Chapter 2: Desperation

He carried her effortlessly and the eagle led the way, moments later they came upon a clearing, to his right stood a tall oak which he called the tree of wisdom and behind it was a small hill covered with thick green grass and wild flowers. He walked toward the hill and once he was close enough he carefully reached for a door handle that was masked by an array of flowers. Inside was a comfortable cozy room which looked like the inside of a cabin built of wood, it smelled of scented oils and was lit by candles carefully placed upon the walls. One wall had a book casing that reached to the ceiling and the other embraced a full size bed empty of a mattress, but had a blanket and pillow filled with feathers and on the other wall was a hearth.

He laid gwen down on the bed and rested his head upon her chest checking for signs of breathing, her breath was shallow but faint. He reached into the hidden pocket within his boot and pulled out a small knife then turned her over on her front and slit open her peach colored servants dress exposing the bare of her cream colored back . He had broken off the arrow earlier but left the arrow head in with a small piece of wood attached to plug the wound. Now time was of the essence he had to get it out to before the wound feasterd.

She awoke but a second only to cry, "no"

"I'm sorry my lady please just bare with me a little bit longer and I promise I'll save you"

"I'm no lady, I'm a servant….." she whispered

"Im sorry but you look like a girl to me….."Gwen did not reply as she no longer had the strength to speak

with the help of his pocket knife he retrieved the remaining piece of the arrow from her back and then tore a piece of his shirt, and shoved it into her mouth. Afterwards using the handle of a wooden spoon, he grabbed a rag from within a pot that he left boiling and with it he covered her wound. The pain was so unbearable she completely passed out. On a shelf above the hearth was a blue jar filled with a grey paste substance almost like clay, he loosend it up with the spoon before using his knife to cover her wound with it, He retrieved the cloth that lay on his small dining table and wrapped it around her chest and wound tucking it at her side so that it couldn't be removed. He turned her over onto her back, filled a basin with cold water pulled up a chair alongside her bed crossed his legs and waited.

As some time had passed he noticed the beads of sweat appear upon her face as if he were expecting it . Constantly he washed her head, face and neck with the cold cloth trying to keep her fever down. Every now and again he would nod as if to take a nap, but the moment he heard her labor he would aide her again. He spared no time for sleep but kept watch over her as if she were the only person left in the world .

Meanwhile,

Arthur lay sleeping in his chambers, he dreamt of embracing Gwen as she laid beside him in a meadow filled with wild flowers. In the dream he kissed her passionately holding her body close to his

He whispered," I love you" to her and when he moved his hand to caress her cheek he was shocked to see that it was covered with blood. His eyes grew wide, as he began to hear echoes of

"we were betrayed" in the distance…. And then his eyes slowly opened, He reached for his forehead as if her were in pain

" Who betrayed us?", said Arthur struggling to speak

"Well hello" said Gawain " I was beginning to think that you wouldn't come around again, you had us all worried there"

"Come around again, don't be silly why would you think that"

"He appears to be alive, I'll go get some water", said Merlin as he rushed out the door

"sure thing, and don't worry I'll stay with him"

"Thanks Gawain"

"Don't mention it, anything for a friend"

"GAWAIN!" yelled arther trying to raise his voice

"There now don't push it, take some time to gather yourself"

"I am gathered what the hell happened to me and how long have I been out"

Merlin entered the room with a glass of water " Here sire, some water to drink"

Arthur took the cup from his hands "Thank you Merlin" he drinks it all in one gulp then grunts "ummm that was great hit the spot, now as I was saying just how long have I been out and Gawain what are you doing sitting at my bedside, wha…what's going on here?" Merlin and Gawain looked at each other as if they were guilty as sin

"AAAAAhhhhhhh you seeeeee that was partly my fault" said Merlin very hesitantly

"you see ….you were still out when Gawain brought you in on your horse, so we took you to Gaius and tried to bringyou around with smelling salts"

"WAIT… WE?" exclaimed Arthur as his eyebrows raised and his eyes grew wide with wonder

"Well I…did most of the bringing….well anyway….when the salts didn't work …I reached for a bottle of water hoping that would bring you around if I doused your face with it …. Only it turned out to be Gaius sleeping medicine which took you under for quite some time…and not that i'd admit it but we've kindof been worried ever since"

"Merlin…"

"Yes sire," He turned to look at the wall while fidgeting with his hands

"How long was I out?"

"Shall I get you another blanket , it really is quite cold in here" he was tensely gazing around the room trying to avoid Arthur eyes and his questions

"MERLIN HOW LONG WAS I OUT JUST AWNSER THE QUESTION WILL YOU AND QUIT GAZING AROUND THE ROOM LIKE SOME POPUS PIG YOUR MAKING ME NAUSEAUSE"

Merlin could tell that Arthur was becoming agitated he put his hand over his mouth and tried to muffle his words dragging them out hoping he wouldn't notice ~

" t..hree….dayy….s"

"what was that? I couldn't hear you come a bit closer" merlin walked two paces

" t..hree….dayy….s"

"I still can't hear you come a bit closer" Merlin slapped his hands down to his side

"Oh for heaven's sake I said three days!"

