Camelot
October, 508 AD
It was a dark and cloudy autumn night. The weather was windy and cool, but not excessively so. Just enough to make sitting before a fireplace and wrapping oneself in a blanket a very desirable option for spending the early hours of the night. Almost every one of Camelot's citizens had retired to their homes, leaving the streets practically vacant under the white light of the crescent moon.
Guinevere arrived at her home in the lower town, a heavy sigh leaving her as she closed the door and removed her cloak. She placed her bag atop the kitchen bench and shuffled to her room, wishing to change into something comfortable for the night. Namely, the PJs that her dear friend Astraea gave her years ago.
The Queen's 'girl-in-the-chair' then hurried to light the fireplace, in front of which she settled down on a rocking chair with a blanket around her shoulders and a book on her lap: a Penguin Classics clothbound copy of 'Pride and Prejudice', which Astra graciously lent her.
Gwen found trouble concentrating on the pages as her mind drifted elsewhere. Specifically, the missing dragon, Aithusa. She has only met the creature once, when Merlin convinced her to join him and Astra on a quick journey to check on the magical beasts shortly after the pair revealed their secrets to her. That one meeting was enough to get her to care for the animal and, more importantly, to get her to understand how much the dragons mean to her friends. Which is why she completely understands Astra's unwavering determination to find the dragon. She only wishes that she would stop being reckless about it, because it has gotten to the point where she, Merlin, Gaius, and Gwaine have begun to fear for her life.
Gwen shook her head, as if to rid herself of the recollection of how she found Astra passed out while pinned under a fallen bookshelf in the royal library after she'd been trying to climb it to get a box of records from the Great Purge just some hours ago, and she shifted to make herself more comfortable on her chair before trying to get back to reading.
This time, she managed to get herself lost in the heart-warming (and humorous) story of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.
That is until three weak knocks on her front door stole away her attention.
Frowning, Gwen slid her bookmark in between the pages and casted the novel aside before standing up and going to open the door.
She never would've predicted what she was to find on the other side.
There stood the 'Knight-Queen' Astraea Aphelion, her body cowering slightly with her right hand tightly pressed against a spot just below her left clavicle. Blood covered the whole area underneath it. Her forest-green eyes were bloodshot and glazed over with tears; and her loose dark brown hair was a bit of a mess with a few twigs and leaves tangled about. Still, she put on a sheepish smile as she addressed her friend in an almost nonchalant tone that didn't quite mask the pain she was experiencing, "H-heeey, Gwennie. D'ya have a band-aid?"
Gwen's eyes nearly flew out of their sockets as she took in the younger girl's appearance, her heart-beat accelerating to speeds she never thought possible as a suffocating dread consumed her. After a few moments, she gathered the strength to speak and gulped before doing so in a flabbergasted whisper, "What happened?"
Astra went to answer, but her legs suddenly buckled beneath her and she fell forwards, her forehead hitting the frame of the door as she scrambled to steady herself against it with her free arm. She groaned in pain and squeezed her eyes shut. That snapped Gwen out of her staring trance and she promptly rounded the girl's torso with one arm so that she could help her move into the house.
The quickly paling young Queen was made to sit on a beige armchair and she let out a shaky sigh at the slight comfort that the padding provided her back with. She glanced down at her injury, the dizziness she already felt instantly worsening at the sight, and then she meekly gazed at her friend, who was hastening to get some first-aid supplies from a cupboard. Her stomach churned at the sight of an ointment, which she knows is certain to sting when applied to wounds, and her breath hitched when she spotted a needle.
"That's not necessary, Gwennie," Astra said, slurring her words. "I just need Merls."
"I fear you will not be alive by the time I get him here!" Gwen shot back, her harsher-than-usual tone causing the younger girl to recoil. Though she was quick to try to cover that up with a lazy grin.
"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration," Astra claimed while warily looking at her friend, trying to make out her figure in the midst of the jelly-textured reality and black spots that her vision was altered by.
From the almost-transparent appearance of the Queen's skin, the sweat that covered her face, and the purple tint to her lips; Gwen knew for a fact that she wasn't exaggerating in the slightest. So she decided to skip over Astra's comment as she moved to stand beside her.
"Let me take a look," she demanded.
Even in the midst of the agonising pain she was experiencing, the stubborn brunette managed to produce a deadly glare as she responded through gritted teeth, "I won't die. Just get Merls."
"I will – once I make sure you will not bleed out while I am gone," Gwen responded, trying to appear stern while she internally panicked at the state of her dear friend, the unthinkable possibility of losing her becoming very real in her mind.
