A/N: Umm, hi... So... I guess I should start of by saying hello. Wait, I already did that. I haven't updated in a while... a long time even, actually a really long time. How many years has it been now? I'm sorry. Things have been... difficult. Life has been... hard. I'm sure you don't want the details. What you are really here for is this, the next chapter for Arthur and Lillian, with Merlin there as well of course.


Merlin had been doing his utmost best to avoid returning to the Prince of Camelot's chamber. He had gone to see Gaius, completed a few chores for him and even gone out to collect some herbs. Now he didn't know what to do, his next task was to take a vial to Lillian, something Gaius had made to help ease the pain that she was in. Of course he wanted to give it to her, he didn't like seeing her suffering the way she was, but he was worried of what would happen to him when he stepped into that room after his previous outburst.

He did not regret what he said, and he would face the consequences for speaking that way to both the Prince and Princess, but it was something that they both needed to hear. As he put his hand on the latch to open the door, he took a deep breath, preparing himself for what was to come. Merlin was actually surprised to find that Arthur was nowhere to be seen in the room and Lillian was sleeping on the bed. She was still sitting up, but she looked slightly more comfortable than she had before at least.

After placing the vial on the small table beside the bed, he went to turn and leave once more, glad that he had avoided any confrontations. Unfortunately, before he had reached the door, someone knocked lightly. After having an internal debate with himself, he decided to go and see who was at the door. He was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Gwen that was standing on the other side.

"How is she?" The woman asked, the concern etched all over her face. It looked as if she had hardly slept, which wouldn't have surprised him.

Instead of answering her, he stepped aside and let her enter the chamber. "Sleeping at the moment, and in a lot of pain." Merlin wondered now if Morgana was likely to stop by as well, an announcement was most likely made at court to inform everyone of their arrival and what had happened.

Gwen was actually relieved to see the woman, even though she did look slightly dreadful. "When you rode into Camelot with her, I thought she was dead. There was so much blood, Merlin, I can't get that image out of my head."

"Well, you can see for yourself, she's okay. I know she is in a lot of pain, and it will take some time for the wound to heal, but Lillian really will be fine." He knew how she was feeling, there was a point when even he thought that they were going to lose her because of how much blood there was.

Her face visibly relaxed now, being able to see her there, watching her breathing. "It's such a relief to know that she is okay. I was starting to think that, because nothing had been said, things were bad. Morgana is going out of her mind, every day she is waiting and worrying, she doesn't understand why no one else has been informed. The court has not been told of your return at all."

Now Merlin looked at her with confusion covering his face. "What? Really? " He was sure that the news would have spread all over the castle by now, everyone would know that they had returned and that Lillian had been injured. He remembered that they kept everything quiet at the time, but he was certain that now they knew Lillian was safe, everyone would have been told.

The woman gently shook her head at him. "Arthur asked us not to tell anyone, I'm not sure why." Either way, she was not going to go against him, she understood why he had wanted to keep it quiet when they returned, he didn't want people to panic,

"Where is he anyway? He was here with Lillian when I left." He hadn't expected the Prince to leave her alone, but considering she was sleeping he may have left to go and run few errands of his own, or maybe even find Merlin to have words with him.

"He is with the King." Gwen told him, having seen him not that long ago. "Arthur said he was going to speak with his father about what has happened. What really happened, Merlin? How did Lillian end up being hurt so badly?"

Although he wanted to tell her, to explain everything that had happened on their journey, he knew that he couldn't. Merlin wanted the whole world to know that Lillian was willing to die for the Prince of Camelot, that she was an amazing, kind, loving person who would one day make an extraordinary Queen.

While he informed her that he was under orders by Arthur not to speak of the events, the Prince himself was sitting with his father in the King's chamber. The words of his servant kept ringing in his head, and he knew that the skinny idiot had been right. "What is wrong, my son?" Uther asked, breaking the Prince out of his little bubble.

"Father, I need your advice. Someone reminded me that the only reason Lillian was hurt so badly was because of how much she cares for me. I left her behind because I did not want her to do such things, but we couldn't even make it to Camelot without her almost losing her life." All that he had tried to avoid had happened, and he realised that no matter what he did he would never be able to stop her from risking everything for him, just as he would always risk everything for her. "I don't know what to do. Nothing I say will ever stop her from putting herself in harm's way."

