Luminescence ✺ Arthur Pendragon

The Poisoned Chalice [3]

"He hasn't got much longer. Has Arthur got the flower?" Gaius questioned Gwen as soon as she had walked through the door of the physician's chambers. She was the one to go outside to see whether the mutterings of Arthur's return were true, but she felt horrible for having to bring bad news amongst the good.

"I don't know. Uther won't allow anyone to see him." She explained, looking down to Merlin who seemed to be in pain as he squirmed among the sheets on the bed, letting out groans while he breathed heavily. "Is there nothing we can do to help?" Gwen asked in worry, looking between the two healers, hoping they would have some kind of answer.

"Only the leaf of the Mortaeus flower can save him." Gaius said with a sigh, looking down at Merlin worriedly from where he sat beside the bed.

"And we have to find out if Arthur has it. But how do we do that?" Gwen wondered out loud, whishing there was something they could do. Perhaps she could ask Morgana for help, she had enough authority to sneak into the dungeons and see Arthur.

"Leave that to me." Arwen muttered, quickly standing from where she had been kneeling on the floor beside Merlin and making her way out of the chambers with rushed footsteps, leaving Gaius and Gwen staring after her. Gaius noticed the irony in her actions, after all she hated it when Merlin would rush out like that without sharing what he intended to do.

And while Gaius and Gwen could only wonder as they waited, Arwen rushed through the halls of the palace, making a short stop as she sneaked into the kitchens. She managed to grab a plate with some food while remaining unseen before she left. Had the cook caught her, the woman would have surely bit her head off for even coming close to her meals. Luckily, she dashed out of there as soon as she could and continued her run to the palace dungeons.

She only slowed down once she had reached the Wrought Iron Stairway. With the plate of food clutched tightly in her hands, Arwen moved down the steps and approached the guard on duty.

"Food for the prisoner." She spoke quietly and respectfully. She couldn't let him get any wind of how nervous she was or her need to enter the dungeons as quickly as she could. Luckily for her the man didn't question anything and instead only moved to unlock the door for her and allow her inside.

Arthur's eyes snapped up at the sound of the door unlocking and he didn't think he'd ever felt as relieved as he did in that moment, however he masked his relief and happiness to see her behind a cold and stoic expression. Arwen made her way into the dungeon sending him an inquisitive look while she tried to come up with a way to get the information she needed and perhaps the flower itself from Arthur.

"Set it down over there." Arthur instructed coldly, behaving as he would with any other servant that would have been sent down there to bring him food. Arwen spared him a short glance before silently doing as she was told. She set down the food by the wall, taking a couple of steps back as Arthur stood up and thanked her while approaching the plate.

She let out a small sigh, beginning to believe he didn't have it, that he hadn't managed to get the flower. With that thought in mind, she turned around, ready to walk out of the dungeon, but Arthur's voice calling out for her to wait made Arwen turn back to look at him, a small spark of hope coming alive inside of her

"I couldn't possibly eat this; it's disgusting." Arthur grumbled arrogantly as he put the plate back down and moved back to where he had been sitting when she entered the room. "The state it's in, I'm not sure it's fit for anyone."

Arwen moved back to it, doing her best not to snap at him for his spoiled behaviour, but quickly she realised it wasn't spoiled behaviour at all. A smile came over her face as she picked up the plate, taking in the sight of a small yellow flower sitting in between the two pieces of bread. Her blue eyes quickly turned to him with a grateful smile before she composed herself and began to make her way out of the cell.