A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my marvelous reader/reviewer, Mickey-Moo! I hope you enjoy this one as much as you did the last one, and hopefully it ends up coming out to your liking!

-C

Krysia could feel the knots in her stomach churning as she sat by Morgana's window, absently touching her bandaged neck. How close she had come to having her own head on a chopping block. Gaius was right. She should have done nothing.

"I promised that I wouldn't let anything bad happen," Morgana said forlornly, and Krysia did not turn to look at her, still touching her neck.

"You can't blame yourself," Merlin said softly. "You tried your best."

"It's not enough."

"They've imprisoned him," Krysia said, looking out the window. "It's over. We have nothing left to try."

Morgana, though, would not accept this, and Krysia did not really expect her to.

"I will not let him die," Morgana hissed. "Can I count on your help?"

Merlin nodded, and Krysia turned to find both of them looking to her. Did she really want to get herself caught up in the mess again, knowing that her neck might not recover this time. Her stomach felt sick and she caressed the cloth covering her neck. But how would she ever explain to Merlin if she did not move forward now?

She nodded, an ache in her abdomen flaring up as Morgana said, "Thank you."

As soon as Morgana dismissed Merlin, she took Krysia by the hand and lead the disoriented girl away across familiar paths, into a room that Krysia vaguely recognized but didn't think too much on. The two girls sat silently at a table toward the front of the chambers, and it was only when Arthur entered that it registered in Krysia's mind that they were in his rooms.

"Make yourselves at home," he said, a touch bitter.

"We're here because of the boy," Krysia said, her fingers grazing the wound again, and Arthur blinked at her as though looking at her for the first time. Unlike Leon, he must have truly realized that she had liked to Uther.

After a moment's hesitation he said, "You're lucky the pair of you aren't being executed as well." He frowned at Morgana. "Are you telling me he was really behind the screen when I came to search your chambers?"

Morgana nodded and said, "I know you believe your father's wrong to execute him."

"What I believe doesn't matter," Arthur said earnestly. "My father's made up his mind. He won't be talked out of it. I tried."

This didn't really surprise Krysia, knowing what Uther was capable of.

"Well," she said, taking her fingers from her neck and looking up at her co-conspirators, recalling similar if less grave discussions from childhood, "I suppose this means we'll have to find another way, a way that transcends words."

Arthur narrowed his eyes and said, "Whatever you're thinking, it's not going to happen."

"We have to get the boy back to his people," Morgana insisted.

"No. Forget it," Arthur said, although not as firmly as he might have. Krysia and Morgana exchanged knowing looks.

"That's not like you, Arthur," Krysia pressed, feeling the familiar excitement of goading Arthur into doing something for her and Morgana, just as when the convinced him dozens of times to sneak them sweats from the kitchens when Morgana was in trouble. "He is just a child, after all, hurting no one. Would you really let him die?"

Arthur frowned, looking between the two young woman in a way that told Krysia quite plainly that he was at a malleable point.

"It's too late," he said, a little less firmly than before. "He's been caught. I have no choice."

"And this is how you will rule when you are king?" Morgana pressed, obviously realizing their advantage. "You're not like your father."

"I will not betray him."

"Arthur," Krysia said softly, touching the bandage around her neck for good measure, noting the way his eyes flickered to it, "I know you're a good man. And I know that it can be hard to consider what to do when Uther has threatened as he does. But so many of us have already risked our lives for this child, Sir Leon as well. If you feel the boy isn't worth saving, consider the position you put us in, letting all our efforts be for nothing."

Arthur sighed and nodded, sitting down with the two women to begin plans in hushed voices. Krysia felt a rush of excitement that crashed in her belly against a sensation of powerful fear. But surely her father had been afraid when he saved her, leaving her in the forest. The longer the three of them talked, the more certain she felt that she was doing the right thing.

She started when the door opened, and all three of them jerked their heads around in silence to see Merlin looking at them, bemused.

"Sorry," he said, frowning. "Was I interrupting something?"

"Nothing you need concern yourself with," Arthur said with false bravado. "Go make yourself useful, muck out my horses."

Morgana, though, put her hand on Arthur's arm and said, "We trust Merlin."

Arthur looked over at Krysia who nodded at him in agreement before he motioned for Merlin to enter. Merlin closed the door and sat down with them at the table. He didn't ask, and Krysia knew he already had a sense of it, but she felt the need to inform him, regardless.

"We are making plans," she said softly, "to free the Druid boy."

"You can't do that," Merlin said, a little too quickly.

"We have to," Morgana insisted. "Uther's going to execute him at dawn."

"I mean," Merlin said slowly, "it's too dangerous. You've already been caught once, and if the King catches you a second time he'll never forgive you and Krysia's excuse will be blown."

"It's a risk we have to take, Merlin," Krysia said softly, not meeting his eyes. She knew, of course, that he was right.

"Merlin's right," Arthur said thoughtfully. "When my father finds out the boy's escaped, he will suspect that you are both involved, and that puts Leon in danger as well."

