A/N: Ta da! My motivation for this story seems to have pounced on me recently, meaning we have finally reached the end of the episode. I have ideas for what is going to happen next, but there is something I want to ask you all, so check out my note at the end of this chapter. Enjoy!

After managing to avoid whatever it was that Arthur was going to tell me, we had walked to the tournament ground, meeting Merlin along the way. "You are to sit in the stand with Gwen and Morgana." Arthur told me as we approached the crowded area. "You will be safe up there, and I will still be able to see you."

I nodded at him, knowing that there was no point in trying to argue with him. Things had taken a serious turn now, and I could tell that he was really worried. I was worried as well, about him. We had no idea what this assassin looked like, he could be anyone, anyone at all.

I was pretty sure that Merlin could see there was a little bit of tension between Arthur and me, because he kept giving up both rather odd looks. My head was still messed up from what Arthur had said to me the night before, and from what he had been about to say before we left. There was no way that I was going to let him finish that sentence, I did not want to hear it.

"Well, William is already waiting for you. He seems rather excited about today as well." The warlock told us both. I wasn't really surprised, he had been promised a nice sum of money once the tournament was over, so he was probably looking forward to having that.

"I'll be there in a moment. I'm going to make sure Isabella is safely with Morgana and Gwen first." Arthur said, surprising me slightly. I thought that he would go and get ready for his final joust while Merlin made sure I was in the stands with everyone else. "Whatever you do, you must promise me that you will not leave your seat." He said to me as we walked towards the crowded area.

I turned my head a little and looked at him. "Arthur, nothing is going to happen that is going to make me even want to leave my seat." Something was telling me that he was worried something was going to happen, and that he was also worried that I might get involved.

He stopped, forcing me to stop as well. "Promise me, Isabella. Promise me that no matter what happens while I am jousting, you will not leave your seat." There was a hint of fear and desperation in his eyes.

It was clear what I had to do. "I promise." I told him, hoping that I was going to be able to keep that promise and that nothing was going to happen like both of us were thinking. Ever since we found out there was an assassin in Camelot we had both been a lot more worried, hence why we had both been a little on edge the night before.

"Good." He said, before leaning down a little, pressing his lips against mine for the briefest of moments. "Morgana is waiting for you, you must go." I knew he needed to go and get ready, and I needed to go and sit with Morgana and Gwen, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to leave him, I didn't want to be separated from him.

My head nodded at him. "Good luck, Arthur. I'm sure you'll be amazing." I told him, a soft smile on my face. He smiled at me, and I took that as my moment to turn away from him and get to my seat. I knew that if I didn't move then, I probably wouldn't move at all, and Morgana had been watching us the whole time.

After squeezing through the already seated crowd, I finally made it to where Morgana and Gwen were seating. Gwen shifted over, creating a gap between the two women for me to sit. "Do my eyes deceive me, or did Arthur just kiss you?" Morgana asked me, a smirk on her face. I was surprised that Uther had let her sit in the stands with some of the more 'common' people, she should have been sitting up beside him, part of her duty as the kings ward.

I sunk down in my seat a little, wishing the ground could swallow me up whole. "Oh, shut up, Morgana." I grumbled, folding my arms across my chest. "It was just a little peck, for good luck." Yes, it was a lie, but in my defence it had only been a quick peck, nothing more, and it was for good luck. Kind of, at least it had been in my head.

"How has Arthur been, living in the same conditions as a normal person?" Gwen then asked me, having not actually seen us properly since the start of the tournament when we had been dealing with William and getting him to look and act like a knight.

I shrugged my shoulder, not really that interested in getting into a conversation about the Prince, or anything that had happened over the past few days. "Okay, I guess. Moaned a lot, misses all his little comforts and his royal lifestyle."

"And how have you been enjoying it, Isabella?" The smile on Morgana's face told me that she knew something, something that she shouldn't have known.

"It's been fine. I've been doing the cooking and all of that, basically I've been his servant instead of Merlin." Not that I had really minded, I hadn't wanted Merlin to be waiting on us while we were meant to be undercover. "But it's been all right, I suppose. Gave me a chance to just be me, not a Princess." In all honestly, I wasn't really paying much attention anymore, I was looking around the crowd, trying to find that man I had seen Merlin talking to, the one that gave me an uneasy feeling.