Astra flinched away from Gwen when she reached to remove the hand that was pressed against the injury. "As the forkin' Queen, or whatever, I command ya' to leave it alone n' get Merlin," she tried in a weak voice as her breathing grew more and more laboured.
Gwen was stunned for a moment. Astra's invocation of her title is the last bit of proof she needed to know that she isn't at all okay. So she ignored her words and easily pried her hand off the wound, not listening to the debilitating protests that the girl mumbled out as she got to work on stitching up the gash.
With an optimistic skip in his step and a small grin on his lips, the noble Sir Gwaine made his way towards the royal apartments; feeling more than eager to show Astraea the latest correspondence they got addressed to 'H. H. Haddock III'.
He knocked on the door to her room first as he called out, "Trae, are you there?" and waited for a minute or two before trying again.
Soon, he conceded that the girl really wasn't there, so he sighed and moved on towards the King's room; figuring that she might have turned in early for once. He truly hoped that was the case. He can see plain as day how his little friend has been deteriorating under all the weight she has loaded upon her shoulders, especially with the added strain of Aithusa's disappearance, and he thinks it is a wonder that she hasn't broken down completely yet.
Arthur opened the door shortly after Gwaine had knocked on it, experiencing a twinge of disappointment when he found his knight and not his Queen.
"Gwaine," he greeted with a cordial nod. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Sire," the knight bowed for a moment. "Pardon the interruption. I am looking for Trae."
Setting the formalities aside, Arthur dropped his shoulders and his lips formed a slight pout. "She said she was going to have dinner with Merlin and Gaius."
Gwaine was pleasantly surprised to hear that. Maybe the girl didn't go to bed early, but she's at least giving herself a break from her long list of duties! However, he did not miss the upset look upon the King's features and decided to ask if he was feeling all right.
Arthur sighed sadly before responding, "I hardly see her anymore, Gwaine. She is always busy with something."
"Well, she has to balance three jobs, Sire," the knight reminded him with a dry chuckle that served as a mask for the displeasure he feels from how overburdened the girl is. "Four, if you consider the fact that she refuses to get a maid," he noted. 'Five, if you throw in how she is breaking herself down while searching for the missing dragon,' he added in his mind.
The King felt his heart churn. He has always thought Astra's work ethic to be admirable. It's one of the many reasons why he'd known she would make an excellent Queen, and he thinks that she has been magnificent so far. But he has noticed her deteriorating over the past five or so months. She doesn't get much sleep, she doesn't crack nearly as many jokes as he'd gotten used to, she spends her days locked in on her work, and she doesn't really talk to him all that much. Not that there are many chances for that, let alone for further intimacy, given her seemingly flooded schedule. He has been doing his best to take as much of the state portion of it off her back, hoping that she might get better; and he felt puzzled at the fact that he hasn't seen any improvements so far. His Queen/knight/horsewoman seems to keep spiralling down.
Then he remembered that she spends a lot of time around Gwaine, given that they are still together for patrolling duties; so he ventured to ask, "She is all right, is she not?"
Gwaine averted his gaze for a moment. He obviously knows the reason why Astra has become such a different person over the past few months – Aithusa. He knows that she's spending every bit of free time she has trying to advance the search. But he couldn't tell Arthur the truth; it's not his place.
"Unlike you, Sire, she was not trained to rule from an early age. I believe she is still adjusting," he finally responded. "She is a strong kid, she will figure it out soon."
The knight froze, for a second, at the realisation of how the word 'kid' slipped past his tongue unfiltered. Arthur's stunned look told him that he noticed it, too. He knows that it is outrageous to call a Queen that, but that's what she is to him. The at times annoying, but always loveable, little sister that he never knew he needed until he met her. And he can see clearly that, underneath all the titles that she carries with determination, she's only a young woman, barely an adult, battling to navigate a crazy world that just keeps on getting crazier.
Before the King could question his knight's words, the latter scurried away after bowing once more, murmuring that he really needs to talk to 'Trae' about something.
"I saw Astra briefly today," Gaius commented while he and Merlin were preparing their dinner.
The sorcerer hummed in response.
"I had not seen her in a while," the elderly man continued and eyed his ward in search of a reaction, but he got nothing. "She looked very unlike herself."
Merlin sighed, but did not remove his attention from the potatoes he was chopping as his heart twisted at the thought of how much his sister has drifted away from her usual self; the happy-go-lucky personality she has acquired over the years getting buried under a wreckage of despair as the chances of getting Aithusa back keep getting cloudier and cloudier. He knows what that feels like, for he shares her burden. Only he's smarter about it and knows that he has to take care of himself as well. Astra has just thrown herself into trying to be the hero and has forgotten that she is a living, breathing being as well.
