"Are you frightened?"

"Not in the slightest." And Guinevere raised her chin and looked him straight in the eye. Like he did with the man before her, he shook her hand even though what he really wanted to do was to pull her into a hug and tell her to hide so there would be no chance of her getting hurt. She would not stand for it, that was for sure so he didn't even try. Nodding at her, he moved on to the next person.

The villagers were as ready as they would ever be but Arthur knew that everything lay on Merlin's shoulders. Without his magic, there would be no victory. He remembered Merlin's words, spoken to him just as they got ready for battle.

"You've just got to believe in them and yourself, because if you don't, they'll sense it and the battle will be lost even before it begun." He tried his best to look confident, trying to keep all the doubts and nervousness buried deep in him.

As the villages gathered around him, he straightened, and looked at them with as much calm as he could muster."You all know what needs to be done. We've practised it before. Stay calm. Stay in position." He looked at all the faces, the trust and faith in their eyes and raised his sword. "For Ealdor!"

Their voices rang out as they chanted after him.

"To your places," he ordered. As Guinevere walked past him, he grabbed her, uncaring of who saw. "Be careful. Please." She nodded, then ran off.

With everyone hidden, the village appeared empty. In the distance, as he crouched with Leon and Rowan behind a few bales of hay, he could her the shouts and hooves of the bandits. The tension in him increased and he found it hard to breathe. He'd been in several tournaments, and fought in a few battles under his father's leadership but none made him feel this way. Ealdor's fate was in his hands. He just hoped he had done enough. Just a few more moments and Ealdor would be consumed by battle.

The clatter of hooves approached and Arthur held his sword tightly. When the first bandit entered from the forest, exactly where Arthur predicted they would come from, and toppled off his horse seemingly for no reason, the pressure on his chest eased slightly. Merlin had come through despite his own misgivings. As soon as Kanen, a large, balding hulk of a man, fell to the ground, Arthur signalled and the battle began.

They outnumbered the bandits but not by much and the villages were far more inexperienced. Many fell easily to the bandits, much to Arthur's dismay and he found himself torn between trying to ensure that the injured were quickly taken off the battlefield and trying to actually engage in a proper fight with the bandits. When yet another person fell, clutching his arm and screaming in pain, Arthur quickly rushed over to distract the bandit as others dragged the injured villager away. He looked around furiously. Where was Merlin? Where was the distraction he was supposed to conjure up?

"Merlin!"

Then it happened. A huge wind funnel suddenly appeared and with precision that amazed Arthur, it slowly moved, avoiding the villagers as much as possible and easily flattening the bandits. With the bandits off balanced and confused, the villagers found it much easier to regroup and attack. It was with some pride that Arthur watched as these villagers, who just three days before had never held a sword in their hands, much less swing it, grabbed their sudden advantage with gusto.

"Sire!"

He turned towards the voice, sword raised. Behind him stood Kanen. Cursing himself for not paying attention, Arthur ducked the first blow but his surprise meant that he wasn't quick enough to dodge the second blow. The sword slashed the side of his torso and pain radiated through his body. Instinctively, after years of training, Arthur swung his own sword despite the pain and caught Kanen's arm. It was enough to distract him and Leon who had yelled the warning, rushed up and quickly dispatched Kanen easily. With their leader gone, taking down the rest of the bandits was done fairly quickly.

The village looked like it did in the aftermath of the previous battle - small fires, destroyed crops, injured people - but at least now, they knew that Kanen would not be back. Unlike the atmosphere of despair that permeated the village when he first arrived, it was now filled with the chatter of proud and relieved villagers.

Arthur gathered them for a quick speech. The pain in his side seemed to be getting worse but he wanted to congratulate the villagers on a job well done. Perhaps he was speaking too much or with too much excitement but Arthur found it harder and harder to breathe. By the time, he finished his last sentence, he was gulping in air frantically. His head started to swim and his last thought was that he was about to faint.

Nothing prepared Gwen for the sheer terror she felt when she watched Prince Arthur collapse to the ground. It all seemed to happen in slow motion and yet, she was unable to move. His knights immediately scooped him up and Hunith quickly disbanded the villagers after giving them curt instructions.

"Gwen?" Merlin hovered by her side, then put his arm around her, squeezing her comfortingly. "It's probably a combination of exhaustion and the injury. He'll be fine."

"Yeah," she muttered absently as she watched Sir Leon and Sir Rowan walk away with the prince, together with Hunith.

Merlin nudged her gently. "Why don't you go with them?"

