A/N: Hello there! I was meant to post this a few days ago, and totally forgot because I got distracted with something. But never mind that! Here's the next chapter!

Gaius was waiting for us when we finally reached his chamber, and Merlin had just finished preparing a clean bowl of water. No one said anything as Arthur led me over and sat me down on the bench, while Gaius set to work at cleaning the nasty gash on my face. I flinched a few times, the stinging and burning sensation flooding through my cheek.

Arthur was sitting beside me, holding onto my undamaged hand the whole time. Merlin was floating around, collecting things for Gaius, but no one was saying anything. I decided to change that. "So, Merlin, people are soon going to be calling you a hero, not an idiot. What do you think about that?" I asked him, a smirk on my face.

I noticed him rolling his eyes. "It won't last long, I'll still be the idiot."

"Oh, I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen." I was doing my best to be happy and bubbly, to cover up the fear that was still lingering. "Merlin took on a great big brute in the middle of the night to save me, I think he deserves to be rewarded for that."

While Merlin rolled his eyes again, Arthur took on a very seriously look. "Isabella is right." He said, causing all of us to look at him. "You saved her from a man who was trying to take her to her uncle. You saved her life, Merlin."

I noticed my warlock friend blushing a little and looking slightly embarrassed. "Oh, it… uh, it was nothing. Honestly."

"No, it was not nothing, Merlin. You will be rewarded for this." Arthur told him, keeping his eyes fixed on what Gaius was doing. "But there is something I want to know. What were you doing out at that time of night anyway?"

I looked over at him, wondering what he was going to say. "I was running some errands for Gaius." There was an odd look on Arthur's face, like he didn't believe him. "I, uh, forgot to do them earlier. I woke up and realised that I hadn't done them and I knew he needed them done by the morning."

"Sorry, Merlin. I've really put you in a tough spot here, haven't I?" I called to him, definitely feeling more than just a little guilty.

But Arthur now rolled his eyes. "Well, that's nothing new really, is it?" The Prince commented. "If it wasn't for you and your forgetfulness, that man would have gotten away with Isabella." I was surprised at the way that Arthur kept mentioning it, kept praising his servant.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that Isabella is safe." Merlin replied, sending me a smile.

"And I'm never going to forget, Merlin. I will never forget what you've done." My eyes were starting to tear up again, but Arthur was quick to reach up and wipe them away for me before they could roll down my cheeks.

After Gaius had dealt with my cheek, and the rather deep cut on my arm that seemed a lot worse than I first thought, he took a hold of my hand. I let out a hiss of pain straight away, and almost pulled it away. He looked at me with an expression that told me he was sorry. "Well, it doesn't seem like anything is broken, but it is severely sprained. You are going to need to be very careful with it, otherwise it will take longer to heal." Gaius explained, before wrapping it up tightly, giving me some form of support, even if it did make it hurt.

"Thank you, Gaius." I replied to him quietly, feeling all the adrenalin finally drain from my body, leaving me rather exhausted.

"You are most welcome. I will need to change the dressing in the morning." He said, looking between Arthur and myself.

"Isabella will be staying in my chamber." Arthur announced, causing the elderly man to nod at him. "I am not going to risk leaving her on her own again." I wasn't going to protest about that, being left on my own was the last thing that I wanted.

Gaius simply smiled at him, while I sat there, letting them talk about me and discuss what was going to happen next. I was basically moving into Arthur's chamber, so poor Merlin needed to get another bed in there. Gaius was also running through all the different things that I might suffer from, panic attacks, nightmares, just general shock from it all really. He also reminded Arthur that I needed to be very cautious with my hand.

The walk back to Arthur's chamber was a silent one. I held onto his arm tightly, and kept my eyes firmly fixed on the floor beneath my feet. I didn't want to look up, I didn't want people to see the gash on my face. It had been cleaned, but it was impossible to really put anything over it, so I just needed to be careful and keep it clean.

He led me into his chamber, and over to his bed, gently helping me to sit down. I had to admit, I was in a bit of a daze, most likely from the shock of it all finally settling in. My uncle was serious about killing me, it wasn't a sick joke, it was real, all of it was real.

I suddenly burst into tears and Arthur was beside me with his arms wrapped around me in an instant. "Sorry. I'm… I'm sorry, Arthur." I muttered, trying to pull myself together quickly.

"You need to get some rest, Isabella. That man is in a cell, and he will be dealt with severely tomorrow." I knew that the man was locked away, but it didn't stop the fear and uneasy feeling I had.

