A/N: Hello! Two chapters in one week? Shocker, I know. I am breaking my cardinal rule of having three chapters written before posting anything, but I wanted you to have an update on the Camelot attack. I almost posted 38 and 39 together, but then you would have to wait longer for chapter 40. I promise not to make you wait too long before 39 though; I'm sure you'll want to know Jacob's side of the battle and the surprising outcome.

Enjoy!

APOV

"Jacob!" I called out the window. He turned and looked up at the sound. When he saw me, he grinned widely and waved.

I waved back. Then I watched him turn and walk towards the outer fields of Camelot, holding Billy's leash. The dog was sniffing everything in sight, happy about the warm weather Morgan provided us.

I closed the window when a breeze hit me. It was chilly and reminded me that it was still winter at Camelot, regardless of the spell over the castle. I sighed and turned back into the room.

Heidi was smiling at me. "Are you going to tell us what happened?"

I smiled back. "Nope," I said, popping the "p." She scowled.

"Aw, come on! He's in your room until dawn. You can't just leave it there."

I looked at her. "I can and I intend to, Heidi. I know you want juicy details, but I'm sorry. I'm not ready to share."

She nodded sadly. "I understand, your highness." She resumed her knitting.

Honestly, I didn't like shutting her out. But I had to. Sir Jacob was wonderful, but I was still unsure of us. Although he has been visiting me every day and sends flowers and gifts, I still wonder what his intentions are.

"I promise," he told me, "I'll stay."

I closed my eyes and leaned against the window, letting the late night encounter come to life. I smiled when I thought of how he was, pursuant yet hesitant, kind yet aggressive. I smiled at the memory of him stalking towards me, a look of desire in his eyes, as he pinned me against the wall. Without a word, he kissed me passionately and fiercely, allowing all of his pain to come out. I kissed him back breathlessly, afraid of saying anything. I didn't want to lose the sensation I felt when he was near me. It was electric. I never felt so safe in my entire life as I did with him. Even then, with his body pressing me firmly against the wall, hands on either side of me, his aggressive nature which could cause injury, I knew I was safe.

"Alice," he moaned into my mouth, "I am so lucky to have you."

I kissed him back feverishly, running my hands through his hair. He removed one hand from the wall and ran it down my side, stopping mid-thigh and hoisting it up into the air. I gasped and my eyes flew open as he wrapped it around his middle, never breaking the kiss, bringing himself closer to me.

He felt my hesitation and pulled back slightly to look at me, hand still on my leg. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not sure."

He dropped his hand quickly and I placed my leg back on the ground. He took a step back so I could move and I walked to the bed. I patted the space next to me as I sat down. He followed suit.

"What was that?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "That's how I feel." His eyes held mine for a moment and then dropped.

"What are your intentions with me, Jacob?" I asked sharply. His eyes jerked up to mine again. "Are you thinking I'm an easy lay? Isabella didn't want you so you're going to settle for me? That once you're done with me, you can forget me? Like Jasper did with Rosalie?"

"No!" he shouted. I narrowed my eyes to remind him of my position and he regained himself. "I'm sorry, your highness. I didn't mean to yell." He lowered his eyes submissively.

I forgave him immediately, but wanted to use my title to get answers.

"Proceed."

He sighed. I watched him run his hand through his hair. "You are unlike anyone I've met, Alice. I have completely fallen in love with you. I know you have a hard time trusting men due to the assholes of the past and the actions of your sister, but I swear to you, my intentions are true." He raised his eyes to look at me again.

I was frozen in shock. I hadn't heard anything after "completely fallen in love with you." He could have told me the castle was on fire and I wouldn't have heard it. "You what?" I whispered.

He took my hand and kissed it tenderly, then laced his fingers through mine. "I have fallen in love you, Princess Alice. Perhaps it is too soon as we have only been seeing each other for a short time, but it has been enough." He squeezed my hand. "I am sorry to confess this so early; I hope that I haven't frightened you off."

I smiled. "I believe you, Sir Jacob." I placed my hand over our intertwined ones. "I know it's hard for me to trust and I am sorry that I keep harping on it, but it's who I am now. My sister made it hard for me to trust any man romantically." Now I was the one to lower my eyes. "I enjoyed what was happening at the wall, but you need to know something."

"What?" he whispered, his brown eyes full of curiosity.

I took a deep breath. "One of Guinevere's men used me that way. She wasn't giving him the time of day and so he took me out a few times. He planned it one day that he would be practically screwing me when she walked in. He did the same move you did with my leg. At the time, I just thought he was eager. It wasn't until later, when I found out about everyone, that I realized he was using me to get her jealous. It worked too."

