Hey everyone, so thanks for following, fave and reviewing or just plain reading this. This is the chapter I have been waiting to get to. I hope you like it I'm not sure it came out how I wanted it to , might have something to do with writing late at night . Any way I'm dedicating my new character to sashaJewel472 this plot was first suggested by you , but I've twisted it to fit my characters hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 4: Old friends

Merlin had successfully evaded Arthur for the last few days and was enjoying a walk with Cassandra through the market as those flocked from every corner of the five kingdoms to either participate or observe the tournament that would take place in just a couple of weeks. Camelot was on full alert and knights were busy making sure all the new people were no threat; magic might be free but Arthur was not naive he knew that some out there could still pose a threat like morgana. Merlin and Arthur had arranged help from the druids to keep an eye on the new influx of people, they thought it was a better idea to still keep Merlin's identity as Emrys a secret to use as a weapon. Merlin and Cassandra had also decided to postpone the wedding until after the tournament when everything had settled down.

Merlin smiled at her and grabbed her hand pulling her in close "Merlin what are you doing?" she giggled

"What, can't I show love for my future bride "he smiled cheekily leaning in to kiss her neck multiple times trailing up to her mouth. Cassandra laughed a light chiming sound that filled happiness to anyone who heard it "Merlin stop people are watching and your tickling me "

"Let them watch "he grinned placing a passionate kiss on her lips that sent a tingling through each of their bodies after a few minutes they pulled apart breathing heavily. They both had large smiles on their faces; merlin reached up and brushed back a lock of Cassandra's hair tucking it behind her ear as she giggled at him, eyes sparkling with love.

"Do my eyes deceive me; I do believe it's the princess Cassandra "A deep male voice called across to the couple. Cassandra looked up in recognition, it was a voice from the past; one she thought she would never hear again. As the crowd parted a very tall muscled man stood with an air of confidence. He had short light brown hair and was wearing a simple tunic and breeches, with a sword at his waist "KAY! " Cassandra cried in joy and rushed over to embrace the man. Kay laughed in a booming voice and swept Cassandra off her feet as he hugged her. "I thought you were dead?"

"Never, I will always be there for you" Kay replied with a smile and gave her a small kiss on the cheek

"OH Kay William will be thrilled "

Merlin was a little shocked at the familiar way that the princess and this new man were displaying; he went over to introduce himself. He coughed to get their attention, Cassandra pulled away from Kay and smiled at Merlin. "Merlin this is my old friend Kay, he helped me after Eric died and provided cover when James attacked the kingdom. Kay this is Merlin William's father and my fiancé "She said with an adorning smile

At the mention of who Merlin was Kay's smile thinned but stayed in place, his eyes however shifted to a glare that spoke volumes of loathing towards Merlin. Merlin hid his confusion and put on a large friendly smile and extended his hand in friendship. Kay took his hand the glint in his eye never leaving Merlin as he shook hands. He used his superior strength to squeeze merlin's hand as hard as he could without making it obvious to Cassandra the fake smile still on his face. "It's nice to meet you "merlin replied sweetly ignoring the pain in his hand.

"Likewise "Kay replied

Cassandra smiled and grabbed Kay's hand "Come on, let's find William he will be so happy to see you, oh merlin are you coming?"

"Yeah just a minute, you go on ahead I will follow on behind. I have one thing to do first" Merlin smiled

"Oh ok" Cassandra leant in and kissed his soft lips softly smiling warmly

Merlin glanced at Kay behind Cassandra and frowned at the evil and angry glare he was receiving, as Cassandra looked at him he schooled his features into a smile "Don't be long, sweet, come on Kay"

Merlin Watched as Kay and Cassandra walked away a frown on his face, there was something about the guy that didn't sit right and he got the feeling that Kay didn't like him for some reason.

