"Sister?" Morgana heard Morgause's voice and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness she'd come herself this time and not Cenred. However, relief was quickly replaced with guilt. Morgause swept out from behind a tree, smiling widely at Morgana. Although Morgana was pleased to see her sister, she could not stop the thoughts of what her and Cenred had done swimming through her mind.

"Are you well, sister?" Morgause asked, tilting Morgana's chin up so she could see her face.

"I'm quite well," Morgana replied, trying not to meet Morgause's eyes. "You didn't meet me," she stated, trying to change the subject and yet unable to keep a slightly sulky hint out of her voice. If Morgause had just met her the other night, as was arranged, none of this business with Cenred would have happened.

"I had business to take care of. I'm not sure how far we can trust Cenred to keep his promises." Morgana frowned; Morgause had always told her she trusted Cenred, what had changed?

"I thought you told me you could trust Cenred," she paused, annoyed with herself for allowing her voice to shake. "You said he would do anything for you, thanks to your special relationship." Morgause laughed, at least it sounded like it should have been a laugh but came out bitter and harsh. "I have reason to believe he has found someone new to occupy himself with. I intended to find out who."

Morgana's heart began to race so hard that she feared her sister would hear it.

"What reason have you to believe that?" she asked, trying to calm her nerves and sound casual. It was a lot to ask given she felt her chest was about to burst open.

"He didn't return to me last night," Morgause explained, "and when he arrived back this morning, he refused to say where he'd been. Did he say anything to you?" she asked. Morgana's eyes widened in panic and she gulped. "When he met you for me, did he mention where he may be going afterwards?" Morgause pushed when Morgana didn't answer.

"Sister, Cenred said nothing to me; I assure you I would tell you if he had. He did nothing to suggest to me that there was someone else."

Morgana felt a stab of guilt at her lie. Morgause was so trusting, nodding along. She had never lied so blatantly to her sister before. In the year Morgause had been teaching her and caring for her after Merlin had poisoned her she would never have imagined lying to her.

"He talks about you a lot, Cenred I mean. He seems very fond of you," Morgause muttered, her voice gradually getting louder as she spoke.

"I don't know why that is," Morgana replied, "I've not spoken to him much at all." How she wished Morgause would change the subject; she hadn't come to stand in the freezing cold to talk about Cenred all night. "Anyway, what are we going to do next?"

Morgause seemed to deliberate for a moment. "Does Arthur suspect you, sister?" she asked eventually.

"No," Morgana assured her. "Why should he?" Morgause shrugged and shook her head like it didn't matter. "You don't doubt my ability to play my part, do you? You do trust me?"

"Of course not," Morgause promised, taking Morgana's hands. "It's not you I don't trust."

"I know," Morgana smiled, nodding. "Why do you ask about Arthur?"

"He is going to need absolute trust in you if our plan is to work, Morgana. I was simply worried, after what happened in Cenred's castle, I was worried our dear friend Merlin might have said something."

Morgana frowned. "He is strangely fond of the boy. However, I do not believe he would trust a servant over me, Uther would never allow it." She was relieved at the change in direction their conversation had taken; she wasn't sure how long she would have been able to continue lying to her sister.

"Morgana, are you sure you're alright? You seem…" Morgause waved her hand about a little, clearly looking for the right word. "You seem distracted."

"I'm fine, honestly. Thank you," she added, turning her face slightly so Morgause couldn't detect any hint of a lie in her eyes.

"What's that on your neck?" Morgause asked, taking a step closer to Morgana.

"What?" Morgana was genuinely confused. She brushed her hand over the right side of her neck and found the skin there to be sensitive. It felt like a bruise, but even as she thought that, Morgana realised in horror that it was not a bruise at all. Cenred! "Oh it's nothing," Morgana insisted, covering the spot with her cloak. "I really should be getting back before someone notices I've gone."

"Of course, sister. I am sure I will see you again very soon." Morgana nodded, pulling her cloak tighter around her neck to avoid any further questioning. She could still feel Morgause's stare on her and tried to ignore the overwhelming guilt that was beginning to come over her.

