He'd gotten away. All that work, all that planning, all the attention she'd diverted away from Morgana hadn't even mattered—Faolán was still gone.

Percival and Lancelot each offered a hand to Emrys and Arthur. Emrys let out a huge sigh of frustration and dusted off the skirts of her dress. "Well, that went well," she said. "At least this time my dress wasn't sullied."

Arthur picked up his sword and sheathed it. "I'm sure it wouldn't have stayed that way for much longer," he grumbled.

Emrys spun around, eyes widened at the prince. "I beg your pardon?"

He didn't look at her. In fact, he seemed busy adjusting the straps on his gloves.

"Emrys," said Lancelot carefully, "perhaps we should escort you back to Silas."

She waved his hand away and closed the distance between her and Arthur. "No, I want to hear what the prince had to say. Go on, Pendragon. No need to pretend you're shy with me. If something's bothered you, now's the time to tell me."

Arthur snapped his attention back to her, his mouth set in a firm line. "Why didn't you move when I told you to?"

"Why didn't you stick with our original plan? You were supposed to wait until I led him out of the bakery and into an area where it would've made for an easier capture! Did you forget what we came here to do?"

"Did you? I hadn't realized I was going to end up as chaperone for this little gathering between you and your secret lover. Should I've waited for the two of you to finish getting off then?"

Shock rendered her speechless, but only for a moment. Around them, she heard the knights' sharp intake of breaths. "Is your head so thick that you don't even realize I saved your life with that kiss? All of your lives, I might add."

Arthur let out a mirthless laugh. "Oh, I'm sure. Is that what you're telling yourself?"

"It's the truth," she insisted. He tried to maneuver around her to exit the bakery, but Emrys followed. "Maybe you've forgotten, but Faolán has powerful magic. The four of you would've been overpowered in a matter of seconds."

"That's pretty bold talk coming from the girl he just held hostage."

"It's not like I was in danger. Faolán would never hurt me."

Arthur's face fell into a deeper scowl as some workers rushing by with wooden planks altered his path, lessening the distance between him and Emrys. "Yes, I can see that. I'm starting to wonder if that's the real reason he asked for you in the dark woods. He just wanted to continue your little dalliance."

With a burst of energy, Emrys sprinted forward and blocked Arthur's path. She waited until he reluctantly looked at her before she said, "I didn't have to tell you about Faolán. Say what you want, Arthur, but you know it's true. I chose to turn him in, to offer my help to capture him. If I had a relationship with him, don't you think I would've mentioned something as important as that?"

For a moment, his face lost some of its hardness, and Emrys saw something in his eyes that she hadn't noticed before—hurt. "Honestly, I don't."

In desperation, she looked to the other knights for support, but none of them would catch her eye. "I want you to be able to trust me."

Arthur shouldered his way past her. "Well, then, you should've told me earlier."

Emrys wasn't sure if it had been Arthur or Morgana's doing, but somehow she'd gotten stuck with the job of polishing all the armor the knights had gone through in the past few weeks. Though the task was grueling, Emrys was at least grateful that the scrubbing gave her something to focus her anger on.

She cursed as she sliced her finger against the edge of a breastplate.

"Well, that certainly isn't very ladylike," said Reuben as he rounded the corner, carrying even more armor. He gave her a tight smile as he set it down at her feet.

Emrys kicked a helmet away from her. "How is it possible they went through this much armor?"

"It's not," Reuben admitted. "Arthur heard you'd been sent here and 'accidentally' knocked these into the mud."

So it had been both of the Pendragon children. "I assume Arthur filled you in on what happened this morning?"

He winced at her bluntness, just as he'd used to do when they were kids. "It was Gwaine. I actually haven't heard Arthur speak much today, aside from his order to bring these to you. He's pretty much busied himself with anyone who dares to join him on the training grounds."

Emrys couldn't help the long sigh that came out of her. She scrubbed harder at the armor that had cut her. When it was done, she flung it across the room. Reuben didn't say anything, but she sensed that there were questions he wanted to ask her. She had quite a few of her own.

"Do you think I'm like Malin," she whispered.

Reuben's response was immediate: "Of course not! Why would you think that?"

"Malin had magic, and yet he clearly had no qualms about being a witch hunter. What if turning in Faolán makes me no better?" She folded her knees into her chest and buried her head into her legs.

