A thunderstorm raged in the sky above Camelot; the rain pelted to the ground, and the night had become cold. A young man lay awake in his bed, unable to sleep not just because of the noise but because he had a strange feeling. Merlin had experienced many a storm in his short life, yet none had ever felt like this one. Lightening clapped and thunder rumbled, much the same as it usually did during a storm, but this felt different somehow. There was a tingling sensation in Merlin's skin and his hair stood up on the back of his neck. After a while he sighed and tried to shake it off. He was being silly; it was just a normal storm, after all. Putting it down to tiredness, Merlin rolled over so his back was to the window and tried to go back to sleep.

The other side of the castle, a young woman tossed and turned in her sleep, moaning as she did so. The storm went on outside her window but this did not explain why a candle at the side of her bed suddenly lit itself. What might have explained it, however, was the fact that at the very same moment, the woman's eyes shone a bright, unnatural gold. It was very fortunate for the lady that no one was around to see because if your eyes glow golden, it's a sure sign that magic courses through your veins. None of this woke the Lady Morgana and so when her maidservant, Guinevere, came into her room just moments later to offer her more blankets, she did not notice. Guinevere, on the other hand, noticed the lit candle, which she was sure she'd put out on previously leaving the room, and eyed it with suspicion before blowing it out and moving it by the window.

It did not take long for the 'glowing eyes incident' to occur again and this time Morgana awoke with a start. She leapt up, gasping, and her now pale blue eyes found the candle by the curtain. She looked at it, breathing heavily, with a look of plain fear creeping onto her face. It registered that the candle was alight once more and this scared her, causing her eyes to glow again. This time, the candle's flame shot up and caught the curtain. Within seconds, the curtain was fully engulfed in flames and Morgana screamed, the window smashing as she did.

XXX

'Wakey wakey, Sire!' Merlin called, opening Arthur's door with his back as his hands were full carrying a breakfast tray. 'I bought you – you're dressed!' Merlin exclaimed coming to a halt half way across the room.

'I can dress myself, Merlin' Arthur informed his manservant as though he were stupid.

'I never said you couldn't Sire, it's just you never do anything for yourself if you can help it,' Merlin mumbled, only to be rewarded with a pot or something thrown at his head.

'I haven't got time for breakfast, Merlin, and neither have you, ' Arthur added as merlin opened his mouth to protest. 'We need to get to Lady Morgana's chambers. There was a fire in there last night.'

'A fire?' Merlin asked, suddenly curious.

'Yes, Merlin. A fire,' Arthur repeated, already out of the door. 'Come on!' he snapped, clapping his hands for emphasis.

XXX

It appeared the fire had been put out quite quickly as the majority of the room had been left undamaged, however, this did nothing to ease Uther's worrying. Whilst Merlin and Gwen cleared up the mess, Uther and Arthur discussed how the fire could've started. It was clear that nobody could have passed the guards unseen outside Morgana's room so Uther jumped to the conclusion that the fire had been started by magic and ordered Arthur o arrest everybody under suspicion of sorcery.

Merlin, meanwhile, wandered the castle until Arthur finished, looking for something to do. Deciding to help Gaius, he headed towards the physician's chambers. He was about to open the door when he heard voices inside.

'You're the only person I've told about my dreams. I know I can trust you, Gaius.'

'Yes, of course you can.'

'It was me. I set the room alight – I started the fire.' Morgana was sat with Gaius, wrapped in a blanket, visibly shaking. How could she have started the fire? Surely not on purpose…

'I don't understand,' Gaius replied, placing a hand on her shoulder. 'Did you knock a candle over?'

'No that's not what happened,' she answered quickly, shaking her head. 'I did it just…' she hesitated 'by looking at it. The flame suddenly leapt higher.' Merlin's brow creased. If this meant what he thought it meant, Morgana could get herself into serious trouble.

'It could've been a gust of wind,' Gaius tried to reassure her. If he was concerned he was hiding it well.

'No it wasn't. It was me,' she insisted. 'It was magic.' Although she had her back to him, Merlin was sure Morgana had started to cry. And he didn't blame her. If Morgana, the King's ward, had magic… even thinking about the consequences was unbearable.

'My child,' Gaius begun.

'I'm not a child!' she interrupted, obviously getting agitated in her scared state.

'Last night was an accident. It had nothing to do with you,' Gaius stated firmly. 'How could it have? I am going to draw up a remedy that will make you feel better,' he told her, ignoring her protesting whimpers. 'I promise. You must trust me.'

XXX

After walking an hour's distance into the woods, Morgana sat down underneath a tree. What was happening to her? She wasn't sure. Could it be magic? It could but it could also have just been a coincidence. Like Arthur had suggested, lightning could have hit her window causing the fire and she could have imagined the candle flame getting bigger; she had just woken up after all, it wouldn't have been too hard to get confused. So why did she feel so scared? Gaius had completely ignored her claims that the fire was started by magic so he couldn't have been worried. She shouldn't worry either. But what if she did have magic? Worse, what if Uther found out? Ward or not, he'd treat her the same as everyone else – she'd be burned alive. Morgana couldn't help it – the thought of this terrified her and she burst into tears.

XXX

Later that night, Merlin questioned Gaius about Morgana's potential magic but he might has well have been talking to a brick wall for all the good it did. Gaius made it quite clear that under no circumstances was Morgana to know of her true powers and nor was Merlin to help her. But this didn't seem fair. Merlin knew exactly what she was going through, he knew exactly how she'd be feeling because he'd already been through it himself. He knew how scared and alone she'd be and he hated it. Morgana had always been nice to him, nicer than Arthur anyway. He felt that if he could just talk to her, explain, then… oh he didn't know. What he did know was that he couldn't obey Gaius; he couldn't leave her to go through this on her own…

A/N… Well the stories are just flowing out of me today! I've decided to try a full-length story (shocker, I know – I normally only do one-shots or collabs). The idea for this story just came to me when I was writing a one-shot earlier on this morning. In my ideal world, Merlin would have helped Morgana come to terms with her magic and she would never have turned evil. Besides, they make such a good-looking couple! I can't promise extremely regular updates but I'll try and aim for two a week… Please R&R? I'd really appreciate it and constructive criticism is always welcome, emphasis on the constructive… Hope you enjoy!