'd been stung by a scorpion. Even Percival after the failed antidote had potentially made him worse was fully healed.
"And I know how to find Gwen," Merlin told Arthur and the knights.
That spurred Arthur into action. "Then let's go."
"I'll get some healing supplies and come with you," Lily said. "Just in case."
Arthur nodded at that, expression pinching at the reminder that Gwen had been missing for so long already.
The knights went to arm themselves while Merlin headed for the stables to get the horses saddled. Then they all rendezvoused in the courtyard and rode out together, Merlin leading the way back into the woods where he'd encountered the unicorns.
But the unicorns didn't respond to his mental call, and he realized they wouldn't reveal themselves to anyone but their Keeper.
"I need to go on alone," Merlin said, dismounting. "I'll be right back."
"Are you sure?" Gwaine asked.
"The unicorns are understandably shy," he replied. "But they say they can help us find Gwen."
So the others stayed put while Merlin made his way a good distance away, calling for the unicorns. Only one stepped out of the thick foliage to greet him.
"Can you show me the trail to the unicorn?" he asked.
The majestic creature lowered its head to the ground, touching the tip of its horn to the dirt. Silvery light spilled out, then went running like a rivulet of glistering starlight through the forest and beyond.
"Thank you," Merlin said. "I'll do my best to rescue your kin."
The unicorn bowed its head and retreated back into the forest.
Merlin returned to the others and climbed onto his horse. "This way."
He rode back to the spot where the trail started, then turned to follow it. It led through the forest and out to a steep gully where an ancient fortress sat hidden at its base. And the sparkling trail led right inside.
Gwen screamed as another contraction hit. She was drenched in sweat and trembling, with no one to help her through this. Not that she wanted Sarrock to touch her, but him standing a few feet away watching was just as mortifying. She didn't want to push, but her body's natural instinct compelled her to anyway. She felt the baby finally pass and the pressure released. A high-pitched cry filled the cell.
Gwen tried to lift herself up to look, but she was too weak, and Sarrock was already striding forward. He knelt at her feet for a moment, then stood up, a messy, flailing infant in his arms.
"No, please," Gwen begged, grabbing fistfuls of hay to drag herself toward him, though the straw slid right beneath her hands.
Sarrock wrapped the baby in a blanket and then walked out without a word, leaving Gwen sobbing on the floor. The unicorn at her back neighed in protest, but there was nothing for it. Sarrock had taken her baby. She didn't even know if it was a boy or girl.
Gwen rolled onto her side on the floor, wracked with gut-wrenching crying. She was in so much pain, though it was growing distant, she realized. And she was feeling dizzy.
She lifted her head to look down and found a large pool of blood growing out around her legs. Gwen whimpered and gave her chains a feeble tug. She couldn't do anything, and no help was coming. She was going to bleed out in this cell and never see her child or husband again. She choked on a broken sob.
The unicorn shifted, trying to angle its head around, and touched the tip of its stumped horn to Gwen's chest. A coolness spread through her, soothing the pain and melting away the weakness and trembling. Her head cleared, and she didn't feel as though she were dying anymore.
For all the good it did them both.
The knights rode up to the edge of the fortress and Arthur was just dismounting when Sarrock himself emerged. The former knight's eyes widened in surprise.
"Sarrock!" Arthur bellowed, drawing his sword and storming forward. The man's arms were full and he didn't have a weapon drawn. But then the bundle emitted a sound that stopped them all in their tracks. It was a baby.
Sarrock's eyes lit with glee. "Meet your son, Arthur. Or, I should say, my son now. I'm going to take him and raise him as my own."
Arthur's mouth moved soundlessly as he gaped, gobsmacked. That couldn't be his; Gwen was only a few months pregnant.
"Where's Gwen?" Elyan demanded.
Sarrock flicked his gaze to Elyan before returning it to Arthur, though his next words were addressed to the knight. "I'm surprised you're still alive." His expression hardened. "I'm surprised all of you seem unscathed by the recent misfortunes. But I can fix that."
Keeping one arm supporting the baby, he thrust his other hand out and cast a large fireball at them. Merlin leaped in to deflect it, dispersing the flames to the sides. When they cleared, Sarrock was already running the opposite direction, deeper into the gully. Arthur immediately gave chase, shouting for the man to stop.
Sarrock waved his arm to the right, and the ground abruptly began to shake, loosening rocks from the cliff side and sending them tumbling down toward the pursuing knights. Arthur didn't slow but barreled through the showering rocks, dodging them left and right. He couldn't let Sarrock escape with his child.
Merlin wasn't firing offensive spells like he normally would for risk of hurting the baby, but he made a wave rise up from the shallow stream to crash down in Sarrock's path to at least slow him down.
Lily was running alongside them all as well, and she used her magic to pull some thick brambles from the rocky outcroppings and send them lashing around Sarrock in an effort to restrain him.
He snarled angrily and ignited them with fire, burning the shoots away. But it had slowed him enough that Arthur and Leon caught up to him at the same time, and they both lunged to grab him. Arthur wrestled with the former knight as Leon ducked in to snatch the baby out of Sarrock's arms. Sarrock yelled in outrage and wrenched away from Arthur, then drew Excalibur from his belt. Arthur raised his sword in turn, and the blades collided with a strident clang.
Arthur threw his entire force and fury into each blow, for Gwen, for his child. He was driving Sarrock back, but then the former knight turned sorcerer uttered a spell, and an invisible concussion slammed into Arthur, knocking him flat to the ground. Sarrock strode over, sword raised.
"You're a weakling for not seeing how much power magic gives you," he sneered.
Arthur saw Merlin take up position to his right, now with a clear shot, and he looked back at Sarrock. "With power comes responsibility. That's what you could never see."