"You have got to get her to stop searching for the dragon. She is going to get herself killed," Gaius stated bluntly.
Merlin's head snapped his way, his jaw dropping in disbelief. "How can you say that? We cannot give up on Aithusa!"
"You are breaking yourselves down, Merlin. It is not healthy," the elderly man responded in a stern tone.
Merlin scoffed and opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by a smiley Gwaine entering the physician's chambers.
The knight looked around for a few seconds, then he frowned. "Where is Trae?"
"She said she wanted to spend some time with Arthur," the sorcerer responded with a small grin, feeling glad that his sister is taking a break for once.
"Arthur said she was with you..." Gwaine pointed out as his body tensed up.
The pair's eyes widened almost simultaneously, as did Gaius's. However, before any of the three had a chance to start panicking over the implications of the girl's now failed attempt at trying to get her friends to not worry about her for the night, a frantic Guinevere bursted into the room and caused all heads to turn her way.
"Merlin – you must come with me! Astra is badly injured!" The mortification that was clear in the girl's tone and features was enough to make the sorcerer drop his task immediately, and he and Gwaine quickly followed her out of the apartment and out of the castle; none of them noticing how Gaius blanched and had to sit down for a moment.
Gwaine's heart stopped and Merlin's lungs froze when their eyes landed on their beloved Astra's figure. She looked ghastly due to the blood loss that she endured. She didn't acknowledge that fact, however, as she grinned and waved at the trio that stood at the doorway.
Merlin was beside her in a flash, his eyes tracing her near-transparent face restlessly while taking note of her sickened features. "What the hell happened!?" he questioned.
"Oh, don't worry, y'all should've seen the other guy," Astra stated with a dry giggle, then she grunted slightly when the gesture caused her shoulders to shake, increasing the pain from her injury.
"What other guy?!" Merlin asked in bewilderment, earning a sheepish smile. "Astra – what did you do?!"
The young Queen straightened up a little, trying not to appear as weak as she was feeling, while she tried to think of something 'funny' to say to avoid giving the real answer – knowing very well that a storm of rage would rain down on her as soon as she revealed the series of unfortunate events that led to her injury.
"Don't you dare lie to me," Merlin warned.
Astraea blinked rapidly for a moment. She forgot to consider how well her brother knows her. Then she let out a sigh and resigned to telling the truth (her mind was too foggy to come up with a believable lie, anyway), "I got some intel n' went to meet some sketchy dude under the cover of Haddock's sister, but I kinda forgot 'bout my accent, and he figured out who I am n' pulled a dagger on me."
"You mean to say you were stabbed?!" Gwaine cried, his heart racing from a mix of horror and rage.
Astra snorted, "Mildly."
Gwen narrowed her eyes at the girl, knowing very well that the wound was nothing 'mild'; but she didn't comment on it.
"Where is this man?! I am going to make him suffer!" Gwaine roared.
"Too late, bud. I already killed 'em," the young Queen responded proudly. "With his own dagger," she added with a weak chuckle.
The three sane people in the room were instantly struck dumbfounded by how casual she was being about having killed someone.
Without waiting for more, Merlin closed the remaining distance between himself and his sister and he moved one of his hands to let it hover over the injury. Then he spoke a spell, his eyes glowed gold for a second, and the wound was repaired; leaving only some slight bruising, a scar, and the effects of blood loss.
"Thanks, bro," Astra told the sorcerer with a sweet half-smile.
He let out a shaky sigh, feeling unsure of how to handle her in the strange mental state she is in. His soul ached from seeing her like this. She looked so heartbroken and lost, yet she didn't stop trying to lighten the mood, even if her attempts were ridiculous and unsuccessful.
"Now –" the young Queen turned to Gwen, "d'ya have a shovel? I need to bury the body."
"Astra!" Merlin exclaimed, his eyes wide and wild.
The girl flinched at the increase in volume, her headache intensifying. "What? I would've done it earlier, but I was busy being a bloody waterfall... a blood-fall..." She trailed off and tilted her head, then she giggled.
Merlin huffed and carefully analysed her expression once more. Her dull eyes, devoid of that spark he's watched grow gradually brighter during the time that he's known her; her clammy and horrifyingly pale skin; the slight weight loss she's undergone over the last few months; and the exhaustion upon her features, which made her actually look her age for once, rather than the teenager she's often presumed to be by strangers. He could physically feel his heart shattering and his eyes filled with tears.
"Merlin and I will take care of that," Gwaine said, desperate to do anything to help his little friend.
The sorcerer nodded in agreement, his eyes never leaving his sister's figure.
