"Avalon," Gaius said, frowning as Krysia and Merlin finished their retelling of following Aulfric. "What you saw at the lake, it's Avalon. It must be."

Merlin frowned. "Whats…"

"The land of eternal youth. Mortals are only supposed to glimpse it the moment before death."

Krysia's eyebrows shot up and she said, "Well, we're still alive, and we definitely saw it." She looked down at her hands. "We're still alive, right?"

"Yes," Gaius said, smiling slightly. "Extraordinary. What did it look like?"

"Does it matter?" Merlin said impatiently. "They're going to sacrifice Arthur and we don't even know who 'they' are yet."

"We do now." Gaius pushed a book forward for Merlin and Krysia to look at. They leaned forward as Gaius pointed at an inscription in the book. "I found writing like this on the top of Aulfric's staff. It's Ogham, an ancient script. Abas ocus bithe. Duthectad bithlane. 'To hold life and death in your hands.' From the writing you saw on his staff and what you saw at the lake, I'm afraid I'm now certain. We're dealing with the Sidhe."

Krysia winced, pushing the book away again.

"I was really hoping we weren't," she sighed. "This is terrible."

"They're masters of enchantment," Gaius said to Merlin, explaining.

"You think Arthur's been enchanted?" Merlin said nervously.

"Almost certainly. I'm afraid Morgana's dream is coming true."

Things were looking even more dire when Arthur called a meeting with Uther the following morning, with Sophia beside him, and Krysia had to stand beside Uther and Morgana in the council chamber. Leon was on the other side of the throne, and he was blissfully ignorant that something terrible was happening right under his nose, but Morgana looked vastly uncomfortable.

"Your wine, Sire," Krysia said, handing Uther the goblet he had requested for his headache. He took it without glancing at her.

"I request this audience, Father," Arthur said, "to discuss a matter of great importance. It cannot have escaped your attention that I and Lady Sophia Tír-Mòr have grown very close."

"Not too close, I hope," Uther said. His voice sounded light, but a trained ear could hear the steel behind it. Krysia knew the sort of fury that would be unleashed if Arthur had fathered a bastard child, or spoiled a woman's honor even. It hardly mattered that the woman was noble.

"We're in love," Arthur said, not taking the hint. "Which is why I come before you today to ask your permission to marry."

Uther began to laugh, and Krysia could feel her heart stop. Leon glanced over at her, obviously confused and uneasy, but there was something strange in his eyes that she couldn't quite place. Was it possible he had been enchanted as well? She merely glanced back for a moment, then looked forward as was required of her.

"I assume you're joking," Uther said.

"No. I'm going to marry her."

"But you only met two days ago."

"Three, Sire," Krysia muttered, but Uther simply waved a dismissive hand, and Arthur seemed oblivious of the discrepancy.

"We're in love," he insisted.

"In love?" Uther's tone was slightly mocking, incredibly amused. "We had no idea that you were such a romantic, had we, Morgana?"

Morgana shifted slightly, glancing at Krysia briefly before forcing a smile and saying, "No, he's full of surprises."

"I'm going to marry her," Arthur said. "I don't care what either of you think about it."

Krysia moved behind the throne to Leon, who took a step back in anticipation of her whisper, which he had practiced how to receive.

"I thought you'd come to ask my permission," Uther said, the amusement gone completely from his voice at this point. Leon leaned down slightly and Krysia stood on the balls of her feet.

"Keep an eye on Sophia," she breathed. "Something is not right here."

Leon frowned slightly, but then he nodded, returning to his place. If he had been enchanted, no doubt he would have reacted more unfavorably to her request. Krysia tiptoed back to her own place.

"Out of courtesy," Arthur declared, "nothing more."

He took Sophia's hand and began to walk toward the door.

"Guards, door," Uther said lazily, and two guards jumped to attention as Leon took a step forward. "You've forgotten whose court you're standing in."

