A/N: Surprise! Okay, so I a confession to make, this chapter was ready in April and I completely for to upload it! I'm so sorry! I was just browsing through everything, getting ready to write the next chapter and then I realised that I hadn't even uploaded this one, which means I'm an idiot. I'm sorry, I hope you enjoy it.


Arthur was exhausted, every time he began to fall asleep he woke up sharply, his eyes focusing on the woman in the bed beside him. He really thought that he had lost her, and he was scared that if he went to sleep he would wake up and find she was gone. That was why he spent the whole night just watching her sleeping, and wiping away the beads of sweat that formed on her brow. It was clear that she was uncomfortable and in pain, but he didn't know what else he could do but comfort her.

He had no idea what the time was, until the door slowly creaked open and Merlin poked his head around the door. The young man saw that the Prince was awake and proceeded to enter the chamber. "How is she?" He asked in a whisper, not wanting to wake Princess Lillian up.

"Uncomfortable and in pain." The Prince replied instantly. "But she is alive." He was grateful for that, that she hadn't died and that she was still with them.

"She will get better, Arthur. Lillian is a fighter, you know that better than anyone else." Merlin had to give him hope, the reassurance that he needed to know that she would pull through it all. "She just needs to rest and for someone to watch over her, like she has always watched over someone else."

Arthur knew exactly what his servant was saying. "Lily risked her life for me, again. This is exactly what I didn't want her to do, everything I was trying to avoid." Leaving her behind hadn't worked, bringing her back with him hadn't worked either, the Prince was at a loss as to what he could do to stop her from doing anything stupid to protect him.

He just didn't understand it the way that Merlin did. "Hasn't it shown you anything, Arthur? Even after everything that has happened she would still do anything to protect you." He had to make him see what he did. "She cares about you so much, she will always care more about you than her own life. And do you know why?" Merlin didn't even wait to let his master answer. "Because Lillian loves you."

"I know." The Prince replied quietly. "Her actions speak louder than her words. I know why she saved me, Merlin, why she saves me every time without any thought for herself." Arthur let out a small sigh. "I only wish I knew a way to stop her. I don't want her to keep doing things like this, she doesn't seem to understand how much this hurts me, looking at her and see her so frail and in so much pain. Every time she is hurt my heart breaks."

Merlin really did understand where the Prince was coming from, he had been there to witness all the times Arthur had been hurt and how much it broke Lillian, as well as the times she had been hurt and it broke the Prince. "And you break her heart all the time, Arthur. I have seen her fall and crumble so many times, particularly when it came to magic. She was so scared, and yet she stayed for you."

He hadn't never thought of that, of the times when she had stood by him even when he looked up to his father and his views on magic. "Things are going to change, they have to." Now they were back in Camelot and he knew Lillian's secret, he had to protect her more than ever. "I can't lose her, Merlin. Not now and not ever. She means more to me than words can say, and even if she doesn't believe it, I will still be there to protect her."

What Arthur didn't know was that Lillian was kind of awake. Her head was still rather fuzzy, and the pain was taking over once more, but she could hear what he was saying. What she was hearing was shattering every single wall that she had left, all those solid wall she had built around herself the moment she had found out he had left her behind. They were crumbling around her, leaving her unprotected. At least, that was what she thought.

"When you left you broke her trust, I think it's going to take a while to build that back up again." While Arthur was unable to see that she was listening, Merlin could sense that she was awake. What he could also sense was her magic, it seemed to have been growing stronger while she slept, even though it seemed impossible.

"And I will do whatever it takes. I've accepted that what I did was wrong, Lillian knows that, I hope." The last time he had told her that he had been wrong to leave her behind, she had not wanted to listen, all Lillan had wanted to do was threaten him with her dagger.

Merlin could do nothing but smile at him, because he knew the Princess had heard him. "I'll go and fetch you both some breakfast. The pair of you need to eat, and you're going to need to help Lillian to eat as well. I'll check to see if Gaius has finished making her a draught for the pain too." The old man had been working since the early hours to create a potion that would dull the pain for her, just to make her days a little easier until she was fully healed.