A small smile slipped onto his father's face. "You hold onto her, as tight as you can and for as long as you can. You will never find anyone else like her, Arthur, Lillian is very much one of a kind." Now that she had grown, he could see that Lillian was very much like her mother, a woman that had been a great friend to his own wife before tragedy struck. "When you find someone who will do anything for you, then you have found something very special."

"I just cannot stand the thought of something else happening to her because of me." Arthur understood what his father was saying, and he couldn't agree more. Lillian was his world, and he certainly did not want to let her go.

"Let me ask you something, what would you have done if it had been Lillian that was in danger? Would you have done the same thing in her shoes?" It was a very serious question, and the look that was on the King's face showed that as well.

Arthur didn't even hesitate. "I would have made sure she was safe, not matter what the cost." He said, before actually thinking about his words. "I would have done exactly the same thing for her." The realisation dawned on him, the realisation that the way he was feeling was the same as Lillian. So many times she had seen him in danger and stopped it, because she would do anything to make sure that he was safe.

His father sat there with a slightly bigger smile on his face now. "The pair of you are alike in so many ways, you are both extremely stubborn, occasionally hot head, but also unquestionably passionate and protective. You hold each other up, Arthur, together you are stronger and can take on the world." King Uther had high hopes for the couple, because he knew that one day they would be strong rulers.

"After everything that has happened, leaving Lillian and then her running away, all those terrible things that she has been through, I know that my actions have not helped, I hurt her in so many ways when that was never my intention." If he could turn back the time then he most certainly would. Just like Lillian, there were so many things that he wished he could go back and change, but that simply was not possible. "I have hurt her and wronged her, as a consequence of this I do not think she will ever fully forgive me."

"She will forgive you, I believe that she already has but just does not want to admit it." The man told his son, resulting in a strange look from the younger man. "Princess Lillian has been hurt many times and has lost so much. I know she will forgive you because she cannot bare to lose you, and yet she is hurting and cannot admit it to you at this time. Show her that you care, son. By any means necessary."

The only problem was, he didn't know how. "What would you suggest, father?" He desperately needed help and ideas.

"That is what you needed to decide. You know her better than anyone else, Arthur, what could you do that would mean the most to her?" He knew that it was down to his son to figure it all out, to make amends with the Princess. If he truly wanted to make things right then he needed to do it by himself.

The Prince leaned back in the chair and let out a sigh. His mind was running through everything that he could do, anything that could bring a smile to her face, to brighten up her day. He couldn't think, his mind kept running back over the way he father had spoken, of what he had said.

Even his father could see that he was mulling things over. "It will come to you, son. However, right now I suggest that you simply return to her and take care of her." The King knew his son would work things out eventually, but he also knew that he needed to be there for the woman that he loved.

Arthur did exactly as his father told him and began the walk to his own chamber where the Princess was hopefully still sleeping peacefully. As he walked he continued to think, to try and find something that he could do, that would show her exactly how much she meant to him. He was coming up with absolutely nothing, and that just wasn't good enough.

Without really thinking about it, the Prince ended up taking a slight detour and found himself standing outside of Morgana's chamber. After a quick, sharp knock, the door was pulled open. "Arthur, is everything all right? Is Lillian okay?" The moment Morgana saw him she panicked, thinking that something awful had happened to her friend.

"Lillian is fine, but I need your help." His eyes were pleading with her, he didn't really know who else he could turn to.

Seeing that he was serious, Morgana relented and let him into her chamber. "What do you need my help with?" Of course, she was rather curious, and actually rather pleased that he had come to her, but there was no way she was going to let the Prince of Camelot know that.

Arthur walked straight over to the window, his gaze quickly looking up at the sky above them. "I want to do something for Lillian, to show her how much she means to me, to let her know that I am truly sorry for everything. But I have no idea what."

There was a hint of shock and surprise on Morgana's face as she looked at the Prince. "I'm sure she already knows how much you care, Arthur. You have both been through so much recently, do you really need to do anything apart from just be there for her?" That was all that she would want, someone to simply be there with her and to just keep her safe.