If I had been looking, I would have noticed the smirk on Morgana's face grow even bigger. "Hmm, acting like the strange woman that has stolen the heart of a certain Prince, I believe." I sharply turned my head and looked at her, a stunned expression on my face. "How much longer are you going to deny it for, Isabella?" She asked me, rather softly. "It is as clear as day that you and Arthur care about each other, as much more than just friends."

A sigh escaped my lips as I closed my eyes. "It's not like that, Morgana. Arthur is just trying to do the right thing to protect me from my uncle. There is nothing else to it." I didn't know who I was trying to convince more, Morgana, or myself.

"I don't know why you both have to be so stubborn." Morgana moaned, acting a little too casual for my liking. "It's clear how the pair of you feel about each other, and we all know that Uther would not protest against it."

"Not going to happen, so just forget about it." I had actually missed my conversations with Morgana and Gwen, but not those conversations. I wanted to hear all about what had been going on in the castle while Arthur and I had been away, not talk about what Arthur and I had been up to while we had been away.

I didn't miss the looks that Gwen and Morgana passed each other while I was gazing out at the tournament ground. It felt like they were having a silent conversation behind my back, one that was about me. It wasn't easy to ignore, but I managed it, because I was too busy waiting for Arthur to come out.

Soon enough, Arthur was out on his horse, the crowd cheering their heads off. I had to contain myself, but I still couldn't help but smile as I saw him. I had faith in him, I knew he was going to do the best that he could. The other knight was there as well, Sir Alynor, one that I had not met yet. When the crowd calmed down a little, the two lined themselves up, preparing themselves to begin the joust.

I was almost sitting on the edge of my seat when the flag was waved and they started their charge. I couldn't contain my nervousness, and I was playing with my hands in my lap. They were speeding up, getting closer to each other, both of them ready, their lances primed and aimed to strike.

My eyes widened when the other knight's lance struck Arthur on the right side, causing him to drop his own lance. It took a few seconds, but Arthur finally composed himself, pulling himself back up right on his horse and holding onto the reigns tightly. But something was wrong, seriously wrong. He was hunched over, holding onto his side.

"Isabella, what are you doing?" I heard Morgana hiss at me. "Isabella?"

I wasn't listening to her, my feet were taking me to Arthur. Forget the promise I had made him to stay put, to not leave Morgana's side no matter what, he was hurt, badly. I was not going to just sit there and do nothing, not when I knew he needed help. Before I even knew it, I was standing by Arthur and his horse, helping him to get.

"I thought I told you not to…"

"Shut up." I growled at him, swiftly cutting him off from whatever it was he was going to say. I was pretty sure he was going to have a go at me for leaving my seat. "What happened?" I asked, dragging him into his tent as quickly as I could.

"His lance pierced my armour." He told me through the pain while I tried to take a look at what had happened.

There was blood, and a lot of it. "This is bad. We've got to stop the bleeding." I told him, tugging at the dress I was wearing, ripping it and tearing off a clump of it. "You're losing too much blood." I wasn't even aware that William was standing behind me.

Arthur let out a groan of pain as I applied pressure to the wound, trying my best to do something. "Do what you can. I have to be back on the course within five minutes, or I forfeit the match."

I looked at him in horror. "Arthur, there is no way in hell you can joust. You're injured, you're bleeding all over the place. There is no chance you are going to be able to go back out there." I told him firmly, keeping my eyes fixed on the red that was seeping through his armour. All I could think about was stopping the bleeding, knowing that the more blood he lost, the worse things would get.

"I have never withdrawn from a match, I do not intend to start now."

This time it was me who let out a growl, a growl of frustration. "I do not give a damn about whether or not you have ever withdrawn from a match. You are too badly injured, you are not going back out there." I was getting a little angry with him now, but only because he wanted to do something stupid. "I am not going to let you go out there, Arthur. You have nothing to prove to anyone, and I am not going to let you do something so… so… stupid!"

"I have everything to prove, to myself." Arthur told me, once again groaning in pain.

"Stop moving, you're making it worse." I warned him, trying to calm my shaking hands. "You're not going back out there, Arthur. I don't care what you have to say, you are not going out there. If you have to forfeit, you have to forfeit, they wouldn't even know it's you. If you have to withdraw, it wouldn't matter, because it would be William that would be dropping out, not you." Yes, I was more talking to myself than anyone else.

