Krysia shifted some pillows as the knights placed the king on his bed. Once he was down, she began to adjust his head for comfort.

"Careful," Arthur said to the knights. When the bowed and left, she heard him ask Gaius, "Is he going to be alright?"

Krysia pulled the duvet over the king and joined them by the door.

"He should sleep 'til morning," Gaius whispered.

"What could have made him like this?"

Krysia and Gaius exchanged a look, and then Krysia said, "We don't know."

Arthur's jaw worked, and he looked over his shoulder at his father, who appeared to be peacefully asleep.

"Gaius," Arthur said, "he was lying on the ground crying." He turned back around. "What aren't you telling me? What's wrong with him? Tell me."

Gaius hesitated again, then said, "When I arrived, he was mumbling. Most of it was incoherent, but…"

"It probably means nothing," Krysia said quickly.

"What?" Arthur prompted.

Gaius paused, then whispered, "He kept mentioning your mother's name."

"He never talks about her," Arthur said.

Krysia looked at the king, who still showed no sign of waking, and she whispered, "He said he saw her in the well, Arthur."

Arthur's eyes widened and he said, "Did the guards see him in this state?"

"I think you're worrying too much," Gaius said.

"If the people get to know about this—"

"Then the people will know he is human and prone to illness as the rest of us are," Krysia said firmly.

Silently, however, she couldn't help agreeing with Arthur. Uther had built his reign on being strong enough to withstand anything. The trouble with that kind of inflexible strength is when it breaks, it shatters.

/-/

Leon was patrolling the castle when he saw Krysia coming off her shift looking after the king. She looked exhausted, and he half-recalled how they had found the king, what he'd been about to say to her. He was mortified to recall how close he had come to expressing his heart to her.

"My lady," he said, and Krysia startled, but relaxed when she saw him. "It's very late, and very cold. Would you like me to walk you back?"

"I know the way, Leon," she said with a weary smile. "I'm sure that my walk back isn't on your patrol route."

They stood still in the corridor, Leon not wishing to say goodnight, and Krysia seeming to hesitate for her own reasons. She was absently tugging at her hair, plaiting a lock, then undoing the plait and starting again.

"How is he?" he said.

"He seems to be better," she said. "Gaius thinks he may be able to return to work in the morning. He'll try anyway, so we may as well give in. Oh, I think you had something to tell me."

"Did I?" Leon said, his throat gone dry. Without the wine, his courage had left him, and he couldn't imagine how foolish it would sound now.

"Yes, you were trying to tell me something when we found him," she said, frowning like she was trying to recall what he'd been saying.

"I'm afraid I've forgotten," he said, feeling his neck go hot and hoping she couldn't see the color on his skin in the darkness of the corridor. "I hope you'll forgive me what was almost certainly drunken nonsense."

She smiled, shook her head, and said, "Leon, there's nothing to forgive."

He stood still in the corridor, and he watched her walk away into the night, and it took all his strength to hold his feet where they were and not follow her into the darkness.

/-/

Leon stood before the king the following day, giving the news he and Geraint had compiled and presented to Arthur already.

"We've had reports that mercenaries are streaming into Cenred's kingdom," he said.

"Do we know why?" Uther said.

"There is a rumor that Cenred is amassing an army," Leon said.

Arthur was about to speak, but Uther stood abruptly, and Krysia stepped forward, obviously concerned.

"Sire?" she said.

He was looking at something, or someone, and he said urgently, "Leave me alone. Get out of here."

Arthur and Leon looked around, puzzled.

"Father, we—"

"I said 'get out,'" the king said, waiving his arm. "Get out! I will have you hanged! You…you…you…"

He began to shake, and Krysia took his arm firmly. Leon was already running for Gaius, and Geraint was hurrying forward to help Krysia corral the king.

It would seem, Leon thought darkly, that the hopefulness of the king and physician was for naught.

/-/

Krysia waited beside the king after he was given a sleeping draught and she waited for him to relax before she joined Merlin and Gaius at the door.

"Why did he see a dripping wet child in the middle of the throne room?" Krysia whispered.

"During the Great Purge," Gaius said, "Uther drowned many he suspected of sorcery. And some, god help them, were children—killed for the magic they were born with. Maybe his conscience is playing tricks on him, which means you're in danger, Krysia. Whatever it is, we can no longer hide this. A king's hold on his people's a fragile thing. If they start to lose faith in him, I fear for Camelot."

/-/

The guard who had been nearly killed had been brought, and had been healing, but Krysia came back to have a quick meal and she noticed that the guard in question was dead. She stared, nervous, and Merlin then noticed what she had seen.

"Gaius," he said.

"Merlin?"

Gaius came out, and saw the corpse, and he checked for any sign of life.

"I thought he was going to live," Krysia said.

"I thought he was," Gaius said.

"Then what happened?" Merlin said. "You don't think it's strange?"

"Very…"

/-/

Krysia checked another dose for Uther, then joined Gaius and Arthur near the door.