The young man left as quietly as he could, hoping that maybe Lillian would go back to sleep for a while longer and get some more rest before he returned with food for them both. Unfortunately it had all been in vain as only moments after he had closed the door softly, a loud knock rang through the room. The Princess stirred a little, and Arthur tensed. Biting his lip slightly, he decided to call the person in. It didn't matter if it was his father, he understood the situation, he was more concerned about waking Lillian.

He was actually surprised to see Morgana's head poke around the door with a very worried looking face. "Can I… can I come in?" She asked him quietly and nervous. Arthur nodded his head at her and she stepped into the room. "How is she? Is she okay?"

"She's fine, Morgana." He was actually relieved that she had gone straight to asking about Lillian and not questioning why they pair were in the same bed. "The wound will take time to heal, she will need plenty of rest, but she will be fine."

There were tears and relief in the woman's eyes. She had been so worried about her dreams coming true and when she finally heard what had happened to Lillian she automatically feared the worst had happened. "I'm glad you are both back and safe." Morgana said, meaning every word of it. "Camelot is never the same when you two aren't causing trouble around the castle."

Arthur couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Well, it's going to be a while before that happens. Right now she isn't even allowed to get out of bed. She is in constant pain and trying to hide it, knowing Lillian she is going to try and fight to get outside and do something."

This time it was Morgana's turn to laugh a little. "She hates being stuck inside and being bored. It won't be long until she driving you crazy with her constant moaning." Even she knew from experience how quickly the Princess could become bored and want to go out and find something more fun and exciting to do. Even when they had been younger she had never been the kind of child to just sit still. That was probably why Lillian had spent more time with Arthur than Morgana, he was out having adventures and she was simply doing what she was told.

"I don't care if she moans at me, I'd rather have her moaning at me than either ignoring me or trying to kill me." Compared to the way she had been treating him back in Rolana, it was bliss. However, he knew that they still weren't in the most ideal situation. "I'm simply glad that she is alive."

Morgana completely understood what he was saying. "We're all glad that she is alive, Arthur. Just make sure that you stop being an idiot and do not do stupid things again." She was referring to that fact that he had just left her in Rolana for her own safety in the first place, and that really had not gone too well.

Soon enough Merlin returned and Morgana took that as her cue to leave, meaning it was down to Arthur to wake Lillian up. He wasn't sure that he wanted to, she looked peaceful and at ease, it actually looked like she wasn't in as much pain. "Why don't you eat first and then wake her up after?" Merlin suddenly suggested, as if sensing what his master was thinking. "That way you'll be able to help her more."

It made sense, if he woke Lillian up and helped her eat, he was going to forget all about his own breakfast and not bother to have any food. "You still surprise me with how you can occasionally come up with good ideas." The Prince responded, before forcing himself out of the bed. He didn't want to leave her there alone, but he wasn't really going far, he was only going over to the table where he would still be able to see her.

Arthur ate his food at a decent pace, stealing glances at the sleeping Princess whenever Merlin was not looking his way. His servant was cleaning the place up, not that there was really much to do, they hadn't been back long enough for a mess to be created. Merlin just needed to keep himself occupied while the Prince ate, then he would have to worry about Lillian and if she was really going to eat. Although he tried not to show it, he was very worried about the Princess.

The moment finally arrived where Arthur had the terrible task of waking her up. He really wasn't looking forward to it, because he had no idea how she was going to react, her actions towards him had become somewhat unpredictable since he had abandoned her in Rolana. The Prince just hoped that she wasn't going to be angry or upset with him, and that she would remember where they were.