His face fell just a little more at her words. Arthur had been hoping that she would give him something, something that would help to spark an idea of his own. She was giving him nothing. "Just being there for her isn't enough. Not anymore. I have made many mistakes, Morgana, and those mistakes have caused me to hurt Lillian. I want to do something that will make her smile again." He hadn't realised it, but he hadn't seen her smile in a long time.

"Then do that. Think about all those times where Lillian's smile would light up the whole of Camelot. What can you to do make her smile again?" Morgana now had so many things running through her head, so many times where she had seen Arthur make Lillian smile.

All of a sudden, something triggered in the Prince's head, something from long ago, when they were all just children. There was something that Lillian had said to him, something that she had challenged him to do. Of course, being the Prince that he was, he had never bothered with it, but now he was a man, and he still had time to make things right. "Of course!" He finally exclaimed, causing Morgana to jump a little.

"What? What have you thought of?" She asked him, curious as to what he had discovered in his head to make him call out like that.

"Do you remember when we were children and we had that grand party for Lily's birthday?" Morgana nodded at him, wondering where he was going with it all. "Well, she wasn't speaking to me at the time."

Morgana's eyes lit up very quickly. "Because you had scared her that morning. You scared her so much that she had burst into tears and spent the whole day with her father, who, if I recall, did not stop glaring at you for the rest of that day at least." That had been an amusing event, at least it had for her to watch.

"I was stupid, I should never had played that trick on her." The Prince of Camelot admitted, knowing now that pretending to have been seriously injured while they had been play fighting had not been a good idea at all. "Anyway, her mother told me of a way that I could get her to forgive me."

Suddenly, she realised exactly what he was thinking. "You cannot be serious, Arthur…"

He quickly shook his head at her. "It's the only thing I can do. She will not accept jewels, she wouldn't want them in the first place. She wouldn't want clothes or anything like that. This is it, Morgana, this is what I have to do." There was so much determination on his face, but so much fear in his heart.

"You're mad, Arthur. Absolutely mad." She didn't know what else to say, she was certain that it was a mad idea and that he would never be able to pull it off.

"I have to do this, Morgana. But I will need some help." He said, just as the door opened and Gwen walked in, carrying a wicker basket full of Morgana's clean washing. Arthur's eyes quickly followed her, and a plan started to form in his head.

Morgana was watching him, and was quick to follow his line of sight. It quickly all fell into place and she knew exactly what the Prince of Camelot was thinking. "No." she suddenly called out. "You are not getting Gwen involved in this scheme of yours!"

That grabbed the woman's attention and she looked over to see the pair of them staring at her. "What scheme?" Gwen asked, looking confused and curious. "Is everything all right?"

Both of them spoke at the same time, Arthur answering the woman with no while Morgana said yes, who was quick to glare at the Price. "Ignore us Gwen." She replied as sweetly as she could, hoping that her maid would quickly leave so that she could try to talk some sense into Arthur.

"Guenievre, I need your help with something." Arthur announced before anyone was able to stop him. "There is something I need to do for Lillian, but I need some help." His eyes were begging for her to say that she would, and if she didn't help then he would begin to lose hope as he didn't know who else to ask.

She hadn't missed the look on Morgana's face, which only made her even more curious as to what was really going on. "Okay, what can I do to help?"

Morgana let out a rather loud sigh. "Gwen, please, don't do it." It wasn't that she didn't want Arthur to do something for the Princess, she just thought he should do something other than what he was thinking.

"If it's for Princess Lillian, I'll help. She's been through so much recently, and she has always been good to me. She's always been good to you as well, Morgana." Gwen responded, having no idea what was in store for her, but still not caring. Lillian had been there for her so many times, she wanted to do something to help her for a change. "What do you need me to do?"

The next thing Gwen knew, she was standing in the castle kitchens with Arthur. The place was a complete and utter mess, flour was scattered all around and there were many broken eggs dotted all over the place as well. "Maybe Morgana was right." The Prince moaned, scanning the mess that he had created. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."

