Author's Note: Welcome to my sequel story! If you haven't read Forbidden Magic, Unbidden Love (which I just realized I really hate that title and always have but never came up with a better one) you might be a bit confused about this story. But I wouldn't blame you if you were leery of reading my 830 page first story, so I'll provide a short summary. If you have read my first story, then you can skip past that.

Summary of Forbidden Magic, Unbidden Love: Amaryllis (Ryll) is a girl born of magic and Sidhe blood. She is orphaned at a young age and eventually ends up in Camelot when she's older. She saves Morgana's life and is welcomed into the castle. She becomes good friends with Arthur and Merlin and like a sister to Morgana. Byron is her druid friend who is in love with her. She struggles with learning she has magic and tries to keep it hidden away for a long time. Eventually she learns to use it. She falls in love with Merlin. The story sort of follows the flow of the show, but the ending is quite different. Ryll ends up dying in a battle because she is the key to the future - with her sacrifice everyone in Camelot can be reborn and have a second chance. Arthur and Morgana live and make peace unlike in the show. Without her sacrifice, magic would fail in the future and Albion would be forever lost. I think you might be able to pick up on things pretty quickly without reading the first one if you want to just read this. Oh, and Owl was Ryll's horse in the first one. She's reincarnated as a cat.

Anyway, this story takes place in the 21st century and is all about second chances and giving the characters a different end to their story. It's also definitely about giving Merlin and Ryll their happy ending. Yes, I'm sure a lot of you were quite angry with me after that ending, but I wrote it with this sequel in mind. Thank you to all my readers! I'm very excited about my new story! It will be much shorter than 830 pages. Probably more 300. I hope you enjoy it! I have part one finished, but it needs editing since I totally changed the ending of the first one after writing this. I'll try to post frequently and not take three years to finish! Considering I wrote 100 pages in like two days or something with part one, I think it will go pretty quickly.

Part One: Remembering

-One-

Reborn

The sky was cloudy overhead which did not bode well for Liz Andreli. She had to work a double shift at the pub owing to the fact that her coworker had called in sick for the second day in a row. The charcoal clouds matched Liz's mood as she lifted the hood of her rain jacket. Hot drops of rain hit her face as she looked up, and she cursed the weather. Some days she swore she was going to move out of the small village of Ealdor but so far she had spent the last three years since graduating from school stuck in a tiny flat above a touristy rock shop. She wasn't really sure what had drawn her to the town. Perhaps it was that it was so different from the bustling London she had grown up in or perhaps because it was so similar to the small village in Wales where she had spent her early years. Either way, she was running late to work.

She picked up her feet, her brown boots splashing in the little puddles that had already formed on the sidewalk. Ealdor wasn't tiny, the population count was 11,220 last time she'd checked, but it took her only minutes to walk halfway across the town to the quaint pub she worked in. The White Dragon had been in business a long time. The walls were decorated with ancient relics that the landlord claimed to be from Camelot. In fact, Ealdor seemed to have a definite Camelot-theme to it. She supposed the tourists ate that sort of thing up, but Liz had always found it silly.

"You're late," Byron said from the bar as Liz entered. He was serving up a round of beers to a table of local fishermen. His dark hair fell over his eyes, but he brushed it aside to look at Liz. She always got goose bumps when those liquid green eyes met hers. He smiled to show that he wasn't really mad. Byron was the landlord's son and worked in the pub when he wasn't away at university. Liz would never admit what a huge crush she had on him, but her relationship so far with Byron was platonic.

"Well it's raining and I forgot to pick up cat food again, so I'm having a bad day already," she said, shrugging off her rain jacket and smoothing out her hair. Her long, honey-colored hair was her trademark feature. She hadn't cut it in years and as a result it hung far past her shoulders in neat waves.

"You still have that ring in," Byron commented. He hadn't been thrilled when she'd gotten a nose-ring a few months before.