My head shook before I managed to find my voice. "I'm okay, I'm not tired." That was a complete lie, but I knew there was no way that I was going to be able to sleep without having some form of nightmare. "We… we should go and tell your father what happened."

I went to stand up, but he was quick to rest his hand on my arm, stopping me. "Isabella, my father has been informed and he will see us in the morning. Right now, you need to get some rest. I promise you, I am not going to go anywhere, I will be right here."

Once again I shook my head at him, determined not to fall asleep. "I can't sleep, Arthur, not now. Please, don't make me go to sleep."

He just watched me, and my eyes were pleading with him. "Isabella…" He ended up saying, letting out a sigh. "Do you really think it is sensible to avoid sleep? After what has just happened, you would be better off getting some rest."

"Rest doesn't necessary mean sleep. Arthur, some man came into my chamber while I was sleeping. He sliced my arm, dragged me from my chamber and through the castle. He then proceeded to strangle me, and cut my face." I noticed his eyes drift to my neck, where he noticed the bruising that was there as well. I don't think he had realised that, because I had failed to mention that to Gaius. "I was scared, Arthur, I was absolutely petrified. If I made a sound, he was going to hurt me more. I do not want to sleep."

His hand reached up and gently stroked my cheek, just below where the cut was. I knew it was going to scar, and it was going to be rather bad as well. "I am truly sorry, Isabella. I knew there were spies here, I just didn't realise they were part of the royal guard."

"You weren't to know, Arthur. No one could have known. My uncle is evil, and vindictive, and he will do anything to see me dead." I was holding back the flood, because I was getting upset again just thinking of my uncle and what had happened. The list of people that I could now trust had dropped dramatically.

"And I will do anything to stop him. You are to stay here with me until further notice. Where I go, you go, that way I can better protect you." The look on his face told me that he was completely serious, and that nothing I could say would change his mind. "I'm not going to let you out of my sight, Isabella."

The air was just quickly filling with tension. "I'll give it two days before you are utterly sick of the sight of me." I told him trying to lighten the mood a bit and giving him a nudge.

He smiled at me, and nudged me back. "I think it's going to take more than just two days. I don't know, maybe a week?" I knew he was only joking, that was the whole reason why I had made that comment in the first place, make a joke to ease the tension.

I decided that the pair of us just sitting on the edge of the bed wasn't exactly comfortable, and it hadn't just been me who was woken up during the night. I didn't say anything, I just carefully crawled from the edge of the bed and up to where the pillows were. Arthur had just watched me with curiosity. "What?" I asked him, giving him a confused look.

The Prince shook his head at me, but with the hint of a smile on his face. "Even now, you are still impossible, Isabella." He told me, climbing over the bed himself.

"I have to keep you on your toes, Arthur. If I wasn't impossible, then you'd get bored." I had to keep the smile on my face, even though it hurt my cheek.

But Arthur had seen the pain on my face, and once again his hand went to the cut. "It will heal, Isabella. The pain will fade and it will heal."

I knew he was trying to reassure me, to make me feel better. But I knew scars. "The pain may fade, and the cut will heal, but it will scar, Arthur. Every time I look in the mirror, I will see it, the reminded of my uncle, of what he has done and will do."

"You can't think of it like that, Isabella. Each scar shows a battle that you have survived." He told me, still caressing my cheek. "You can survive anything that your uncle throws at you, and this is proof."

"It's not about surviving things, Arthur. People will look at me, see the scar, and what are they going to think?" That was one of the things that bothered me the most, what other people were going to think when they saw it. That was why I had kept my face hidden as we were walking back. People could come up with all different kinds of stories, without a single care for the truth.

He gently thumbed my cheek once more. "It doesn't matter what they think, Isabella. To me, you will always be beautiful." I could feel my face flush at his words. "The scars will just remind me of how strong you are, of how completely impossible you are."

A sigh slipped past my lips. "Arthur, I really don't know why you say these things." And I didn't. There was no need for him to say things like that to me, it wasn't just that it made me blush like a stupid idiot, it made me feel guilty as well. Arthur liked me way too much, I didn't need him to like me any more than he already did.

"Isabella, I say these things because they are true. You are beautiful, and nothing you can say will make me think otherwise." I opened my mouth to protested, but he was quick to interrupt me. "You have fought off bandits, without a second thought or any concern for your own safety. You were willing to hand yourself over to your uncle, because of how brave you truly are."

