Lillian didn't say a word. She stayed near the back of the group, as far away from Arthur as she could possibly get. Merlin had kept speaking to her in her mind, trying to reassure her, let her know that everything would be fine. But she had such a hard time believing him.

By the time they made it to Ealdor, Kanen and his men were already there. Arthur threw a sword, embedding it into a post by where Kanen was standing, about to bring his axe down on a villager.

"Kill them!" Kanen shouted. Arthur and Merlin were quickly off their horses and battling against the men.

"Lillian, please be careful." Merlin called to her as she jumped off her horse and began joining the fray.

"Where's the fun in that?" She asked, parrying the attacks that were coming at her.

Lillian didn't pay much attention to anything else, other than the man she was fighting. Once the man was down she risked a glance over at Arthur. He had just dealt a fatal blow to one man and was about to be attacked from behind when Morgana stepped in and took care of him.

"Bring back memories of when I used to beat you?" She asked smugly, dashing past him and to another man.

"That never happened." He protested, before looking over at Lillian. She quickly looked anywhere but at him.

"You'll pay for this with your lives. All of you!" Kanen called, having mounted his horse and making his escape before he could be dealt with properly. The rest of his men, the ones that were still alive, quickly made haste after their leader.

Lillian was close to where Merlin was standing, looking at one of the villagers. "You sill up to the same old magic tricks again? Look, I thought I told you, I don't want your kind around here?" The villager said to him. She didn't know what to make of it, until she noticed both of them grinning away.

"I missed you too, Will." Merlin said, before hugging the young man. "It's good to see you again."

"How've you been? I, er, hear you're skivvying for some prince." Will said.

"No. I wouldn't say I'm a skivvy." Merlin protested.

That was when Lillian stepped in. "Merlin, that is exactly what you do." She said, placing a hand on his arm. "And not just for a prince either. You have to deal with an awful princess as well." There was a smug grin on her face.

"She a friend of yours?" Will asked, looking Lillian up and down.

"I most certainly am. Most people call me Lillian." She told him, sheathing her sword.

"Merlin! Gather the villagers, I need to talk to them." Arthur bellowed, causing Lillian to roll her eyes.

"Yeah, in a minute. I'm just talking…" He said, turning back to face the prince.

"Now, Merlin. There isn't much time." Arthur ordered.

Merlin let out a sigh. "Yes, sire."

Lillian let her grin grow even wider. "Your lord and master is waiting for you, Merlin."

"I like her." Merlin's friend Will said, a cheeky smile on his face. "I'm Will." He said, holding out a hand. Lillian took it and Will was quick to kiss the back of it.

"Well, aren't you a charmer?" She said, trying to hide her giggles. Oh, if only the poor boy knew who I really was. She thought to herself.

"Lillian, I need you here." Arthur growled, having seen the interaction between her and Will.

She rolled her eyes and Will let go of her hand. "Yes, sire." She said, before walking over to where he was standing. She didn't look at him, she looked around at the villagers that Merlin had gathered.

Arthur also looked around the villagers, they all seemed to be gathered before him now. "I know Kanen's kind. He'll be back. And when he is, we must be ready for him. First of all, we have to prepare for…"

"Am I the only one wondering who the hell this is?" Will asked, stepping forward.

"I'm Prince Arthur of Camelot." He told the man, holding his head high and trying to show his status.

"Yeah, and I'm Prince William of Ealdor." Will replied sarcastically. Lillian didn't know whether to laugh or not, but she managed to hold it in.

"Keep quiet." Hunith told him. "He's here to help us."

"But he's made things worse. Kanen will be back, and when he is, he'll be looking for revenge. You've just signed out death warrants." Will protested. He was clearly angry that the prince had interfered.

"He saved Matthew's life!" Merlin's mother pointed out.

"That's alright, Hunith. This is his village." He said, before turning his attention back to the young man. "What would you have us do?" Arthur asked.

"We can't fight against Kanen. He has too many men."