"It adds character," Liz threw back at him, filling out a drink order for a couple who were so obviously tourists that it was painful. The man wore a shirt that read: I Joined the Knights of the Round Table while the woman had her nose in a pamphlet about Camelot and King Arthur.

"Did you know that they still haven't proved that Camelot ever even existed?" Liz said to Byron in a mock whisper after the couple had moved off.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Don't let my patrons hear you," he said. "You'll be hung in a gibbet for the crows."

"Please, you know I think these legends are absurd. I mean, sorcerers and magical swords?" She eyed a replica of Excalibur that rested on the wall above the bar.

"Just because you don't believe in them doesn't mean you have to rub it in everyone's face. People like to believe in magical legends and all that."

"Right, well, I'll be over here in the real world if you need me." Ryll grabbed a rag and went to wipe down the vacant tables. She was sweeping a few stray peanuts into her hand when she saw a figure sitting in the corner staring straight at her. He had short dark hair and dark eyes. Decidedly handsome. She put on her best smile as she strode back to the bar.

"Who's the tall, dark, and handsome in the corner?" she asked Byron.

"I have no idea," he said flatly. "Focus on your job, not flirting."

Liz huffed. "Never mind then." She stalked off to take the garbage out. The narrow hall leading out to the alley was dark, and she didn't notice the figure following her. She tossed the garbage into the bin and turned to find herself facing the man she'd seen looking at her a moment ago.

"Can I help you?" she asked a little gruffly. He looked harmless, but one could never be too careful.

"I was looking for someone," the man said. "You just look a lot like her."

"I don't know you," Liz said.

"Her name was Ryll."

Liz frowned. "That's an odd name. I've never heard of anyone called that before."

"It was a nickname." His eyes went distant for a moment.

"Well, I can't help you there. I don't know anyone by that name. Maybe you could try the phonebook," Liz suggested, moving around him to reenter the building.

He shook his head as if coming back from a distant memory. "Good idea. Sorry to bother you." He backed away, and Liz almost felt sorry for him.

"Hey," she called after him. "Why do you need to find her?"

"Because she's very important," he said after a pause. "Not just to me but to a lot of people."

"Well, good luck," Liz called after him. He smiled back at her before disappearing around the pub's corner. She hurried back into the bar before Byron had a reason to yell at her. There was something about that stranger though…. Why did she get the feeling that she knew him from somewhere? She shook the thought out of her head. She would have remembered if they had met before. No one that handsome got in under her radar.

...

"It's definitely her." Somehow it felt like a betrayal passing on this information.

"And she remembers nothing?" The voice came from the figure standing at the window. He stood gazing out with hands linked behind his back. His grey suit was pressed to perfection as always.

"No, Sire. She doesn't even remember her name. According to my research, her full name is Amaryllis Andreli. She never goes by Amaryllis though. It's always Liz. She has family in Wales and distant relatives in Spain but no connections in Ealdor. She's worked at The White Dragon pub for two and a half years now but doesn't seem to have any friends outside of the owner's son."

"And no one has come to visit her in the three years she's been in Ealdor?"

"No. No one. She's basically a normal twenty-two year old girl. She attends the local community college during the fall and spring – studying everything from biology to literature to history. She holds no stock in the legends though. She thinks it's all a big joke."

"Good. Let's keep it that way." A pause. "And my son?" He finally turned around, his cold, grey eyes meeting his informant's darker ones. His hair was short and grey and a scar ran slanted across his forehead. Even in a world where he wasn't king, he looked noble. His informant averted his eyes as he spoke.

"No sign of him yet. We'll keep searching."

The disappointment was clear in the king's voice. "He was supposed to come back when she did. Why has he not?"

"The legends are not clear. The rules-"

"I don't care about some magical law laid down. I want my son. We must find him before they do. The fate of everything rests on us finding him first."

"Yes, my Lord."

"I hope you know where your loyalties lie."

