Shared Chambers: Shield
Title Shared Chambers: Shield (Once again, please click on the story's title, not the small heading underneath. It messes up the html.)
Rating Teen
Characters/Pairing Arthur/Gwen
Word Count 2,527
Warnings/Spoilers spoilers for series 5, 5.01 and 5.02 specifically, nothing beyond
Author’s Note This is pure speculation after what we got in 5.01 and 5.02. I have no idea if this will come to pass, but I do think it is something A/G could share within shared chambers. I focus on Arthur’s wounds/exposure to the cold too because this is right after the knights, Merlin and him return home. He had to still be physically affected. This is another possible missing scene, this time from 5.02 before the knighting ceremony.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Shared Chambers: Shield
He lifted away his tunic and she saw it vividly for the first time, just how bruised and mangled his body was from going after his men. Gwen sighed at it heavily, reaching her husband’s side as he gave a small grunt of pain.
“Arthur.”
He leaned into her. He couldn’t act this way much of the time that they were escaping from Morgana’s fortress. He had to be as strong as possible there, come to his sense and remind his brothers in arms that his servant still needed saving. Only when he was assured that Merlin too was safe, although just as banged up by Morgana’s dark magic, Arthur could let out a breath of satisfaction. Of course then they had to make the arduous journey home through the snow flooded mountains.
Some of the men they found there had come back with them to Camelot. If they could prove their worth Arthur intended to knight them. One in particular.
As his wife’s hands gently, but intimately slid over the purple mottling bruises, he closed his eyes and inquired, “Sefa betrayed us then?”
It was a simple question with no simple answer. Gwen shook her head, caressing her husband’s face to get him to open his eyes and look. As he did, she helped him to sit upon the bed, grasping the pillows from behind. Getting them into place she coaxed him to their comfort. Salve and bandages during the trek had been used for the knife wounds, but Gaius said the bruises needed to heal. Arthur, like Merlin and Gwaine, would have to endure a bit of discomfort before they stopped plaguing so much.
“She did not want to. She made that clear. She did it for Ruadan, her father.”
“Who nearly killed me and the rest of my men.”
Gwen’s lips pursed as Arthur’s back pushed gingerly against the pillows. In her nightgown, she shook her head once more. “Well he is dead now.”
“And Sefa?”
Gwen’s face wrinkled with discontent. Although the plan had given her what Camelot would need, she felt no real joy from it. “I don’t know. She must have fled. She is a smart girl, although a bit naïve. I’m sure she’s taken refuge.”
Arthur gave a bothered sigh. “Well her father did wrong. Deserved to die. No good can come from magic.”
Gwen faced her husband pointedly, seeing his eyes tiredly shutting. She couldn’t let him sleep yet though. This matter needed to be dealt with, especially after what she and Gaius found upon Ruadan’s body. “You did not think that when you wanted to heal your father years ago.”
Sure enough his eyes starkly opened. Arthur stared at his wife. “You throw that at me? That was an entirely different situation.”
Gwen’s lips fixed. “How? How was it so different?”
“Guinevere.” Arthur gritted out through his teeth. “My father was the king of this land. He was a good-
She looked at him strongly. Arthur now knew about the time his father slapped her face. He had seen his father judge others wrongly too. And he agreed with her that her father never should have been sentenced to death.
“Well there’s no comparison.” He told her stubbornly.
Gwen let out a patient sigh, leaning forward to kiss her husband’s lips, still chapped from the icy temperatures he had endured, rough against her soft ones. And yet she loved them. Like him. “I don’t mean to start up a quarrel about your father.” She told him afterward, fingers stroking his chest comfortingly. “But why must we start up one about hers? Sefa meant well. I know she did. She loved her father. Maybe he was misguided, but can you honestly say yours never was?”
“And yours?”
Gwen sighed. Uther had done horrible things, but nevertheless he was Arthur’s father and he had loved his son. Her father, although never cruel, had made more than a few brash decisions. “Okay. He endeavored into things he shouldn’t have. Too overzealous. I admit.”
She ended her point with gentle reprimand. “Just temper your judgment my husband.”
He smiled a bit, feeling the ease from her caressing fingers and her calm words. It was rare for Guinevere to get too passionate. It was why he relied so much upon her council. “I don’t know if we can completely agree upon this. But I do know one thing. When all of the hard decisions had to be made, you made every single one with such strength of character. Camelot and I owe you much gratitude Guinevere.”