"And look at me now, Arthur. Now I am scared. I don't want to be caught by my uncle, I don't want to give in to him." I knew he was still going to protest, but what else could I do?

Arthur smiled at me softly. "Listen to yourself, Isabella. You don't want to give in to him, you want to fight against him. You cannot tell me that isn't being brave."

I shook my head at him. "No, that's called being a coward, being petrified of what would happen, of what he would do."

"Isabella, you are not a coward, you have never been a coward and you never will be a coward." I wanted to believe him, of course I did, but it really wasn't that easy.

In the end I just rolled my eyes at him. "Arthur, you really do say the most absurd things."

"Well, I guess I have just been spending too much time with you then. I seem to be picking up your strangeness." He told me, before opening up both of his arms and gazing at me. His eyes were begging me move over, to let him wrap his arms around me.

With a smile on my face, I shuffled over on the bed, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him while he wrapped his own arms around me. "And that's a good thing, is it?" I asked him, comfortably breathing in his scent and resting my head against his chest.

"I'm not entirely sure. I suppose we will just have to wait and see." Arthur replied, wrapping a lock of my hair around his finger. I had to admit, it did feel kind of nice, to just lay there and know that he was there as well.

Eventually I did actually start to doze off, and I was sure that Arthur was doing the same thing as well. My eyelids became heavy, and the warmth that was radiating from the body beside me probably helped to aid me in drifting off. I had been determined not to go back to sleep, but I couldn't help it, I was safe and at ease, it was hard to fight it off.

It wasn't until I heard whispered that I finally began to stir. "You should wake her before your father arrives, Arthur." Merlin was there, so it probably did mean that it was time for me to get up.

"I know I should, but I don't want to." He was still right next to me, still holding me tightly. "She needs as much rest as she can get, Merlin."

"I got some things from Isabella's chamber for her." I heard Merlin say, and the sound of one of the wardrobes opening. "If there is anything else she needs, I'll get it for her."

I began to drift back off again, their voices fading and becoming a little fuzzy. I heard them discussing what things needed to be moved around, and it sounded like Merlin really did have a big job on his hands because of me.

The lump that was acting as my pillow and keeping me warm was trying to move. It was trying to gently pushing me away, which resulted in me grabbing hold of whatever I could to stop the movement.

Then came a slight chuckle. "Isabella, I need to get up now, and so do you." I heard Arthur tell me, grabbing a hold of my hands and trying to pry them away from his shirt.

I shook my head and buried it back into his chest. "No."

"Isabella, my father will be here soon. You're going to need to explain what happened to him." I let out a sigh at that reminder. I hadn't spoken about it much yet, and I really didn't want to, but the King was going to want to know what had actually happened.

Another groan made its way up my throat and out of my mouth. "Can't you do it? Just tell him what I told you and be done with it. I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm sorry, Isabella. Unfortunately, I do not know absolutely everything that happened last night. I will be beside you the entire time, you have nothing to fear." I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was worried.

I forced my eyes open, and tilted my head slightly so that I could see the man I was still hugging. "I'm only going to talk about it once." I whispered to him. "I… I don't want to have to keep going over it, to keep reliving it." I didn't want to even think about it let alone talk about it.

"I promise you, once we have spoken with my father, you will not be asked to speak of it again." Arthur assured me, leaning over and planting a kiss on the top of my head. "Now, I suggest you get dressed. I do not think my father would be pleased to see you laying on my bed in a torn dress."

A smirk formed across my face. "Why, is he going to think that we were up to no good?" His face turned bright red, and I knew I had completely and utterly embarrassed him. "Arthur, I am sure that your father understands. He might think a little less of me, but not of you."

"Why would he think less of you?" There was confusion in his voice, as I finally sat myself up on the bed.

"Well, he might think that I'm trying to seduce you, corrupt you." I wasn't exactly sure why I was saying those things, I think it was because my head was still totally messed up.

A smile stretched across his face. "Actually, I think it is more the other way around. I've decided to move you into my chamber with me." He told me, watching as I finally managed to find some strength to get up and off the bed. "I made the decision not to let you out of my sight."

"Hmm, that's not trying to seduce someone, that's just called being a creep." I said, grabbing the dress that Merlin had brought in for me and ducking behind the changing screen. "A rather obsessive creep."

"Well, I just hope that my father understands the seriousness of the situation and accepts my proposal." There was a hint of worry in his voice. "I want you to write a letter for your brothers. I will tell them what has happened recently, but I believe they would feel more assured that you were all right if you wrote to them as well."

