Merlin didn't want to talk about what happened when they went looking for Anhora, but it wasn't long after they returned to the city that the grain stores rotted at alarming speed. There was almost nothing left to give the people. Merlin and Gaius had tried some bugs, but Merlin did say he didn't recommend it.

Krysia wasn't sure what brought her to Leon's door, but she knocked, and his voice told her to enter. She hesitated, hating herself for this, but she entered his quarters and he startled at the sight of her.

"Is everything alright?" he said. "Is there more bad news? The well?"

"As far as I've heard the well is fine," Krysia said. "No, I…I just have a bad feeling about what we may have to do now the grain is rotted."

Leon stood straighter and offered for her to sit. He had a small table in the center of his quarters, nothing as grand as what Arthur had, but comfortable for keeping company. Krysia had spent little time here since Leon came of age, as his responsibilities had grown, as had hers. There was almost no time for leisure anymore. Not that it would matter if they all starved.

"I have a little bread," he said. "It isn't much. But you—"

"I'm not here to steal your food, Leon," she whispered with a weak smile. "Please don't ask me to. I'm…. Uther is going ask Arthur to stop giving food to the hungry, isn't he?"

Leon said nothing, but he didn't have to. They'd watched Uther react in fear and pride all their lives. If the stores were as low as she'd heard, food would be saved for the army, which meant Leon would eat, and he would continue to feel guilty for it. The worst part was, Krysia wasn't sure she disagreed with the decision. With the likes of Cenred ruling nearby kingdoms, Camelot couldn't afford a starving army.

"Once it's given to the knights, we could always redistribute some to the most urgent," Leon said.

"He won't let you do that," Krysia said. "You know he won't."

Leon sat across from her and whispered, "Do you think what Gaius said is true?"

Krysia frowned, wondering if Gaius had given a speech or prognosis she wasn't present for. Her mind was getting fuzzy from the hunger, and she wasn't sure how many days they'd been in this situation.

"About the legend, killing a unicorn?" Leon said.

"Oh, the unicorn," Krysia said. She sighed. "I'd like to say he was wrong, but Gaius almost never is."

"Then what's to be done?"

She hesitated. She wasn't sure how much anyone other than Arthur and Merlin knew about Anhora, and she wasn't about to spoil whatever chance Arthur had to atone (if there were, indeed, any chance left) by having knights tramping through the forest to try to fix it. Even Leon.

"I wouldn't begin to know," she said. It was not a lie. As far as she knew, there might be nothing to be done.

She stood and was about to make her excuses and return to work. Before she could make her excuses, she promptly grew dizzy and the world went black.

/-/

Leon saw Krysia's eyes flutter and managed to stand and scoop her into his arms before she fell. He carefully laid her on his bed and tried to wake her, but she remained unconscious. He didn't want to leave her alone, but if she were seriously ill, he could not begin to treat her. Leon hurried to the door and looked around the corridor. There was a young servant he didn't know carrying a box and about to turn the corner.

"You there," Leon called. The boy startled but stopped. "I have an emergency. Bring the physician to my quarters as quickly as you can. Do not stop."

The boy nodded and hurried back down the corridor, away from whatever his errand had been, and Leon returned to Krysia's side. He leaned over her and could not feel her breath, so he found a knife and held it under her nose. It fogged lightly, but that was enough for now. He pulled off his glove and took her arm under his, feeling her wrist for the sign of a pulse. He couldn't find one, so he tried again on her throat.

Faint, but steady. Leon was just wondering what else to do for her when Gaius knocked at the door Leon had left open.

"What seems to be—" Gaius began, but he stopped short when he saw Krysia unconscious.

"She's breathing, but not with strength, and her pulse is weak," Leon said as Gaius went to her side. "She stood and she collapsed. I tried to revive her, but she did not wake."

"Hunger and exhaustion," Gaius said. "If we can find food for her, she will be alright, but until a solution to our woes are found—"

"I have food, Gaius, she won't eat it."

Gaius winced and said, "I've just heard that the king is giving orders that all food is to be prioritized solely to the army. If you gave it to her now, you would both suffer for treason."

Leon crumpled into his chair. It was exactly as she'd feared, and now even if they woke her, she would be slowly wasting, probably too weak to work.

"I will inform the king that she is too unwell to work," Gaius said, "but perhaps for the moment it would be more kind to let her sleep. We can do little for the food, but the exhaustion has a cure."

"Of course," Leon said.

"I'll get a wheelbarrow to move—"

"Let her be, please," Leon whispered. "I don't want to risk waking her until she's ready to wake. You're welcome to my room at any time to check on her condition or treat her, but…"

If she was going to die, he wanted to be as close to her as possible for as long as possible, as selfish as that was.

Gaius nodded and was about to leave when Leon said softly, "All these years and she'll starve to death anyway."