She hadn't actually done anything wrong. Morgause and Cenred were not married or even betrothed and she certainly wasn't. Besides, it was plain for anyone to see that Morgause was simply using the King of Essitir for her own ends. Not that these technicalities were important any longer – Cenred had made it quite clear he never wanted to see her again.

XXX

Morgana began to make her way back to the castle but she had a strange, nagging sense that someone was following her. She tried to shake it off, quickening her footsteps and ignoring the rustling of the leaves behind her, putting it down the non-existent breeze. She looked around a couple of times and could've sworn she saw the shadow of somebody slipping between trees.

When she reached the castle steps – and not a moment too soon, as far as Morgana was concerned – she took one last look around. She sighed with relief and almost laughed when she saw she was alone. She was being stupid; why would anyone be following her?

Morgana sighed and continued on her way, annoyed with herself for being so paranoid. It wasn't as if anyone could do anything to her, she could easily defend herself. Even so, she was relieved to be back in the castle, no one would dare harm her with the guards around.

She began to move faster, eager to get to her chambers. She was tired after everything that had happened in the past few days. Morgana wanted to believe that Cenred really would leave her alone, however sad the thought made her. If he did it would make her life that little bit easier.

XXX

She awoke the next morning to find Gwen had already laid her out her dress on the chair by her dresser. She frowned slightly; it was the silver one. It wasn't one Morgana wore during the day very often for the simple reason it was quite low and the sleeves were see-through – she regarded it as more of an evening/special occasion gown.

Gwen was nowhere to be seen so Morgana sighed, got out of bed and put the dress on herself, doing up the back with difficulty.

"Oh. You're wearing that dress today, My Lady?" Gwen walked into the room, holding Morgana's breakfast tray, looking almost puzzled at Morgana's choice of outfit. Not that it was Morgana's choice.

"You left it out for me, I assumed you meant for me to wear it," she stated, confused by Gwen's reaction. She began to pick at the breakfast tray while her maid began to brush her hair.

"I hadn't put that one out, My Lady. You were still asleep when I left to get your breakfast and I thought it would be better to ask your opinion first."

Morgana nodded as she took a bite from an apple. "I wonder who put it out for me?"

The thought of someone other than Gwen entering her room while she slept made her uneasy. It was then that Morgana remembered the night before and how she felt someone was following her through the woods and back to the castle.

"My Lady?" Gwen asked, looking more than a little concerned. Morgana shook herself from her thoughts and smiled, partly because she didn't want to worry Gwen but mainly because she didn't want to have to explain to everything to her maidservant. Nobody needed to know what had gone on between her and Cenred, especially not somebody he'd kidnapped as part of a plot that she was actually involved in.

"It's a mystery," Morgana decided, trying to giggle so it would appear she wasn't worried about it.

Gwen nodded and giving the subject no further mention. She picked up the sheets and left the room, leaving Morgana to dwell on the matter of the dress herself.

XXX

"Morgana, are you listening to me?"

Morgana looked up from her food and smiled at her guardian. "Of course I am, My Lord. I have a headache is all, would you mind terribly if I retired early?"

The king nodded, standing as she left the room. As she made her way down the corridor she looked down at her dress, still confused as to who had left it out for her.

"You're wearing it!" The young woman came to a grinding halt, almost falling flat on her face as she lurched forward. She whirled around, dress flying with her, just in time to see Cenred sliding out from behind a wall, the usual smirk painted on his face.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" she hissed, trying to keep her trembling voice to a whisper. She brought a hand to her heaving chest and noticed how Cenred's eyes followed it. She scowled at his obvious leering and awaited his answer.

"You're wearing it," he repeated, his smirk turning into an appreciative smile as he looked her up and down.

"It was you!" she realised, glaring at the still-smiling king. "How did you get into my room?"

Cenred shrugged nonchalantly, clearly not caring that they were stood in the middle of the corridor where anyone could see them. "It's not exactly difficult, My Lady."

She sighed, moving forward to pull him out of view. "Why are you still here? I thought you left, you made it quite clear you never wanted to see me again."

"And miss the view?" He grinned, leaning against the wall and folding his arms across his chest. "Can you honestly tell me you're not happy I came back?"

