THE HILL - THE FOREST OF ESITIA
Gwaine awoke on his back.
His arms were spread wide and his mouth was open.
He had been snoring.
There was nothing unusual about that.
What was unusual was the smoke that was billowing over his face through the air, thick and dark, making his face twist and itch.
He coughed and his eyes fluttered, opening to stare through the dawn sky as smoke twisted around trees.
Trees that seemed to be losing their leaves…
A leaf flickered down and Gwaine pushed himself up groggily, his head pounding, as Mordred sat up with a groan.
Both of them turned their heads into the smoke to see the cabin and the hill it had sat on, completely ablaze.
Gwaine's eyes grew wide.
"What!" He shouted as best he could, coughing and stumbling upright.
Mordred pushed himself up.
"No… no no no… not good!" Gwaine stumbled forwards, waving his arms around and shouting hoarsely.
Mordred stared into the smoke that swept over them on the wind.
It was not thick, but it was rising and clear.
If they had been any closer he might have cooked in his chain mail.
"She dragged us down here away… she must have been planning this…" He muttered to Gwaine, looking down at where they had clear been dragged in their sleep.
"No no no…!" Gwaine shouted again, waving his arms as though he thought the action could stop what their queen had so clearly and obviously already done.
They both watched, Mordred in shock, Gwaine in horror, as Gwen stalked towards them, rubbing her hands on her skirtsand wiping her hair away from her soot stained cheeks.
"What have you done?" Gwaine shouted through his pulsing head and tickling lungs.
Mordred stared at her, wide eyes, gasping, "You have burnt all the food, the shelter, my lady…"
"And the ale!" Gwaine cried and his hands flew to his head, as a bang erupted from the blazing small hilltop they were stood at the base of.
It was like a beacon atop the larger hill side they stood on.
If he had cared, he would have realised, as Gwen did, and therefore had done it, that that was the idea.
"Yes, the ale is gone." Gwen declared, wiping her hands on her hips and standing with them on her waist, walking past the two men to stand behind the, staring out away from the blaze over the forest they could see over.
Gwaine stared at her, arms still slightly raised, "Why is the ale gone?"
She spun to face him.
"One, because it is a vile drink, that turns almost all men into complete scoundrels." She snapped.
Gwaine's eyes widened.
Mordred stared at her and inclined his head in agreement, gasping for breath still from the smoke in the air and the shock at what it was that they had woken up to.
"Two," Gwen cried and jutted her hand out towards the flames behind Gwaine, "That signal is over a thousand feet high, my husband the king of Camelot and the entire Camelot army is no doubt out looking for us, do you really think that there is the slightest chance that it won't be seen by someone?"
Silence hung in the air for a moment while Gwaine stared at her in utter despair and shock.
"But why is the ale gone?"
THE FOREST OF ESITIA
"Merlin… Merlin wake up!"
A stiff kick in the young warlocks sides made him grunt and push himself up onto his back.
"Oh… oh what is happening…"
"Look!" Arthur wrenched him to his feet and pointed at the sky, where smoke was hanging like clouds.
"The forest is on fire." Merlin blinked.
"Yes!" Arthur cried, "Someone is trying to signal us."
Merlin blinked, "Gwaine and Mordred…"
"Guinevere." Arthur steed, swinging himself up into his saddle as Merlin heaved himself astride his steed
Merlin shifted, "Arthur this could be a trap..."
The king ignored him and kicked his horse into a gallop.
"Shut up Merlin!"
THE HILL - THE FOREST OF ESITIA
"The least you could say is 'thank you!'" Gwen tried not to snap at Gwaine as he man cursed and ran his hands though his hair.
"Thank you?" The knight cried and spun to face her.
"That signal," He pointed hard at the burning shack, "Which so accurately pointed out is over a thousand feet high, has probably not only alerted Arthur as you want it to, but alsoOsiris and all those men who want to kill us!"
Gwen straightened and set her jaw.
Gwaine shook his head with a curse, "Something that probably passed your emotional brain by!"
"How dare you talk to me like that?" She cried
He scoffed and tapped at his temple angrily to demonstrate his point.
Gwen glared at him hard.
Mordred sighed and walked closer to them.
"There is nothing we can do about it now." He stated, "You were both right, while we cannot just sit here and trudge around the forest with no idea where we are, we perhaps should not have done this…"
He glanced at the queen.
She sighed and looked down, "I am sorry… to the both of you… I don't know what the matter with me is… I just won't sit here and not do anything."
Gwaine sighed too and shrugged slightly.
"I am sorry to… I shouldn't have spoken to you like that, mylady." He mocked her by bowing, a twinkle in his eye.
Gwen smiled slightly and rolled her eyes.
Mordred look around anxiously.
