Chapter Text
Arthur gritted his teeth as his wife's cry came again from inside the Queen's chamber. "Ahhhhh..ahhh..ahhhhhh..ahhhhhhhhhh!"
He clenched his fists as well, as he paced before the door, his knights and closest friends trying to stay out of his way even as they lent him their support.
"Sire,…" said Sir Gwaine tentatively.
"No!" snapped Arthur, knowing Gwaine would again suggest some distraction while Gwen's labor continued, but he would not have to be hunted down when his child arrived, or worse, arrive drunken as so many new fathers did. Arthur glanced over at Elyan's ashen face. The knight sat hunched over, his elbows on his knees, looking decidedly green, but he tried to smile reassurance at his sovereign and brother-in-law.
The door opened and the midwife appeared. A middle aged widow with five children of her own, Fenella assisted with most of the births at the castle, but also many in the town. Gwen had chosen Fenella for her competent and composed demeanor, but the drooping of her shoulders as she approached did nothing to reassure the young King. She dropped him a quick curtsey, but motioned Gaius to her side. The physician said nothing, but stepped close to receive her confidence.
She raised devastated eyes to the old healer and said in a cracked voice that bespoke doom, "There's an arm out."
The old physician's eyes drooped and his head bowed.
Terror inciting his fury, the King demanded, "What does that mean, exactly?"
"It means," said the old physician, raising his eyes to the King, "that the babe cannot be born."
Arthur felt Merlin come up next to his shoulder, but had no time for his manservant. "Surely something can be done."
Gaius shook his head slowly. "No, Sire."
Panic welling up in him, Arthur demanded of the mid-wife, "But I just heard her! The Queen still lives, does she not?"
The mid-wife dropped into a curtsey, which she held. "The Queen lives, Sire, for a while longer."
"Then what's the problem?" demanded Arthur.
"A babe has to arrive head first, Arthur," explained Gaius patiently. "Sometimes a babe can arrive breach if both feet come out first, but if an arm comes out first, the shoulder blocks the exit and it is very rare that the babe can get their head in as well. It is almost certain that the birth will tear both mother and babe apart."
Arthur could feel tears stinging his eyes, but this was still the time for action. "You said almost certain. Then there is something that can be done?"
Gaius startled slightly, even as Gwen again cried out. "There is nothing that can be done, Arthur."
"Gaius," said Merlin from beside his King in a warning voice.
"There must be something," insisted Arthur.
"There is nothing," repeated Gaius.
"Gaius," growled Merlin.
"There must be something, Gaius," said Arthur desperately. "Anything! Anything at all!"
"Gaius, tell me what to do!" demanded Merlin.
Arthur raised an arm in front of Merlin's torso to block his manservant's interruptions. Fury leaking through the patient façade he tried to raise, Arthur said, "Gaius, I don't think you're understanding me. I'm giving you permission to do whatever needs to be done, no matter what the circumstance."
Gaius took a half step closer to the King. "I know what you are asking and the answer is no. There is nothing that can be done!"
"Gaius!" admonished Merlin, and this time his voice was filled with authority that he clearly shouldn't be exercising over his mentor.
Arthur looked at his manservant sharply, but it was Gaius who snapped at him, "The arm is out, Merlin."
"Then maybe it needs to go back in," said Merlin belligerently. He took a step toward the bedchamber door, but was caught by the bicep by Percival's large hand.
"You've never done this before?" asked the big knight, on the heels of which Gaius chimed in, "You cannot move what you cannot see, Merlin."
Merlin glared at both of them, "Someone has to try something other than accepting their death sentence!"
"You'll need to practice," said Percival firmly. "Gwaine, a basket of eggs from the kitchen as fast as," but the other knight was already racing down the nearest staircase bawling, "Make way!" at the top of his lungs.
Leon's eyes, meanwhile were ticking back and forth between the physician and the manservant. He seemed to come to some conclusion with a short nod and laid a hand on the King's shoulder. "Arthur, you'll have to buy a little time. Go to Gwen, tell her she has to wait."
"Wait?" asked Arthur in a strangled voice.
"Just a few moments," reassured Leon, "while Merlin receives the proper instruction."
The midwife took hold of Arthur's wrist, but now hope shone in her eyes. "Come, Sire. It is as you have commanded."
Confused, Arthur allowed himself to be led inside the bedchamber, but he brushed past the midwife as he heard his wife cry out once again. The midwife's assistant was at her shoulder, supporting her. The King inserted himself between the two women as the midwife commanded, "Don't push, my lady. You have to wait." Then she shooed her assistant out of the chamber.
