The world around me had a different aura surrounding it. It was something I hadn't experienced for a very long time, since my mother's death to be precise. The once playful melodies that you would hear from the treetops were now replaced by the irritating screeches from birds. All I could see was the dead foliage on the ground and the withering flowers in the bushes. I had now entered that dark, ominous place. A place where only certain people could reach me and as Franklin and Colin were now deceased, it would be impossible for me to see the world in a better light.

I was about to drag the cart back to the citadel when I heard rustling in the nearby bushes. I quietly picked up my sword from the cart and held it in a defensive position in front of my body. Even though I was highly skilled with a blade, the attack a few days ago had weakened me significantly and my body was exhausted. Additionally, lethargy began to seep through my limbs from pulling the cart all night without any rest. I could feel my legs shaking from underneath me. It had been a while since I've been this anxious while holding a sword. The knowledge that there was no-one else around to protect me from any sudden attacks left me helpless.

The sounds of rustling drew closer and I was beginning to think that fleeing to a safer area would be best. Hiding up a tree maybe? I quickly searched for a nearby tree that would be high enough for me to hide in. There was one only a few metres away but my feet were unable to move. My nerves were far too great to swiftly make my way towards the tree. I sighed and accepted that I no longer had enough time to make my escape, I had to face whatever was behind those bushes head on.

Once I could sense that it was about to come out from the bushes, I lowered myself into a fighting position. I tried to slow my breathing to keep calm, allowing a large amount of air to enter my lungs as I inhaled. To stop my legs from shaking, I shifted my weight from one leg to another. A foot was in my vision and I tightly gripped my sword, preparing to lunge at them if they decided to attack me.

A stubby, bald male came out from behind the bushes followed by two skinnier and much taller men. The first man was wielding a dagger in his right hand as for the other two, they seemed to be unarmed. I swallowed and stood my ground as I glared, a silent warning them that they shouldn't come any closer.

The short male scoffed at the sight of me, "I knew someone would be around here but I didn't expect it to be a measly, little girl."

His lowly depiction of my strength caused me to huff in disgust. If only he knew what I was capable of, he wouldn't make such a judgement about me based on my stature. Before I could respond to his comment, I decided to take a step back and decided not to attack. Since he took me for a helpless child, I assumed that he and his colleagues would just pass by and not lay a finger on me. Only the lowest of people would think of hurting a helpless, innocent child.

"So what should we do with her?" One of the taller men asked the shorter man who I guessed to be their leader.

"Well, we can't go back without bearing any gifts," their leader replied with a slight smirk forming on his face. "I'm sure he could do with another servant girl."

I took another step back and tightly gripped my sword in front of me. They would have to fight me first. I wasn't going to allow them to become some person's servant girl. As a warning, I swung my sword in front of the leader as he took a step closer. Suddenly, the other two men each pulled a dagger from their belts. My breathing became laboured as they cautiously made their way towards me. For the first time in a very long time, I was fearful for my life. What would happen if I'm unable to fight them off? Who would I be a servant girl to? What I was more fearful of was what would happen if I was taken away to be a servant girl to someone else. My father would not be pleased, not pleased at all. My father was capable of anything. If he ever found me as a servant girl for someone else, knowing my father he would not hold back and punish everyone even if they were innocent. The thought of my father's ferocity caused me to stand my ground. I was determined not to allow these men to get their way.

"You're not going to take me without a fight." I growled preparing to lunge at the opponents in front of me.

My rage was beginning to build inside of me as I glared at the pathetic smirk that was still on their leader's face. The thought of a fight had not deterred him from getting what he wanted: me. I used it to my advantage, my rage only made me stronger as my fear was now overrun by my anger. I gritted my teeth as I slowly moved to the right as there was a huge tree a few feet away from me. I couldn't allow myself to be cornered against a tree.

Suddenly, the bald man whistled. I instantly stopped in my tracks. Fear took over my entire being again as I realised that there were more than three people in this group of men. I swallowed in distress as ten more men emerged from the bushes. There was absolutely no way I could defeat that many people on my own. With a bow it could be possible, but for me, with a sword there was just no way. All of these men were almost twice my size except for their leader who was only slightly taller than me. They were all extremely well built and the chances of a small woman defeating thirteen strong men was extremely small, maybe even impossible.

