"Claire!" Mordred shouted, bursting into my room. I jumped as did Alyssa, who ended up tugging the corset tight suddenly, making me gasp loudly and grab ahold of the wall next to me. "Claire?" He called, "are you alright?"

"Yes," I gasped out. "Just... Startled us is all, Alyssa and I weren't expecting you."

"Apologies," he said. "I er... I wanted to tell you something wonderful that's just happened."

"Well what is it?" I asked, stepping out from behind the screen in my warmest (and very nice purple-coloured) dress (yes, I had begun to wear those silly things), ready for the ride I had planned for that morning.

"The King is letting me go on the mission to the White Mountains!"

I felt my heart flutter at the thought that he came to me about this news. "How wonderful!" I told him, grinning as I went to grab ahold of his hand. "Let us go and get you ready then!" I waved to Alyssa who was grinning at me as I walked out.

"Claire?" He asked as we made our way to his room to gather the things he'd need for his journey.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I know it's only been a little more than a day, but have you decided what path you'll be taking?"

"No," I said. "Although Arthur will soon accept me as I am, he has not accepted it yet, and until then... Until the time is right and he can know who I truly am and accept it, I don't want to accept."

"I think that is a wise decision."

"Yes. But I feel it is the only decision for now."

~:~:~:~:~

I giggled as the other men teased Mordred about what he may have forgotten.

"Is that how you tell each other you love each other without actually getting all sentimental?" I teased. The men laughed.

"Sort of, milady," Gwaine said with a wink. He and I had been growing rather close as friends, and I had found him to be good company even if he did tease me about my relationship with Mordred.

"If you don't stop calling me that, I'll start calling you Sir Gwaine, and see how you like that!" I teased, earning laughs from the men.

Suddenly, I felt someone tug my waist and I turned to find Mordred leading me away from the men.

"Mordred?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no of course not," he said. "I just wanted to say goodbye to my best friend in the whole world without all of them breathing down our necks."

I giggled before hugging him to me, feeling his arms snake around my waist.

"I'll see you when you get back, Mordred."

"Of course, Claire," he said.

He took a step back and looked into my eyes. I was entranced every time he did that. Just looked into my eyes.

"I almost can't wait to get back," he whispered, brushing my hair back.

"Why?" I whispered back as he got closer.

"Because I have realized-"

"Mordred!" Arthur shouted, causing us to step apart. "We have to get going!"

"I'll see you when I get back," he said kissing my cheek and running off to his horse. Leaving me in a trance, holding my cheek where he had kissed me. My heart was racing and my skin was burning where his lips touched me.

"I love you," I whispered after him as he mounted his horse, getting wolf whistles and chuckles from the men who saw his goodbye to me.

~:~:~:~:~

I was excited, waiting for Mordred to return with the others. But for some reason, I felt as though something was very off. As though something had gone wrong. But I brushed it off. Nothing could have happened... Right?

It had only been a few days since they had left, and yet it felt like a lifetime. I should have been excited. Purely excited. I had approached Gwen about this feeling the night before, and she said not to worry, that Arthur always knew what to do in bad situations. She said they always come home safe.

We stood at the stairs, waiting for the knights to return. They said they would return around noon, so we had already been standing, waiting for almost an hour. Gwen scolded me when I stepped out of my room, dressed in one of my more simple dresses before saying the men would want to come back to beautiful ladies, to which I responded saying there could be no one called beautiful standing next to a queen like her.

She still made me wear a sleeveless, rose-colored dress with intricate patters threaded onto the bodice.

Which was cold!

But I didn't complain. I just hoped Mordred would like it.

We stopped chatting when we heard their horses getting closer. My heart fluttered as the few in the lead came around the corner, and I began searching for Mordred in the crowd.

I couldn't stop the wail of heartache that emitted from my mouth as I ran to him, my cape billowing behind me when he rounded the corner, obviously terribly wounded.

"Mordred!"

I didn't even notice the looks of pity coming from everyone as they came to a stop. Mordred didn't wake up.

