A/N: Okay, so I've been working really hard on this because I didn't want to leave you all in suspense for such a long time. This has been my main focus, and I have finally finished it. I hope you all enjoy it and excuse any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors that I have missed. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Morgana was standing at the steps of the castle, nervously playing with the sleeves of her dress. She hadn't been able to sleep since before Arthur and Lillian had left for Rolana, her nightmares were now a constant problem. Every night she would have the same dream, the same one that she had told Lillian about before they had left, when she had begged them not to go. She had told no one else about them, not even Gwen, she had kept it all to herself in hopes that it was nothing more than her nerves getting the better of her.
"Morgana, what are you doing out here?" Gwen asked her, wondering why the King's ward was standing out in the cold before the sun had even risen in the sky.
"They should be back by now." The woman replied, biting her bottom lip as she looked past her maid. "Something must have happened."
Gwen looked at her, confusion filling her face. "Who should be back?" She had noticed the strange behaviour of the king's ward recently, but she had refrained from saying anything.
Finally Morgana looked at the woman before her. "Arthur, he should be back by now with Lillian. Something's wrong, I just know it is." Gwen had heard her say that before, for three days in fact. The woman was either gazing out of the window looking for the Prince of Camelot or standing outside on the steps waiting.
The woman who had just arrived let out a sigh. "We don't know when they are coming back, they probably haven't even left Rolana yet." It really was the same thing over and over again, a routine that was being repeated sometimes more than once in a single day. "We do not know how Princess Lillian is, we have had only one letter from Arthur, and that simply told us that she had been found."
There was a distant look in Morgana's eyes as she continued to stare into the distance for a few more moments. "Something awful has happened, Gwen, I just know it has."
"Come on, let's get you inside. I'm sure everything is fine." It was the only thing that Gwen could do. The only person that was able to calm the woman down when she worked herself up into such a state was not there, it was her that Morgana was worrying over so much.
Instead of letting Gwen walk her inside, Morgana stormed off, annoyed at the fact that no one would listen to her, that her voice was not being heard. The young maid was going to have to go and speak with Gaius again, hoping that he would have some good advice on how to deal with the situation.
Just as she turned to walk into the grand castle of Camelot, the sound of hooves clattering against the cobblestones reached her ears and drew her attention. There also seemed to be a bit of commotion, people quickly dashing out of the way, a few screams and cries. Of course she wasn't going to just ignore it, so she slowly turned her head to look at what was going on. Her eyes widened when she spotted the Prince of Camelot riding at speed towards her, Merlin trailing behind a little, and a body pressed against Arthur's chest as he tightly grasped the reins.
Everything that she had in her hands quickly clatter to the ground, the contents of the basket that had been on her arm spilling at her feet. "Morgana was right…" She muttered to herself in utter disbelief. She recognised the unconscious, limp body that was with Prince Arthur.
Without wasting another second, Gwen rushed down the stone steps, hitching up the bottom of her dress as she did, ensuring that she did not take a tumble. The Prince was there only a few moments later. "Arthur, what happened?" She asked, watching him tug at the reins, causing the horse to stop.
"Get Gaius, quickly. Lillian has been badly injured." He told her sharply, while Merlin jumped, rather ungraciously, off his horse and darting over to help the Prince. "We don't have much time, you need to hurry."
She didn't hang around to find out exactly what had happened, Gwen would find out eventually, but right now she needed to do precisely what the Prince had told her. While she was off to inform the court physician that Arthur had returned and that Lillian was badly hurt, Merlin was carefully helping Arthur get the Princess down from atop of the horse.
It wasn't an easy feat, they didn't want to hurt her any more than she was already hurting, but she was unconscious and it was hard to get her down. It had been hard to get her up as well, Lillian had been out cold for the entire journey back to Camelot. They were being so careful and gentle, and the audience that they now had was not helping at all.
Eventually they had managed it, and Arthur quickly dismounted before he took Lillian from the arms of his servant, before bounding up the stairs two at a time. He hoped that they weren't too late, that they would make it to Gaius in time to do something, in time to save her. Little did he knew that Merlin had been using his magic secretly to help keep her alive. He didn't know any spells, or charms that would protect her or heal her, all he had was hope, faith and the will that she would live. He simply kept channelling his magic to her and hoped that it would do something to help.
Both of the men knew that things were dire, the Princess had lost so much blood, that much was evident by the colour of the Prince's now red shirt. They moved as quickly as they could through the castle, ignoring everyone they passed, Merlin throwing doors open before Arthur could reach them. Both were exhausted, they had been riding for hours without stopping, they had been worrying so much, and now they were bolting through the castle to the old physician. However, They both knew that neither of them would receive any sleep until they were certain that Lillian was going to be okay.
