A/N: Hello everyone, I've slowly managed to get another chapter written and ready for you all to read. And for those of you who just skim through because you think you know it all from he episode, think again.

We walked back to the house hand in hand and in utter silence. I was sure I recognised the man that Merlin had been talking to, there was something familiar about him, and it was really starting to bug me. It wasn't the first time I had seen him during the tournament, I knew that much, but there really was something else, something about him just gave me the creeps.

"Isabella? Is everything all right?" Arthur asked me, opening the door to our home.

I hadn't even noticed it, but the sky had started to darken, meaning that we must have walked home rather slowly. "Yes, everything is fine, Arthur. Sorry, I was in my own little world there." I gave him one of my best smiles, before walking past him and into the house. I was actually glad to be back there, I was starting to really feel uneasy out in the streets.

He entered after me and closed the door. "Are you sure? You've been very quiet since we left the tournament, and usually I can't get you to stop talking." I really did hate the way that he knew me so well now.

I began taking off my cloak, making sure not to face him as I did. If he saw my face then he would know that I was lying to him. "I am certain, Arthur. It's just been a rather long day, and right now I would like to just sit down and relax." Okay, so it wasn't all a lie, I really did want to just sit down and relax for a bit before having to get started with dinner.

"Well, why don't you just sit down and take some time to rest." Arthur told me, taking my cloak from me and hanging it up, before forcing me to sit down. "And I'll fix dinner tonight."

Straight away I looked up at him, a confused expression on my face. "I'm sorry, I must be more tired than I thought. I could have sworn that you just said you were going to cook dinner." I could not have heard that right, no way, not a chance in hell.

A smile stretched across his face. "No, you heard my right. You've been cooking every morning and every evening. Even if you're not cooking, you are preparing the next meal. So, tonight, you get to just relax, and I will take care of our dinner."

I was a little lost for words to be completely honest. "Uh, okay. Well, are you sure you'll be all right with it?" I asked him before I could even stop myself. "Of course you will, I'm going to be here the whole time, so if you need any help or anything, you just have to ask."

"Exactly, you're going to be here the whole time. Now, I'll get started with dinner, and you can just relax." He told me, before gathering together everything that I had prepared in the morning. I had made it all rather easy for him, he didn't have to start from scratch, he just had to cook everything. There was no chopping or cutting involved.

"So, are you nervous about tomorrow?" I asked him, watching as he quickly got the fire started.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't. At least this time I know that I deserved to be in the final, not that I was there because the knights let me." I could tell just how much it really meant to him, and I was rather impressed with the way he was handling it all now. He had been calm the whole time, not once getting irritated, not once thinking that they let him win, and not once did he start bragging about just how great he was. Maybe he really was changing, maybe he did have some humility.

"I know it probably means nothing, but I really am proud of you, Arthur." Sure, I had said it before, but I really wanted him to know that I was supporting him the whole way. "These past few days have been kind of nice."

Arthur turned and smile at me. "Isabella, it means everything to know you are proud of me. And I've rather enjoyed myself as well. I can see how much you have enjoyed being away from the castle, and just being able to be yourself and not have to hide in fear of your uncle." He just had to bring my uncle up, didn't he? I had been doing so well, not thinking about the man that was out to kill me.

I tried not to let it show on my face, the hint of fear that I felt what that man was mentioned. "I've actually enjoyed spending the time with you more, and watching you compete. You're in your element when you're out there, Arthur, it's where you belong. You really are a warrior, and me, I'm just…" I didn't even know what I was anymore. The way people treated me sometimes, I often felt like a child. I didn't know whether I was under protect, or under arrest half of the time, I was made to feel like a prisoner.

He stopped what he was doing and crouched down beside me. "You are the single most impossible woman I have ever met. You are one of a kind, and I am honoured to have you in my life." I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks, and I knew that I was blushing. I blushed even more when I saw the smile spread across his face.

