AN: Hey guys!

Don't you guys love how excited I was for this episode, and now here I am, almost 2 weeks later.

ANYWAYS YAY I'M EXCITED FOR THE MOMENT OF TRUTH. I AM ALSO VERY EXCITED BECAUSE WE'RE CLOSE TO THE END OF THE FINALE!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN MERLIN, JUST ELIZABETH MALINOR.

Enjoy!

Merlin's mother stood in front of Uther and the rest of the Royal Court. She was appealing to Uther because of the guy Kanen. Seemed like the Moment of Truth has begun...

"The winters are harsh in Ealdor, and there are many children." Hunith said. "Some of them just won't be strong enough to survive. We barely have enough food as it is, and if Kanen takes our harvest, our children won't live to see another summer. Please, we need your help."

The thought of starving children sent a pang through my chest. I tried to picture Mordred like that, but instantly shot the thought away.

Uther thought for a moment. "Ealdor's in Cenred's kingdom. Your safety is his responsibility."

"We've appealed to our King." She answered. "But, he cares little for the outlying regions. You're our only hope."

Uther leaned forward in his throne. "I have the deepest sympathy for you and would have this barbarian wiped off the face of the earth."

"You'll help us?" Hunith said, hoping sparking in her.

"I wish I could." Uther said.

"Surely we can spare a few men." Arthur suggested.

"Resources are not the problem." Uther told him.

"Then what is?" I asked.

"Ealdor lies beyond the ridge of Aesctir. For an army of Camelot to enter it would be an act if war." Uther informed her.

Hunith actually went to her knees. "I know you're a good King, a caring man. I'm begging you-help us, please." she pleaded.

Uther reluctantly shook his head. "The accord we've struck with Cenred was years in the making. I cannot risk hundreds of lives for the sake of one village. I'm afraid Camelot cannot help."

Morgana gave Uther a glare, and went to help Hunith stand up. Then she lead her back to Merlin and the court adjourned.

Later, Morgana pulled me and Gwen aside. "I can't let this go by. Merlin told me that he was leaving for Ealdor, and I can't let him go alone." She said.

I nodded in agreement. "Merlin's always been there for us. It's our turn to be there for him now."

"Okay. I can get some weaponary." Gwen offered.

"All right then. Let's get ready." Morgana said, and we all went our separate ways to get ready.

Morgana and I had met up after we had gotten ready, and we caught the last bit of what Merlin had said. "I won't be able to carry all that."

Morgana and I walked in then. "You won't have to." She said to him.

I nodded. "We're coming with you."

"What do you mean?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You need all the help you can get." Gwen reminded him. "I can mend armour and sharpen swords."

"And Lizzie and I know how to fight." Morgana said, nudging me. Uh, yeah, I only knew how to fight a little bit, but I had gotten much better with Owain's help...

"But you...you can't." Merlin said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "I mean, why would you?"

"If it was the other way round, you'd help us." Gwen told him. "You already have. You saved my life."

"And you helped Morgana and I get the Druid boy out of Camelot." I reminded him.

Morgana nodded. "We owe it to you. The three of us."

Merlin nodded, and he went to pack more of his stuff. Then Morgana, Gwen, and I continued to pack stuff.

A little while later, Gwen, Morgana and I rode off for Ealdor with Merlin and his mother. We kept riding until it got dark, and then we stopped for dinner. After we ate, we decided to go to sleep. Merlin and Hunith were still up as I fell asleep. I woke up maybe twenty minutes later due to their talking. I was about to try and fall asleep again, when I heard Hunith. "They shouldn't be here. Especially the Lady Morgana and the Lady Elizabeth. Isn't Lady Morgana the King's Ward and Lady Elizabeth the Lady of Camelot?"

"Not that you'd know it." Merlin answered. "They're the only people I know who aren't frightened of him.

"It won't make any difference to Kanen that they're women." Hunith pointed out.

"I know." Merlin said. "But I couldn't talk them out of coming. Especially Lizzie. Ever since she found out that I had magic-"

A smacking sound and a moan from Merlin. "Why did you tell her? She's a part of the King's Court!" Hunith angrily whispered.

"She figured it out on her own. And she hasn't told anybody yet." Merlin told her.

Hunith I could tell, was still pretty angry, but I could tell she calmed down a little. She couldn't exactly blow up at him about his magic while we were all asleep. "Can you trust her?" she asked.

"I would trust Elizabeth with my life." Merlin said, which couldn't help but make me smile. It was really pleasing to know how much he trusts me.

Then Merlin's tone changed. "I'm going to make him pay for what he did to you."

