The poultices weren't working. Gwaine wasn't drinking even water, so Gaius couldn't get any medicine into him. The poison seemed to have spread through his whole system and the physician had honestly run out of options. He sat back with a sigh, and pushed Gwaine's hair out of his face, even that indignity didn't get a reaction from the knight. Feeling the eyes and expectations of Percival and Merlin lying heavily on him, Gaius reached for his lancets. He knew in his heart of hearts that this was a hopeless cause, but they'd all lost so much this day that he was willing to try even this. If Gwaine had been awake, had been suffering, he wouldn't have gone this far, as with the poison running through his whole system, in his lungs, this wasn't going to work…but he couldn't bring himself to stop trying just yet. Holding the rag in place to soak up the blood, Gaius carefully opened one of the blackened veins on Gwaine's shoulder, the sharp nick of the lancet blade not even causing a wince from his patient. The blood however ran sluggishly, thick and black from the poison it contained.

Percival stood up with half a mind to protest, but Merlin held his arm, and the sight of Gwaine's blood running black actually caused Percival to step back, out of sight of it. It filled the room with a coppery smell like dirty coin, and Percival had to swallow hard to keep from retching.

"This may help to reduce the amount of poison in his body," Gaius announced, his voice low and steady, not for the benefit of his patient, who didn't so much as stir, but for the pair behind him. He hadn't had a chance to speak with Merlin alone yet, but keeping another friend from dying would do him more good than a hug or word of encouragement right now, so Gaius focused on that—even if his heart told him it was useless. "Merlin, will you mix a yarrow poultice?" There was no telling how long the blood would run black, but Merlin leapt up immediately to work. Merlin touched his elbow with a bowl full of paste, and Gaius nodded.

Gwaine's blood was now coming a bit faster, soaking the cloth, but still quite black in color, and Gaius was faced with a difficult decision: did he stop now before Gwaine bled to death, but risk leaving too much poison coursing through him? Had the poison already blackened all his blood, and there was no more use in bleeding him at all? Or did he let it run until it ran clear, to get as much of the Nathair venom out as possible, even if the loss of blood also weakened him?

Gwaine's sudden, pained attempt to cough, and the black venom that came with it, answered Gaius's unspoken questions and with a regretful sigh, he briefly put pressure on the tiny wound to help it to clot. There was no getting around it. There was nothing else to be done. He cleaned the small cut, and then carefully wiped the venom from Gwaine's lips before dropping the blood soaked rag into a bowl, before standing up with a tired sigh. So much death and they were all so young. They seemed like mere boys to him, playing at soldiers. Standing up, he headed over to stoke up the fire and picked up an extra blanket. There was nothing more to do other than make the man as comfortable as they could. Some days Gaius hated his job, and he turned to the two onlookers knowing he was going to hate what came next even more.

"I am afraid," Gaius began, and with those two words the verdict was already said—Percival turned pale and sat down heavily, and Merlin turned green before he put his face in his hands—but he continued, "the best we can do is keep him comfortable at this stage. There is too much poison in him." The will to live, which Gaius usually put so much stock by, especially in the case of the knights, who were nothing if not spirited, mattered little in this case. But Gwaine seemed to have lost even this.

The room was silent, except that Merlin had begun to sob quietly, and Gaius went to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and drawing him into an embrace. No one spoke for some time, so Gaius took it upon himself, once Merlin had recovered somewhat, to put them to simple tasks.

"Merlin, why don't you build up the fire? Sir Percival, can you see if he wants some water? And even if he's not awake he can probably still hear you, so do talk to him if you want."

This seemed to help, but not much. Percival's legs shook as he stood to move his chair closer. Merlin's eyes were red and he still wept intermittently.

This was how Sir Leon found them, when he returned.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Gaius only shook his head and drew him to the far corner, away from where Percival and Merlin sat over Gwaine's bed.

The darkness in their eyes confirmed what he dared not say out loud, and Leon was for a moment stunned, looking to the old physician for support and finding none.

"Gaius?" he stammered after a moment of silence. "Gaius—can nothing more be done?"

Gaius only shook his head.

Leon's lip quivered, so he bit down on it. Swallowing thickly, "How long?" he asked.

Gaius frowned. "A day, perhaps. Maybe two."

"But not in the next few hours?"

"No, probably not," Gaius said. This sounded like worse news.

Leon was also frowning. "The elders and councilmen wish for the Queen's coronation ceremony to take place as soon as possible. I would not wish to take you from you patient. But Sir Percival ought to be there."

...

A/N: As ever, thank you for your patience, and for your favorites, alerts, and reviews! Special thanks to Effervescent Aardvark for her help writing this chapter!