If one were to see them, they'd forget that there was bad blood here. Helios, being all too familiar with Uther, had spent that last three weeks playing chess with his prisoner. Uther, for his part, had been beating the man relentlessly and had begun to tease the boy as he used to.

"I'm sorry for this." Helios offered while Uther pondered his next move. The apology broke his concentration and his eyes found Helios'.

"I very seriously doubt that." Uther dismissed, trying to concentrate.

"No, I mean it. I'm so used to using force to get what I want, that no other solution came to mind. I didn't even talk to you about it." Helios began.

"Talk to me about what?" Uther asked, confused.

"Your daughter." Helios answered bluntly.

"Guinevere? Yes, you sought to marry her to take my throne. How long had you plotted this Helios? How many years had you been waiting to take my kingdom?" Uther asked, the calmness in his voice could not hide his rage.

"It's not like that… it was never like that Uther. In my eyes, you were like a father and I never wanted more from you than all that you had offered- until I saw her. I saw her and there was nothing more that I wanted." He answered honestly, peering into the older man's blue eyes.

Uther for his part had assumed that the marriage was a ploy to gain access to the throne. He hadn't thought that Helios was all that serious about Gwen, save her beauty. Then ,in that moment, the great strategist awoke, and he decided to keep this bit of information remembered, for it could come in handy if ever the tables turned.

"Check-mate." Uther replied as he made his move.

…

The Darkling Woods had been the perfect contingency plan. During the The Great Purge, all those with magic, who were able to escape, headed to the center of the forest here. They then enchanted everything that lived here; it was an oasis that still remained today. There were a few times that Leon wondered if he should've brought his friend with him. He had no shortage of food, in fact, there seemed to be something to eat around every corner.

The river that ran through the forest glowed, even during the day. Leon had always been told that the waters were healing, flowing straight from the Lake of Avalon. After weeks of trekking through the woods he could attest to there being some type of regenerative power.

The only complaint, is that his whole journey had been on foot. Yet, when he saw the gleam of chainmail discarded in the distance, the miles trekked had been forgotten. Sir Leon, picked up his pace until he was well into a healthy jog, getting faster and faster as he passed the telltale signs of a group making their way through. A large group.

Finally, Leon smelled all of the makings of a stew. He knew he was close and he hoped that there were some familiar faces there. He hoped it was Camelot, and when the capes came into view, he felt his heart soar. There were thousands of capes, lined up, awaiting their commander, all Camelot red and proud.

As Leon made his way into the clearing, he felt the sting of tears. So many of them had made it, he could already tell.

"Leon?!" Yelled Sir Bannar, running to greet his brother in arms.

"Julian! I'm so happy to have found you all." Leon panted as he grasped the man's shoulder to steady himself.

"Leon… where were you? No one saw you through the whole ordeal." Julian asked, full of curiosity and a little suspicion.

"Helping the Princess, where is Lancelot?" Leon inquired.

"In the main tent with Sir Lorn, they're going over strategy." Julian offered.

"And Elyan? Any word?"

"I think I'll let Lorn answer that."

And so Leon followed Julian to the center of the tent city, to the largest tent. Entering it, he quickly had five swords drawn on him.

"Lancelot?!" He asked, but his friend's face remained neutral.

"It's been a month, Leon, no one has heard from you since before Camelot fell...where were you?" Lancelot hoped that Leon gave him an answer that he could believe. He didn't want to kill one of his best friends.

"Getting the Princess to safety." Leon answered matter of factly.

"Guinevere… you know where she is?" Lancelot's face was a storm of emotion then.

"Yes, she and Morgana have been with childhood friend's of mine. They have ensured me that they would take care of the two of them until we could retrieve them… I didn't know if bringing them here was the best decision." Leon answered truthfully and Lancelot studied him for a moment. He finally signalled for the swords to be withdrawn.

"Where is she, where is my love?" Lancelot inquires.

"About three weeks away on foot, right outside The Darkling Woods, there's a small farm. She's safe."

"We have vehicles, we can get her in the next few days."

"Lancelot, why don't we leave her there until Elyan gets here and he can make the decision-"

"Because she is my betrothed." Lancelot argued. "I thought- " Leon could see the tears well in his eye.

"I know Lancelot, but look at the conditions here, compared to the comforts of a cabin. I think we should let them stay. That's two less mouths to feed, two less people to look over, two less of everything until we can get ourselves together. Let her keep her bed for now." Leon convinced.

…

"I'm betrothed." She moaned as his hands travelled her body, exploring her. This is the farthest they had gone. Usually, his kisses were soft and gentle, and usually never found her lips. It had been so innocent for the last month. However, today, had felt different from the beginning.

She woke up, as she had done every morning, bright and early. Her routine had been to eat a light breakfast and train with Arthur until lunch. This had been how they had come to be so close. She loved Merlin, he was a great friend, but there was NOTHING like Arthur.

