A/N: A lot of people seemed really unhappy that I killed off the main character, but fear not! For this chapter shall sooth your minds! Enjoy.
Darkness. That was all that was around me. I couldn't see anything, I couldn't feel anything and I couldn't hear anything. I was absolutely petrified, because I couldn't even breathe. It was as if I were drowning, submerged in the dark depths of the ocean, with no way out.
I don't know what happened, one minute I was sitting on the green grass of the bank by the lake where I had met Sian, and then everything was gone, in the blink of an eye, and I was surrounded by blackness. I tried to shout, but no sound was leaving my mouth. I tried to move my arms and legs, but nothing happened. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't even blink anymore.
The fear was flooding me, and all I wanted was for someone to save me from drowning in the darkness. And that was when I heard it, a woman's voice, calling out around me. "This is wrong, it isn't your time to die." Okay, that freaked me out. "You still have so much to live for, my little Bella. You have to fulfil your destiny." That voice, there was something familiar about it, I recognised it. "Go, your Prince is waiting for you."
As soon as the woman said that, I saw a break in the sheet of black that I was facing, but I still couldn't move. I tried to move, I really did tried as hard as I could, but none of my limbs would cooperate. She said that it wasn't my time to die, but I was dead. I was dead and I couldn't get back.
The first thought that I had was of Arthur, of never seeing him again, knowing he was going to have a long and hard journey ahead of him to be king, a journey that I wasn't going to be there for. That wasn't what I wanted, I wanted to be there, I wanted to help him, I wanted to see him grow and become King. There was so much that I wanted, but now none of that would ever happen, it was all over for me.
Suddenly, my body started shaking, correction, it felt as if someone had a hold of my shoulders and was shaking me. The blackness started to fade more, being replaced with a swirl of colours. I would have expected to see a bright white light, but this was much more of a spectacular view. It was more entrancing than anything else I had ever seen, and I felt the urge to reach out, to try and touch it, but my arms still wouldn't move.
"Wake up, Isabella. You have to wake up." I knew that voice, I knew exactly who that belonged to. "Please… please, Isabella… please…" I heard a sob, I could actually hear Arthur, and he was crying. "You have to wake up… just… just wake up…" He was so upset, and I couldn't bear it, I couldn't bear to hear his voice breaking like that, while he tried to desperately to hold back the sobs.
"Arthur, she has gone." I heard Uther tell him. "There is nothing that we can do. You have to let her go." Even though his voice was strong, it was still full of sadness.
There was a pain growing in my chest now. "No. I will not give up!" Arthur shouted, presumably at his father. "Please, Isabella, you can't leave me…" I didn't want to leave him, I wanted to find a way back to him, but I just didn't know how.
And then I felt it, a tear rolling down my cheek. I blinked once, twice, and more tears fell. The feeling was starting to return to my arms and legs, but I still couldn't breathe, and the pain in my chest worsened. I still felt like I was drowning, even with the tears streaming down my cheeks now.
All I could think of was Arthur, his voice ringing in my ears, the sound of desperation in his voice as he called my name and pleaded for me to wake up. I had to wake up, I had to get back to him, I was not going to give up, I was not going to give in. I was going to get back, no matter how much the pain grew in my chest and how afraid I was.
What happened next was unexpected, and I was able to breathe. I felt my whole body jolt as I greedily sucked in as much air as I could. But that was the wrong thing to do, as I starting coughing and coughing. All of that coughing really did make things worse, and I could feel something working its way up my throat, something else that was stopping me from breathing.
"Isabella? Isabella, can you hear me?" I heard Arthur asking me, my head spinning like mad as well as pounding.
I couldn't answer him, I was struggling too much trying to breathe. "Something is stopping her from breathing." Gaius was there as well. "Lay her on her side, quickly." I felt someone roll me over, so that I was on my side, but I was still struggling to take a breath.
The most embarrassing thing that could possibly have happened decided to happen when I started coughing again. With my head still spinning, the lack of oxygen making me rather light headed, I couldn't stop it, and whatever was working its way up was about to come out.
I was throwing up, in front of not only Arthur, but his father and Gaius as well. And once it started, I could not stop it. That was why Gaius had made sure I was lying on my side, because he knew I was about to be sick, he had seen it. He really was a pretty good physician, considering the time that I was stuck in.
"Shush, it's all right, Isabella." Someone whispered to me, as a hand gently rubbed my back. "Everything is going to be fine." It took me a few moments to register that it was Arthur, and that it was him who was rubbing my back. "You're okay, Isabella, you're okay."