"No. I wouldn't be of any use." Her eyes followed Prince Arthur until they disappeared into the house he was staying in. Then, remembering what just happened, she turned to Merlin and enveloped him in a hug. "You won it for us! That was amazing. I saw the wind. I never knew -"

"Shh. It felt good - being able to use my magic like that, with the full knowledge of the Prince of Camelot."

They walked shoulder to shoulder back to the makeshift infirmary. "You need to tell me that story. How did he find out and what was his first reaction?"

"Confused actually. Couldn't quite understand how someone with magic could be so harmless - those were his words by the way."

Laughing, Gwen bumped his shoulder. "You are harmless Merlin."

"Pfft. Didn't you see what I did just now? I am a veritable fighting machine."

A while later, after most of the injured were tended to and the village mostly tidied up, a spontaneous celebration took place in Hunith's house where there was much drinking (mead stored for the long, harsh winters were dragged out of storage), carousing and dancing. Assured by Hunith that Prince Arthur was fine and simply needed to rest, Gwen too found herself partaking in the festivities, a mug of mead in her hands as she twirled around with Merlin.

"May I?"

"Ah. Of course," Merlin quickly let go of her waist and smiled a knowing smile. Simon took his place.

For a while, they danced in silence. Three days ago, Gwen would have been happy. She would have smiled and dropped her head gently on Simon's shoulder and dreamed of the time when he would ask her to share his life. Now she thought of how his hands didn't span her waist with enough strength, how he wasn't tall enough and how being so close to him, she didn't feel a surge of heat and desire, feelings she'd never felt before Prince Arthur.

Her mind drifted to Prince Arthur and she wondered how he was.

Looking up at Simon, she gently withdrew from his hold. At his confused expression, she quickly made an excuse. "I just remembered I promised Hunith I would do something. Sorry."

Despite the rousing rabble within Hunith's house, the night outside was silent with the occasional sounds from the forest. She had dashed out in such a hurry that she had forgotten her shawl and the cold bit into her skin, but she didn't feel like going back for it.

Stopping at the house where Prince Arthur was resting, she peered through the half-open door, her heart clenching at the sight of him lying on the bed, wrapped in bandages. Slowly, she made her way in, easing herself onto the bed next to him and watching the way his chest rose and fell.

A bit of his bandage had come loose. At least that was what she told herself when she reached out to touch him. It had nothing to do with the urge to touch him that seemed to overwhelm her whenever he was near. As gently as possible, she tucked the bandage in and smoothed it out, savouring the feel of his bare skin against her fingers.

His eyelids flickered and he opened his eyes. "Guinevere."

"Arthur."

"How are you? Were you hurt?"

She shook her head. "But you were. How does it feel?"

He lifted himself up slightly and grimaced. "It's not too bad. I've had worse. Come here."

Gwen leaned towards him and he pulled her into a hug with surprising strength given his injury. It didn't take much before the hug turned into gentle kisses, with Arthur nipping her lips. Then, the kisses deepened and the next thing she knew, she was straddling him, her hair falling all over his face before he dragged her down for more kisses.

Arthur hissed and Gwen jerked away. "Did I hurt you?"

His thumb ran across her lower lip and shook his head. Gently, he moved them so she lay plastered to him from head to toe, both of them on the small, uncomfortable bed.

She spent the night curled in his embrace.

The sound of people talking woke her up. Her vision still burred by sleep, she slowly made her way to the to door, where Arthur stood on the other side talking to his knights.

"Tomorrow. My injury should have healed sufficiently to make the journey back."

Gwen's heart dropped but she chided herself for being foolish. Did she think that the prince would spend more time than he needed to in this tiny village? She turned from the door and picked up her clothes that they had discarded carelessly on the floor last night, pulling them on. While she had known from the very beginning that whatever she had with the prince would be short, temporary, nothing more than a physical connection, it didn't stop the disappointment and hurt that spread through her. The door creaked and Gwen quickly schooled her face. It was bad enough that she had gotten attached to the prince that his leaving hurt. She didn't need him to know how silly she was being.

"You're up." The smile he had on his face was full of warmth and he reached out to her. She avoided his touch but he said nothing although his smile faded a little. "Are you in a hurry? I thought that maybe we could spend the day together."

"There's still a lot of cleaning up to do and I'm sure the infirmary needs help. You should rest as well."

"You could tend to me," he teased. When she didn't respond, he walked up to her. "I have to leave tomorrow - go back to Camelot. My father would probably have sent a patrol out after me by now."

She nodded, annoyed that tears were stinging the back of her eyes. "Of course. Thank you for all your help."

"Come with me. You don't have to leave tomorrow. I can send some knights later to ride with you to Camelot."