"Arthur?" questioned Gwen as her husband took hold of her shoulder and grasped her hand. "There's something wrong, I know it. Something's wrong!"
"Everything's fine, Gwen," lied Arthur as convincingly as he could.
"No, I can feel it," said Gwen, turning her sweaty face towards him. She gasped, "You have to promise me, Arthur, you have to save our son."
"What?" Arthur asked her desperately. "No, no, you're both going to be fine."
Gwen grunted and squeezed his hand with all her strength, struggling against the contraction not to push. She arched with the pain, then flopped back against his support. "You're the greatest swordsman in all of Camelot. You can get our baby out. You have to take your knife and free him, Arthur. It's the only way."
"No!" Arthur refused, knowing what she asked would kill her. He cuddled her close, clinging hard. "You're… you're right, Gwen. There's something wrong, but you're both going to be fine. Gaius knows what to do. He just can't do it alone. He's instructing Merlin right now. It will just take a few minutes. Just a few minutes. Then they'll come in and everything will be fine, I promise."
"It's not going to be fine, Arthur," huffed Gwen.
"It will, really," said Arthur as if he could command it to be the truth.
Gwen met his eyes. "Promise me, Arthur Pendragon, that if it's not, you will do everything in your power to save our child. You will cut him free."
Arthur choked out, "I promise. Because it's not going to be necessary." Another contraction wracked Gwen's frame and Arthur pulled her close, ignoring the pain of her grasping as she shuddered against him and praying for Merlin to hurry. Burying his face in her hair he reassured her, "Just hold on to me. Just hold on and everything will be fine."
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Percival had pushed Merlin into Arthur's chamber, the other knights and Gaius following. The royal couple usually slept in here unless one of them was ill, but there was a connecting door, through which Gwen's cries sounded more clearly than they had in the corridor. "What is it you need?" Percival asked Merlin.
Merlin shook his head. "I don't know."
"For the rest of you to leave," huffed Gaius commandingly.
"It's magic, isn't it?" asked Leon heavily. "What Arthur was asking for?"
"Magic?" asked Elyan, managing to look both shocked and hopeful at once.
"Gaius used to be a sorcerer," said Leon.
"Wait, you know?" asked Merlin looking at each man.
Percival crossed his arms over his chest. "Lancelot knew didn't he? Some of the things he said… well, mostly he just said to trust you no matter what."
Merlin cast his gaze downward. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to deceive any of you."
Leon snorted. "So you do have magic? You are Gaius' apprentice?"
"Yes," Gaius answered for his ward.
Merlin, looked up, startled. "Gaius…" he hissed.
Leon pulled himself rigidly to attention. "I just heard the King ask Gaius to preform magic to save the Queen. If it is Gaius' apprentice who will preform that magic, it seems to me that that is within the bounds of the King's order. If I am in error, I'm sure the King will make his displeasure known," a this point Gwen cried out even more loudly, "later. Right now, what do you need to save the Queen?"
Gwaine ran into the room, a basket of eggs in one hand, the other laid over the top to keep them from jostling. "Got the eggs," he panted.
"That was a good thought," said Gaius taking the basket from the knight and bringing it to the table.
"What are we doing?" asked Gwaine, laying a hand on Percival's shoulder.
Percival turned to him while still keeping one eye on Merlin and explained quietly, "Merlin's a sorcerer and Gaius is teaching him how to save Gwen and the baby with his magic."
"Cool," said Gwaine enthusiastically.
Gaius glared at the two knights as though they were whispering schoolchildren and then turned to his star pupil. "You have to move the baby, Merlin, without being able to see it." He looked around for something to hide the eggs.
"Got it," said Percival. He swooped two pillows off of Arthur's bed, stuffing one inside the case of the other. He laid them on the table, grabbed the top egg and stuffed it in between the two pillows, then looked at Merlin expectantly.
Merlin stepped up to the table. "Right. We're going to ruin Arthur's pillows, you know."
Elyan snapped, "Arthur would sacrifice a lot more than his pillows to save Gwen's life. Take the whole damn bed if you have to."
"Just draw the egg out and catch it in your hands, Merlin," said Gaius soothingly.