Reuben sat beside his sister and tugged at one of her strands of hair. "You listen to me, Emrys. You are not like Malin. You're not even like Faolán. Your magic is different and pure and so, so special."

She shifted so that she could put her head on his shoulder. "But I killed Noren and I made a plan to capture Faolán—Reuben, I should be trying to save other people who have magic!"

"Not when they're using their magic for evil, Emrys. That's what makes you different than Malin and Faolán and Noren." He wrapped his arm around her and rested his cheek on her head.

Emrys sighed into Reuben's hug. "I really missed you."

He swooped his head down and blew into her ear, laughing when she jumped away from him. Emrys found herself laughing, too. "You're impossible," she told him.

Reuben watched her finish laughing, a wide smile still on his face. "That's better." His eyes widened suddenly and he stood up.

"What's wrong?" Emrys whipped around to see what he was staring at and froze when she saw Morgana standing in the doorway. She jumped to her feet. "Princess!"

The right corner of Morgana's mouth twitched slightly. "No, please," she said, her eyes looking everywhere but at Emrys. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

Emrys cast a frantic glance at Reuben, who nodded and said, "I should get back to Arthur." He gave his sister a quick smile and then shuffled out of the room.

Emrys' mind was reeling. Morgana hadn't sent for her in days, let alone actively sought her out. As the silence grew between them, Emrys felt the compelling need to say something: "I'm sorry."

Morgana flicked her eyes up to meet Emrys. "Sorry?"

"I should've told you about my…gift earlier." She wasn't sure how she was supposed to refer to it, the power that Morgana thought she had discovered about Emrys. Still, she kept going. "I've kept things from you and now things are estranged between us. And—"

A sob choked back the rest of the things she wanted to say, and suddenly Emrys found herself gasping through tears. She bit her lower lip and clenched her fists at her side, hating herself for showing so much weakness.

Suddenly, a pair of warm arms wrapped themselves around Emrys and pulled her into a hug. Morgana's body trembled from tears of her own as she tightened her grip around Emrys. For a moment, they stood there together, both of them relying on the other's arms to keep them standing.

Then, finally, Morgana whispered, "I'm sorry. I've hurt you." Her right hand moved to the back of Emrys' neck to pull the serving girl even closer. "I hope you'll forgive me, Emrys."

Emrys' sniffle turned into a small laugh. "Forgive you? For what?"

"I've been avoiding you," Morgana said, her hand turning into a fist. "It all seems so silly now."

Emrys' heart ached to hear that Morgana actually had been avoiding her, but she was grateful for the relief that came from being in Morgana's arms. Morgana's hug was different than Arthur's—firm where Arthur's had seemed timid.

Morgana sat down on the bench and, moving her hands to cover Emrys', pulled the serving girl down beside her. "I haven't been honest with you either. When Malin came after you, I realized how…fond I had become of you. There's something about you, Emrys, that hasn't made me feel quite like myself. And I'm not talking about your gift."

Emrys felt her breath catch in her chest as Morgana locked eyes with her. "I thought I had to stay away from you," Morgana continued, "but when Arthur told me what happened I…"

Fear and then anger washed over Emrys. "Did he tell you everything?"

Morgana's eyes darted to the side, confirming Emrys' thoughts even before she said, "Yes. One of the reasons I came here is actually because of Arthur. My brother feels pain and loss in very special ways, and I've always been the one to translate it for others. But I knew I couldn't come talk to you about how he's hurting until I'd worked through my own."

Morgana ran her fingers over the backs of Emrys' hands. After a little bit of silence, Morgana swallowed and said, "When Arthur was speaking, all I could think about was how we're clearly both afraid of the same thing: losing you."

"Me," Emrys asked, incredulous. "But I'm no one, Princess—just a serving girl in a castle."

Morgana's fingers tightened around Emrys' hand. "Not to me," she said. "You're special to me, Emrys. These past few days without you have been nothing short of unbearable. I couldn't imagine what would happen if I were to actually lose you."

Emrys felt her heart skitter in her chest as happiness bloomed within her. She didn't even bother trying to stop the smile that came to her face as she said, "I couldn't imagine losing you either, Morgana. You've been so kind to me since I've come here, like the sister I've never had."