"No, don't say that. I think it is a lovely idea." While he was covered with pretty much everything he had touched, Gwen was still rather clean. She was used to spending time in the kitchen, cooking was not anything new to her, so she was able to work quickly and without causing the chaos that Arthur had. "If it wasn't hard work, then it wouldn't really be worth it, would it?"

He knew that she was right, it would all be worth it in the end, especially when Lillian saw what he had been doing all day. "I just hope that it all turns out okay." There was still that little bit of doubt niggling away at the back of his mind.

Gwen grabbed a cloth and began cleaning down all the surfaces that had been covered with flour, a smile on her face as she got to work. "Everything will be fine, Arthur, you worry far too much." She informed him, stopping her cleaning and turning to look at him. "It doesn't really matter what you do, Lillian loves you far too much to hold a grudge against you for long. You're very lucky to have her, and she is lucky to have you as well."

On that last point, he did not agree. "I know I am lucky to have her, but sometimes I feel she deserves so much more than me. I have messed up so many times, I always do something stupid and end up hurting her. She deserves more." There was still so much guilt inside of him, for all the things he had done wrong in the past, as well as the fear of all the things he could get wrong in the future.

"You just don't see it, do you Arthur?" Gwen said, grabbing his full attention. "No matter what life throws at the pair of you, you always get through it. So you two fight, who doesn't? You have known each other since you have been children, you fight with each other and for each other. Since she has been here I've see the real you, we all have. You're a good man, Arthur." Everything she said, she said in complete honesty, and with a pang of envy. Arthur had turned into the kind of man that she had always dreamed of.

After that the pair fell into a comfortable silence. Gwen was straight back to cleaning up while the Prince was pacing around, waiting. He had offered to help with the mess, but she assured him that she was capable of sorting things out on her own.

"Well, I see you haven't completely destroyed the place." A voice called, making Arthur jump a little.

He let out a sigh when he saw Morgana. "No, it hasn't been a complete disaster. I wouldn't have been able to do any of it without Gwen's help." It was true, she had helped him out with everything. Although he had done all the work himself, she had instructed him on what he needed and what to do.

The small smirk that had been on Morgana's face dropped slightly. "I bumped into Merlin a little while ago. He was asking after you."

The Prince had heard it, that little bit of concern in her voice. "Is Lillian all right? "

"She is in a lot of pain, Arthur." She told him, having seen the agony that Lillian had been suffering from with her own eyes. "Merlin has gone to help Gaius try to make a stronger draught for her, something to help ease the pain. You should be with her."

He knew that she was right, he had spent far too long away from her by working in the kitchen. "You're right. I should probably go and check on her."

Morgana quickly shook her head at him. "No, you are not going to check on her, you are going to look after her, Arthur. Do you understand?" She was going to take a stand, she was going to tell him exactly what he needed to do. "Lillian needs you."

There was no point in arguing, not that he really wanted to argue with her. She had a very firm look on her face, ready and waiting for Arthur to challenge her, to say or do something stupid. "I'm going." He said, before quickly darting out of the kitchen and leaving the two women alone.

"You shouldn't be so hard on him, Morgana." Gwen said when the coast was clear and she was certain that the Prince was gone. "He is really trying his best, he just doesn't really know what to do."

The King's Ward looked at her maid, a hint of confusion etched on her face. "And why are you defending him?" For some reason, she felt something was a little bit off, Morgana just wasn't sure what it was.

Gwen quickly turned her focus back to the cleaning she was tackling. "I'm not defending him, I just think you're being a little hard on him." She said, doing her best to sound casual. "Arthur has been through just as much as Lillian has and while he isn't lying in bed in agony, he is still hurting."

The look on Morgana's face quickly made Gwen think that she had spoken out of turn, she was apprehensive of what her response was going to me for her. "No, I think you're defending him. Isn't it because of him that Lillian is in such as state? He was the one who abandoned her, making her think that he didn't care about her. She was hurt so badly because she was protecting him." As far as she was concerned, Arthur had a lot of making up to do to Lillian for everything he had put her through and all she had done for him.

"He didn't mean for any of that to happen." Gwen quickly replied. "He didn't know how Lillian was going to react, it isn't all his fault."