I don't know why, but I started crying as well. I was crying and throwing up at the same time, while the Prince of Camelot was rubbing my back. "I think it would be best if there were less people in the room." I heard Gaius say, before the door opened and a few people walked out. I knew it wasn't Arthur, he was still there with me, and I very much doubted that Gaius would have left as well, so it made me wonder who else I had just vomited in front of.
"I… I don't understand. She was dead." Merlin, I had been sick in front of Merlin as well. Great, just flipping great.
"Well, she wasn't breathing, and her heart had stopped." Gaius said, clearly just as confused as Merlin was. "Right now, I have no way to explain it."
"It doesn't matter. Isabella is alive. That is what matters." I heard Arthur tell them both, while I retched some more. Everything that I had eaten was coming up, and I knew it wouldn't be long until it was just the bile of my stomach that was making an appearance.
"Arthur is right. Princess Isabella is alive, and for that we should all be grateful." The old physician announced. "Isabella, can you hear me?" He called, standing rather close to me from what I could tell.
I waved my hand around a little, actually hitting something in the process, before it was grabbed tightly. I knew the grip, and I knew it was Arthur who had taken a hold of my hand. "I believe she can hear you, Gaius." The Prince replied for me, knowing that I was a little too busy to answer.
A slight sob escaped my lips, before another load came out. "It's all right, Isabella, it's all right." Arthur reassured me, one of his hands holding mine, and the other moving from my back and pulling my hair away from my face where it had fallen down.
After a few more minutes of heaving, and emptying my stomach of everything, including the bile, more tears started. There was only one thing that I could say, now that I could finally talk. "Arthur…"
"I'm here, Isabella, and I will always be here." He whispered to me, before lightly kissing my cheek. "Everything is going to be fine now, I promise you."
I couldn't help but let out a groan, wanting to just go to sleep. I was feeling utterly awful. My head was pounding as well as spinning, I was shivering but feeling too hot at the same time, and my chest was seriously hurting me.
"I need to check her over, make sure that she is fine." Gaius told Arthur, while I gripped the Prince's hand as tight as I could with the little energy I had. "It looks as if her body reacted badly to the antidote, which could have helped with her… expelling the poison from her body." Poison? Did he just say poison? There were so many questions running through my head, but I just couldn't bring myself to ask them yet.
Arthur never let go of my hand, although I felt the bed shifting a little. "Do you think she will be all right, Gaius?" Arthur asked him, now sitting with me on my bed.
"We cannot be certain, not yet." Gaius told him, before I felt someone place a hand on the side of my cheek. "Isabella, I need you to open your eyes for me." The old man said to me softly. My response was a groan, because I really didn't want to open my eyes. "I know you do not wish to, but you must." After taking a deep breath, I slowly forced my eyes open, the light hurting my eyes and making me squint a little. I saw Gaius standing there, gazing directly into my eyes. There was a look of concentration on his face.
Once again, I let out a groan. "Hurts…" I managed to mumble, trying to keep my eyes open for as long as I could.
There was a sad smile on the man's face, as if he completely understood what I meant. "What hurts, Isabella?" He asked, me, having taken a closer look at my eyes by holding my eyelids open.
"My head… everywhere… it hurts…" I told him, before letting my eyes close again. I didn't understand why I was feeling so bad, why everything was hurting, especially my head and my shoulders. That seemed to be where most of the pain was coming from, my throbbing head and my sore shoulders.
"Do you remember what happened?" Gaius asked me, now resting his hand against my forehead.
I had no idea what had happened. "The last thing I remember was falling asleep." I told him, tugging at Arthur's hand, feeling rather uncomfortable with the way I was laying. "Arthur had me training with him all morning, then we had a picnic lunch. I was tired, I wanted sleep." That was all I remembered. I went to sleep, and Arthur sat down at his desk to get on with some royal paperwork.
"And do you know where you are?" Well, that was a really stupid question in my opinion.
"I'm in Camelot. More specifically, I am in my bed, in Prince Arthur's chamber in Camelot. I have two brothers, Mitchel and Dominic, who are currently in Elbear. Oh, and our uncle is out to take the throne and therefore out to kill me. That's the reason why I'm in Arthur's chamber in the first place, and why he is teaching me how to fight better." There was nothing wrong with my memory. I knew exactly where I was, and everything that had happened.
I heard Arthur chuckling a little. "And how did you end up in Camelot?" He asked me, a hint of amusement in his voice.
Oh, I was going to love answering that question. "Some arrogant Prince decided to kidnap me."
"I see there is nothing wrong with your memory this time then." Arthur told me, giving my hand a squeeze. Even thought I really wanted to hit him for that comment, I couldn't, and I give his hand the best squeeze I could, which was rather pathetic.