Straight away, I tried to hide my face, but Arthur was quick to place his hand under my chin, raising it up again, forcing me to look at him. "You say the most absurd things, Arthur." I managed to breathe, my eyes never leaving his. "I might be one of a kind, but I'd say I'm more of a curse than anything else. Just look at all the trouble that has followed me, and the trouble I have put you through. I mean, I've pretty much taken over your chamber, and that really must be annoying."

I watched him as he shook his head at me. "You couldn't be further from the truth, Isabella." He told me, before his lips lightly pressed against mine, causing me to all most fall backwards and off the bench. But it seemed that Arthur had anticipated that, and he quickly wrapped his arms around me, holding onto me as my hands instinctively gripped onto his shoulders.

The Prince was gazing at me intensely. "Uh, I thought you were making dinner." I reminded him, trying not to think about what had just happened. "I… I don't mind taking over…"

"No, you are not cooking tonight." He told me, before slowly getting back to his feet and turning his attention back to the food.

Why did I always turn into such an idiot when he was so damn close to me? My heart would always start pounding in my chest, my breathing would become a little more erratic, a lump would form in my throat and my head, well that would just turn into a fuzzy mess. I just seemed to lose all sense and concentration around him, and I didn't always like that.

The thing is, it had never happened to me before I met him. Back in the future, back in my real world, that had never, ever, happened to me before. It didn't matter how hard I thought about it, how much I racked my brains trying to find an explanation for the whole thing, I came up with nothing. I knew what I had to do, I had to go and see Gaius the moment we returned to the castle.

I had been so lost in my own little world once more that I hadn't even noticed that Arthur was now sitting across from me, our dinner place before us both. "Isabella? Isabella?" He ended up calling, which resulted in my almost jumping out of my seat.

I looked up at him and tried to calm my breathing. "Oh, sorry. I was in a land far far away. It's rather nice there, you should visit sometime." I told him jokingly, trying to break the little bit of tension that I could sense in the air.

"I think if I went to this place, I'd end up getting lost. I already know that your mind is full of the most impossible things." I knew that he wasn't trying to be mean, he wasn't calling me crazy or anything like that. What he was really saying was that my mind was an impossible place, and he was right.

A small chuckle escaped from my lips. "You know, you're probably right. I think it would be best if you avoided it for a while, it could do with a bit of a tidy up in there."

All he did was smile back at me. "Well, maybe you should tidy it up after dinner."

My head nodded at him on my own, before I looked down at the dinner sitting in front of me. "Looks good, you managed to cook it without burning it or anything else." It was only a joke, and Arthur knew that, because he just rolled his eyes at me.

We sat in a comfortable silence to eat our meal, but something was making me feel really on edge. The hairs on the back of my neck kept standing on end, and it was really making me nervous. Even Arthur had noticed it, because he kept on giving me some rather worried glances. My response was to just smile at him the best I could, but it still wasn't enough.

"Isabella, something is bothering you. Will you please tell me what it is?" The Prince asked me quietly, reaching a hand across the table and resting it on my own that was twisting the fork around on my plate.

"Nothing is bothering me, everything is fine, Arthur." I may have said it a little too quickly for him to believe me, as all he ended up doing was frowning at me.

His gaze just seemed to intensify even more. "I know when you are lying, Isabella. Please, will you just tell me what it is?"

Of course he knew that I was lying, so of course I was going to have to tell him the truth. "I don't know, something just doesn't feel right." I ended up admitting to him. "I can't explain why, or what it is, but something it just making me feel very nervous at the moment." My face must have shown just how nervous I really was, as I could see Arthur's eyes desperately searching mine.

"Everything is going to be fine, Isabella. No one knows that we are here apart from a few, you are safe." He was wrong, it wasn't me that I was worrying about. There was something big about to happen, and it wasn't to me either, I could just feel it. But how could I tell the Prince of Camelot that? The answer was simple, I couldn't.

I had to force a smile on my face. "Of course, you're right, Arthur. I'm just being silly, I guess. Tomorrow we will be back in the castle and this will all be over." At least that was what I hoped, but something was telling me things were not going to be going that smoothly.

