Hello, hello, hello! I know it's been quite a while (3 years I believe?) and I know you all probably thought I would never update again but I told y'all that I had plans to finish this story and I meant it. Longer author's note at the bottom of the chapter!

Reviews:

reptoholic - Thank you for your constructive criticism! I always appreciate respectful suggestions. I do have plans to write some more of my original dialogue and plot (you'll definitely see more of that in the next chapter for example) but I will also often be following the script. Major changes will happen as well but that won't be happening just yet. Still, you can rest assured that every episode will include original dialogue and scenes. As for the love triangle, I actually love them, and I love both Lancelot and Arthur. What I hated about the love triangle in the show was how Gwen handled it, constantly stringing Lancelot along. Annabelle will not be doing that and I think that will be made quite clear in the next chapter. Again, thank you for your review! Hope you enjoy this update.

yamko87 - Annabelle will definitely not be Gwen 2.0. I really don't like Gwen and I have no intention of making myself hate my own character. However, I am a big fan of love triangles (cliche, I know, but what can I say, I'm sappy like that) and I do want to include it in my story. But I assure you Annabelle will be handling it much differently than Gwen did (she really just strung Lancelot along and never really came clean about her feelings for Lancelot to Arthur, and I hated that). Hope you like this chapter!

Guest - Aww, thank you so much! Sorry it took me so long to update! Hope you like this chapter! More will be coming soon!

Guest - I have plans for all the things that you mentioned in your review, but I don't want to give them away just yet. And I agree, Gwen is really not a good character (she's quite useless in my opinion) but I actually quite like her the way I'm writing her in my story. She and Merlin will remain a couple, sorry. Hope you like this chapter though!

surrounded by books - Thank you for your lovely comment! I know it's been a long time since I updated but here you go! Hope you like this chapter!

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

Arthur and Merlin, having finally reached their destination, hid behind the trees as they gazed at the fortress in front of them. There was not much to be seen in the dark, but the massiveness of it did not escape their notice.

"We'll have to scale the walls," said Arthur, eyeing the tower that he was held the woman he loved.

"Maybe there's another way in," suggested Merlin, his voice meek. Of course, neither one of them believed the words that had just escaped him, but the warlock had to try.

"Why don't you go and knock on the front gate?" suggested the prince, sarcasm dripping from his every word. "I'm sure if you ask nicely, they'll hand Annabelle and Guinevere over to you." And with those words, the young Pendragon stood up from his position in the bushes started making his way down the tree line. Merlin stared after his master for a split second before rolling his eyes. Of course, he would scale the walls to get to his sister and the woman he loved; hell, he would scale a hundred walls. That did not mean he had to like it.

The young warlock had just gotten to his feet to follow Arthur, when a movement between the bushes caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

"Arthur!" he hissed, keeping the volume as low as possible while still alerting the prince. The blond man whipped around, his mouth already parted to no doubt reprimand his servant for going too slow, when Merlin lifted his hand and pointed in the direction of the movement. The prince, having turned his head and seen the rustle himself, quickly drew his sword and, with a quick motion to Merlin for the servant to stay behind him, slowly began to make his way towards the trees in their line of sight.

As quietly and stealthily as possible, Arthur maneuvered his way in between the branches, before pressing his back against the bark of one of the trees, with Merlin close on his heels. The two men hid behind the trees as the rustle grew louder, the person or animal hidden from their sight making their way closer. Waiting only another couple of seconds, just to make sure they were close enough, Arthur suddenly leapt from his position, grabbing the person's arm tightly with his left and pressing his sword to their neck with the other. That, however, turned out not to be necessary.

"Guinevere!" he exclaimed in shock, finally seeing the person's face. Gwen's eyes, still filled with tears and fear, grew equally as wide as the prince's.

"Sire," she breathed and, having realized he still hadn't done so, Arthur quickly lowered his sword.

"Gwen?" came a voice from just behind Arthur and Gwen's eyes moved to follow it. When they rested on the owner of the voice, the tears from her eyes spilled and her lips turned upwards in a smile.

"Merlin!" she half exclaimed, half sobbed, pulling her arm from Arthur's hold with a might she did not know she possessed and running to her love. Within seconds, she was enveloped safely into his arms and finally, for the first time since the ambush, began to cry in earnest.

"What happened?" whispered Merlin, stroking her hair tenderly, "How did you get out?" Gwen only continued to cry, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"Where is Annabelle?" Arthur finally asked. He kept quiet for as long as he could but it turned out not to be very long. He had to know where Annabelle was. He had to know that she was still alive.

"I don't... I don't know," said Gwen quietly, finally pulling away from Merlin but only far enough to be able to speak to the prince. Her face was turned in his direction but her body remained in Merlin's arms. "I don't know for sure but I think she's still in there."

"How can you not know?" asked Arthur, his voice taking on a hard edge. He knew he shouldn't speak this way to a clearly traumatized woman, but his desire to have Annabelle back in his arms greatly outweighed his tact in the moment. "Were you separated?"

"She told me to run," said Gwen, tears once again filling her eyes as she recalled the last conversation she had with her friend, "She told me to run and then she went back in," she continued, her voice trailing off into a whisper as she struggled to hold off another onslaught of tears.

"What?!" exclaimed Merlin as Arthur's eyes grew wide, panic quickly overtaking both men. "Why would she do that?!"