"You won't stop me," Arthur said, and even Uther should have realized that Arthur was enchanted by this point, but it seemed not to occur to him. "If I want to marry her, I will."

"Arrest Sophia and Aulfric Tír-Mòr," Uther ordered, and Leon moved forward, not even questioning the command, which meant that he was not enchanted after all. Krysia exhaled softly with relief.

"What are you doing?" Arthur demanded.

"And Krysia," Uther continued without looking at her, "inform the executioner that his services will be required tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Sire," she said softly, beginning to cross the council chambers, but she knew it could not be so simple, that Sophia and Aulfric would not go down so easily.

"You can't do this," Arthur said.

"Yes, I can, and unless you show me some respect, I will," Uther replied, and Krysia hesitated at the door, waiting to see what Arthur would do. To her partial surprise and relief, he bowed his head, apparently even under the enchantment seeing no way out of the situation that was good for Sophia's orders. "Release them," Uther said, motioning for Krysia to return, which she did. He then turned to Arthur. "You've got your whole life ahead of you. Sophia is no doubt your first love, but she certainly won't be the only one. Enjoy yourself while you can."

Uther dismissed the court, and Morgana caught Krysia's eye. Knowing that look, Krysia followed Morgana as she followed Uther out into the courtyard.

"Neither of you are planning on springing any surprises on me, are you?" he asked as they caught up to him.

"Don't you think you should be taking this a bit more seriously?" Morgana asked.

"He's young, foolish, and in love. Give it a week and he'll be chasing after the next girl who catches his eye."

"Sophia will never let that happen."

Uther raised one of his thin eyebrows and asked, "Do you bear a grudge against our guest?"

Morgana turned to Krysia, imploring some sort of help.

"I have to say, Sire," Krysia said softly, "that there has been a...rapid and remarkable change in Arthur in the three days since her presence. It is...uncomfortably sudden and thorough."

Uther waved a dismissive hand and said, "He's a fool in love."

"She's dangerous," Morgana insisted.

"Dangerous? To who?"

"Arthur."

Krysia's heart was pounding. They were encroaching on dangerous territory. How could Morgana accuse Sophia of witchcraft without proof, without herself displaying talents that could have her burned?

"Why do you say that?" Uther said, his eyes narrowing.

Morgana seemed to realize the danger because she took a small step back and said, "I just have a sense, a feeling."

"And what has she done to make you have this feeling?"

Morgana glanced at Krysia who shook her head slightly, praying that this would turn in a different direction. She is going to kill herself to save Arthur's skin.

"Nothing, yet," Morgana said slowly. "It's what she's going to do. I don't know how to tell you this."

"Try. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

If only he knew just how wrong he was. Krysia shook her head again, more forcefully this time, hoping that the pleading in her eyes would make Morgana see sense.

"I've just seen girls like this before," Morgana said quickly, and Krysia bit her lip to hold in a sigh of relief. "They string men along and then drop them. I don't want to see him get hurt."

Uther looked relieved, and he put a comforting hand on Morgana's shoulder.

"I know you want to protect him," he said tenderly, "but some lessons we have to learn for ourselves. He'll hurt for a week and then Sophia will be forgotten."

"I hope so."

He hesitated, leaning back slightly to take in more of Morgana's face, then glancing at Krysia, then back at Morgana.

"Are you sure there's nothing else behind this?"

Krysia didn't bother shaking her head this time. Morgana knew what was at stake.

"Yes," Morgana said, faking a smile. "It's nothing."

After a brief touring of basic duties for the servants, Krysia returned to check on Gaius, to see if he needed anything. Merlin would have his hands full with Arthur in the state he was in, and she didn't want Gaius's work to go neglected for it. She'd only barely arrived, however, when Morgana burst in looking absolutely frantic.

"What on earth?" Krysia said.

"He's gone!" Morgana cried. "Arthur's gone with her! She's taken him!"

"Slow down," Gaius said, grasping her shoulder bracingly.

