Merlin left the surgery the next morning before Anna arrived—an unusual occurrence; she was usually an early riser. In fact, the first time he saw her all day was just before luncheon. He was coming in from the practice field with Arthur, Gaheris and the knights of both kingdoms, and Anna was coming from the opposite direction.
Gwaine and Percival were walking side-by-side, chatting. The two of them glanced up at the same time and caught sight of Anna—whereupon Gwaine immediately began joking loudly about something that had happened on the practice field that morning. Anna, who had looked at him shyly at first, turned bright red and then white as he passed her by, not even glancing in her direction. Percival, who had tried to acknowledge her presence with a smile and nod, stared at his friend, whose forced gaiety had diminished as soon as Anna was far enough away.
"That was Anna," Percival hinted weakly.
"Oh? I didn't notice," Gwaine answered with unconcern, and changed the subject.
Anna herself wasn't any more forthcoming. Merlin ran an errand up to the surgery in the afternoon and found her by herself. Usually when she had Gaius's surgery to herself, Anna organized or cleaned something. Instead, Merlin found her sitting at the table, staring into space. The moment he walked in, however, she stood up and began rearranging the bottles on one of the shelves.
He tried the direct approach. "How are you?"
"Fine." Her tone was calm, but she didn't look at him.
"Have you spoken with Gwaine this morning?"
She almost dropped one of the bottles. "No," she answered quietly, and turned her back toward him more fully.
Merlin didn't want to poke at an open wound, so he said no more. He met Gaius coming in as he was leaving a few minutes later, and as the door closed he heard Gaius exclaim, "Anna, where is the valerian root? How did these shelves get so disarranged?"
000
Merlin was not the only one to notice Gwaine and Anna's behavior. Percival broached the subject at dinner that night.
It was not the kind of feast they had had the night before, but as Gaheris was still visiting, the knights and the very upper echelons of Camelot society were there. If anything, Gwaine was livelier than usual, laughing loudly at jokes and making many jesting comments at his friends' expense. But a couple of times when the conversation lagged Percival saw him fall into a brown study, staring into space and completely ignoring his food.
"So," Percival said, nudging Gwaine. Gwaine jumped. "How's Anna today?"
"I don't know." Gwaine picked up his spoon.
"You don't know? Haven't you talked to her all day?"
"No."
"I think if I'd just won a tournament, I'd be spending a lot of time with my sweetheart—local hero, and all that," Percival teased with a smile.
"Look." Gwaine put his spoon down with a bang. "If you're so interested in how Anna is, why don't you ask her yourself? Or maybe you should get your own girlfriend—give you something else to think about besides other people's business."
The two of them suddenly realized how quiet the room had become, and looked up to find most of the people seated nearest them staring in their direction. "Sorry," Gwaine muttered, and picked up his spoon again. Conversation resumed, and a few minutes later, he left the room, his meal only half finished.
"What's wrong with him?" Leon asked Percival in a low voice.
"I don't know. I think he and Anna must have had a fight."
Leon frowned. "That doesn't sound like either of them."
Percival shrugged. "He seems pretty sensitive about it—I don't want to press the issue."
Leon nodded. "I guess we'd just better keep an eye on him."
000
Gaius and Merlin undertook the same agenda in regards to Anna. Merlin caught up with her the next afternoon.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Anna sighed. "Not really," she admitted. "Gwaine and I—"
"I know." Everybody knew, but he didn't say that. It had spread all over the castle that Anna and Gwaine had broken up, and though there was plenty of conjecture, no one knew for sure why they had done so. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Her face spasmed a little, and she turned away. "Not really," she said at last, her voice low.
"Is there anything I can do?" he asked awkwardly. She shook her head, and soon after walked away.
000
Over the course of the next week, while King Gaheris was once more feasted and returned to his lands, there was no visible change in Gwaine and Anna's behavior. Anna went about her work more quietly than usual and Gwaine alternated between sullenness and forced gaiety.
When reports of Saxon activity to the east reached Camelot and Arthur decided he and a few of the knights should investigate, more than one person in the castle breathed a sigh of relief. Anna still hadn't told Merlin what she and Gwaine had fought over, and he hadn't had a chance to get Gwaine alone since it had happened—he hoped that he would have a chance on this trip. He was accompanying Arthur as usual. For her part, Anna seemed almost glad that she wouldn't be running into Gwaine in the corridors for the next few days. They had both taken to studiously ignoring one another and attempting to ignore other people's significant glances.
Anna came down to the courtyard the morning they left, ostensibly to see Merlin off.
"Take care of yourself," she told him.
"You, too." He looked her over—she wasn't looking so well. Her face was pale, and her cheeks were suspiciously red. Maybe it was embarrassment—Gwaine had walked right past her a minute before and completely ignored her, and a couple of the kitchen maids had begun whispering a short distance away.
Whatever the problem was between them, Merlin decided as they saddled up and rode out of Camelot, he would get it out of Gwaine. The sooner, the better.
TBC
AN: Sorry about how long this update took me—it is very difficult to write a chapter in which not much happens. :P
