AM I THE ONE? | Arthur Pendragon [1]

He Will Not Die

*Third Person's P.O.V.*

"I hope they're okay." Guinevere said worriedly as she packed some wrapped up food into a small bag. Merlin was pacing back and forth in her small but comfortable house, a look of worry plastered on his face as well. They were both waiting for Annabelle to show up, seeing as she was packing more food in Gaius's chambers, before the Lady Morgana and the Druid boy show up in Guinevere's house. "Morgana really cares about the boy." Gwen said. "I've never seen her this way with anyone." She shook her head with furrowed eyebrows. Merlin nodded, knowing what she meant.
"Annabelle's the same." He said. "She's always been caring and loving, but this time is different. She's ready to die for this boy." Merlin then sat down in front of Gwen, and sighed as he put his arms on the table. "I'm sure they just want to protect him." Gwen hummed in agreement, but they both couldn't help but think that it was something more than it seemed.

*5 minutes later*

    Guinevere and Merlin both looked up as the door opened, only to see Annabelle rushing in and closing the door behind her. She quickly brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear and placed a basket filled with wrapped up food on the table.
"Alright, I made enough food for two days." She said, and Gwen nodded as she stood up and grabbed two more cloth bags, putting them on the table.
"Let's put it in here. It will be easier for them to carry." She suggested, and Annabelle nodded, immediately packing the food into the bags.
"How much is there in total?" She asked, and Gwen thought for a second.
"I made enough for a day and a half and you made enough for two days, so I'd say that there's enough for at least three days." She answered, before grabbing a string and tying the ends of the bags together, so that Morgana could easily grab all of them at once. Just as the two girls finished the packing, the warning bell sounded through the kingdom, making the three of them suck in a sharp breath; the guards knew the Druid boy was here.
    Guinevere paced back and forth with worry, holding her hand up to her mouth nervously. After a couple seconds, Merlin finally stood up and stopped her by putting his hands on her shoulders, before quickly pulling her in for a hug. Gwen sighed in worry, but couldn't help the small smile that formed on her face as she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in Merlin's chest. Meanwhile, Annabelle was looking out the window, holding the curtain only a centimeter or two up with her fingers, making sure that no one would notice her waiting for someone. Suddenly, two figures, one smaller than the other, came into her sight.
"They're coming." She announced, before quickly taking a step or two towards the door, her hand on the knob. Gwen and Merlin pulled away at the sound of her voice, and watched as she opened the door just a tiny bit in order to see how close Morgana and the Druid boy were. Not 5 seconds passed, before she quickly opened the door, and Morgana and the boy rushed in, letting her close the door immediately after. "There's enough food for three days." Annabelle said as she walked over to the rest.
"The horses, fed and watered, I'll take you to them." Merlin said, but the Lady Morgana immediately shook her head.
"No. There's no point in more of us risking our lives."
"What about you?" Annabelle asked worriedly as the warning bell continued to be heard.
"I'm the King's Ward; I'll take my chances." Morgana replied.
"Morgana!" Gwen exclaimed, nearly in tears.
"I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to any of you!" Morgana said quickly, before looking at each of them. "I must go." She said, before pulling the boy with her towards the door.
Goodbye, Ketziyaa. The boy connected his mind to Merlin and Annabelle's as he passed them. Goodbye, Emrys. The two siblings watched them leave as Guinevere tried to hold in her tears. As soon as the Lady and the Druid stepped outside, Merlin closed the door behind them, as Annabelle slumped onto a bench by the table with a heavy sigh and her eyes closed, and Gwen started pacing once again, worry filling all of them to the very tip.

*The Next Day, Annabelle's P.O.V.*

"I promised I wouldn't let anything bad happen to him." Morgana said with tears in her eyes as she, Merlin, and I stood in her chambers. We failed. Arthur and the guards caught Morgana with the boy. The boy was now in the dungeons, awaiting his execution tomorrow at dawn, while Uther was more than furious with Morgana.
"You can't blame yourself." Merlin said as he wrapped his arm around me. "You both tried your best."
"It's not enough." Morgana snapped in a quivering voice.
"He's in jail now, there's nothing more we can do." My brother said, and I pulled away from him, looking at him in disbelief. Is he really going to give up so easily and let an innocent child die?!
"I will not let him die." Morgana said strongly, walking towards us, and I nodded in agreement.
"And neither will I." I said, and Morgana gave me a thankful nod, gripping my hand tightly as her lower lip quivered slightly.
"Can we count on your help?" She asked Merlin, and he nodded, though I could see it was reluctant, which made me regret ever telling him what the Great Dragon said to me. "Thank you." Morgana breathed out, before she turned to me. "Do you think there's any way you could persuade Arthur to help us? I would do it myself, but Uther put me under constant guard." I immediately nodded, knowing that Arthur will help when help is needed. He is not's like Uther. I know he isn't.