"I've just thrown up in front of the Prince of Camelot, can I go to sleep now and try to forget that ever happened?" I asked, my head spinning even more for every minute that I was awake. I was uncomfortable and in pain. I wanted to sleep it off, I needed to sleep it off.
Once again, I heard Arthur chuckling at me, but it was Gaius who replied. "Of course, Isabella. If you start to feel any worse, then you must tell someone immediately. I will leave Arthur to explain what has happened."
I heard the man walking away, over towards the door, I think. "Gaius, thank you." I called to him quietly, feeling completely drained of all my energy.
After that, I heard the door open and close, no one else entering, leaving me alone with Arthur. "Isabella, I was so worried, so sacred." I could hear the emotion in his voice, and that was all it took for me to break down in tears again.
"I'm… I'm sorry, Arthur. I'm so, so sorry…" I told him, the flood breaking through once more. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I repeated, not entirely sure what I was sorry for, apart from scaring the hell out of him. "I'm sorry."
He let go of my hand, and wrapped his arms around me tightly. "It's all right, Isabella. It's not your fault, none of this was your fault." He told me, holding me, trying to comfort me. "I'm just glad you're all right, that you are alive."
The questions I had were burning in my head now, begging to be asked. "What happened, Arthur? Why were you so scared?" His hesitation told me that he didn't know whether he should tell me you or not. "I have questions, a whole list of them. Maybe… maybe after some rest, you can answer them?" I felt like that was a good deal. He knew I wanted answers, but I was going to give him time before he had to give them.
"Of course, Isabella. But I have one request." He told me, causing me to frown, even with my eyes closed. "My bed is more comfortable. You will be staying in mine." He told me. Before I even had a chance to protest, he had swept me up in his arms, and was carefully taking me the short distance to his bed.
"I did tell you." I muttered, quite happy for Arthur to carry me over to his bed. "I've taken over your chamber, and now I'm going to take over your bed." I said, as he settled me down and pulled the covers over me.
A few moments later, he was getting in the other side of the bed. Arthur reached out and I felt his arms around me, and I didn't hesitate and moved closer towards him without even thinking about it. "Everything is going to be all right, Isabella, I promise you." He told me softly, before I felt him press his lips against my forehead.
"I really am sorry, Arthur. I… I don't know what happened, I just…" I let out a groan and buried my head into his chest a little. "Sorry for redecorating the floor with the contents of my stomach." I was pretty sure it was something that I was never going to live down.
"It's Merlin you should be apologising to, he's the one who is currently cleaning it up." There seemed to be a hint of amusement in Arthur's voice when he decided to tell me that.
I groaned a little more. "Sorry, Merlin." I mumbled, getting more and more embarrassed by the second. I'm pretty sure that cleaning up my sick wasn't on his list of chores for the day, or any day really. "Can I sleep now?" That was all I really wanted to do, sleep. I was hoping that I would wake up and everything would be different, that this had all just been a rather horrible dream.
Before Arthur had a chance to answer me, the door to his chamber creaked open. I had my eyes tightly closed, so I didn't see who it was, but I had a fairly good idea. "How are you both feeling now?" I had been right, it was Arthur's father.
"Well, after making a mess on my floor, Gaius was able to check Isabella over. There is nothing wrong with her memory, and she is still impossible." Arthur replied, making me want to hit him. "But she still needs to rest, father."
My head was telling me to just keep my mouth shut, so I did. There were many things that I could have said, I could have been my normal impossible self and told Arthur to be quiet because I was trying to sleep. Mt head was getting fuzzier by the minute, and I could tell that I was about to drift back off into unconsciousness.
"I believe that you both need to rest." I heard Uther telling him. "There are guards posted outside, and I will be speaking with the tavern keeper soon enough." I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was still worried, which I guess was understandable. Whatever had happened had really scared everyone, and I still didn't even know what it was.
After that, their voices became a little fuzzy, and although I could hear them speaking, I couldn't make out exactly what it was that they were saying. I felt Arthur pull me closer towards him, while he was still talking to his father. Then the door opened, and another voice joined in whatever conversation was being had.
I wasn't totally asleep, I was kind of drifting in and out, and kept catching little snippets of the conversations. I heard them talking about a man at the tavern, some wine, and how someone was being searched for. Someone even mentioned my brothers as well, and I really tried to listen to the conversation, but sleep decided to take me over.
It was a few hours later when the fuzziness finally started to fade. I was still wrapped up in Arthur's arms, and I could hear him breathing beside me. "How late is it?" I grumbled, having no desire to open my eyes just yet.