Merlin's eyes burned gold. He could easily feel the texture of the egg against the pillows with his magic. He let his magic surround the egg, cradling it, but held a bit too tight and felt the crack of the shell. Still, it felt relatively intact so he started it rolling toward him. The egg rolled out of the pillow, dropping into his hand. He held it up and a crack showed the length of it. Merlin grimaced, but Gaius assured him, "A good start. The egg cracked, but the membrane is intact. Nothing is seeping out. Try it again."
Elyan grabbed the next egg and managed to crack it in his hand. Percival laid a gentle hand on the smaller knight's shoulder and put another egg in between the pillow cases. Merlin cracked the second try slightly, but the third egg came out whole. Merlin sighed in relief and turned toward the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" snapped Gaius.
"Well, I just…" said Merlin motioning toward the door.
"Again," demanded Gaius. Merlin's lips pursed in frustration, but he obeyed his mentor's order, while the knights watched in trepidation. Gaius made him pull the egg out three times without cracking it and then had him move it from one side to the other and finally push it away from himself to the far end of the pillow. Merlin cracked three more eggs in the process, only one of which oozed, before Gaius finally declared himself satisfied. Merlin hurried to the connecting door and slipped through.
"What took you so long?" demanded Arthur, wild-eyed and holding onto his shuddering wife.
Gwen looked up at Merlin, her face so distorted in stress and pain that he almost didn't recognize her. The midwife shooed him toward the bed and then began folding the covers back from the Queen's feet so that he could see nearly to her bare waist, though the folded covers made something of a tent obscuring the sight from the royal couple's eyes. Merlin felt his bile rise at the sight and the slightly sour smell of the blood that stained the bed between Gwen's thighs. A tiny hand covered in blood stuck out under the curly hair at her crotch.
"There's so much blood," Merlin hissed at the mid-wife.
"That's a normal amount of blood for a birthing, young man," reproved the mid-wife. "I've changed the towels twice already."
"My baby!" cried Gwen. "Does my baby still live?"
The mid-wife put her hand between Gwen's legs and laid her finger in the baby's palm. The tiny fingers wrapped around the pressure automatically. "The babe lives, your Highness. Weaker now, but still alive."
"Get him out!" cried the laboring mother.
The mid-wife pulled back her hand and instructed Merlin, "Be ready as the next contraction ends, that will give you the most time."
Merlin nodded agreement and sank to his knees at the end of the bed, thinking that if a knight bled that much on the battlefield he'd be in fear for his life.
"One more, my Lady," said the mid-wife, taking the side opposite Arthur as another contraction wracked Gwen's frame. "Just hold on for one more and everything will be alright."
Gwen panted and cried out as anther contraction shook her. Merlin watched the baby make a fist and shake it independently of his mother's movement. He sent his magic back along the arm, feeling for the elbow.
"Now!" commanded the midwife.
Merlin gently pulled at the elbow with his magic, drawing the arm back, but it stuck. Merlin sent his senses out to feel the length of the arm, realizing that the baby still held his hand in a fist. Merlin relaxed the fingers and tried the elbow again, forcing it to bend. This time the arm slipped through and free. "The arm's back in!" said Merlin, almost surprised.
"Now the head," said the mid-wife firmly. Patting the top of her own head, she instructed, "the top of the head has to come out first, just like a crown."
Merlin tried to feel the baby with his magic, but couldn't get a reference between what was Gwen and what was baby. "I - I can't tell where it is," he stammered.
The midwife grabbed hold of his arm with both hands and yanked him to his feet. She pulled him around the side of the bed and forced his hand down on Gwen's belly, her fingers feeling between his. "There," she told him. "There's the head, can you feel it?"
"Yes, yes," he said, laying both hands on Gwen's belly. His magic flowed through his fingers and around the child, turning the baby's whole body so the top of the head took the place the shoulder had occupied a moment before. "Done." Merlin breathed a sigh of relief and looked up to see both Arthur and Gwen staring at him open-mouthed. Merlin cringed with fear that Arthur would leap at him, but then another contraction rocked Gwen's body and Arthur turned to concentrate on his wife.
"Push, my Lady," ordered the mid-wife, shoving her way around Merlin to take her place at the foot of the bed.
Merlin couldn't look away as the head emerged from Gwen's body, blood spurting around it.
The contraction stopped with the head sticking out and the mid-wife sent probing fingers around the neck. "That's good, my Lady. One more good push and you'll have a baby."
"Merlin," snapped Arthur, glaring at his servant.
"He should stay, Highness," said the mid-wife firmly, her office temporarily giving her authority.