When they arrived at the elder man's chamber the door was being held open by Gwen, who's face turned as white as a sheet the moment she saw the blood caked onto Arthur's clothes. She knew something had been wrong, she just had no idea how serious it was going to be. "Over here, quickly." Gaius called while Gwen continued to stand there in shock. "And shut that door." The woman quickly obeyed and closed the door.
Lillian was now laying on her side on a table, Arthur ripping open the seam of her dress where the wound was. The strike had already torn part of it, but they needed to see the whole wound, and quickly. Time was a main factor, something that they were running out of and fast. "She's been unconscious for hours, we've managed to slow the bleeding, but it hasn't stopped." Arthur informed the physician, who was already gathering his things together.
Merlin hadn't been idle, he had poured some water into a large basin and set it upon the table, knowing that the wound would need some cleaning before they could even look at it properly. "And how did it happen?" Gaius asked, returning to the table and setting to work. Even he could see that it didn't look good, and he was quickly loosing his own hope of being able to do much.
"We were attacked on the way here from Rolana by a creature born of magic. Lillian was hit protecting me." Arthur hated that, the fact that she had been injured because of him, that she was in that condition because she had protected him. He was meant to protect her, he had always sworn to protect her, now he felt like he had failed.
"A creature born of magic?" Gaius asked, mopping away some of the blood with a damp cloth. "How did you come across such a thing?" The old man was curious, of course he was, but he really needed to find out more about this creature if he was going to help Lillian.
"It was created by Hogan, and it failed to die when he did." Merlin informed him, seeing that Arthur was a little too preoccupied with worrying. "It was a cross between a bear and a lizard. Lillian was hit by the spiked tail when she pushed Arthur out of the way." He said, before making the mistake of looking down at the basin of cool water. It was no longer clear, the water had turned a deep scarlet from the amount of blood Gaius had wiped away.
The elderly man said nothing more, he simply kept his focus on cleaning out the wound as much as he could so that he could assess the damage that had been done. The vague description that Merlin had given him of the beast wasn't much, but he felt that it was not one that contained a poison. However, there were so many different magical creatures that it was almost impossible to be one hundred percent certain.
Arthur simply stood there, clutching a hold of Lillian's hand. There was nothing else that he could do while Gaius did what he could, and it made him feel pretty useless. "Tell me she will be all right, Gaius." He said, not taking his eyes from the pale face of the Princess. He needed some kind of reassurance, some kind of hope to cling on to.
Gaius hesitated and quickly glanced at Merlin before answering him. "Right now, we need to focus on this wound. She has lost a lot of blood, Arthur, we need to stop the bleeding and take it from there." He just hope that they could stop the bleeding and that she hadn't lost too much blood already.
Time seemed to be passing by so slowly, none of them had any idea how long they had been there for. Gwen had left, under orders not to tell a soul about what had happened to Lillian, not Morgana, and not even the King. Arthur would tell his father himself, once he knew how bad it really was, and if his Princess was going to survive. Merlin was constantly moving around, finding different things to do, cleaning, helping Gaius, anything to keep his mind distracted.
"I need to stitch the wound up." Gaius finally said, having cleaned the nasty, deep cut as best he could. The water had been changed several times over, the colour always quickly turning red, and he was finally confident that it was clean and less likely to get infected. "It should help to stop the bleeding completely. She has a very deep wound, this will also help to prevent infection."
Arthur nodded a little. "Do what you have to, Gaius." He didn't care what it took, he just wanted her to be okay.
Before the physician even managed to thread the needle, there was a slight groan from the Princess. Everyone in the room froze, their eyes glued to the form lying on the table. A few seconds passed, and she groaned again, this time her body moving a little. A cry of pain quickly escaped from her lips, before her eyes shot open. "Arthur…"
"Shush, it's okay, you're fine. We're in Camelot, Gaius is taking care of everything." The Prince informed her, holding her hand a little tighter. "Everything is going to be fine."
Lillian just kept gazing into the eyes of the Prince. "It hurts, Arthur, it really hurts." She whispered, doing her best to ignore the pain that was shooting across her side. It felt worse than it had before, before it had just been a burning pain, but now it was a hundred times worse. The tears were building in her eyes as she tried desperately not to let the pain show.
"I know, but you are going to be fine. Once Gaius has stitched it up it will not hurt as much. I promise, it will all be okay." He had to reassure her, if he didn't then he knew she would just give up, or even worse, panic. "I'm right here. I am not going anywhere."
The Princess nodded at him, the tears still there in her eyes, and she gripped his hand tightly. Lillian couldn't pay any attention to anything else, not the sharp needle that was in the old physician's hand, not the worried looks she was getting from her warlock friend, not even the rain pounding on the glass of the windows could draw her attention away from the eyes of the Prince.