Gaius froze in the doorway, and he turned back to Leon. There was a long silence between them, and Gaius said, "Have your dreams stopped?"

The question seemed to come from nowhere, and Leon took a moment to realize what he had been asked. He said they had, and then, after a pause, admitted, "Part of me wishes they hadn't."

Gaius almost smiled.

"I'm afraid there's no cure to land in between. Call for me if her condition worsens. Where will you sleep?"

"I'm on patrol for curfew," Leon said. "If I'm lucky, I'll get some sleep from a chair. Don't worry about me, Gaius. After all, I'm still in food, for a few days more."

Gaius left without another word, and Leon moved his chair closer to Krysia, watching her face and hoping he would see her eyes open again, even if only for a little while.

/-/

Leon had a largely uneventful curfew for some time, pacing the lower town, from the well to the stables. It was quite late on when he heard footsteps, and he turned, drawing his sword, but relaxed to find it was only Arthur. After the day he'd had, Leon did not wish to kill or arrest anyone looking for something to eat.

"All is quiet, sire," Leon said.

"Good," Arthur said. He continued at quite a pace toward the stables, and Leon realized Arthur was dressed to ride out. He followed him. "I'm going to find the sorcerer again."

"Alone, sire?"

"You're needed here, Leon," Arthur said. He paused, then said, "I heard Krysia collapsed from hunger."

It was too easy to recall the weight of her in his arms, the almost peaceful expression as she lay unconscious on his bed.

"Yes," Leon said. "Last I saw, she was still sleeping."

"The prognosis?"

"Gaius tells me if we do not find a source of food, even if she wakes, she will die. And she won't be alone, sire. You know I don't want to go against the king, but if I gave her even a little of my food—"

"All I can tell you is to follow your conscience, Sir Leon," Arthur said. His face had gone cold, and Leon wondered what conversations had gone on behind closed doors. "But hopefully this matter will be closed today when I find the sorcerer. Take care of Camelot while I'm gone, will you?"

"Always, sire," Leon said.

He was uncertain, letting Arthur go without him, but he watched his lifelong friend saddle his own horse and ride out of the city. Leon was just struggling with his desire to go after him when he heard more footsteps. Again, Leon drew his sword.

Merlin stepped out of the shadow, holding up his hands. Leon put away his sword and wondered how to chastise Merlin appropriately. He knew it would do no good to arrest him. Everyone was already suffering, so the punishment for breaking curfew felt so irrelevant.

"He just left, did he?" Merlin said, grabbing a saddle.

"Yes. Merlin, what are you doing?"

Merlin carefully flung the saddle over a black horse with a gentle disposition, and said, "I'm going after Arthur."

"He expressly said—"

"I know," Merlin said. "I'm going anyway. And before you tell me it's dangerous, I'd rather die trying to help Arthur than die of starvation doing nothing. Which way did he go?"

Leon hesitated as Merlin fixed the bridle and reigns. If Arthur knew he helped Merlin after explicit directions, he'd be furious. That said, if even one more person on the journey would increase the chances of success…. The memory of Krysia's weight in his arms swam to the front of his mind. Leon pointed after Arthur's path and said, "You'll have to hurry if you want to catch him up."

"Noted," Merlin said. "Thank you, Sir Leon."

"Merlin," Leon said, "don't mention it. Truly, don't."

Merlin almost smiled before riding off, and Leon tried to fight down the creeping feeling that one or both may not make it back.

/-/

Leon was exhausted when first light came, and he was relieved. His feet were heavy in his boots on the walk back to his chambers, and he opened the door slowly to keep from waking Krysia. He thought, for a moment, that she was already awake, but he realized she was merely disturbed in her sleep, struggling against a nightmare.

"I'm sorry," she was whimpering, her voice smaller than he'd ever heard it. He could see tears on her face in the low light of dawn. "I'm sorry. Mother, don't make me go."

Leon froze, his throat tight.

Part of Krysia's acceptance in Camelot was that she was not a threat, even as a child. It had been so few years after the Purge, every unusual story was met with suspicion, even orphans. A key part of Krysia's mystery had been that she had no memory of where she belonged, of her family. He supposed it was possible that she had no conscious memory, but Leon had long suspected that Krysia had many secrets from before she was found but had long ago decided nothing good could come of trying to uncover those secrets. Whatever the secrets were, though, it was clear Gaius must know them. With as often as she'd had disturbed sleep as a child, she would have spoken the truth, waking or sleeping, enough for him to know everything.

And if Gaius had kept the secrets from even the King, Leon's worst fears were no doubt confirmed. Whatever the secrets were, they were enough to get her killed.

He stripped off his chain mail and sat beside her on the bed, worried she would take to sleepwalking, as she had sometimes done when they were young.

"You're alright," he whispered. He pressed a gloved hand gently on her arm. "It's alright."

