Gaius turned away from Emrys when the prince entered, his gaze falling on the bucket of water. [b]"Ah, very good,"[/b] he muttered, pushing the image of the druid mark to the back of his mind; he would worry about that later, once the boy was awake.

[b]"Do you have an idea of whether he'll be alright or not yet?"[/b] Arthur asked as Gaius pulled the table with his supplies closer to Emrys' bed. Gaius shook his head, not bothering to look up at the prince, too focused on the task at hand.

[b]"Not yet, sire. His well-being will greatly depend on whether or not I can staunch the blood flow once I remove the arrow."[/b] The old man was confident in his abilities as a healer, but he didn't want to lie to the prince and say the boy would be okay when there was no way of knowing for sure at that moment.

Without another word, Gaius carefully wrapped his right hand around the rod of the arrow, placing his left hand on Emrys' shoulder to hold him still. He took a breath, preparing himself, and gently began to tease the arrowhead from the young man's flesh. Emrys didn't react right away, but eventually the pain filtered through the fog in his mind and he visibly winced, his face contorting with discomfort. His body went tense, but Gaius didn't stop, continuing to pull until the arrow was free.

Blood immediately welled up in the wound, and Gaius hastily dropped the arrow onto the table and picked up a clean cloth, pressing it against Emrys' shoulder. [b]"Hold this here for a moment,"[/b] he instructed Arthur, only letting go once the prince was applying adequate pressure. He grabbed another cloth and soaked it in water, wringing it out before shooing Arthur away and beginning to clean the wound.

Emrys' eyes were moving frantically beneath his closed lids, and every so often he would let out a quiet whimper of pain. Once Gaius was finished cleaning the wound, dropping the red-and-green stained cloth onto the table, he picked up the herb mixture he had prepared and began slathering it onto Emrys' wound. He then wrapped the wound tightly with bandages. At this point the salve had begun to dull the pain, and Emrys relaxed once again, falling asleep now instead of unconscious. Gaius let out a sigh of relief and turned to Arthur with a small smile.

[b]"He will be fine, sire. I will let you know when he wakes up."[/b]