"Well shouldn't we get going, wait hidden and safe by the road for whoever arrives, Arthur, rather than Osiris and his men." He said, "They could be coming already."
"They could be here already."
The dark and rough voice made the three of the Camelot party spin.
Osiris stood there, as though he had been the whole time.
He lifted his hands sharply so his palms were facing them as his eyes flashed gold.
Their knees buckled and all three of them fell to the floor.
Gwen wrapped one arm around her abdomen in a protective gesture.
Gwaine immediately tried to struggle back upright but the bandits, swarmed from the trees then, moved close.
Another flash of Osiris's eyes had him firmly back kneeling.
Mordred lifted his head and his palm twitched.
The tiniest amount of gold touched the base of vision but no magic touched his fingertips.
He gasped and looked down at his hands.
True, he had not used it in months, but it was still a part of him.
He had abandoned that part of him though.
Was using his magic really so difficult?
Did his body realise that he did not need his magic to be safe and happy.
Now he could not use it to save them all.
Bandits swarmed around them all and bound their hands behind their backs, keeping them on their knees.
Gwen struggled and Osiris sneered, walking to grab her chin, crouching down to hiss in her face.
"That little signal," His eyes snapped to look at the burning shack behind them, "brought us straight to you…"
Gwen swallowed.
THE ROYAL CHAMBERS – THE CAMELOT OF DESTINY
The next time the bright white light faded Tanya was back beside Eveline in the royal chambers.
They were stood, as before, in front of the fire place, looking across the room.
It was filled with candlelight, but with none of the warmth and love that usually filled it.
The place seemed even more foreign to Tanya, and her eyes widened and dried painfully when she saw the scene before her.
"how does my love for merlin cause so much suffering... so many broken hearts.. Failed pregnancies...?" Tanya whispered.
Eveline glanced at her firmly, "a Parlevine's a job is to keep the track of destiny clean from litter as it were... For even the slightest alteration changes every thing. You were never supposed to love Merlin... Your love, like all love, is the greatest force on earth... And has the power to take life as well as create it. This world what will be created is entirely different to your own... Regardless of whether or not the queen is already pregnant in your time..."
Tanya gasped, "Gwen..."
"you know that she is." Eveline stated, "you keep track of her bleeds as her maid. It is you who cleans the sheets."
Tanya swallowed.
"Merlin cannot afford to love you." Eveline whispered firmly, watching Tanya carefully whose eyes were locked on the scene before them.
A tweak slipped down Tanya's pale cheek as he heart broke.
She couldn't deny it any longer.
She knew what the right thing to do was.
The king was sat on the foot of the bed, pulling his boots back on, before reaching for his shirt and yanking it over his head.
Behind him, silent and still, the queen lay on her back, hands either side of her head where they had been pinned under his moments before.
She had her head turned to the side facing towards where Tanya and Eveline stood, but she could not see them.
Tanya felt her gaze go right through her with a cold stab.
She was the queen who Tanya had left without a friend.
She and merlin had abandoned them all, with their love it seemed, when Merlin started to put her before everyone else.
The queen's chest was shuddering up and down painfully, her eyes swollen yet distant, throat dry.
The skirts of her lavender dress were pushed and pulled around her hips, yet she made no move to smooth them.
What would it matter?
He had all of her he wanted.
But not everything he needed from her.
Arthur stood and tucked his shirt in, looking back down at his wife.
She did not look at him.
He leant over her slightly, resting his weight either side of her chest on the mattress, bending to kiss her cheek softly.
"I love you." He whispered roughly, before standing and walking towards the door.
Tanya's eyes were wide and full of tears as she watched him pick up his jacket and make to leave.
"Thank you your majesty." Gwen whispered.
She did not move her eyes from staring into the distance, her head turned towards where Tanya and Eveline stood.
Her words made Arthur stiffen and he walked to the door.
He wrenched it open and stormed out.
It slammed behind him.
The sound split the air but did not change the queen.
The only movement she made was to fist her hand, resting on the mattress just in front of her face.
She stared at it before releasing it to stretch her fingers.
She gasped quietly and closed her eyes as tears fell down her face.
"Come." Eveline said to Tanya and touched her arm.
The white light wrapped around them just as the queen opened her eyes again to stare into the distance.
THE UNDERGROWTH - THE HILL - THE FOREST OF ESITIA
At the edge of the clearing on the hill in which the scene took place, Arthur crawled through the undergrowth to peer atthem all.
Merlin was at his side.
They arrived just as Osiris jutted his hand out palm up, and a bandit pressed a sword into his grip.
The ringing sound it made as it moved through the air and glinted in the sun, to be held over Osiris shoulder as he prepared to swing it down towards Gwen's neck.
Her heart hammered in her chest and tears filled her eyes.
But she would not cry in fear.
All the fear she felt was for the failure she would do the child she carried.
