A/N: Hey again! I'd like to thank Rko and emilyhiggins2 for your reviews. Thanks so much for the ongoing support, much appreciated!

Okay, so… School is going to start on the twenty second for me (boohoo, sad face,crying right now). This means I won't have as much time to write up the chapters as much as I'd like to and I'm not sure if I should carry on with the story…

I have long school hours too which makes it even harder to update because I get home feeling exhausted and lazy (The schools in my country are so tough on us, trust me). So if you really, really, really, really, really want me to carry on with this story, please let me know… PM me or Review or Follow the story or anything. If I feel motivated enough and there are readers actually enjoying the story, I will happily find time and put in the effort to write (However, I will probably only be able to update every fortnight or less, it depends).

Enough of me. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

People were rushing past me, as if I was invisible and I wasn't actually there. I recognized the place I was in; I was in Darcia, in the castle. But how did I get back? Nobody looked at me; they just carried on with what they were doing. Their faces told me something was terribly wrong. For a few minutes, I just stood there watching curiously. Nobody took notice of me. That's when I caught sight of my mother, running and screaming. She was heading towards me; I was preparing myself to hug her as she sprinted closer and closer but instead, her body went through mine like I was a ghost. What the hell was going on?

I turned around and I saw her grabbing onto the servant's arms, begging her for something. However, I couldn't quite make out what she was yelling. The loudness of her yell and the tone of her voice made me certain that something wasn't right. Next thing I knew, Ida came rushing towards me as well. And just like my mother had just done, she walked through me, sending a strange chill through my body. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Ida!" I ran straight to them but they couldn't hear me. Neither of them turned around. "What's happening?!" I yelled. But yet again, it seemed like they couldn't hear my cries. I went to touch Ida's arm and that's when my hand passed straight through her. I watched in shock. Was I a ghost? Had I died?

And as Ida spoke, my mother's mouth lowered, she fell to her knees and wailed, the tears rolling down her cheeks like a waterfall. All I could do was watch both of them cry and I could do nothing about it as I stood right in front of them, completely and utterly invisible to their eyes.

Suddenly, the bell in the castle's tower went off. I recognized the sound very well. It was the passing bell, only used for when somebody had died. But who had died? Were they mourning me? As it all sank in, I was desperate to figure out what on Earth was happening and why I was here. And most importantly, why was nobody seeing me?

"Ida, please, can you hear me?" I yelled but both women still remained unresponsive to my calls. They didn't even flinch. "Somebody tell me what's going on!" I screamed as my eyes became teary.

That's when the sounds of evil cackling echoed through the corridor. It was loud and it was making my head pound. I blocked my ears with my hands, in hopes of blocking out the sound but to no avail. It just increased in volume.

"Eleanor," Somebody said in a happy tone. Instantly, I turned around and was face to face with a young woman that I had never met before. In her hands, a bloody dagger dripping fresh blood. "How very nice to see you." She grinned while approaching me. I didn't even speak a word. The first thing I did was run, run without even knowing where I was going. Something about her presence made me want to run. But I could hear the woman's footsteps coming after me, making me push myself even harder to flee.

Her footsteps were nearing closer and closer and I was beginning to sweat. I couldn't keep up the fast pace any longer. She grabbed me by the arm, her nails digging into my skin. She violently shoved me to the floor as she stood above my tired, weak body. She had caught me and she began to laugh evilly at her achievement. "Goodbye."

"No!" She raised the dagger in the air with both hands, clenching the grip. She glared deeply into my innocent eyes and then… darkness.

0000

"Eleanor," Somebody was shaking me quite violently. "Eleanor!" This time, they yelled, instantly causing my eyelids to shoot open and make me jump a little in fear. Staring right at me was Arthur. "Are you alright? What happened?" He was worried and slightly horrified. His hands grappled very tightly onto my shoulders. I felt like I couldn't even speak. I sleepily reached out for his face and placed my hand on his cheek, surprising him. His face was tangible and I could touch him. Once I realised I was back in my chamber and I wasn't in a nightmare anymore, I immediately jerked my hand away from his face. "Eleanor, are you okay?" He asked once again.

I sat myself up so that my back was leaning against the headboard. I was still feeling extremely uneasy. I looked around for a moment. I really was back in my chamber. "Arthur?" I said, finding it hard to compose sentences because I was still feeling sluggish and sleepy.

"You were screaming. Did you have a nightmare?" He asked, worried.

"Sort of," I clenched my head. "I mean, I'm not sure what I was seeing… I saw… never mind."

He sat himself beside me, his weight making the mattress slope a little. "What did you see?"

"I don't want to talk about it. It was just a nightmare, right?" I hung my head low, feeling scared about what I had just witnessed. "I'm fine… You'd better get back to sleep." I said, beginning to dig myself under the covers once again.

"I'm not leaving yet. You were absolutely terrified."

"Arthur, it was nothing." I told him a little too sternly. I turned to face away from him and made sure the covers hid my head.

