I saw her as 'twas yesterday,
The bloom upon her cheek still glowing;
And round her play'd a golden ray,
And on her brows were gay flowers blowing

Arthur stood on the banks of a river, possibly the most beautiful he'd ever seen. Both banks were dusted with wild flowers in vivid blues and pinks and purples, the sun shone brilliantly through the nearby trees and birds flew over his head. There was a noise from amongst the trees and Kate appeared, glowing faintly. She looked almost angelic, her normally wild curls fell softly to her waist and her robe was blindingly white.

"We've won" she smiled softly

"That's debatable" he frowned "I know we got the castle back, but what about you?"

She shrugged "you win some you lose some. You and the Knights came through relatively unscathed, my brothers and Merlin survived, from where I'm standing this couldn't have worked out better"

"But you're…you're" His mouth, he couldn't make himself say the word

"Maybe I'll survive, maybe I won't." She gripped his hand tightly "Merlin always says that things very rarely work out as you plan but they have a habit of working out for the best anyway. You'll be fine anyway, you're far stronger than you think. You don't really need me" She stepped away from him and climbed into a small boat moored at the edge of the river that he hadn't noticed before.

"But I want you" he admitted, for the first time to anyone but himself. There was the most breath taking sound from above them. A mute swan flew overhead singing a beautiful mournful tune. Kate watched as it passed overhead and towards the sun which had suddenly began to set.

"Time to go" she pushed away from the bank and lead down in the boat as it drifted away from him. He couldn't follow; his feet were glued to the floor. He could only watch and she floated out of sight and left him standing alone.

Arthur woke with a start, his neck aching from sleeping with his chin resting against his chest. He was still sat in the uncomfortable chair in the corner of her room. He hadn't left in nearly 48 hours. James was talking quietly to Merlin, his face ashen with lack of sleep. Merlin himself was not looking his best, he had not left either. In the bed, asleep yet barely breathing, lay Kate. Since the battle she had barely managed to open her eyes, let alone speak.

Her eyes closed as she hit the ground. For the first time Arthur looked completely helpless, he looked instead to Merlin. Merlin started, in all honesty he didn't know what he was supposed to do, but nobody else was looking to take charge. "We need to move her to a room" he said as authoritatively as he could manage before bending to examine the wound. It was not particularly large but it was deep. The offending weapon was curved to ensure maximum damage. The skin around the wound was oddly reddish-purple, in a way he had only seen once before "poisoned" he muttered, turning to Lancelot "bring Gaius, tell him to bring every antidote he owns"

Using a loose door as a makeshift stretcher, the knights carried her to the nearest bedroom while Merlin tried to stem the flow of blood. As they laid her on the bed she opened her eyes and seemed about to say something and then she twisted round and retched, blood trickled out the side of her mouth then she led back and clenched her eyes tight shut, clenching her teeth so as to avoid screaming in agony.

Merlin leant down by her ear "I have a potion I can give you, I made it just in case someone got injured. It'll heal the wound straight away"

She shook her head, breathing deeply to try and keep her voice down "please don't Merlin, all of this will have been for nothing, do the best you can but don't risk exposing yourself"

His eyes began to fill with tears "I can't just let you die"

For a second her face took on a fierce look "And I won't let you risk everything for me"

Realising that she wasn't going to change her mind, at least for the moment, he began preparing an antidote to the poison. Her face was losing its colour and grey circles were darkening under her eyes. Arthur sat next to her, holding her hand as though it would be wrenched from his grasp.

"Don't you dare go anywhere" he whispered rubbing her fingers to try and warm them "you promised we'd get through this together"

"So I did" she breathed, swallowing the last of the antidote Merlin had given her "I'd better not give up then"

Since then she hadn't eaten, had barely drunk anything and had only sometimes managed to stay awake. All that time Merlin had kept watch, Arthur had held her hand and her brothers took turns to sit with her. The knights slept in the corridor and performed the most menial tasks just to feel that they were helping somehow.

"Something's happened" Arthur sat up in the chair, renewing his grip on her hand. Her face had suddenly taken on that terrible waxy quality so often seen on those nearing death.

Merlin seized her wrist, feeling for a pulse "her heart is slowing" he said, panicked

"KATE" Arthur yelled her name again and again, hoping that it would be enough to bring her back from the brink of death. "do something!" he shouted desperately at Merlin. The noise had attracted attention and the knights flooded into the room.

"There's no poison left in her" Merlin muttered under his breath "she's just too weak to fight it anymore" He would never remember the words he used later. He just knew that he had broken his promise to her. He was using magic in front of everyone, Arthur included, firing every spell he could think of and even a couple he didn't know the origin of in the desperate hope that one would work. He could not just sit there and watch her die.

Lying on the bed Kate took one final rasping breath in and then was completely still.

"You're a sorcerer?" Arthur whispered, blank faced at Merlin

Merlin nodded, too exhausted to speak. He had used every ounce of magic he could find in himself and it hadn't been enough. Her marble-white face remained unmoved, still she didn't breathe. He was utterly beaten.

"Then bring her back" Arthur snarled, when Merlin only stared at him he repeated his demand more loudly, leaning across the bed, seizing Merlin by the shoulders and shaking him "I said, bring her back!" tears were threatening to spill down his cheeks and his hands were shaking

"I can't" Merlin mumbled, nearly crying himself "there isn't a spell to bring back the dead"

"What are you talki-" Arthur stopped abruptly, midsentence as a small, cold hand clamped around his forearm.

They all turned to stare at Kate. Her eyes were barely open, her breathing was shallow and she was still deathly pale but she was looking directly at them. She was staring directly at the pair of them through barely opened eyes. "That's enough now" she whispered softly "There will be time to discuss this later but for now" she took a slightly stronger breath in "I'd quite like to sleep if that's ok"