She would never hold it, it would never be born… and she would never see Arthur again.
No.
He would come for her.
Arthur, hidden with Merlin in a bush, saw read and reached for his sword furiously, making to dive up and run Osiris through.
"No my lord!" Merlin hissed and grabbed his arm, "Osiris is too powerful he will kill you before you can save Gwen…"
"It is me he wants not her."
"That is a naïve belief and you know it." Merlin stated, forcing Arthur onto his knees.
"Then what would you have me do?" Arthur snarled.
Snap.
A twig cracked almost silent close behind them and Arthur spun to hold his sword at the neck of the one sneaking up on them.
Leon held his hands up.
"Leon!" Arthur hissed in shock.
His eyes snapped around, as Merlin's did, to see Percival and Elyan approaching, along with at least a dozen other knights.
"We saw the smoke signal." Leon said, "What is the plan?"
"He doesn't have one." Merlin muttered, anxiously looking back at the scene.
Arthur's eyes locked on a knight who was clutching a loaded cross bow.
His eyes widened.
"Yes I do."
THE HILL - THE FOREST OF ESITIA
"Do you have any last requests my lady?" Osiris sneered, holding the word tight.
Gwen swallowed and drew in a breath.
Arthur would come.
He had to.
She knew he would not rest until she was safe.
"No?" Osiris lifted one eyebrow, glancing at Gwaine and Mordred.
The younger knight was flexing his hand, trying to force the magic that was a weight inside of him into his fingertips.
But he was not the magical puppet he once had been.
Gwen lifted her chin and swallowed.
Behind her back her hand s wrapped together, gripping untilher wedding ring pressed into her palm.
Osiris did not see the tip of the cross bow push through the leaves of a bush.
Its arrow glinted in the sunlight.
Osiris glared down at Gwen in sick victory.
She swallowed and looked down, closing her eyes and letting a single tear slide down her cheek.
Her heart broke.
Osiris flexed his hand around the sword.
Gwen whispered almost silently.
"I love you Arthur."
But it was not a cry of rage that left Osiris's lips, it was a shout of pain, as an arrow slammed from the cover of the trees and cut across his raised arm.
Osiris dropped his blade and it fell into the grass.
Gwen's eyes opened with a gasp.
The sorcerer grabbed at it instantly and raised his furious eyes with a spit as a war cry went up around them and the knights of Camelot burst from the leaves.
"Get them!" He cried, when he realised that the cut on her arm was hindering him using his magic.
The blood that flowed against the palm he pressed over it made it impossible for him to lift his favourite arm to cast a spell.
His head was too full of the pain for her to concentrate.
"Kill them!"
Arthur slammed his sword across one of the Saxons chest.
Percival, Leon and Elyan followed suit.
Merlin threw himself into the clearing and made to dive for Gwen but a man with a sword lunged for him.
He stepped back out of the way numbly and turned to flash his eyes gold, sending the man crashing into another who was fighting Arthur.
He turned back for Gwen but found another man dove for him; he turned and dived out of the way.
The battle raged around them.
He nimbly leapt out of the way and rushed to Mordred and Gwaine, untying their hands as two knight's helped them to their feet and handed them swords.
Bandits were screaming and fleeing, and Osiris sneered, lifting a sword with the arm that was not wounded, and lunged for Gwen.
Arthur saw him move and spun, parrying him with three stronger blows before grabbing hold of the sorcerer and running him through.
Osiris gurgled over Arthur's shoulder and staggered slightly.
Arthur was gasping for furiously breaths and held the sword firmly in the man's gut.
Gwen gasped.
"This is for attempted murder and the hurt you bore my wife." Arthur hissed in his ear, "Not the magic you hold."
Osiris gurgled and Arthur pulled his sword quickly from the man's body, letting him fall dead to the floor.
The bandits were long gone.
Arthur gasped for breath and turned.
Merlin snapped the ties around Gwen's hands and helped her up.
Immediately she rushed o Arthur and threw her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist.
She hugged herself to him tightly and his arms wrapped firmly around her middle, crushing her to him and pressing his face into her neck.
Tears rolled down her face.
His sword fell to the floor and he held her tight.
The knights all sighed in relief and watched as the king and queen embraced.
Arthur turned his head from her neck to kiss her cheek firmly.
"You are safe now…"
"I love you." She whispered.
He kissed her neck and held her tight.
"I love you too."
AUTHORS NOTE: sorry I haven't updated in a couple of days- so I gave uploaded two chapters to round this episode off nicely ;))... I have been busy with school and stuff! Anyway - credit where it is due to the writers of "the duchess" and "pirates of the Caribbean" who inspired parts of this piece. I think Gwaine would have been an awesome pirate... Anyone? PLEASE READ AND REVIEW THIS CHAPTER AND THE NEXT!