Lillian had a feeling she knew where this was going. "So what's the alternative?" She asked, before Arthur could.

Will just shrugged. "Give him what he wants."

It seemed that a lot of the villagers didn't agree with this. They didn't want to give in to the man. "Then what?" Lillian asked. "Those of you who don't starve to death will face him again next harvest. And the harvest after that."

"We'll manage. We'll survive." Will said, looking at Lillian with a little shock.

"How?" One of the villagers called out. There were many who were thinking it, but only one had the courage to ask.

"The only way he can be stopped is if you stand up to him." Arthur said, looking around the crowd.

"No. You just want the honour and glory of battle." Will shouted. "That's what drives men like you. Look, if you want to fight, then go home and risk the lives of your own people, not ours!" He called. Merlin called his friends name, trying to get him to calm down before chasing after him.

"I'll follow you." Hunith said. "If I'm to die, then I want to go out fighting."

"That goes for me, too." Matthew said, taking a step forward. After than, many more people started calling out, saying that they would fight for their village.

Lillian was with Merlin and Will. They were trying to convince Will that Arthur was there to help. "He knows what he's doing. You've got to trust him. Look, when I first met Arthur, I was exactly like you. I hated him. I thought he was pompous and arrogant." Merlin said to his friend.

"What are you talking about? He still is." Lillian said.

Will just smiled at her. "Well, nothing's changed there, then." He said.

"But, in time, I came to respect him for what he stands for, what he does." Merlin told him, trying as hard as he could.

"Yeah, I know what he stands for: princes, kings, all men like him." Will said, his tone didn't sit too well with Lillian.

"Will, don't bring what happened to your father into this." Merlin warned him.

Will just looked at his friend. "I'm not. Why are you defending him so much? You're just his servant."

"He's also my friend."

"Friends don't lord it over one another." Will pointed out.

"He isn't like that." Lillian felt like Merlin was fighting a loosing battle with his friend.

"Really? Well, let's wait until the fighting begins and see who he sends in to die first. I guarantee you, it won't be him." The man spat.

Merlin looked at Lillian and then back to Will. "I trust Arthur with my life."

"Is that so?" Will asked. Glancing at Lillian and noticing her stone expression. "So he knows your secret, then? Look, face it, Merlin. You're living a lie. Just like you were here. You're Arthur's servant, nothing more. Otherwise you'd tell him the truth."

Lillian couldn't take it any more. "You know exactly what would happen to Merlin if Arthur knew the truth. And you have no idea how much more than a servant he is to Arthur." She spat at him.

"And who are you to talk? You're no one." Will said in disgust.

"I am Princess Lillian of Rolana. And both Merlin and Arthur are my friends. You have not seen what goes on in Camelot. You do not know Arthur and it seems you certainly do not know Merlin." Will took a step back in shock at the way she had spoken to him, and the revelation that she was a princess.

"Lillian, it's okay, calm down." Merlin said, putting a hand on her arm.

"No, Merlin, it isn't okay." She told him, before turning back to Will. "How can you call yourself his friend when you constantly put him down? That is not what friends do. I believe in Merlin, just as I believe in Arthur." She took a step forward. "I don't care what you think about me, I came here to help my friend, to protect his village, his family and his friends. So did Arthur." And with that, she turned on her heel and stormed out.

"Well, she's… fiery." Will said, trying to get over the shock.

Merlin had to hold back a laugh. "You should see her when she's angry."

As Lillian was walking towards where Merlin used to live with his mother, someone grabbed hold of her arm. "Lillian…" Arthur started, but stopped the moment he saw her glared.

"Don't touch me." She spat at him, pulling her arm away. Arthur instantly let her go and backed away from her.

He stood there, watching her as she stormed off. The look he had seen in her eyes, he knew that something was seriously wrong. And the fact that she wouldn't let him touch her, let alone speak with her, it hurt him. He just couldn't understand why she was being that way with him.

