"You have to understand what I'm doing." Annabeth said sadly. She was sat on a log in the camp while Merlin checked her bandages on her back while the other knights (with the exception of Lancelot who was watching Arthur hack at a tree with a sword out in the forest somewhere away from them) were just milling around aimlessly, waiting for Merlin to start their dinner.

"I need him to be mad at me so he'll let me go," she explained. She had to explain to someone because she looked like the villain here and in a way she was.

"And why do you need to go, huh?" Gwain asked tiredly.

"I miss my home," she lied.

"No you don't," Elyan said, staring at her intently. "There's something in your eyes.. you're lying."

"So what if I am? It's obvious I don't belong in Camelot. Why can I not leave without all the drama?" She asked frustratedly.

"Because we think you belong." Elyan replied simply.

"I really don't." she frowned, wincing as Merlin tightened the bandage.

"Sorry," he apologised quietly before going back to concentrate on the bandage.

"Explain to us then." Percival asked.

"Friends I've loved dearly have died there. May died twice. I have no work and few friends – only you boys and maybe Gwen at a stretch. Because you knights go gallivanting off on quests and missions all the time I'll be left alone for long periods of time. I wasn't designed to be the lovely maiden confined in the castle, nor the stunning lady whose friends with everyone in the court but without a lover." She tried her best to give genuine reasons.

"But isn't that what Arthur wants to do? To love you?" Gwain asked.

"Yes but I can't do that to Gwen, can I? She's meant to be a friend and she loves Arthur almost as much as I do!" Annabeth reminded them.

"Almost as much?" Leon questioned.

"I'm letting him go. That's the symbol of true love. If you let it go, it proves you love it enough to set it free and do as it wants. If it returns, it's yours to keep." Annabeth said wisely.

"That's really sweet," Percival commented.

"And a load of bollocks if you ask me." Gwain added, standing up and going over to his horse.

"Of course it is to you Gwain. You know nothing of love. You're too much of a ladies man," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Don't try to deny it Gwain. It's perfectly true," Percival laughed as his friend went to defend himself.

As the rest of the knights laughed Merlin finished with the bandage.

"Finally we can eat!" Gwain cried happily.

Once dinner had been served, Arthur and Lancelot returned to the camp to eat. Annabeth refused her portion; slowly sipping on a tin cup of water instead as she watched them men devour their meal. None of them decided to stay up much longer for really there wasn't any point. As soon as they'd set up make-shift beds, they all went to sleep, excluding Arthur who has insisted he stay up for First Watch.

As she lay down in under her thin travel cloak, Annabeth tossed and turned, unable to go to sleep. It was more than just the cold and the pain in her back. She felt guilty. She didn't want to fight with Arthur but she had to. She'd convinced herself she had to.

"If you could stop moving around I'd be grateful. You're putting me on edge." Arthur whispered in her ear.

Annabeth jumped wildly, twisting her back slightly and reopening the wound a little as she turned towards Arthur.

"I'm sorry, I can't sleep." She hissed back.

"I gathered at much." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice which Annabeth didn't really appreciate.

"No need for that." She muttered darkly, burrowing back down under her cloak.

"Well I'm the king of insufferable asses apparently. I believe it's part of the job description." He said coolly.

There was silence and in the distance they could both hear an owl hooting in the distance.

"I don't want to fight with you Arthur," Annabeth sighed sadly.

"Then why do you do it?" Arthur asked, confused.

"I need you to let me go Arthur." She was breathing deeply now to hold back tears. "Because if you don't then I'll want to stay with you forever and if you stopped loving me, I'd die."

"I could never stop loving you," Arthur said quietly.

"You don't know anything about me." Annabeth pointed out.

"I think I do but if I don't then tell me. I'd still love you." He insisted.

"You wouldn't. You really wouldn't." A tear rolled from the corner of her eye.

"Are you crying?" Arthur asked in disbelief.

"No," she lied, her voice breaking.

"Anna," Arthur sighed, his resolve breaking. He was going to stay away from her. He wasn't going to love her anymore but he couldn't help it. "Come here."

"No," stubbornly she buried her face in her make-shift pillow (Merlin's jacket).

Laughing quietly, he pulled Annabeth carefully out from under her cloak and into his lap. She didn't help him as she cried. The pain was too much.

"Anna, relax. I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

"You tried to kill me earlier." She reminded him in a muffled voice as she'd buried her face in his shoulder.

"I know and I'm sorry. I know it doesn't even start to make up for the way I acted but you really pushed me to the edge." Absent-mindedly he started to stroke her hair as he stared off into the distance.

"I need you to let me go," she begged quietly in his ear.

"Maybe you do but not tonight. I'll stay with you until you sleep." Arthur decided.

"You don't have to. I'll go to sleep somehow." She shook her head, trying to move off his lap.

"No," she locked his arms around her. "You're crying still. I can't leave you like this." He pulled her closer still to him so they were almost merging into one being.

"You're a kind man Arthur. I hope that when I'm gone you'll be happy." She smiled weakly and snuggled up against Arthur.

"Be happy without you?" He asked, leaning back against a tree. "Impossible."

"You did it before you met me. You can do it again," she sniffed.

"But I don't think I can," he muttered to himself, stroking Annabeth's hair as he let her fall asleep in his arms, where she belonged.

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