Author's notes: I am sorry about leaving you all on a cliff hanger last time, but I couldn't resist! I hope this chapter will mean that you hang up these pitch forks for the moment.

I tried to answer all my reviewers, but if I have missed anyone out, I'm sorry, and I will try to get round to you all. Once again, the number of the reviews made me feel happy and very grateful.

To the guests who I can't reply to, thank you for leaving your thoughts. I am sorry to those who don't like where I am taking this story. As I said before, I can only write what comes into my head. I can only commit to my own ideas; how I saw the show and the characters and how I see them developing in my continuation of S5 Ep13.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however, so please continue to send me your thoughts... good and bad. I hope there is something in the rest of my story which you will enjoy.

Chapter Thirty-two

The Ladies of Camelot - Guinevere

Gaius and Isledir had installed Morgana in Merlin's old room, which the Druid Chief was occupying at present. However Iseldir felt confident he could find a bed elsewhere, if indeed he had time to sleep in the coming hours. There was much to do to save Lady Morgana's life.

Lingering in the doorway, Sir Kay watched anxiously as both physician and Druid worked on the woman he had grown fond of in the last few days, but going by Gaius' expression, he wasn't hopeful for Morgana's chances at life.

He knew she'd been stabbed. He'd seen the wicked knife penetrate her chest, yet the bleeding seemed minimal. Surely that was a good thing? But he was a warrior; he'd seen such wounds before... wounds which from the outside looked innocuous, but the victim had died. And the blade used on Morgana had been narrow and long.

"How is she?" he asked, trepidation colouring his voice.

"We can't say and you're getting in the way," Gaius huffed over his shoulder, his hands light yet probing as he checked the wound of his patient, whose breathing scarcely stirred the air around her. "Kay, you can do more for Morgana if you leave now. I'm sure Arthur will need you for something."

There was a commotion at the outside door and a voice calling. "Gaius?"

As if by telekinesis The King had arrived.

Gaius rose shakily to his feet. Getting rid of Kay might not be troublesome, but Arthur was a different kettle of fish.

"Gaius, we need your help!" Arthur shouted, his tone tight with fear.

"Gaius, we really do," Merlin reiterated and though he sounded calmer, there was definitely a warning in his words.

Iseldir looked up, placing his hand on the harassed older man. "Go see what they want. I'll take care of Morgana."

With a nod of thanks, Gaius hurried to the outer room, talking as he went. "As I've said to Kay here, we can't tell you Morgana's chances..." The words dried up in his throat as he saw the burden which Arthur carried so tenderly. "Good grief! What has happened? Quickly, put her down here," he said, hurrying to his bench and clearing it by decisively sweeping everything atop it to the floor.

"We don't really know, but she's bleeding." Merlin answered with misgiving as Arthur laid Guinevere down, retaining his hold on her hand.

"Arthur..." But Gaius got no further.

"Gaius, don't ask me to leave... please. I can't." In tune with his words, Arthur tightened his grasp on his wife's hand. "I won't!"

"I thought you and Merlin were riding out tonight," Gaius said, hoping to invoke Arthur's sense of duty, but if any one person came before Arthur's love for his people it was Guinevere... and now there was a child's life at stake too.

"I can't leave without knowing how badly Guinevere is injured!"

Gaius gave a tired smile and relented. "Then stay by Gwen's head, Sire, where you won't be a hindrance. Merlin, help me cut away The Queen's gown so I can see where this blood is coming from."

While Merlin and Gaius busied themselves, Arthur perched on a stool next to Gwen. His loving fingers gently traced her features and stroked her sweat damp hair, but he couldn't prevent his gaze from straying to where his two friends hovered over Gwen's injuries.

There came a quiet knocking on the door, and again a voice called out. "Sire, it's Gilli and William here. How is the Queen? We know what happened. William saw it all!"

That news caught Arthur's attention sufficiently and, with a last anxious glance at his wife, he marched to the door, opening it only a small way and standing in the crack, shielding Gwen from their gaze.

"You saw it?" he asked, stress sharpening his voice and countenance, which caused Will to shrink somehow.

"Yes, Sire... and I would have tried to help, but I couldn't get through the crowd in time. I'm sorry," Will added, sounding more like the unsure farmer Arthur had met so many years ago.

"No. It's I who am sorry, Will." Arthur schooled his face and voice to appear more sympathetic, though all his attention was focussed on Guinevere and their child. "This wasn't your fault. I'm just sick with worry. In your own time, tell me what you saw."