Morgana studied her maid, who was avoiding looking at her, rather hard. There was something else going on inside that head, she knew there was. That was when it suddenly all fell into place. "No, you don't…" She said in shock as she continued to look at the woman. "You actually like him, that's why you keep defending him."

Now it was Gwen's turn to look horrified. "No, it's not like that. I just… I just think that he is a better man now. You can see it, he has grown up, Morgana. He isn't that selfish, arrogant Prince any more, he's better than that." Hidden in her words was a small lie, but she would never admit it to herself, let alone anyone else.

Of course, she didn't fully believe her, but she knew there was no point in arguing the point any further. All Morgana could do was keep an eye on her maid and see what else she could find out. She had a feeling that she liked the Prince a little more than she was letting on, but there was no way that Morgana would let anyone else hurt Lillian.

Back up in the corridors of the castle, Arthur was hastily walking to get to Lillian. He had left her alone for hours, when she had been in pain and suffering. There was guilt swimming inside of him for leaving her for so long, but he had been so focused on trying to do something special for her that he ended up completely messing up. At least, that was what he was thinking.

When he finally reached the chamber, he opened the door as quietly as he could. If she had managed to fall asleep then he didn't want to wake her up. He wasn't all that surprised when he saw that she was still propped up in the bed and was wiping her face with the sleeve of her dress. It was clear to see that she had been crying and was most likely still in a lot of pain.

As the Prince entered the room she quickly turned her head away, clearly not wanting him to see she had been crying, but it was too late. "How are you feeling, Lily?" Arthur asked her as he slowly approached the bed.

"I'm… I'm okay." Lillian whispered, now doing her best to avoid looking at him.

The next thing she knew, Arthur was sitting down on the side of the bed, reaching out and taking a tight hold of her hand. "I know you're not okay, Lily."

"Where have you been all day?" Sitting there on her own for hours had not been the greatest thing. Lillian had too much time to sit and think, and thinking just led to her going over everything that had happened and making herself even more upset than she already was.

Now he felt even more guilty. "I'm sorry, I was speaking with my father. I didn't mean to be gone for so long." The whole time he had been either speaking with his father or working away in the kitchen with Gwen, she had been there on her own.

She nodded at him, understanding that there were plenty of other things that needed his attention, he was still the Prince of Camelot after all. "I overheard something earlier." Lillian said, thinking back to when Merlin had thought she was asleep. "I'm not sure how much of it is true, but it has been said that the court doesn't know that we have returned."

"That is true." Arthur replied, knowing full well that he needed to explain everything to her. "My father thought it best that nothing was said until you were feeling better. There is no point worrying anyone right now." He also didn't want people to know so that they could be left in peace. Eventually whispers would be going around about the pair being back, but not about the state that Lillian was in.

Lillian didn't really believe that story, but she would accept it. "So, um…" Her mind was blank, there was nothing that she could think of to really say to him.

"I love you, Lily." Arthur suddenly said, breaking the silence that was about to take over. "Everything that Merlin said was right, all those things I have done have been for you. I know that I haven't always made good choices, and some of the things I have done have hurt you. That has never been my intention, Lily, not ever." He grasped her hand tighter, letting her know that he really did mean every word he was saying. "I know that I have done some unforgivable things recently, and maybe you will never fully trust me again, but I do love you."

There were tears brimming in her eyes while her heart was pounding in her chest. "It isn't about trust, Arthur. I do trust you, I always have and I always will. It isn't about forgiveness either, because I do forgive you. I know you would never intentionally hurt me, that isn't who you are, you've made mistakes and so have I. Things… things have been difficult recently, so much has happened and I don't know what is going to happen next." He had been honest with her, and now it was her turn to be honest with him. "I just know that I don't want to go through it alone. I can't go through it alone. I've always loved you, Arthur, even when you have been a complete and utter prat." The tears were now rolling down her cheeks, and the Prince was quick to wipe them away before leaning in to kiss her.


A/N: I know it seemed like I had abandoned this and my other stories, but I haven't. My own personal world has been turned upside down, and there are other things that needed to come first. I'm doing my best to get back into all of this, but right now it's hard. I'm not going to make any promises about when the next chapter will be ready, but I am working on it.

Pippa.