"It's suicide," Merlin agreed eagerly.

"You must go to my father and apologize," Arthur said to Morgana. "Dine with him, have Krysia serve the meal, and he cannot hold you responsible if you're with him when the boy escapes."

"You'll need me if the plan is going to work," Krysia argued, "one of us at the very least. You'll never escape without help."

"Merlin will take your place," Arthur said, matter-of-fact.

"Me?" Merlin said, horrified.

Arthur continued, "I'm going to take the boy out through the burial vaults. There's a tunnel that leads beyond the city walls. Get my horse from the stables and meet me there. There's a grate that covers the entrance to the tunnel. Bring a rope and a grappling hook to pull it off."

"Arthur," Krysia said softly as Merlin looked ready to say no, "I'm not sure you can ask Merlin to do this. Your father believed a servant innocent once, but I'm not sure he would do it a second time."

Arthur waved her off, turning his attention to Merlin.

"Merlin," he said urgently. "Do you understand? If you're not there to meet us, we'll surely be caught."

Merlin hesitated, but after a long moment, he nodded. Krysia wished she could tell from his eyes how he truly felt, but she couldn't be certain if he meant to aid them or betray them all.

/-/

Later that evening, Krysia absently braided her hair while she watched Gwen fasten Morgana's dress. Krysia could feel her fingers shaking clumsily as they moved on instinct through her hair. Everything weighed on if she could be believed tonight. When she tied off her hair, she let her fingers graze the scabbed skin on her neck where Morgana had cut her, still tender and not yet fully hard.

"Thank you," Morgana said to Gwen, before turning and looking up at Gwen's worried face. "What is it?" she said. "What's wrong?"

Gwen simply pursed her lips until Krysia said, "Gwen, we don't have much time."

"You're risking so much for this boy," Gwen said, looking between both Morgana and Krysia. "You don't know anything about him. You don't even know his name."

Morgana frowned and said, "There's a bond between us."

"Stronger than the bond you have with Uther?" Gwen challenged.

"It's uncanny," Krysia said thoughtfully. "Perhaps something like...destiny."

Gwen frowned, shaking her head, and she said, "How can that be?"

"I don't know," Morgana said slowly. "I can't explain it."

With a sigh, Gwen shook her head again.

"We must go to Uther," Morgana said with a frown, checking her hair in the mirror once more.

"Wish us luck," Krysia said, kissing Gwen's cheek, feeling her heart pounding against her ribcage. "We'll need it."

Morgana took a moment to work herself up to prepare to "apologize" to Uther while Krysia slipped into the room, taking her place across from Leon behind the king, ready to serve his wine.

"How does your neck heal, Krysia?" Uther said.

She was uneasy with his attention to the matter, but she cleared her throat, not meeting Leon's eyes as she answered, "As well as can be expected, Sire."

Uther nodded, motioning for wine, and she moved forward in smooth, long steps, trying to seem natural as she poured the wine into his goblet. Any reason to doubt her story, any reason to doubt Morgana's apology, and they might all end up dead anyway.

Of course, no one could manage deception and theatrics quite like Morgana. She was the best liar Krysia had ever met, and Krysia had paid special attentive care to all the royal and noble guests of Camelot throughout the years.

When she finally did enter, Morgana's cheeks were tear-stained and her eyes were obviously red from crying. Krysia couldn't have planned it better.

"I have come to apologize, My Lord," Morgana said, pitifully. "You have been generous and kind and fair. And I owe you everything. I truly don't know what came over me. I acted without thinking of the consequence. My behavior was unforgivable."

Morgana gave a slight, pained gasp and Krysia held her breath, surprised when she felt Leon's gloved hand press her own. Whatever he thought was happening, he obviously knew Krysia was upset and out of sorts and he wanted to comfort her. She squeezed his hand slightly, waiting.

"I am glad you've seen sense," Uther said levelly. "Dine with me," he said with a smile, motioning to the seat beside him, and Krysia hurried to set a place for Morgana. "Let's put this," he cleared his throat awkwardly as Krysia avoided Morgana's eyes, bending to pour her wine, "unfortunate incident behind us."

Although Krysia held her breath, everything seemed to be going smoothly. Morgana had dried her tears, Uther had begun to smile, and Krysia was thinking they were nearly to the time of night when she could begin to safely act more comfortably around Uther when the warning bell was sounded, and Krysia tensed, gripping the wine pitcher with sweaty hands.

"Sir Leon," Uther said sharply, and Leon stepped forward. "Find out why they've sounded the warning bell."

"Yes, My Lord," Leon said. His eyes met Krysia's briefly and she struggled to keep her countenance smooth as he stepped into the hall to speak with the guards. It was only a matter of time now. As long as Arthur made it away safely, as long as Merlin did as required….

And then Krysia realized her fate was in Merlin's hands and she began to fight the trembling she was developing in her hands. The wait was agonizing, wondering if good or bad news would come, and how Uther would react either way.

