Arthur pulled the cloak over Sakura's exhausted body, hoping that its warmth would somehow help with the terrible shivering that racked her spine. Soaking a rag in a bucket of water, he placed it on her sweaty forehead. She was burning up, her feverous skin hot to the touch, and her breathing was coming out in quick, laborious huffs.

It was a painful sight.

He was taken aback by how distressing it was to see her like that. It was wrong, unnatural even. She was supposed to be vibrant, and cheeky, with a mouth that was too smart for her own good. She was supposed to be anything but...this. She was panting, her chest heaving, and he could hear a small whiz coming from her lungs. Curled under the cloak, she seemed small, fragile like a broken doll.

Arthur put the wet rag on her forehead again. He could feel the heat radiating off her skin, even with the piece of fabric between his fingers and her sweaty forehead. He stole a glance at the others over his shoulder. Bedivere and Percival were out in the woods, making sure that they hadn't left any tracks. He didn't blame them for keeping themselves occupied like that. They had no medical training; they had no idea what to do. Feeling useless was a terrible state to be in.

Don't I know it…

Even Bill, who never missed a chance to antagonize the woman, was silently keeping watch, his gaze looking anywhere but where she lay. For some reason, it made Arthur angry.

Looking to his right, he spied Rubio filling buckets with clean water.

"Oi," Arthur said to get his attention, "where's that bloody Mage?"

Rubio looked up from his task and shrugged. "Walked out a while ago, before the lass showed up."

Arthur cursed under his breath. "We need to find her. She must help Sakura. We're all bloody useless around here."

"We don't know where she is, Arthur."

The man shifted his blue eyes to Bill. "Then go find her, you bloody fool. Don't you just stand there." he snapped, though he knew that he was being unfair. He had never been good at controlling his temper under emotional pressure, and Gods knew, as he looked at the frail woman, he was not in a good place.

"We need to bring her here." he said firmly. "She's the only one who can help Sakura."

Rubio stood and put a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "I'll go find her, she can't have gone far. Keep your wits about ya, chap. The lass will pull through, she's a tough one."

Arthur nodded at the man but found little comfort in his words. He looked down at his hands. Were those the hands of a man who was supposed to lead a rebellion? A Kingdom even? How could he ever look these people in the eyes and confidently tell them that they were going to win?

How am I supposed to protect a whole Realm, when I can't even protect one of my own?

He glanced at Sakura. Her skin was too pale and growing worse by the second. Her hair stuck to her forehead, and she was breathing hard, tight lines forming around her mouth as she drew each tiny, painful breath.

First Lucy…poor, sweet Lucy…and now her… He clenched his fists, digging his nails in the palms of his hands, hoping that the stinging pain would somehow tear his mind away from the horrible thoughts running through his head. But it did nothing, for she was there, right in front of him, on the brink of death, reminding him that it was his fault. Lucy had died because of him and now she was barely clinging to life because of him. Because she had tried to protect him.

For a moment he looked away, disgusted with himself, but his eyes quickly found her again. It was irrational, he knew, but for some odd, unexplainable reason he felt that if he left her out of his sight even for a second, she'd slip away from them all.

He kneeled beside her again, and took her hand in his, massaging her fingers, trying to ease the tension. His lips lifted in a small, mirthless smile when she let out a sigh. He dared a glance at her shoulder. Her wound was still oozing that same foul black liquid, emanating the same horrid smell. It didn't seem to have gotten any worse, but it didn't seem to have gotten better either. He soaked the rag in the bucket again and as gently as he could, he went about cleaning the wound. She hissed in pain, unconsciously clenching her fists, and he frowned at the sight, but he continued wiping away as much of the foul discharge as he could.

By the time Rubio returned with the Mage, not long after, the rag in his hand was nearly black.

Seeing the other woman, Arthur scowled. "Where were you?" he gritted out, throwing the dirty rag to the side. "You shouldn't have left; you should have stayed here."

She remained expressionless. "There was something I had to do."

Arthur snorted humorlessly. "Merlin's business? Tell me, Mage, isn't your mission to help save this Kingdom?"

She nodded, her dead dark eyes boring into his.

"Well then," said Arthur, motioning to the unconscious woman, "you better start with her. And you better do a damn good job at it." His eyes narrowed, as if daring her to say the opposite.