William took a deep breath and thought carefully before replying. "It was the same man who stabbed Lady Morgana. After you struck him, he lurched sideways with the knife still in his hand. Queen Guinevere was coming to your aid and they stumbled into each other before he fell. I think he slashed out at her with his dying breath, cause I saw him later and he was surely dead." William closed his eyes and clenched his hands together. "Sire, I did try to get up the stairs, but the crush was too strong. People couldn't move they were that shocked."

The King laid his hand on William's shoulder. "Thank you, William. You did all that you could, and thank you for coming to tell us what you saw. I'm sure Gaius will find your information invaluable." Trust his Guinevere to rush towards danger when trying to protect himself. His mind recoiled at the knowledge that because of his actions, though unintentional, his wife was hurt and now was lying on Gaius' work bench. Yet recognising the concern in the faces of the men before him, Arthur's instinctive compassion shone through. These friends had given their service both freely and completely. "Now I have to go, but thank you both for your help with... with everything. Please, don't leave Camelot before I can speak with you again."

"Arthur?" The sound of Guinevere's tremulous voice reached him from behind the door. "Arthur? Where is Arthur?" Hysteria edged her soft tones.

"I really have to go," Arthur said, bowing his head to these unlikely champions before closing the door quickly and almost running across the floor. "I'm here, Guinevere. I'm here." He picked up her hand and held it to his lips.

"You're not hurt?" Gwen struggled to sit up, but Arthur gently held her down.

"Gwen, please," Gaius said as he peeled back Gwen's underskirts to reveal a long gash in her thigh. "You must stay still. This is a nasty wound, but thankfully not a deep one. The bleeding makes it seem worse than it is."

The King's stare had focussed on his wife's leg, his eyes narrowing and his skin blanching at the sight of the blood still running down her skin.

"Arthur?" Gwen asked again, tightening her hold on his hands and shaking them to gain his attention. "Are you hurt?"

"Me?" Arthur's wide-eyed gaze came back to Gwen's face. "No, sweetheart. I'm fine. Truly. It's you who are injured. Gaius wants you to lie still."

"I do," the physician agreed, using his magnifying glass to study the long laceration. "This will be tricky work. Merlin, I need needle and thread and bandages... and yarrow to stop the bleeding and honey to prevent infection. Oh, you know what to do!" Gaius was already pouring water from a pot hanging over the brazier into a bowl, his hands moving quickly for an old man as he cleansed the wound and sterilized his instruments. He looked up and addressed his queen, the girl he'd known and cared for over many years. "I'm afraid, my dear, this is going to hurt, but I'll be as fast as I can. Arthur, can you hold Gwen's leg down and don't let it move."

The King didn't seem to hear.

"Arthur... please, do as I say," Gaius requested authoritatively. "You can help Gwen best by keeping her leg still while I treat her."

"Why?" Arthur looked up, at last, slightly bemused. "Why are you doing all this?" He swept his free hand over the paraphernalia laid out to treat Guinevere. "Can't Merlin just... magic her better or something?"

In the midst of his preparations, Merlin stilled. "Arthur? You can't be serious?"

"I am. What's the point of you having magic if you can't use it to help Guinevere?" Arthur asked, though his question sounded more like an order.

Merlin shook his head, returning to his task. "Arthur, I'll use healing spells if there is no other remedy. But Gwen's injury isn't life threatening. Besides, no one knows better than you that healing spells don't always work. They can go wrong. Remember your father!" He came back to the table carrying a small dish which held the fine powder he'd prepared.

"But you said that was because of Morgana's enchanted pendant!" Arthur said somewhat petulantly.

"And it was... But I'm not always proficient at healing magic," Merlin excused himself. "I really need to train more. I'm sorry..."

On the table, Gwen had been listening to their exchange in silence, while steeling herself against the impending hurt of Gaius' treatment, but now she lost patience with them both. "Stop it! Now!" she commanded, every inch a queen, though lying prone, uncomfortable and in pain. "No one will use magic. Have you forgotten I am with child? I will not risk my life or my baby's in some stupid deal with The Triple Goddess, or whoever it is who makes the rules, about the natural balance of the world being maintained. I will not give them the chance to demand a life."

"Oh, my child," Gaius exclaimed. "There is no need for you to fear such an outcome. You're not about to die and not everyone demands such a sacrifice. Now, if these two will let me continue with the surgery, you will soon feel much better." With that last stricture, Gaius threw a withered look at both The King and The Warlock of Camelot. "Gentlemen? Shall we begin to help Gwen?"

