Light in the Darkest Moment

Summary: When Morgana falls down a flight of stone steps, she becomes deathly ill. Arthur takes her to Gaius, then returns to his chambers to mull over the reason he will do anything to save her and what she is hiding from. My first multi-chapter ArMor. Don't like the pairing, don't read the story.

Disclaimer: Only the idea belongs to me.

Chapter One

Arthur was sitting calmly in his chambers, thinking about nothing in particular. This was a regular occurrence for the Crown Prince of Camelot, as he really had nothing to think of, other than swordplay, of course, but even the First Knight needed an occasional break from mulling over techniques. His focus changed a lot, flittering from one thing or another, until his thoughts stilled on the topic of his younger sister. 'No, not sister', he thought, although she was as close to him as such, and almost always had been.

His mind suddenly changed its course once more, to rest on the question that had overtaken it; Why was he so averse to referring to the girl he had lived with for eight years as his sister? They had always been as close as siblings, though admittedly, Morgana had been much more distant as of late, slightly colder even. But the question still remained; why?

Arthur's thoughts were interrupted when an urgent knock sounded at the door, bringing his thoughts to an end.

"Come in." he called. To his surprise, the door burst open before he had even finished the invitation, revealing a panicking and terrified-looking Merlin.

"What is it, Merlin?" Arthur asked, a slight undertone of worry in his voice. Merlin was known to fret about the tiniest things, Arthur had learnt quite soon into the four years that the man had worked for him, but the prince had never seen him look so scared about something of little importance.

"Sire, it wasn't my fault! She just fell, I tried to stop her, but the flame surprised her and she just fell down, I couldn't catch her, it was all just too fast!" Merlin gabbled, barely pausing for breath. Arthur's eyes widened slightly, his mouth opening slightly more than could be deemed as dignified for a royal.

"Who? Merlin, who has been hurt?" asked Arthur urgently, staring expectantly at his manservant. It was the next word that terrified the prince.

"Morgana."

That word was all that needed to be said before the blonde man's chair went crashing to the floor, the man himself already halfway out of the door. Merlin ran out after him immediately, mindful that Arthur didn't actually know where Morgana had fallen, or, thankfully, why.

They ran alongside each other for a while until Merlin turned sharply at a corner, bewildering the prince slightly as he began to run down a flight of steps. Arthur froze for a moment in confusion before remembering Merlin's earlier statement. 'She just fell down, I couldn't stop her'.

Those words prompted Arthur to fly down the steps after him. However, as he reached the bottom, where Merlin knelt, his heart nearly broke in two.

There, pale and unmoving on the floor, lay Morgana. Her limbs were tangled from the way she landed, her hair spread across her face and her red velvet cloak wrapped tightly around her body. The sight cut through Arthur like a knifeblade.

Kneeling down beside the woman, he positioned one arm under her knees and one on the small of her back, lifting her from the ground with practiced ease and hastening up the stairs, sending Merlin up on his way to fetch Morgana's maidservant, Guinevere, from her home in the Lower Town.

A few minutes later, the party reached the other side of the Citadel and the chambers of Gaius, the Court Physician, who had entered the room alongside them, as Merlin had called the man on his way to Gwen's. Arthur was given way in the room, as Morgana's head began to loll alarmingly against his chest, her limbs hanging far too limply in his arms.

Arthur heard Gaius distantly bark for Gwen to fetch towels and hot water as he cleared the table to lay Morgana on, but the prince wasn't really listening. He was too busy looking down at the girl herself, stroking her cheek as their physician busied himself around her, now giving orders to Merlin instead.

It was still killing him now, to see Morgana like this. It was very hurtful for him to see the young woman in such obvious pain, yet still slightly comforting to see that she refused to show it too much, showing him that his Morgana was still hanging on for dear life. He had never thought those words so literally in all his life.

"Arthur, I need room here." Gaius told him, breaking him away from his thoughts and bringing him back down to earth with an almighty bump.

"Yes. Of course." Arthur responded hesitantly, taking all his energy to not show his reluctance to leave the woman alone. With an inaudible sigh, the blonde turned his back and began to walk out of the door. A thought occurred to him as he did, but he still did not turn, as he knew that if he did, he would not be able to allow himself to walk out again. "Anything you need, just tell me."

There was only a few thoughts going through Arthur's head as he returned to his private chambers, all of them questions; What if that was the last time I will ever see her? What if the last words I ever spoke to her were to remind her of her duties in the Court? What if she dies?

Without knowing it, Arthur began to cry. He could not remember the last time he had cried. It must have been when Gorlois died, while he was just turned thirteen years old. He had not cried for himself, as he had not known the man very well, but had cried for Morgana, the pain the loss had caused her. He had cried because she had cried.

Now, who knew if she would ever cry again?

A/N: I know, another new story! Not sure how good this is, and it's my first real ArMor, even though I've shipped them for years, so please be kind.