A/N: Hey everyone! I was meant to post this at the beginning of the week, but for some reason Fanfiction no long likes my MacBook, since it will never let me upload a document, it won't even let me copy and past, I just end up with a white screen and that's it.

Anyway, enough of that. Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it.

Honestly, I was so glad to be back in the castle, even thought I really didn't want to admit it to Arthur. Yes, I had been rather nervous out there in the town with everyone else, but I had also felt just that little safer. My uncle hadn't known where I was, which was always a good thing, if his spies had reported to him, they would have informed him of the trip to the Northern Boarders.

The moment we reached Arthur's chamber, I headed straight over to my bed. "I bet you're happy to have your bed back." I called over my shoulder to the Prince as he closed the door.

"Never in my life have I experienced anything so uncomfortable, it's worse than being knocked off a horse." He moaned, wandering over to his own bed and sitting down on the edge of it. "I do feel sympathy for those who have to live like that, for those who can afford very little."

His words caused me to stop in my tracks and turn to face him. "I'm sorry, what did you just say? Did… did you just say that you feel sympathy to your people? To those who have much less than what you do?" I wasn't exactly sure that I had heard right, because those words seemed to have come from his mouth, but it certainly didn't sound like him at all.

Arthur simply rolled his eyes at him. "Yes, Isabella, I did. Over there past few days I have learnt a great deal about my kingdom and its people." Okay, so that really did make me kind of proud of him. He really was growing up, and he really would make such a fine king one day.

I gave him a smile before turning back and continuing the short walk to my bed. I couldn't help but frown when I noticed my book, my little diary, faced down in the middle of the bed, opened. "Well, I didn't leave you there." I muttered to myself, before reaching out and picking it up. The moment I turned it over and looked at it, my heart stopped, and the book fell from my hand.

It didn't make a sound as it landed softly back on the bed, but I made a noise by backing up into one of the large, solid wood chest of draws that was behind me. "Isabella? Is everything all right?" I heard Arthur as me, my eyes still locked on the book and the blood red lettering on the page.

With one of my hands clasped over my mouth, I pointed to the book on my bed, my hand doing nothing but shaking. I was too in shock to say anything, or to even move again. The joy and feeling of safety that I had felt when we stepped into the room had now vanished completely. In fact, I was feeling the complete opposite. I was scared, and afraid.

Arthur strode over to my bed, and picked up the book. I couldn't see the expression on his face, I wasn't sure that I wanted to. "Isabella…" He breathed, obviously having read what was written.

"He… he was here. He was in here. He was in here when we weren't here." I couldn't wrap my mind around it all, I didn't want to believe it. "He's coming for me, Arthur. There's no stopping him, he's coming." The words said as much. The message in my book, my personal book that I shared with no one, he had touched it, written it in, left a message for me. He told me that he was coming for me, that there was nowhere to hide.

The next thing I knew, Arthur's arms were wrapped around me tightly. "He will not get you, Isabella. I will not let him. Obviously while we were away he took his chance to sneak in here, he is trying to scare you."

"Yeah, well it's worked." I told him nervously, trying not to panic. "I am scared, Arthur. Oh, God, I am so scared right now." I managed to say to him, before the flood barrier broke and the tears streamed down my face.

His arms dropped from around me, and his hands held my face gently, lifting my gaze up to meet his. "You have nothing to fear, Isabella. I will do whatever it takes to protect you, do you understand? There is no way I would ever let him, or anyone else, harm you." He was doing his best to reassure me, but I was just too scared now.

I had honestly thought he would stay away from Camelot whilst believing that we were not there, but I had been wrong, so very wrong. "He was here, in this room." Just the thought of him having been in the room made me feel sick to my stomach. "Arthur he was here." And then it dawned on me. "What if he is still here? What if he is in the castle now? What if he is just waiting until tonight? He is coming for me, Arthur." I was starting to ramble a little, but I really couldn't help it, the fear had taken hold now, and it was going to take more than just a few words to shake it off.

"Then he shall have to get through me first. I am never going to leave you on your own, I will always be here, Isabella, always." He was still trying to calm me down, but I couldn't. "He will pay for everything he has done to you, and your brothers."

Before another word could be said by either of us, there was a knocking on the door. Instantly, I froze, not knowing who it was, scared that it could have been my uncle. But a moment later the door opened, and Merlin stood there, with Gaius right behind him. The elderly man was the first to speak, having noticed my distress. "What's happened?" He asked, rushing over, thinking that one of us may have been injured or sick.