"He'll sleep until lunch," she said softly. "I'll see that he's comfortable while he eats, but it might be good to have a guard or two."

"How are you, sire?" Gaius asked Arthur.

"It's not me who's sick," Arthur said.

"It can't be easy to see your father this way," Gaius whispered.

"He's always been a strong man," Krysia said, and Arthur nodded, looking at his father's sleeping form. "That strength is the foundation of the kingdom."

Gaius said, "I'm sure that, over time, he will recover. But until then, we have to make plans, Arthur. We need you to assume control."

"That's ridiculous," Arthur said. "Camelot needs a leader."

"You are a leader," Krysia said. "And you're Crown Prince, which means when times of incapacity of the king, it is your duty to be Regent. The members of the court have been saying—"

"So now you've taken to whispering behind my back?" Arthur said. "What kind of treason is this?"

Krysia felt her face go hot, and she looked to Gaius, who seemed similarly startled.

"It is for the good of the kingdom," he said.

"I'm not going to usurp my father," Arthur said.

Krysia shook her head and said, "Arthur, the rumors are spreading, the people are restless, and if this gets outside the castle walls—"

"I swore allegiance to my king," Arthur said, "and as long as there is breath in his body it is my duty to uphold that."

"Arthur," Gaius said, "please—"

"You are giving up on my father. That is something I will never do."

Arthur stormed out, and Krysia and Gaius stood alone together, hesitating. She knew Arthur could be stubborn, even foolish, when it came to his father, but if they couldn't get him to see sense…

"Are you carrying your dagger?" Gaius whispered.

"No."

"You need to start," he said. "Until we know what is going on or how to fix this, you need to take every precaution."

She wanted to disagree with him, but she knew he was right.

/-/

Krysia had been concerned when Merlin hadn't been in bed when she went to sleep. She was more concerned when he wasn't there when she woke in the morning, but she became very nervous when he hadn't been to any of his usual places in his duties for Arthur by the time she'd done her morning rounds.

Gaius must have had the same idea, because they both went to see Gwen, who was making Morgana's bed.

"Have you run across Merlin this morning?" Krysia asked.

"No, I haven't seen him since yesterday," Gwen said.

"Is there a problem?" Morgana said, sweeping in.

"I'm not sure," Gaius said, frowning.

Krysia cleared her throat and said, "I suspect there probably is."

"Merlin did not come home last night," Gaius said.

"That's not like him," Morgana said, and with the set of her mouth, Krysia knew she was hiding something.

With the hesitation in Gaius's agreement with her, she knew he saw it, too.

/-/

Krysia and Gaius sat together in his chambers, silent, waiting. Morgana spent an increasing amount of time around the king, which had become uncomfortable for Krysia when she didn't know what her once-friend was up to.

"The Lady Morgana seems different," Gaius finally whispered.

"Yes," Krysia said. "I tried to explain before, but I didn't quite know how."

He hummed and began to organize the vials on his bench. Krysia watched him for a while, then said, "Morgause knew about Arthur's birth, and she was raised by the high priestesses. Do you think…"

Gaius looked up, waiting for her to finish. Krysia was afraid to say the words, but she knew she had to push them out.

"Do you think she knows?" she whispered.

"About you?" Gaius said. "Yes, I think it's very likely that she does. If you're asking whether Morgana knows, I'm not sure. I don't have enough of a sense of Morgause to know what she would have shared and what she would have held back. But we must assume she does. The question is, would they see you as a friend or a threat?"

Krysia rested her back against the table and said, "What do you mean?

Gaius finished his organization, then folded his hands.

"Morgause wants to destroy Uther. It's possible she could see you as a threat if she thinks you would protect the king, but it's equally possible that she would see you as malleable, someone she could turn into an ally, and a powerful one. After all, you lost everything at his hands as well. Loss is a powerful weapon."

Before Krysia could decide what she wanted to say, the door to Gaius's chambers swung open and Arthur stormed in looking very upset.

"Where is that half-wit?" he snapped.

Krysia and Gaius exchanged a look.

"Merlin?" Gaius said.

"I've got no socks," Arthur said, "no breeches, and an archery session to go to. Merlin!"

He started opening doors, looking under tables, and spinning around, furious.

"We would have thought he was with you," Krysia said.

"Don't try to cover for him!" Arthur snapped.

"He didn't come home last night," Gaius said softly. "We can't find him."

Rather than showing any concern at this news, Arthur looked more frustrated, and on his way out he said, "Well, when you do, you can tell him he's the target."

/-/

Uther woke with a start, and in the firelight, he began to tremble. He'd heard a voice, a very familiar voice, calling his name in the night. He wasn't supposed to be awake, he knew that much. He sat up slowly, afraid of what would be standing at the foot of his bed.

Sure enough, there was Zosia, standing tall, as he remembered her from the last time he saw her, when she told him she would never speak to him again. Just like that, except for the flames all over her body.

"No," he said, but she stared at him, unfeeling. "No."

He turned away, trying to find relief, but there was Ygraine, drenched and surrounded by children, drenched children. He could feel his pulse rising, could scarcely breathe, and Zosia reached out for his feet. He cried out, leaping to the floor, scrambling away from them.