Just when she managed to compose herself, Leon entered again, clearing his throat and pointedly looking away from Krysia.

"My Lord," he said as Uther looked up at him. "I regret to report that the Druid boy has escaped from the dungeon."

"What?" Uther cried. "How?"

"My Lord, he was assisted by some accomplices," Leon said, obviously uncomfortable. Did he know it was Arthur and Merlin? Had he guessed? Or was he simply uncomfortable reporting the failure of the guards? "The guards are searching Camelot as we speak."

But Krysia knew it was already too late. Arthur and Morgana and Krysia knew the castle well, better than anyone, and they knew that once they escaped the castle there would be no finding them. Leon continued to look away from Krysia, which she was grateful for.

"Find him," Uther demanded, "and his accomplices and kill them."

"Yes, My Lord," Leon said. "I will give the order."

"If I discover," Uther hissed, rounding on Morgana, "that you were somehow involved in freeing this boy, the consequences will be extremely severe."

"My Lord," Morgana said, eyes wide and perfectly believable in a way only she could accomplish, "you know I respect you too much to ever betray you like that."

Perhaps this was taking her role too far, however, because Uther leaned forward, still fuming, and he said, "I made a promise to your father that I would protect you. But if you cross me again, I will break that promise without a second thought."

He swept out of the room swiftly and Morgana scowled for a moment. If not for Leon still standing there, Krysia would have asked what her friend's thoughts were. But Leon had already done too much for Krysia's protection, so she said nothing as Morgana stood abruptly from the table and stormed out into the corridor, leaving much of her plate untouched.

Krysia began to clean up the table and clear away the food, and she was surprised when she felt Leon's glove touch her hand. She looked up to see he frowning at her, concerned.

"Tell me you didn't," he said softly.

"I don't know what you mean," she said, trying to be cold, but she could not muster the expression.

She could tell that he was trying to arrange his features to be disappointed with her, but his lips simply twitched slightly before he shook his head. He touched her braid gently and shook his head again.

"Please take better care of yourself," he whispered, leaning in close so that any guards in the corridor could not hear. "Lying to Uther is a good way to be killed."

Krysia could think of all manner of cruel, biting things to say that Morgana might have tossed at Arthur, but she saw the sadness in Leon's eyes and bit them back, simply nodding before she loaded half-eaten plates of food onto her arms and swept out of the room, heart still pounding.

/-/

Leon pulled off his tunic before bed that night, his mind still on the tension in Krysia's neck during dinner. She didn't have to tell him that she had lied to Uther, to him, to everyone. He could tell from how she tensed when she thought no one was looking. He could understand her sympathy for the Druid child, but what he could not understand was defying Uther, and lying to him.

After splashing a bit of water on his face, Leon climbed into bed and blew out the candle, staring at his window where just a sliver of moonlight came through. He licked his lips and thought of Krysia's smoothly braided hair falling just beside the wound Morgana's knife had given her. If he held his hands still long enough, he could still feel her silky blonde hair between his bare fingers. He knew her hair smelled of lavender and rosemary. He could only guess that the skin of her neck and face was still as smooth as it had been in childhood.

No one had to explain to him, even at seven, that he was of noble birth and Krysia was destined to be a serving girl, a commoner. At seven he didn't care much about the distinction. He hadn't caught himself falling in love with her until it was too late to stop himself, however, and he still remembered waking up four years ago from a feverish dream of kissing her skin and tracing his fingers over her body.

She was beautiful, perfect, kind, intelligent, strong…. Leon knew her well enough to know that Krysia could sometimes be proud and she wasn't always the bravest, but he had never known those things to matter much. No matter how many times he told himself that he could never marry her, he still found himself watching her neck during council meetings or feasts, imagining tracing kisses down the smooth column of skin to her neckline.

Leon closed his eyes and rolled his back to the window. He was almost relieved to know that she had no interest in the late Sir Ewan. Ewan had admired Krysia as much as Leon, and much more vocally. In the months before he died, Ewan had mentioned to Leon several times over drinks that he was considering seducing Krysia despite the impossibility of marriage. Some men did such things with pretty girls, some knights, even. The thought had certainly occurred to Leon, but he was so repulsed by the idea of ruining Krysia's virtue that he had never seriously entertained the notion.

No, he remained chaste as ever, although in dreams his body could do things, his lips could say things that would never be possible in daylight. And in those dreams, she was always his, never a question, never a doubt, never an obstacle. In the waking hours he tried to content himself with drinking in her image and scent whenever possible, but he never told a soul about the dreams.

As he took deep breaths in hopes of sleep, Leon wondered what he would have done had the king not believed her, had Krysia been slated for execution. His stomach turned and he decided he never wanted to find out.

A/N: YES, topped it off with some Leon. :D There's going to be occasional sprinklings of him like this, but we're pretty much sticking to Krysia throughout, with a smattering of Gwaine. I added Leon's POV here because his voice will be critical during a story I'll be adding into sometime in season three.

-C