Hi there! This is my first Merlin fanfiction that has gotten to a point where it's able to be put up for your reading pleasure, so I hope you enjoy it! I intend to update pretty frequently, but I can't really guarantee anything.

Enjoy and please drop me a review saying what you thought, whether it's positive or negative!

"Where's Morgana?" Arthur Pendragon asked his father, sitting down in his favorite armchair. He hadn't been back to his old home since he'd started college in the fall and the familiarity eased him, allowing him to finally let go of the stress university was placing on him.

"She's, ah, not here," Uther said delicately. Arthur frowned. It wasn't like Morgana to not be there to see him; she'd always been the first to greet him whenever he got back from boarding school in previous years.

"Is she at Gwen's or something? When will she be home?" Arthur said, surprising himself with his eagerness to see her. It was hard to believe that they hadn't grown up as siblings, that he'd only known her since he was twelve and Uther had, without any explanation, adopted her. They had become friends quickly, not that either of them was willing to admit that. Theirs was somewhat of a love-hate relationship.

"No, actually, she's not at Gwen's," Uther was saying, speaking slowly and almost anxiously. "At least, not that I'm aware of."

"What do you mean? Where is she?" Arthur said impatiently. Uther leaned back in his chair, lips pursed in an expression torn between distaste and apprehension.

"I'm afraid that I don't know."

Arthur stared at him, uncomprehending. "What?"

"She left, two months ago. We haven't been in contact since." Uther was avoiding his son's eyes, but he didn't look particularly sad. He seemed more fearful of Arthur's reaction, and for very good reason. Arthur didn't know what to say, but he knew that this was not good—not good at all.

"She's sixteen," he finally settled on, staring at his father. Uther had doted on his stepdaughter; this didn't tally at all with the person Arthur knew his father was. How the hell wasn't he going mad with worry over Morgana? "What happened? Why did she leave? Why haven't you found her?"

"She doesn't want to be found, Arthur," he said, voice sharpening suddenly. "Obviously I contacted the police, but they haven't seen a trace of her anywhere."

Arthur gaped at him, struggling to take it all in. Morgana was gone. Gone. She'd disappeared and he hadn't heard a word of it. More than that, Uther was sitting in front of him, completely unconcerned that his stepdaughter, probably his favorite of his children, was who knew where. "Why don't you care?" Arthur asked roughly. Uther stared at him, plainly surprised.

"Of course I care, Arthur, but there's nothing I can do. She made it quite clear that she no longer wants to have anything to do with this family."

"Why not?"

Uther sighed heavily. "She…well, she found something out that she was not very happy about."

"And what was that?" Arthur asked. Despite the anger that was raging inside of him, he was strangely calm. Of course, that was just the effect his father had on him; emotions were not particularly encouraged in his house.

"I'm not sure that I want to answer that."

"Father," Arthur began flatly, "I have just found out that my sister has disappeared from the face of the earth. You're going to tell me why she left, and you're going to tell me now."

Uther looked taken aback for a moment, eyebrows rising, but then he sighed. "As you wish, Arthur."

An hour later, Arthur sat by himself in his room, looking at the window without seeing the steadily-darkening sky. Uther had left, gone to the office to finish some work. Alone at last, he could have cursed his father's name to high heaven if he'd liked, but his heart wasn't into it anymore.

Morgana was his sister. Not his sister like he'd thought, adopted into the family, but his real sister. No, that wasn't right; she'd always been his real sister. His biological sister.

He couldn't believe it. His bastard father had gone and gotten someone pregnant, then left her to deal with it on her own, watching from afar as she pretended it was her husband's baby. He hadn't even done anything when she'd died a few months later; Uther had waited to go near Morgana until her "father" had died as well. And even then, he hadn't been willing to admit she was his kid. He'd probably never had told the truth if Morgana hadn't found letters to him from some friend Arthur had never heard of, keeping him posted on her (undeniably tragic) life.

Arthur couldn't blame her for getting out the moment she found out, but that didn't make him feel any less horrified that his sister was on her own, somewhere out in the world. She could be starving on street corner for all he knew. Maybe she had become a prostitute or drug dealer to support herself! If that was true, there was nothing on this earth that would keep him from murdering his father. How the hell could he have done something like this?

He could see Uther's car coming up the street towards the house. A wave of revulsion seized him and he knew he couldn't stay with his father for another minute. Grabbing a piece of paper, Arthur scribbled, 'I've gone to visit some friends, I might stay with them for a few days. I have my mobile if you need to contact me. –Arthur".

Leaving the note on the counter, Arthur picked up his suitcase, still packed, and left out the back. He wouldn't be able to get his car, since it was in the driveway where Uther was pulling in at this very moment, but it wasn't a long walk to the main part of town.

In ten minutes, Arthur was at an apartment building, pressing the buzzer for number twelve. He hadn't originally known where he was going, but he had found himself across the street and knew that there was nowhere better.

"Hello?" a voice said, crackling slightly through the intercom.

"Hi, Gwen. It's Arthur Pendragon. Can I come in?"