She dismissed the praise silently, lying her body down gingerly upon one of the rare areas where her husband was not so hurt. Tenderly, she fingered his skin, the fine chest hairs. “I’ve missed you.”
He kissed the side of her face, holding tightly to the back of her nightgown. “And I you.”
A she closed her eyes, finally relaxing, he said it.
“I’m grateful to be back here with you. So grateful to one person who made sure that would happen. I’m thinking of making him a knight.”
Her eyes flew open. “What?”
Arthur smiled. “Mordred. He saved my life Guinevere. And Merlin’s. Morgana, she would have-
Gwen’s brow wrinkled as she sat up, back straight.
“What is it?”
Not hearing his question, Gwen wondered why it hadn’t clicked together before. Now that it did, she felt a shudder ripple through her body.
“Guinevere?” Arthur started to reach out to her, but seeing the bandages stress at his movement, she pressed her palm firmly, and yet cautiously against his chest.
“No. Stay still.”
“Oh.” He groaned with discontent, wanting to know what was making her face look so full of thought now. “Guinevere.”
Should she tell him? Their marriage had been based on trust since it began. They vowed after all that happened around the banishment they would always be forthcoming with each other.
“Do you remember how Mordred first came to Camelot?”
Arthur gave a nod of his head, not moving anymore, knowing she wouldn’t approve. And wearied enough, still getting over some of the pain that keeping in one place wasn’t too hard. “He came with that Druid man, his name er…”
“Cerdan.” Gwen filled in, remembering sharply her mistress’s concern for the boy, how she was willing to tarnish her relationship with Uther then. “After his execution, when Mordred was injured, Morgana was wild to help him. Arthur, I’ve never seen her like that. She told me they shared a bond. I saw it. That bond was so strong it eclipsed the one she had with Uther then.”
“Morgana tried to kill my father, Guinevere.”
She spoke to him patiently, leaning against the pillow some, hearing him grunt in discomfort and so her hand moved to massage his shoulder. “Yes. I know. But that was years later. After Mordred’s arrival, even when she was not sure of his name she was so transfixed by him. Arthur…” She emphasized strongly now. “A bond.”
His eyes feeling sort of heavy, her massaging putting him to rest, he felt her fingers stall now. Getting it suddenly, he opened his eyes. “You think Mordred has magic?”
Gwen held still.
Arthur shook his head fervently. “No. Guinevere that’s impossible. If he had magic he would have used it to come after me and Merlin in the snow. To fight off Morgana in the caverns below. He saved my life. I didn’t see it that clearly, but Merlin did. Mordred stabbed her. I don’t think he killed her, but he hurt her with the knife, like she was hurting me. But when he did it the knife wasn’t floating in the air. Mordred did it with his hands. Merlin told me. Am I supposed to think he lied?”
Gwen pressed her fingers against his shoulder comfortingly. “Of course not. That’s not what I’m saying. It’s possible Mordred does not have the same ability as Morgana. Maybe he doesn’t know magic like her. He was only a boy when his guardian was executed. But Arthur, she shared a bond with him. I saw it so vividly. She would take any risk for him. Any.”
Arthur thought about it, remembering. “You’re right. But he broke that bond when he left her for dead. He left her there Guinevere after stabbing her.”
Forehead furrowing, Gwen asked. “Or did he? Could it have been a ruse like I used for Sefa to get her father to come to Camelot? I mean my hand would have been forced if he didn’t come, but I knew he would. Perhaps Mordred and Morgana simply wanted you to believe that one of them was on your side.”
His head hitting the pillow, Arthur shut his eyes tight. Their kingdom had been full of peace for so long and now…this. “I have no quarrel with Mordred or any of the Druid people.”
She held still, her hand once against ceasing movement over his shoulder. Gwen looked to the fire in the hearth, feeling Arthur’s eyes open and narrowing in upon her profile.
“There’s more, isn’t there?” He asked wearily.
She hadn’t wanted to tell him this, hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself, but she took the news with analysis then and she would deliver it with the same strength of mind. “Ruadan had a special kind of note, a prayer really, a Druid one. Gaius was able to read it. The words told of the desire to end the life of the King of Camelot.”
She swallowed hard, before whispering, “Your life Arthur. They believe that like your father, they can never have peace with you. So there is supposed to be one Druid who will fulfill that…prayer or prophecy. What if that is Mordred?”