"Then go sit down," said Arthur, jutting his chin toward the chair Gwen liked to sit in to sew near the fire.
Merlin obeyed, not watching anymore. He hunched over in the chair, his elbows on his knees, listening to the sounds of the birthing; both pain and encouragement.
"You have a son, Highnesses," announced the mid-wife, her voice practically glowing.
Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. Gwen and the baby were alright. If he had to sacrifice his life revealing his magic at least it meant something - it meant new life.
The midwife's skirts appeared in the sorcerer's line of vision and he raised his eyes to find her holding a bundle of blankets. "Here, make yourself useful," she said, shoving the bundle into his arms. He looked into the bundle to find the scrunched up face of the newborn Prince. The midwife arranged Merlin's elbow to support the infant's tiny head before she released him to him.
"What do I do?" asked Merlin, distressed.
"You hold him," said the mid-wife, as though speaking to the village idiot. "We've still the afterbirth to take care of." The midwife swept back to Gwen.
Merlin looked at the royal couple to find Arthur glaring at him, but still supporting his wife. The King glanced down at the Queen and she nodded and then squeezed his hand as another contraction rocked her. Arthur's full attention remained on Gwen as the mid-wife declared, "There now, just one or two more pushes for the afterbirth and then it's all done. We'll just clean you up and then you can have a nice visit with the new arrival."
Merlin cuddled the infant close to his chest, quite certain that if he dropped his son, Arthur would find a way to kill him twice. The baby stuck his tongue out as though tasting the air and then popped open big brown eyes that didn't immediately focus. Merlin leaned a little closer to the infant in his arms and the baby's eyes stopped roaming. The baby's left hand was pinned against the sorcerer's chest, but he managed to get his right free. He poked himself in the nose before batting his hand around in the air. Merlin shifted his back so it was firmly supported by the chair and shifted the little one into a firmer hold before bringing up his free hand to touch the tiny fist. The baby stilled for a moment and then swung repeatedly at Merlin's fingers, finally catching one in his grip.
"You do that well."
Merlin looked up to find Arthur standing over him. "Well, I'm sitting down. I wouldn't want to try carrying him anywhere. Did you want to hold him?"
"No, no," said Arthur, holding up his hands to prevent his manservant from trying to pass him the bundle. "I think I'll just look for now."
Merlin looked back down at the bundle in his arms with a slight smile. "You'll make a fine father, Arthur."
Arthur knelt down in front of the sorcerer, confusion making his eyes wander. "You saved the lives of my wife and child," he said, stroking his newborn son's check with a tentative finger. The baby responded by turning his head and trying to catch the touch with his mouth.
Merlin looked at him in confusion. "Gwen's my friend. I couldn't let her die."
Moving his fingers to stroke the wisps of hair visible at the edge of the baby's forehead, Arthur said thoughtfully, "You used magic." The newborn Prince ignored his father, instead trying to pull the sorcerer's finger into his mouth.
Merlin nodded. "Yes."
Arthur stared a him for a long moment. His expression unreadable, he said, "Ask what you will in reward."
Merlin ducked his head, focusing on the new baby. "Just… not the pyre. When you execute me, make it quick."
Arthur looked at him unbelievingly. "Merlin… you truly have no instinct for self-preservation, do you? You could ask for anything and the only thing you can think of is a quick death?"
Merlin raised his eyes proudly. "What could I ask you for, Arthur? I'm a sorcerer. I've always been a sorcerer. Everything that I am is illegal, even immoral, in Camelot. No, I would never ask you for anything that would endanger your rule. Not for me, Arthur."
Arthur drew a long breath. "In that case, there will have to be a trial. Gwen will want to attend so you'll have to spend several days in the dungeon. I won't have her strength overtaxed."
"Gwen doesn't need to attend," said Merlin quickly.
Arthur raised an eyebrow, though not nearly as impressively as Gaius could. "Are you trying to destroy my marital happiness, Merlin? Because I can't think of a faster way to spend a year in a cold bed than excluding Gwen from your trial."
"Well, if it's a matter of your marital happiness," Merlin teased.
The midwife dropped a quick curtsey before the kneeling King. "Her Highness is ready for the baby now," she said, scooping the child into her arms. Merlin let the baby go to her quick efficiency.
"You stay put," said Arthur, rising. "I'll walk you down to the dungeon shortly."
"I know the way," grumbled Merlin, as Arthur rejoined his family, but the sorcerer stayed where he was to enjoy the sight of the people he cared about most just a little longer.