Arthur didn't answer him straight away, he just looked at Merlin, who was staring at me. "Merlin, fetch my father, now!" He bellowed, making our friend dart out of the room in a heartbeat.

Gaius was still looking at me, worry etched all over his face. "Isabella, whatever is the matter?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out, except more tears from my eyes. Instead, Arthur spoke for me. "It would appear that while we were away, Lord Donald breeched the castle and has left a note for Isabella." He told him, passing him the book.

The first thing the physician noticed was the colour of the writing. We all knew that it wasn't any form of red ink, it was written in blood. His eyes seemed to widen in shock as well as he read the message, the note that was announcing my imminent death. "It is a good thing you were not here at the time. Maybe this little plan of yours was not such a bad thing after all." He told us both grimly. "But now you need to calm down, Isabella. Working yourself up over this will only make matters worse, and could make you ill again."

After that, Arthur led me over to his bed, forcing me to sit down. I didn't want to sit down, I wanted to run. I wanted to run from Camelot, run and hide from my uncle, run to keep my friends safe. I closed my eyes and let the tears continue to roll down my cheeks, trying to even out my breathing, to calm down like both Arthur and Gaius had told me. Except, with my eyes closed I could see my uncle, and his evil, wicked grin.

Merlin returned a few minutes later, the King ahead of him, rushing in with a scared and worried look on his face. "Arthur, what is it? What's happened?" He asked, the panic clear in his voice as well.

He said nothing, but passed the book to his father, allowing him to also read the message. "Security needs to be strengthened. Isabella's life is at stake here." Arthur was angry, I could hear it in his voice, and I didn't like it when he was angry. The way he spoke only made me feel worse, because I had put him in that situation, I had intruded on his life, turned it upside down, and brought him nothing but trouble.

"The city gates will be closed. No one will be able to enter or leave." Uther announced immediately. "If that man is still in Camelot, then we shall find him. If he has already fled, then he shall not be able to return." One of the knights that had followed him quickly nodded his head and shot out of the room, clearly obeying the orders and getting on with it.

I could feel my head starting to spin slightly. It was all getting too much for me. "I'm scared, Arthur." I managed to whisper, getting everyone's attention. "I'm scared."

He sat on the bed with me, and pulled me closer towards him, ignoring the wound that had been created by the assassin that had recently tried to kill him. "Everything will be all right, Isabella. You heard my father, he will be caught."

My head began to shake at him. "He has magic. I'm sure he could find a way in, or out, with that." He had magic, there was likely no limit to what he could and couldn't do. If he wanted to get into the castle, he would, I knew that there was nothing that was going to stop him now.

I could tell that everyone around me didn't really know what to say or do, as there was this sort of awkward silence. None of them really understood how I was feeling, they couldn't even begin to imagine what thoughts were running through my head and the fears that I had. Donald Lagoon was an evil man, he was much more sinister and cruel than the man I had called my uncle back on the farm. The man from the farm had scared me, there were no words to describe how petrified I was of this other Donald.

Everyone was still talking around me, in quiet, hushed voices. Arthur pulled away from me a little, allowing Gaius to tend better to his wound and make sure that the bleeding really had stopped. He barely let go of my hand the whole time, he only released it to take off his shirt. I wanted my brothers, I wanted them there so badly. I wanted them to come, to protect me, to take me home. I wanted to see them, to know that they were alive and all right.

But my brothers were not coming, I was not going to see them for a long time, if at all. I was stuck in Camelot while some man was out there trying to kill me, and them. He wasn't family, he had hardly been family in the first place. Sure, there had been so really fun times at the farm when we had visited, but there was always something there in his eyes, something wrong, and malicious.

My mind had taken over, and I had locked myself away in my own little bubble of thought, until Arthur popped it. "Isabella? Are you all right?" He asked me softly, gently resting his hand on my arm.

"No, no I'm not. How can I be all right when we know he is close? We know he is coming for me, it is only a matter of when now." I told him, feeling like completely giving up on it all and just letting whatever was going to happen, happen.

However, Arthur thought very differently from me. "The closer he gets to you, the closer I get to killing him. He has no idea what he has coming, the moment he is found, he will suffer severely." I had never really heard Arthur speaking like that before, and it frightened me a little. His words sounded rather malevolent, he didn't sound like my Arthur.