Something unrecognizable passed over Morgana's face, and worry snaked through Emrys. She had said something wrong, she was sure of it. Perhaps she had overstepped a boundary? "I'm sorry," she said quickly, "I didn't mean to imply—"

"Emrys," said Morgana as she put a gentle hand on the side of the girl's face. Anything that had made Emrys worry moments before was suddenly gone. "It's alright. I'm happy you feel so close to me."

Closer than anyone. Morgana was kind and easy to talk to. Emrys opened her mouth to say this, but couldn't seem to get the words out. Instead, all she could think about were the words Arthur'd last said to her: You should've told me earlier.

She closed her fist against the skirt of her dress as Morgana said, "I feel like a huge weight's been lifted off of my shoulders."

Emrys wished she felt the same. She used both hands to push her hair back as she rose to her feet. "I want to talk to Arthur, but I'm not sure I can walk through the grounds by myself. Would you come with me just until I can get him alone?"

Morgana's mouth curved up into a smile. As she stood up, she said, "Of course, Emrys."

Emrys gave a quick nod and made her way around the pile of armor at her feet. She tried to think about what she was going to say to Arthur as she and Morgana made their way to the training grounds. Emrys threw a quick glance at the squires, who were huddled together on the far side of the field. The squires that noticed her quickly fell silent.

Morgana leveled the young boys with a pointed look and gave Emrys a gentle smile. "They act as if they've never seen a girl on the training grounds before."

"To be fair to them," said Percival suddenly as he stepped in front of the pair, "they've only ever seen Emrys here before and she hardly counts." He caught Emrys' fist with a shoulder and a wince.

"Sorry," Emrys mumbled.

"It's alright. I'd rather take it from you than Arthur." He rolled his shoulder back. "And I'd rather you not even be here right now. What are you doing here?"

"I—" Emrys stopped as she heard another knight beside her groan loudly. If she hadn't witnessed the knight remove his helmet herself, she wouldn't have believed that it was Lancelot.

Lancelot tugged at the chain mail around his neck, exposing a thick layer of sweat. "I've never seen him so worked up before," he said to Percival. Then, all at once, he seemed to notice Emrys and Morgana. "What are they doing here?"

Morgana frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Would you all please stop asking why we're here as if it isn't already obvious? We're here to talk to Arthur."

Lancelot shared a quick look with Percival before saying, "I'm not sure that's a great idea, Your Highness. I'm certain I don't have to tell you that your brother isn't in a particularly good mood right now."

Morgana lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes slightly. "I didn't ask you what you thought was a good idea, Lancelot, and I'm not asking you to stand out of our way. I'm telling you that we're here to talk to Arthur."

Emrys glanced between Morgana, Lancelot, and Percival, wondering who would be the first to speak. She'd never seen the princess so dismissive before. Suddenly, she felt a hand clap down on her shoulder. She wasn't surprised to see Gwaine when she looked up.

Gwaine winked at Emrys as he said, "Now, to what do we owe the honors of having you two beautiful women grace our humble training grounds?"

"Arthur," Percival said with a grunt.

Any trace of Gwaine's previous smile fell from his face. Before he could say anything, Emrys held up a finger and said, "I already know you all think it's a bad idea, but I really need to talk to him."

As Gwaine stared into her eyes, uncharacteristically silent, she wondered whether or not he would argue against the idea too. He rubbed his neck and let out a long sigh. "I still don't think this is a good idea, moppet."

Emrys nodded. "I know. And I don't care."

He chuckled and said, "I figured." Gwaine nodded toward Percival and Lancelot and stepped away from the girls. "If anyone could get through to him right now, it'd be you."

She blew out her breath in a huff. "We'll see. Thank you, Gwaine."

As she and Morgana started to move past the knights, Emrys realized that the knights were following her. She spun around and crossed her arms. "We don't need an audience for this."

Lancelot opened his mouth to say something and then suddenly closed it and straightened his back. As Emrys took note of the changes in the others' postures as well, she realized, with a sinking feeling, what was happening.

Emrys pivoted again, catching Arthur's eyes and freezing him in place a few feet away from her. She suddenly felt her chest tighten with fear. Though she was aware that she'd seen him earlier that morning, Emrys hadn't realized how much she had missed seeing him in just that short period of time.

