Arthur lay helpless in the mud, Excalibur had been wrenched from his hand and thrown mere inches from his grasp. As a cloaked figure advanced on him, holding a sharp dagger, the King felt his heartbeat quicken.

"If this is my end, give me the honour of knowing the name of the one who takes my life." Arthur tried to keep his voice strong, but it cracked on the word 'end'.

The figure gave a derisive chuckle. "Don't you recognise your older sister, Arthur? I must admit, it has been some time since we've seen each other."

"Morgana," he growled as she lowered her hood. The years had not been kind. What was once a beautiful face that many court women would have killed for, was now a deathly pale mask with bruises marring her cheeks. He don't know what possessed him to bait her, but he couldn't stop the words flowing from his mouth.

"You look like hell, Morgana. I'd get some new makeup if I were you. You don't look too good."

Morgana scoffed. "Oh please, Arthur. I really don't think you're in any position to make jokes. Any last goodbyes, little brother? You might want to say them now, while you still have the breath."

Arthur's eyes widened as Morgana raised the dagger. The silver blade glinted cruelly in the moonlight, and Arthur knew it would cut through his armour like butter.

"Put the knife down, Morgana."

Morgana whirled round towards the voice, and Arthur raised his head to see Merlin stood at the edge of the clearing, covered in blood and a little paler than usual, but standing there all the same.

"Or what, Merlin? What exactly will you do? While I have your precious Arthur at my mercy," Morgana waved a hand airily at Arthur, who froze in the act of getting slowly to his feet.

Merlin gave a slight grin. "Really, Morgana? After all this time, you still underestimate me?"

"What are you talking about?" she frowned.

Merlin took a step forward into the light of the clearing and Arthur winced. Merlin looked as though he'd been brought back from the dead. "Don't try my patience, Morgana. I'm tired of your games and I plan to put an end to them, any way I can, even if it means your death."

Giving a derisive laugh, Morgana turned away from Arthur. "You don't have the power to kill me, Merlin. Only one man is foretold to be my doom, and he's not here."

Merlin laughed. It was a cold, harsh laugh that Arthur immediately decided he never wanted Merlin to utter again. "Morgana, please. Does it not strike you as odd that Arthur has managed to unite Albion without the help of the mighty Emrys? Doesn't it strike you as odd that Emrys isn't helping Arthur fight your army? Doesn't it strike you as odd that Emrys hasn't stopped you while you have Arthur at your mercy? Unless, " Merlin held up a finger, stopping her interruption. "Unless Emrys was always at Arthur's side, advising him which kingdoms to fight and which to offer peace. Unless he's been fighting you since you first turned on Camelot. Unless he's stood in front of you, telling you to leave."

"No." Morgana was shaking her head in denial. "You can't be Emrys, Emrys is an old man. You are not him!"

Again Merlin laughed. Arthur had no clue what the two were talking about, so he stayed silent. Merlin began to walk slowly towards them.

"A simple ageing spell, Morgana. I would have thought that you'd have realised that by now."

Arthur's jaw dropped. An ageing spell? But that must mean….that Merlin was a….

"NO!" screamed Morgana. "You can't have magic! You can't! I will not be defeated by a serving boy!"

Merlin smirked and Arthur shuddered. Arthur could almost believe that Merlin wasn't evil, except for the smirk. "But I'm not just a serving boy, Morgana. I'm the warlock Emrys, the most powerful warlock to ever live and your doom. And I seem to remember, you didn't mind me being a serving boy. In fact, you didn't mind it at all."

Shaking, Morgana glared at Merlin, who regarded her with a calm gaze. "What happened, 'Gana?" he asked sadly. "When did it go wrong? When did you stop loving me?"

Morgana gave a shriek of hysterical laughter and Arthur was sure he saw Merlin flinch slightly. "What went wrong? What went wrong? You poisoned me! You tried to kill me!"

"I never intended for you to die, Morgana! I had the antidote in my pocket, I just needed Morgause to lift the spell and then I would have given it to you! You were never in any danger!"

Arthur finally made it to his feet and leaned against a tree, exhausted. He looked at the two in front of him, one terrified and angry, the other guilty and pleading.

"You loved me once, when did it stop?" Merlin's eyes were wet with unshed tears.

Morgana too, gave a sob. "It never stopped!" She sank to her knees and hugged her body, shaking. "Everyday I thought of you, and how you hurt me and I hated you, and then I thought of what you promised me and what you said to me and I loved you! I can't do it anymore, Merlin! I need…I need…"

Frowning, Arthur watched Merlin kneel down beside his sister. "What do you need, 'Gana. Tell me." he whispered in her ear.

Morgana looked at him, her bruised face stained with tears. "I need to hear you say it. I need to hear you say that you don't love me. I need to be able to hate you!"

"I'm sorry, 'Gana, but I can't do that. I can't lie to you." Tears were pouring down Merlin's face, and Arthur felt a sharp stab of sympathy for both him and Morgana. They were both destined to be enemies, but somewhere along the line fate had decided to play with their hearts.

Morgana sobbed harder. "Please! Please, Merlin!"

Still crying, Merlin gently raised Morgana's head and kissed her eyelids. "I will never be able to tell you that, because I will never stop loving you. No matter what you do to hurt me, I will always be yours."

Morgana let out a weak cry and slumped into Merlin's arms. "Please," she whispered softly, before passing out.

Lifting Morgana gently in his arms, Merlin turned to look at Arthur. "I'm taking her back to Camelot." He said. "Then I'm coming back to help here. I won't be long." Then he disappeared, leaving Arthur blinking in confusion.

"What on earth is going on?" The King muttered to himself. The most he could figure out was that Merlin and Morgana loved each other. And Merlin was a sorcerer.

Merlin was a sorcerer.

Merlin was a sorcerer.

It didn't make sense, thought Arthur, shaking his head. How could Merlin be a sorcerer? Granted, it explained a lot. Like how both Merlin and Arthur always seemed to escape a battle with nothing more than a scratch, and how Merlin always seemed to know what was going on when Camelot was attacked, and how he knew how to stop it.

"This is ridiculous." Arthur muttered, walking back the way he came in search of Gwaine. Other than himself, Gwaine was the closest to Merlin. Perhaps he would know what was going on, although Arthur doubted it. Arthur didn't think anyone would know what was going on any more.

A.N. - Kind of short, but it's just a little pick-me-up for the few 'Merlin' readers I have (I say 'few', I may have more but not that many people have reviewed, so I'm going with a few.)

Kit-Kat, I'm sorry I haven't updated our story, I'll try and do it soon. =(