"Arthur, don't. Please, just… don't." I asked him, really not wanting to talk much more on the matter. I was too worn out and run down to argue with him, I had completely lost my fight. I was beginning to accept my fate, because no matter how much the Prince of Camelot swore to protect me, I knew deep down that I wouldn't let him. "I… I just… I just want to go to bed, pretend all of this is a dream." The tears were starting to form in my eyes again, but I was refusing to let them fall this time. "Please?"

He looked at me with the big blue eyes, such worry and sadness contained within them. I could feel myself breaking apart inside at the sight of them, because I knew that it was all my fault that he was feeling that way, I had brought on all of those emotions. "Of course, Isabella." He told me, taking my hand and lightly kissing the back of it.

The Prince then proceeded to pull back some of the covers on his bed, smiling at me as he waited for me to make myself comfortable. As I did, he walked over to the table, filling a goblet with some water, and then bringing it back and handing it to me. "Thank you." I muttered, before taking a long sip. All that crying had really dehydrated me, that was why I just wanted to sleep.

"I will protect you, Isabella. I will make sure that no harm ever comes to you. I promise." Arthur told me once again. I wanted to believe him, I really did, but I couldn't. too many people broke their promises, and I didn't want to be disappointed when it happened.

I took another gulp of the refreshing water, before my mind began to cloud over a little. I couldn't help but frown a little, looking up at Arthur with blurred vision. "Wha… what have you done?" I asked him, the goblet slipping out of my hand as I lost control of all my muscles.

The look on his face told me that he was sorry for whatever it was. "I'm sorry, you need to rest, Isabella. Gaius assured me that it would just help you to relax and to sleep, that is all. I'm sorry." He told me, forcing me to lie down in his bed, pulling the covers up over me.

"Arthur Pendragon, you are…" I didn't get to finish what I was going to say to him, because the darkness overtook me and I was plunged into a world of black. I was not going to let him get away with it, he was definitely going to get a piece of my mind when I finally did wake up again.

My eyes shot open, and yet again I was back at the lake. I couldn't help but let out a groan as I sat myself up and looked around me, it appeared that I was alone, for once. Usually, Sian was there waiting for me, but there was no sight of her, there was nothing. The water was eerily still, and there was no breeze around at all. Something didn't feel right to me, everything just seemed wrong.

As I was pushing myself up off the ground, I heard a noise somewhere behind me, resulting in my quickly turning my head to see what was there. My eyes widened as I spotted Sian walking towards me, with two very familiar figures walking with her.

"Dom! Mitch!" I cried, before finally remembering that I could move and charging towards them.

The both gazed at me, a look of relief on their faces. The moment I was in front of them both, I threw my arms at both of them, hugging them both tightly. "Hey, come on, Bells, you're acting like you haven't seen us in years." Dom said to me, chuckling a little.

I swiftly hit him on the arm a little, not amused one bit by his comment. "What are you both doing here? How… how did you get here?" I was actually rather curious as to how they managed to get into my dream world when I had been nowhere near them. Now things were just getting even stranger.

"I brought them here." I heard Sian say. I had completely forgotten that she was there, I had just been too focused on seeing them both that I completely ignored her. "Things are not well, Isabella."

"He's in Camelot." I whispered, not wanting to let go of my brothers but knowing that I had to. "Or at least he was. Arthur and I returned to the castle after spending a few days away. He had been there, and he left a note." I was surprised by how calm I was being with my brothers there. Of course, it was strange and a total surprise, but it was a good one, because after everything that had happened, I needed to seem them both.

Both Mitchel and Dominic looked at me. "What? He was in Camelot?" Mitch asked, sounding a little shocked.

"What the hell were you doing away from the castle?" Dom growled, clearly more interested in where I had been and why. "Both Arthur and Uther know the risks. I can't believe that they would even think about letting you leave the castle." He actually seemed a little angry, and that was never a good thing. He had always been the more overprotective one, for as long as I could remember.

"Look, we didn't actually leave Camelot, just the castle, and it is a really long story which I am not willing to go into right now. The point is, Arthur was with me the whole time, he isn't letting me out of his sight. I've moved into his chamber and I go wherever he goes." That was probably the quickest way for me to explain it all to them both, and to try and calm Dominic down.