"I know neither of you believe me, but I'm so sure it's going to happen. My dream's going to come true."

"Morgana please," Krysia said, "we believe you. Breathe."

"I've got to tell Uther," Morgana choked out.

"You can't," Gaius said urgently.

"I've got to do something, if I don't then Arthur will die!"

"Morgana please," Krysia repeated. "If you tell Uther about your dream, if he thinks you're a seer, he's going to try to save Arthur, maybe fail, and then you'll be charged for witchcraft and burned for your efforts."

"I don't have a choice," Morgana insisted. Krysia admired the bravery, but not the narrow-mindedness. What happened to the girl who did what she thought right and asked Uther permission only if she got caught? Fear had stifled Morgana's creativity. "I couldn't live with myself knowing I'd let him die."

"Wait," Gaius said. "We've known each other a long time, Morgana. And you've known Krysia nearly all your life. Don't you trust us?"

"Yes, you know I do."

Krysia took Morgana's hand, squeezing it firmly. It was trembling.

"Trust us to do something about this," Krysia said. "Stay here, say nothing, not even to Uther or Gwen."

"But Arthur…"

"We'll take care of it," Gaius said, sitting her down on the bench.

"Where are you going?"

"We're finding someone who can actually do something about it," Krysia said, closing the door behind them and praying Morgana could keep her wits together long enough to wait it out.

When they arrived at Arthur's chambers, Krysia was both relieved and horrified to see Merlin there. Lucky they found him, but he seemed to be just returning to consciousness. Gaius hurried forward to help him to his feet.

"Merlin! What happened to you?"

"Aulfric," Merlin said with a wince. "Where's Arthur? I have got to go after him." He paused, looking around the room. "What's that buzzing noise?"

Krysia could have died, he was in such terrible shape. If they didn't do something soon, Arthur wouldn't make it.

"Careful, Merlin," Gaius cautioned. "You can barely stand up."

"It doesn't matter," she said, taking Merlin's hand. "We have to go."

"You can't, not while he's in this state. He owes it to his powers that he's alive at all."

Merlin, though, was on Krysia's side, and seemed to think that the logistics of his survival were irrelevant at the moment.

"I'll be fine, he needs me," he said, leaning more on Krysia for support.

"Has that buzzing stopped?" Gaius demanded, crossing his arms.

Merlin nodded, but then quickly bit his lip, probably to keep from groaning in pain or grimacing.

"See, he's fine," Krysia said breathily.

"You're both liars," Gaius grumbled.

"I have to go, Gaius. He'll die if I don't," Merlin reasoned.

Gaius understood this, but he still seemed very nervous about sending them. Still, the fact that there were two of them seemed a positive factor, and he finally sighed, placing a hand on Krysia's shoulder. "The Sidhe are a vicious people. You must be careful."

"Don't worry," Krysia said as Merlin started off, breaking free from her grip in search of the door. "I'll keep a close watch on him."

Gaius raised an eyebrow, looking over her shoulder. "Merlin?" he said, and Krysia turned to see Merlin headed for the window. She bit back a groan. "This way," he added, pointing.

"Just testing," Merlin said, and Krysia grabbed his hand again, leading him away from Camelot, out into the forest where they had followed Aulfric before.

They went to the forest as quickly as they could, and by the time they hit the treeline, Merlin seemed to be more of himself. Krysia's heart pounded as they went, terrified they wouldn't make it in time. Yes, it was Merlin's destiny, but what if Arthur died anyway? What would become of Merlin, of Krysia?

She was drawn out of her thoughts briefly as Merlin tripped over tree roots, but as soon as he was righted again the pair continued to tear through the forest, desperately racing back to Avalon, to the lake.

When they arrived, Arthur was already in the water, and Krysia feared it was too late. Merlin reacted quickly, though. He stretched out his arm toward the staff, which was on the ground between them and the Sidhe pair.

"Onbregdan," he said, and the staff flew through the air. Because he was weak, his aim was off, but Krysia managed to catch the staff.