Jacob's eyes had darkened. He was angry, that much was true. I reached out and caressed his cheek gently. "Hey," I said softly. "That was a long time ago. I am pretty much over it."

He shook his head. "No man should have treated you that way, Alice. I am so sorry that they did. I want to find him and rip his head off." I chuckled. "But it does make me nervous now," he continued. "Is everything I do going to make you uncomfortable?"

I shook my head. "No. I promise that it won't happen again." Then I leaned towards him. "I'll prove it." I pressed my lips to his and kissed him tenderly. He responded immediately and pulled me towards his body. He rolled us so my back was against the mattress and he was on top of me.

We didn't make love; he knew I wasn't ready for that. But we did remain in that position for most of the night, kissing, talking, caressing. I never wanted it to end.

A ringing jolted me from the memory. I frowned, enjoying the trip down memory lane when I heard shouting outside. Heidi got up and went to the door. I recognized the alarm bell.

"Soldiers!" she exclaimed. She turned back to me. "Men in armor!"

I sprang from my seat just as Lady Rosalie and Lady Victoria ran in. "Stay where you are, your highness," Victoria said to me. Heidi shut the door and began pulling the tea table towards it as a barrier. Rosalie helped her.

"What is going on?" I asked to no one in particular.

"Mordred's men have invaded," Victoria said. I froze, remembering Jasper's words from the party.

"Don't trust Mordred."

I was momentarily in shock, watching the three women finish barricading the door. Then I shook my head as though to comprehend what was going on.

"Rosalie, shouldn't you be with the Queen?" I asked. She came over to me.

"I couldn't get to her. There was a loud crash inside her room as I was running towards it. I saw Mordred come out and then I took off running."

Shouting and banging started on the other side of the door. Heidi directed me to the far wall as she, Rosalie and Victoria surrounded me.

"That table won't hold them for long," she said.

Victoria turned to me. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head. "No," I whispered slowly. There was no vision of this. Nothing. Nothing to warn us. Why? Was I so wrapped up in myself and Jacob that I completely ignored my vision? Or did it just not appear?

"Charge it!" one of the men on the other side shouted. I felt three pairs of arms grab me.

The door creaked against its hinges as several men banged against it. I said a silent prayer to God above to get us out of this alive.

"What do they want?" Heidi asked quietly.

"The King," I replied.

I hoped Jacob was safe. If he heard the bell, he would immediately go to protect Arthur. After all, the King was the reason they were there. Everyone else was secondary.

Be safe Jacob.

The door gave way and five men entered with their swords drawn. Their heads were covered in helmets, the same as the armor on their bodies, so I couldn't see who they were. However, I could distinctly read the "M" soldered into their armor.

"Mordred," I said under my breath. The men saw us and lowered their swords.

"We are under orders from Prince Mordred to not hurt the women of Camelot," the tall one said. "Remain quiet and you will all be released."

I raised an eyebrow. Who the hell does he think he's talking to? Suddenly, a shorter man barreled through the women and grabbed me. I heard them squeal as they reached for me.

"The Princess," he said gruffly, throwing me at the first man's feet. I stood up immediately, defiant and looked at him straight in the eye. I was not letting the King's bastard son win.

The first man turned his head slightly. "What am I supposed to do with her?" he asked the shorter man. "The Princess is of no use to us; we are after the King."

I spoke, my voice full of conviction. "Take me."

The first man turned back to me, green eyes questioning. "What?"

"Take. Me."

"No!" Rosalie yelled and ran for me. The shorter man grabbed her by her hair and threw her against the wall. She hit it hard and came out swinging. She lunged for him and he grabbed her wrists.

"Feisty, huh?" he said. She spat on his helmet. He laughed.

I turned to go to her when the first man grabbed me. "Not so fast," he wrapped his arm around my waist and placed his other hand on my throat. "Be still and I won't have to do anything," he warned.

By now, Heidi and Victoria had tried to come to my defense, only to be overpowered by the other soldiers. There was one man left, standing outside the door. No doubt, the lookout.

Rosalie struggled against the man. He pressed her up against the wall, the weight of his armor cutting off her air supply. "Be still," he said firmly. She raised her leg and kneed him in the one place not covered by armor. He released her and hunched down for a moment. I chuckled internally.

"You'll pay for that, bitch."

In a move that happened so fast, I saw Rosalie fall to the ground unconscious. The man stood over her, placing his glove back on his hand. The fifth man came back into the room. Although their heads were covered, I saw his blue eyes fall on Rosalie's crumpled form. Then they darkened.

