Thanks for the reviews! I'm still barely holding on here, but all the academic drama will settle down on Thursday (thank God). Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 7

He saw little of her over the next week. With Arthur's hunting trip, Gwaine recovering, and the melee fast approaching, they saw less of each other.

And she didn't invite him to her chambers. Not once since her little display with the red dress and the water.

Good God, he'd never been so aroused or so uncomfortable in his life. All he'd wanted to do was shove her down on the table, rip off that damp excuse for a dress, and make her scream his name over and over and over again.

Those thoughts even shocked him now. It was all so very primitive, like some type of deep-seated masculine urge like drinking into oblivion or fighting in a tavern. He thought himself above such base instincts. He wasn't a soft man by any means, but he was intellectual, thoughtful, kind, respectful. But there had been nothing respectful in his reaction, in the lust she created.

It was madness. It was obsession. And he hated how much he'd enjoyed it. Her satiny body pressing him against the hard pillar….he'd just gotten his body under control when she'd strutted back in to finish him off.

Even her little threat afterwards was more than enough to make him flee to his room to relieve some of the ache. Because she was right; she had made him burn. And he'd be damned it hadn't been scorched ever since.

Ever since that evening in great hall, she kept herself aloof, behaving with perfect respectability and politeness towards him. No more lecherous stares or overly displayed skin. It was almost as if nothing had happened in the stables or in her bedchambers. She was back to Lady Morgana and he was back to the lowly servant who filled her glass at the table. No more games. No more sass.

He wanted to be relieved. Maybe she'd gotten what she wanted from him, maybe that moment of victory was enough.

But he wasn't stupid. She was merely waiting for the right moment.

And he was anticipating it. More than he liked, more than he wanted. Because this last week had been dull. Other than Gwaine, nothing exciting had happened. He hated to admit it, but he….enjoyed this little game with Morgana.

He told himself if she were focused on this, she wouldn't be focused on ways to bring down Camelot. But that wasn't true, she still had plans, of that he knew.

So he waited. And kept Gwaine out of trouble.

Mostly. Or that's at least how they ended up in the council chambers cleaning boots. After the discussion of their fathers and families, they fell into a comfortable silence, punctuated only by the scruffs and scratches from their brushes.

"There are certainly some beautiful women in Camelot," Gwaine said with a roguish smile. "I saw the most lovely woman in the streets yesterday."

"Yeah? What did she look like?" asked Merlin, a slight frown on his face. Could Gwaine mean Morgana?

A blissful smile came over Gwaine's face as he said, "She had beautiful dark curly hair. Dark eyes. Skin the color of hot chocolate."

Breathing a sigh of relief, he said with a smile, "Oh, so you've met Gwen?"

"Gwen: the name the angels must sing," waxed Gwaine.

He chuckled. Gwaine sure was a charmer. And a rogue. "She kissed me once," Merlin said with a devilish smile.

"She did?" asked Gwaine a bit surprised.

"Yeah, I'd been poisoned and nearly died. She was so overcome with joy that she kissed me right on the lips," he finished with a grin.

"Whoa, that must've been nice."

"I suppose. It was sweeter than anything else. Gwen's like a sister to me. She's not really my type," Merlin said truthfully.

"Oh? So who pray tell is your type?" Gwaine asked, giving Merlin a playful jab with his elbow.

"No one. I mean, no one in particular," he said quickly.

"No one? Really? All these beautiful women and there's not one you fancy? Not even a little bit?" teased Gwaine.

Sure, there had been Freya. But there had been women he'd fancied before. But he wasn't thinking of them now. It was Morgana who came to mind, Morgana who was tormenting his mind as per usual.

"Maybe. But it could never work…we're too different," he said a bit sadly. At one time he'd thought himself in love with Morgana. Maybe it had been some boyish infatuation as he'd told Morgana, but at the time…it had been the light of his life. The raw lust, the complicated sense of destiny, the similarities between them-alone, magical, caught in the oppression of Camelot and its tentative and beautiful promise of a future.