She pointed it at Aulfric as soon as he turned to her, and said on instinct, "Swilte, gold beorþ."

Aulfric was hit by a lightening bolt from the staff, and as he exploded Krysia passed, the staff to Merlin, rushing toward the shoreline to see if there was anything she could do for Arthur, who was still submerged.

"Father!" Sophia shrieked. "No! No!"

As Sophia tried to run to the shoreline, to leave the water, Krysia heard Merlin say, "Óga ceoles." Sophia exploded as her father had, but Krysia did not pay her any attention. she was wading into the water, looking for Arthur. Merlin was calling out, "Arthur! Arthur! Arthur!"

Krysia found him, diving in, holding her breath and opening her eyes to the stinging of the cold lake water. It was difficult to pull Arthur to the surface. He'd become much heavier since childhood, but with a little help from Merlin she dragged him onto the shore and they began to revive his breathing.

/-/

Getting Arthur back to the castle had been a challenge with just the two of them and no horse, but Krysia and Merlin had managed it, and Gaius had set to work restoring Arthur as best he could with what they had at their disposal.

"He's breathing, though," Krysia had said nervously to no one in particular. "He's breathing and his heart's beating. That's definitely a good start."

The wait was still excruciating, the three of them hovering without daring to get too close, finding things to do that didn't actually need to be done.

Finally, Arthur groaned and Merlin snapped to attention.

"Arthur?" he demanded, crossing the room. "Arthur?"

"Move," Krysia hissed, helping Arthur sit up slightly, giving him a cold compress for his head.

Arthur leaned back on the pillow Krysia slid under his head and said, "What happened? Where am I?"

"Can you remember anything?" Merlin pressed.

Krysia held her breath, hoping he had no memory of either of them practicing magic. The last thing she needed was to save his life and have hers ended.

"Ow," Arthur hissed. "Oh, my head! There was a girl. Sophia, she…. I asked my father something about her; I asked him…"

He suddenly sat bolt upright, his eyes turned to Krysia beseechingly, begging that she would tell him no such thing had happened. But she just gave him a sympathetic, sheepish smile and said, "Unfortunately, yes."

"What was I thinking?" Arthur moaned.

"Well, we did wonder," Merlin said, grinning a little at Krysia. "Especially when you eloped with her last night."

"I did what?"

Krysia cleared her throat and said, "Merlin and I had to track you down, bring you back to the castle."

Arthur turned to Gaius, disbelieving, almost begging to learn that this wasn't how it actually happened at all. But Gaius said nothing.

"I don't recall any of this," Arthur insisted.

Gaius nodded gravely, handing him another cold compress and saying, "Must have been some blow."

"What blow?"

Krysia gave the others a quick glance before giving her best acting to the story they had rehearsed.

"You were beyond reason when we found you," she said nervously. "There wasn't anything we could do, so Merlin distract you and I had to...to…" She shrugged and gestured at him to suggest her point.

"You managed to knock me out?" he said, horrified.

"Yep," Merlin said, a little too cheerfully. "With a lump of wood."

"She only did it to bring you back safely," Gaius said quickly, although Krysia suspected that Arthur would have been too embarrassed anyway to try and punish her for it. But it never hurt to be safe.

She nodded and said, "Merlin had a plank ready if I hadn't managed hard enough, but thankfully it only took one hit."

Arthur's eyes widened even more and he said in a low, pained voice, "No one can know about this. Any of it. Is that understood?"

The three of them exchanged looks that barely hid their relief and they nodded. Before Krysia had even finished turning back to look at Arthur, however, he had passed out onto his pillow once more.

It was rather unfortunate for Merlin that they made that arrangement, however, because when Arthur was brought before the king later that day, Krysia stood at the King's side with the distinct impression that this could only lead to more rotten food.

"When you failed to show up for patrol this morning," Uther said as Arthur stood before the court, "I feared you'd eloped with Sophia in a fit of passion."