Although the anger didn't fade from his eyes, Dom did seem to relax a little at that tiny piece of information. "I will be writing a letter to Uther, and his son." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him for saying that. "Do not roll your eyes at me, young lady. This is a very serious situation. Donald will not hesitate to kill you, and if he has been in Camelot, and managed to slip inside the castle, then he is moving much quicker than we had anticipated."

Something was telling me that they all knew something that I didn't, and I did not like that one bit. "You're here for a reason, what is it?" I wanted to just get straight to the point, so that we could move on from that and I could actually spend some time with my brothers properly.

"The time is coming, Isabella, the time where you must face all of your fears, and all of your demons. The choices that you make, every turn and every step, will pave way for the future." Sian told me, creeping me out a little with the way she was speaking. "This is it, Isabella, this is where you change everything."

I looked at her with wide eyes. "What? I… I change everything? How can I change everything? I'm no one, I never have been and I never will be. How am I going to change anything that happens here? If anything, just my being here is changing everything." I was starting to ramble a little, but what else could I do? I was changing things by being there, by holding Arthur's attention when it should have turned to Gwen.

"The future rests in your hands, Bells." My brother told me softly. "Right now, everything is in flux, the future is still waiting to be written. Whatever you do, whatever decisions you make, they will write the future." I really didn't like what he was saying, it was totally scaring me.

I couldn't help but shake my head at him. "No, I'm a nobody, the universe doesn't take notice of me. My actions mean nothing, not to anyone." I quickly said in protest, although I felt that it was going to make very little difference.

"Your actions mean more than you could ever imagine, Isabella." Sian told me, taking a step towards me. "You will face challenges, some of them will be very difficult, but you must overcome them. He is coming for you, and he has more planned for you than death."

Something she had said to me before flashing across my mind. "He's going to try to use me, I remember you telling me. But that will never happen. I am not like him, I am nothing like him. I will never turn against my brothers, or Arthur." I would defend them with my life if I had to, but I would never tell any of them that.

"And if he were to threaten you, to demand your loyalty in return for the safety of those you care about, what would you do then?" Sian asked me, really cutting to the chase.

"I wouldn't let him."

She took another step towards me. "When he stands before you, with a blade pressed to the throat of your loved ones, and tells you he will let them live if you join him, what will you do?"

"I would not join him, and I would not let him hurt anyone." I told her, feeling my temper starting to rise a little.

"You refuse, and he will slay Prince Arthur, the man you love, right before your very eyes." With every word she said, my anger grew even more. It felt like she was telling me exactly what was going to happen, of what my uncle would do. "And you simply stand there, like a child, doing nothing."

That was the final straw, and I broke. "No. I will not!" I bellowed, before the ground began to violently shake. It didn't seem to faze me at all, but both of my brothers looked rather worried.

"Isabella, you have to calm down! She was just getting you to imagine a scenario." Mitch shouted at me, before he was actually thrown off his feet. "Isabella, you have to stop!"

"I'll stop when she stops." I growled, glaring at the hooded figure. "Why do you always wear that hood? Why is your face always covered? What is it that you have to hide?" That had always bothered me, why was Sian always shrouded in mystery? She had to be hiding something, she really did. "Well? Tell me!"

"Who I am does not matter, for I only exist when you are here. Just know that I am on your side, that I am here to help you." How could I believe her when I didn't even know her? She was quickly swept of her feet and landed a few feet behind my brothers.

I quickly shook my head at her. "No, not good enough. You could be working for him for all we know. I don't understand even half of what happens most of the time, I still don't really get how I can create these words, or how I can drag other people into them. What makes it even harder to trust you is how you managed to get here, and to bring my brothers here." I told the woman, a fire now burning in my eyes.

I knew that both of my brothers were scared, the way they were staring at me kind of told me that. "Isabella Lagoon, you need to calm down right now." Dominic shouted at me, finding his feet and moving to stand in front of me. "She is on our side, she is here to help you. If you really want answer then you need to calm down and stop all of this!"

He was serious, and worried. Neither of them had really seen me use my magic like that before, I had never used my magic like that before, but she had just gotten me so angry. I was sick and tired of all the lies, all the secrets that people were keeping from me. I wanted the truth, I wanted to know what was going on and who exactly that woman was. After everything that I had been put through, I thought I deserved at least some answers.

In the end, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. "It's hard to trust someone who is willing to keep so many secrets." I muttered, knowing maybe I had overreacted by sending the woman flying through the air.