He didn't know what to do anymore. She was becoming more and more distant from him, and he knew, that if he wasn't careful, he was going to lose her. He had already overheard her talking with Merlin, saying that she wanted to go back to Rolana, but he didn't know why.

Lillian managed to avoid him for the rest of the day. Spending her time with Hunith, helping her around the house and with the cooking. Morgana and Gwen had both tried speaking with her as well, but she just brushed them both off. It seemed that the only person she would talk to was Merlin.

"Still not learned how to dress yourself?" Morgana asked Arthur as Merlin helped him to dress the next morning.

"You don't have a dog and fetch the stick yourself." He replied. "No offence, Merlin."

"None taken."

"Prince Arthur, you didn't finish your breakfast." Hunith said, holding his bowl out to him.

"Didn't I?" He queried, knowing full well that he hadn't eaten it all.

"Come on, eat up." Morgana said, mockingly. She knew in an instant that he didn't like it, and she was going to make him suffer. What she also knew, was that he had done something to seriously upset Lillian, and she was not happy about that.

"Mmmm" Arthur said, pretending to eat the food, before shoving it into the first hands he could find, which just so happened to be Lillian's. "Right. Let's get going. We need wood, and lots of it."

Lillian just shook her head and gladly finished the food that Arthur refused to eat. "Arthur said it was lovely." She told Hunith, handing her a now empty bowl. The woman smiled at her as they watched both Morgana and Gwen follow behind Arthur.

"He must care for you a great deal." She said to her son.

"Arthur'd do the same for any village. That's just the way he is." Merlin replied, getting his jacket on.

"It's more than that. He's here for you." She pressed.

"I'm just his servant." Merlin told her, wanting to move on from the topic.

"Give him more credit than that. He likes you." Hunith told him.

"That's because he doesn't know me. And if he did, I'd probably be dead by now." He told her solemnly.

Lillian smirked at him. "No you wouldn't, you'd be stuck in Rolana with me."

Merlin just looked at her with a serious face. "I think that's a fate worse than death."

"Oi!" She cried, whacking him lightly on the arm. "Come on, we best get to work." He picked up an axe and they both headed towards the trees lining the village.

"Merlin! Where are you going with that thing?" Will called.

He stopped and turned to his friend. "What does it look like? We need wood."

"We both know that you don't need an axe to fell a tree." His friend replied, not noticing that Lillian was stood by a tree.

"And I remember the trouble it got me into. I nearly flattened Old Man Simmons." Lillian blocked out the rest of their conversation and focused on feeling the magic that was around her.

She could feel the strength of it coming from Merlin, but she could feel it in the ground beneath her as well. Magic comes from the Earth, and she could feel it seeping through the ground and running through the trees.

"Lillian?" Merlin called softly, touching her shoulder. She looked at him blankly before blinking a few times. "Everything okay?" He asked, a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You lads done talking? We need wood." She said, hoping that their conversation was finally over.

"You'd be able to defeat Kanen on your own, wouldn't you?" Will asked, clearly it wasn't over.

"I'm not sure. Maybe."

Lillian rolled her eyes at her friend. "Of course you would, don't even try to deny it." She said.

"Well, so what's stopping you? So what if Arthur finds out? She already knows." Will said, pointing at Lillian.

"I don't expect you to understand." Merlin replied. Will just pushed him to explain it further. Merlin let out a sigh before beginning. "One day, Arthur will be a great king, but he needs ou…" Lillian discretely elbowed him. "But he needs my help." He corrected himself. No one knew about Lillian, and he almost let it slip. "And if anyone ever found out about my powers, I'd have to leave Camelot for good."

"Are you telling me you'd rather keep your magic a secret for Arthur's sake than use it to protect your friends and family?" Will asked.

Merlin could feel Lillian's anger rising again. "Lillian, don't. Go and see if Gwen or Morgana need any help. If Arthur is training the men, he could probably use your help." He told her.