His informant risked a glance at him. "Yes, Sire," he said, voice flat. If he had a choice, he would walk straight out of this building and never come back, but he had no choice.

"I hope that whatever feelings you had for the girl in your past life don't interfere now."

"Of course not, my Lord."

"Good. Then you may go." His informant turned to leave, but the king stayed him with another warning. "Oh, and one more thing. If she asks your name – should you need to speak to her again – use a different name. Not too many people are called Lancelot these days."

...

Liz peered out the front door of the pub. She and Byron had closed it a few minutes before, but she was still getting up the nerve to leave the shelter of the building.

"The rain isn't going to stop if you stare at it," Byron said.

Liz turned to survey him. She loved the soft Irish lilt to his voice. "I know that. The least a gentleman could do would be offer me a ride home."

"You'll get just as wet on my motorbike as on your own two legs."

She pretended to pout. "But I'll be home faster so that I can get out of my wet clothes."

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" He sighed. "All right, come on." He locked up the front door and they went through the back to where he kept his motorbike. "Helmet." He handed her his spare helmet, and she strapped it on. The bike was dry under the shelter of the awning, and she gratefully slid on behind Byron, wrapping her arms around his torso. He revved the engine and they took off. It was a short ride and they were both soaked by the end of it but when they reached Liz's apartment, she found she didn't want to go in.

"Will you come in and dry off?" she asked.

"I'll just have to get wet all over again," he told her as she handed him the spare helmet. "Unless you're suggesting what I think you are."

"Byron Donahue, you know I'm not that kind of girl."

He grinned roguishly "Then I'll see you tomorrow at the pub."

"Tomorrow's my day off, and I am not covering for Cassie again. She's faking it. Just go to her house and see for yourself. She just can't get over that boyfriend of hers breaking up with her."

"Fine. Take the day off. I'll see you on Thursday." Byron grinned at her before taking off. Liz watched him until she could no longer see the taillights of his bike and then ran up the stairs on the side of the building to get to her apartment door. The Crystal Cave was closed already, but tourist season hadn't really taken off, so she didn't suppose they were getting much business. She rolled her eyes at the thought of the old woman who ran the store. She swore that her crystals had come from the Crystal Caves. Liz snorted. That was one way of selling overpriced crystals to unwitting tourists. The only thing she could see in the stones was a scam.

Owl was in quite the mood when Liz walked into the apartment. She meowed loudly demanding dinner and would not quiet down until Liz had poured her a bowl of kibbles. "I need to go to the store tomorrow," she said out loud. She barely had enough food for either of them. Owl was contentedly scarfing down her dinner, making no effort to keep the cat food in the bowl.

"Well, pretty girl, what should we do tonight?" Her first priority would have to be changing out of her wet clothes. Liz decided to go straight to PJs and was soon dry and snug in her flannel pajama bottoms and worn T-shirt. The T-shirt read: "I went to Camelot and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" across the front. Byron had bought it for her a week after she'd started at the pub. It fit her sentiments quite accurately.

Finished with her dinner, Owl jumped up onto the couch where Liz was lounging looking for pets. Her golden fur was silky soft from her daily brushing, and her eyes were the color of honey as she stared up at Liz. "What will it be? Chick flick or adventure?"

Owl meowed loudly. "Hmm, adventure it is." Ryll turned on the television and put in a DVD. Somehow her attention wasn't in the movie that night. Something had been tugging at the corners of her mind ever since she had seen the handsome stranger in The White Dragon. It was just a feeling, but somehow she felt as if there was something more for her out there – it wasn't just the 'I need to get out of this small town and get a real job' feeling. It was more of a feeling of having had a more exciting life at some point. That was impossible though. Moving out on her own was the most exciting thing she'd ever done. Yet she felt as if suddenly her life was mediocre compared to what she had done before. If only she could remember what that was.

She shook the thought from her head. Clearly she'd breathed in too many beer fumes. She pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and curled up next to Owl. She really needed a day off.