Thank you all so much for all your reviews! I hope to get more soon, and I hope you like this chapter! Get ready for some original romance!


*Annabelle's P.O.V.*

After Arthur agreed to help us save the Druid boy, I immediately went to Morgana's chambers. Thankfully, Gwen was there as well, so I asked her to distract the guards at Morgana's door, while Morgana and I went to Arthur's chambers. Now Morgana and I were standing side by side next to Arthur, who was sitting in his chair. The three of us were trying to come up with the best plan to save the boy, when suddenly the doors to Arthur's chambers opened and Merlin proceeded to walk in, but froze at the sight of the three of us, seeing that we were in the middle of discussing something important.

"Sorry." He apologized. "Was I interrupting something?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." Arthur replied. "Now make yourself useful; muck out my horses." Merlin nodded his head ever so lightly and took a step back, ready to leave.

"I trust Merlin." Morgana said, which made my brother stop. Arthur looked up at Morgana, and then looked at me questioningly. No matter what Merlin thinks of the Druid boy after what the Great Dragon said, he is still my brother and I know I can trust him, so I nodded, letting Arthur know that it's fine to let Merlin know everything. Arthur gave a small nod, before looking at Merlin and gesturing for him to come in. Merlin did so, closing the doors behind him.

"We're going to break the Druid boy out of the dungeons." I said, but Merlin immediately shook his head and took a few steps towards us.

"You can't do that!"

"We have to." Morgana said. "Uther's going to execute him at dawn!"

"I mean..." Merlin started, trying to make up for his outburst. "It's too dangerous." Morgana and I gave him incredulous looks, so he pointed his finger at my best friend. "You've already been caught once! And if the King catches you a second time, he'll never forgive you." Merlin said, walking towards us and stopping next to Morgana.

"I'm not worried for myself." Morgana said.

"Merlin's right." Arthur spoke up. "When my father finds out the boy escaped, he will suspect you of being involved."

"It's suicide." Merlin shook his head, agreeing with Arthur.

"You must go to my father, and apologize." Arthur said to Morgana. "Dine with him."

"The King can't hold you responsible if you're with him when the boy escapes." I said in agreement, and Morgana looked at me.

"You need me if the plan's to work." She protested, and I shared a look with Arthur. "The two of you can't do this on your own."

"Merlin will take your place." Arthur said, and my brother's eyes widened.

"Me?" He exclaimed in disbelief as Arthur stood up and started making his way over to him.

"I'm going to take the boy out through the burial vaults. There's a tunnel, that leads beyond the city walls." Arthur explained. "Get my horse from the stables, and meet me and Annabelle there. She will take Morgana's horse, seeing as she can't take mine because she is not my servant. There's a grate that covers the entrance to the tunnel. Bring a rope, and a grappling hook to pull it off."

"I-I can't. I-"

"Merlin!" Arthur cut my brother off. "Do you understand? If you're not there to meet us, we'll surely be caught. And that includes your sister, who will be executed alongside the boy if we fail." Normally, I would suck in a sharp breath in worry at that kind of a statement; that I can die the next day if something goes wrong. But this time is different. Not only have I nearly grown used to risking my life everyday by even living in Camelot, but because I worry about the boy too much to worry about myself. I saw Merlin glance at me with fear in his eyes, before looking back at Arthur and nodding, letting us know that he will do it. Arthur nodded and peeked through a hole in between the doors, before looking back at Morgana. "There's no guard. You can go." She nodded, and immediately left, being careful not bump into one of the hall patrols. Arthur then left through the other door so that he could send word to the Druids, asking them to meet us in the woods. Merlin looked at me for a second, before grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of Arthur's chambers. I didn't have to ask where we were going. I already knew the answer.

*5 minutes later*

Merlin and I both made our way into the cave where the Great Dragon is imprisoned, with my brother carrying a torch. Strangely enough, we didn't have to look for the Dragon this time, since he was already lying on the huge rocks in front of us.

"We need to know why you told Annabelle not to protect the boy." Merlin said.

"You seek my council, and yet you both choose to ignore it." The Dragon said, and I grew slightly irritated, knowing that we were running out of time.

"Just tell us why!" I exclaimed in annoyance, but also worry.

"If the boy lives, the two of you cannot fulfill your destinies." The Great Dragon said, and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What's he got to do with our destinies? You told us that my destiny is to marry Arthur." I said, not even paying attention to the meaning of these words.