*10 minutes later, Prince Arthur's Chambers*

    I looked up as I heard the doors to Arthur's chambers open, only to see the Prince himself walking in,  which made me stand up from where I was sitting on one of the chairs. Arthur stopped in his tracks at the sight of me, before closing the doors behind himself and turning to look at me.
"Annabelle." He acknowledged, though his tone was hard. "Is there something you need?" He asked, taking off his jacket.
"I've come to ask for your help." I said, ignoring the scoff that I received from him. "You can't let your father execute the boy."
"You're lucky he's not executing you!" Arthur snapped, which made me wince. He figured it out.
"You know." I said, and he nodded.
"Yes, I know. I know you've been helping Morgana hide the boy all this time. I know you've committed treason. And I know you don't trust me." Arthur said, the last words laced with hurt.
"It's not that I don't trust you." I protested, making him scoff in disbelief. "I do trust you, Arthur. With my life. But I know you are loyal to your father, and I didn't want to put you in such a difficult position."
"Why would it be difficult?" He asked, trying to act nonchalant, but I could see right through it.
"Please don't lie to me, Arthur." I said softly. "I know you think your father's wrong to execute him."
"What I think, doesn't matter. Father's made up his mind." Arthur said, taking off his scabbard and putting it away, before grabbing himself a goblet of wine from the table. "He won't be talked out of it. I tried."
"Then the time for talking is over." I said strongly as Arthur walked over to the window.
"What you and Morgana are thinking is not going to happen, Annabelle." He said, not even looking at me.
"We have to get the boy back to his people." I said, walking over to him.
"No." Arthur immediately protested harshly. "Forget it."
"I can't believe you'd let an innocent child die." I said just as harshly. I don't know if I was slowly loosing hope, of if I was just getting angrier, but I do know that I will not let that boy die. I will get him out, with or without Arthur's help.
"It's too late!" Arthur finally looked at me. "He's been caught." Suddenly, I saw regret lace his blue eyes as he looked away from me and out the window again. "I have no choice."
"Yes, you do, Arthur." I said. "You always have a choice, in a smaller or larger scale. I mean... Is this how you will rule when you will be King? Thinking you have no choice?" I continued as I stepped closer and put my hand on top of his, which was resting on the back of a chair. "You have to do the right thing, Arthur." I said, making him look at me. "And the right thing is not to let an innocent be executed. It's to stand up for what you believe in. You're not like your father. No matter how much you may look up to him, you're not like him. And you never will be. Because you are a better man than him. I mean no disrespect towards the King, but the people of Camelot are hoping that when you are King, things will be different; better. Your father might be a great man, if anyone would ever know that, you do. But he is blinded with hatred towards magic. And perhaps he has a good reason, I don't know everything about him. But to be a just ruler, a just man, is to never let one person change your view on thousands."
"I will not betray him." Arthur said, but I could see the internal battle in his eyes. I know he is considering what I said.
"I know you don't want to. I do." I said softly. "But if I know you at all, which I'd like to think that I do, you won't stand by and let this happen." I then took another step towards him, so that our chests were nearly touching. Seeing as I am only 5'3 1/2", I had to tilt my head to look in his eyes. "Please." I said quietly. "If you won't do this for the boy, then do it for me."

*Third Person's P.O.V.*

    Annabelle could see something change in Arthur's eyes. He stared at her for a moment or two, before he saw tears form in her beautiful, light blue eyes.
"Please." she whispered. He couldn't say no. He could see that she cared for this boy a great deal. And Annabelle was right; he knows what the right thing to do is. What the right thing to do for his people is. And he is going to do it. No matter what his father says. After another moment of gazing at each other, Arthur nodded his head, letting Annabelle know that he will help them. A relieved smile broke out on her face, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. Arthur was shocked, to say the least, but he was slowly getting used to hugging her. Her hugs were always comforting and warm. He immediately set his goblet down on the seat by the window, and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing his chin on her shoulder