A/N: This one takes place in the fantasy AU. In previous stories set in this AU, the kingdom was Camelot, which I've changed to Echkart to separate it from any potential crossovers with Merlin.

Prompt: Self-sacrifice

Summary: (Fantasy AU) Alycia runs into some trouble going into town to get Darius help.

A Quest for Help

Alycia has never been in Echkart on her own, not even the lower levels of town. Darius would never let her or Liam go even though they begged and pleaded, stating that they'd been in worse. Now she understands why. The streets are packed with people and carts going in every direction and merchants calling out. She's forgotten how noisy people can be living as far out as they do. But she has a goal here, she reminds herself. Darius and Liam need her and she needs to find Harris.

She asks some of the people around her and they seem to know of him but only a few point her in the right direction. The others laugh and scoff at her, telling her a knight won't having anything to do with a peasant girl like her. It takes a lot of impatient, worried minutes but she does find her way up towards the castle but two guards keep her from entering the training field where she thinks she can see Harris.

"Harris," she calls out. "Har…" One of the guards muzzles her with a hand, picking her up roughly and throwing her to the ground yards from the entrance.

"If you interfere with knight activities again, it'll be the dungeons for you," he says with a sneer.

"My friend needs help," she says with a sob. Darius had helped her and Liam to recover from a terrible illness but had fallen ill himself and he wasn't getting better. They needed Harris' help. But she couldn't even get in to see him. No one would help her and that means that Darius is going to die and her and Liam would be back on the run. She never liked crying. It always got her the wrong kind of attention with her dad and meant more training but she couldn't stand the thought of losing the one home she's ever loved, the one adult who ever gave any real concern about how she was.

"Are you hurt," a woman asks. She's kneeled down in front of her and when Alycia looks up, red-cheeked and teary-eyed, she sees a woman dressed plainly but still with an air of elegance. She's young like Darius but pale and unworn.

Alycia shakes her head before saying no.

"Are you lost?"

"No."

"Where do you live?"

"On the edge of the forest."

"The edge of the forest? There's only one person who lives there. Darius. Do you live with him?"

"Why?" Liam and Alycia have learned to be cautious of people asking if they lived with Darius. Just that was enough to make them pariahs as well, figuring that Darius must be tainting their pure minds.

"I'm a friend of his. I'm Grace."

She sounds nice, Alycia thinks, but people pretend to be a lot of things and a lot of times none of it is true. But everything would be lost if Darius died, so maybe trusting this Grace just this once wouldn't be such a bad thing.

"I live with him. He's sick and I came to find Harris to see if he can help," Alycia says.

"Darius is sick? Harris said he was fine the last time he was down there, just looking after the two of you."

"And he was but then he got sick and he's really hot and breathing harsh and talking about things we don't understand. Liam's with him but we don't know exactly what to do to help him. We thought Harris would know. And I tried to get him, but the guards wouldn't let me past." She points to the guards.

"I see. Well, let's go get him then." Grace stands and holds her hand out for Alycia.

"But they won't let anyone past and they said I'd go to the dungeon if I tried again."

"They won't if you're with me. Now, let's go get Harris and save Darius. That man never knows how to stay out of trouble," she adds under her breath. Alycia stands and takes Grace's hand but walks just behind Grace so the guards don't see her. When they come to the gate, she expects the same treatment but the guards simply step aside as Grace walks straight in taking Alycia with her. The knights continue their training as they pass, Grace walking straight to where Harris is demonstrating a technique to a group of squires. He stops as soon as he sees her.

"Grace, what are you doing down here," Harris asks. Then he sees the shorter familiar body behind Grace. "Alycia? Shouldn't you be back home? Where's Darius?" He knows that Darius doesn't allow the two to wander in the city alone for fear of what might happen to them. He himself has been randomly attacked for false beliefs that he's caused illness or misfortune and the last thing he wants is Liam and Alycia to experience the same.

"At home. He's really sick. I think he's dying. I came here to get you to help him," Alycia says, stepping out from behind Grace. Harris is a regular visitor to their house.

"Sick? I shouldn't be surprised but I'd hoped he would escape illness. Let's go then."

"I'm going to get some supplies that we'll need," Grace says.

"We? You can't go out with us," Harris says.

"I can't? I have before and I will again. And if he is so ill, then I won't stay up here while he suffers. You go speak with Hugh. Take Alycia with you. She's safer here than in the castle." Grace lets go of Alycia, who happily moves closer to Harris before going back to the castle.

"I just have to let Hugh know to take over my duties for the day and then we'll go. Alright, Alycia," Harris asks as they start walking. Alycia keeps close. While the knights are interesting to watch, they're also scary in their armor and weapons and standing so tall.

"Can you save him?"

"I'll do everything I can. Darius is a fighter."

The talk with Hugh is quick. Harris is lucky that the senior knight doesn't hold the same grudges against Darius as many of the townspeople and royalty do. Hugh gives him leave to take care of Darius. Harris has word sent to Grace to meet them in the stables, then he and Alycia go to get the horses ready. It's not a long trek out to the house where Darius lives, but he doesn't want to spend the time walking and it'll be an easier escape for Grace if she's not amongst the townspeople for long.

