Dragonfasting by ebhg

Pairing(s): Merlin/Morgana, Arthur/Gwen

Rating: T

Spoilers: Series 1-4

Disclaimer: Merlin belongs to BBC

A/N: Thanks again for your wonderful reviews!


Ch 8

The quiet stillness of night seemed thick and heavy to the young warlock pacing the physician's quarters. He wasn't even sure why he was so anxious; surely he wasn't so emotionally invested in Morgana already? Or was this from the dragonfasting and not a real emotion of his own? Whatever the reason, Merlin's mind was whirling and he couldn't relax even though he had been awake for close to a full twenty-four hours. Gaius looked to the anxious warlock and sighed.

"You're going to put a rut in my floor," he chided. Merlin stopped and looked up at his foster-father.

"Sorry, Gaius. It's just that it's been nearly twelve hours since Morgana collapsed. Are you sure there's nothing I can do?" Merlin asked, glancing at Morgana's still, sleeping form on the patient's bed.

"Sit down and rest, Merlin, you look ready to collapse."

"But what's wrong with her?"

Gaius fixed Merlin with a fatherly look and gave him a gentle smile. "Merlin, she received a great shock, on top of being exhausted, dehydrated, and poorly nourished. She's probably not been eating very well since, well..."

"Since we took back Camelot."

"I dare say, you're taking this rather harder than I thought you would. Why is that, I wonder?" Gaius chuckled.

"Why shouldn't I? I would be heartless if I didn't care. We were good friends at one time."

"Of course," Gaius agreed, though Merlin could hear the disbelief in the physician's tone.

"I don't love her, Gaius. It would be foolish of me to think I did at this point."

"Do you think it possible that you will, eventually?"

"I have to hope so. She's irrevocably my wife now, Gaius! What else is there for me to do?" Merlin asked desperately.

"For now, you can rest, my boy. She'll still be here in the morning, you can think more about it then. Sleep," Gaius ordered. Merlin nodded reluctantly and commandeered Gaius' bed in order to remain within view of Morgana.

As Merlin lay there, trying to calm his anxious mind and body, he returned to contemplating just where his emotions were coming from. Was he feeling some suppressed affection that he had buried when Morgana turned away from them? Was this urge to protect her an instinct of his magic, responding to Morgana's own magic? Was this something that he was doing of his own volition, or was he once again a puppet in the cruel hands of fate?

Merlin tried his best to put his unanswerable questions from his mind, but only succeeded in vividly recalling the moment in the council room when Morgana's eyes had rolled back into her head and she had collapsed into Merlin's arms.

Apparently, hearing that her new husband was her prophesied doom was too much. Merlin had frozen, clutching her limp form to his chest, unable to comprehend why his heart was pounding and his limbs were trembling. Thankfully, Gwen had jumped into action, ordering the knights to help discretely transport Morgana and shepard a numb Merlin to Gaius' chambers.

The physician had made quick work of coaxing the unconscious woman to swallow several spoonfuls of broth followed by a few nutritive potions of Gaius' own concoction. It had helped Morgana's coloring immensely; Gaius was certain that with a little rest and more to eat, she would be right as rain. Merlin was another story altogether.

Arthur had stood by Merlin's side as best he could as the warlock paced and fidgeted and generally got in Gaius' way. After the physician threatened to sedate Merlin, Arthur practically sat on the warlock to make him settle down. However, when the king and queen had retired to their own chambers to rest at Gaius' urging, Merlin had taken to pacing once more.

Merlin took a deep breath and tried once more to settle into Gaius' bed more comfortably, pushing all the anxiety and memories from his mind. It had been a long day and now that Merlin was lying still, the exhaustion suddenly hit him full-force, pulling him into a deep, restful sleep.

Gaius smiled at the sound of his ward's gentle snores, grateful for the peace and quiet. Standing carefully so as to not make any loud noise, he went up the stairs and borrowed his ward's bed for a few hours rest.

Merlin, however, soon began to dream. He found himself back at the lake, only this time, the water was as firm as glass, reflecting the world around it like the most flawless mirror. He eased himself closer, hoping to see what would be reflected for him. There were cloudy specters swirling across the surface as he approached, whirling and shifting until they coalesced into hazy but distinct images. Merlin was eerily reminded of the times he had seen the future within the Crystal of Neahtid and again within the Crystal Cave itself.