I quickly finished getting changed, being careful of the bandage on my arm. The dress that Merlin had grabbed for me had long, loose sleeves, so it would be easy for them to be pulled up for Gaius to change the dressing on it later. "Of course I will, Arthur. I've been wanting to write to them, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea."

I sat over by the window while Arthur dressed himself. The nerves were starting to make an appearance, a rather big one. I was playing with my hands in my lap, trying to get everything straight in my head. I knew what Merlin's excuse was for being out at that time of the night, not that I would really have to go into that. I was going to have to tell Uther what that man had done and said.

"Isabella?" Arthur called, resting his hand on my arm. He was kneeling down in front of me, a rather worried look on his face. All I could do was look at him in confusion. "My father is here." I must have drifted off into my own little world for a lot longer than I thought.

When I turned around, I saw the King standing there, looking at me with a soft expression on his face. "Of course. Sorry." I muttered, getting up from where I had been sitting and allowing Arthur to lead me over to the table.

"Princess Isabella, I wish to assure you now that the man will be paying for his crimes severely." King Uther told me, sitting down at the table as well.

I nodded at him as Arthur sat down next to me. "So, um… I… I guess you want to know what happened…" I started playing with my hands in my lap once more, only for Arthur to grab a hold of my injured hand and hold it gently in his own. "I heard a noise outside of my chamber, but I wasn't fully conscious. The door was opened slowly, and I thought that it might have been Arthur coming to check on me, to make sure that I was all right. I know he was worried about me, because I didn't eat anything before going to bed. Before I had a chance to see who it was, a hand was covering my mouth."

Both Arthur and Uther sat there listening to everything I said. Neither of them interrupted me, they didn't say a word. I told them everything that he had said, everything he had done, the movements, the threats, the promise to hurt me some more if I made a sound. I had kept it to together, but I think that was only because Arthur was there beside me, holding my hand and constantly reassuring me in his own little way.

As I had been speaking, I kept seeing flashes of what had happened in my head, a crystal clear memory of what had transpired overnight. By the time I had finished explaining everything there was a dark look on Uther's face. I wasn't sure what was going through his mind, but I was worried.

"Father, it is clear that there are traitors closer than we believed." Arthur said, still holding my hand, lightly rubbing circles on the back of it. "I am not leaving Isabella alone until her uncle has been caught. I don't care what you or are anyone else has to say on the matter."

The man looked between both of us, his eyes roaming from Arthur and to me then back to Arthur again. He had noticed the way that Arthur was holding onto my hand, keeping me calm and just comforting me in general. "What do you think of the situation, Isabella?" He asked, taking me by surprise.

"I… I trust Arthur. I just want all this to be over." I really didn't know what else I could say. I was pretty helpless in this whole situation, I didn't know what to do.

A hint of a smile appeared on the King's face. "Then I trust Arthur to ensure you are safe." He told me, before looking at his son. "Arthur, do whatever you feel is necessary to keep Princess Isabella safe. Unfortunately we were unable to extract any information from the man, so it is unclear who can be trusted."

"Isabella will not be leaving my sight. I will not allow any harm to come to her, I swear to protect her." Arthur was acting so strangely, he was acting… all high and mighty.

His father just nodded at him, before rising from where he had been sitting. "Make sure that you do, Arthur. Word will be sent to Elbear, we must inform the Kings of this development. I will explain the situation and let them know that their sister is safe."

"I… I want to say thank you, Sire." I said nervously as he stood up. "For taking me in and protecting me. Camelot is in danger because of me, and yet you and your son refuse to let me leave. So I… I want to thank you."

Uther looked at me, and stepped over to where I was sitting, holding out a hand. I let him help me to stand, Arthur quickly standing as well beside me. "Isabella, you are more than welcome here in Camelot. The danger that follows is of no fault of your own. Our kingdoms will stand together against this threat, and we will stand together and watch that man fall." I couldn't find my voice, it was the second time that Uther had spoken to me like that and made me lose my words. "Now, I believe that the court physician needs to check on you, and you must eat something, Isabella."

I nodded at him once more, and watched as he left Arthur and I alone in the room. I didn't know how to feel, I was still scared, that was certain, but there was that sense of relief knowing that Arthur was determined to protect me. But then there was the guilt, for bring the danger to his kingdom, for turning his whole life upside down.

A few minutes later and there was a light knocking on the door. I felt Arthur's hand slip away from mine as he went to open it. "How are you feeling this morning, Isabella?" I heard Gaius ask me. I didn't answer him, I blinked a few times, a cloud of fog invading my mind. "Isabella?"