"Too different? What do you mean?" asked Gwaine.

"She's just…above me. Has different things planned for her life. We can never be together," Merlin said. It was true. Morgana was above him, but she also had plans for her life that weren't in line with his. Not anymore.

"Above you, eh?" Gwaine said. "This wouldn't be the elusive and stunningly beautiful Lady Morgana?"

Stunned by Gwaine's perception, he stuttered out, "I….what….no…that'd be crazy…I mean, she's…I'm…..no, it's not her. Definitely not her."

"The gentleman doth protest too much, me thinks," said Gwaine with a knowing smile.

"I…..I….it's complicated," he said as truthfully as he dared. He wouldn't reveal whatever it was he and Morgana were engaged in, but the situation between them was certainly complicated. And confusing. And maddening.

"So I've seen," said Gwaine with another knowing smile.

There was something in his tone, something he wasn't saying. "What do you mean 'so you've seen'?" Merlin asked.

"I've seen how she looks at you," Gwaine said stoutly.

"When?" he said, chuckling, disbelieving.

"In the courtyard yesterday," said Gwaine honestly.

Skeptical, he asked, "Did this happen while you were in your cups?"

"No, I actually leaving to go to the tavern. You were in the courtyard helping two knights and she came out a side door. She was staring at you," he said.

He scoffed. "You're crazy, mate. Morgana, I mean, the Lady Morgana thinks me below her notice. And to be honest, she loathes the very sight of me. You must've been mistaken." It couldn't be true. Morgana was too practiced, too aloof for such a reaction.

"Then why did her eyes follow you? I know what I saw. And I know what that look in a woman's eye means and it wasn't loathing. It's intrigue, it's passion, it's fire. And I can tell you, if that woman hates you, it's only because she wants you. She hates what she feels, she hates what she desires. But you, my friend, she definitely doesn't hate you. Quite the opposite actually."

He was more than a little affected by Gwaine's speech. He thought Morgana might feel…something more than she showed in their private battles. But he could never be sure if that was his own wishful thoughts.

But it didn't matter, did it? She had her own plans for Camelot, plans that didn't involve him. She wanted revenge, she wanted his humiliation, and she wouldn't let a little thing like her tangled feelings for a 'serving boy' get in the way of that. So he shrugged it off, he couldn't afford to think about Morgana's feeling like that. It was likely part of her game.

And he was playing to win, to save his own hide from her scathing touch and her cruel seduction. The stakes were too high, especially with her.

He forced himself to act nonchalant, no matter how unsettled he was by Gwaine's words. "Well, no matter. It can't happen. Nothing can come of it, surely you see that."

Gwaine looked at him with a mixture of pity and exasperation. "I do, but that's only because you're being a stubborn ass. Take what you can get and make it last until it can last forever. Because there's a….connection between you. I don't know what it is or what it's not, but even a blind man can see it. Well, barring royalty, of course. I can't imagine Prince Arthur would take too kindly to any type of relationship between you and the Lady Morgana," he said with a grin.

"You have no idea," replied Merlin.

FINIS

So not the long chapter I had hoped to put forward. But who doesn't love Gwaine? He's such a charmer. Beneath the flippant exterior, I think there beats a romantic heart. He does seem to notice things as well, so I thought it fitting that he would pick up on the connection between Merlin and Morgana. (And the hair flip? So enchanting!)

And while I craft the next chapter (likely very slowly, sorry!) I'd like to make a plug for a few great stories and one-shots that do not have nearly enough the reviews:

"Equilibrium" by Tara1189

(one of the best and most well written stories I've ever read on FF)

"Your Heart is a Mess" by Shady Love

(on the edge of my seat for every installment)

Both of these stories are in my favorites, so read and enjoy while I dream up sexy situations for Mergana and our friends across the pond get to see the S5 premiere!

Please review!