"And you said that our destiny is to protect him." Merlin backed me up, to understanding how the Druid boy can stop us from doing so.

"Then you have the answer you seek." The Dragon simply said, and my eyes widened.

"Are you telling us... That little boy is going to kill Arthur?" I asked in disbelief.

"It seems that is up to the two of you." The Great Dragon said, and I immediately shook my head.

"No."

"You can't know that for certain." Merlin backed me up, not willing to believe what the Dragon was saying either.

"The two of you have it in your power to prevent a great evil." The Great Dragon said.

"There must be another way!" I exclaimed. "The future isn't set in stone!"

"You must let the boy die." The Dragon said to me slowly, not bothering to mention Merlin's name. He didn't have to. I am the one who is mostly against hurting the boy, and Merlin knows that the Great Dragon wants us to do everything together, seeing as we are stronger when we do so. I couldn't bear to listen to it anymore, so I grabbed the torch from Merlin, who was frozen where he stood, and left.

I could hear my brother chasing after me, but didn't stop walking.

"You can't honestly believe that what he said is true." I said, not even looking at Merlin.

"I don't know what to believe anymore, Anna." My brother said, and I stopped, turning around to look at him.

"So you're going to let a little boy die just because a riddle-talking Dragon told you to?" I asked incredulously, and Merlin gave me a look.

"Well, this wasn't exactly a riddle now, was it?" He said, and I shook my head.

"You know what? Let's just go."

*25 minutes later*

I was now sitting next to Gaius, trying to eat my dinner, while Merlin sat across from us, not even trying to eat his. He was just staring at the plate.

"I presume it's applying to the Druid boy that's causing your forehead to wrinkle like a lizard's elbow." Gaius said, and if it were any other circumstances, I would have laughed.

"Would you let something terrible happen," Merlin spoke up for the first time in 20 minutes or so. "If it meant you could stop something even worse happening in the future?"

"I suppose it depends what the 'terrible' and 'even worse' things were." Gaius replied.

"One is bad." I said, making both men look at me. "Really bad. And the other is..." I tired to imagine a life without Arthur. "Unthinkable."

"Sounds as if you already made the decision." Gaius said. "You have to do what you believe to be right. I just hope it doesn't involve the two of you putting yourselves in terrible danger."

"For once you don't have to worry." Merlin said with a small smile, which made me furrow my eyebrows. "I'm going to do nothing." I froze in disbelief, and my spoon fell out of my hand.

"Anna?" Gaius asked in concern. "Are you alright?" But I didn't look at him. I kept my gaze on Merlin.

"No. No, I am not alright." And with that I got up and walked away from the two of them, going into my and Merlin's room. If he's not going to do the right thing, I will.

Just as I was putting on my cloak, the door opened and Merlin walked in.

"What are you doing?" He asked, and I gave him a look.

"What do you think?"

"Are you crazy?" he exclaimed, and I lost my temper.

"Are you?!" His eyes widened slightly at my outburst, but I didn't care. "I don't care what the Dragon says! If you think the right thing to do is letting a child be executed for who he is, then I don't know whose brother you are. Because you are not mine." I said, and I could see the hurt in Merlin's eyes. But I didn't care at the moment. How could he, my caring, protective, and loving brother be ready to let a little boy get killed?!

"You heard what the Dragon said. That boy is going to kill Arthur." Merlin said, and I nodded.

"Yes, I know. I was there!" I said. "But just because the Dragon said it's going to happen, doesn't mean that it will! Yes, the boy might kill Arthur if we give him a reason! But if we can prove that Arthur is not like Uther, that he is a better man, the Druids won't have a reason to hate him! Quite the opposite; they will be grateful!" Just as I said that, the warning bell sounded, making my eyes widen. We're running out of time. "If they get caught, Arthur will never trust you again." I said, and Merlin opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a voice in our minds.

Emrys. Emrys. Ketziyaa. Where are you? Emrys. Help us. Ketziyaa. Please. They're coming. I sucked in a sharp breath and looked over at my brother as I grabbed the bag with food I got from Gwen.

"Last chance." I said and, without waiting for a reply, ran out of the room. Merlin's my brother. He will do the right thing. I know he will. He has to.