Merlin walked towards the throne room where he could hear laughing, as he walked in he saw the knights, Arthur and Cassandra listening to Kay. They seemed to be enjoying a joke, Arthur saw merlin and waved him over "Merlin come over here Kay was just telling us about the time he defeated 20 bandits all on his own. Kay you will have to join my knights on the training field later"

"I would be honored Sire"

"Call me Arthur "

The doors opened wide and William came running in a large smile plastered on his face "KAY!" he yelled running up to the man who laughed at the excited boy and caught the young prince as he jumped into the strong arms. Kay twirled him around making the child laugh loudly "squirt, how is my favorite little magic boy ?"

William giggled "I'm good, so happy to see you. Are you here to watch the tournament "

"Sure and to see you "

"Yay come on I want to show you the castle, mother/father are you coming ?" the little boy asked running over to grab Cassandra's hand to pull her along , unfortunately at that time Cassandra's body decided to betray her and she went rigged and she started to shake. The occupants in the room cried out and William dropped his mother's hand. Merlin rushed over to Cassandra catching her before she hit the floor. It took a few minutes for the attack to stop to the group of wide eyed concerned people. Merlin tenderly wiped the sweat off Cassandra's brow with his neckerchief "Oh Cassandra "he whispered.

Cassandra smiled sadly "it's ok Merlin I'm fine "She looked over towards William and Kay "William take Kay on a tour I will join you later "She tried to get up, but was too weak and would of fallen back down if merlin hadn't helped her.

"Go on William show Kay around maybe uncle Gwaine will go with you" Merlin softly told his son and gave Gwaine a look that told him to go with them, he wanted someone with William that he trusted and right now he wanted to look after Cassandra.

"Right lets go lads and maybe we can go to the tavern later "Gwaine chuckled moving to the new addition and William with a forced smile, it was always painful to watch one of Cassandra's episodes.

"Gwaine no tavern besides I think you might find Kay a good match "Cassandra weakly tried to enforce with a small smile.

oOo

It was the day before the tournament and Merlin was found angrily pacing in front of Hunith and Gaius. They both watched merlin with their eyes the warlock was wound up tight pacing fast, one hand clenched into a ball and the other on his dagger. They watched with apprehension as the dagger began to glow under his hand. "Merlin what's wrong, is Cassandra alright?" Hunith asked concerned at a lost what was agitating her son he had seemed troubled by something for the last couple of weeks. Merlin huffed in annoyance, it had been a couple weeks now with Kay in Camelot and it was driving him insane. No one seemed to notice or find anything wrong, everyone loved the man he got on well with all the knights and could even match Gwaine at the tavern, and Arthur was extending a hand of friendship constantly commenting about Kay's skills with a sword. But it was Kay's attitude to Cassandra and William that really had started to tick him off. Kay was so comfortable with William and they seemed to be sharing so much together and Merlin felt it was getting in the way for him to connect with his own son. Kay was always around and seemed to have both son and Mother happy, Cassandra was oblivious to Kay's affections, he would touch or kiss her hand or make comments surrounding their time together when he would help look after William after Eric had died. He had tried to tell Cassandra but she told him he was being silly and that Kay liked him, but every time Kay would do something he would make his actions oblivious to everyone except Merlin and send angry glares his way. When anyone would notice he would school his features into a kind smile.

"GRRRR Kay is driving me in sane " He growled not stopping his vigorous pacing "William and I did this, Cassandra remember the time when… he's always around never leaving, he is always touching her hand or whispering in her ear. Did you know William accidently called him papa. " He was getting angrier "I just want to yell at him and show him a piece of my mind, one blast of magic would be all it would take AHHH" Merlin's anger reached a high point as the dagger glowed a brilliant red and his eyes flashed gold with the iris a blood red . Several nearby bottle's exploded sending glass and liquid everywhere.

"Merlin calm down" Gaius yelled

Merlin seemed to realize what he had done and removed his hand from the dagger trying to slow his ragged breaths. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that" He went to get a cloth and clean it up.

"You need to control your emotions, remember what Galahad said about the dagger "Gaius admonished

Merlin's shoulders sagged in defeat "I know; how come Cassandra never had a problem using it?"