"Promise me you'll be careful." Hunith pleaded. "No one can find out about you."

"They won't. They never do. Well, usually, but mine and Lizzie's situation was an usual one." Merlin said, defending himself.

Hunith chuckled lightly. "I look forward to hearing that situation. Get some rest."

Huinth came over, and I quickly shut my eyes to make it look like I was actually asleep the entire time.

I did fall asleep eventually. However, I was woken up a little later by the sound of Merlin leaving. God, his footsteps are loud! After not being able to fall asleep again, I got up, grabbed my blanket, and sat on a log in front of the fire. I draped my blanket over my shoulders.

I was awake when Merlin came back with Arthur. They both looked surprised to see me awake. "What are you doing awake?" Merlin asked.

I shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. Merlin walks as if he's leading a parade." I teased, which caused Merlin to blush. You couldn't really see it in the darkness, but it was there. Merlin and Arthur sat on either side of me.

"How much further is it?" Arthur asked.

"Maybe a few hours." Merlin answered.

"Well, how many men does Kanen have?" I asked worriedly.

Merlin shook his head. "I'm not sure. I think from what my mother said, maybe as many as 40."

Arthur nodded and was silent for a while. Then he spoke up again. "You two should get some rest. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

I turned my head to Merlin. "As long as you promise not to move while I'm sleeping, I'll be good."

He blushed shyly again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

I just lightly punched in his arm. "I'm just jesting. Goodnight, you two."

I layed back down, and I heard Merlin's voice. "Thank you. Um...I know you didn't have to come."

"Get some sleep." Arthur said. Then it was silent, and I waited a few minutes for it to be entirely silent. I smiled to myself and finally fell asleep.

The next morning, we were off to Ealdor. Of course the first thing that was going on was Kanen attacking the village.

This was the thing. I hadn't actually been in a huge sword fighting scene before, so I was pretty nervous. But I was also really excited.

Kanen had knocked Matthew to the ground, and Arthur threw a knife that just missed him, burying itself into the pole next to him. Kanen's head swiveled, and Arthur jumped off of his horse and began to fight.

"Kill them!" Kanen commanded his men.

I grabbed my sword from its sheath and and turned around with it. Somebody ran towards me, and I squealed, swinging my sword in front of me. I surprised myself when it clashed hard with the man's sword. I quickly drew it back and swung again. This time, I got flesh, which was really gross. I pulled my sword out, and the man fell to the ground.

Wow. I just actually killed somebody. I had no time to dwell on it further because more of them came towards me. I just did what my instincts told me, which was pretty much just swing my sword around. My instincts proved to be good ones, as they were extremely effective.

I looked around me, and I see a bandit going behind Arthur. Knowing that he'd need help and there was not a Morgana in sight, I ran over and dealt with the bandit myself. We clashed swords for a while, until I got him in the stomach. I turned around, looked to Arthur. I loved this line in the show, so I couldn't resist using it. "Bring back memories of when I used to beat you?" I asked, moving away.

Arthur looked a little panicky. "That never happened." He said a little nervously. Ha! I used to beat Arthur in sword fights! Awesome!

"You'll pay for this...with your lives. All of you!" Kanen yelled, and him and the bandits that survived fleed.

I turned around to look for Merlin and find him with Will, his best friend from Ealdor. I just caaught the last of what Will's saying. "Look I thought I told you we didn't want your kind round here."

Then him and Merlin burst into laughter and hugged. I came and stood next to them. "What's wrong with Merlin's kind? He's a fine warlock to me," I whispered the last bit.

Will's eyes opened widely. "You told her?"

Merlin shrugged. "She figured it out on her own."

"I'm just really observant." I supplied for Will.

Will and Merlin then ignored me, and they gave each other big hugs. "It's good to see you again."

Will nodded. "How have you been? I hear you're skivvying for some prince."

Merlin scoffed and shook his head. "No, I wouldn't say I'm a skivvy."

"Merlin!" Arthur called, and he turned around. "Gather the villagers, I need to talk to them."

"Yeah, in a minute, I'm just talking..." Merlin said, gesturing to Will.

"Now, Merlin! There isn't much time." Arthur insisted.

"Yes, Sire." Merlin said reluctantly.

Merlin gave Will an apologetic look, then went to get the villagers.

I turned my head to Will. "Oh yeah, he's a skivvy." I said, then left to go stand with Morgana and Gwen.

Everybody had gathered around by that time, and Arthur stood on a box or something so he could see the entire crowd and the entire crowd could see him. "I know Kanen's kind. He'll be back, and when he is, we must be ready for him. First of all, we have to prepare..."