He had been teaching her all of the things that she would've never learned, had she not met him. She had mastered shooting thanks to him, and he was planning on teaching her how to drive. All of these lessons were full of sweet kisses and hand holding.

If she were to be honest, she would have to admit that she had seen the change in the way he was looking at her when he came outside. His eyes dark and alluring. She had beat him in their challenge today and when they had made it to the shed to clean themselves up, Arthur had cornered her. Eyes as deep as the ocean. In one movement, he had lifted her up, resting her back on the wall.

Now, here she was, in the shed behind the house, her legs wrapped around his torso, as his lips travelled from her mouth to her neck. Throwing her head back, she repeated the confession. "I'm betrothed."

Arthur tore his lips from Guinevere and stared at her. "What?"

"I was betrothed before I got here. I -I felt like that was something that you deserved to know." Gwen was honest.

"So all of this? Were you leading me on Gertrude?" Arthur sobered from the drunkenness of her lips. He had been dreaming of kissing her this way since he had seen her. What he had not been expecting is to hear that she belonged to someone else.

"NO!' Her eyes wide, and he believed her. "It was before Camelot was attacked. He was the only man that I had ever loved, there was no one besides him. My father had just said yes to our marriage before the droogs came." She confessed. "But now-" she kissed him deeply, even as her legs were still around him. "Now-"

She didn't have the words, but Arthur saw what he felt for her reflected in her eyes. He also saw what she felt for him, and it moved him so that he kissed her again; a kiss so full of emotion that the bottom of Gwen's stomach fell out. She had been struggling with her feelings for Lancelot since she first sparred with Arthur, and now, the weeks later, she couldn't see herself with anyone else but Arthur.

His stomach growling pulled them apart, they had just gone particularly hard during their sparring and he needed a bite. He was sure she did too.

As they made their way into the cabin, she was met with Merlin's suspicious appraisal. He had been pleasant enough, but there were times that she would catch Merlin watching her or Morgana, his eyes not holding the warmth that they usually did.

"Ah Merlin, I think we should visit mother." Arthur offers noticing his brother is peering at them suspiciously. Could he know of their feelings for each other, was it that obvious they'd just been all hot and heavy in the shed? "It's been a month since we've seen her."

Merlin smiled warmly. "I think that's a great idea, Arthur. When do you want to leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." Merlin nodded and then his eyes feel on Gertrude.

"Will they be accompanying us?" his voice hard, though he tried to keep it neutral.

"Maybe not this time." Gertrude answered, obviously taking the hint that maybe Merlin didn't want them to go. "No, Elena and I can stay here, perhaps weed the garden." she added before making her way back to Arthur's room.

"Merlin!" Arthur hissed at his brother. "What is wrong with you?"

Arthur had noticed the change as well. Merlin was his twin brother, and though he tried to ignore the uneasiness he felt whenever Merlin was around lately, he had had enough.

Merlin for his part, looked awful. He had mulled over what the women could be hiding for almost a month now, and although he was sure they were hiding something, he also knew that they didn't mean him and his brother any harm. However, Merlin didn't like being lied to. It was the constant curiosity that finally caused Merlin to change towards them.

Morgana had felt it too. Sure, Merlin was nice, and he still looked at her with the most disarming love; yet, there, under the surface, was suspicion. So when Gwen walked in the room, looking dejected, she had a feeling it was something to do with Merlin.

"Merlin's suspicious of us." Gwen stated as she removed her sword. She stopped and sighed; she really couldn't blame him. The bulk of their relationships with both Merlin and Arthur were based on lies. The feelings may have been true, but there were so many lies.

"Has been for a while." Morgana supplied, wishing Leon would come retrieve them. Though she felt such love for Merlin, she remembered their attitudes towards Camelot's court. As her affection for him had grown, he seemed to lock up any affections that he had had for her.

"They'll be going to visit their mother, in Ealdor, tomorrow." Gwen told Morgana, as she gathered her things for a shower.

Good. Morgana thought. It would give her and Gwen the chance to speak freely on what's been going on and how they needed things to go. Good.

….

Solomon approached the SUV with a confident stride. They had finally made it to Ealdor and were eager to find lodging in the small town. He had just secured enough rooms for almost everyone to have their own bed. Someone would have to share, but he was sure they could all figure it out.

It had been a long journey, thus far, with no breaks or leads on where the Princess could be.

"We've got rooms. Who wants to share?" Solomon announced.

"No no no no no, I refuse to share another room." Came Agravaine annoying response.

"Agravaine, you can have your own room. Jason and Oya can share." Gwaine announced, giving Jason a look of knowing. Watching them for the past month, anyone with eyes could see that they were madly in love with each other, it was just that the other didn't know it.