"Actually, it's early." I heard Arthur say quietly. "It's almost dawn, Isabella." That surprised me, time really had gotten away from me.
I twisted my head a little and opened my eyes slightly. "Have you been awake all night?" I asked him, noticing that he was still in the same position he had been when he had first gotten into bed.
"No, not all night." Arthur replied, gazing down at me. "I was worried about you, Isabella, I was worried that you wouldn't wake up again." I could tell from the look in his eyes that he was serious.
"What happened, Arthur? I remember coming back from the picnic, and curling up on my bed. After that… it's kind of a blur until I started throwing up." I couldn't tell him that I remembered being in my own little world, bending water with my magic. But that voice, the voice I had heard when I felt like I was drowning… I knew it from somewhere.
He let out a sigh, and I knew he really didn't want to tell me what had happened, but he had to. "You remember what you said about the wine? About it being different and tasting wrong?" I nodded at him a little, it really had been strong and had a weird taste. "It was poisoned, Isabella. We believe that it was your uncles doing."
I knew there was more to it than what he was telling me, otherwise he wouldn't have been so scared, calling out my name and with tears staining his face. "And the rest. I'm not stupid, Arthur, I know there something you don't want to tell me."
"At one point you stopped breathing. You… you were… you were dead." Now that explained the way he was acting. "Gaius said that you were gone, that there was nothing more that could be done. "My father told me to let you go, but I couldn't."
"I… I heard you. It… it felt like I was drowning. I couldn't breathe and I was just surrounded by darkness. I had no idea where I was, or what was going on, but I heard a voice, a woman. She said that it wasn't time for me to die, that I still had so much to live for." I told him, trying to remember as much as I could. "She knew me, she called me her little Bella." Then I realised where I had heard that voice before, why I sounded so familiar to me. "She used to call me that… she always called me Bella." I whispered, piecing it all together.
There was a frown on Arthur's face as he looked at me. "Who used to call you that, Isabella?"
"My mother, she was always calling me her little Bella." It had been such a long time since I had heard my mother's voice, and that was why I had such a difficult time working out who I had heard. "How could I have heard my mother?" It didn't make sense, unless I really had been that close to death.
Arthur could see that I was bothered by that, and he gently tugged me closer towards him. "You were close to death, Isabella, and she sent you back. Your mother sent you back here." He told me, although I was sure there were a few more things he would have liked to say. "And you remembered something, you remembered your mother."
He was right, I should have been grateful and not questioned it all. I had heard a voice that hadn't reached my ears in so long, that I never imagined that I would ever hear again. And she had sent me back. Arthur was right, I was there with him now, and not dead like my uncle had wanted. "I was so scared, Arthur. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't move. I could hear you, I heard my mother and then I could hear you. You were… you were pleading for me not to leave you." I didn't even know it, but tears had built in my eyes and were getting ready to fall.
"You were not the only one who was scared." Arthur told me, lightly running his thumb across my cheek, ready to wipe the tears away. "The moment Morgana said that you were no longer breathing, I couldn't breathe. When Gaius said that you were…" He trailed off, obviously not wanting to say it. I didn't want him to say it either if I was honest. "I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't believe it. I kept shaking you, trying to wake you up."
"Hmm, no wonder my shoulders and back is hurting me so much." I told him, knowing that it was due to his shaking that I was likely to have some bruising. "Why wouldn't you give up? Why wouldn't you let me go, Arthur?" Yes, it was a pretty big and serious question, but I want to know the reason why he was so upset.
There was a look of hesitation on his face, one that I had seen more than once. He let out a heavy sigh before lightly kissing the top of my head. "Isabella, I wouldn't let you go because I care too much about you. I have sworn to protect you, and if I let you die, then I would have failed." It wasn't exactly the answer I was expecting, I was expecting him to say something about him missing my strangeness or something.
"And here I was, thinking that it was only because you wanted to tell me how impossible I was one more time." I told him, trying to lighten the mood a little. Yes, I was the one that turned it all serious in the first place, but I had gotten my answers, well some of them at least.
A small smile worked its way onto Arthur's face. "Well, there was that as well. You are absolutely impossible, Isabella."
I couldn't help but chuckle a little as he squeezed me a little tighter. "As if you'd want me any other way, Arthur." I told him, before there came a rather loud knocking at the door.
My eyes widened, and I tried to pull away from Arthur a little, but he just held me even tighter. "Enter." He called, while I wondered why he was refusing to let me go when he knew someone was about to walk in. I was okay with Merlin seeing us like that, he knew it was nothing, but I didn't want there to be gossip around the place that something was going on when it wasn't.
"Ah, Arthur, I see you are both awake, and early as well." Uther said, coming into the room and closing the door behind him.