I didn't eat any more after that, and Arthur was quick to clear everything away before I even had the chance to get up from where I was sitting. While he wasn't looking, I ended up chewing on the nail of my thumb. That nervous feeling hadn't gone away, it fact, it had gotten much worse.

"I… I think I'm going to get some sleep." I muttered to him, getting up from the bench at the table. "Thank you for dinner, Arthur." Before I had a chance to head into the back of the house, someone had latched onto my hand.

When I turned my head I saw Arthur looking at me, that worry still sitting there in his eyes. "You would tell me if there was anything else wrong, wouldn't you?" It seemed like his eyes were pleading for me to say yes, but he needed to do that.

"Yes, I would, Arthur. You've already done so much for me, sacrificed so much because of me, of course I would tell you if there was something wrong. Right now, I just feel nervous, and I have no real explanation as to why." It wasn't a lie, I was being honest with him, I just wasn't telling him that tiny little part about having the feeling that something bad was going to happen. I mean, it wasn't that big a deal not to tell him, was it?

Arthur ended up just gently pulling me towards him, wrapping his arms around me tightly. I wasn't going to admit it, but it felt rather nice. I ended up wrapping my arms around him as well, holding on and not really wanting to let go. But I felt his arms releasing me, and I knew he wanted me to let go, so I dropped my arms to my sides. Only, Arthur didn't let me go like I had anticipated, instead, his hand rested softly against my cheek and his gaze seemed to intensify. I could definitely feel my heart pounding like mad in my chest, I would have sworn that the whole of Camelot could hear it.

The next thing I know, his warm lips are pressed against mine, the hand that was on my cheek slowly working its way through my hair. At that moment I couldn't think. My mind had turned into one great big fuzzy mess, a bigger mess than it had been before. Everything I had been worrying about just vanished, replaced with nothing at all.

But that all changed when the door to our little home flew open and Merlin came bursting in. "Arthur, there's an assassin in Camelot. He's here to kill…" He stopped, as Arthur broke away from me and glared at his servant. "Uh, sorry, am I…?"

I was just looked at him with wide, shocked, eyes. "Did… did you say there was an assassin in Camelot?" My voice ended up coming out in a whisper. Something was telling me that the assassin wasn't here for me, something was nagging me, something at the back of my head, telling me they were after someone else, someone close to me.

Even Arthur could see that I was in shock. "I think you had better explain, Merlin." I heard him say, as someone gently tugged at my hand, before I found myself sitting back down.

"The assassin killed a guard. You father said Odin sent him." Merlin informed us both, but it did nothing to ease my nerves. I had the feeling that something was wrong, and now I knew that my feeling had been right, something was wrong, and something was going to happen.

"Why would Odin want you dead, Arthur?" I managed to ask, looking up at him, trying to compose myself, to pull it all back together.

He let out a sigh before answering me. "Because I killed his son." I could tell by the way he was speaking that he was not proud of what he had done, and that he had some regrets. "Odin's son challenged me to a fight. I had no quarrel with him. I asked him to withdraw. Perhaps he felt he had to prove himself." There was a pause, a very brief moment of silence. "I can still see his face. He looked so scared…"

For once, it was my job to comfort Arthur, and I placed my hand over his, gripping it tightly. "It was not your fault, Arthur. You cannot blame yourself for this. You gave him a chance to walk away, he could have conceded at any point, but he didn't." I knew how those fights worked, I had learnt much since I had been in Camelot.

Arthur looked at me, a sad smile on his face. I could tell that he was still thinking about the man he had killed, and the regret that he felt from it. Everyone had things in the past that they were not proud of, that they would much rather forget, and this was one of his moments.

"Only a few of us know where you are. If the assassin can't find you, he can't kill you." Merlin informed us, hoping that it would calm the situation a little.

"Looks like we are going to be extending our stay as citizens of Camelot then." I said, trying to lighten the mood and get some kind of reaction from Arthur. In reality, I was petrified. There was an assassin in Camelot, who was after Arthur, who was basically protecting me. It made me wonder, since my uncle knew where I was, would he ever consider hiring an assassin to take care of me? No, of course not, he wanted to get to me himself now.