He sat on the bed beside her, watching her still sleeping. The beads of sweat were still resting on her forehead, and he knew that she was going to awake in pain. Unfortunately, Gaius had yet to provide them with a draught strong enough to dull the pain for her. "Hey, Lily, it's time to wake up now." He told her gently, running a hand through her hair as he brushed it away. "Merlin's made you a lovely breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." A quiet, hoarse voice replied. The figure on the bed had not moved, but Arthur could see why.

"Lily, I know it hurts, but you have to eat." He told her softly hoping that she would actually listen to him. "If you do not eat then you will just make things worse. How can you hope to get better without even trying to have some breakfast?"

Slowly, her eyes opened and focused on the man sitting beside her on the soft, warm, comfortable bed. "I can't, it hurts." Now that she had opened her eyes the Prince could really see the pain inside of them. "Just breathing hurts."

Arthur didn't want that, he didn't want her to be in so much pain that she couldn't even breathing without feeling it, he didn't want her to be in any pain at all. "It's going to take time to heal, Lily, you know that. But if you don't eat then you will never be strong enough to heal." There was so much pleading in his voice as he spoke to her. "Please, at least try to eat something."

Lillian didn't want to. She didn't want to move and feel a pain even sharper than what she was already suffering. The Princess didn't want to move and cause the dizziness in her head to worsen. Also, Lillian didn't want to face the world. While certain parts of their return to Camelot were hazy, she could remember certain things. "I… I can't…" Now the tears were starting to form in her eyes.

A hand gently rested against her cheek, and Arthur's blue eyes gazed at her. "Please, Lily, you must eat something. I'm here and I am not going anywhere. Please." He didn't know what else he could say to try and convince her, she was stubborn and if she adamant that she was not going to eat, then there was no way anyone could change her mind.

She ended up scrunching her eyes tightly closed before taking a deep breath. The Princess knew that he was right, but there was no way she would be able to get herself up and in a comfortable position on her own. "How? I can't move, it just makes it worse if I try."

Arthur knew that this was going to be the case, and he had actually been thinking about it carefully. "I'll help you. But you're right, it is going to make the pain worse for a few moments." There was no way that they could avoid it, she was going to be in pain no matter what they did. "Just put your arms around my neck." He said, leaning forward and over the bed so that she was able to reach. "We'll do this slowly, but it will be okay." Lillian nodded at him slightly, while Merlin crept around to the other side of the bed, already knowing what the Prince was planning. "Are you ready?"

"No." She whispered, her arms tightly around his neck. Lillian could already feel the wound being pulled at, the stitches that Gaius had done tugging at her skin. When she felt Arthur's arms around her, his hands touching her shoulder blades, she relaxed a little. She knew that she had to trust him, he was simply trying to help her, not make things worse.

"Okay, I'm going to pull you up now. Everything will be fine." The Princess nodded at him slightly in return, the pain and fear already present in her eyes. "You'll feel much better once you have had something to eat, and then if you want to sleep some more, you can. Whatever you want, it's yours." While he had been talking, keeping her distracted, he had been gently lifting her up, doing his best to be as gently as he possibly could. "I will give you anything."

Lillian hadn't really caught on to what he was doing, she was too busy trying to ignore the searing pain that she was feeling. Every tiny little movement made her body feel like it was on fire. "Something to stop the pain would be nice." She called quietly, really wishing that it would just go away.

The Prince looked up and caught Merlin's eyes. "Don't worry, we're working on it." Now he really hoped that Gaius would have something ready for her soon. "As the days pass the pain will lessen anyway, it will get better and before you know it you'll be back to beating me with a sword."

She wanted to believe him, but the pain was now so bad that she had scrunched her eyes up tightly, her lip caught between her teeth as she tried her best not to let out a loud scream. The tears were now rolling down her cheeks, and she ended up pulling at Arthur just a little, bringing him closer to her and burying her head in the crook of his neck.

It was then that the Prince decided that he had to move quicker, the long it took, the longer the pain would last. With a nod at the man standing on the other side of the bed, he pulled her up, cringing as he heard her let out a cry of pain. A moment later and she was sitting up on the bed, Merlin having placed the pillows behind her while his master was doing all the hard work. "I'm sorry, it's over now, you don't have to move again." Arthur assured her, knowing that it had just hurt her. it wasn't what he had wanted, but he had needed to if he didn't want her to keep suffering.