I was still trying to pull myself away from Arthur a little, but he was having none of that. "Isabella woke up a short time ago. I woke up shortly before." He was lying to his father, he hadn't woken up just before me, he had been awake for most of the night.
"And how are you both feeling?" Arthur's father asked, walking over to the bed and sitting down in the chair that was over at Arthur's side.
I kept quiet, letting Arthur answer his father. "We are both fine, father." He said, his hand now gripping my own.
Uther just looked at us both, scanning us with his eyes, taking in the way that Arthur was holding onto me, as well as the fact that I was in his son's bed. I was waiting for him to say something, to tell us how much he disapproves of us sharing the same bed. I was waiting to be told off by the King of Camelot. "Has Arthur explained what happened, Isabella?" He asked, surprising me and looking at me with a concerned look on his face.
"Uh, yes, Sire. He… he told me that the wine was poisoned, and that it was highly possible that it was my uncles doing." I replied nervously, not really that sure on what I should be saying to him. "Arthur also told me that… that I wasn't breathing at one point."
"We were all worried about you, especially my son. It is a miracle that you are still with us." Uther told me, making me feel even more awkward. I didn't really know what to say to that, I couldn't think of anything to say, and I didn't want to say something that was going to make me look like and idiot. "I will let Morgana know that you are well, and I will having Gaius sent for." He added, seeing that I wasn't going to answer. Even then I didn't answer, I simply nodded my head at him.
I stayed silent as he spoke a few more words to his son, before he left the room and I let myself relax a little. "Why do you always get so nervous around my father?" Oh lovely, Arthur just had to pick up on that didn't he.
"Because he's the King?" I answer rather lamely. It wasn't my best excuse, but it was all I could think of at the time.
A frown formed on the Prince's face as he looked down at me. "No, it's something else. Are you afraid of him?"
Yes, I was. I had some form of magic, and he was the King who had outlawed it, killing anyone and everyone who possessed it. Plus, I didn't belong there, I wasn't from there, I was from another time, a completely different place. "Maybe, just a bit. He isn't just your father, he is the King as well. I am a guest here, and while I know I can just be myself around you, it's different when there are other people around me." I really hoped that made sense to him, because it only made a little sense to me.
"You worry what others will think of you if they saw you as you truly are." Well, he managed to sum that up much easier than I had. "But you shouldn't, Isabella. You are who you are, strangeness as well. My father does like you, even though you are impossible most of the time." All I could do was roll my eyes at him, he was right back to calling me impossible.
"I can't help it, Arthur. I just get nervous around other people, I don't want to leave a bad impression, I don't want people to think badly of me." I managed to explain to him. "The fact that I am living in your chamber is enough for people to start gossiping, but just imagine what they would say if they knew that I frequently stole your bed as well." That was my biggest worry, the fear of what people would say, of the names they would call me.
"Does any of that really matter, Isabella?" Arthur asked me, tucking a stray locked of my hair back and behind my ear. "Do you really care what other people think of you, of what they would say?"
"It's not just me that they would be talking about, Arthur. They'd gossip about you as well. I'm used to the name calling, you can probably imagine the sorts of things that my uncle used to call me." I told him, trying to get him to see that it wasn't just about me, it was about him as well. People would always talk about things, even if there was nothing to talk about, I knew that, I could handle that, but I didn't want it to reflect on Arthur as well.
Sure, he was the Prince, and he could have people arrested for gossiping about him if he wanted to, but Arthur wasn't like that, not anymore. "It does not matter what they say, about you or me. It is none of their concern."
I ended up letting out a sigh, knowing that there was no way that I was going to win against him. Plus, I really just didn't have the energy to even try to fight him on the matter. I was still aching everywhere, and although my head wasn't pounding as much, there was still a slight throbbing. Instead, I curled up to the Prince of Camelot and closed my eyes. "Wake me up in a few hours." I mumbled to him, hearing him chuckle lightly before I felt his lips touch my forehead. Things weren't all bad, but Sian had been right, my uncle was growing stronger and moving quickly. I was going to have to face him at some point, and it felt like that time was fast approaching.
A/N: Ta da! See, there was nothing to worry about really, was there? Isabella is still alive, for now at least. Yeah, it's a bit of a strange chapter, especially at the end, but it all has meaning.
Hello and welcome to all you lovely people who have favourited/followed the story, I hope you keep enjoying it. An absolutely ginormous thank you to all of you wonderful and lovely people who have taken the tine to review (even if it was because I killed Isabella off). I really do appreciate the reviews, and they do help with my motivation.
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Until the next time my dear friends…
Pippa.