"Isabella…" I heard Arthur call my name, but I kept on muttering to myself as I continued to put pressure on the wound. "Isabella…" He tried again, but I still ignored it. He gave it one more try, this time calling my name and lifting up my head with his left hand. "Isabella, calm down, please." I felt his thumb lightly brush against my cheek, and then I felt something wet as well. "I have to go out there, Isabella, I have do this."

I shook my head a little, as much as I could with him still holding it. "No. No, you can't. You're hurt, you can't go out there, Arthur. Please, please, don't go out there." I was begging and pleading with him I didn't know what else to do. "You can't, you just… you cant." The tears were definitely rolling down my face now, I could feel them steaming down my skin.

"I have to." Arthur told me softly, still gently caressing my cheek with his thumb.

"I can't lose you, Arthur." I suddenly choked out. I had no idea where it had come from, and I had no control of my mouth when it came out. "I can't… please, don't do this."

He looked back at me, his eye boring into my own, like they always did, but this was different, something just felt different. "I promise you, Isabella, you will not lose me." The Prince said to me, so softly, softer than he had ever spoken to me before. Then he reached down, pressing his lips against mine once more. This time it was different as well, something really did feel different, and there was no way that I could explain it.

I was scared, I was so scared that he was going to go back out there and that something even more awful was going to happen. All I could think about was helping him, was stopping the bleeding and making sure that he was all right. Even though I didn't want him to go back out there, I knew that he would, and I knew he wouldn't be able to win in his current condition. But none of that matter, what mattered to me was keeping him alive.

All too soon and the moment was over, and Arthur was back to gazing into my eyes. "You need to help me, Isabella." All I could do was nod at him, before I stood up and half carried him back to his horse. "You'll have to pass me my lance."

I did as he asked me, my heart pounding in my chest the while tine, and it felt as if I couldn't breathe. "Arthur, please…" I was barely managing to hold the tears back, everything seemed to just be turning into one great big mess now. I was just grateful that he hadn't been angry with me for leaving my seat and running to him.

"Don't worry, Isabella. I'll be fine." He told me, before riding off, leaving me to watch him with the tears brimming in my eyes.

"Isabella!" I heard someone call from behind me. I turned and saw Merlin charging towards me, a rather worried look on his face. "Where's Arthur?"

"He's about to joust." I saw the horrified look on his face, and instantly it all fell into place. "Oh… oh no. He's jousting against the assassin, isn't he?" I asked, causing my warlock friend to nod back at me. "No…"

The pair of us ran as fast as we could to where they were jousting, and I was just praying they we got there in time. Merlin ended up going on ahead of me, he was faster, and he needed to get to Arthur quicker. In my head I was just wish over and over that Arthur would have the strength to do it, to beat the assassin.

When I saw Arthur, he was charging at the other knight, or rather the assassin pretending to be the knight. He was struggling, it was clear to see that he was struggling. "Please, just let Arthur be okay. Please, let him be okay." I whispered, a few tears still rolling down my burning cheeks. "Come on, Arthur."

I ended up holding my breath as they got closer and closer, and my eyes widened when all of a sudden the assassin seemed to start falling off his horse. Arthur took that as his chance, knocking him off completely, but not before he was thrown around a little first. The crowd gasped, but I just let out a long breath, glad to see that Arthur was all right.

Straight away I rushed over to where someone was helping Arthur down from his horse, reaching him at the same time Merlin did. Both of us helped to support the Prince, carrying him back to the tent, out of sight of everyone. "You are an idiot, Arthur Pendragon, a great, big, idiot." I muttered under my breath as we went. Of course I was not happy, but I was glad he was alive.

The moment we were in the tent, I was back to checking Arthur over, fussing around him and making sure that there had been no extra damage done. I was surprised to see that the bleeding had indeed stopped. "You were jousting against the assassin." I heard Merlin explain to him, while I carried on fussing, ignoring the burning sensation in my eyes. "He killed Sir Alynor and took his place." There was a moment of silence, as Arthur just seemed to ignore what Merlin said and gazed at me. "The people are waiting for their champion. It's time to reveal yourself."

I gazed up at Arthur, and I could see the cogs in his head turning. He drew his eyes away from me and looked to the man who had been his double. "You must go and collect the trophy." He said, confusing me slightly.

"I thought this was going to be your moment of glory." I asked him, a frown upon my face as I spoke.