In a display of remarkable aloofness, the dark-haired woman slid past him, paying him no mind at all, and kneeled beside Sakura. For a few minutes she simply examined the wound as he, Rubio and Bill waited with bated breath to hear what she had to say.

After what seemed like hours, she turned to them. "Wolfsbane."

Arthur sucked in a breath and beside him Rubio whispered, "Bloody bastards."

"What do we do now?" Surprisingly, the question came from Bill.

"We need to wake her. Her body is already unconsciously fighting my energy. My healing won't work if she's sleeping." She looked down at the woman again. "We need to hurry, or she won't live much longer."

"How?" Arthur said quickly. "How do we wake her? Speak, woman! We have already wasted enough time as it is."

The Mage did not react to his temper, only turned her back to them and put her hands above the open wound. They couldn't see what she was doing, and they only heard her whisper something in a language they couldn't understand.

The dark-haired woman looked up, frowning. "Her body is rejecting me. I won't be able to heal her with magic. We'll have to do it another way."

Suddenly, Sakura's eyes shot open and she gasped, her back arching, as she took deep breaths. Arthur rushed to her side and kneeled beside her.

"Sakura! Can you hear me, wench?"

She turned her foggy eyes to him. "Ar…Arthur…"

"Hang in there. We'll get you all healed up in no time. So, hang in there."

She grasped his hand, and he frowned at how weak her grip was. "You need to take it out. It's still in there. You need to take it out." she breathed out.

"What is it, wench? What's still in?"

"The shard. The piece of the sword in my shoulder." Her voice was weak, tired. "It's poisoned. I won't be able to heal myself if you don't take that out."

Arthur knew what that meant, and he physically winced at the thought. It meant excruciating pain for her, it meant blood and tears. Even his gentle cleaning of the wound had caused her pain; he couldn't imagine how painful this process would be.

There is no other way, boy. If you don't do it, she'll die…

He ran a hand through his hair and turned to the Mage. "Let's do this. Tell us what to do."

"The shard has a curse on it. King Vortigern's doing no doubt. I can't take it out using magic without killing her. Bring clear water, and a torch. Is any of you familiar with hawthorn?"

"I know it." Back Lack said from behind.

The Mage nodded. "I will need a dozen leaves." She then turned to Arthur and threw him a small dagger. "Use the fire of the torch to cauterize the blade. We will need it."

As they all went about their assigned tasks, Arthur tried to keep his mind off what was to come. He watched the blade of the dagger as it burned and blackened over the fire, dreading the moment they'd have to use it.

About half an hour later, Back Lack returned with branches of hawthorn, accompanied by Percival and Bedivere, who simply made their way over in silence. Back Lack had probably filled them in on what was about to take place.

"'Tis time." the Mage announced, and they all gathered around Sakura. Fortunately, she hadn't fallen back to sleep.

Arthur kneeled beside her. "You hanging in there, wench?"

"I've been better, and I've been worse, princeling. I'll live." she said, some of her usual cheekiness slipping back into her voice. Despite the situation, Arthur managed a small smile. She turned to Bedivere and Percival. "You'll have to hold me down. You two, along with Bill and Rubio. Don't let go. No matter how much I thrash, or how much I scream, you do not let go of my arms and legs."

"Don't worry, lass. We can deal with-"

"You don't understand, Rubio. The pain along with the poison will blind me, I won't have control of my limbs. If you're not careful, I can hurt you. Badly." The gravity of her expression made the rest of them frown, and Rubio nodded grimly.

They gathered around her, each of them taking their positions. Back Lack and Wet Stick stood to the side with buckets of fresh water ready to be used.

Percival, Bedivere, Bill, and Rubio prepared themselves, each grabbing hold of one of the woman's limbs. The Mage stood over her, close to the wound with Arthur beside her. The dark-haired woman turned to him.

"Bring her something to bite on. She'll need it."

A few seconds later, he returned with a short stick. "Here, wench." he said, and she took it with a small, grateful smile.

The rest of them exchanged looks, and for a moment the cave fell silent. The people had wisely retreated to their makeshift houses, knowing that whatever it was they were about to do would not be pretty.

"Get this thing out of me, or I'll take that damn knife and dig it out myself."

Despite the situation, Arthur chuckled at her bluntness. "Aye, let's get this over with." He sent her a smirk, hoping to make her feel a bit better. "Say, you survive this, wench, and I'll let you rub my face in the mud again."

The woman snorted, wincing in pain for just a moment. "Hardly a bargain, princeling. I can rub your face in the mud any day."