My brothers seemed to relax a little, knowing that I was calming myself down. "She isn't the enemy here, Donald is. He is in Camelot and trying to kill you, Isabella, now is not the time to be arguing over little things that do not matter." Dominic told me, trying to get me to focus on what the real problem was.

"Your brother is right, Princess Isabella." Sian said, getting up from where she had landed, letting out a slight groan. "At least I know that if he was to take Prince Arthur, you would be able to use your magic to defend him." Then it clicked, and all fell into place. Mitch had been right, she was just baiting me, trying to get me angry, trying to get me to react and use my magic. "Remember, he will try anything to get you on his side, you must be strong, Isabella, and you must not allow him to creep into your mind."

"I will never turn against my brothers or Arthur, I told you that before. I don't care what he tries, it will not work. Arthur means more to me than anything, I care about him so much, nothing he can say or do will ever change that." I didn't even realise what I was saying until it was too late and I had already said it.

Once again, both of my brothers were looking at me in shock. "Bells, what exactly is going on with you and Arthur?" Dominic asked me cautiously.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him. "Noting is going on with us. At least, I don't think anything is. Yeah, okay, so I've moved into his chamber, but that is only because someone tried to kidnap me one night. He doesn't let me out of his sight, all because he is after me." I wasn't going to tell them anymore than that, they really didn't need to know any of the smaller details.

"Really? Because the letters that we have received from Uther seem to tell us otherwise." Dom told me, clearly not impressed with whatever Uther had told him and what I had just said. "Is there anything else that you want to tell us?"

Something was telling me that he knew things between me and Arthur were a little more than just him protect me now. "That is none of your business, Dom. There is nothing that I want to tell you." He had no right whatsoever asking me if there was anything going on with Arthur and me, not at all.

But he seemed to think otherwise and took a step towards me. "I think you'll find it is. You are staying in a kingdom that abhors magic, and not just that, you are living in the castle, with a man who sees magic as nothing but evil." It looked to me as if he was about to have a good yell at me. "You have magic, Bells, and you are living with Prince Arthur. We're worried about you." Okay, not exactly what I had been expecting.

"And so is Arthur. He is constantly worrying about me, about our uncle, about all of it." I told them, remembering how many times I had stirred during the night to find that Arthur had his arms wrapped around me and he was softly trying to reassure me that everything would be all right. "But worrying over it all will not change a thing, in fact, it tends to make matters worse. So, here is an idea, stop worrying so much about me and start trying to find a way to get rid of the problem."

"She's right." Mitch said reluctantly. I was pretty sure that they had come into my dream world just to have a go at me, to tell me what to do. "Arthur has been looking after her, we both knew that already, and I really don't think he would let any harm come to her."

"No, the big idiot wouldn't." I confirmed, ignoring the looks I received because of what I had said to them. "I know that Arthur cares, and sometimes I think that he cares a little too much, but I know that he does everything he can to protect me, to keep me safe. I listen to what he tells me, I do what he asks."

Dominic couldn't help but let out a sigh. "I still don't like this. He is too close to Camelot, you need to be on your guard, Isabella. The man could strike at any moment, so you have to be prepared for him."

I wasn't entirely sure what he meant, I understood about our uncle being closer, it was the being prepared part that I wasn't so sure about. "Arthur has been teaching me how to fight. And I do have some magical protection." I hoped that would be enough to calm them both down.

It wasn't, Dom was shaking his head at me. "You cannot rely on Arthur and Merlin to always protect you. For a start, Merlin may not be able to use his magic, not if Arthur is there. You need to be able to defend yourself, with your magic."

And that was it, I was back to my magical training with Sian. Protesting was not going to get me anywhere, telling them that I didn't trust her was not going to make them change my mind. I had to go through with it, I had to let that woman teach me more about my magic and how I could use it. I had to be ready for him to strike. I knew I couldn't always rely on Arthur and Merlin to do it for me, to make sure that I was safe. I wanted to make sure they were safe, the last thing I wanted was for them to get hurt because of me, especially Arthur.

A/N: I know I keep saying this, that big things are coming, but they really are. I've already got it all planned, and I've started writing it as well. Fingers crossed that I can get the next chapter out soon, and that you haven't all got to wait weeks for it.

I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has taken the time our of their busy lives to leave a review. I really do enjoy reading them, and they certainly brighten up my day.

Back to work for me now, work on all of these stories that I've managed to start and not yet finish! Until the next time...

Pippa.