CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR,
episode two, goblin's gold.

ISABELLA VALOUR could never have been prepared for what would happen to her in the next few hours. after hers and arthur's talk, the prince had gone to 'find' merlin with his knights.

and morgana pendragon had gone to threaten a scared little serving boy.

ever since she had befriended morgause, she had been having dreams. dreams of isabella becoming queen of camelot. it was something that she suddenly couldn't bare to think about. morgana wanted the power. she wanted to be queen. so, she would do everything she could to ruin isabella valour.

and i emphasise on the word everything.

isabella had just left her chambers after changing into a suitable dress for the afternoon when three guards approached her with sir leon. "good evening," she greeted, attempting to move past them.

"your grace, i offer you my sincere apologies for this." sir leon told her gently, before stepping back. "arrest her."

"what?" she asked in disbelief, attempting to get out of the guard's grip as they began to take her to the throne room. "sir leon, what is happening?"

leon knew he shouldn't tell isabella anything, however he had grown fond of her, and saw her as a trusted ally. the knight gently leant in to whisper, "the king believes you were involved in merlin's escape. he...he was told by somebody. a witness."

"that isn't true!" she widened her eyes as she was pushed to her knees in front of the king.

morgana was sat on her throne, looking shocked as isabella faced them. "isabella, what do you have to say?" the king asked calmly.

"i don't understand why i am here." she answered, putting on a confused face as sir leon mentally thanked her for not revealing his betrayal.

"you are here because there was a witness seeing you let merlin escape." the king stood up angrily as her eyes widened in disbelief.

"but i didn't! i was in my chambers the entire time. ask anyone—estella, gwen, morgana." she listed, tears brimming in her eyes.

i definitely should have thought of something to help get myself out of this, she thought.  damn you isabella for being so stubborn!

"silence! you helped a sorcerer! you are a traitor to this kingdom." he exclaimed loudly as she stared back at him in shock, unsure of where this was going.

"in fact...i have every right to believe you are involved in merlin's magic! most of the time you know about all legends to do with magic and enchantments, which doesn't help your case." the king listed as she shook her head slowly, pain filling her eyes.

"it's not true, i swear. i despise magic as much as you do. i only know of those filthy legends due to my mother and father warning me of what a danger sorcerer's are!" she begged, letting a few tears fall from her eyes.

the saddest part for isabella was the fact she let those tears fall because she couldn't even bare the fact she had to say those words.

"enough! perhaps you have put a spell on us all! that is why we have all believed your lies. that is why i accepted the proposal from your father for you to wed my son." he exclaimed angrily as she shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks as she sobbed.

the doors suddenly burst open as arthur and estella walked in hurriedly. "what is the meaning of this?" arthur exclaimed, walking in front of the court.

"i have the right to believe isabella is a sorceress and we have all been put under her spell. she was the one who helped merlin escape." the king said, taking a seat on his throne.

"it is not true," isabella begged, but then realising the only person she told was arthur, so he must've been the one to tell the king. she felt empty and betrayed, her eyes were focussed on the floor as she ran through every worst possible outcome in her head.

"that's ridiculous." arthur immediately responded, moving to stand next to isabella and hold her, letting her rest her head against him.

"and how would you know?" the king retorted.

"because i know about how i feel for her i am not enchanted! there is no way she helped merlin escape." arthur defended, an unknown emotion in his light eyes.

"so can you tell me how merlin escaped?" the king responded angrily as arthur stared back at him in disbelief.

"well, it pains me to admit it but he is embarrassingly clever. he must have somehow tricked the guards." arthur suggested, wincing at his words of admitting to merlin being clever.

"until the spell is broken, i cannot take anything you say as the truth." the king shook his head sadly, looking at isabella in betrayal and fear.

"what spell?" isabella asked in disbelief, shaking her head. "there is no spell. i know nothing of magic." she pleaded. no one had ever seen her in a panic or cry like this—she looked genuinely distraught and empty.

"it is the only rational explanation." the king answered calmly, unsure of who to believe.

"you told me i was like another daughter to you. you apologised for all your wrongs and you admitted i would be a great queen one day. how can you say these things?" isabella asked in disbelief, her voice breaking on every other word.

"that was before i realised you had enchanted me!"

"father, you have to see reason. isabella has done nothing wrong. she never has! she has always defended you, and she stood up for camelot when you were sick. she treats this kingdom as her own and that is exactly what we need." arthur argued as the king waved him off and ignored him.

"may i ask who it was that apparently saw me?" isabella suddenly spoke up in confusion.

the king glared at her, before turning to sir leon. "fetch him."

soon enough, a small scraggly boy entered nervously, avoiding eye contact with them all. "oh, come now. i mean this in no disrespect but you believe a serving boy over a princess of two kingdoms?" arthur scoffed, shaking his head.

"one kingdom!" uther yelled as isabella's face fell at his words. "she is the princess of one kingdom. however not for much longer. i am afraid to say...despite my promises to protect you i cannot go against my own laws and policies. you have betrayed me, my son and my kingdom. i have no choice other than to sentence you to your death."

"no." isabella whispered in shock, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"no!" sir leon exclaimed in shock, before stopping himself, "you are asking for a battle, sire!"

"i do not care! isabella has betrayed us all. if a battle is what i need to get justice, then so be it." the king exclaimed as isabella turned to him in disbelief and anger.

"you want a battle, uther? i shall give you war." she seethed, her eyes filling with tears of anger and pain.

"no—i will not let you do this. i will never forgive you!" arthur yelled, standing up and launching himself towards the king who was walking away as two guards dragged him back.

isabella was frozen in her spot, she barely could see what was going on due to her blurred vision when she was dragged up to take to the dungeons. "arthur—" she called out in disbelief.