"3 DAYS, you're trying to tell me that I lost three days of my life because of your incompetence"

"half of my incompetence"

"ONE HALF, THREE QUARTERS IT really DOESN'T MATTER does it….!"

"Perhaps you shouldn't get worried up about this so quickly Arthur there's more to this story "

"What do you mean Gawain did Merlin screw something else up? " Arthur suddenly became intrigued

"While I was traveling back to Camelot with morgana, we could see the kingdom under attack by cenreds men, and it was later discovered that morgana had orchestrated the battle. She had given the king a sleeping potion in his drink, so that he wouldn't awake in time to lead the knights in defense of the castle, and they would of taken over the kingdom to~ if it hadn't been for Gawain, Lancelot, Eliyan , Sir Leon and Percival returning from their quest. They led the charge with Camelot's knights to keep the enemy at bay. Once things appeared to be manageable I sent Lancelot and Gawain to fetch you"

"Fetch me …what am I a dog now?" Arthur turned his head away in disbelief and struggled to get out of bed.

"Well...now you see how I feel"

"What was that? oh...nevermind ...what of morgana and my father?"

"We don't know where morgana is she used magic and went away "

"Magic? Went away ?where to?"

"I don't know,.."

"just as well then …what about my father?"

"…he's still sleeping …we haven't found an antidote yet….all be it…Gaius is confident that he'll wake up now that morgana has left the kingdom, in the meantime he is working toooooo counter the potion that she had given him"

"I see" his faced cringed in pain "AUUGhhh "

"Are you ok?"

I'm fine merlin I feel as if someone has hit mein the gut"

Gawain tugged at his pants and looked at the ceiling

"Is something wrong Gawain"

"Not at all I think I'm feeling a bit thirsty"

"well then I'll have merlin bring you some water"

"Nope I think I want a man's drink… Water is for boys and I'm all grown up"

"I see ..Merlin …how's gwenivere" Merlin dropped his head and let out a sigh of despair

"we were hoping that you can ….shed some light on that…..you see…..we haven't seen or heard from her in 3 days"

"What do you mean you haven't heard from her" Arthur turned his body around to get out of bed holding his gut in pain

"Wait…where do you think your going!"

"what do you mean where am I going…to find her of course…I can't leave her there"

"I don't understand Arthur leave her where?"

Arthur look confused and said,"I don't know" He suddenly began to feel a bit of pain in his head and dropped his forehead into his hand. All he could hear were Gawain and Merlin asking him over and over if he were ok.. as images began flooding his head. He rememberd their kiss, her confession of love and devotion, her lifeless body on the blanket and the blood on his hand. He stared at his hand as Merlin kept calling out to him

"Arthur… Arthur …!"

"I have to go!"

"Go where ?"

"To the forest to search for gwenivere…"

" No..No….I'm sorry Arthur I can't let you do that!" Arthur tried to walk through him and Merlin kept holding him back

"You can't order me, you're my servant, NOT the other way around"

"but Arthur you don't understand you can't do this Gawain ..Help me !" Gawain rushed over to help Merlin stop Arthur from exiting ,Gawain held one arm while Merlin had the other

"I've go to go Merlin I left her in the forest! I was trying to return to her when Gawain stopped me ! She'll die if I don't go!"

"I can't let you go because I've already checked the woods! ….and no one was there…" Arther stopped fighting as he tried to process the information.."No one was there Arthur"

"She has to be there…I stopped an arrow …. There was so much blood ….and I was surrounded …and Gwen…there was so much blood on my hand...she has to be there…" While everyone was relaxed listening to his words, Arthur staggered over to the door and found himself standing toe to toe with Lancelot whose eyes were filled with water but he dared not let them leak.

" Don't worry sire,…I'll go look for her" as Lancelot turned to walk away

Arthur said, " I'll go with you!" as Arthur stepped to follow, Gawain hit him over the head with a jar

"No you're not!" said Gawain as Arthur passed out on the floor. He then squatted over his body" Sorry to do this to you, but I can't have you catching cold in the rain, after all , I am here to protect the ….King"

Elsewhere,

Gwen's fever finally broke and as she tried to focus her eyes she thought she was staring straight into his and called out her lovers name, "Arthur"

"No….. sorry to disappoint you my name is ….Aya" as her vision came clear she said in a raspy voice

"Did anyone every tell you …You have the most beautiful green eyes I've ever seen" he gasped and smiled

"It's great to see that you're feeling better, but you must take it slow.".Gwen struggled to sit up as she held onto her back in pain, Aya saw this as he was preparing a cup of water for her to drink and rushed to her aide,…. Bracing her back with his hand

"Here drink this"

"she grabbed the cup"

"Thank you….why have you brought me here?"

"I couldn't just let you die…Gwen….." She had a startled look upon her face as if she were in the lion's den

"I don't remember giving you my name…."

"You needn't worry…I am not your enemy…."