"Sorry," Merlin said quickly.

"Indeed, Gaius. Sorry." Arthur took his place by Gwen's injured leg. "Forgive me, Guinevere. I only thought..."

"You didn't think, Arthur," Gwen said faintly, as she laid her head down. She looked both pale and weak.

"Arthur, let me do this," Merlin advised, pushing Arthur to the head of the bench again. "Go sit with Gwen and bathe her forehead."

Very meekly, Arthur did as he was bid and within a shorter period of time than he'd believed possible, Gaius was tying off the bandage around Gwen's leg while Merlin cleared away the dirty cloths and used implements.

"Gwen, I want you to drink this," Gaius instructed while he handed a small vial to Arthur. "It's a sedative, Sire. It will help her sleep and take away the pain."

Sliding an arm beneath his queen's shoulders, Arthur supported her while she swallowed the potion. Yet she didn't need the sedative, her lids closing of their own volition over her pain-filled brown eyes. She did manage to send Arthur a tiny smile before falling asleep.

"Gaius, thank you," Arthur whispered, calmer now he believed his beloved Guinevere to be safe. "Can we move her to the royal chambers?"

"I'd rather not, Sire. I want to keep her leg immobile, at least, for tonight. Let's see how she is tomorrow before we think of moving her. You can have a bed brought in here for The Queen."

At once, Arthur was alert to the underlying worry he heard in the old physician's voice. He quickly looked to Merlin before addressing Gaius. "She is going to be all right, isn't she?"

"Barring infections, her wound should heal well... but she is pregnant, Arthur. Any trauma can complicate things."

"You're saying she could lose the baby?"

Gaius was washing his hands, and as he finished, he took the towel Merlin offered. "There is a slight possibility, but I don't think we should borrow trouble, Arthur. For the moment, Gwen and the baby are safe and hopefully they will stay that way. Now why don't you go and organise a more comfortable bed for Gwen while I check on our other patient."

"Morgana!" Arthur sounded horrified. "Yeah gods! I'd almost forgotten. How is she?"

As soon as Arthur had ordered a comfortable bed for Guinevere and saw her gently installed therein with Mary Howden to nurse her, he turned all of his attention to Morgana's plight. Unfortunately, like Kay, he too was ordered into the outer room and told to be patient, in no uncertain terms, by both Gaius and Iseldir. It chafed him only a little that Merlin was invited into his old room to confer with both healers. He folded his arms across his chest, after pushing a desolate Kay onto a stool, and settled himself to wait.

But Arthur would not be held back forever, and Merlin understood that well. So it was that very shortly he sent Gaius to talk to his friend who was also Morgana's next of kin.

"Arthur," Gaius called softly as he came slowly and almost reluctantly down the short stairway.

Immediately, Arthur left his stance at the foot of Gwen's bed to obey Gaius' summons, but trepidation kept him silent. He merely offered this man who had selflessly cared for all The Pendragons his arm, leading Gaius to his narrow cot where he sank thankfully onto the mattress. Judging by Gaius' pallor and the trembling of the thin-skinned hand that clung to him for support, Arthur knew the physician was near the end of his tether. So he waited with as much restraint as he could muster for Gaius to speak.

"Sire, I'm afraid I bear you no good news," Gaius said, looking up at this brave young man through rheumy eyes. "It's strange, but Morgana's injury is almost identical to that of your father's all those years ago... and I'm afraid the outcome is no better. Morgana is dying."

There were a few moments where time seemed to stand still for Arthur as he digested these words. History was repeating itself. But that couldn't be true? In that room with his sister were two powerful warlocks... and though Merlin had inferred his healing skills weren't perfect, Isledir had cured people before. Leon was living proof of that fact.

"That can't be, Gaius. Surely between them Iseldir and Merlin can cure her?"

"Arthur, perhaps in these last few days, you've developed a higher expectancy of magic than is realistic. Given the circumstances, that's not surprising." Gaius's shoulders drooped and he looked very much like the seventy-year old man he was. "Merlin is a powerful warlock, yet he couldn't cure you..."

"Because I still bear the shard of a sword forged in a dragon's breath," Arthur intoned, trying to understand Gaius' meaning. "That can't be true of Morgana. Alvarr withdrew the knife. He had to since he struck Guinevere straight afterwards. Besides, the knife couldn't have been forged by a dragon. There are only two dragons... well, one now, and I'm certain Alvarr never came in contact with either."

"Probably not," Gaius agreed tiredly.