Krysia held her breath as Arthur turned to Merlin, who looked as though he'd been put on the spot. Apparently, the boys hadn't agreed on how to address this matter to Uther.

"I - I wish he had," Merlin said quickly. "Because then I wouldn't be standing in front of you feeling like an idiot…again."

"This is becoming a near daily occurrence for you."

"But there was a mistake," Merlin said, although he met Krysia's eyes and he must have realized that if he tried to say there was a duty error it would fall on her, and she would murder him in his sleep. "And I would not say it was anyone's fault," he added. "Not - not really. Erm, you - you could say it was mine."

Uther had lost his patience, however, and he growled, "Could somebody tell me what happened?"

"Well…."

But Uther cut Merlin off, adding, "Someone with a brain."

"Sire," Krysia said, stepping forward. "I do know that when Lady Sophia left, Arthur went out to hunt to clear his mind."

That should get them started on something promising, she decided. Sure enough, Morgana picked up on this, slightly amused, slightly disgusted.

"And killing things mends a broken heart?" she said.

"No," Arthur said, "but it's good fun. Merlin was meant to inform you," he continued, turning to Uther, "that I wouldn't be back till later today."

Uther, aggravated, turned to Merlin again, narrowing his eyes. Krysia could feel her stomach churning uncomfortably.

"Have you some kind of mental affliction?" Uther demanded.

"Probably," Merlin said, eager for anything that kept him alive.

Krysia glanced out at Gaius and said, "We are investigating such an eventuality, Sire."

Uther nodded and said to Gaius, "Well, I hope for our sake that you find a cure. Or we'll find ourselves with a food shortage on our hands."

Merlin gave a nervous chuckle and Krysia could have hit him.

"Food shortage," he muttered, smiling.

Krysia didn't bother following him to the stocks this time. She had more important duties to see to, and it was getting a bit tiresome, watching Merlin being pelted with rotten food.

/-/

The week dragged on without significant event, and soon Merlin stopped smelling like rotten food. Krysia had almost moved on from the incident entirely when Morgana knocked on Gaius's door. Krysia was the one to open the door and see the lady standing there, slightly distressed.

"Good evening, Morgana," she said, letting her in.

Morgana looked nervously around at Gaius.

"I've had some troubled nights," she said.

Gaius fetched a bottle he had finished pouring not an hour prior and said, "I prepared another draught for you." He placed it in her graceful hands. "Have the dreams stopped?"

Morgana shook her head, clutching the bottle in her lily-white fingers. She turned back to Krysia.

"Arthur told me what actually happened," she said, smiling to appear strong. "You must've hit him round the head really hard."

Krysia gave her own weak smile and said, "Yes, not for the first time."

"Remember," Gaius said, "every night just before you go to sleep."

"Thank you, Gaius."

Morgana left with quick steps, probably anxious to sleep for the night, with hopes of some peace. Krysia couldn't imagine what it was like, to be afraid to sleep.

Gaius turned on Merlin and Krysia as soon as the door was closed.

"She must never find out the truth," he warned.

"Never?" Krysia asked, sitting down on the bench, picking up the tunic she was mending for the king. "She is capable of discretion, Gaius. I'm not saying now, but if she could learn how to channel her ability she could help Arthur tremendously. She saved his life this time."

"And it could have cost her own," Gaius said sternly. Krysia knew he was right, but still. "If Uther ever found out, things would never be the same again, for any of us. It must remain a secret."

Krysia knew that secrets had a way of being discovered, but she pursed her lips and rethreaded her needle.

"Is she like me?" Merlin asked. "Can she use magic?"

"No one's like you, Merlin," Gaius said, smiling wanly.

"But can she use magic?" Krysia asked.

She didn't know why the thought had never occurred to her, Morgana using magic. It seemed a logical progression, from Seer to witchcraft.

Gaius shook his head, watching Krysia's careful stitches and said in a painfully soft voice, "For her sake, I hope not."