~:~:~:~:~

I sat in Gaius' chambers, dabbing at Mordred's forehead lightly with a cloth retaining cool water, trying and failing to keep the tears from sliding down my cheeks at a rapid rate.

"There's only one way to save him, sire," Gaius said. "You must go and beg them for forgiveness."

I just sat there, crying as they spoke of what they would do. I had tuned out, thinking only of the man who was in front of me. I missed the feeling of his touch. I missed his embrace. I missed his silly grin that lit up his whole face. I missed the caring look in his eyes when he looked at me. I missed-

"Claire," I heard from beside me. I looked over to see none other than Arthur. I looked into the bright blue eyes of the man who had so recently become my father. He just stared into my eyes for a moment, and I felt as though he could see straight into my soul. "I swear to you, I will do anything in my power to bring him back."

My eyes welled with more tears as I looked at him.

"I love him," I whispered.

The only thing Arthur did was embrace me.

That's when I knew, Arthur had seen my soul.

And there, he saw Mordred.

~:~:~:~:~

Merlin called his dragon. He had to speak with him.

"Yes, Young Warlock?" The dragon asked.

"Mordred has been fatally wounded," he said. "Arthur and I ride at dawn to heal him."

"Good."

"What should I do?"

"Ah, so to you, this is now a threat?" The dragon asked.

"Isn't it?"

"It is now, more than ever, that you must put all of your trust into Claridone."

~:~:~:~:~

"We made Claire a promise, Merlin. What will I tell her if I say no? Mordred means everything to her. Her whole spirit was dying, and the only thing I could see was her love and adoration for him. The pain I saw in her was unbearable."

"How do you know she loves him?" Merlin asked.

"Aside from her eyes?" He asked sarcastically. Before his voice softened and he looked into the fire. "You should have heard the way she told me. It was... Heartbreaking. I felt my own heart being ripped out just from the way she whispered it. I can only imagine what she feels like."

Nothing was said for several minutes.

"What should I do?"

"What you see fit, sire-"

"No, Merlin. I'm asking as a friend, not as a King. Friend to friend. What do you think I should do? Is there room in Camelot for magic?"

Merlin said nothing for a while as he stared into the fire, thinking.

Did the dragon mean...

~:~:~:~:~

"Mordred!" I shouted, basically jumping on top of him when his eyes fluttered open. "Oh thank God you're alright!"

"Claire?" He asked, slightly dazed as he wrapped his arms around me.

"How did you heal so fast?" I asked, pulling back and looking at his now wound-free stomach.

"I don't know," he said. "But I'm glad I did."

"Oh God," I said, holding Mordred to me again, even tighter. "You don't even know how happy I am, I thought you were going to... To... Oh, God," I said, beginning to cry again.

"Claire," he said, pulling back and looking me in the eyes, holding my face in his hands. I held his hands in my own. "Why are you crying? Everything's fine now, and I promise you, I'm not going anywhere."

"I was ju-just so-so scared!" I choked out. "And now I'm just so ha-happy," I said with a laugh, the sudden urge to kiss him almost too much to bear. He laughed with me before holding me again, letting me cry and cling to him.

"Thank God," I whispered.

~:~:~:~:~

We stood, waiting for Arthur and Merlin to arrive. I had the biggest grin on my face. They had done it!

I heard the sound of their horses and I couldn't help myself from the excitement. Instinctively, I grabbed Mordred's calloused hand in mine, squeezing it in anticipation, blushing when I felt him squeeze back.

Once the two men who I've grown so fond of got off their horses, I felt like a child again as I squealed and dragged Mordred with me, down the steps to greet them. They all let out a laugh as I went to hug the two men.

"Arthur! Merlin! Thank God for you two!" I said, holding them both to me at once. "What did you do to save him?" I asked, eyes alight.

"The only thing we could do," Merlin said, a glint in his eyes.

"We're allowing magic within Camelot."

~:~:~:~:~

Wooooooahhhhhhh haha yay another chapter checked off! Haha yesssssss!

Yet again, I'm hindered in this update and I am unable to thank everyone for the lack of time and having to use my iPod for this upload so next chapter to all those beautiful people who reviewed, THANK YOU!

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With love,

Em