Profound Bond

Chapter 11

Two painfully slow days after the ball, Bella found that her injured leg was becoming sorer than usual. She, of course, went to consult Gaius about it. Maybe it was nothing... Maybe her leg was only sore because dancing at the ball agitated it? But she didn't want to take any chances.

“Gaius, are you in here?" Bella called out quietly as she looked around his room from the doorway. He was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah, Bella," Gaius said, popping out from behind his table, some sort of medicine or potion in his hand. "How can I help you?”

“Sorry to bother you, but my leg has been really sore lately," said Bella, taking a seat. Gaius came closer to her. Bella lifted her plain servant's skirt gingerly to reveal her injury. Gaius's eyebrow lifted and his eyes widened hugely.

Gaius reached for his glasses, placing them on the bridge of his nose, and peered closer at the girl's leg. He stayed silent for quite some time.

“Bella, your leg has become infected," he said finally as he stood up.

"Infected?" Bella questioned. "But how? I did everything you asked me to. I cleaned it properly, used the remedies that you made me and I even walked with wooden sticks just to heal it."

"I'm afraid I don't know the answer," the physician sighed. 

"Do you think it may be infected because of my dancing at the ball?" Bella asked.

"Yes, I think so," Gaius agreed, nodding a little. "You'll need to rest your leg," Gaius said, walking towards his medicine shelves. "Of course, I could also give you those wooden crutches again. But you'll have to stop working yourself so hard either way. I'm sure Lady Morgana will understand."

"I'm not sure Princess Violet will, though," Bella grumbled. As Gaius walked back over to her with bandages in his hand, Merlin came through the door. The boy looked over at Bella with distant eyes, as though something much bigger was on his mind.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I think Arthur has been enchanted," He said, quite casually and out of the blue.

"Enchanted?" Gaius asked him, giving him the same wide-eyed look he had given Bella just moments before. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Merlin replied, looking confident with his answer.

"Enchanted by who?" Bella asked, interested in the conversation at hand. 

"Princess Violet's brother, Joel." Merlin stated.

"But how... and why?" Bella enquired disbelievingly. 

"I think Prince Joel wishes Arthur to be distracted by his sister, so that he can win the tournament instead of Arthur," Merlin explained to her. "I think he must be sick of Camelot winning so many tournaments."

"How do you know he's been enchanting Arthur?" Bella asked, still not getting it. It just seemed so preposterous that somebody would enchant Arthur to fall in love with someone else.

"We've seen it before, Bella," Gaius told her. "In a previous tournament, Arthur was enchanted to fall in love with a woman named Vivian, simply because an ignorant man wanted to start a war."

"I caught Joel putting something in Arthur's breakfast this morning," Merlin said. "I threw the food out right away, obviously. But later, I saw Joel offer Arthur a drink. I was too late to stop him drinking it."

"So it's a love enchantment?" Bella wondered.

"Something like that," Merlin said, folding his arms behind his back. "Arthur would never love someone as selfish as Princess Violet willingly."