Before he could reply, the Mage snatched the dagger from his hand and started cutting the hawthorn leaves, grinding them with the blunt side of the blade, letting the plant's juices coat it. She was whispering under her breath in a language that he couldn't understand, her eyes turning a pitch black that made him shiver.

"Bite on the wood." she ordered, and Sakura quickly followed her instructions, taking a deep breath as she did so.

The Mage soaked three rags in water and placed them on Sakura's shoulder in such a way that only the entry point of the shard was visible. She took the dagger and burned it above the fire of the torch for a few more seconds. She briefly glanced at the four men holding Sakura down, silently warning them to prepare.

The injured woman's muscles tensed as the Mage kneeled beside her, but she did not avert her gaze. Without warning, the Mage started whispering her strange language again, and dug the tip of the blade in the wound. The scorching temperature along with the poison and the torn flesh made Sakura arch her back as excruciating pain flooded every single corner of her being.

She bit hard on the stick, the others barely managing to keep her from kicking them. Even with the piece of wood in her mouth, the wail that rose to her throat would not be leaving Arthur's mind anytime soon.

Sakura was trying her hardest not to move the upper part of her body, he could tell, but the pain was causing her violent trembling. It made it all the more difficult for the Mage to take the shard out, and Bill was having trouble keeping her leg from cracking his skull. Arthur pressed down on her shoulder, trying to keep her still enough for the dark-haired woman to finally dig the piece of metal out of her flesh. He was causing her more pain, he knew, but between providing some temporary, half-hearted comfort and saving her life…It was an easy choice.

"Take the damn thing out, woman!" he barked, but the Mage paid him no mind and thank the Gods for that. The situation was upsetting enough without her unsettling, pitch-black eyes on him.

Arthur could see the fatigue on the faces of the four men holding Sakura down, though Bedivere and Percival were better at hiding it. He marveled at how, even in her condition, she was giving five fully-grown men twice her size a hard time.

A bloodcurdling scream ripped from her throat, and Arthur glanced away from her face just in time to see the Mage finally pull the shard from her flesh. The moment it was out, Sakura stopped thrashing, and her body fell heavily on the makeshift cot they had put her on. She was panting hard, and her skin was covered in sweat, but she smiled at them gratefully.

Her fingers found his and she gave them a weak tug. "Th-Thank you." she whispered and passed her eyes over their faces. "All of you. I am in your debt."

"Hell, yeah you are in our debt, woman. You nearly broke my damn neck." said Bill, but his usual bite was absent from his words.

Sakura chuckled breathlessly. "If you have any hawthorn, now would be the time to put on my wound."

Arthur's smile widened. It was good to hear her slowly returning back to her old self. "Give it a rest, wench. We got this."

Wordlessly, the Mage put a thin paste of crushed hawthorn leaves on the wound before bandaging it with clean pieces of fabric. "Leave it there overnight." She left without another word after that, walking out of the cave hastily. The rest of them exchanged looks, but as Bedivere said nothing, the others thought it best not to comment either. Bedivere knew the Mage longer than all of them put together. If he chose not to say anything, they wouldn't either.

As Rubio, Percival, Bill and Bedivere went about lighting the hearths and preparing the cave for the night, Arthur stayed beside Sakura.

"Here, wench. You better drink a bit." he said, bringing his flask of water to her cracked lips. She managed to take a few sips before she fell back down on the cot.

"I should have known…" she said suddenly. "I should have known they'd have some kind of trick up their sleeve."

"Stop it, wench. You couldn't have known. None of us could."

"I should have. I should have been prepared."

"There is no way-"

"What if this had happened to one of you? To Rubio, or Percival…or you?" she asked, her green eyes boring into his.

Arthur tried to smile down at her. "You would have done your magic tricks and you would have saved our hides, wench. Again."

"But what if I killed you? In my ignorance…what if I hurt you?" She visibly shuddered at the thought.

"Hey, stop this," he said, flicking her forehead. "You're the one laying here with a hole in your shoulder, not us. Focus on getting better."

She sighed deeply. "I will be. Give it a few hours and I'll be back on my feet."

Arthur snorted. "A few hours? Come on, wench. We had to dig a piece of a poisoned blade out of your own flesh. Me thinks you'll need a bit more than that to regain your strength."

She simply grinned up at him, not saying anything. It unsettled him. As if she knew something he didn't.