"Leave me," he said, knocking over a chair as he tried to get away. "Please, god, leave me be!"

/-/

Krysia woke with a start when Merlin woke her.

"Morgana's responsible," he said. "Come on, we're going to fix it."

She didn't ask questions, just pulled on a shirt of Merlin's for warmth and grabbing her dagger. She followed Merlin and Gaius out to Uther's chambers.

When they arrived, the room was upturned, chairs knocked over, and the king was crouched in a corner, trembling.

"Uther," Gaius said as Krysia hurried to kneel beside him. "Uther!"

He joined her on the floor. Uther clung desperately to her, squeezing so tightly, she was sure it would bruise, but he didn't take his gaze off something in the middle of the room.

Merlin retrieved some kind of root from under the bed and threw it into the flames. It shrieked in the fire, and Krysia shivered.

"It was an enchantment, sire," Gaius said, trying to pry Uther off Krysia. "You need to rest."

It took both Merlin and Gaius to remove Uther from clinging to Krysia, and they carefully helped him into his bed. Krysia rubbed at her arm, watching Gaius give Uther another dose of the sleeping potion.

"Please drink this, sire," he said. "It will help you to sleep."

/-/

Krysia paced Gaius's chambers while the other two sat, and she tried to get the image, the sensation of a cowering, trembling Uther out of her mind.

"We should tell him," Krysia said.

"Are you mad?" Gaius said. "He'd have all our heads if we made such accusations, he'd look on it as treason."

"We can't let her get away with it!" Merlin cried.

"He dotes on her every word, Merlin."

Krysia shook her head and said, "If he knew what she'd done, he'd punish her himself, I'm sure of it."

"You've seen how blind he is to her faults," Gaius said. "Besides, the root is gone now. It can do no more harm."

"No," Merlin said, "you don't understand. I heard Morgana and Morgause, there's more to their plan, I'm sure of it."

Krysia wasn't sure what more there could be, but she just hoped that he was wrong, whatever it was.

/-/

"There, to the east," the young knight said, pointing.

Leon could see it. From their spot on the hilltop, the patrol had a good view of Cenred's movements. The men looked like a river from here, so many that the earth was thick with flowing black. They were moving at a steady pace, and he knew without checking where they were heading.

"Smells like rain," he whispered. "We'd better be heading back."

"But sir, we were going to—"

Leon shook his head and gestured to the patrol. They were going back to Camelot, because if he accomplished nothing else, he needed to warn Arthur that Cenred was on his way.

/-/

Krysia and Gaius were changing the water and potions in Uther's room when Morgana swept in, not noticing them, and kneeling by the bed.

"Have you lost something, my lady?" Gaius said, and Krysia turned to see Morgana straighten, forcing a smile.

"My earring," Morgana lied. "I thought I might have dropped it while I was here yesterday. How is he?"

"Much better," Gaius said. "We found the source of his sickness. He was being enchanted."

Morgana looked nervous, and Krysia whispered, "But now that the enchantment is removed, he's doing much better."

"You need not to worry, my lady," Gaius said gently. "He'll make a full recovery."

Morgana forced her smile again and said, "That is a relief."

"Indeed, my lady," Gaius said.

They watched her sweep out of the room, and Krysia shivered. Was Morgana getting worse at lying, or had Krysia just gotten better at spotting it?

/-/

Uther woke, groggy, and was relieved to see Gaius by his bedside, checking some potions.

"Gaius," he whispered, his throat sore. "Krysia."

"Do you require her, sire?"

"She's Zosia's child," Uther said. "I'm certain of it. I saw her, in flames."

Gaius looked disbelieving, and he adjusted Uther's blanket.

"Krysia is quite well," Gaius said. "The things you were seeing were the product of an enchantment, sire. You cannot trust them."

"Her jaw," Uther whispered. "Her voice. I'm quite certain."

He tried to sit up, and Gaius pressed him down again, holding out another potion. Uther didn't want to sleep longer, although he did feel tired. He stared at the potion, but he did not move to take it.

"And what would you do, again, sire, if she were?"

And again, Uther did not know. The law was the law, and if she had somehow escaped punishment as a child, he would need to kill her now, surely. But he recognized now the emotion he felt whenever he was reminded of Zosia, whenever it became so clear to him that Krysia was her child.

Not just fear, although the fear was present, but excitement. He was excited at the thought that a piece of Zosia still existed in the world.

"I don't know," Uther whispered.

"My advice, then," Gaius said, "is that you shouldn't look for answers until you know what you'll do when you find them. After all a girl's life does hang in the balance, sire. Should you be mistaken, there would be no coming back from that error."

Gaius was right, of course, and Uther reluctantly took the potion from him, frowning at it and considering the point. He needed to know what he would do, but it couldn't be put off forever. He would have to ask Geoffrey for what he had found in the records, and he would have to make a choice if he found what he thought he would find. He just hoped that the path would be clear when the time came.