"Because it isn't in tune to her, it is your kinship with the dragons!" Hunith replied softly

"I never though you would be jealous "Gaius perked up with a hint of amusement

"I'm not Jealous "Merlin cried hotly" there is just something I don't trust about Kay"

Hunith smiled at her son it was entirely obvious that he was jealous of the knight and she understood why "Merlin, Cassandra and William love you very much. Tell Cassandra how you are feeling and try and get to know Kay, I'm sure you are just seeing things that are not there. "She said gently

Merlin's eye brows furrowed and he gave a long sigh, he wasn't convinced but decided to concede for the time being.

oOo

The tournament had gone well so far, the towns people were enjoying the magical display from the sorcerers . Sorcerers made birds, fire balls and all sorts of animals and objects appear out of thin air. Some had decided to show how to fight one another with shields and blasts of energy. Minimal accidents were occurring as participates were being careful not to harm each other. On the platform overlooking the area sat Arthur, Gwen, Merlin and Cassandra.

"After the wedding we really should go back to Incatasi and Brenna, there might be people left and answers to a lot of things "Cassandra smiled at merlin as she took his hand in hers.

Merlin nodded in agreement, he was enjoying the time with Cassandra without an over bearing knight getting in the way. The two sorcerers that had just finished their duel were leaving the arena, Leon came striding into the center to announce the next one to demonstrate their talent " May I present to you William Ambrosia, Son of Lord Merlin and Lady Cassandra " He announced in a clear loud voice. The watching crowd filled with druids and towns people alike broke out into whispers and smiles , it was the first public announcement that the boy had magic and people were excited and confused why the young lad would enter he was so young. The knights cheered, they were all excited about the young boy and were happy to cheer him on, Merlin smiled; he had an idea that his son would do something, Cassandra and William had argued for the past few weeks she had forbid him to enter, but his son was just as stubborn and Merlin was confident enough his son would be safe.

Cassandra stood up as her son walked into the arena with his head held high and his chest puffed out in pride demonstrating he was not afraid. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Cassandras angry yell reached the boy

William rolled his eyes "Mother its fine you worry too much it's not like I'm dueling anyone "

"Don't you dare use magic young man I forbid it, Merlin do something "

"Cassandra sit down its ok, he will be fine "Merlin comforted softly putting his hand on her arm, Cassandra turned an angry glare to him "It is not fine, he is a boy. Stop giving in to his every request" she angrily hissed.

William shook his head; his mother had been so protective lately. He moved into the middle of the arena and took a deep breath ready to use magic. Suddenly there was a gust of wind and black smoke, a tall lady wearing a black dress with a hood covering her face appeared by Williams side. She pulled out some cuffs and clamped one on to the boys wrist and the other to her own before he realized what was happening. William's knees buckled as the cuff closed, "awefecung" the witch recited causing the boy to flutter his eye lids closed then fall limply into her arms. People were screaming and knights were drawing swords ready to intercept the witch.

Merlin stood up in fear at what was happening "Who are you and what do you want?" he called in a strong voice, his magic bubbling under the surface.

Under the hood the witch laughed a cold and piteous sound as she flung back her hood to reveal her identity, everyone gasped and stilled at the green eyed, raven haired lady staring at them with cold eyes.

"Oh I think you know who I am, and what I want is revenge" Morgana seethed

"Give me back my son "Cassandra demanded in anger

"You took everything from me Merlin, you are a hypocrite and your son deserves a life away from you. I will teach him about magic and he will help me in return. You will not get him back the way he is now I promise you. I will make you suffer by watching your own son turn on you. If you want him back you will have to reclaim him from his home during the summer solace. "

With that the witches eyes turned a brilliant gold and she disappeared in a whirl wind of black smoke taking William with her as Cassandra and Merlin screamed William's name.

heehehe cliff hanger, so did you like it and I promise there will be more on the Kay/ merlin front. Have a great weekend everyone let me know what you think I am off to oz comic con tomorrow woohoo geek fest should be a great weekend. Tootles ;)