"And I will take her to her room. She needs to get something to eat and clean up all that blood before Arthur sees her," Gwen said.
Astra rolled her eyes. "Guys, I'm fine. Merls cured me, remember? I can clean up my own mess."
"I fixed the wound, but I cannot fix the blood loss. You need to rest and eat something," Merlin quickly shot back in a stern tone.
The young Queen scoffed and went to cross her arms, but she was stopped by a wince when the bruising that remained around the injury protested. She didn't acknowledge that, however, as she mumbled under her breath, "Man. A girl gets one little wound, and suddenly she's made of porcelain."
"You were stabbed, Astra!" Gwen yelled in response.
The brunette raised a lazy eyebrow. "Mildly."
"All right, you are officially mad," Merlin grumbled as he moved to help her stand up.
"All the best people are," Astra replied with a small, proud smirk; then she groaned when the room began to spin from the dizziness that was still very much prominent in her head. Her brother was quick to steady her, and when he felt that she could more or less stand on her own, he gestured Gwen over; who promptly took over supporting the young Queen.
Ignoring Astra's insistence that she was fine, Gwaine extracted the location of the body from her, and then he and Merlin went off to take care of getting rid of the evidence of the night's events. In the meantime, Gwen half-carried the younger girl through some more discreet streets of the lower town and snuck her into the castle through a back door that is rarely used by anyone.
"I dunno why you're so worried. I'm the one that's gonna have to gaslight Artie when he sees the scar," Astraea mumbled to her friend as they climbed a staircase, growing annoyed with the wary glances she kept throwing at her.
Guinevere paced the length of Astraea's room while chewing on her bottom lip, her mind making up fearsome scenarios. The younger girl has been in the bathroom for over forty minutes and Gwen began to worry that she might have passed out. She knows that Astra rarely takes more than ten minutes to bathe, and she hasn't heard any noises coming from the separate room in a while. But she doesn't want to disturb her in case she is simply enjoying the hot water against her bruised skin.
Ten more minutes went by and Gwen finally decided to knock softly on the door. "Astra? Is everything all right?" she called out gently, though she suspected that she wouldn't get the truth if something was wrong.
No response came, so she tried again, this time a little louder, "Astra?"
When she heard nothing in return, her heart began to race, fearing the worst. Her first instinct was to simply go inside, but she's well-aware of how much the young Queen values her privacy; so she decided that the best course of action was to go to Arthur, even if that meant that she would have to lie to him a little bit. She was hoping to leave that part to Astra.
The King sat on his bed, busying himself with examining the artwork that adorns Styx's 'Kilroy Was Here' vinyl record (which he thought to be rather unnerving) while waiting for his Queen to hopefully show up soon; when a knock on the door broke his concentration.
Hope swelled in his chest at the thought that Astra might finally be coming to spend some time with him. It's only around 22:30, which means that they could stay up for a little bit longer and simply chat and catch up. He misses the sound of her voice and her endearing foreign accent, her unintelligible jokes (because she always laughs at them, causing his heart to flutter even if he rarely understands what has been said), and the way her eyes light up when she speaks of something she's passionate about.
Arthur was ultimately disappointed to find Gwen on the other side of the door and he didn't bother trying to mask that as he sighed and let his smile drop. He addressed the woman in a monotonous voice, "Guinevere, what can I do for you?"
"I am sorry to bother you, my Lord. It is just..." she trailed off and glanced towards the door to Astra's room, wondering if she might be making too big of a fuss.
"Yes?" Arthur pressed when she took too long to continue, concern starting to grow within him.
"Astra has been in the bathtub for almost an hour and I am worried about her. She was not feeling well," Gwen finally let out.
Without another word, the now terrified King sprinted to his beloved's room and he bursted into the bathroom. His eyes instantly landed on an asleep Astra's curled-up figure inside the tub and his heart twisted at the realisation that she looked extremely pale. He might've thought she was dead were it not for the visible rising and falling of her shoulders as she breathed.
"She is asleep," he called out to Gwen (who remained outside the room) in a hushed tone before grabbing Astra's towel off the rack and he slung it over his shoulder while walking towards her.
Arthur rolled up the sleeves of his PJ shirt and he kneeled down beside Astra. He moved some hair away from her face before gently kissing her cheek. Her skin felt even cooler than usual, but he decided not to fixate on that for now. First, he needs to get her out of the tub so that Gaius can inspect her because, as Gwen stated, she clearly isn't well.
The younger girl stirred a little, but she did not open her eyes. The King placed a soft hand on the side of her face and his lips curved upwards as she leaned into his touch. He kissed her forehead before saying in a whisper, "Darling, you must get up."