Even though she was now sitting up on the Prince of Camelot's bed, she still hadn't let him go. Her arms were still tightly wrapped around his neck as she choked back the sobs that were rising in her throat. She hadn't wanted to move before, and she didn't want to move now either. All she knew was that the pain just kept on getting worse, all she wanted was for it to go away.

"Hey, it will be all right, Lily, give it time and it will get better." He knew that she was in a bad way, so he kept his arms wrapped around her, not letting her go. Arthur was actually pleased that she wasn't letting him go, it gave him the feeling that maybe she didn't hate him as much as he thought. It was a relief for him to just be able to hold her and know that she was with him.

It took him some time to calm her down, but eventually she released him and he was able to get her to eat something. It had been a slow process, she was finding it agony to move to do anything, but he had helped her. Arthur had sat with her the whole time, doing everything he could and constantly assuring her that it wouldn't be long until she was back to causing chaos around the place.

Shortly after eating, Lillian began to drift off a little. The pain was still great and her body just wanted to rest and sleep through it all. However, after all the pain that had been caused just by getting her into a sitting position, she was fighting it as best she could. She didn't want to be moved around again, not when she knew she would have to sit up again to eat later. Instead she just rested her head back and closed her eyes, pretending that she was just trying to relax and calm down.

Unfortunately, Arthur knew her much better and he knew that she was exhausted. "Merlin, fetch some more pillows." He said, receiving a strange look from his servant. "I want Lillian to be comfortable, and I know she has no plans of laying back down again anytime soon."

The young man quickly nodded his head, before ducking out of the room, taking all the dirty plates and everything else with him. Just like the Prince, he was relieved to see that Lillian had actually eaten something. She hadn't struggled, but she had taken her time, eating slowly and keeping her eyes focused only on the food and not the people that were watching her.

"Why are you doing this?" Lillian's voice called quietly, making the Prince jump a little.

Her question actually confused him. "Doing what, Lily?" She was still resting her head back with her eyes closed, but he could see she was uncomfortable.

As he expected, her eyes opened and she glanced over at him. "All of this, being nice to me. You should have just put me in a chamber on my own or left me down with Gaius. Instead you've decided to let me stay in your bed while you send your servant to do things for me. Why?" She just didn't get it, after everything she had said to him, all the things she had done, why was he doing so much for her?

There was a shocked and surprised look on his face. "Why? Because I care about you, Lily. No, I don't just care about you, I love you. There is nothing that you could do that would ever change that. You can push me away as much as you want, but it will not change how I feel about you." He stayed where he was sitting, not wanting to push his luck by getting too close to her. "You are everything to me, you are my world. Whether you believe that or not, well that is up to you, but for me it will not change anything." Arthur couldn't just sit there and look at her, he was being so honest with her, and he just had this awful feeling that she was simply going to reject him.

When they had left Rolana things had certainly not been that great, how could he expect things to get better overnight, or because something had happened? He knew it was going to take time, he couldn't expect miracles, the Prince had to be patient, no matter how much it killed him to walk away from her. If Arthur had not stood up and walked over to the window then he would have reached for her, he would have wanted to hold her tightly and never let her go.

Lillian had watched him walk away from her, and it broke her heart into even more pieces. She had never stopped loving him, even after everything, she would always do everything she could to protect him. However, the way he just stood up and walked away from her when all she really wanted was for him to sit on the bed beside her, hold her and tell her that everything was going to be fine. Except, he hadn't done that, he had walked away from her, and that was all her fault.