"Peter," the man holding me said. I squirmed trying to free myself and his grip tightened. "Remember the boss's words: no hurting the women."

The one called Peter turned to face my captor. "The bitch had it coming." The man by the door made a noise but I couldn't make out what it was. I looked over at him. He was still standing at attention, but his form was more rigid than normal.

"Be still!" the man holding me said, knocking my head against the armor of his chest. I saw stars briefly before a vision appeared.

Not now!

This image was Rosalie. It was fuzzy, unsure. I saw her wearing a crown and sitting on a throne. She looked regal. Suddenly it morphed into something else. I saw this image clearly. It was solid. It was current. I drew in a shocked breath.

Heidi and Victoria were shouting for the men to let us go. One turned to my captor. "Think we can go now, boss?"

I felt him move slightly. "Yeah. Mordred will be none too pleased if we stay here the entire time. We are not supposed to hurt the women, but he didn't say we weren't to fight." With a shove, he released me. I fell to the ground just as Peter drew his sword.

"Peter!" my former captor yelled, exasperated. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Sending this bitch a message," Peter said. The other ladies-in-waiting were crying out and screaming for him to stop. Both the men covered their mouths, telling them to be quiet. The one by me just stood as stone. The man by the door said something else, but I still couldn't make it out.

I saw Peter looking at Rosalie as she began stirring.

Oh God no!

"No, stop!" I cried. "She's—" that was as far as I got as I felt my captor's foot come down on my skull. Not hard, but enough to keep me in place.

"Be quiet!" he barked. I watched in horror as the one called Peter raised his sword above his head, twirling it a few times. Rose opened her eyes and saw the image before her. Her arms immediately flew in front of her face as to protect herself.

"Peter!" my captor yelled. The man by the door growled. The one called Peter just laughed.

"Let this be a lesson to all you women at Camelot," Peter said. "You need to learn your place." I closed my eyes as his sword began to descend, heading right for Rosalie's head.

CLANG!

My eyes flew open as I heard metal hit metal. My captor's foot released me and I sat up quickly. Victoria and Heidi were released but still guarded by the men.

In front of me was the soldier Peter, his sword halfway down to Rosalie's head. Next to him was the man by the door, resting his sword underneath Peter's. They were looking into one another's eyes, having a silent conversation. After a few moments, Peter nodded and placed his sword back in his belt. The man from the door did the same thing, but his stance remained rigid.

"Okay," my captor said sharply. "Let's go." Without another word, he turned and walked out, four other men following him. The only one who remained behind was the man previously guarding the door.

Victoria and Heidi rushed to me, helping me up and brushing my dress off. My eyes remained on the man, watching his every move. I saw him turn to look at Rosalie slowly. She cowered down; afraid she was going to be hit again. There was a mark on her cheek where Peter's glove hit her. I watched the man's arm rise slowly, like he was going to reach for her, before dropping it quickly and walking out of the room without a word.

I ran to her and helped her up. Her jaw wasn't broken, but it was evident there was going to be a mark. Heidi and Victoria approached and grabbed her as her knees gave out.

"I'm okay," she said weakly. We set her in the chair. She seemed to recover after only a few short minutes.

I tried to stop my mind from spinning, but it was no use. I wondered who those men were, especially the last one, and why they came in here before leaving to find the King.

The King!

"Ladies, we have to help the men," I said.

"What can we do?" Heidi asked. "We're women."

"We can distract them somehow. Throw ourselves in front of their swords. You heard what the man said, Mordred ordered the women to remain unharmed." I looked at Rosalie. "Almost."

She smiled and then winced in pain. "The Princess is right, we can't just stay here." She stood up shakily. I reached out for her. She waved me off. "I'm alright." She turned to Victoria. "Your husband is out there, along with my brother. Don't you want to try to help save them?"

Victoria nodded.

"Our men are not wearing armor and Mordred's men are. That means he ordered this with the intent to kill," I said sharply. I rose from my seat and turned to the door. "I am not waiting around. There has to be something we can do."

Lady Rosalie was by my side in an instant. "Let's go," she said, barreling past me. I watched Heidi and Victoria look at each other and then shrug, jumping up from their seats and following me out the door. The four of us ran through the hallway and down the stairs, heading to the Great Hall first. I knew we were taking a risk, but it was one that I couldn't afford to lose. Too much was at stake; my sister…my brother-in-law…the castle…Jacob.

Please God, let Jacob survive.

A/N: So it looks like Rosalie has a knight in shining armor, even though he plays for the other side. Any ideas?

As always, thanks for r & r. You keep me motivated to continue & I hope you still enjoy. Plenty more to come!

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