A/N - Not much more to go now, just a few more chapters.

Thanks for reading. I hope this one came out right. It was a bit tricky. Sorry if this came up as multiple alerts, had some problems with breaking things up to make it clearer.

Disclaimer in Chapter 1

Chapter 19 Nightmares

She watched, frozen as she saw Uther move quietly into the room. She tried to speak, but the words would not come. She could only watch in terror as Uther raised the knife over the sleeping form. "You will not bring a servant into my kingdom as Queen," she heard Uther say as he plunged the knife into the heart of his only son.

She flew upright in her bed, sweat beading on her forehead. A scream forming on her lips but not getting past. Her heart was racing as she remembered her dream, the terror still with her. Beyond that, she felt the power within her surge.

"Merlin," she called out in her mind.

"Tayla?" he answered.

"Yes, I need to know, is Arthur alright?"

"I'll check...Yes, He is sleeping."

"Are you with him?"

"Yes, I was sleeping off his chambers. Is everything alright?"

"Just a bad dream. Thank you Merlin. Please stay with him."

"I will."

She could feel the power in her and knew she needed someone. She smiled and, getting up off her bed, she went to the small room off hers. He was the only one she needed.

"Tristan," she said gently. He woke quickly and sat up, the covers falling off his bare chest but this time she didn't notice. He noticed the fire in her eyes.

"What can I do?" he asked, reaching out to stroke her face.

"Help me. Keep me safe, keep me sane," she whispered.

"Anything my Lady, you know that." She slipped into his bed and into his arm

~o~o~o~o~~o~o~o~o~

He watched, frozen as he saw his father move quietly into the room. He tried to speak, but the words would not come. He could only watch in terror as Uther raised the knife over the sleeping form. "You will not have my son or be a Queen of Camelot," he heard Uther say as he plunged the knife into the heart of Guinevere.

He jolted awake, sitting up, calling her name.

"Arthur, what is wrong?" asked Merlin, coming awake at the sound of Arthur's voice.

"Bad dream. Guinevere, I need to see her."

"She is in with Morgana. Arthur, it is the middle of the night." What was Arthur thinking of doing, Merlin wondered. Surely he wasn't thinking of going to Morgana's room now.

Arthur took a calming breath. It must have just been a dream.

"You are right. But Merlin, do you think you could make sure she is alright? Please." Oh no, of course he wasn't going himself, he is sending me, thought Merlin with a groan which Arthur heard.

"Please Merlin, I am worried about her," Arthur replied, sounding very much like Tayla had earlier when she had asked him to check on Arthur. Resigned to his fate, Merlin replied, "Of course, Arthur." He left the room, wondering what it was with nightmares tonight.

Arthur waited impatiently for Merlin to come back.

"Well?" he said, the moment Merlin came through the door.

"She is sleeping soundly, Arthur. Do not ever ask me to do that again. Do you have any idea how hard it is to sneak in with the guards that are on duty at present? What if I had been caught." Whilst Merlin usually didn't mind sneaking around the castle at night, being caught sneaking into Morgana's chambers would have brought the wrath of Uther down on him, and with all the security for Tayla, tonight was riskier than normal.

"You weren't though Merlin," said Arthur, trying not to smile at the way Merlin was reacting.

"But what if I had? They would have thrown me in the stocks!" Merlin shuddered.

"No they wouldn't Merlin. I would make sure of that."

"Really?" asked Merlin perking up a bit.

"Really, Merlin. Cleaning out the stables would be much better punishment," Arthur said with a smile, feeling much more relaxed now that he knew Guinevere was safe.

"Arthur!"

"Thank you, Merlin."

"Fine, well then. Can we all go back to sleep now?"

Arthur didn't respond, just settled back into his bed, and tried to forget the dream and return to sleep.

~o~o~o~o~~o~o~o~o~

Uther woke with a start and sat up in his bed. There was a candle burning on the table, (he was sure it hadn't been burning when he went to sleep,) lighting the room just enough to see someone sitting in the chair by the window. He was about to yell for the guards when a familiar voice spoke.

"Hello, my darling." Uther couldn't believe his ears. He hadn't hear that voice in over 20 years.

"Ygraine?" Uther asked, disbelief in his voice.

"Yes," she replied, stepping into the light. His breath caught, she was as beautiful as ever.

Uther stared at her for a moment, he tried to get up. But he couldn't move.

"What is going on?" Uther said, "Why can't I move?"

"Relax my love, you are dreaming, it is the only way I could speak to you," she said.

"Why are you here?" Uther asked, wishing he could hold her again.

"I came to speak to you about our son. He has grown into a fine man."

"That is debatable," Uther said, remembering Arthur's defiance today. He felt the headache coming back that he had earlier before he went to sleep.

"No Uther, it is not. He is confident and powerful. He is ready."

"Ready for what?" Uther asked, not sure what she was suggesting.

"To make his own decisions. I would even go so far as to say that he is almost ready to be king."

"He is not!" Uther denied. No, Arthur was anything but ready for that, he couldn't even chose a suitable wife. But then, a small voice in his head said, what about Tayla? She would have been most suitable except that she was his sister.

"Why do you deny him the chance to love Uther? Why do you deny him the chance to have what we had?" Ygraine asked. Uther knew what she was referring to.

"She is but a servant girl," Uther said, disgust evident in his voice.

"He loves her Uther, deeply. It is the way it should be, love shouldn't be restricted by silly boundaries."

"She is just..." Uther started.

"Uther!" Ygraine raised her voice silencing him. It was very rare that she did that, only in times where she believed he was wrong.

"You expect me to let a servant become queen?" Uther asked, frowning.

"I expect you to let our son make his own choices, as you did," Ygraine said firmly.

"Ygraine..."

"Uther please, he deserves to be happy. Promise me you will let him. For my sake. I can not rest until I know he is," she begged of him.

"Ygraine I..." He couldn't do it, a servant as queen, it wasn't the way things worked.

"Please Uther for me," Ygraine said, tears in her eyes.

Uther jolted awake, sitting up in bed. He took a breath, just a dream. But then he noticed the candle on the table still burning, and looked around, but there was no one there. As he lay back on his pillows, and rolled over, he noticed something on the other pillow. He picked it up and, when he realised that it was one of Ygraine's handkerchiefs, he felt the tears fall from his eyes. She used to leave one on the pillow if she left the chambers before he got up. She had been so close. He still could hear her words ringing in his ears, "I can not rest until I know he is. Please Uther for me."