With him now looking at the world outside of the window, a few tears slipped down her flushed cheeks. The young Princess knew that she had made a complete and utter mess of things, and she didn't know how she was going to make things right. If she was able to turn back time then she would, she would go back to that day when Arthur left her and just ride off to Camelot, she would fight for him if she had to, not run away like a scared little girl or a child having a tantrum because she didn't get what she wanted. There were so many things that she wished she could change.

What she didn't know was that Arthur was struggling to keep himself together as well. It was taking everything he had not to go over to her, especially when he could see her crying in the reflection on the glass pane of the window. She needed time, and he knew that, he would give her that time. Things were going to be tough in Camelot, and he wasn't sure that he had that kind of strength in him.

Lucky for him, he was saved when Merlin came back into the room, his arms loaded with soft, feather filled pillows. There was a rather worried and confused look on his face as he entered and noticed that his master was standing by the window, while the Princess was silently letting the tears fall. It worried him, it made him think that something awful had happened while he had been out of the room.

"I've got the pillows." He announced, not really knowing what else to say.

Without saying a word, Arthur stepped over to him and grabbed a few from the arms of his skinny manservant. Lillian looked away, quickly wiping away the wetness on her face, while the Prince proceeded to carefully place more pillows behind her, giving her more support and hopefully more comfort as well. He didn't say a word to her, which made Merlin even more suspicious that something had happened while he had been out of the room.

"Lillian, are you okay? Has something happened?" He called to her, hoping that it was nothing and that he was simply imagining things. However, he knew he had not imagined those tears that had been brushed away from her cheeks.

Still looking off to the side while Arthur shoved even more pillows behind her, the Princess replied to the warlock."I've messed everything up so badly, Merlin. He can't even look at me now. I don't know what to do."

Merlin could see that she was upset, he could also see that the Prince of Camelot was holding back as well. There was a friction there that had not been there when he left the room, of that he was certain. The only thing he can assume that had happened was that they spoke about something and now they have just made their own conclusions. It did seem like something the pair of them would do, they have done it several times in the past.

"You haven't messed everything up. Just take a look at Arthur, at everything he is doing. He is doing all of that because he loves you. You just need to talk to him, tell him how everything made you feel, let him know that you want to move past all of that." The problem he had here was that the pair of them were both just as stubborn as the other. He knew that he was going to have trouble trying to get them both to see clearly, although he did hope that Arthur would be a little easier.

"I don't know how, I don't know what to say. Everything I say just makes things worse." Lillian informed him, before lightly brushing at her face again.

The warlock glanced over at the Prince and saw that he was trying to make Lillian more comfortable, but he could see the mask that he man was wearing. "Idiots!" He yelled suddenly, causing both Arthur and Lillian to look at him. "Will the pair of you stop acting like little kids and just get on with it. This whole thing is complete nonsense!" Now that he had started, he wasn't going to stop. "Arthur, why did Lillian risk her life for you? I'll tell you why, because she loves you and she doesn't want anyone or anything to ever harm you." He said, before turning his attention to the Princess. "Lillian, why do you think you are here? Why do you think Arthur refused to leave you, to let you shout and scream at him and threaten him? Because he loves you more than anything else in this world. Now will you both just stop being so stubborn and sort this out." Merlin ended up bellowing, before stomping out of the room.

The young man knew that he was probably going to get into a lot of trouble for shouting like that, possibly spend a few days in the stocks as punishment for it as well. He just hadn't been able to help himself, it needed to be said because they were just making themselves miserable. They were being too stubborn and just making everything ten times more difficult than it needed to be. He was not going to put up with it any longer. They needed to sort it out, and he had just given them both a massive push, he just hoped that they would take note of it all do something.


A/N: Again, I am really sorry for not posting this sooner, I really really am. But on the upside, it does mean that I have got a chapter or two ready to go.

Now for the long list of people I need to thank… all of you. Each and every single one who has stuck by me and encouraged me to keep on writing. To all of you who have reviewed and PM'd me, telling me how much you loved the story and giving me the little nudges to keep on writing. Thank you.

Well, with that out of the way, I'll see you all again soon!

Pippa.