"i'm begging you, father." arthur began, tears brimming in his eyes as the guards held him firmly. "we will leave camelot and never return! just please let us go!
i relinquish my entitlement to the throne!"

the king stared at him in shock and horror, "my son would never do that. it is proof beyond doubt that herself and the serving boy merlin has enchanted you. take them away."

"i will never forgive you for this." arthur spat as uther ignored him, wiping it away from his cheek and staring at his son in disgust.

isabella felt herself being dragged away, tears falling from her cheeks as arthur escaped from the guards grip and ran over to her. his arms wrapped around her as he pressed his lips onto hers, and despite being pulled away, she tried her best to keep them connected. "i will always love you." he whispered hurriedly.

fear filled isabella's eyes as she shook her head slowly, fighting against the tight grip, "but look where that love has brought us." she responded softly, her eyes filled with pain as she watched him be held down by the guards.

as the throne room doors closed, she couldn't help but notice morgana sat on the throne with a small smile on her face. she didn't look upset for her sentence...

she looked happy.

ISABELLA VALOUR didn't know what was happening in camelot, and she didn't care. the princess ignored all the company she got and stayed staring at the wall for as long as she could remember.

people were coming and going, promising things would be different and thinking of ways to help her. she briefly remembered gwen mentioning arthur had grown donkey ears but was too upset to understand the english humour. she

was sat leaning against the wall in her cell. she hadn't eaten the food gwen and estella had brung her, and hadn't spoken to any of them.

today, was different.

isabella turned in shock to hear a loud thud next to her, and widened her eyes seeing the guards on the door knocked down. she scrambled up from her position on the floor, but stood against the wall, her eyes scanning the outside of the cell.

and then, an unknown man in a dark red cloak stepped out. he had long, silver hair, with an old face yet young...familiar eyes. she tilted her head at him, her eyes scanning his face to see where she recognised him from. "who are you?" she whispered, taking a brave step forward.

"i think you know who i am." the man said knowingly, with a small smile which was very familiar.

she looked at his eyes, and it all clicked. she let out a relieved chuckle, "merlin." she realised. "have i really been in this cell for that long?" she joked.

merlin, or, emrys, chuckled, but it was more of a hoarse one. "i came to tell you im getting you out of here. i'm going to frame myself putting a poultice of some kind under arthur's pillow." he began to explain as she sighed, shaking her head.

"but then you shall get caught and will be executed."

"bella, i cannot let you die. i will think of something, i promise." he said, before realising the guards were beginning to wake up.

he sent her a knowing smile before rushing away, and isabella sat back down against the wall with a small sigh.

the sun was rising, and she knew it would be time soon for her execution. she looked up at the light shining through the cell window as her lip trembled.

the cell doors opened, and she didn't dare see who it was. "isabella." the voice said gently. her heart rate picked up hearing the king's voice.

he slowly walked towards her and crouched down in front of her, however she panicked and attempted to move away from him. the king held his hands up gently, to show he wasn't going to hurt her. "i offer you my sincerest apologises for the accusations i made." he began, making her slowly look up at him in shock.

"it turns out that gaius had been possessed by a goblin, and he had an accomplice...a sorcerer. the spell i believed we was all under was by him. isabella, i am so sorry." he continued, a deeply guilty look on his face.

tears brimmed in her eyes as she looked away from him. "merlin has been pardoned, and so have you. if you will allow it, i take back my words. you are the true princess of camelot and you always will be. now that i look back on it, the way arthur protected you and even was going to leave camelot shows me how much you truly love and care for each other...that is something my—no, your—kingdom needs."

she glanced at him, sniffling slightly as her lip trembled. "what of the sorcerer?"

"he has fled camelot. but don't worry, when he returns we will get him this time and have him burnt at the stake." he promised as isabella nodded slowly.

"i was so frightened. i thought i was to die for something i had not done, sire." she spoke. of course, it was partly a lie. she did let merlin escape. and she technically did have magic. however, he could never know that.

"is there anything i can do to make up for my mistakes?" he asked, helping her stand up as she shook her head slowly.

"no, my lord. i—i forgive you." she nodded sincerely as he smiled, bringing her in for a hug, apologising again.

"come, arthur wishes to see you." the king said, motioning for her to follow.

she followed the king into the throne room where merlin, estella, gaius and arthur was as she picked up her pace and rushed over to the prince, throwing her arms around him with a relieved smile.

"i'm so glad you are okay," he sighed, closing his eyes as she nodded in agreement.

"and i you," she smiled, before turning to merlin and giving him a hug.

"i'm glad you're alive." she smiled as he chuckled.

"me too. i was worried for a moment." he joked as isabella joined in with the laughter.

arthur took isabella's hand as they walked out of the throne room, and isabella glanced up at him worriedly. "arthur, what you said to your father...would you really have given up your place on the throne for me?"

"i still would." he responded almost immediately.

"your place is here in camelot, you cannot do that." she whispered, holding both of his hands as he smiled.

"my place is here with you and it always will be." he replied, and a light blush coated her cheeks as she looked up at him with a wide smile.

"if it makes you feel better...i would give up both of my kingdoms for you, arthur pendragon." she said softly, and his eyes filled with an emotion isabella couldn't name.

he chuckled slightly and brought her in for a sweet kiss, which she immediately returned. "come on, you haven't seen the people of camelot in a few days. let us take a walk." he told her, making her smile.

"i knew you enjoyed those walks."

SO i know THAT scene usually happens in "queen of hearts" however i really don't want to write that chapter lol cause it doesn't really fit with the plot so i added it in this ep 💞💞

basically a love confession but the prooppeerrr one will be coming very soon :)

also i don't think they knew what similies were back then but in this story they do!

GWAINE COMES IN NEXT CHAPTER I AM GOING FERALLLLLDJDIEOWKSKD