She looked at him before letting out a sigh and walking away, knowing that he was right. She was letting his friend get to her too much, but that was only because she cared about Merlin. He was her friend and Will just didn't seem to understand the danger he was constantly living in.

"There is no way they're going to be able to hold Kanen off." Morgana said to Gwen as they sharpened some swords.

"Men aren't the only ones who can fight." Lillian said, taking them by surprise. They hadn't even know that she was there.

"What are you suggesting, Lillian?" Morgana asked, a twinkle in her eye.

"Oh, you know me, Morgana. We're living proof that women can use a sword just as well as a man." She told her, letting a small grin appear on her face.

"Lillian, is everything okay? I mean, you don't really seem yourself and we've both noticed that you're keeping as far away from Arthur as you can." Morgana asked her. They both knew something was wrong, and they were both worrying about it.

"Everything is fine, Morgana. Arthur has more important things to do, we all know that." She told her, brushing them both off again.

"But you haven't been yourself since before we even got here. You can't say that something isn't wrong. We both know there is." Morgana was going to be persistent now.

Lillian let out a sigh. "It's nothing. Honestly. I've just been feeling a bit under the weather since my bother left. Everyone has been so busy, I'm just having trouble adjusting to being on my own so much." She told them both.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to spend much time with you back in Camelot. I really have been busy." Morgana said, realising what Lillian was saying.

"It's fine, Morgana. You're the king's ward, of course you are going to be busy. I understand." She told the woman, wanting the conversation to be over already. She didn't care about hearing people excuses, she was past caring now.

Arthur continued to train the man for the rest of the day, and refused to let the women join in the fight. Lillian already knew that he would refuse, saying that it was too dangerous, but she wasn't going to listen to him any more.

"Do you think Lillian is alright? I'm worried about her." Gwen whispered through the darkness.

Morgana let out a sigh. "She isn't alright. It's clear that something is wrong, but she won't speak to anyone about it. She has always been like this."

"Like what?" Gwen asked her curiously.

"Caring about others more than herself. She won't tell us because she knows there are people out there with worse problems."

"But she should still be able to talk to us about it. I mean, it isn't healthy for her to keep everything bottle up." Gwen protested.

"That's Lillian." There were a few moments of silence before someone spoke again.

"Lillian's right. We don't stand a chance." Gwen whispered to Morgana that night while almost everyone was sleeping.

"Arthur can't see that. He's too stubborn." She replied.

"Why do you think he came here?" Lillian may have had her eyes closed, but she was far from asleep, and now she felt that Merlin was awake as well.

"The same reason we did. Arthur may act like he doesn't care, but he wouldn't be here if he didn't." Morgana told her quietly. Lillian knew that was true, no matter how much he tried to deny it, Merlin was a friend, and he would help him. It just hurt her to know that he didn't care about her anymore.

"Lillian, he does care about you. You know that." Merlin whispered through her mind.

"Go away, Merlin."

He sat up from his bed and looked past Arthur to see her lying there, facing him. Her eyes were tightly shut but he could see the wetness on her face. "You've been crying again." He said, letting out a mental sigh.

She quickly used the back of her hand to wipe her face. "No, I haven't." She mumbled to him, wanting to just be left alone.

Merlin watched her for a few more minutes and saw fresh tears trail down her face. With a heavy sigh he lay back down and closed his eyes. Every night since they had left Camelot, he had caught her crying, even though she would never admit it. Merlin didn't know what to do any more, nothing he said helped.

It seemed that Lillian and Merlin weren't the only ones who were awake during Morgana and Gwen's conversation. Arthur had also been awake, watching the woman who was just out of reach of him. He knew something was going on, he could tell by the way Merlin was acting. And he was damned if he was going to let it continue. He was going to find out.

"We're not going to be able to defend Ealdor with sword and sinew alone." Arthur announced to the villagers the next day. "We're going to need a plan. We need to find some way of limiting their mobility and drawing them into a trap. If we fight them on their terms, then…" He was cut short by a woman screaming from outside.