One of the men made his way towards me, this one had a sword in his hand. A smile played across his face. He looked at me as if I was a piece of meat which made me feel uneasy. I glanced over to the other men and noticed that they didn't seem to move from their place. Assuming that this man was to be my opponent, I stepped closer towards him with my sword in a defensive position in front of my body. Whether I liked it or not, this battle was about to commence.

He made the first move, swinging his sword at my torso. I jumped back, getting out of the way of the sharp blade, unfortunately the tip of his sword came in contact with my clothing. There was now a slit in my clothes showing my flesh and a slight injury that looked like a measly paper cut. Nothing too painful. The lack of sleep had taken it's toll on my agility and my reaction time was definitely not at it's best. Even though the injury was nothing, it had shaken me as it made me realise how much trouble I was now in. My apprehension to this battle hindered me from seeing my opponent's next move and before I knew it I was on the ground clutching at my right arm. My breathing was laboured as I resisted from crying out in pain. Reluctantly, I looked down at the wound to see that the sword had pierced through my skin and left a deep wound in my right arm. The blood was oozing out of the injured arm and made me feel faint, but I had to shake it off. I couldn't allow myself to be defeated by these men.

I saw him look down at me in a condescending manner and laughed darkly as he watched the blood trickle down from the wound. I knew he had assumed that I had admitted defeat. How wrong he was. It definitely was not the end. I used all my strength to push myself back up onto my feet and lift my sword up with my injured arm to continue to fight. As much as I pushed the thought away, I knew that there was absolutely no way that I would be the victor. The amount of blood leaving my body made my head spin. I could feel my body swaying as I tried to keep my balance. I could make out the laughter of the men in front of me and as much as it angered me that they had won, I couldn't do much about it. Giving into gravity, my knees gave way causing me to crash onto the dry leaves on the ground.

The sounds of the men's footsteps crunching on the leaves towards my body made me panic. My internal thoughts were filled with scenarios of what was going to happen to me. Thoughts of what I would have to do as a servant girl. A sudden surge of pain ran through my arm as I felt pressure on my injured arm. I squealed in pain, it was too excruciating for me to force my mouth shut and remain quiet. It was absolutely excruciating. It felt like a massive boulder was thrown onto my arm, shattering my bone into a million pieces. A choir of laughter came from the men as I pleaded for them to stop.

Suddenly, I could feel the ground shake from underneath me. The sounds of laughter stopped immediately and the weight on my arm was removed. I listened intently to my surroundings and smiled as I recognised the sounds of sprinting hooves on the forest floor. The men began to mutter amongst themselves, curious to the vibrating ground and the sound of rolling thunder that seemed to be coming towards us. Soon after, I heard a high pitched whinny and heavy breathing. I used the little strength that I had to turn my head to the side to take a look at what was happening.

As I thought, Eina and two other horses had come to my rescue. Eina stood on her hind legs and neighed roughly at the men surrounding me who all had pulled out their swords and daggers. The three horses weaved around the men as they began attacking the horses. Eina was swift on her feet weaving between the men and pushing them over ever so gracefully. Her movements were just as fluid and elegant as I remembered it to be three months ago when I had to leave her with Colin and Franklin's horses in the forest.

I assumed that the group of men knew that they couldn't defeat the horses and fled into the bushes. Sighing with relief, I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the rustling leaves of the trees. A huff in my ear caused my eyes to shoot open to the sight of Eina's head only a few centimetres from my face. I smiled at her and slightly lifted my head to kiss the tip of her nose. She neighed happily and then bowed her head near my arm to indicate to me that she wanted to help me up. I noticed that the saddle was still on her back, I was glad to see my bow and arrows still attached. They would definitely come in handy if the men decided to come back for me.

I grabbed hold of her mane with my left arm and pulled myself up as she lifted her head simultaneously. As I had already lost a lot of blood, I had to hold onto Eina quite tightly to keep my balance. She had to hold on to the back of my dress with her mouth to keep me steady as I pulled at the bottom of my dress for a strip of material to wrap around my wound to stop the bleeding.