"Am I the only one wondering who the hell this is?" Will asked rudely, pushing himself to the front of the crowd. Ugh, I had forgotten that this was why I hated Will.

It didn't faze Arthur, though. "I'm Prince Arthur of Camelot."

Will scoffed. "And I'm Prince William of Ealdor."

"Keep quiet, he's here to help us!" Hunith said to Will.

"He's made things worse." Will insisted. "Kanen will be back, and when he is, he'll be looking for revenge. You've just signed our death warrant." Will said, pointing to Arthur.

"He saved Matthew's life!" Hunith almost shouted.

"It's all right, Hunith." Arthur assured her. "This is his village. What would you have us do?"

"We can't fight against Kanen, he has too many men." Will said.

"So what's the alternative?" I asked, stealing Arthur's line.

"We give him what he wants." Will answered.

"Then what? Those of you who don't starve to death, will face him again next harvest, and the harvest after that." Arthur pointed out, getting nods and agreements with the audience.

"We manage, we'll survive." Will said.

"How?" Some man asked.

"The only way he can be stopped is if you stand up to him." Arthur said to Will.

"No, you just want the honour and glory of battle. That's what drives men like you. Look if you wanna fight, then go home and risk the lives of your own people, not ours." Will exclaimed rudely.

I was about to rip into Will when Morgana's strong hand gripped my arm and held me back. I looked from her arm to her face, and she gave me a look saying, 'Don't do it, Lizzie.'

I tried to hold myself back, but I wasn't really doing a good job of it. Will strode off, and Merlin followed him.

"I'll follow you." Hunith's voice said, calling everyone back to the situation at hand. "If I'm to die, then I want to go out fighting."

"That goes for me, too." Matthew said.

"Heh. I'm already here. Might as well make the long journey count." I spoke up.

After them, everybody agreed and started talking excitedly. Then we sprung into action.

Morgana, Gwen, and I all shared a bed. Strangely enough, we all seemed to fit. Since I didn't sleep well last night, I was happy that I was able to sleep tonight. That is, until I heard Arthur's voice speak up. "Have you always slept on the floor?" Damn, why didn't these people ever let me sleep?

"Yeah. The bed I've got in Camelot is luxury by comparison." Merlin answered.

"It must have been hard." Arthur commented thoughtfully.

"Hmm. It's like rock." Merlin joked.

"I didn't mean the ground," Arthur said as if Merlin was the biggest idiot in the world. Then his tone went softer. "For you, it must've been difficult."

"Hmm...not really." Merlin said finally. "I didn't know any different. Life's simple out here. You eat what you grow and everyone pitches in together. As long as you've got food on the table and a roof over your head, you're happy."

"Sounds..." Arthur struggled to find the right word. "Nice." He finally said.

Merlin softly chuckled. "You'd hate it." He says knowingly.

"No doubt." Arthur accepted. "Why did you leave?"

Hesitation from Merlin. "Things just...changed."

By this point I was too tired to hear the rest of Merlin's conversation, so I just gave into sleep. It was gonna be a big day tomorrow.

The next morning, we were all getting ready. Merlin's helping Arthur dress, and Morgana commented on it. "Have you still not learned how to dress yourself?"

I let out a laugh and quickly looked away from Arthur's gaze. I could tell he was still giving me a look, though. "You don't have a dog and fetch the stick yourself. No offense, Merlin." He added the last part quickly, I was assuming to look polite.

"None taken." Merlin said, continuing to help him.

"Prince Arthur, you didn't finish your breakfast." Hunith said, bringing him his bowl. Okay, I'd admit. The food here wasn't the best, and after eating from the palace kitchens for so long, it was a bit hard to choke down, but hey, it was food. I was glad I was getting any, especially since after all this, it was the Labyrinth of Gedref, where Camelot went through the famine.

"Didn't I?" Arthur faked surprise, and he took the bowl from Hunith.

"Come on, eat up." Morgana teased.

Arthur smiled at Hunith and took a bite as she left. After he was sure she was gone, he handed Gwen the bowl of food.

"Right, let's get going. We need wood and lots of it." Arthur said, leaving. Morgana and I went after him

I was helping Morgana and Gwen sharpen swords and mend armour as Arthur trained the men of the village to fight. "There's no way they're gonna be able to hold Kanen and his men off." Morgana commented.

"Well," I began, holding up a freshly sharpen sword. I spun it around in my hand, careful not to hit anybody. "Men aren't the only ones who can fight."