Both of them turned and looked at me, Merlin looked a little confused, and Arthur just looked worried. "Isabella, are you sure you wish to stay here? Maybe it would be safer for you if you returned to the castle." Yes, he was definitely worried. But there was no way that I was going to be leaving him, I was not going back to the castle without him.

I tilted my head to the side a little as I looked at him. "Why, are you going to be there?" I asked him, with a little hint of attitude. "Remember your promise, Arthur, you can't get rid of me that easily."

"But this is different. There is an assassin in Camelot." The Prince protested to me.

My head simply shook at him. "Nope, not going to work. Arthur, we're in this together, whether you like it or not. I'm not going to run and hide from my uncle, so I most certainly am not going to run and hide from some idiot assassin."

All I could do was watch him as he let out a sigh and I knew I had won. There was no way that he was going to argue with me over it now, no way at all. "Why do you have to be so… impossible?" He moaned, before running his hand over his face.

I couldn't help but let a little smile take over my face. "Because I wouldn't be me if I wasn't impossible. Everything is going to be fine, Arthur." Merlin simply looked between the pair of us, most likely wondering what the hell was going on and how Arthur and I hadn't managed to kill each other yet.

With yet another high, he finally turned his attention away from me and to his servant. "As long as no one else finds out we are here, we should be safe. Has there been any news from Isabella's brothers?" Odd, that was the first time that he had bothered to ask about that since we had been there, or at least the first time I had actually heard him.

Merlin just shook his head at Arthur, meaning that nothing had been heard. "Well, no news is good news." I announced, really trying to disperse some of that tension that was bubbling in the air again. "If nothing has been heard from them, then that means there is nothing new to tell. There is no immediate danger from my uncle." I was trying to make myself sound calmer than I really was.

Clearly neither of the men that kept glancing at me truly believed me, that was obvious by the looks that they kept giving each other. "You will go back to the castle with Merlin." Arthur announced suddenly. "The lack of news regarding your uncle is not good, if anything it makes me even more suspicious of his actions and whereabouts."

I looked at him, my eyes wide and my face displaying my slight shock. "Arthur, I am not going." I told him firmly, determined to stand my ground.

He took a step towards me, standing his full height in front of me. "Yes, you are. Even if Merlin has to get some guards to take you kicking and screaming, you are going back to the castle. Tonight."

"No." I told him, folding my arms across my chest, ready to stand up to him, and not let him intimidate me.

A growling sound came from somewhere within Arthur's throat. "Yes, you are."

"No, I am not." There was no chance I was going to let the Prince of Camelot tell me what to do. "The moment people know I'm back, they will know you are back. You are stuck with me, Arthur, so get over it." I could feel myself getting angry with him, so I quickly turned away from him, and wrenched away the curtain to the back of the house. I let the ragged cloth fall back in place behind me as I sat down on the bed.

There was silence in the other room, until I heard Merlin whispering. "She's right, Arthur. As soon as the people see her, they will know you are in Camelot as well. Everyone knows that the pair of you are inseparable, where one of you is, the other will be as well." Although he was whispering, I could see hear him as clear as day.

"Merlin, it is not safe. She would be safer locked in the dungeons at the moment. As if things were not bad enough with her uncle out there wanting to kill her, there is now an assassin here." I heard him stomping around the room a little. "Are you absolutely certain that this assassin is after me, and not Isabella?" He really did sound worried, really worried.

"Yes. An informant came to the King, said that Odin had hired an assassin to kill you. A few of the guards have been killed, your father believes it was the assassin." Once again, there was silence, until I heard the sound of the door closing and being bolted.

I brought my legs up onto the bed, and sat there with them crossed, waiting for Arthur. I knew that we were going to be having words, it was inevitable after what had just happened. To my surprise he came into the back with a lit candle and sat on the other side of the bed, his side. I kept my eyes firmly fixed on the part of the bed I was staring it, while the Prince took off his shirt.