"She said she had to," said Gwen, her voice growing slightly hysterical as she finally lost the battle of the wills with her tears. "She said she had to go back for Lancelot."

"Lancelot?!" both men exclaimed, their shock only growing as Gwen nodded, wiping her eyes hastily with her hand.

"He was in there with us. He helped us escape and then..." she choked on the last few words, but quickly took in a deep breath to continue, "And then he stayed behind to hold them off. We heard a scream and then Anna ran back in," the maid finished her tale, hiccuping slightly.

Arthur's eyes were wide, moving only once to share a disbelieving look with Merlin before he turned his head, gazing up at the fortress. The woman he loved was still in there. She was in there with another man who had feelings for her. And she could be dead.

*Meanwhile*

Lancelot was on his knees, his hands bound tightly behind his back. He was in the cage, the same cage he had fought in only a day earlier, and was shaking his head repeatedly, trying to regain focus. His sight was clouded, his mind not nearly as clear as it should be in this situation. Then again, a hit to the head tended to do that to a person.

"Before you die..." came a voice from his left, prompting the dishonored knight to turn his head, his eyes settling on Hengist, who was standing as close to the cage as possible without actually entering himself. "I can promise you the most unimaginable pain." That was all it took for the men surrounding the cage to laugh and jeer, clearly eager to see what their leader had in store for the man who dared betray him.

"You can do what you will with me. I do not care. You can do no harm to Annabelle," said Lancelot, his lips twisting into a small smile. He knew what was about to happen and he was being completely honest - he did not care, not when he knew that the woman who held his heart in her hands was safe.

"Was that her name? Huh?" asked Hengist, a predatory grin on his face as his head settled in the space between the makeshift bars of the cage, his eyes staring deep into Lancelot's. The former knight of Camelot suddenly got the feeling that Hengist knew something he didn't and that thought unsettled him, "A serving girl with a name fit for a queen," the mercenary proclaimed, tilting his head to take a look at the men around him, who took this as an invitation to laugh once again, remembering the beauty who had been showcased to them like a rare jewel the day prior. They had all had their fair amount of ideas of how they would have liked to have spent time with her, had Hengist been willing to share his prized possession. Said man shared a smile reserved only for criminals with his men before turning his head back around, his eyes once again settling on Lancelot. "And you really believe she's worth dying for?"

"She's worth more to me than you will ever understand," proclaimed Lancelot, his smile bright, his eyes honest. That seemed to be the answer they were all looking for, as Hengist's men took it as a cue to laugh once again while the leader nodded thoughtfully, his eyes mocking. He continued to stare at Lancelot for a good couple of seconds before the corners of his mouth lifted and he glanced over to his right, giving two of his men there a small nod.

Lancelot frowned, not liking the look on Hengist's men in the slightest, and turned around as much as he could while on his knees. The men that Hengist had given the signal to had raised the gate to the tunnel and two more men emerged from inside. But what caught Lancelot's attention was the person in between them.

"No," he breathed almost silently to himself, shaking his head, his eyes wide with panic. No, this wasn't supposed to happen. Annabelle was supposed to have gotten away with Guinevere. She was supposed to be safe.

And yet here she was, now on her knees just like him.

"You thought she'd got away?" asked Hengist, his tone mocking, and Lancelot turned his head again, his eyes staying on Annabelle for as long as they could before they found Hengist again, "No, you failed her. And that must hurt you more than I will ever understand," he mocked and Lancelot's heart broke.

"Shut up," snapped a voice from behind him and Lancelot turned his head once again, only to see Annabelle glaring daggers at Hengist before her eyes settled on Lancelot, "Lancelot, don't listen to him. You did not fail me, you could never fail me," she pleaded, her eyes as honest as his had been when he proclaimed his feelings only moments earlier.

"Ooh," crooned Hengist, his grin wide as he watched the exchange, "Looks like our little lady has quite the mouth on her," he almost sang, prompting his men to laugh once more, this time louder than every before. Annabelle only continued to glare at the poor excuse of a man in front of her, channelling all her willpower into ensuring that her magic did not escape her control. This wasn't the time. Not yet. She would teach Hengist a lesson and she would save Lancelot, but in order to do that, she had to follow her plan; and, unfortunately, that plan did not include killing Hengist just yet, no matter how much she may want to. Hengist, unaware of just how powerful the woman he was currently mocking was, only grinned wider. "Let's see if that means her screams will be as loud as her heart."

I know this chapter is quite short and in no way makes up for my absence but I still hope you enjoyed it at least a little bit. This is really more of a filler chapter - next up will be the last part of the episode and I promise you some really great moments between Annabelle, Arthur and Lancelot. And yes, that means what you think it means: I AM OFFICIALLY TAKING THIS STORY OFF HOLD. I'm in a huge Merlin mood right now and I'm quite confident that I will be writing more soon. I just want to take a second to appreciate just how bizarre it is that I started this story (Am I the One?) when I was still in middle school and now I am a sophomore in COLLEGE! It's crazy! I have been writing this story for over 6 years now (I sincerely hope that means you can see that my writing has improved)! Anyway, I'm in a huge Merlin mood so hopefully you will be seeing more chapters from me soon. Please please PLEASE COMMENT your thoughts on this chapter! I've been away from this site for a long time and I would really appreciate your feedback, as always. And if you'd like, I invite you all to follow my Merlin account on Instagram: merlineditsdaily. Until next time!