Before I could wrap the wound, I needed to wash it to prevent any infections occurring, so Eina kneeled on the ground to pull myself onto her back so we could head to the lake. The wound stung when I submerged my arm into the water but soon gave a soothing sensation. I really hoped that I would have enough energy to heal myself with magic, but there was just too much blood loss. It took some time before I decided that I had enough energy to climb up a tree for safety. The first thing I desperately needed was some rest before heading back to Camelot, even if I went by horseback.

With aid from my trusted horse, I made my way to a nearby oak tree. My heart began to break as I passed the other two horses, the now masterless horses who once belonged to Franklin and Colin. Now that the knights they used to serve were deceased, there wasn't much use for them to stay. I made my decision to release them into the forest, hoping that two great knights would find them and take great care of them like Franklin and Colin did. Looking at the two horses brought back the blissful yet upsetting memories of Franklin and Colin which made my decision both easier and harder. Letting the horses go felt like I was trying to remove any memories of the two knights, but it also helped me move on. By releasing them from their previous ownership, I didn't have to be reminded that my friends had past away.

As I watched the two horses gallop away, I wiped a tear that had rolled down my cheek. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and slowly made my way to the tree while holding on to Eina's saddle. I knew that I only had enough energy to pull myself up the tree to sit up at the lowest branch of the tree which was still 3 metres above the forest floor. Eina neighed worriedly beside me as I took my bow and arrows from her saddle and held them in my right hand. I prepared myself for what I thought looked like a simple enough task. However, simple was not the right word to describe it, especially when I only had one arm to pull myself up. I definitely underestimated climbing a tree with only one arm. The pain of the bark pushing into my left hand, as I used it to pull my weight up, was excruciatingly painful but it was bearable when comparing it to how painful the wound was in my right arm. It took me some time, but I eventually made it to the branch. Puffing, I laid my head back onto the tree trunk and finally felt that I was safe.

The sounds of muttering and crunching leaves awoke me from my slumber. I carefully adjusted my seating position so I was sitting upright allowing me to scan my surroundings. The men must have come back for me as I suspected. I readied my bow and arrow just in case they decided to take violent actions against me or Eina, who was resting behind the tree.

The first person to come into my line of vision wasn't someone I had seen before. Unless the group of men had recruited new members, I assumed that this man wasn't a part of the vicious men I had come across earlier. This man was of an average height with golden blonde hair and looked much cleaner and more approachable even though there was a slight ferocity in the way he looked at his surroundings.

"Merlin!" The young male turned around and yelled towards the direction that he had come from. He didn't look very pleased.

A smile appeared on my face as I realised that the person I was looking at must be Merlin's master, the King of Camelot, Arthur Pendragon. Stumbling out of the bushes came an exhausted Merlin who looked to be carrying several rabbits in his arms. I quietly chuckled to myself as I felt sorry Merlin. The things his master must have put him through mustn't have been easy. I relaxed the grip on my bow and arrow and laid them on my lap as I watched Arthur and Merlin quarrel amongst themselves.

"By the rate you're going we won't be back in Camelot until tomorrow morning." Arthur argued as he turned around to continue walking into the forest.

"These rabbits aren't light you know! Maybe you should try carrying them." Merlin scowled as he dropped the rabbits on the ground to give his arms a rest.

Arthur turned back around to glare at Merlin. I was surprised at Merlin's ability to tolerate Arthur's abuse if he gets treated like this every now and then. If I was in his position, I would have tried to get out of being Arthur's servant as soon as possible. I suppose that was what I admired about Merlin, his capacity to continue his loyalty to the King after all he's been through.

"Sire, I think we should rest here. We have been hunting for some time now. The other knights are getting restless from hunger."

My blood began to boil when I recognised the voice. Leon emerged from the bushes followed by Gwaine, the knight I encountered last night, and two other knights I had not come across before. One was enormous. He had extremely short hair and massively broad shoulders. Someone I definitely wouldn't want to mess with when it came to battle. The other knight was darker in complexion. He was slightly shorter than Leon, possibly the same height as the young King and had black hair that was of a similar style to the massive knight.