I heard him let out a sigh as I stared at the wall. "Please, tell me what happened. I just want to make sure you're fine." He said in a sad tone.

I was terrified and I didn't know what to make of it all. I thought for a moment and figured out it was probably best to tell him since he wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon. Reluctantly, I turned to face him with my head still snuggling onto the pillow. "Somebody was trying to kill me… and I was in Darcia and then… But then I saw my mother, she was crying, and –"

"Eleanor, it was just a nightmare. You're safe here. I'll go get Gaius." He interrupted, lifting himself up from the bed.

"No," Instinctively, I grabbed onto his arm, surprising him. "I mean… I don't need Gaius."

"Are you sure, Eleanor?"

"Uh, yes," I said, avoiding his stare at all costs. "I'm sorry for disturbing you… once again." No matter where I went, I was always causing mayhem.

"You apologise too much," He grinned. "Are you sure you're fine staying here alone?" He inched closer towards the bed.

"Oh please, you have other things to worry about," I covered my head with the covers once again. "And anyway, what would people think if they saw you leaving my chamber so late in the evening?"

"It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks," I heard the sincerity in his voice. He sat himself on the edge of the bed once again. "So, you'll be fine?"

"Yes, Arthur." I said stubbornly, though I wasn't looking forward to having to stay in the dark alone. But then again, I didn't want to act like a little girl.

"You know where to find me if you need anything." He made sure to let me know. The mattress returned to its normal shape as he lifted himself up. I noticed he walked slowly by the sound of his footsteps.

"Arthur." I called.

The footsteps stopped. "Yes?"

"Hurry up." I looked over to him and the corners of my mouth lifted slightly.

"Oh yes, right." He grinned and quickly left my chamber.

I made sure to cover my face with every inch of the sheets as possible. I wasn't really planning on sleeping, not that my mind was actually letting me anyway. I shut my eyes, in hopes of getting at least a little rest.

0000

Somehow I had managed to survive the night. I didn't really sleep much. I probably kept my eyes shut for an hour or so. The irrational fear of somebody being in my room to kill me was what kept me up all night. Talking about killing, what on Earth was that nightmare all about? A cloaked woman talking to me in my dreams was already weird enough, but then this? All I hoped was that Arthur's words were right; it was all just a nightmare.

Just like usual, I was interrupted so early in the morning by the sound of knocking on the door. Whoever it was, they didn't bother to wait and instead barged in. I placed the pillow above my head and groaned. "Who is it?" I mumbled.

"It's your brother," Jasper said. "And you'd better get dressed."

"Why? I haven't slept at all." I moaned.

"I know you haven't but today is going to be a long day," He walked over and pulled the pillow away from my grasp, which annoyed me. "Arthur told me you had a nightmare?"

I groaned and sat myself up on the bed. "So now you talk about me behind my back, hm?"

"He thought I should know, since I'm your brother. What happened, El?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I crossed my arms.

"But you were yelling, it can't have been good." I noticed he became worried.

"Just leave it," I didn't want to have to think about the nightmare again. "So, I have a long day today? Why's that?"

"You've always been so stubborn," He laughed. "Just get dressed and I'll tell you after."

"Where are we going?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"Just get dressed," He said, looking a little fed up with my questions. "I'll wait outside." And with that, he left my chamber.

Reluctantly and without any energy, I got myself up and headed behind the screen to get changed. Just putting on a dress was proving difficult for me. Once I had changed out of my nightdress, I opened the door to my chamber and found Jasper leaning against the wall. "Done. Now tell me where we're going." I shot him a quick smile.

"Follow me." He began to walk away and I just scurried behind him. What is it with everybody not answering my questions around here?

"This better be good." I rolled my eyes at him.

"It will be, trust me," He let his hand rest on my shoulder for a moment. "Well, at least that's what me, Arthur and Uther think." He grinned stupidly.

"I can't wait to find out." I said sarcastically.

We ended up in the courtyard, which was where I thought I was heading. But instead, we continued walking and reached the training grounds where sword fighting and battle practice normally went on. There we found most of the knights. Amongst them was Arthur, who was sending orders left, right and centre. And strangely, Morgana was also amongst the men, clenching onto a sword and listening attentively to Arthur's orders.

I looked at the group then back at Jasper. "I don't get it, what am I going to be doing?" I asked him.

"You," He grabbed a silver sword that laid on top of a pile of other dangerous looking weapons nearby and made me hold it. The weight and heaviness of the metal surprised me a little, making me almost drop the sword to the ground. I had to hold the sword up with both hands. "Are going to be training your self defence. And Morgana too."

"What? That's ridiculous." I growled at him.

"No it's not. You need to be able to defend yourself, especially when you're constantly under threat, El," He spoke like he was the father figure around here. I was struggling to keep the heavy sword up straight. "Arthur," He called the Prince. Everybody, including Morgana, looked up and stopped swinging their swords. "Eleanor's ready to start training." He pushed me forward with his hand digging into my back and I glared at him.