“Oh Heaven’s mercy.” Arthur’s head fell as he remembered the hatred in Morgana’s eyes. In his uncle’s eyes years ago. Family. And they hated him. Hated Camelot. Hated peace.
Gwen scooted in closer in response to his distress, clasping his cheeks with her hands. “Arthur.”
“I don’t hate Morgana. I didn’t hate Agravaine. I have only wanted a kingdom where everyone is treated fairly. Just. And yet they hate me so much. Why?”
Gwen sighed in consolation. She knew his heart was so full, sometimes so much more trusting than hers. After Morgana’s enchantment her mind had no choice but to grow shrewder. Although she still had compassion and kindness in her, Gwen was definitely more careful now.
She moved her fingers through her husband’s hair, feeling at his forehead, just a tad feverish, after what he had endured. She’d keep a careful eye on him in the night.
“It is not you. It is what you stand in front of. It was the same with me. They want what you have. Morgana. Agravaine then. But the Druids.”
“What?” He asked her strongly.
She let out a long sigh. “Arthur. Sefa was only doing her father’s bidding. I could see her fear for her life and her love for her father. She was a good girl. He could not have been that much of a bad man. Maybe not at first anyway. It is true, we have done nothing to harm the Druids, but we also have not helped them.”
His eyes were hard. “My father banned magic years ago Guinevere. I didn’t always agree with him, but I have seen its evils too. The law must stand.”
“I know.” Gwen sighed. “My father was executed for the suspicion of magic. But we cannot be complacent then. We cannot just assume everyone will abide by our rule willingly. And we cannot let a young man into this kingdom openly who was associated with the woman who has become one of our greatest foes. We cannot, Arthur.”
“So you’re saying I don’t knight him? Send him away?”
Gwen pondered on those words for a moment before giving a firm shake of her head. “No. You should knight him.”
“What?” He asked her incredulously.
Gwen continued. “Arthur, if he is in alliance with Morgana, what better place to expose that than Camelot? Within the castle’s walls Mordred wouldn’t be able to move so freely. We could keep an eye on him.”
“So we tell Gaius and-
She lifted her hand. “No. I don’t think we should even tell the knights. Not yet. Not until there is any proof of this.”
His hand lifted some, finding her waist, lingering on the material of her nightgown. “And what if there is no proof?”
Gwen smiled softly. “Then Camelot has a respected new knight. See Arthur, if we tell no one…”
He smiled a little too now finally. Even though so much of this was troubling, it helped to have a sharp wife to go over these crucial matters with. “Then no one will be the wiser. If there is no deception, we won’t have to explain why we ever thought there was.”
“Exactly.” She leaned down to kiss those chapped lips. Yearning upward, he kissed her back, tangling his fingers into his wife’s hair. His kiss grew more fervent, but then his muscles strained, his injured areas cried out complaint. He grunted away. Hearing it Gwen gave a sympathetic look and brought her fingers over his chest. Then she kissed his still slightly feverish brow. “You’re tired.” She whispered.
He only nodded his head, closing his eyes.
Gwen’s look was one of mild concern. She would never completely get used to him being away for long periods, coming back with a collection of new scars. He was a warrior king, but sometimes he faced so much danger.
Even at home.
“Go to sleep my husband.” She whispered against his cheek.
“Hmmm…”He murmured, gathering her nightgown’s material within his fingers greedily. “You with me.”
She lowered her head to his shoulder, feeling his hand still holding her close. Hearing his breaths come a little slower. Feeling his heartbeat reaching a pattern of rest. Her hand rose a little each time it showed its life.
She waited until his soft snores came and then moved to the bed’s side, taking something out from a trinket box atop the nearby table. Running her fingers over the strange language, she let out a troubled sigh. The prayer was for the King to die at the hand of a Druid. Was it Mordred?
Gwen shook her head. She did not know. Whoever it was, she would do all she could to protect the kingdom and her husband.
She let the prayer fall out of her hands, back to the trinket box, closing it tight. Then she moved closer on the bed to Arthur, resting her cheek upon one of those less wounded areas again, feeling his forehead, a bit damp, but less warm. Thank goodness. “I will never let anyone hurt you Arthur.” She whispered solemnly, kissing his chest. “As together we protect Camelot…you protect me…
I will shield you.”
But the time of peace in Camelot was coming to its uneasy end. With Ruadan’s death. With Mordred’s return. With Morgana’s madness. With the bloody past of bygone days.
As the ghost began to stalk
As Arthur’s bane began to rise.
^*^