Suddenly visible in the glassy water was a slightly older version of Merlin himself. He was wearing nicer clothes, and there was just the slightest sign of age around the eyes. Most surprising of all was the child in his arms. A dark-haired boy of about five, giggling as future-Merlin tickled his tummy. Future-Morgana smiled adoringly at the pair and her Merlin smiled back, reaching out to caress her belly, rounded with another child. Then the scene changed, morphing into a springtime picnic. Future-Merlin was sitting on a blanket beside future-Morgana. Slightly older versions of Arthur and Gwen sat with them, laughing at a group of blonde and black-haired children in the distance. Merlin smiled as he too watched the children playing king-of-the-hill with Percival as a veritable mountain while Gwaine, Elyan and Leon laughed.

The visions shown in the lake's surface were so very happy. The experience was altogether much more pleasant than any other he'd ever had while being shown the future. Merlin gasped when he saw an image of Morgana looking at him with pure love before giving her Merlin an intensely passionate kiss. Merlin fell to his knees on the shore at the sight, utterly floored by how much he wanted this future.

Open your heart, Merlin. It is my desire to see you happy...

Merlin gasped as he recalled Freya's words from the last time he had seen her. It seemed like so long ago now, so much had happened. When Arthur had told him just that morning that he was now inexplicably married to Morgana, he had thought that it was some sort of mistake. Or that fate had tempted him with the possibility of something good before cruelly snatching the chance away before Merlin had even had the opportunity to experience it.

Now, seeing these images, he felt a wellspring of hope in his heart once more. Was it possible to foster such a great love from the seeds of redemption and forgiveness?

"Merlin," a voice called, causing him to spin around and clamber to his feet.

"Who's there?" he called, seeing no one.

"Hello Merlin," Freya said, coalescing into a transparent silhouette beside him.

"Are you real?" Merlin asked, confused. Any other time he had seen Freya at the lake, she had seemed solid and real, but bound to the waters of the lake. This Freya was standing on the shore next him, as insubstantial as the images in the glassy water.

"I'm as real as you make me," Freya laughed.

"So I'm dreaming, then?"

"Where does the mind wander when one sleeps?"

"I'm not dreaming?"

"You are what you make of things," Freya said.

"You're making as much sense as the dragon," Merlin complained. Freya laughed.

"Is this the future? How is this even possible after all that Morgana and I have done to one another? We have tried to kill each other! She hates me, not to mention that she's terrified of me!"

"Hate often stems from fear. You said yourself that Morgana has no need to fear you any longer."

"Is this what waits for us, then?" Merlin asked hopefully, pointing over his shoulder at the lake-mirror.

"The future is what you make of it."

"What does that mean?"

"You make your future, Merlin; you may have a destiny, but it is wrapped in layers of choices. There is more than one way to fulfill a destiny, after all. Could you not have let Uther Pendragon die many years ago and put Arthur on the throne as your puppet? In the most basic sense, it would have satisfied the elements of the ancient prophecies. But you decided how to fulfill your destiny on your own terms. If you want this happiness, you must work for it the same way."

"Wait!" Merlin shouted as Freya and the mountain lake dissolved into darkness. "Wait!"

"What in blazes are you going on about Merlin? Wait for what?"

Merlin wrenched his eyes open, startled to see Arthur hovering over him. The warlock looked around him, disoriented.

"I just had the strangest dream. At least, I think it was a dream." Merlin's eyes widened and he put a hand to his forehead in confusion as he woke further. He shook his head to dispel his sleepiness and the odd feeling left behind as the dream faded.

"Is Morgana awake?" he asked, turning towards the patient bed, only to find it empty.

"Yes, Gwen is helping her get changed in your room."

"How is she?" Merlin asked.

"Guinevere's just lovely," Arthur teased, knowing who exactly Merlin was asking after, but unable to resist.

"Thanks, Arthur, but I wasn't asking about your wife, I was asking about mine," Merlin groused, surprised at the ease with which he had just referred to Morgana as his wife. Arthur grinned cheekily in response, opening his mouth to retort.

"She'll be fine," Gaius interjected, handing Merlin a hunk of bread and a lump of hard cheese for breakfast. The warlock took them gratefully and smiled at Gaius. A moment later, the door to Merlin's room opened and Gwen emerged.

"Morgana would like to talk to you, Merlin."

"I'll be right there," Merlin promised, standing up and walking towards the small bedroom with his breakfast in hand.

"Good luck," the queen murmured, squeezing Merlin's shoulder in support as they passed one another.

"Thanks."

Merlin walked through the door, latching it behind him with a distinct click.

"What is happening to us, Merlin?" Morgana asked without hesitation from where she sat in the high window sill, her back to the door as she gazed out over the city.

"I'm not entirely sure."

"You're Emrys." Morgana stated.