"Eleanor," He smiled. "Join Morgana." The Prince gestured to stand next to Morgana. I hesitantly walked over to her side, literally dragging the sword along with me. Once I was positioned in the group, Arthur began blabbering on about something and every knight made sure they were listening carefully. I on the other hand was feeling a little rebellious.

"I can't believe we have to do this." I whispered into Morgana's ear, a quiet chuckle escaping from her lips.

"Look on the bright side," She eyed every knight and smiled flirtatiously as she did so. Most of them were now finding it hard to concentrate on Arthur's speech and instead were awed by her looks. "We'll be able to find you a suitor." She whispered.

"Oh, I don't need one but I will find you one." We giggled like little girls which seemed to have grabbed the Prince's attention.

"Right," Arthur called, making everybody stand up straight. We were in a circle with the Prince right in the middle. "Knights, I want you to train together. The ladies are going to be trained separately since they still require the basic skills and training." The knights nodded in agreement and wandered off not too far and began practicing in their little group. Arthur made me and Morgana look like completely unskilled girls, which I had to admit, offended me a little.

"I can handle a sword pretty well," I grinned, making sure Arthur was aware. I even swung the sword in the air, though I wasn't used to heavy swords. "See."

"You still need practice, both you and Morgana," He said, which seemed to have amused him. He removed a rather large and sharp looking sword from his belt. "First, you're both going to learn how to swing your sword," He looked at me. "Safely." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Who doesn't know how to do that?" Morgana said. At that point, my hands began to ache from holding the heavy sword. I let the sword drop from being up straight to touching the ground and I held it by its grip, trying to give my hands a rest.

"This is ridiculous. We aren't men." I mentioned, hoping that maybe he'd actually realise that.

"I know that," Arthur said. "But don't you think this sort of training is necessary?"

"No." Morgana and I said at the same time.

"Well, my father and Jasper have both agreed this is the right thing to do," He positioned his sword in front of him. "Try this manoeuvre." He swung his sword from left to right and did a little spin as well.

We did as he said and swung our swords as similar as to how Arthur had done. But the weight of the sword was frustrating me and it was making my swings look sloppy. I let out a loud huff as I tried keeping the sword in the air but eventually, I gave up. Morgana on the other hand was managing very well, much to my surprise.

"Let me show you, Eleanor," Arthur put his sword back onto his belt and wandered to my side. He grabbed hold of my hands which were still gripped around the sword and he swung it from side to side, making the sword much more lightweight. "You see what I did there?" He asked.

"Yes." I said, turning slightly red but trying my best to mask it. I could see from the corner of my eye that Morgana was trying her best to keep in her laughs.

"Good," He smiled. "Keep practicing that. I will be back. I must talk to my men." Morgana nodded and he wandered off to the group of knights who were all huddled together discussing something.

"Oh, you don't need a suitor?" She elbowed me and winked.

"Of course I don't," I grinned. "Who has time to deal with men?"

"Eleanor likes the Prince, Eleanor likes the Prince." She sang happily.

"I most certainly do not," I protested a bit too loudly, shocked as to why she'd think such a thing. "He's too arrogant for my liking." I shot a quick smile at her. I made sure to let her know of it, hoping that she'd stop teasing me. I curiously stared into the back of Arthur's head, watching him talk to the knights and hold his sword. He must have felt my stare like an arrow hitting his head because immediately, he turned around and caught me looking. Great, this was now the second time I've been caught red handed.

I hoped that maybe he would turn away and carry on doing what he was doing. But I was wrong; in fact, he just kept looking and I kept looking. I didn't want to pull away mainly because I didn't want to make it look obvious that I was a bit embarrassed. A smile began to grow on his face and I couldn't help but smile back, looking at the ground quickly as I did. Soon enough, one of the knights startled him by nudging him hard on his arm, making him turn his attention back on them. I noticed how the knights began to laugh at something and I just hoped it wasn't because I had made a fool of myself.

"I don't need a suitor," Morgana mimicked me. "He's too arrogant for my liking." I playfully nudged her hard in the arm.

"We'd better get on with it and practice." I lifted the sword once again and attempted swinging it in the air as best as I could. Morgana gave up teasing me and ended up doing the same.

0000

"I want her alive." Nimueh ordered.

"How are we going to capture her, your highness?" The large man covered with bear fur said.

"I don't care how, think of something. Just don't bring her dead." She snapped.

"Yes, of course, your highness, anything you say, your highness." The man stuttered and bowed before her, clearly intimidated by the woman's presence. The man prepared himself to leave.

"Hengist." The woman called for him before he could leave.

"Yes, your highness?" He turned to face her and bowed once more.

"Make sure she suffers before you bring her to me." She grinned.

"I will make sure of it." He grinned as well before leaving the woman.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter although nothing much really happened. The next chapter is going to be quite eventful, so keep your eyes peeled.

Until next time.