Another short little chapter to keep the story flowing along. Also, I know Merlin and Morgana don't know of a way to restrain/take away someone's magic until season 5, but for the purpose of this story, they will.


Chapter 7

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

This is the fifth time she has said those words since he told her of his ploy to sneak back into the castle.

"Come on, Morgana. It won't be that bad. Besides, you would be doing this anyway in order to reach Arthur."

True. But the end goal of her pretending to be Merlin would be Arthur lying dead on the cold stone floor of his castle. Not a temporary truce, which will ultimately delay her ambitions.

She snorts. "So I suppose I'll just act like a complete idiot. Then no one will be any the wiser," she mocks him.

A wry smile plays across his lips. "Arthur would agree with you on that, you know."

At the mention of her half brother's name, she feels cold hate flare in her gut. "I really don't care what Arthur would think," she spits out. "I just want to get out of this damn mess and be able to resume my life."

Merlin stands, ordering the ropes to fall from her wrists and ankles. "Let's get on with this then, shall we?" He turns away and rummages through his bag. She promptly uses her powers to whack him in the back of the head with a fallen branch. Not hard enough to knock him out, but enough to leave him with a headache.

He spins around and glares at her. "What in the bloody hell was that for?"

Smirking, she replies, "Well I can't very well kill you, can I? That would be counterproductive, because then I would be dead as well."

"Don't push it, Morgana. I won't hesitate to take away your magic if you present a harm to me or anyone else in Camelot."

She is about to retort that he can't do that, isn't strong enough, but the cold seriousness in his eyes stops her. He holds out a familiar red square of cloth to her. "Wear this," he says. "It would be unusual for me to be without it." She scowls at the neckerchief in his hand, then takes it and ties it loosely around her neck. He watches in silence. Then, "Why did you take it off, anyhow?"

She slowly lifts her eyes up to meet his own. "Oh, Merlin," she says in a belittling tone. "I forgot to tell you. After you poisoned me, I can't stand to have anything around my neck. It makes me feel strangled. But you wouldn't know that, would you."

She strides past him, ignoring the hurt look on his face. "Let's get this over with."

Now they are in the servants' corridors. Dawn was only just breaking by the time they reached the northeast entrance. Thankfully, most of the castle's inhabitants will still be asleep. They won't stay that way for long, though.

"Be quiet," he hisses. "Someone might hear you, become suspicious."

She rolls her eyes. Because there is absolutely nothing suspicious about the king's missing manservant strolling through the castle, a hunched and cloaked woman at his side. "Well, if you would shuffle along faster, we might have a chance of making it to Gaius before anyone sees us!"

"Ever so impatient, aren't we?"

She only scoffs in response.


She's right. They are not fast enough to make it to the physician's chambers without running into a guard. Who immediately recognizes Merlin, hails him, and trots over.

"Merlin! Where in the world have you been? " the young man greets them. "Arthur has sent out search party after search party to find you! Speaking of whom, he will be relieved to hear you are back. I must tell him at once-"

"No!" she blurts out instinctively. The guard shoots her a puzzled glance and Merlin nudges her in the back. Remembering who she is supposed to be, she gives her best impression of what the manservant would likely say. The lines she practiced hastily on the walk here. "Um, I mean, we wouldn't want to disturb his sleep now, would we? You know how he gets when he's woken up too early. Without his breakfast and with the worry of the past few days, this might be a bit of a shock for him. I'll make my way to his chambers in a little while to report to him the events of the past few days." She pauses, then remembers the figure behind her. "And I need to help this poor woman to Gaius'. She's injured, needs medical attention."

The guard seems to buy the explanation, and wishing them good luck goes on his way. Once out of earshot, Merlin whispers from beneath the old cloak which hides his face. "Without his breakfast? Was that necessary?"

"Well, you know how he loves his food," she replies, a hint of dry humour in her voice. She remembers the first time Merlin had hinted at Arthur being overweight three years ago. Arthur, being the vain fool he was, ranted about it for days. Of course, she had to jump on the bandwagon and continue to torment him with further teasing. It had been great fun.

He sighs, but she notices out of the corner of her eye that he has picked up the pace. Good. The sooner they reach their destination, the sooner they will be back to normal. Or, at least as normal as her mess of a life can be called.

They reach Gaius' apartment without any further delays. She goes to knock, but he hastily grabs her wrist. "Make sure you tell him what we agreed upon, so as not to give him a heart attack. And remember what I said earlier, if you threaten him in any way-"

"I'm not stupid, Merlin," she interrupts. Without hesitation, she raises her fist and boldly knocks on the door.