Arthur took a quick turn about the room, ending by the foot of the stairs leading to Merlin's old chamber. He gazed intently at the door. "If Merlin is reluctant to treat her for some strange reason I cannot fathom, then Iseldir surely can."

"Iseldir has already tried, but without success. He believes only The Cup of Life could help Morgana and he doesn't know where that is."

"But doesn't using The Cup of Life entail sacrificing another's life?" Arthur's mobile lips pursed. There was still so much about magic he didn't understand.

Gaius' equally mobile eyebrow flew upwards. "As I told Gwen before, that doesn't always follow. If you remember, Sir Leon was saved by the cup in the hands of Iseldir and I don't believe anyone died in his place."

"Are you suggesting it was only Nimueh who enforced that condition?"

"Arthur, my boy, if you're asking me if Nimueh caused your mother's death, I cannot say for sure. I believe she knew that in creating your life another life would have to be taken, but I would swear that she didn't know who would die." Gaius locked his hands together to still their trembling. He felt too old. He'd seen too much... but then he hadn't seen enough. "Perhaps there is a distinction between creating a life and saving a life. Yet, when Merlin saved yours after you were bitten by the Questing Beast by making you drink the water from the cup, Nimueh insisted on redressing the balance of the world by another's death. Merlin fought her with everything he had and Nimueh died instead of his mother or me, thus the world was again in balance."

Sitting down beside Gaius, Arthur said thoughtfully, "Perhaps the distinction is less in the magic deed itself and more in the person who carries out those deeds."

"You may have a point, Sire. Nimueh was a High Priestess, while Iseldir is a Druid. They both follow The Old Religion, but there are many paths to that religion. When I was a young man, it was noted that I had some gifts... though I never aspired to the talents of Merlin. Back then, sorcery was accepted and I was apprenticed to learn the healing arts. Along the way I learned some other enchantments, but I was never initiated into the ranks of the great sorcerers. I was certainly never welcomed on The Isle of the Blessed where young women were taught to be either High Priestesses or their acolytes. I'm afraid most of my knowledge of their doctrines has been learned through reading books." He gestured to the many laden shelves which lined his chamber. "And hearsay, of course."

"Yet for all that, you know much more than I," Arthur gave a small, worn out smile. "To be honest, though I now realise that not all magic users are evil, I cannot bring myself to trust in High Priestesses. My dealings with the ones I've met haven't been exactly sympathetic."

"Well, they have been trying to kill you in revenge." Gaius returned his lopsided grin. "Hopefully, they'll be prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt in the future. Morgana certainly has had a change of heart."

"And will die for her pains," Arthur murmured softly. "I could almost wish that she hadn't. Isn't there any hope, Gaius?"

Gaius allowed his hand to rest on Arthur's shoulder. "There's always hope, my boy. But I must counsel you that in this case it's a very slim hope." The old man sighed, hating to pass on this next piece of alarming news. "Alvarr was a sorcerer and we suspect that the blade he used in his assassination attempt was enchanted."

"Enchanted? How so?" Arthur asked, his brow furrowing.

"He wanted to ensure you died, Arthur. At first, Iseldir believed the metal might be poisoned, but neither one of us could detect any sign of that... but there is a strong enchantment attached to the knife."

Arthur stood abruptly, his stare again locked on the wooden door as if by the power of his mind he could see what was happening within. "So it is similar to the shard inside my chest?"

"Alvarr doesn't have the power of a dragon," Gaius huffed dismissively. "And the knife remains intact..."

"But? There is a but, Gaius. Isn't there?"

"Indeed." For some seconds the old physician looked everywhere but at his king. "This enchantment could increase the likelihood that the injury would be lethal ... unless Merlin or Iseldir can find some way to counteract the spell."

Taking a deep breath, Arthur perused this new and distressing information when suddenly his whole being felt cold as ice. "Gaius! Guinevere was also wounded by that knife!"

"Arthur, Guinevere's wound was a second strike, which could very well lessen the potency of the incantation."

"Can you be sure of that?"

Again there was a silence which Gaius seemed reluctant to break, but Arthur deserved the truth. "Not totally. But I'm sure Merlin will succeed..."

It appeared Arthur was no longer listening. Silently he crossed to the screen which surrounded Gwen's bed and silently he sank to his knees by her side. His golden head came to rest on Guinevere's open hand.

Not quite another cliff hanger and keep in mind I too like a happy ending, though not a completely unrealistic one.

I hope you can all wait until next week to find out Morgana's fate.

Please review as I'm thrilled to read all your thoughts.