Those who remained of Camelot stayed silent and watched on in quiet terror as they saw the flash of light come from the castle, fearing the worst. With the Prince dead, what hope did they have left? None, that was the answer. They were homeless with their men dead and a King without a kingdom. With morale low, people began to speak their thoughts aloud, many of them against Uther. He should have killed Nimueh when he'd had the chance, shouldn't have killed all the sorcerers, allowed magic, tighter laws on practising magic…So many different things, often contradicting each other but Uther took none of them in. Instead he stared at the castle in the distance and refused to move. Numb with grief, he couldn't believe that his blue eyed blonde haired baby boy was gone. Killed by the same person who had killed his wife. Now she'd had her revenge at such a high cost. His legs buckled and Uther knelt in the snow, everything around him seeming like a dream. His son couldn't be dead. Not after everything that they'd been through. There were so many things left unsaid between them and now Uther would never have the chance to tell his son. Arthur would never become king.

"People, people… Please. We do not know for definite that they are dead. There's no point pointing the finger. Nothing can be changed." one of the knight's said, quietening the people.

"There's a chance that they could still be alive, and if not then Nimueh needs to be defeated. One of us should go and find out for certain, and I will go gladly."

"I will go too." said one of the lesser wounded men.

"And I will." Uther said, speaking up. If his son was dead then he wanted to be the first one to say goodbye. Morgana stepped forwards then to volunteer herself but Uther held onto her sleeve. "You can't." he said. "I can't lose you as well. I promised your father that I'd protect you."

"But…"

"Morgana, stay here. Look after the people. They need you rather than me to help them." He told her before getting to his feet and leading the few men back to the castle, all wondering just what they were to face. Would they find the sorceress still in charge with three bodies or would they find Arthur, Merlin and Alethea still alive? They didn't know but Uther was sure that they would soon find out. Soon arriving at Camelot, the three men looked to each other and took a deep breath before entering the main castle. Opening the wooden doors to the Great Hall, they were met with a sorry sight. The three teenagers lay at weird angles at different points in the Hall. Uther immediately ran to his son, his worst fears becoming true.

"No…Please Arthur, not you." He whispered as he knelt beside his son. "Not you."

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For one tiny moment, Alethea believed that she was going to die. With the sorceress stood above her and no escape, Alethea knew that she was indeed going to die. There was no way that she could escape this fact. Closing her eyes, she thought of home and of her parents who she wouldn't see again. She thought of her friends and the good times that they'd had. She thought of Arthur and how she would never taste those sweet lips of his again. A single tear escaped from her eyes as she waited for death. She was young, but she knew that her life was less important than all of those waiting anxiously in the forest. If she died to save them then so be it. They deserved to live their lives unhassled. She, on the other hand, had been the person who had caused all of this trouble and so, if she could reverse it all then she would, no matter what the price.

Reaching out, she let her fingers dance along the metal's edge, eventually managing to bring it closer. She'd grabbed the shield just in time to meet Nimueh's blow and the magic reflected off the metal to hit the sorceress. The edges became hotter and hotter, burning Alethea's hands and making tears spring to her eyes, but she held on to it with all her might. One slip and she'd be gone leaving Camelot without a hope of survival. The spell reflected, Alethea looked up to find no sign of the sorceress and a small smile flickered on her lips as she heard her name called. What little strength she had was drained from her and she closed her eyes, welcoming the soft, gentleness of sleep.

That all seemed like a dream now. Eyelids flickering, Alethea knew that she'd been moved from the Great Hall as stone wasn't as comfy as this. Opening her eyes and blinking to allow them to adjust to the light, she found herself lying in a familiar room. Her hands burned and her joints ached so she knew that the whole thing with Nimueh had been harsh reality, but she found a nice surprise waiting for her. Carefully sitting up without causing herself too much pain, she found Merlin sat by a fire polishing boots. Grinning, she wondered just where Arthur was. Had he been the unlucky one? Had Merlin only survived because he was a magician himself? Or was the Prince elsewhere?

"Alethea, good morning!" Merlin said when he realised that she'd woken. "We were beginning to wonder if you'd ever wake."

"What happened?" she asked, her head feeling murky and with a faint buzzing in her ears.

"I don't know exactly. All I know is that one minute we were facing Nimueh and the next I was waking to find you lying there and the King was in here trying to find out what had happened."

"And Nimueh?"

"No sign of her."

"The Prince? Does he live?"

"Don't worry. Arthur's fine. The knock to the head will have knocked some sense into him."

"I suppose. He in his room?" she asked, getting ready to go and find him.

"No. He's busy arranging something for tomorrow."

"Sounds interesting. What is it?"

"I can't say much more than that I'm afraid Alethea."

"Secret?" The warlock nodded. "Typical."

"By the way, thank you."

"What for?" She asked, feeling quite perplexed. Sitting up, she noted that her hands were bandaged and immediately wondered just how she was going to cope without the use of her hands for a while.