"You never actually left," she retorted childishly, moving her arms to cover the areas of skin Cenred's choice of dress had left bare.

"Come on, Morgana, you know that's not true," he replied, still not moving his eyes from Morgana's now covered chest. If she was honest, she found it very disrespectful. She coughed slightly, causing him to meet her eyes, and frowned. What did he mean she knew that wasn't true?

"In the forest? Morgause told you how she no longer trusts me. She told you how she believes a new woman has my attention." Realisation dawned on Morgana for the second time that evening.

"It was you!" she shouted in an accusatory manner, the irony of her repeated words not lost on her for a second. "You followed me back to the castle last night."

"Well how else was I supposed to find your room?" he asked. "In case you didn't realise, last time you took me there, I was too preoccupied to etch the way into my memory."

Morgana rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me," she muttered.

Cenred chuckled, moving slightly closer. "We're not going over this again; you enjoyed it just as much as I did, Morgana."

Morgana narrowed her eyes. He was really beginning to get on her last nerve; she wanted him out of the castle and away from her, as far away as possible. "You have to leave, Cenred."

Cenred laughed quietly, clearly not taking her seriously at all. "Judging from the fact you haven't tried to walk away from me, you're not all that desperate to be rid of me."

She didn't wait for him to finish speaking before she began to walk away. Morgana didn't need to look behind her to know Cenred was following. She rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the annoying feeling in the pit of her stomach which told her that she liked the attention. They walked in single file back to her room, Morgana unsure of how to handle the situation now.

She reached her bedroom door, hoping Gwen wasn't inside and paused.

"Cenred, I-" she began, but whatever she'd been about to say would go forever unsaid as, when she turned around, he pushed her back into the door, using her body to open it, and kissed her hard on the mouth. In the back of her mind, she knew she shouldn't be letting him do this but she didn't seem able to stop him.

She didn't resist as he pushed her towards the bed never moving his mouth from hers. The entire time her mind screamed at her to stop him. She ignored it, kissing him back with more vigour than she thought possible. Morgana sighed as he lowered her gently onto her bed, pulling away from her to check that she wasn't about to change her mind.

"Don't stop," she whispered, stretching up to recapture his mouth. She frowned when he pulled back. "What is it?"

"I thought you were desperate to get rid of me," he grinned.

Morgana didn't reply, grabbing his shirt and resuming the kiss before he could say anymore. If she was going to do this, she was going to get what she wanted without him making fun of her for it.

"Wait," she said, hesitating as he knelt above her to remove his leather breeches.

"No, Morgana, not again," he growled, clearly annoyed at her shilly-shallying.

"But what about my sister?" she asked, biting her lip in anguish.

"Your sister isn't here," he replied, rolling his eyes and throwing his breeches to the floor.

"No," Morgana agreed, propping herself up on her elbows, "but you are supposed to be courting her and where I come from, it's not customary to engage in this sort of behaviour with another woman."

"What Morgause doesn't know won't hurt her," he stated, climbing back on top of Morgana and pushing her dress up her thighs.

She nodded hesitantly, squirming slightly as he ran his hands over her thighs. She wondered absently how experienced he was in this area. Clearly he knew what he was doing and was probably already aware of his complete lack of experience.

"Cenred?"

He sighed before looking at her. "What is it, Morgana?"

She sat up causing him to shift backwards. "How many…" she trailed off; too embarrassed to ask the question.

Cenred frowned at her, kissing her again. "It doesn't matter," he muttered, avoiding the question.

"Cenred, did you and Morgause ever?" He nodded, not meeting her eyes.

Morgana nodded solemnly and looked down at her hands. She sighed before saying "I can't." She didn't want to look at Cenred for she knew the emotion in her eyes would betray her words. Deep down, Morgana knew that there was a small part of her which would regret stopping Cenred but she just couldn't go through with it anymore, not now she knew he'd lain with her sister.

The man in front of her let out an angry growl which made her flinch. She knew exactly what the King of Essitir was capable of and the last thing she wanted was for him to get angry, not while she was in this vulnerable position.