The King sighed and looked at his knights to see that Leon was right, they looked exhausted. Merlin collected some firewood and created a fire to cook two of the rabbits for the knights to eat. I didn't believe that two would be enough to feed four hungry knights, a King and himself but it seemed that Merlin was able to make a plenty of food with what he had. The smell of the rabbit stew was mouthwatering. I hadn't eaten since the night before and it was almost midday.

You could hear the laughter and chattering from the knights below, a noisy bunch they were. I kept a watchful eye on Merlin because after seeing how Arthur treated him I had a sense of protectiveness wash over me. He was cleaning the dishes when Arthur approached him. He didn't act like his master though, more like a friend would as his tone was filled with concern.

"Alright, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Merlin replied without looking away from the dishes.

"You've got that distant look about you today. What is it?" Arthur knelt down next to Merlin and didn't seem like he was going to be leave the matter alone.

"Really, I'm fine. I was just exhausted from all the hunting, that's all." Merlin said, which I could clearly tell was a lie and by the looks of it, Arthur could tell as well.

"Merlin," Arthur sighed. "Just tell me. I'm...You've got me worried." Arthur seemed genuinely concerned even though he seemed to have trouble expressing it.

Merlin finally gave in, knowing that Arthur would not stop pestering him until he gave him the truth. "A friend of mine didn't come home last night. I'm just hoping she's safe."

I paused as I realised that he was talking about me. Were Merlin and Gaius really worried about me last night? The fact that my absence last night caused Merlin to be in such a state that got the King worried about him made me feel a little warm inside. Gaius, I understand his concern as I am the daughter of his close friend whom he saved many years ago, but Merlin. Merlin, I had only met a few days ago and barely spoke to him other than the day that we met. Friend of mine.Did he really see me as a friend already?

"We will find her. I will help you find her, Merlin." Arthur consoled Merlin and patted his shoulder.

Merlin gave him a slight smile and continued with his chores. I smiled too as it came across to me that Merlin and Arthur's relationship wasn't as terrible as I first assumed. Their relationship gave the impression that they were more like brothers than master and servant. Arthur was clearly the older brother who sometimes gave the younger brother a hard time, but they still cared for each other.

Arthur and Merlin's conversation was interrupted when Gwaine ran towards them, informing them that they were not alone in the forest. Slowly, the men who attacked me emerged from the surrounding bushes. I, quickly but quietly, held my bow and an arrow in my hands, preparing myself if the fight became too much for the knights of Camelot. Arthur and Merlin quickly got up and the knights pulled their swords from their sheaths ready to defend themselves if the group of men decided to attack. There looked to be a larger amount of men than before. Forty men against six, it seemed and I was slightly worried for the safety of the knights, the King and Merlin.

"Looks like we've hit the jackpot boys," the leader exclaimed with a smug look on his face. "We come back looking for that girl to find a King and his knights instead. Oh, the master would be very pleased with this, very pleased indeed."

His men laughed and prepared their weapons for battle. The men moved to each side to create a barrier around the knights and have them surrounded. This was not looking good for the King and his knights. One of the men moved closer to Arthur but Arthur raised his hand to stop him and was about to speak before Leon interrupted him.

"You spoke of a girl, what did she look like?" He swallowed after he asked, his body was rigid and his face was slightly paler in colour.

"She was small with long, brown, wavy hair wearing a green cloak." The leader informed Leon of my description.

"What did you do to her?" Leon's voice was deep and fierce as he tightly held the handle of his sword that was still in its sheath.

The leader smirked at Leon's angry tone and began to tell him of our encounter. From his plan to make me a servant girl to his master to the injury in my right arm that one of his men inflicted on me. Leon's jaw stiffened as he listened to the leader's explanation of events. His rage seemed to grow and it looked like he was going to bolt towards the leader and attack him at any second.

"You killed her?" I heard a weak voice whisper.

I turned to look at Merlin who looked devastated at what he had just heard. Arthur also looked at him with sadness in his eyes. They all seemed to have concluded that the men had murdered me before hearing the end of the series of events. Arthur turned back to the leader and glared at him.

"So did you?" He said gravely.

The leader's face dropped in disappointment. "No, a bunch of horses came and attacked us. Though, maybe they trampled all over her and killed her. Who knows?"