Without any kind of warning at all, the needle pierced her skin, and a scream of pain echoed throughout the room. Merlin flinched away, having never heard her scream like that before, and knowing that she must have been in excruciating pain to make a sound like that. But it didn't stop Gaius, he simply took a deep breath and carried on with pushing the needle through her skin and pulling it together once more. He had a job to do, and the sooner it was done, the sooner the Princess could rest properly and they could be sure she would recover.
The process had taken longer than anticipated, and Lillian had tried so hard not to cry or scream, but the tears had fallen down her face silently and many whimpers had slipped through her lips. The whole time this was happening, Arthur was comforting her. He kept a tight hold of her hand and lightly brushed her hair away from her face. His fingers gently caressed her cheek, helping to calm her down and taking her mind off what was going on around her.
Eventually the man was finished, and he stepped back from the table. "The wound will still need to be dressed, and you need to make sure it is kept clean." Even he was exhausted. It had been such a long time since he had needed to actually sew skin back together, he felt a little out of practise and worried he would make a terrible mistake. "And you must rest. You really did lose a lot of blood, you need time to recover." Although he didn't hold out much hope that she would listen to him and stay in bed for more than a day or two, Gaius just hoped that she would be careful at least.
"I will make sure of it, Gaius." Arthur said, knowing that Lillian could no longer hear him. The pain had become too much for her, and she had ended up falling unconscious once more. He didn't bother the physician with this fact as he was still watching her carefully, making sure that she was still breathing. Her grip stayed tight on his hand, so he knew that she was not slipping away from him. "Thank you."
The old man just nodded at him. "I'll dress the wound and then you can take her somewhere more comfortable." He knew that Arthur was itching the get her out of there, to lay her down on an actual bed so that she could rest and he could watch over her. "And I suggest you inform the King of what has happened, now that Lillian is stable."
This time it was Arthur's turn to nod at him. "Of course, I will inform him now." He said, rather reluctantly. However, it was best he went now, while Gaius dressed the nasty cut that had been sewn back together rather than when he should be watching over her in his chamber. "Look after her, Merlin."
With a heavy sigh, Arthur pulled away and headed towards the door. He had absolutely no idea how his father was going to react, but in all honesty he didn't really care. None of them had any control over this beast, they were unaware that it was going to attack them. The Prince had done everything that he could, he had rush back to Camelot with her, completely forgetting all about those either of them had been travelling, all that mattered was getting Lillian back.
While Merlin assisted Gaius with destroying the Princess's dress some more, he informed the man of what had transpired recently. "He knows, about Lillian and her magic, Arthur knows." So much had happened since they had been away, there were so many things that he needed to tell his friend and mentor.
For a moment the older man stopped, then he hands began swiftly moving again. "And how does Arthur know of this?" He didn't want to mention the 'm' word, and he thought Merlin had been rather careless in saying it as well. "Surely she wouldn't have told him."
"No, she saved his life using it, and he saw her." The warlock was still trying to get over the fact that the Prince of Camelot was accepting someone with magic. "He's accepted it, Gaius, he doesn't care that she has… it."
Gaius didn't let him see the small smile that crept onto his face. "Then maybe the pair of you are closer to your destiny than you think. You are here to protect Arthur, and she is the one to change his views on magic." The way he spoke made it sound like he knew more about it all than he let on. "If he can accept her for who she really is, then Albion is one step closer."
It would seem that his acting wasn't as good as he thought. "You don't seem that surprised." Merlin had expected him to be utterly shocked and to say that the Princess was silly and how she should have been more care, adding in that maybe now he was going to have to look out for her as well. Just in case.
"Arthur always knew there was something special about her, he would always love and cherish her, no matter what." Even when they had been children, he knew that there was no way the Prince would ever reject her or do anything to harm her. "So no, I am not entirely surprised that he knows about her and has accepted it."
Merlin didn't really know what to say, all he could do was assist the physician while he awkwardly wrapped the bandage around Princess Lillian. He had to do it while she was lying down, and he actually needed to wrap it around her. It was slightly easier with Merlin there, as he was about to use his magic to levitate the sleeping woman, only a little, so that Gaius could keep on working.
He had finished, and Merlin had carefully placed a blanket over her, keeping her warm and covering up her up completely. Now they simply had to wait for the Prince to return from speaking with his father. They didn't really have to wait long, as someone loudly knocked on the door a short time later.
Once it was pulled open by Merlin, they were shocked to see that the King was standing there, with his son right behind him. The man strode into the room and headed straight over to where Gaius was doing some last minute checks of the Princess. "How is she, Gaius?" The King asked, in a deep and very concerned voice.
"The wound is very deep, Sire. Princess Lillian has lost a lot of blood, I have done what I can for now but she must rest. She is going to be extremely weak until her body has healed, which could take months." If Lillian decided that she felt fine after just a week, then the physician needed to make sure she stayed in bed for much longer. The wound would need time to heal, and she would need to give her body time to replace all the blood that was soaked into Arthur's clothes.