His eyes were drawn back to me. "Perhaps this is a time for humility." I couldn't help but smile at him, as William left the tent, and claimed his prize. The cheering from the crowd was deafening, but that didn't matter to me, Arthur was alive, and since the bleeding had stopped, I had more confidence that he was going to be all right.

"Merlin, you need to fetch Gaius." Although the bleeding had stopped, he still needed to get it looked at properly. "I don't care if it ruins everything, this is serious." He didn't even argue with me, he just nodded and headed out of the tent.

"Isabella…"

"Don't even talk to me, Arthur. I am absolutely furious with you." I warned him carefully trying to get his armour off so that Gaius would be able to tend to his wound. "What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed." Yes, I was angry as well as relieved.

I hadn't expected him to reply to me, but he did. "Me? What were you thinking, Isabella? I told you not to move. You promised me, that no matter what, you would not leave Morgana's side." Now he was getting angry as well.

"Well, that was before an assassin tried to kill you." I growled, managing to get his heavy chest piece off. "Did you really think that I would just sit there and do nothing when you were hurt? Did you think I would just sit there and pretend that everything was okay when I knew things weren't? Do you think I wouldn't worry about the person I care about most in the world when they were injured?" I ended up pretty much shouting that last sentence at him, before I realised what I had said and my eyes grew wide. Not because I had shouted, but because of what I had said.

It seemed that even the Prince was a little stunned at my words, it was written all over his face. "Of course not, because I would do the same. In fact, I worry about the person I care most about all the time, every single day. I worry about them day and night, when they are constantly by my side, I worry." Our eyes were locked, and I knew that this whole conversation was about to change everything between us. "I hold that person in my arms when they sleep, and I think about all the things I can do to make them smile. And when that person does smile, the whole world lights up."

The nerves were back now, and I wasn't sure if I should let the conversation carry on or not. "When you care that much about someone, all you can ever do is worry about them. I worry that they are going to be taken away from me, or that I'm going to be taken away from them." I tried to keep my mouth shut, but it seemed like something else had completely taken over me.

"I would never let anyone take you away from me, Isabella. I will always protect you, not just from him, but from everything." Arthur told me, reaching out a hand and placing it gently on my cheek.

I placed my own hand over his and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as I did. "Arthur, I… I don't know what this is, I don't know what makes me feel this way, or act like I do. All I know is that I have to protect you, no matter what." I could feel the heat radiating from his hand and to my cheek, and it felt nice, it felt so nice.

A moment later, and I felt his other hand gently rest on my other cheek. "And I know I have to protect you, Isabella. Ever since we first met, I have been getting this strange feeling. When your uncle came to the castle and you fled, I was truly scared. Something inside of me changed that day, and I knew then that I had to protect you, no matter what." It seemed that both of us had the same feeling, and for me, that was even more worrying.

"I don't want you to get hurt because of me, Arthur. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you and it was all my fault." I was referring to my uncle, because I knew that he wasn't afraid to hurt him to get to me. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Nothing is going to happen to me, Isabella. How can it when I know you are always there, ready to put your own life on the line to save mine." I knew he was talking about the way that I kind of, maybe, have this little habit of getting involved when he is in trouble.

The problem now was, what were we going to do? How were we going to continue when we had both said those things? I didn't really want things to change between us, I was happy with the way things were. I was happy spending time with him and being around him, even if there were times when he annoyed me like mad. "What do we do, Arthur?" Honestly, I was a little scared. I had never, ever, felt the way I was feeling before, not for anyone.

He looked at me, and I could tell from the look on his face that he was seriously considering his answer. "What do you want, Isabella?" That wasn't what I was hoping to hear, I wanted him to have an answer, a solution, to be able to tell me what to do.

I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat. "I… I don't… I don't really know. This is… this is all kind of new to me." New and nerve-racking, that was what it was. I had never spent so much time with one person before, let alone a guy. It was not how I had ever imagined my life going, I had been set into my old life, where I was destined to work for my uncle until the day I died.

"It's all right, Isabella. Nothing is going to change." Arthur assured me, having clearly noticed the worry etched all over my face. "Everything will be fine. I promise you."

Before I could respond to him, the flap to the tent was thrown open and Gaius came charging in, Merlin trailing behind him with a sheepish look on his face. Straight away, I let go of Arthur's hand and moved away a little, over towards the side of him, so that Gaius could get to where the wound was.