All this information grew to be too much for Leon and he lunged at the leader but his attack was blocked by one of the other men. Arthur called out to Leon for him to stop but his fury was far too great. He fought off the man, piercing the man's stomach with his blade and killing him. The leader laughed sadistically before ordering his men to attack. With that, the battle between the two groups of men began.

I tried to watch over all of the knights making sure that I was ready to attack with my bow and arrow if any of the knights were in trouble. Out of all of them, my eyes were most drawn to Merlin and Leon. I accepted my protectiveness of Merlin but it frustrated me how my eyes constantly darted in Leon's direction. Why was I so fascinated by him? He's nothing special. Just like any other knight and yet every part of my being tingled at the very sight of him.

I gripped my bow tightly and released the arrow which flew into the back of the neck of one of the men. Three thugs had surrounded Leon. The man I had just killed had left a slight gash on Leon's left cheek. As Leon was about to look up at my direction, the other two cried loudly before charging at him. Leon easily defended himself and moved on to help Arthur with the group of men that had surrounded him.

I searched for Merlin who was hiding behind a tree. I sighed, glad that he decided to take cover as the knights fought off the men. Suddenly, I noticed his eyes turn yellow in colour, but only for a brief moment. Crash! I quickly turned back to the battle and noticed a large branch had fallen onto some of the men. A smirk formed on my lips as I knew exactly what had happened. Merlin was hiding for a reason: to use magic.

Surprised by the sudden branch falling and saving them, the knights looked up at the tree it had fallen from. They must've thought that it was by pure luck that it had happened. The final three men standing took this chance to flee into the bushes to safety.

The knights patted each other on the back, happy that they had defeated those men. Arthur called out for Merlin as he realised that he wasn't amongst them. His face grew with concern for his man servant until he found Merlin laying behind a tree. Arthur looked at him displeasingly and pulled Merlin up on his feet.

"You would think I would be used to you cowering behind a tree, Merlin."

As the knights walked towards Merlin and Arthur, I noticed rustling in the bushes behind them. The leader of the thugs swiftly emerged from the bush ready to attack Arthur. He was much too fast for the knights to react, but luckily my hands were quick enough to shoot an arrow into the side of his neck, killing him instantly. Stunned, the knights and Merlin took some time to process what had happened before Arthur turned to my direction.

The leaves of the tree must have hidden me from his view as he slowly approached the tree before sternly asking, "Who's there?"

The knights and Merlin followed behind Arthur and stopped once they were almost at the foot of the large tree.

"We know you're up there. Show yourself."

Arthur placed his hand on the handle of his sheathed sword preparing to defend himself. I thought it was about time I made my appearance and leapt onto the forest floor below me. Holding my injured arm, I gracefully landed on the ground and looked up at the knights in front of me.

"My Lord," I said and respectfully bowed in front of him, still holding my arm.

Before Arthur could respond, Merlin let out a sound of disbelief and embraced me tightly. I could feel his cheek on my own and could tell that he was smiling. As my arm was stuck under his chest, I couldn't hug him back but I voiced my excitement to see him again.

"I'm glad to see you too, Merlin."

As Merlin released me, I glanced over at the knights and notice the range of facial expressions they had. It was mostly the expression of confusion, but there were also expressions of happiness and relief. Relief came from Leon. After seeing his reaction to the leader's description of our encounter, I wasn't surprised.

"So this is her, Merlin?" I quickly turned to my right and realised that Arthur had stood himself beside us.

Merlin nodded and introduced me to the King with a smile still radiating off his face. Arthur looked down at my injured arm. Blood was beginning to seep through the cloth I had wrapped around the injury. I must have opened the wound again, either by jumping down from the high branch or during the battle while using my bow and arrow.

"You're injured," Arthur pointed out. "We must get you back to Camelot and let Gauis take a look at it."

As the knights were about to make their way back to Camelot, I stopped them and called Eina who immediately trotted to my side. I quickly mounted my horse and we made our way to Camelot where our journey was filled with the non-stop ramblings of Gwaine. The others must have been used to ignoring what ever Gwaine had to say, but I felt rude not to at least sound like I was somewhat interested. From time to time I would nod or pretend to sound out my interest with an "Ah" or "Is that so?"