It didn't take long for everyone to rush outside to see what had happened. "Get him down from there!" Arthur ordered when he saw Matthew slumped over a horse. The prince noticed the arrow in his back, with a note attached to it.

"What does it say?" Merlin asked nervously.

"Make the most of this day, it will be your last." Arthur read from the parchment. A woman came over, screaming and crying for Matthew.

"You did this!" Will shouted at Arthur. "Look what you've done! You killed him!" He proclaimed.

"It wasn't his fault." Merlin said, trying to defend his prince and friend.

"If he hadn't been strutting around, treating us like his own personal army, this would never have happened!" Will concluded.

Lillian snapped, again. She just wanted to smack Will's head against a brick wall. It couldn't do him any harm. "These men are brave enough to fight for what they believe in, even if you aren't." She hissed at him, letting her temped start to get the better of her.

Will ignored her and carried on looking at the prince. "You're sending them to their graves. You killed one man. How many more need to die before you realise this is a battle that can't be won? When Kanen comes, you haven't got a change. You're gonna be slaughtered."

Lillian watched as Will stomped off back to his house. She was fuming, she was letting her emotions get the better of her, and now her magic was building so much that she felt like she was about to explode.

While Merlin ran after Will, Lillian decided to head away from the village a little. "Lillian, where are you going? It's not safe." Arthur called after her, jogging to catch her up.

"Oh, what do you care?" She mumbled to herself.

"Lillian, where are you going?" He called to her again. Once he realised she wouldn't stop, he grabbed hold of her wrist. "Lillian…"

"Didn't I tell you not to touch me?" She growled at him, trying to pull herself away.

"Will you just tell me what's wrong?" He pleaded with her, while she just continued to glare at him. "Lillian, please talk to me." He could see the tears building in her eyes.

"You're hurting me." She told him not breaking their gaze. He looked down and it was only then that he realised how tightly he had been gripping her wrist. The moment he let go, she pulled it away from him, and carried on walking towards the trees.

Arthur wanted to follow her, but he knew it would do little good. He headed back towards Hunith's home and sat down on a stump before sharpening his sword.

"William's father was killed fighting for Cenred, so he doesn't trust anyone of nobility." Merlin told him as he joined him.

"Do you think the villagers believed him?"

"No. He's always been a troublemaker. They're used to ignoring him." The warlock told him, trying to ease his mind.

"And if he's right?" What Will had said had been worrying Arthur, because he knew, to a certain extent, it was true.

"He isn't."

"I'm treating these men like soldiers, and they're not. You've seen them fight. They… they haven't got a clue. You need to tell them all to leave the village before Kanen returns." Arthur insisted. The death of Matthew had made him think about things more seriously.

"No, we're going to stay. We're going to fight, and we're going to win." Merlin told him, so full of hope.

"Merlin, it can't be done. The odds are too great."

"It can." He insisted. "We're going to make Kanen rue the day he ever came to this village. All you need to do is get the men ready for battle, and the rest will take care of itself."

"How?" Arthur couldn't see the hope, he was starting to lose faith in everything.

"You've just got to believe in them. Because if you don't, they'll sense it, and the battle will be lost before it's even begun." His servant informed him.

They stayed in silent for some time, Merlin hoping that he had gotten through to his master and Arthur was actually thinking about it. They both knew that they needed to fight if they were going to rid the village of Kanen for good. But Will's words still kept swimming in Arthur's head.

"Merlin?" He heard Lillian calling to him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, sensing that needed him.

"Is everyone okay in the village?" She asked him.

"As okay as can be expected. Where are you?" He had noticed that she had disappeared and had not seen her for some time now.

"Out by the forest a little. I just needed to get away from everything for a while. I'm just struggling to deal with everything with Arthur here." She told him honestly. If the prince had not been there, she probably would have been fine, but he was. And the truth was, the village needed him.