When Grace enters the stable, she's dressed like a man, though she has a cloak with a hood that will pull up far over her face. They quickly saddle up and head out. Alycia enjoys her ride, sitting safely in front of Harris as he navigates the busy streets. It's only when they're out past the city walls that they can begin to pick up speed and quickly cover the distance to Darius' home.

Once there, they quickly dismount, tie the horses, and enter the house. Liam greets them at the door, frantic and teary-eyed.

"He won't wake up, Alycia. He won't wake up," Liam says, his voice picking up in speed and tone.

"Let's go see what's going on, Liam," Harris says, forcing a calm he doesn't feel. "Tell me how he's been." Harris leads the way to the bedroom where he expects Darius is with Liam close behind and the others behind them.

"He's really sick. It wasn't so bad at first. Just a cough and fever. Nothing like us and then he just got worse. He couldn't breathe and couldn't eat anything. We barely get him to drink anything and his fever's so high he's hallucinating things. I can't get him to be calm until now and now he won't wake up. He's dying, Harris."

Harris listens to Liam as he does his own evaluation of Darius: pale save for the red from fever, sweaty, hair disheveled, coughing as he breaths heavily and with a clear congestion. Underneath the clothes and sickness, Harris sees something more troubling, Darius is thin. The muscle definition that was there is faded and his skin is tight. There's more than illness going on here.

"Not if I have my say. What have you been doing for him," Harris asks.

"Cool water. We used up the last of the herbs a couple days ago." Liam shrinks back as he explains what he's done. They'd tried rationing out the herbs after seeing how little there was, but they'd still ran out before Darius got better. He knows that Darius used the herbs to help them.

"Fortunately, I figured that he'd have used everything to help the two of you, not even thinking that he would get sick and need them for himself," Grace says. "Let's see what Harris and I can do for him."

Alycia and Liam stand close by, holding hands as they watch Grace and Harris work. They change his clothes and the bedclothes and give him some herbs and a thicker liquid from a bottle that Grace brought. All the while, Darius remains asleep. He still breathes heavily and crackling, coughing weakly, which is when Harris holds Darius in a sitting position so that Grace can hit his back to help loosen the mucus. It's hard for them all, but with each treatment, they notice at least a temporary ease in Darius' breathing giving them hope for his recovery.

It's well into the next day, nearly nightfall when Darius' fever finally breaks and they can all breath a sigh of relief. Alycia and Liam, who had thus far only dozed in the chairs they had around the bed or on the foot of the bed itself, fall asleep with the knowledge that Darius will get better. They're laying next to each other, with feet at opposite ends on the foot of Darius' bed. They're a bit too long for the width, but exhaustion wins over discomfort. It leaves Grace and Harris to watch over Darius, who has yet to wake. They continue with the various treatments as they sit side by side in chairs at the side of the bed.

"He shouldn't've gotten so sick," Harris says.

"It might've been him running himself ragged taking care of Liam and Alycia. They had this before," Grace says.

"They weren't this sick. It was an unpleasant illness to be sure, but nothing severe so long as they rested." Harris sighs, crossing his arms over his chest. "He's not been taking care of himself, again."

"What about the food scraps I've been giving you for him?"

"I've been sticking them in his pantry or in the stew he has going. This shouldn't have happened."

"He knows about it," Liam says, voice rough with sleep. He turns to see them.

"What," Harris asks.

"He knows what you've been doing and he makes sure that we eat first," Alycia says, propping herself up on her arms to look at the others.

"But it should be enough with the work he's getting," Grace says.

"He hasn't been working. No one wants to hire someone who dabbles in magic even though it's not magic." Alycia makes her dislike of the people clear as she scowls when she speaks.

"He said he'd been working," Harris says.

"I thought it was getting easier for him. He's not been arrested for a year almost. Even the King's forgotten about him," Grace says.

"He thinks we don't know, but we overheard him talking to someone trying to get a job and they wouldn't hire him because they said he was a warlock," Liam says.

"We thought he was eating enough, though. He does eat but it's not always a lot," Alycia says.

"But remember sometimes when he stands he almost passes out and has to sit back down." Liam looks back at Alycia. "And he can't keep hold of his tools or think clearly."

"How long has this been going on," Harris asks.

"A month or two, I think. We didn't think it would make this be this sick. Really. We would've said something."

"We try to sneak food back into his bowl when we can or leave it for him to eat but he never does," Alycia says.

"Stupid idiot," Harris says lowly. At that, Darius mutters something but continues sleeping.

"We have to get him some work," Grace says.

"Hugh likes him fairly well. Maybe there's something he can build for the knights' training. We'd have to clear it with Benedictus, though."

"I can work on that. He's been in a good mood lately and if we're not too specific about who it is, then we might able to get something going."

"Can you really get him work," Alycia asks.

"With some work, yes, I believe we can," Grace says. "And if he does some work for the king, others are likely to hire him."

"Good. He's happy when he has work." With that, she settles back to sleep and Liam follows soon after. Grace and Harris resolve to remain through the night to ensure that Darius has made it past the worst. Hopefully, by then, he'll wake. In the meantime, while watching over him, the concoct plans to fill his pantry and ensure that he eats enough to regain his strength.