Our horses rode up into the gates protecting the Pendragon castle at the heart of the city of Camelot. I trailed behind Lady Hailey on her white mare while I rode on my red and brown paint. Hailey's soft green hood was drawn up over her head to shield both her golden hair and tanned face from the down pouring rain, the cloak trailing down her back and clumping together on the back of her saddle. Her golden pants were now drenched in rainwater and her boots overflowing with it.

As we both rode in, two servants ran up and led our horses to the stables after we had gotten off and gotten inside the castle doors. The grand doors closed behind us silently. "Lady Hailey!" a loud voice boomed from our right. I reached for my sword, sheathed at my left hip before I saw Arthur Pendragon run up to us in greeting. I released my grip as he hugged Hailey.

She drew her hood down off of her head and let her short hair bounce down beside her jaw line. "Let's get those dried off." Arthur offered his hand out to me waiting for me to hand him my black cloak. I undid the golden button and put it neatly in his hand while Hailey unhooked the golden rose pendant on hers before handing it to Arthur who threw it back at his servant that I didn't get to see very well, but I felt like I knew who it was. I shrugged the feeling off as soon as I realized that another man was walking down the hallway towards us. I got a little closer to Hailey, being cautious in the unknown place.

"Calm down Lilliah!" Hailey said to me. I flinched but nodded before I turned to see who it was that was walking towards us, but he was gone. "So Arthur, where's your father?"

"Everything's about him isn't it?" Arthur joked before nodding his head towards two more great doors. "He's in a meeting right now. Let me show you to your room." He said before starting to walk down a hallway. We both followed and I made sure to look back making sure that we weren't being followed by anyone.

When we walked up to a door engraved with golden designs of the Pendragon symbol, Arthur stopped. "Here we are… Hope you'll find it appealing." He said before leaving.

"Finally," Hailey said before running inside the room and throwing herself onto the large bed. "Lilliah, what do you say to a sword match once the rain stops?"

I grinned, "That'd be a great way to start the month!" I said. Hailey always knew how to cheer me up. I drew my sword out and marveled at the shine it had. The blade was made out of pure opals found in the mines around the Tamerton city walls, the hilt from the hide of a black mare that died of illness. I looked back up and saw Hailey's face in her hands.

"Lady Hailey?" I whispered.

"You know I don't like you calling me that…" she muttered.

"I just don't want anyone to hear me refer you as a casual friend… I could get in trouble for that here." I looked at her before sheathing my sword and kneeling so that I could see her face. "You're as pale as me!" I gasped.

"I'll be fine Lilliah."

"Sure doesn't look like it. I'll go find their physician alright?"

"Yeah… Tell him it's a headache with nausea…"

I nodded before heading out, but I stopped at the door and walked back kneeling down again. "Don't try to heal yourself. Magic is forbidden here." I said before walking out the door again. Closing the door behind me, I sighed in relief before turning around and holding back a yelp as someone stood in front of me, blocking my way to find the physician.

"Can I help you find something milady?" he said. He stood in front of me, holding himself proudly even though he was dressed in peasant clothes, he seemed…higher up than a noble. "Pardon me… I'm Lancelot. A night here at Camelot." I looked at him one more time, my eyes stopping at his before turning my head away from them, which was easy since he was taller than me. "Doesn't look like it huh?"

I shook my head, "Not really… I'm Lilliah," I said. "I don't suppose that you know where the physician is would you?" I started fiddling with my hands. Why was I nervous around him..?

"Actually, I'm friends with the physician's assistant. You look a lot like him, but quiet better if I might say." He said reaching his hand and grabbing mine before he started leading me down a hallway.

"Oh no… I'm not a noble you know..?" I said almost regretfully.

He laughed and turned back to look at me stopping us both in the narrow hallway. "I'm not either. I was only knighted because I saved Arthur's life."

I stared up at him confused but I smiled. "Well you must have many girls falling for you already huh?"

He shrugged, "Most of them are annoying, and nowhere near as beautiful." He said before leading me up a spiral slope. I felt my cheeks grow warm as my face turned pink. I felt myself smile until he stopped and I ran into his back. Jumping backwards my face grew even brighter as he laughed and showed me the door. "Right in here milady." He let go of my hand and threw open the door. "Hey Gaius, I need your help in here please!" he shouted as he walked inside.

That name was familiar, where had I heard it? "Hold on Lancelot, Gaius isn't here yet!"

"Then why don't you come in and help Merlin?"

"MERLIN?!" I shouted before running to the back door where his voice had come from. I burst through the door and looked around the room. Merlin stood up, only slightly taller than me, before his face lit up. "Merlin!" I said before wrapping my arms around his neck.

Lancelot propped himself in the doorway against the side and looked a little hurt. Merlin let me go and looked over at him, "Lancelot this is my little sister Lilliah."

"Wait your little sister?"

"Yes, why? Did you think we were together?" Merlin said.

"NO!" Lancelot announced, his cheeks turning slightly pink in embarrassment.

