A/N: Sorry it's quite a short one this week. But here it is anyway, chapter 3! Enjoy! :)
Merlin had never felt this happy in his whole life. Once Morgana had kissed him, it seemed to rush over him all at once; he knew that her beauty was all he wanted in life. Little did he know that Morgana had just enchanted him and so he could get him to do whatever she had wanted. Merlin had always thought that Morgana was a beautiful woman but never anything more, until now. His eyes had turned to the colour of lapis lazuli and his skin glowed, "It's always been you Morgana, whom I have desired. Do you feel the same?"
Morgana smiled sweetly and cast her hands to Merlin's defined cheekbones, "Of course Merlin, now if you would be so kind to leave me in peace so I can pray for a goodnights sleep?" Merlin nodded enthusiastically, "Of course my lady," he realised he had been holding a beautiful golden chalice and couldn't exactly remember why. "Oh Merlin, you can leave that chalice here, it contains my... herbal remedy," Morgana blurted in hope that Merlin wouldn't remember that it actually contained the poison. Merlin stood silent for a couple of seconds and then placed the cup back on the dresser and smiled kindly at Morgana, "Night, m'lady." He then strode out of her chambers with a bounce in his stride. Morgana watched him leave wickedly and breathed out a sigh of relief, her enchantment had worked, Merlin was infatuated with her and he had forgotten about his main objective. She knew that he had figured out something of her plans and she couldn't let him spoil them. She had at least 24 hours before the charm began to wear off, so in that time she would have to get the poison to somebody before Merlin gained morality and realised. She knew that she's just have to stay awake tonight, she couldn't risk going to sleep and wasting time. She picked up the chalice and then walked silently out of her chambers.
Merlin burst through the door and made Gaius jump, causing him to drop a glass beaker that he'd been holding and it smashed on the floor. The shattering glass startled Merlin and the joyous grin was wiped off his face, "Merlin, you need to stop running around like a buffoon. I hope this means that you managed to extract the poison off of Morgana!"
Merlin looked deeply offended, "Don't accuse Morgana like that, how can you say something as horrible as that Gaius?" Gaius looked stunned, "Merlin what's wrong?"
Merlin sighed and slouched on the chair next to the table, "What does it mean when all you can think about is this certain person and no matter how hard you try and think of something else, that person still manages to find a way into your mind?"
Gaius looked troubled and walked over to Merlin and placed his hand on his forehead, "Merlin you're burning up. Do you feel well?"
"I just see her in my mind all the..."
"Merlin, just relax a minute and answer my question. Please don't get angry, just answer me truthfully," Gaius explained. Merlin nodded.
"Tonight you went to Morgana's chambers, didn't you?" Merlin nodded, "What were you supposed to do there?"
"Give her the sleeping draft," Merlin stated. "What else were you supposed to do Merlin?" Gaius inquired. Merlin looked confused and thoughtful but could not think of what Gaius was trying to get out of him, "Nothing else that I can remember."
Gaius looked out of the window and tried to channel calm thoughts, "Merlin you might not believe me but you have been put under a spell." Merlin narrowed his eyes at Gaius, "What?"
"I believe to think that when you went to Morgana's chambers, she put you under a spell, she enchanted you..."
"Gaius, she didn't! Morgana would never do something..."
"Merlin, listen to me!" Gaius nearly yelled and Merlin fell silent. "While you were there you were supposed to fetch the chalice, which Morgana had poisoned. The one that she was going to kill Arthur with? Do you recall that?"
Merlin looked stunned, "Why would Morgana want to poison Arthur?"
"You'd remember if you hadn't been enchanted. I suggest that you go to sleep now and hopefully by morning it should have worn off, and then we'll figure out what to do." Gaius seemed worried; he knew this was part of Morgana's plan to distract them while she could kill Arthur. Merlin dragged himself lazily up the stairs to his room. Gaius walked over to the window and looked out towards Morgana's window opposite, across the courtyard. He thought to himself of the possibility of him being able to thwart Morgana's plans, he just had to think of a way.
Arthur was just taking off his linen shirt and placing it over the room divider when Morgana walked in unexpectedly.
"Morgana, can I help you with something?"
Morgana pretended to blush, "Sorry Arthur, I should've knocked. I just wanted to see if you were alright. What with your uncle visiting tomorrow and Uther seeming really nervous about it all."
"That's very kind of you Morgana, I'm fine thank you," Arthur sighed, "the day has seemed to wear me out!" Morgana laughed in reply. "Well I thought you might appreciate a bit of a drink," Morgana smiled, and handed him the golden chalice she had been hiding behind her back.
Arthur looked surprised and flattered at the same time, "I will, thank you Morgana," he took the chalice and brought it to his lips, then dropped it to the front of his face. "Aren't you going to join me with a drink," Arthur questioned.
"Arthur, out of all people you know best that it is not good for a woman to drink in front of the presence of a man, be that her father, friend or brother," she looked knowingly at him. Arthur grunted and shrugged his shoulders. He placed the chalice out in front of him high in the air, "Well here's to happiness, prosperity and long life. Cheers."
Long life, Morgana thought to herself, how ironic?
A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. Please review, tell me what parts you liked, what you didn't like. Follow/Favourite if you really enjoyed reading it and want to follow Merlin through this adventure.
Thank you to my Beta - LivieQuinney - who is working on a fab Mortal Instruments fanfiction which is brilliant, go and check it out! :)
Thank you!, until next week...