There was a worried look on his face as he stopped in front of the Prince. He bent down and got a better look at the wound that the assassin had created. "You are very lucky, Sire." The old man said, inspecting it as best he could. "Any deeper and you would not have made it out alive."

Arthur and I both looked at each other, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest once more. He really had been stupid to go back out there, and it looked as if he realised that as well since he had a rather apologetic look on his face. "But he will be all right, won't he, Gaius?" I couldn't help but ask, I was nervous as hell still.

The physician turned and looked at me. "I believe he shall live. However, I fear the trouble you will both be in if Uther ever finds out what you have been up to."

"Please, you can't tell him, Gaius." I told him quickly, not wanting the King to know that we had lied to him and deceived him. "It wasn't Arthur's fault, it was all my idea." I ignored the looks I was now getting from both the Prince and his servant. "I was sick of being stuck in that castle all the time, I wanted to have a little freedom. I convinced Arthur to put on this disguise, one that allowed me to have my own freedom and so that he could still compete in the tournament."

I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't sure if he should believe me, but I had never given Gaius reason not to trust me before. "Seeing as both of you are alive, and mostly in one piece, I will not inform the King. Be warned, if this ever happens again, I will not hesitate to tell him what is going on." I nodded at him, relieved that he had believed me, and that I had gotten Arthur off the hook. "Now, I suggest you both put this little charade to bed and return to the castle."

"Of course. I apologise for putting you in this situation, Gaius." Arthur replied before I even had a chance to open my mouth. The old man nodded at him, before wrapping a bandage around the wound as best he could. Until we returned to the castle, he was not going to be able to tend to it properly.

A few hours later and we were both standing before the King. Arthur was once again a Prince, and I was back to wearing those stupid regal dresses, and having everyone looking at me. The bandage was back in place, blood seeping through it once more as all the movement aggravated it and causing the wound to bleed again.

Arthur held one hand over the wound, and my hand in the other. "The assassin attacked us as we returned to Camelot. I was injured whilst killing him." He explained to his father, the group that we had supposedly travelled with haven been told the story they needed to tell, and given some extra gold for their troubles.

There was a furious look on Uther's face at hearing that piece of information. "Odin must be made to pay for his actions. We must strike him back."

"Surely you understand the grief he feels for the loss if his son?" Arthur quickly asked. "We should try to make peace with him. There's been enough bloodshed." I was surprised by what he had said, how mature he sounded, how reasonable he was being.

His father let out a sigh. "Perhaps you're right." He said, before looking at the way we were holding each other's hands as if our lives depended on it. "How was the rest of your trip? Fruitful?"

I couldn't help but shift nervously a little, which only resulted in Arthur squeezing my hand a little in reassurance. "Very. I have learned a great deal, and I believe Isabella has enjoyed the time outside." I really wished that he hadn't mentioned me. "How was the tournament?"

A smile had spread across Uther's face, and I did not want to know what he was thinking. "Excellent. We have a new champion, Sir William of Daira."

"I'm sorry I missed all the excitement." Arthur told him, pretending to be slightly disappointed that he had missed the tournament and lost his title. "If you will excuse us, father, it has been a long trip."

"Yes, of course." The King replied, understanding that we just wanted to get back to Arthur's chamber and settle back in again. "I will make sure that the court physician is sent for immediately." He added, before the pair of us left the room.

Once we were out and walking along the corridor I let out a breath of relief. I was glad to be back in the castle, but disappointed at the same time. I really had enjoyed the time we had spent together, and the fact that things were just normal for a while. But now I had to get back to reality, and the reality was that my uncle was still out there, still ready to come and kill me. Now it was back to a life of hiding away in the castle, clinging to the Prince of Camelot, depending on him to protect me.

A/N: Well, there we go, we finally reached the end of the episode. Now, a question for all of my lovely readers, are you ready for Lord Donald to make an appearance? I have some different ideas of what is going to happen, but I wouldn't mind hearing what you think, and what you would like to see. Although my motivation seems to have charged me at the moment for this story, I still want to know what you all think.

I do have my own ideas floating around, and I know you all want to see Isabella and Arthur finally get together, and there is a very high possibility that is coming soon. There were a few little hints in the past few chapters.

Anyway, a great big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave a review after reading, you guys are totally awesome. Also, a nice big welcome to everyone who has favourited/followed the story recently.

Well, I'm going to get back to working on the next chapter for you all. Until then!

Pippa.