"Arthur, where's Lillian?" The warlock asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to find out what he knew.

"I don't know. She was heading towards the trees lining the village a while ago." He stopped sharpening his sword again and looked at his servant. "Something's wrong, and I don't know what it is. She won't talk to me, she won't even let me touch her."

Merlin let out a sigh. "She's just been having a bad few days." He told him.

"Merlin, she has cried every night we have been here. Don't try to deny it, I saw it. Last night, she was crying and you saw her. You know what's going on, Merlin, and I expect you to tell me." Arthur was irritated to say the least.

"It's not my place to say anything about it. All I know is that she has been upset since before we even left Camelot, and she's been thinking of leaving and going back to Rolana, for good." Merlin told him, his voice sad and concerned.

"But why? There must be some reason for why she suddenly wants to leave." Arthur pressed, hoping that his friend would tell him exactly what had been going on.

"Maybe you should have realised this back in Camelot. Taken the time to notice how she was feeling back then. I fear it's too late now." Merlin said, letting out a sigh. It was going to take a lot to sort out the mess that had been created. He thought that they were finally getting closer, that Arthur was going to see what he had.

"I've messed everything up, haven't I, Merlin?" Arthur knew that it was something he had done, Merlin had made that clear, and so had Lillian. He just wished he knew exactly what it had been.

"I don't know. Maybe it's not too late to change things. Tell her how you really feel instead of being a prat all the time."

Lillian eventually came back to the village just as it was getting dark. Her time away from everything had helped her to calm down. But now, she was in a building, packed with villagers while Arthur wanted to outline the plan.

"Tomorrow morning, the woman and children should gather what belongings they can carry and go back to the woods." He said.

Straight away Lillian stepped forward. She didn't come all this way just to run away. "We're not going anywhere." She told the prince firmly.

Arthur couldn't look at her. He knew she was already upset and angry with him, he didn't want to have a fight with her now. "I know you want to help, but the woman can't stay here, it's too dangerous." He told her softly.

"The women have as much right to fight for their lives as the men do." She protested, knowing that all eyes were on her and the prince.

"But none of you know how to fight."

Lillian let the comment slid. She certainly knew how to fight, and so did Morgana. Gwen was pretty handy with a sword as well, and Arthur knew all of this. "The more of us there are, the better chance we stand." Lillian's words caused all the women in the room to take a step forward, all of them agreeing with her.

"This is your home. If you want to fight to defend it, that's your choice. I'd be honoured to stand alongside you." He finally relented, finally listened. "Kanen attacks tomorrow. Kanen's brutal. He fights only to kill, whish is why he will never defeat us. Look around. In this circle, we're all equals. You're not fighting because someone's ordering you to. You're fighting for so much more than that. You fight for your homes." He told them.

Something inside of Lillian stirred as she listened to the prince. This was the man she knew he could be. "You fight for your family. You fight for your friends. You fight for the right to grow crops in peace. And if you fall, you fall fighting for the noblest of causes. Fighting for your very right to survive." The prince continued. "And when you're old and grey, you'll look back on this day, and you'll know you earned the right to live every day in between. So you fight. For your family. For your friends. For Ealdor!" He finished, holding up his sword.

"For Ealdor!" The villagers cheered, following Arthur and brandishing their swords and fists in the air.

As they chanted, Lillian slowly slipped out of the building and into the cool night air. Tomorrow was the day that would decide the fate of the village and it's people. She knew it was going to be difficult, and that not everyone would make it to see another sunset, but she had hope. She had hope that they would succeed and end the terror that Kanen brought upon them.

A/N: Isn't Lillian being a stubborn pain? In fact, I think she might just be worse than Arthur at the moment.

Anyway, thank you all for the brilliant reviews. You guys always make me smile. And thank you to all those new followers and people who have favourited. You guys really do rock.

Getting closer to Lillian revealing something. Has anyone worked out why she's just the little bit more special yet?

Pippa.