Merlin suddenly got a little stiff and looked like he was about to burst into laughter. "What is it?" I said confused.

"Lancelot likes you…" Merlin said a chuckle or two coming out with each word.

"She needs something from you okay?!" Lancelot said

"What do you need Lilliah?"

"Some medicine for Lady Hailey. She had a headache, nausea, and she's paler than I am ."

"Alright, give me one minute." Merlin said before walking out into the main room.

I looked at Lancelot and couldn't help but blush and turn my head down at an angle. I perked my head a little towards the window in Merlin's room. "The rain's stopped!" I said happily. Then my shoulders fell and I sighed softly while shaking my head.

"What's wrong?" Lancelot said.

"Hailey said that when the rain stopped we'd go out and train, but she can't go out in the state that she's in."

"I'll go with you, Lilliah…" he said behind me.

I perked up, "Really?" I said turning back to look at him.

"Yeah."

I smiled and heard Merlin start yelling 'no' repetitively before the sound of shattering glass echoed in the chamber. Lancelot and I ran out and saw bits of glass on the floor with powder that was most likely inside of the jar, in piles around the glass. Merlin stood with his head down, a bottle in one hand, his other falling to his side limply. "Damnit…" he muttered before taking a pinch from the top of one of the piled and sprinkling it into the bottle. "There we go…" he said as he put a lid on the bottle and shook it violently. "Just let her take a sip of this now, and let her sleep for the rest of tonight."

"Can you tell her that? She won't listen to me."

Merlin laughed and started walking out of the room. He turned and nodded then left calling back, "Can you sweep that up Lilliah! Thanks!"

I laughed and looked around. There wasn't a broom that I could see. Lancelot had walked into the hallway and I quickly tried to use my magic to gather up all of the pieces of glass and powder in one pile. I knelt down and started to take handfuls from the pile and tossed them into a waste can that had other piles of glass and medicines inside. When I looked back up after the last handful, I saw Lancelot looking at me in disbelief.

"You just used magic…" he said softly.

"No..?" I said trying to sound confused.

He walked up to me and chuckled. "Yes you did… I saw it." I started to panic, breathing hard a fast. I felt myself get light headed. "That was amazing."

I looked up at him in disbelief. "You aren't going to charge me? Have me executed?"

"No! I hate the no magic law… I'm can't use magic, but I think it's really beautiful and helpful." He grabbed my hand again before smiling and whispering; "Now I know it's beautiful… because you can use it."

I smiled and chuckled a little before looking up at him. "What else can you do?" he said giving me a little space after realizing how close he was.

"Um… I don't know if I should show you here…"

"Of course…" He said nodding in understanding. "So are you ready for training?" he said.

I nodded and started walking back towards the room I was staying in. I ran into Merlin outside the door. "How is she, Mer?"

He rolled his eyes at my nickname that I called him when we were kids. "She's fast asleep, after a long while of complaining about not being able to train with you, the medicine finally kicked in."

"Good."

"Why are you in such a hurry? Are you getting something?"

"Yes." I said trying to push past him and into the room.

"What?" he said while he continued blocking my path.

"My sword… Now please move."

"Why?" he said as he started laughing at my attempts to get past him.

"Because I'm going to train with Lancelot… something wrong with that?" I said resting my hands on my hips.

He started laughing again before leaving. I rolled my eyes before running in the room, grabbing my sword and leaving the room, turning back only to look at Hailey soundly sleeping. I shut the door behind me and ran out into the courtyard with my sword sheathed and strapped to my hip. I saw Lancelot using a sword against a wooden dummy. I walked up to where he was and saw him jump and twirl to strike another wooden dummy behind the first one straight across the torso, sloping down from right to left. He landed solidly on his feet and drew up into a stand before digging his sword into the ground before he lifted his helmet off of his head.

He started whipping his hair from side to side getting it out of his face. "So, your turn?" I jumped a little shocked that he wasn't ordering me to do anything, he asked. "Lilliah?" he said.

"Sorry… I'm not used to being asked much…" I said drawing my sword. Lancelot stared in awe at my blade and I giggled, trying not to laugh. "Everyone reacts that way." I say before approaching the dummies. I deal a few practice strikes, testing the wood, before I bounce back and leap over the first dummy, slicing it's shoulder and bringing my sword down across the torso of the second dummy as a reflection of Lancelot's mark.

I turned and looked at him to see his jaw gapping open and a grin etch onto his face. "Wow Lilliah…that was amazing…" he said. I started blushing before the top half of the dummy fell to the ground on the gash that I had sliced. My face turned bright red when Lancelot whistled in awe. He walked up to the dummy and felt the line. "Smooth as a feather…" he turned and looked at me in amazement. I smiled and shrugged. "Don't tell me that you aren't happy with the display!"

"I'm not though! I nearly didn't make it over 1, so I could've easily been taken out. And then I barely even-" he cut me off by grabbing me by the waist and pulling me close to him.