I waited, expecting him to say something, but he did not say a word. He got himself under the covers over his side of the bed and blew out the candle. He had ignored me completely. I wanted to say something to him, to ask him why he was being like that, why he had come in, gotten undressed for bed, and just completely ignored me. But I didn't.

Instead, I shifted over on the bed, pulling the covers away slightly and sliding under them. Since we had been there, or since I had taken Arthur's bed, he had always wrapped his arms around me, kept me warm and feeling safe. I didn't have that feeling anymore. He didn't reach out for me, not a single sound escaped from his lips, but one almost escaped from mine.

As I made sure to keep to my side of the bed, I faced my body away from the Prince of Camelot, and the silent tears began to rapidly roll down my cheeks. He was definitely angry and upset with me, why else would he be so cold with me? This was possibly our last night of just being ourselves, of having some sort of freedom from the royal life, and Arthur didn't want me there.

Eventually, I must have softly cried myself to sleep, as I awoke to the morning sun, and Arthur not there beside me. I could hear him moving around in the other room, so I knew he hadn't left for the tournament without me. I didn't want to go to the tournament, I would much rather just be sitting in the house the whole time, waiting for him to come back, to tell me whether he had won or not. I didn't see the point in going anymore. So I closed my eyes, and wished that would fall back to sleep.

But it appeared that fate didn't want me to go back to sleep, as I heard a knocking at the door, which brought me to my senses straight away. I listened closely as the door was unbolted and slowly pulled open. "I managed to sneak it out. What do you want it for, doesn't Isabella usually make breakfast for you both?" I hear Merlin say, and none too quietly either.

Arthur actually hushed him. "I very much doubt Isabella will want to be doing anything today." The Prince told him, his voice quiet, but not quiet enough.

"Why? Is she not well? Do you want me to fetch Gaius?" I could help but smile at the sound of concern in Merlin's voice. At least I knew that he wasn't angry or upset with me, he still cared.

I could have sworn I hear Arthur let out a sigh. "She didn't sleep very well last night." He said, making me hold my breath. "I believe I may have upset her, as she spent most of the night… crying." I quickly clasped my hand over my mouth. He had heard me silently crying, and he shouldn't have. I wasn't making a sound, I was totally silent, so it was impossible to know how he had known.

"What? She was crying?" It seemed that Merlin was shocked as well, but for a different reason.

"Yes, and I have no idea why." Of course he didn't, he was a complete and utter clotpole, so why would he knew that I was crying because of him, because of the way he was acting and how distant he seemed to be after Merlin left. There was no way that I was going to be able to tell him that.

"Well, maybe you should go and wake her and find out why." I heard Merlin tell him, before the wooden door opened and closed again. I took that as my chance to curl up in the bed even more, and wish that Arthur would leave me alone and not come to find out why.

There was no way I had any luck, as I heard Arthur walking towards where I was. "Isabella, it is time to get up now. We do not have much time until the final match of the tournament begins." He sound like the old, arrogant Prince that I had first met when I came to Camelot.

Although I wanted to completely ignore him, I knew I had to say something. "You don't really need me there, Arthur. I'll be fine just waiting here. I'll make sure to lock the door and not leave." If he was happy to dump me back at the castle on my own, then surely he would be fine to leave me there on my own.

"I'm not leaving you here on your own. Hurry up and get dressed, breakfast is ready." Arthur said to me, before disappearing into the other room, the curtain swinging back into place behind him. I didn't like the way that he had spoken to me, it showed that he was definitely upset with me still.

I knew that I really had no choice but to get myself up and changed into some fresh clothes and join him in the main area of the little wooden house. There wasn't a rush in my, and I took my time in getting ready. Plus, there was the fact that I just didn't want to face Arthur, I was still thinking over what had happened the previous night.

When I did make in to the main part of the house, I saw breakfast had been laid out on the table. "I see Merlin has been working hard already this morning." I couldn't actually stop myself from saying it, because I knew that it most certainly had not been Arthur who put it all together.