Looking up at him, she shook her head. It was so easy for him to say that and she was reminded that Arthur, despite his rescue of her village, despite her attraction to him, despite his talk of wanting to be better, was still selfish and unthinking.

"I can't just leave Ealdor like that. What will I do in Camelot? And what happens when you tire of me? Do I move back here in shame? Am I to give up my life just so we can kiss some more?"

It was clear he had no answers to any of these questions, had never even thought about them. "I - you could be a seamstress there. You could teach me to be a better leader. And I can't imagine that I will tire of you."

She sighed, ignoring the pleading in his voice. "And if that doesn't work out? I can't leave everything just to be your mistress."

Shocked coloured his eyes. "No. You won't just be my mistress."

"What will I be? Your wife? Don't be foolish Arthur. One day, you'll find your real princess. One day, you'll be King of Camelot and I cannot be your Queen."

He shifted uncomfortably. "I -"

The conversation was getting too painful. "Arthur, it was a brief fling. A one-time affair. It meant nothing and it will result in nothing."

"That's not true."

"There is someone else in my life." Every word was a lie and it broke a little bit of her heart to say them.

Arthur tensed at those words and his hurt was plainly written across his face. But he kept quiet, as if waiting for her to continue. So she did. "You need to return to Camelot. Be a better prince. Make Camelot a better place for everyone."

"You love him?"

"Yes." The lie slipped easily from her lips.

In a split second, his eyes shuttered and his face hardened. "I suppose sleeping with the prince of Camelot is quite the achievement then."

She hadn't realised she was able to hurt even more. The tears threatened to spill but she refused to cry in front of him. "If you don't mind, I will take my leave Sire. I wish you a safe trip home."

The rest of the day passed in a haze. She helped with some of the repairs around the village and helped Hunith to take stock of their supplies. At times, she would watch Arthur as he went round to talk to the villagers, bitterness rising in her as he seemed unaffected by what happened before.

She was mending some clothes in her home when Merlin walked in and completely destroyed whatever peace she had thought she salvaged from her very bad day.

"You're leaving Ealdor? To go to Camelot?" The thread had fallen from her hand and she stared in shock at Merlin.

"It's not forever and I'll visit."

This time she couldn't control her tears and Merlin quickly gathered her into a hug. "I'm so sorry Gwen but my mum thinks it's time I learnt to use my magic better."

"In Camelot? Under the nose of the king who burns people who use magic? And the prince knows about your magic. Who is to say he won't betray you?"

"Mum has been wanting me to go to study under her friend in Camelot for a long time." Merlin said as he moved the things on her table around, avoiding her gaze. "I guess after that display during the battle, I think she's decided that it's time. I think it's time too. I've been playing around with simple magic for a long time. It's about time I learnt more."

"And the prince?"

Merlin shrugged. "You know, I thought I wouldn't like him but I do. Sort of. He can be really annoying and dense but he's a good person. Do you know he pulled me aside and made me explain my magic in detail to him because he had started having doubts about his father's stance on it? I used that sword analogy you came up with." He looked up at her, smiled slightly and continued. "He said that he would keep my magic a secret. I believe him."

What was there to say? She couldn't ask Merlin to stay in Ealdor because she didn't want to lose her best friend. And she knew part of her unhappiness was rooted in selfish jealousy over the fact that Merlin was able to go to Camelot and she couldn't. So she nodded, tried to smile and spent the rest of the day with him, doing nothing much except soaking in his company.

They lay under the stars in the forest. "What's between you and the prince?"

"Nothing."

"Hmmm."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"He's a prince, Gwen."

"Don't you think I don't know that?"

The knock came early in the morning when most of the village was still asleep. Nervously, Gwen grabbed the candlestick from next to her bed and crept to her door. Who would visit her at this time?

It was Arthur.

"Guinevere."

"Why are you here?"

He slid a hand into her hair, bent over and kissed her. She knew she shouldn't respond but it was the last time she would share such intimacy with him. Telling herself that one last kiss couldn't harm her, she threw herself into it.

"Here. I want you to have this." His breath caressed her face and his thumb stroked her swollen lips gently. Then, he took her hand in his and placed something cold and metal in her palm. Gently, he closed her fingers over it. "Maybe when you look at it, you'll remember our brief fling." He hesitated, hand still wrapped around her closed fist. "I will be a better prince Guinevere." He pressed a kiss on her forehead, then he disappeared into the darkness.

Opening her hand, she saw a plain metal band. The words "Arthur Pendragon" were carved on the inside. She closed her hand over it again and closed her eyes, trying to stop her heart from breaking.