She probably knows a lot of things I don't…

"Alright, lass." He stood, and once more pulled the cloak over her body. "You better get some rest. Gods know you need it. We will be keeping watch in turns, so if you need anything during the night, just yell."

She nodded, her eyelids slowly drifting shut.

Satisfied that she was already showing signs of improvement, Arthur turned to leave.

"Princeling?"

"Yes, wench?"

"I'm still rubbing your face in the mud when I get the chance."

XxxOxOxOxxX

Arthur stirred a little before dawn.

For a few minutes, he simply lay there, looking up at the ceiling of the cave and enjoying the peace and quiet. Gods knew it'd be a while before he got another chance like this. The only sound that reached his ears was the faint chirping of the birds outside and judging by his silent surroundings, the others hadn't woken yet.

Deciding that there was no point in falling back to sleep, he stood, making sure not to make any noise. The first rays of the sun drew his eyes to the entrance of the cave. There, he noticed Rubio leaning against the wall, sleeping. Arthur rolled his eyes.

So much for keeping watch…

By the time he washed his face and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, the sun had risen enough to bathe the inside of the cave in its red-ish light.

Wait a minute…Something's not right…

Sakura was not in her makeshift bed. She was nowhere to be seen.

Looking around, Arthur's eyes widened, and he swiftly slipped past Rubio, who didn't even stir. The light of the sun assaulted his eyes and he had to shield them for a moment. He walked towards the woods, pushing aside bushes and broken branches. He found himself on the same path they had taken yesterday, before the Blacklegs' ambush, and he started following it.

"Wench!" he called, hoping that the woman hadn't wandered off too far away in her condition. You foolish, stubborn mule of a woman…

"Wench!" he called again, straining his ears for any strange sounds.

"Over here!"

He sighed, rolling his eyes at her her cheerful, sing-song tone. Following the sound of her voice, he found himself in the same small clearing as before. She was sitting under the same tree, hair in her usual braid, with her baggy shirt pulled down her shoulder. She had taken the bandages off, exposing her skin.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked as he approached her, kneeling down beside her to examine her wound. "You're hurt, you shouldn't be wandering off on your own."

"What does it look like I'm doing, princeling? I'm healing myself." As if on cue, green light shone bright around her fingers, and she immediately pressed them on the injury.

Arthur watched mesmerized as the muscle and flesh mended back together, the hole slowly closing, leaving behind only smooth, flawless skin. He wasn't as surprised to see her little display considering she had used this very same power to heal him and Percival not long ago, but it was still a captivating sight.

"Thank you." she said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Thank you. For saving me. Had it not been for all of you, I wouldn't have survived. When that piece of the sword broke off and embedded itself in my shoulder, it never crossed my mind that it might have been poisoned."

"The Mage said it was cursed." he added, remembering the woman's words from the previous night.

Sakura nodded. "That explains why my energy was blocked. Usually, common poisons are not really a problem. My body takes action long before I consciously do and flashes them out of my system within a few hours, depending on how potent the concoction is."

"But you couldn't last night?"

She shook her head. "No. Whatever Vortigern did cut me off from my energy completely. I couldn't tap into it. That's why it took such a toll on me. The moment it was out, I was once again able to use my own power and start the healing process." She looked thoughtful, as if she was talking to herself as much as she was talking to him, and Arthur had to guess that she was filing away the information so she could think on it later.

"He will know about this, wench. He will know when the Blacklegs don't return, and he will know that you didn't die."

She nodded calmly, as if that was something she had already thought about. She probably had.

"Still not regretting ever getting involved in this mess?"

She giggled and Arthur's grin widened involuntarily at the sight of her lifted spirits. "Of course not, princeling. Why, I haven't had this much fun in a long while."

"You have a strange idea of what fun means, woman."

She flashed him a wide smile, her brilliant green eyes shining brightly under the rays of the sun. "And it's about to get a whole lot better for you, princeling."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow at her.

She pinched his cheek teasingly. "Get ready, for I am going to teach you how to use the Sword."

TBC

Err…excuse me, what did just happen? Did I just post a new chapter a mere week after the most recent update? I just surprised myself. Please wait a minute while I get over the shock…XD

Guys and gals, I sure hope you enjoyed the chapter! Wasn't Arthur super worried for Saki? I so enjoyed writing that!

More exciting stuff to come!

Until next time,

Lots of love!