Once we arrived, I was immediately taken to Gauis who tended to my wound. He assured me that the wound was not yet infected and it would heal in a matter of days which I was pleased to hear. I didn't want to feel weak and defenceless for a long period of time. He also took this time to ask why I was living in Camelot. From his tone I could hint that he wasn't pleased by my presence and I could understand why. Camelot was a dangerous place for anyone who used magic and for a princess of a kingdom with magic to enter a place like Camelot, a war would arise between the two kingdoms. I sheepishly explained the situation in Friardor that forced me to rebel against my father.

"My father is much like your former King, Uther. He's been killing those who oppose the use of magic in our Kingdom. It's only fuelling the fire that rages in the hearts of our people. I'm afraid that they will soon try to overrun my father."

"Have you tried to explain this to him?" Gauis asked softly.

"I've tried many times, Gauis. He is immensely stubborn. He will never listen to me. If only my mother," I choked at the thought of my mother but forced myself to continue. "If only my mother was still here, he would listen to her every word. I'm just hoping that leaving Friardor unannounced would stop all this senseless slaughtering."

"Well, for your sake and the people of Friardor, let's hope that your plan has worked."

Gauis had finished wrapping my wound with clean bandages and walked to his shelf to put away his equipment.

"So when do you plan to go back?" He asked as he turned to face me.

I knew he wanted me to leave as soon as possible but I felt more secure in Camelot than Friardor at this moment. If I went back now, my father could always continue killing those who opposed magic and the deaths of Franklin and Colin would have just be in vain. I replied with the most reasonable response I could tell him at the moment.

"I'll leave once my injury has healed. I want to make sure I'm able to defend myself on the journey back."

Knock, Knock.Gauis and I looked at the wooden door open to reveal Leon standing at the entrance. "The King asks for your presence, Jasmine." Unsure whether I heard correctly, I pointed to myself to confirm whether Leon was asking for the right person. Leon nodded. I turned to Gauis thinking that he may know why the King had called for me but his expression showed that he was just as confused.

Leon led me through the castle hallways towards one of the large hall rooms. We walked in silence but I could sense that he wanted to speak. After some time, I couldn't ignore it anymore and stopped him from walking any further.

"If you have something to say, just say it." Irritation clearly evident in my voice.

"You're still upset with me." His tone was calm as he turned to face me.

"No," I said softly. I rubbed the back of my neck as I knew that I owed him an apology for the way I treated him the night before.

"You were grieving," he said as I began to apologize. "I understand that so there's no need for you to apologize. I should be the one to say sorry for not telling you earlier. You should have known about your friends' deaths."

I swallowed my pride and accepted that he made the right decision not to tell me. "I was too weak that day. My body wouldn't have coped with the knowledge of their deaths. You were right not to tell me." He smiled now knowing that I was no longer angered by his decisions.

"Well, we don't want to keep the King waiting any longer." I began to walk down the hallway.

We entered a large room where the King and Queen were seated at a wooden table. Merlin was there too. He was setting a platter of fruit onto the table as I entered the room. When he caught my eye, he smiled and informed Arthur of my presence. Both the King and Queen looked up at me and I bowed respectfully acknowledging them.

"Ah, Jasmine, it's nice to see that Gauis was able to tend to your wound," Arthur said as he popped a grape into his mouth. "I'm sure you're wondering why I have called you here."

"Yes, my Lord," I said with a slight nod.

"I must thank-you for saving me in the forest."

"It was nothing, my Lord," I replied modestly.

"Nonsense! If it wasn't for you, Camelot would no longer have a King. So to show our gratitude, I offer you a place in the castle as the Queen's servant."

My jaw dropped and my eyes widened trying to comprehend what I had just heard. It took me some time to process but once it clicked all I could say was, "My Lord?"

"It's settled. You are to be Guinevere's servant," Arthur exclaimed as he held Guinevere's hand.

I was still in shock. Now as the Queen's servant, it was harder to be inconspicuous in Camelot and the chances of being recognised was much greater. I was now hoping that my father would not find out about this or the fate of the two Kingdoms' would end in disaster.