Morgana, Gwen, and I all share smiles that had the same idea behind it. We discused it for a bit, before we decided to tell Arthur later that day. During the training break, just Morgana and I walked up to Arthur. Gwen had insisted on helping to serve others food and water.

"Looks like the battle is already fought and won." Morgana commented as Arthur took some water out of a well.

Arthur looked back to the men, then to us. "They'll toughen up."

"They need to." I said.

"How are we doing for weapons?" Arthur asked.

"There isn't much, but we'll be able to scrape together what you need." Morgana answered.

We looked to each other and silently nodded. I spoke up. "It's not the weapons that worry us, it's having enough people to use them. We think the woman should be allowed to fight."

"You haven't enough men." Morgana pointed out. "If they were trained soldiers, maybe you'd stand a chance, but they're not."

Arthur just shook his head though. "It's too dangerous." he said, then went back to train the men.

"Man. What a wanker." I said, slipping into 21st century slang. Morgana looked at me funny, but I just shrugged and went back to sharpening swords.

That night, Morgana and I laid awake. Gwen had fallen asleep, but we both couldn't sleep. It's strange, almost everything that happened to her, happened to me, and vice versa. "We don't stand a chance." Morgana commented.

"Arthur can't see that, though." I pointed out. "He's too stubborn."

"Why'd you think he came here?" Morgana asked.

"Well, the same reason we did, I guess." I turned my head to look at my best friend better. "Merlin. Arthur may act like he doesn't care, but he wouldn't be here if he didn't."

Morgana gently nodded. "Yeah. I guess that makes sense." She yawned. "Now, I think we should get some sleep. We have a busy day ahead."

I smiled, then closed my eyes, letting the darkness engulf me into a peaceful sleep...

I awoke early the next morning. Slipping out, I saw that Matthew was getting ready to leave. God, that's right. Arthur had told him to watch out for Kanen's men. I couldn't let him go alone, I knew what his fate would be.

"Matthew!" I called after him. I ran towards him, and he stopped.

I caught up to him and his horse. "I'm coming with you."

"What? Why?" He asked.

"You know. In case something happens. Every good man needs someone to watch their backs. Maybe I can be your someone." I made up.

Crossing my fingers in my head, I was beyond relieved when he said, "Okay, then."

I hurried and got my own horse and travelled with him to where we came from to look out for Kanen's men. We'd been there a few hours when I heard rustling. My instinct was to grab my sword, which I did. Matthew looked at me funny, but I motioned for him to be quiet. He did, and I quietly stood up, pivoting around the spot where we were. I did a complete 360, and I turned back to face Matthew. He made a gesture, as if he was silently asking me what's going on. I shrugged, when from the corner of my eye, I saw a man with a crossbow aimed at Matthew.

"Matthew! Look out!" I cried, and, without thinking, ran towards Matthew just as the arrow was fired. I managed to knock him down, but I didn't manage to avoid the arrow. No, it didn't kill Matthew. But it sure did hurt me.

Because of the angle and how fast I ran to Matthew to push him out of the way, the arrow lodged itself into my left arm. I gasped at the pain as I fell to the ground. I looked to my arm and saw bright crimson streaming out from my wound. I grabbed my sword and thrusted it to a still shell shocked Matthew. "We have to run." I managed to say through gritted teeth.

He broke out of his daze and helped me on the horse. Then he climbed on himself, and we ran back to Ealdor. As we ran, I ripped off a piece of my pant leg with my good arm to wrap it around my wound. Before I did though, I saw the note that was supposed to be on Matthew's back right now. I ripped it off and shoved it into my pocket. I took the cloth and wrapped it around my ugly wound, wincing at the pain. It wasn't a very tight knot though and more blood seeped through it. I finally just relaxed my head against Matthew's back, feeling weaker by the minute.

We got to the village, and Matthew screamed for help. Pretty much everybody ran outside, and it was like everything was in slow motion. Morgana saw me and my wound and screamed at the top of her lungs. She rushed forward, and she and Matthew helped me down. Well, Morgana was pretty much dragging me down. Merlin was running somewhere and returned with a proper cloth. He wrapped it around the wound and pulled tighter. All the villagers were listening to Matthew intently as he recalled the story of what just happened.

"She saved my life." He finished, still appearing to be amazed.

I was leaning heavily on Morgana now, and I reached into my pocket. "Here." I said, holding it out to Arthur. "The note was attached to the arrow. It's from Kanen."

Arthur, who looked white as a sheet, snapped back into focus and took the note from my bloody hand.

