It had been 2 weeks since Morgana had last met with Morgause. That was 336 hours since she had last tried to bring around the fall of Camelot. 20,160 minutes since Morgana had last tried to kill Merlin. And yes, she had counted.
On the other hand, it had only been five minutes since the Lady Morgana had narrowed her eyes and smirked significantly after joking with the King, and she planned to keep it that way.
With not much going on around Camelot, Morgana was frankly feeling pretty bored. The high glamour of bringing back the dead had passed, and her limited magic skills didn't allow the sorceress to have all the fun she wanted. The only thing keeping her entertained was the knowledge that Merlin was almost always keeping an eye on her. Indeed, most of the time in the castle, Morgana just spent her day rolling around in bed, occasionally coming up with kill-the-Pendragons ideas, and of course, lest we should forget, smirking.
Merlin, however, was oblivious to Morgana's idleness. Having seen her walk through the dark in her completely inconspicuous cloak, Merlin was in full on Morgana-watch mode. Had Merlin known that the incredibly bored Morgana was merely heading down to the tavern, he might have been less inclined to rummage through her room the next day.
Merlin stood outside Morgana's room at midday. No guards were on her duty in her corridor, a suspicious request that Uther had blindly granted. Crouched by her door, and uninterrupted, he peaked through the key hole.
Morgana was glaring at her cup of water, the sun reflecting off the sides of the gems on her glass caused her to squint. This was the narrowed-eyes-of-evil Merlin knew all too well.
She muttered world of old and hovered her hand above the cup. A few ripples spread across the water, at most (though that may have been her hand shaking).
Morgana tried again, concentration visible in her eyes.
Merlin gathered that it must have been poison she was trying to create, but thought it wise to wait it out a little longer before interfering. Anyway, it didn't seem to him that she was getting anywhere too quickly.
Morgana tightened her grasp around the cup and tried now for the fifth time, but still nothing happened. In a fit of rage, she held held the cup dramatically high, screaming, 'Oh for the love of Camelot - EYE OF RABBIT, HARP STRING HUM, TURN THIS WATER INTO RUM'. At this the goblet of water finally shook in her hands as her eyes glowed amber, and she grinned manically, downing the contents in one. Morgana flopped down on her bed, peace in her slender frame. Merlin ran, sheer glee radiating from his face.
That night Merlin saw Morgana head out in the dark again. Morgana, feeling particularly depressed from the efforts of her magic earlier, made sure that Merlin knew she was heading somewhere in the night, and walked past his window with great purpose. Merlin followed her out, less than concerned this time, and the corners of his lips twitched.
She turned to him after a couple of minutes, 'Merlin, do you intend to follow me wherever I go?' she sneered at him, revealing a completely irrelevant dagger beneath her cloak. As her lips betrayed the smirk that was itching to come out, Merlin couldn't hide his laugh. Morgana frowned - this was not a reaction she usually received.
'Yeah, wherever you're headed, my Lady, have a drink on me,' Merlin tossed a coin at her, 'it'll save you the afternoons hassle.' Morgana narrowed her eyes at him and stalked off in the other direction, while Merlin went back home, smirking.