The next thing I knew, my knees had buckled. A strong pair of arms reached out and caught me, and I found my hands grasping onto them tightly to try to keep myself steady. "I'm… I'm okay." I mumbled, still trying to blink away the fog.

"No you're not, Isabella." Arthur told me quietly, before sweeping me off my feet and depositing me on his bed. "You haven't eaten since yesterday morning. You've had a traumatic night, so you most certainly are not okay."

I didn't feel up to arguing with him, so I just let out a sigh. "Prince Arthur is right." Gaius told me, moving over to the side of my bad arm. "You must take better care of yourself. I know you struggle to eat large meals, but you must try to eat something."

"I have been trying to help her, Gaius, but she always finds some excuse to avoid eating." Arthur told him, basically lining me up to get in trouble with the elderly man.

"Isabella, if you do not start to eat better, then you are going to grow weaker. The weaker you become, the more vulnerable you become, and that is all your uncle needs. Is that what you want?" I hated the way he was using my uncle against me like that, I really did.

"Well that's a stupid question. Of course I don't." I scoffed, feeling my head spinning. "Now can you all shut up, because my head is really spinning at the moment."

I heard Arthur let out a sigh before I felt the bed dip beside me. "And this is all because of the lack of food, Isabella." He told me, his hand running through my hair as I lay there. "I'm going to be tougher on you now, to make sure that you actually eat."

I just hummed at him a little, really not wanting to reply. "I believe that would be the best thing." I heard Gaius saying, as he unwrapped the bandage on my arm. "You will need to keep a very close eye on her."

Everything after that just became a haze. Arthur spoke to Merlin, who soon left the room to go and do something, and Gaius finished putting clean dressing on my arm. He wanted to clean the cut on my face, but I kept flinching away from him so he gave up with it.

"Isabella, the wound needs to be cleaned properly." Arthur told me softly. "Will you allow me to do it?"

My mind thought over it for a few moments before I bothered to reply to him. "Okay." I said, resting my head to the side so that he could get to the ugly gash.

"I'm sorry if this hurts, Isabella." I could tell he was sorry, and he hadn't even started yet. The moment I felt someone touch me cheek I felt a stinging sensation and I let out a slight hiss. I tried to pull away, but the Prince had a hold of my head, stopping me from moving. "Sorry."

After a few moments, the pain didn't seem as bad and after a few more minutes, I realised that Arthur had finished. "So, what's the plan for today then?" I mumbled, still not feeling completely with it. I knew it was my own fault, because I hadn't been eating and I was stressed.

"The plan is to get you settled in here, but you seemed to have already made yourself rather comfortable." Arthur commented, his hand running through my hair once more.

"Yeah, well, your bed is way more comfortable than mine." I told him, making sure to snuggle down a little more. I just did not want to move, I wasn't sure I could even if I did want to. "This is my bed now."

If my eyes had been open, I would have seen the smirk on his face. "Is that so, Isabella?" I hummed at him. "And where do you expect me to sleep then?"

"I hear the floor is rather comfortable. Or maybe you can go and try Merlin's cot, that's worse than sleeping on the floor."

"Isabella, you are a genius." Arthur said to me, before reaching down and kissing the top of my head. "Merlin may not want to be rewarded, but he does deserve it for what he has done. Maybe if he had a more comfortable bed, he would sleep better and not be so clumsy and late during the day."

I small laugh escaped my lips. "Are you going to give your servant a nice comfy bed to sleep in as his reward?" I thought that was actually a really nice thing to do, because Merlin really did deserve it.

"Yes, and I am also going to give him a few days off." I was actually surprised by that, well I was surprised by both of the things that Arthur was going to do to reward his servant. It was a nice gesture, and I was sure that Merlin was going to be shocked by it as well. Arthur was just showing what a good man he really was, it wasn't just me that was going to see it, everyone was going to start seeing it as well.

A/N: Well, I really hope that you all liked this chapter. A lot os going to start happening now, I can assure you of that. We get to see Merlin in all his magical glory, and we get to see Arthur being a little bit possessive.

I would like to say welcome to everyone who has favourited/followed the story, I'm glad you all like the story. Absolutely massive thank you to all those wonderful, fantastic people that have taken the time to leave a review, you guys are awesome!

I promise to try and get the next chapter up with in the next week. Fingers crossed I can get it up sooner rather than later! But until then…

Pippa.