"Please," she whimpered, eyes still shut, still squirming in distress.

Leon shook a glove off his hand and carefully wiped the tracks of tears from her face. At first, she shrank from his touch, but he continued to murmur soothing phrases as he worked, and she slowly began to quiet and calm.

"I wish you'd have taken the food," he said. "You always tease Arthur about his stubbornness, but here you are, literally starving yourself for your pride."

His body was heavy, but he didn't want to leave her side and risk another nightmare rising. The bed wasn't as large as Arthurs, but there was enough room for him to carefully lie beside her.

He turned onto his side to watch her breathe. She stirred at the change, her face contracting as if in pain.

"It's alright," he whispered. "You're safe. Arthur's going to fix this. It's going to be alright."

He continued to soothe her, even after she'd relaxed, until he slipped into his own sleep.

/-/

Leon started awake, wondering why his arm was aching. It wasn't until he saw Krysia, curled up beside him, that he realized he was sleeping in an awkward position. He pulled out a knife to test her breath again. Fainter than the day before, but still present. His neck was sore, but he stood, stretched, and looked out the window.

The people were stirring in the square, and Leon watched them begin to leave the city. The news that Uther was only feeding the army must have spread. He looked back at Krysia and felt his stomach lurch. If he could convince her to eat even a bite of food when she woke (if she woke), even if it did almost nothing, he wasn't going to take no for an answer this time.

The people were walking away with their children, their elderly, and…was that bread?

Leon startled to see the people being granted a loaf per family. He laughed, realizing that the sorcerer must be dead: the grain was back and the people were being given food enough to go home and bring in their harvests.

Without stopping to think, Leon pulled on the rest of his uniform, pressed a kiss to Krysia's forehead, and said, "I'm going to send someone to look after you. You're going to eat, and please don't be stubborn. I'm sorry I won't be here when you wake, but they'll need hands down there." He hesitated. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

He kissed her brow again and hurried out of the room, laughing as he went.

/-/

Krysia stirred, sore and stiff, but she could smell her favorite stew. She must be dreaming. There was no way that stew was sitting beside her.

"How did you sleep?" Merlin asked, a smile audible in his voice.

She blinked her dry eyes open and felt dizzy and confused, looking up at Gaius and Merlin's faces.

"Is this…? Why am I in Leon's room?"

"You collapsed," Gaius said. "You've been unconscious. Here, sit up carefully, that's it. Take a bowl."

The stew was real. If she'd had tears, she might have cried, but she felt too dehydrated. She lifted a spoon to her lips with a shaking hand. It tasted better than she remembered, rich and full. Usually Gaius only made it on her birthday because it was so luxurious, so Arthur must have atoned and lifted his curse. She could ask later, though.

Gaius warned her to eat slowly, just like when she was a child.

"How long have I been unconscious?" she said.

"Better part of a day," Merlin said.

Krysia nearly dropped the bowl, startled as she was.

"A whole day? Where…what…. Where did Leon sleep?"

"You would have to ask him that," Gaius said. "Relax, Krysia. You clearly needed the rest, and before you ask, the King was very understanding and regretful of your condition. I said slowly, not stop."

She continued to shovel steady spoonfuls in her mouth as Merlin gave her a basic overview of what she missed: how dire things got, following Arthur to a labyrinth, and being subject to a test Arthur thought was for death.

"Well, he's a greater fool than I realized, then," she said, lamenting silently that she was down to only a couple of spoonfuls left. "Giving his life for you? What good would that do anyone?"

Merlin laughed, but she knew it must have been a horrible ordeal for them both.

A knock at the door startled them all, and Krysia felt strangely nervous to see both Leon and Arthur at the door.

"How is the patient, Gaius?" Arthur said.

"Recovering well, I would say," Gaius said. "If she remembers to eat slowly for the next few days."

Leon's jaw twitched, so quickly she thought she'd imagined it. He was staring at her, and she wondered what was on his mind. No doubt he'd chastise her for being too stubborn to take food from him, for running herself into the ground while she wasn't hardly eating. And he wasn't wrong. But what else was she supposed to do?

Gaius took the bowl and said he would send Merlin with bread, and once she'd finished that, she could be reevaluated to see if she was well enough to move. She was to stay in bed until then. Krysia agreed, and as soon as the door closed behind Gaius and Merlin, she tried to stand to at least get to a chair.

She wasn't surprised when Arthur and Leon both gently pressed their hands to her shoulders and forced her back into bed.

"You're worse than Gaius," she said.

"Good," Leon said.

Both men were smiling, and she couldn't help but smile, too. For the first time in a long time, she felt the kind of ease she'd often felt with them as a child. Perhaps famine did that, equaled things out for a while.

"Next time someone offers you food when you're hungry, Krysia," Arthur said, "take it."

"We'll see," she said.