"Arthur," she said, mostly because she didn't know what else to say. Almost immediately, she felt stupid for saying anything.

He dropped her gaze and turned toward Morgana instead. "What are you doing here?"

Morgana's eyes became slits and she folded her arms over her chest. "Are you so used to being around boys that you've forgotten how to treat a lady, Arthur? I believe Emrys was speaking to you."

A muscle in his jaw twitched, but the rest of his face remained impassive. Still, Emrys noticed then how different he suddenly seemed. He stood before her with his hands clasped together behind him, his shoulders thrown back, and his chin lifted so high that he was forced to look down his nose when his eyes passed over Emrys. This wasn't the Arthur she had come to know at all, or even Prat Arthur.

No, this was definitely Prince Arthur.

"I know she was," he said, "but seeing as she's not where she's supposed to be anyway, I chose to ignore her."

Despite herself, Emrys frowned and took a step toward him. She was further angered when he deliberately chose to lift his eyes toward the sky. "What do you mean I'm not where I'm supposed to be? I came to talk to you, Arthur."

"Sire." He stuck his sword into the ground and finally turned to look at her. "I've been thinking that you calling me Arthur is much too informal. I'd prefer you call me sire from now on."

"Arthur," Morgana hissed. "You're being ridiculous."

Arthur said nothing, pinning Emrys with his eyes. She swallowed her pride and gave a quick, subservient nod. "I came to talk to you, sire."

He pressed his lips together for a few moments before saying, "Well, if you have something to say, Emrys, now's the time."

Emrys glanced behind her at Morgana and the three knights. "Actually," she said, "I was wondering if I might be able to speak with you somewhere more private, sire."

"Don't try to tell me you've suddenly grown shy, Emrys." Arthur's eyes flashed with blue fire. "Anything you have to say, you can do it here."

"Please," Emrys said. She tried not to think about the squires as they turned around to watch their interaction. "I really think we need to talk about this thing between the two of us."

Arthur blanched suddenly and exchanged a glance with Morgana. "What thing between us?"

Emrys was almost as confused as Arthur seemed to be afraid. She'd thought what she was talking about had been obvious: "The whole…incident with Faolán clearly brought up trust issues between us."

All at once, Arthur's expression soured again and Prince Arthur returned. "There's nothing for us to discuss, Emrys."

Emboldened by the break she'd just seen in his character, Emrys stepped forward. "Are you joking? There's a lot we have to talk about. What about—"

"Maybe you feel the need to talk about things," Arthur said with a sneer, "but I, on the other hand, am perfectly fine leaving things as they are. Despite what you may think, I've no quarrel with you right now, Emrys. Don't create one."

"Emrys," someone called behind her. She turned around and saw Reuben, saw the warning in his eyes even without him having to open his mouth again.

As she glanced around at everyone's stunned faces, frustration turned to angry tears in her eyes. She sniffed them back and looked back at her brother, just as she'd used to do when they had been little. "Reuben, please help me."

"Don't you dare," Arthur barked. Then, to Emrys, he said, "This is the last time I'll warn you to drop the matter."

She spun back around, facing Arthur with her half-formed tears. If they bothered him, he didn't show it. And that was fine by her. If he didn't care about her feelings, then she wouldn't care about his: "I will not. You're being a royal prat, Arthur, and you know it! Would it be so bad for you to just shut up for once in your life and listen to someone else?"

Her magic bubbled underneath the surface of her skin, forcing Emrys to dig her fingernails into her closed fists to keep it from spilling over. Oh, how she longed to blow Arthur away with air magic!

"Get out."

Emrys' anger immediately turned into confusion. She'd expected Arthur's face to be red from his own anger, with frustration tinting the tips of his ears pink, but his skin was just as light as it had ever been. Even his voice seemed unnaturally calm. She wasn't sure she'd heard him correctly. "Excuse me?"

"Get out of my sight," he said, slowly, as if he knew she needed help processing each word. "I don't want to see you on my field anymore; I don't want you as part of my Royal Guard; and, if I can help it, I don't want to see you in this castle ever again."

A/N: Sorry it took so long! Despite being the shortest month, February was super hectic for me! Luckily, Spring Break starts this Friday for me, which means that I'll have PLENTY of time to write and make up for it! As always, don't forget to leave a review with any of your thoughts, comments, and predictions!