"Too long has magic been the cause of our problems. One day it will be purged from the lands completely." Uther announced, causing Arthur to look at Lillian nervously. "I will send word to King Irwin immediately to inform him of what has happened. I would not be surprised if he came to Camelot himself when he receives word of the harm that has been caused to his sister."
Arthur stood there and watched his father swiftly and gracefully leave the chamber. The moment he had explained to his father what had happened on their way there his father had turned pale. The King even told him that he needed to see her himself, to check that she was alive. What Arthur didn't seem to realise was that his father did actually care about Lillian, as far as he was concerned she as his daughter-in-law, even though the pair were not husband and wife.
"I'm taking Lillian to my chamber. Merlin, I'd appreciate it if you would help." The young man stood there in shock, shock that his master, the Prince of Camelot, had actually asked him politely.
He nodded at him slightly. "Of course." The shock had faded quickly, because he knew that there was no way Arthur was going to be able to sneak Lillian up to his chamber without anyone spotting them and asking questions. That was all to be addressed by the King at court, not in the stone corridors of the castle.
Finally, Arthur and Merlin were sitting down, both utterly exhausted and ready for some sleep. "Go and get some rest, Merlin." Arthur said, glancing back at the woman that was lying in his bed. She was on her side, with pillows tucked against her back to stop her from rolling over and putting lying on her injury. "It's been a long day."
"You haven't eaten yet, I'll go and get you something from the kitchens." Yes, he was completely exhausted and felt like he could sleep for weeks on end, but he needed to take care of Arthur first, he needed to make sure that he looked after himself. The young warlock knew from experience that the Prince was likely to care more about Lillian than making sure he ate.
"Go home, Merlin. I couldn't eat now even if I wanted to. Get some sleep and come back tomorrow, you deserve some time to rest." After everything that they had all been through, they deserved some time to rest.
Instead of arguing, Merlin nodded his head. "Okay, uh… thanks." He didn't know what else to say, the Prince had never told him he deserved anything apart from a good kick. "I'll bring breakfast in the morning, for both of you." The younger man then added, plodding over to the door and trying not to drag his feet. He stopped when he reached the heavy wooden doors to the chamber and turned to face his master. "Lillian will be all right, Arthur, she's a fighter."
Nothing more was said between the two as he exited the room and left Arthur alone with Lillian. He knew that she had been in a lot of pain, and he could see from her face that even though she was sleeping, she wasn't sleeping peacefully. There were beads of sweat on her forehead, and she really did look pretty uncomfortable in her forced sleeping position.
Arthur just yanked off his boots before planting himself on the bed beside her. The past few days were becoming a bit of a blur, different parts of it all jumbling together. However, the only thing that was clear in his mind was the attack and what had happened to Lillian, after that it all becomes a little less clear. He wasn't even sure how the made it back to Camelot without passing by his men that had been travelling with him.
As he made himself comfortable, lying down next to her and watching her closely, Lillian finally stirred and forced her eyes open. "Hi." She said quietly while gazing at the man beside her.
Arthur couldn't help but smile a little. "Hi."
"What happened?" Lillian only had brief snippets of things that had happened. She remembered the beast, the attack, and her pushing Arthur out of the way and being injured. After that, things were rather hazy.
"We're back in Camelot. Gaius had seen to the wound. He had to stitch it up before bandaging it. You need to take it easy, Lily, you are not allowed to get out of this bed." And if she even thought about trying, he would stop her. Arthur knew just how bad things were, how close they came to losing her, he was going to take care of her whether she liked it or not.
The Princess just kept staring at him for a few more moments before speaking again. "That thing was going to kill you, Arthur. When I realised what it was going to do, I knew I couldn't let it happen. I couldn't let that thing hurt you, Arthur."
He knew what she was trying to say. "I know, Lily. Now you need to listen to me and listen carefully. Whether you like it or not, you are staying right here with me, I am going to look after you, I am going to make sure you that listen to what Gaius tells you. I am not going to risk losing you again. Do you understand?" Arthur was deadly serious, he was not going to let her out of his sight, and he certainly was not going let her do anything until Gaius told him she was perfectly healthy. "No arguments."
She didn't argue with him, all she did was nod her head at him, before a few tears leaked out of her eyes and down her cheeks. The pain was still there, there was no denying that, but inside she felt warmer, and calmer. Something had changed in her since they had left Rolana, since that unnatural storm, since the beast, Lillian just didn't know what it was.
A/N: Well I do hope you guys liked it, and again I'm sorry if I missed and spelling or grammar mistakes (you can always let me know where they are and I will sort them out).
Massive thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave a review, it really does mean a lot to me to know that you're all still out there and reading this story.
I'm keeping this one short and sweet, I've got to go and work on one of my other stories now. So, until the next time!
Pippa.