She let out a long exhale and a sleepy hum, and her pupils remained closed as she mumbled, "Just five more minutes."
Arthur rubbed his thumb against her cheek. "Allow me to get you into bed and then you can sleep all you want."
Her eyes opened widely and she quickly straightened up, faltering for a moment before she said, "No, it's okay, I still have stuff to do."
He sighed heavily and wrapped his arms around her torso so that he could get her to stand up. Goosebumps instantly formed on her skin as it left the warm water and he quickly wrapped the towel around her before picking her up bridal style so that he could get her fully out of the tub.
Soon noticing Astra's sluggish movements and dazed mind, Arthur helped her to dry up and to get into her PJs. His eyes didn't miss the angry scar below her left clavicle and he was surprised for a moment, since he could've sworn that it wasn't there before. He also noticed the bruising around it; but he decided not to ask for the time being. He knew that he likely wouldn't get a straight answer, anyway.
Once Astra was clothed, he picked her up again and carried her out of the bathroom while ignoring a string of mostly incoherent protests that implored him to set her down so that she could 'continue looking'. Luckily for the exhausted fool of a girl, he wrote that off as the ramblings of a disease-ridden person and didn't pay much mind.
With his wife in his arms, Arthur stopped by Gwen on his way out of the room and he gave her a stunned look as he asked, "What happened to her?"
Here comes the part that the 'girl-in-the-chair' has been dreading – lying. She mentally prayed for forgiveness and her eyes scanned Astra's half-asleep figure for a few moments before she replied with the cover story that she, Merlin and Gwaine decided on, "Gaius said that it is just a cold, probably due to all the stress that she has been under. He said that it will pass within a few days, she just needs some rest."
Arthur, none-the-wiser, was relieved to hear that his beloved has allegedly already been taken to see the physician, and he was glad that it is nothing serious. He felt guilty from finding out about her high levels of stress, so he made a mental promise to relieve her of all stately and knightly duties until she recovers her full health.
"Thank you for being so good to her, Gwen. You can go to rest, I have got her," he told the woman before him and offered her a small, grateful smile before finishing the journey towards his room.
Astra was fully back in dreamland by the time he set her down on their bed and he gently draped her Avengers blanket over her body before lying down next to her and wrapping her in his arms once more.
"I am so sorry, my girl. I promise to take better care of you from now onwards," he whispered and kissed the top of her head before pulling her even closer to his chest. "I love you three-thousand."
Soothed by the knowledge that Astra is in good hands for the night; Merlin, Gwen and Gwaine met in the physician's chambers at the knight's request. (Luckily, as they didn't want him to know the full extent of the Queen's nightly adventures, lest he worry too much; Gaius was now out tending to a woman who was giving birth.)
Gwaine was finally able to reveal the letter that 'H. H. Haddock III' got in the morning. It wasn't signed, but the intel seemed good enough for him to believe it could be a solid lead on Aithusa's whereabouts: reports of unidentifiable growling sounds being heard throughout the lands of Ismere, which started happening a couple of months ago.
"I was going to tell Trae and take her with me, but after today..." Gwaine trailed off while averting his gaze, feeling a pang in his chest at the recollection of his little friend covered in blood and looking horrifyingly pale.
"Yes, I do not believe it would be a good idea to inform her of this at the moment," Gwen noted with a sad sigh.
Merlin's eyes widened as they darted between the pair, then they fixed on Gwaine as he protested, "She is falling apart as it is! Do you really want to add yourself to the list of her worries?!"
The knight ran a hand through his hair, his heart feeling as heavy as an elephant who's too keen on sweets. He knows that Astraea will be incredibly upset if he leaves without a word. He also knows that she will, indeed, worry for him a lot. However, he thought that, given the state she's in, bringing her along would be a million times more dangerous to her life.
"It is a small price to pay to keep her safe," he finally replied.
Merlin scoffed and shook his head.
"I do not like this anymore than you do, but I believe he is right," Gwen spoke softly while placing a hand on his shoulder. "We need to keep Astra here, and we need to keep a closer eye on her before she really gets herself killed."
Merlin recoiled at the mention of the harsh reality they are facing and his heart-rate started to elevate. Astra's close calls with death have been getting closer and closer, as the events of the night evidence. He's admittedly terrified that she dared to do what she did without telling anyone. Finally, he took a deep breath and turned to face Gwaine again as he spoke sternly, "You had better come back alive. She might not survive losing you."
The knight felt his stomach churn at the statement, but he pushed down the sensation and nodded while squaring up. "I will be all right. I have faith that this may be it."
"All right, then," Merlin said, letting out a shaky sigh. "Let us figure out something to tell Arthur."