I'm scared, Ketziyaa. My eyes filled up with tears as I ran to the stables. Thankfully there was no guard, since they all probably ran to see what the whole commotion with the warning bell was about, so I quickly ran over to Morgana's horse and saddled it. Emrys, don't do this. Don't take it on me. I know you can hear me. I'm for you, my friend. I don't want to die. I quickly grabbed the horse's reigns and led it out of the stables. Emrys! Emrys! EMRYS! I covered my ears as the yell reached my mind, but quickly recovered and jumped on Morgana's horse, directing it towards the end of the tunnel that runs through the burial vaults. Just as I reached my destination, I saw Arthur mount his horse and Merlin standing next to the Druid boy. As soon as they saw me, the boy ran over to me, so I held out my hand and pulled him up so that he would be sat in front of me.

"If my father asks where I am, I've gone on a hunting trip." Arthur instructs Merlin.

"You better make yourself scarce." I said to Merlin as I looked at the castle. "Or the King will execute you in the boy's place." Merlin nodded and was about to turn around, but was stopped by the boy's voice once again.

Goodbye, Emrys. I know that someday, we will meet again. My eyes widened slightly, but Arthur didn't notice anything, thankfully, and kicked his heels into his horse's sides gently and started galloping into the forest. I clucked Morgana's horse, and it also started galloping, following the Prince.


*3 1/2 hour later, Arthur's P.O.V.*

"We're here!" I called to Annabelle over my shoulder, and she nodded, pulling Morgana's horse to a stop, while I pulled mine. I then quickly dismounted and led my horse over to the nearest tree, tying the reigns to a branch, before walking over to Annabelle and helping the boy jump off the horse. I looked up at Annabelle and held out my arms, to which she smiled softly and put her hands on my shoulders, while I put my hands on her waist and gently lowered her to the ground. I looked into her eyes to return the smile, but couldn't bear to look away once I did so. After a while of just staring, I forced myself to snap out of my stupid daze, and walked over to the boy, offering him my hand, while Annabelle tied the reigns of Morgana's horse to a branch as well before walking over the boy's other side and holding out her hand for him to take. He did so immediately, making her smile softly. I can see that she really cares about the boy, and I had to stop myself from staring and making myself look like a fool. "This way." I said, and started leading them both deeper into the forest, where we were supposed to meet the Druids.

We didn't have to walk for long. After a minute or two, we saw three older Druid men make their way toward us. They were all wearing cloaks, but the Druid in the middle was the only one who dared to show his face. He had a slightly tan skin and short, curly white hair, and seemed to be in his middle 50's. The other two's faces were covered by the hoods of their cloaks. As soon as we reached them, the boy slipped his hands out of mine and Annabelle's, and walked over to the Druid in the middle, who placed his hands on his shoulders as the four of them turned to look at me and Annabelle, who now walked over to be standing closer to me.

"We are forever indebted to you, Arthur Pendragon, and to you, Annabelle, for returning the boy to us." The Druid in the middle said, and I nodded, while Annabelle only smiled, letting them know that there is no debt.

"You must not let it be know that it was we who returned him to you." I said, and the Druid nodded understandingly.

"We will tell no one. You have my word." He promised, before bowing his head with a small smile, making me and Annabelle return the gesture. The four Druids then proceeded to leave, but were stopped by Annabelle.

"Wait!" She called to the boy. "We don't even know your name!"

"At least tell us your name." I said, also wanting to know who it is that we saved. The boy then glanced up at the Druid man with curly white hair, before looking at us.

"My name is Mordred." He said, and I nodded while Annabelle smiled at him softly.

"Good luck, Mordred." I said, and he gave me a nod with a small smile.


*Annabelle's P.O.V.*

Thank you, Ketziyaa. We will remember this. I heard the voice of the elder Druid in my mind, and I gave him a subtle nod, before my eyes rested on Mordred.

Thank you, Ketziyaa. I heard his voice, and I gave him a small smile, before Arthur and I both turned around to walk back to our horses, while talking comfortably with each other.

"We should stop to make camp." I said, and Arthur nodded in agreement. The horses need to rest, and so do we."

"We should also eat something." He said, and I smiled.

"Thankfulky, Gwen was generous enough to make us some sandwiches." I said, and chuckled as Arthur's eyes lit up.

"Please tell me she's a good cook." He pleaded, the mocking begging clear in his tone, making me smirk.

"She's amazing."

"Oh, thank God!" Arthur exclaimed, making me laugh.

"I think I saw a clearing about 10 minutes from here. Someone must have made camp there not too long ago because I saw some firewood there as well." I said, and Arthur nodded.