"I'm sorry, I know it was wrong of me to let things go this far but I can't. Surely you can understand that?" Morgana pleaded, looking up from her hands. It was plain to see that Cenred was incredibly angry with her and the thought frightened her more than she was willing to admit. The last time she had seen him that angry was when he had been holding a sword to her throat.

"We both know Morgause is using me for my army, Morgana," Cenred tried to reason, trying to hold her hand.

"She seemed very upset at the thought you had found someone new, it would kill her to know it was me."

Cenred mumbled something which Morgana thought might have been about killing Morgause anyway but Morgana pushed it to one side, hoping she'd heard wrong, although she couldn't deny that if Morgause was out of the way her relationship with Cenred would be a lot less complicated. No.

"Can you please just go?" Morgana tried, not really expecting Cenred to comply, so when he reached down for his breeches and put them back on, she couldn't deny she was shocked and, maybe, a little bit disappointed. "Cenred, I really am sorry," she muttered tentatively. While she felt a sense of relief that he was departing her company, she didn't want him to leave on bad terms.

He sighed, turning to say something before thinking better of it and leaving without another word.

Morgana stared at the door for a few minutes before climbing underneath the sheets, hoping that sleeping would clear her head. She didn't want to think about Cenred or what had almost happened between them. Again.

XXX

Morgana walked with Arthur after the morning's council meeting. He was trying to convince her that he hadn't been staring at Gwen for at least half of the meeting.

"Why would I stare at your maidservant of all people?"

Morgana laughed, patting Arthur's arm. "You can't lie to me, Arthur. I've known you since we were children."

"Well clearly you don't know me very well," he stated, sticking his bottom lip out and pulling his best pouty expression. Morgana laughed; she knew the prince all too well.

"I think I do," she replied, linking her arm through his. Morgana had the temptation to pat his head but she knew he'd find it condescending so she resisted.

"What about you, Morgana?"

Morgana halted, confused as to what he could possibly mean. "What about me, Arthur?"

"You've been acting strangely around Merlin lately, don't tell me you have feelings for my manservant," Arthur grinned, clearly thinking he had made a huge breakthrough.

Morgana scoffed, trying to not to show how disgusted she was by the very idea that she could have any sort of feelings for Merlin. Still, she was relieved that Arthur had not figured out the real reason for her changing attitude towards the servant. That would have been a disaster to say the least.

"Don't change the subject," she told him. Arthur was not getting out of this one, not this time.

"I can change the subject if I want to," he countered, sulking.

"Gwen is very pretty," Morgana said tentatively, trying a new angle.

"Yes she is," Arthur replied.

"So you do have feelings for her!" Morgana shouted, jumping in front of the prince to face him.

"That's not what I said, Morgana," he sighed, taking hold of her upper arms and moving her gently out of the way so they could keep walking. Arthur may have denied his feelings but his deeply reddening face said otherwise and it made Morgana smile knowingly.

"Would you like to go for a ride?" she asked, laughing at his confused expression. It was clear he was trying to figure out if she was trying to find a new angle of questioning.

"Why?"

Morgana nudged him gently with her elbow. "So I can have you killed by bandits," she sighed, frowning when he stopped. Surely he couldn't think she actually meant it? "Perhaps I just want the pleasure of your company. We never get to spend any time together these days."

It was true. Morgana had missed the simpler times when she would go on rides with Arthur just so they could escape their duties and Uther's disapproving glare. She had always enjoyed riding with Arthur, even if it was only to prove her horse could always beat his in a race.

"Okay," he decided, still eyeing her suspiciously. It made her squirm; she felt a little guilty. After all, she had spent the past year or so plotting with her sister to kill him. "Are you coming then?" he asked, already walking off and turning back when he realised she wasn't still with him.

"Of course," she smiled, hurrying after him.

"Honestly," he tutted, "women!" Morgana let that one go, smiling wryly at his back.

A/N … (Emily) I'd like to start by saying 'hey' and apologising for my writing partner's use of the word 'shilly-shallying'… she's strange. (I just got told off for that) We'd also like to apologise for any grammatical errors or just general crapiness – we were writing the majority of this chapter whilst watching the Wimbledon men's semi-finals, it's rather tense.

Hope you're enjoying the story, please review? We love reviews…