"What does it say?" Merlin asked.

"'Make the most of this day, it will be your last.'" Arthur said. I wasn't gonna lie, I was fully expecting 'XOXO Gossip Girl' at the end, but I was let down.

"Look what you did!" Will said, stepping forward. "You nearly got Matthew killed, you got one of your own hurt!"

"It wasn't his fault." I tried to insist, but I was losing my energy. Morgana was practically holding me up now.

"If he wasn't strutting around, treating us like his personal army, this would never have happened!" Will exclaimed.

"Will! I am all right!" Matthew insisted.

Before Will had a chance to retaliate, Arthur spoke up, pointing to the villagers. "These men, are brave enough, to fight for what they believe in, even if you aren't."

"You're sending them to their graves!" Will exclaimed. "You nearly had one man killed. How many more are going to actually be killed until you realize that this is a battle that can't be won?" he said. "When Kanen comes, you haven't got a chance. You're going to be slaughtered."

I growled, finally deciding that this was all I could take from Will. "Oh, please! Arthur's sending them to their graves? You are! If you don't fight, there will no longer be any villagers!"

"Don't strain yourself, Lizzie." Morgana whispered.

"Elizabeth, really, it's all right." Arthur tried to say.

"No, it really isn't! These people's bravery combined will be more than you have ever had! These are examples of proper men." I said, gesturing to the crowd. "They are something you could never dream of being. Fighting for something that you believe in strongly enough will cause you to win. And if you are too blinded by hatred to see it, then I can't see any other way to help you."

Silence among everybody. I huffed out, releasing all my anger from my body. Once the adrenaline was gone, all my pain came flooding all at once. "Now if you haven't noticed, I have an arrow lodged in my arm, and I would very much like it out."

Everyone finally did seem to notice in all the commotion, and somebody led me to a tent where someone could take care of it. Morgana, of course, was plastered to my side the entire time. I, of course, screamed in pain when the doctor took out the arrow, apologizing the entire time. I was so relieved when it was finally out, and all that was left was cleaning the wound, applying a salve, and wrapping the wound up.

"So how are you gonna fight tomorrow?" Merlin asked, who had shortly joined Morgana and I after the man who helped me left.

"She's not fighting." Morgana said fiercely.

I looked over to her. "And who says I can't?" She looked at me in disbelief, they both do, but I kept going. "It was my left arm I hurt, not my right. I can still fight. We need all the help we can get."

Morgana was about to say something when someone walked into the tent. Looking over, I saw that it was Matthew, looking rather shy. Morgana and Merlin left, though I suspected that Merlin was still standing outside the tent.

"Umm, my Lady?" Matthew began.

I nodded. "Yes?"

Everything came in a rush. "I'd like to thank you for saving my life. Not a lot of people like you would do something like this for a person like me and I'm so sorry you got hurt and I'll do everything to help you get better."

I couldn't help but laugh, and Matthew looked at me funny. "Matthew, I don't look at people through social statuses. I would have helped you regardless. It doesn't matter, I help the people I care about. I would have done it if it were Prince Arthur, or Merlin, or Hunith. I'm just glad to be of help."

Matthew nodded to me. "Thank you again. Did you need anything?"

I shook my head. "I think I'm good. But thank you again."

He nodded, then left, and Merlin stepped back in. "Hey, I need to talk to you."

I looked to my arm. "Look, I know it was a bad idea to push Matthew out of the way, but what did you expect me to do? He was about to get shot-"

"No, not that." Merlin dismissed. "It's about Will."

"Oh." I said. "Yeah, that. Yeah, I'm sorry I blew up at him. It was the heat of the moment."

"Liz, we both know I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Merlin said, crossing his arms.

"I know." I said.

"Well, you know what you have to do." Merlin said.

I nodded and hung my head in shame. "I know." I repeated.

He pointed to the door. "Right now, young Lady."

I lifted my head. "But he started it!" I said childishly, sticking my lower lip out into a pout.

"I don't care who started it, I'm telling you to finish it." He pointed to the door again. "March."

I groaned in defeat and stomped out the door. Well, as well as I could stomp with an injury. "No good, dirty rotten, guilt tripping warlock."

TBC...

So yeah...I saved Matthew.

Honestly, I thought his death was so unneeded, I was pissed off. Which is why I seized the oppertunity to save him.

Oh, and a surprise is coming up for Elizabeth in the very last episode of season 1. Which we are getting very close to, BTW. Any guesses as to what it is?

Anyways, Lizzie's Outfit's on Polyvore!

REVIEW! THANKS! STAY TUNED!