"Alright, let's move." He said as we reached the horses. I walked over to Morgana's horse and untied it from the branch, while Arthur walked over to me after checking his horse's hooves. "May I?" He asked me, and I nodded, letting him gently pick me up by my waist and help me mount. Once I was settled I gave him a warm smile, which he returned before mounting his own horse.

*10 minutes later*

"Over here!" I called to Arthur as I pointed to the clearing on our right, making him nod and pull the reigns of his horse, directing it towards the clearing while I did the same with Morgan's horse. Arthur then dismounted his horse before tying the reigns to a branch, while I directed Morgana's horse over to him so that both horses could be by each other. As I neared him, the Prince walked over to and helped me dismount once again, making me give him a smile in thanks. He then walked over to the wood that was still stuck neatly and ready to be lit up as a campfire, while I tied the reigns of Morgana's horse to a branch next to the one Arthur's horse was tied to. I looked over at Arthur as I checked the horse's hooves, and saw him struggling with lighting the fire, since the wood was slightly wet. I quickly glanced at his face to make sure he wasn't looking at me, before my eyes flashed gold and the firewood lit up on fire. I then grabbed the some of the sandwiches Gwen made for us as Arthur settled himself down on the ground and leaned his back against a big log, before walking over to him and planting myself on the ground next to him, handing him a sandwich.

"Finally!" He exclaimed, making me chuckle.

After we finished eating, Arthur and I talked for about 30 minutes. I couldn't help but wonder... How is it possible for me to be so comfortable around the Prince of Camelot? I didn't even notice how cold I was until I clasped my hands together because I noticed they were shaking. It was freezing. Suddenly I felt something warm slide across my shoulders, and looked over, only to see Arthur putting his arm around me slowly, leaving me time to pull away if I had something against it. But I didn't. The warmth radiating off of him was incredibly tempting, so I moved closer to him and rested my head in the crook of his neck, forgetting that this is a Prince I'm sitting next to. Although just like me, Arthur didn't seem to mind.

"It was very brave of you to help Mordred." He said, and I lifted my head slightly to look at him."Not many would have done what you have." I shook my head.

"It was nothing." I said, but Arthur gave me a look.

"It wasn't nothing." He said. "If you were caught, my father would execute you as a traitor."

"I didn't really care, to be honest." I said, and when I looked into his eyes, I almost told him the truth. I almost told him that I wasn't scared because I've grown used to having a death threat hanging over my head every single day. But, thankfully, I realized just in time what I was about to do. "I wasn't about to let an innocent child get killed for who he is. I doubt he chose to be like this." Was all I said, before we both dropped the subject and started talking about different things.

*The Next Day*

My eyes fluttered open at the sound of birds chirping, and I glanced around, noticing that it was now day. I tried to sit up, but something stopped me from doing so. I looked down, only to see Arthur's arm around my waist. It was also then that I noticed that my head was resting on his chest. Oh God.

Arthur must have felt me stir, as his eyes opened tiredly, but widened slightly at how close we were. Once he noticed that his arm was around my waist, he immediately pulled away.

"Sorry." He apologized as we both sat up, and I shook my head with a small smile.

"It's alright." I assured before looking around again. "We must have dozed off."

"Yeah." Arthur nodded in agreement, before a confused look crossed his face. "Why on Earth am I still so tired?" He mumbled to himself, making me chuckle quietly.

"Probably because it's nor even noon yet and we fell asleep around dawn." I said, making him groan, which made me chuckle again. After a few more minutes of just comfortable silence, Arthur got up and offered me his hand, which I took gratefully as he helped me stand up. We then looked around to make sure that we weren't missing anything, before walking over to the horses, which looked well rested. We untied the reigns from the branches, before Arthur helped me mount once again.

The ride back to Camelot was at least 30 minutes shorter during day than it was during night, since we could see clearly where we were going. Once the castle came into our sight, Arthur told me to ride first, while he waited for about 20 minutes, so that it wouldn't look like we were together. I nodded in approval at his idea, and smiled at him one more time before clucking Morgana's horse and galloping towards Camelot. But even though I was incredibly happy that Mordred was safe, I still couldn't help but feel a little sad that my time with Arthur was over.


Well, I hope you liked this chapter. So, what did you all think about this episode? What do you think about Annabelle's connection and bond with Mordred? What do you think about Arthur and Annabelle growing closer? Please leave your thoughts in the reviews!