Even though the Prince had his back to me, he still let out a sigh. "I thought it would be a nice surprise, and a nice break for you again." He was obviously referring to last night, where he actually cooked the dinner while I sat there watching him.

I didn't bother to answer him, I just sat down on the bench at the table and looked at the food. I wasn't even hungry, and just looking at the food was making my stomach turn. Yes, I had been awake for most of the night, and yes I had been crying, but it was actually for more reasons than just what Arthur had said and the way he had acted. The assassin was on my mind as well, and I feared that he knew where Arthur was, and that he was going to make a move. That could have been why I had been feeling so uneasy for the past few days, because I had sensed someone watching us.

My eyes were still fixed on the food sitting on the table when Arthur turned around. "Isabella, about last night."

"It's fine. Forget about it." I told him, not really wanting to talk about it. He had made it very clear that he was prepared to send me back to the castle without him, to have me locked up if needed. Even if it was to keep me safe, I didn't like it.

"No, it is not fine. Why were you crying last night?" Now I was stuck, now I had to make the choice of what to tell him. Did I tell him the truth, or just fabricate something to keep him happy?

Without look at him, I found my voice and gave a very pathetic response. "It doesn't matter. I was tired, we had just found out there is an assassin here in Camelot who has been hired to kill you." It was the best that I could come up with, the best fabrication of the truth. I had been worried about the assassin, but there was so much more that I would never tell him.

Even without looking at him, I knew what he was thinking. I was proved right when he began to speak again. "You're lying to me, Isabella. This is about more than just the assassin. Please, I never meant to upset you last night, and I apologise for what I said about sending you back to the castle." I slowly lifted my gaze and let my eyes meet his.

"Fine, I'll admit that your words last night did indeed hurt. You swore to protect me, to never let me out of your sight, and then, when a threat appears, you're willing to go back on that." The moment he had said that, it was like someone had shoved a knife through my chest. "You are already sick of me, Arthur. Already will to go back on what you said. I'm not going to hold you to that promise any more, and I am more than willing to leave Camelot." It took a lot for me to say that to him, but it had to be said. What would happen when my uncle finally did show himself? Would it be too much for Arthur to deal with? Would he just pack me off and send me to my brothers?

There was a look of utter shock on the Prince's face. "I will not go back on my word. I have sworn to protect you, and I will, no matter what." There was actually determination in his voice, even if his face was still in shock. "Isabella, you… you have no idea…" He stopped and let out another sigh. "I care about you, Isabella."

I wasn't entirely sure where he was heading, but I had an idea, and it was a bad place to go. "You've said that before, Arthur. You have said that a few times."

He ended up walking around the table and to where I was sitting, before taking my hand and pulling me up so that I was standing before him. "I'm not very good with words, especially words of this kind." The Prince told me, now holding both of my hands tightly. "I care for you more than just a great deal, I enjoy being around you, and I would do anything for you. Isabella, I…" I refused to let him finish that sentence, and took him by complete surprise by reaching up and crashing my lips against his.

I was more scared of what he would say next than what my uncle had planned for me. I care about him so much, far more than I ever should have allowed myself to do. And it was wrong. I was not meant to be in love with the Prince of Camelot, the great Arthur. But unfortunately, I was, and there was nothing that I could do about it.

A/N: Ta da! Yes, there were a few lines from the actual episode, mainly the ones about the assassin, but that was it. and yes, Arthur did almost say what you are thinking, but she doesn't want to hear it so made sure to stop him.

Okay, next chapter I really am going to bring this episode of the story to a close. The poll is still open on my profile, but to be honest, I think I'm going to go with several original chapters (my own ideas and works) and then throw an episode in if it fits.

I would now like to say a very big thank you to all who have taken the time to leave a review on this story. I know my updates for this and some of my other stories are pretty pitiful, but I really am trying here. And a nice warm welcome to all of the new readers who have favourited/followed the story.

Now, I do have big things planned in my head, and since they are currently only in my head, I really need to do something to get them out. I can't tell you when the next update will be, but I will try to make it soon.

Until the next time...

Pippa.