"Lilliah…that was amazing and no one would've been able to stop you because no one would've seen it coming. Understand?" he said as he held me close. I nodded afraid of saying anything because I was sure that my voice would've trembled. Lancelot let go of me and pulled his sword out of the ground and looked at me. "Would you mind me showing me that?" he said with a grin on his face.

"What are you two doing?!" I heard Arthur's voice come from across the courtyard. I flinched and whirled around. He was walking up to us with furry burning in his eyes. "Never mind that… Where's Merlin?!" he snapped.

"Wait, Merlin's missing?" I said

"That's what I just said…" Arthur said his voice a little lighter.

I stood there staring into space trying to find out why Merlin wouldn't be around either his room, the physician's chamber (which was the same thing), or anywhere else in the castle. "He wouldn't just run off like that… not without saying anything…" I said, intending for only myself to hear.

"How would you know that? You're just Lady Hailey's servant?" Arthur said.

"Merlin is my brother Sir Arthur…" I said.

Arthur looked at me and then nodded, "Makes sense."

Lancelot walked up to my side and sheathed his sword. "Should we go out there and look for him?"

"Merlin is more than capable of taking care of himself, but he does need to get back here in time for the feast tomorrow morning when Lady Hailey wakes up. We heard that she was sick and ordered the welcoming feast to be moved to whenever she is comfortable and well."

"Thank you. I should've brought that up when you first arrived…" I said half out of the conversation.

When Arthur left, Lancelot grabbed my hand and looked at me. "You're worried aren't you?" he whispered. I nodded and he walked over towards the stables. I stood there still wondering why Merlin would just leave without saying anything. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of horses coming up slowly behind me. When I turned around, Lancelot was leading two horses with saddles and bridles already prepared. "We'll be back before nightfall, with Merlin."

I smiled before wrapping my arms around his neck and standing up on my toes to hug him. "Thank you."

He wrapped his arms around my waist before he pulled me back, "Well I can't let a beautiful woman like you just go off on your own. Though you have proven that you can look out for yourself." He said with a smile. I sheathed my sword as Lancelot pulled himself onto the back of a solid musket mare. I looked at my paint beside him. I didn't even ask how he knew it was mine, I just lifted myself onto the mare and we both started to ride out of the gates. Once we were out of the city, I started my horse to break out into a full gallop.

I felt the braid in my striking, silver-white hair move behind me and sway in the air. I slowed the mare to a halt before letting my hair fall to its full length. I felt how long it was and realized how long it had grown. I saw a stream bed and guided the horse towards it. I looked into the water, while still on the horse's back, and drew a small dagger that I had in case of emergencies. I bunched all of my hair and sliced the dagger through it, before I threw it into the water. I shook my head out and slid the dagger back where I had it originally before looking at the length it now was. It reached about the middle of my neck before ending sharply. Nodding, I turned the horse and started trotting back the way I'd come.

"Lancelot?" I called out. I couldn't see or hear him. "Lancelot?!" I looked around one more time before dismounting and drawing my sword, still holding the reins with one hand. I tied the horse to a tree limb before grabbing my sword with both hands and walking forward. Leaves rustled beside me and I swerved so that my sword faced that direction. "Who's there?" I said, my voice surprisingly calm.

"Are you Lilliah?" a soft, female voice whispered. I nodded, not saying anything. Her small frame came out from behind the bushes. "I'm Morgause. Please, I've been looking for-"

I threw one of the stones that was on the ground beside me aiming for her neck, but released too soon and hit her shoulder. She fell to the ground in pain when I threw another and hit her in the knee. I ran over and pinned her to the ground, using my hands on her shoulders, and my knees on her waist. She gasped in pain when I shook her violently. "Where's my brother you bitch!" she started laughing until I shoved her into the solid earth beneath us. She gasped again in pain, her eyes widening. " .He?!" I demanded.

"I didn't lay a finger on him. The druids though-"

I jumped off of her, mounted my horse, pulled the reins free and rode towards the nearest Druid camp that I knew of. I smelt a strong scent of charred earth and burned wood. I reared the horse to a stop and retied it to a branch. I ran forward and saw many of Camelot's knights burning the camp. Many Druids started running. Some of the escaped, but others weren't so lucky. I looked around and saw Merlin fighting with a Druid boy. When the boy squirmed free, he stood and looked at me. He grinned. "Hello. I don't believe we've meet before." My head screamed in agony as a voice echoed inside. Grabbing my head, I doubled over in pain and felt myself falling to the ground.

As my knees hit the ground, I felt two arms block me from hitting the ground any more. "Lilliah!" I heard Lancelot's worried voice break through the echoes. "Lilliah, can you hear me?!" he called over the cries from the scene.

"Don't worry, we can talk later iâ. I promise." The voice numbs my brain and I slowly slip in and out of consciousness. I can feel Lancelot pick me up before I black out, the child's voice still echoing in my head and through my nightmares.