"I believe you saved me, Arthur and the whole of Camelot. Everyone's talking about it."

"But, who saw me?" she asked, confused. Both Arthur and Merlin had been quite out cold by the time Alethea had faced Nimueh and there had been no one else there.

"I did." Looking to the doorway, both smiled when they saw Arthur stood tall in the doorway. "Hello Alethea."

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It was true. Arthur had only been stunned by Nimueh's magic and had recovered his senses in time to see Nimueh standing over Alethea, ready to deal the fatal blow. Arthur had watched in sheer horror, unable to do anything to stop this from happening. Shouting Alethea's name, he was blinded by the purest white light he had ever seen. When his eyes had recovered, he'd found Nimueh gone with Alethea smiling. Laughing, he shouted to Alethea, trying to make his way over to her but his strength had gone from him. He finally gave into exhaustion just as he was within reach of his love and was glad to see that she was still breathing. Happy in the knowledge that she still lived, Arthur had closed his eyes, only to open them later that evening to find his father knelt beside him.

"Father?" He asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, trying to work out just what had happened. At this point he was still lying where he had fallen but there was no sign of Alethea or Merlin. However, from the sounds of things, they were safe.

"Arthur. Thank god!" Uther said, enveloping his son in a hug.

"Where are Merlin and Alethea?"

"Safe. Gaius is tending to them now. You are all very very lucky to have survived."

"And Nimueh?"

"No sign of her. You did it Arthur. You defeated her." And that had started all of the preparations for the celebratory feast. Having had just a few hours to recover, Arthur had set to organising the feast and then had been given one of the worst jobs he would ever have to do. He had to go and tell families that their men wouldn't be returning. Hating this part of the work, he found the families and broke the news to them. Some took it quite well whilst others broke down into tears and the rest of them yelled at Arthur, claiming that it was his fault that the men were dead. Visiting the last house, Arthur told them the news.

"He fought well and died fighting for Camelot. He was the bravest man I knew and a good soldier. He won't be forgotten." The family looked at him, smiled slightly and thanked him for his concern before the Prince left. With a heavy heart, he trudged through the snow towards the castle and decided to call on his servant. If the feast was to happen then his boots needed polishing, his clothes cleaning, etcetera, etcetera…Plus he'd see Alethea. He was worried about her. She still hadn't woken although Gaius' sleeping draughts might have had a part to play in that. Mind you, she needed all the rest that she could get. After all she'd been through, she needed all the sleep she could get.

Climbing the stairs to Gaius' chamber, he didn't bother knocking as he heard voices and had to smile when he heard Alethea. She was finally awake which was good considering what he had planned for tomorrow night. The only problem was trying to keep it secret from her when the rest of Camelot knew what was going to happen. Unless he could keep Alethea away from the people, he'd have trouble on his hands. Alethea wasn't supposed to know about her surprise or her reward. In truth, not many people were supposed to know but they did.

"Arthur!" Alethea grinned when she saw him and got to her feet almost immediately. Before he'd even stepped over the threshold Alethea was holding on tight to him, her arms wrapped around him with a massive smile on her face. Unable to help himself, Arthur laughed and held her close to him.

"Anyone would have thought you'd missed me."

"I have." she said, breathing in his scent and not letting him go. She had believed him dead when she'd faced Nimueh and defeated her. Now he was alive she wasn't going to let him go that easily. Freeing him from her arms, she brought him inside and sat him down, sitting beside him and letting her head rest on his shoulder. Arthur smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Everyone's wanting to know what happened."

"Well, you really want to know?" Alethea asked. Arthur and Merlin both nodded. "Fine." And so she explained just what had happened in the Great Hall a few days ago. Both listened and smiled at her before Arthur gave his version of events and let them know just what had happened since he'd woken.

"So preparing for tomorrow now. I just popped in to see how you two were."

"What is happening tomorrow?" Alethea asked, feeling quite left out.

"Nothing in particular." Arthur and Merlin chorused.

"You're preparing for it though, so it must be something."

"It's nothing to worry about Alethea."

"But…" As she objected, Gaius came into the room looking quite run off his feet. He'd been quite busy with the survivors of the battle and those who were just ill generally. It seemed that his appearance would save Arthur and Merlin from answering Alethea's questions though.

"Sire, your father wishes to see you, and you as well Merlin." he told them both. "Best not keep him waiting."

"Then I shall see you later Alethea." With that both of the young men left Alethea with Gaius.

"What does Uther want to see them about?" the student asked.

"Tomorrow night." Gaius smiled as Alethea let out a sigh of frustration. No one was telling her what was going on and it was very annoying. Sitting by the window, she looked out on the snow covered Camelot and watched as people wandered from place to place and children played in the streets. It was a different picture from that of a few days ago, and Alethea was glad for that, even if she didn't know what was going to happen tomorrow night.