Sarrock's nostrils flared with rage and he raised Excalibur. Merlin's eyes flashed gold, and Sarrock went flying across the gully with such force that he hit the opposite cliff side with a bone-crunching impact. His body crumpled to the ground. Expression grim at having to take a life, Merlin went to pick up Excalibur.
Arthur scrambled to his feet and turned to Leon urgently. "Is he…?"
"He's okay," Leon replied, holding the infant protectively.
Arthur approached tentatively and gazed down at the small child. He still couldn't fathom how that was supposed to be his son. "Gwen," he breathed in horror.
With Sarrock dead, they all turned and rushed into the fortress, shouting for Guinevere. Muffled yelling emanated from the back, and they found a locked cell door. Merlin blasted it open with magic and Arthur pushed his way in first. Gwen was on the floor in chains, sitting next to a unicorn of all things. Arthur blinked dubiously at it for a split second before surging forward and dropping to the floor to throw his arms around his wife.
"Arthur," she choked. "It was Sarrock. He took our baby!"
Arthur's mind was awhirl as he took in Gwen's stomach and the blood and fluids glistening on the floor, but he managed to recover enough of his wits to say, "No, he didn't."
Leon came forward and bent down to pass the baby to Gwen. She let out a sob of relief as she took him in her arms and pressed her forehead to his, tears streaming down her cheeks. The baby fussed and kicked against the swaddled blanket.
Gwen lifted her head and fumbled with the blanket's edge, pulling it back to take a look. "It's a boy," she breathed.
"Yeah," Arthur said, overcome with wonder as well. "It is. But, um…he's early," he said dumbly.
Gwen made another choking sound that might have been a strained laugh or sob, or both. "Sarrock used magic," she said.
Arthur's jaw tightened. "He's dead now."
Gwen closed her eyes in relief and nuzzled her son again.
Lily finally interrupted their reunion, carrying her satchel of medicinal plants. Her eyes were worried as she looked Gwen over. "That's a lot of blood…"
Gwen nodded, then craned her neck to look behind her. "The unicorn healed me."
While Lily dug out some plants to help rejuvenate Gwen, Merlin used his magic to undo the chains on both her and the unicorn. Gwen seemed relatively unhurt, though Arthur wanted to get her back to Camelot as quickly as possible. He touched her elbow to prompt her into getting up, drawing her gaze away from their son. She finally seemed to notice the others crowding the doorway, and her eyes widened.
"Elyan!"
He moved forward to join the huddle on the floor, and Gwen grasped desperately at his sleeve.
"You're alive! I thought you were dead!"
He shook his head. "I'm fine. Everyone's fine. And Sarrock will never hurt anyone again."
Gwen threw an arm around her brother, pulling him in for an awkward hug while trying not to squish the baby between them. Arthur placed a hand on each of them, completing the family circle.
"Let's go home."
Gwen was finally back in Camelot and resting comfortably in her bed with her son in her arms. She was so overjoyed, there were no words to express it.
Arthur stood by the bed, gazing at them both in stunned bewilderment still. "I'd barely gotten used to the idea of becoming a father," he said. "And now suddenly I am one."
"Are you happy, though?" Gwen asked.
"Of course I am!" he exclaimed, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress and clasping her hand.
She faltered. "Even though our son was born of magic?"
Arthur's eyes darkened. "I hate what Sarrock did to you. But magic didn't create this child; we did. And you both are safe and healthy, and that's all that matters." He stroked his thumb across the back of her hand and asked softly, "Are you truly okay?"
She knew he wasn't asking about her physically; after several examinations by Merlin, Gaius, and Lily, they had all concluded that Gwen wasn't suffering any ill effects of having her pregnancy magically sped up. Emotionally though…it had been a horrific ordeal. But it was over now, and as Arthur said, they were all home safe and sound.
"I'm okay," she said with a small smile, then turned her gaze down toward their son. "What are we going to name him?"
Arthur thought about it for a long moment, then said, "Amr."
"Amr," she repeated, smile widening. "Hello, Amr. I'm your mother, and this is your father. And you are loved so very much."
Merlin walked the rescued unicorn back to its home in the forest. "Thank you for saving Gwen," he told it.
The unicorn bowed its head.
Crinkling foliage preceded the herd coming forward to meet them, and Merlin watched the unicorn trot over to be joyfully reunited with its kin. The others surrounded it, nickering and nuzzling it in greeting. Then they collectively stilled and their horns began to glow. Merlin watched in amazement as the magic floated toward the rescued unicorn's stumped horn, and right before his eyes, it grew back.
He smiled and turned to leave, only to stop when he found Anhora's staff standing upright on the ground, without any support, as though waiting for him. He glanced back at the unicorns, who nodded to him. Since he was the Keeper now, he supposed it was his to take.
He walked closer and reverently wrapped his hand around the staff. The magic holding it upright released it into his possession.
Merlin turned back to the unicorns. "Thank you," he said again.
"Thank you, Emrys."
He returned to Camelot just in time for the ceremony presenting Prince Amr to the court. Merlin donned his formal blue cloak, paused to consider the staff, and then decided it complimented his title as court sorcerer and brought it with him to the great hall where everyone from noble to peasant were gathered.
He wove his way through the crowd until he found Lancelot and Lily, each of them holding one of the twins, and took up position beside them.
Lancelot quirked a curious brow at the staff. "Now you're embracing the image?"
Merlin shrugged.
King Arthur and Queen Guinevere came out and stepped up onto the throne dais, Gwen holding a baby bundled in a velvety royal gown.
"People of Camelot," Arthur said, voice projected throughout the hall. "I present to you the Crown Prince and heir, Amr."
Cheers and applause went up from everyone. Merlin beamed as he clapped heartily.
The kingdom of Albion was on the horizon.