"Whatever." Oya threw at them as she grabbed her bags, leaving the men at the SUV.

"A night with Oya. Ha you better make it count, young man." Solomon laughed as Jason threw him a glare and similarly grabbed his things, leaving Gwaine, Solomon, and Agravaine.

"Dinner?" Agravaine asked, eager to build some camaraderie. He'd realized that none of his companions particularly liked him, which initially, didn't bother him. But after a month of cold shoulders, he was willing to try.

"There are a few places to eat, perhaps after we get settled in, we can all have a meal together." Solomon offered, earning a glare from Gwaine.

Once everyone was in their room, getting cleaned up for their meal, Solomon heard a quick knock at his door. Opening it, he found Gwaine on the other side looking pensive.

"Do you think we could send Agravaine back?" He asked his friend,

"Why?" Solomon asked.

"We're close to finding her...Don't ask me how I know, I just- know."

"Look Gwaine, we're better off where we can keep our eyes on him, we've been over this. We want to control what information he has and what he doesn't have. This is the first time the man has been alone since we've started. We have this Gwaine. Now go get cleaned up, we'll be having dinner soon. If all goes well, maybe we can have dinner tomorrow night." Solomon offered.

"I can't tomorrow night, I think I'm going to go see an old friend of mine and his family. I haven't seen them in years, I figured while in Ealdor, I could pay them a visit."

"Well then enjoy tonight's meal. You've been on edge lately, let's try to relax tonight, ok?"

Gwaine knew that Solomon was right, that he needed to take a night and not obsess over if and when they were going to find Gwen.

...

It had been a month and Elyan's nerves had yet to be soothed. He still had no word on what was going on in Camelot, meaning he had no way of know what it was that he was walking into. The stress had made it so that Elyan rarely slept, tonight was no exception.

He laid on the ship deck, eyes fixed on the sky - he and Gwen would do this together after his mother died - praying. He had prayed every night on this journey so far and he hadn't planned on stopping. Thankfully the trip home was almost over; his first order of business was finding his sister, who thankfully had escaped. Once he had found her, and gotten her to safety, then he would work on getting his kingdom back.

"You've been out here every night." Came a voice from out of the darkness. Elyan, the knight he is, quickly sat up, peering into the darkness. He finally relaxed when the man walked into the dim light of the deck, he saw it was the captain of the cargo ship he was on. "Seems to me you're worried about nothing."

"It's more than nothing." He replied, uncharacteristically willing to talk.

"You worry about your sister? Your kingdom?"

This caused Elyan to pause, they had been sure not to tell the man who they were or what their mission was. "What do you know, old man?" Elyan answered as nonchalantly as possible.

"I know that when we pull into the dock, you will hit the ground running to find Princess Guinevere." He replied, a small smirk on his lips when he saw the shock in Elyan's eye.

"How-"

"I'm a seer, Prince Elyan; I've been waiting for you for the last twenty years."

"Sorcery!" Elyan hissed as he instinctively reached for his sword, realizing a moment later that he had left it in his cabin.

"It's not there." The stranger knew, even in the dark. "Now sit here and let me tell you what you need to know."

Elyan watched as the old man approached, his kind smile still centered on his face.

"You are a great warrior Prince Elyan." the man began, as he took a seat next to Elyan on the deck. "You will also be a mighty Pharaoh…" he peered over at the young man. "However, your sister is the Once and Future Queen, she is destined to crush the warlord and all of those that oppose Camelot. There is only one other who is more powerful than her-"

"Powerful?" Elyan asked.

The man smiled, "Oh my boy, your fear of sorcery comes from your father. Magic is like a sword, it can be used to defend or to destroy, good or bad. Your sister, is a very fine sword. What are your plans once you get to The Darkling Woods?"

Elyan couldn't believe how much the man knew. The fact that he had magic took a backseat to Elyan's curiosity. "I don't know." he confessed.

"Bring her back to the shore, bring all of your men with you, bring the two that house her now; I will get you back to Kush, where you will work to become the mightiest army on the face of the earth… with Guinevere commanding." This caught Elyan.

"Guinevere commading? Why it's against customs-" He began.

"It's against the will of destiny for her not to. Elyan, you will win. She will fulfill every word of the prophecy, but she must understand her power, for there are enemies at the heart of Camelot, who don't know they're enemies yet. For her to destroy anything that comes against Camelot, SHE HAS to know her power. Currently she makes four, three are pure, but one- one loves her so, and that love with one day be replaced with hate. That will be the war that you all must prepare for, THAT will be The Great War, and even then she'll be victorious."

Elyan was quiet for a moment. "So I will find her." He asked after a long pause.

"Oh my boy, the fates are working right now to deliver her to you. When you find her, bring her and all that accompany her, with you. All are needed, all have a place." The Old man grinned.