"I am," Merlin confirmed softly, climbing up onto the table below the window and leaning beside her. He offered her half of the bread and cheese and was inwardly triumphant when she accepted them without hesitation. Merlin smiled and they began to eat.

"I was told that you were my destiny and my doom," Morgana said a moment later, looking at Merlin for the first time. He shrugged.

"And I've been told that you are the darkness to my light and the hatred to my love. That our destinies are forever intertwined. Maybe the Cailleach was referring to the enchantment within you that I destroyed. Perhaps I was only destined to be the doom to your darker persona. You were entirely different to the Morgana I met seven years ago." Merlin shrugged again. "And neither of us can deny that we're destined to be together now. I was beside myself when you collapsed yesterday, where two days ago I would have celebrated." Morgana glared at him.

"Celebrated?!"

"Sorry, that was rather harsh. I wouldn't have celebrated. I would have mourned the necessity of hurting you, but acknowledged that it had to happen," he amended.

"Are we just pawns in fate's game then?" Morgana scoffed. "Do we truly have no choices in life?"

Merlin thought back on his dream, and the riddles that his dream-Freya had given him.

"Gaius once told me that the future is still unshaped. That it's we that shape it through our actions and our decisions," Merlin said. "I believe that. We all of us have choices. I could have walked away from my destiny years ago. Almost did, in fact. Or I could have done things differently. Chosen other methods. You know that I'm powerful enough; I could have put Arthur on the throne years ago and pushed a magic agenda. But I've chosen to help Arthur become the great king that I know he is. I have no interest in pulling the strings to a puppet. What would I be if I had? I would be Uther in different clothes."

"Are you saying that you would have chosen me to be your wife if given the option?"

"If you had asked me that a few days ago, I would have wondered who had bashed you in the head. Now? Maybe I didn't choose to marry you, but I'd like to think that I can choose to make the most of our situation. I can choose to do my best to be there for you, in the way that I should have been a long time ago."

"You admit that you should have told me about your magic?" Morgana asked, triumphant yet doubtful.

"You don't know how much I wanted to tell you. Gaius and Kilgharrah both kept warning me that it was a bad idea. It was one of the worst disagreements that Gaius and I ever had. Kilgharrah had said that you were dangerous and couldn't be trusted. I believe he foresaw your actions of the last few years. But I don't think that he saw or understood everything. Perhaps it was Aithusa's youth that enabled her to look beyond your actions and see the truth for what it was. Kilgharrah is incredibly old and wise, but I think that his captivity and his hatred for Uther blinded him to many things. Gaius, I think, just wanted to protect you from Uther's grief-driven hatred of magic."

"Those are fine words, Merlin, but you can't understand how I felt. I was so scared. I thought that I was turning into a monster and that the very man who professed to love me like a daughter would burn me for it. I was so confused, and Morgause was the only one who accepted who and what I am. And yet she turned me into the very monster that I feared. My own sister?! How can I trust anyone ever again?!"

"You can trust me," Merlin argued.

"You? The one who poisoned me?"

"That's not fair. You know I didn't want to and that I've regretted it every day since. You don't understand how I felt. I understand being afraid of yourself. I understand feeling like a monster; like a freak. Why do you think I didn't fit in in Ealdor? The others in the village may not have known for certain that I had magic, but they knew there was something different about me.

"Magic has always been a part of me. The things that happened around you when you had no control over your magic? They happened to me when I was just a babe in the cradle. One of the old men in the village told me that I was a demon's bastard when I was just six years old. He hated me, especially when I felled an old oak tree with magic and nearly crushed him with it. I was only twelve and it was an accident. I didn't know he had followed me and Will. But suddenly he was there screaming in my face. I thought he was going to strangle me with his bare hands! I understand your fear!

"I had nightmares about poisoning you for weeks afterwards. I didn't know if you had lived or died. Then we started looking for you, and I felt so guilty every time we went out and came home without you. We all missed you..." Merlin trailed off into silence, allowing Morgana to wipe her tears without comment.

"What do we do now?" she murmured, looking away from the window and into Merlin's questioning eyes. "Am I still destined to be the hatred and the darkness in this game of fate's?"

"We make the best of things," Merlin said shrugging. "For better or worse, I am your husband and you are my wife. Even more mind-boggling, if we ever want to spend more than twenty minutes apart, one day we may have a child. Our destinies are forever altered; so we'll make our own future. You decide, Morgana, how good and loving or dark and hateful you are. Not even fate can make you something you don't want to be. We have a choice before us now, Morgana, and I choose to try."

"I suppose that's the best we can do for now. Try."

"Thank you," Merlin said earnestly. Then he smiled mischievously. "You realize that Arthur and Gwen are listening at that door, right?" he asked mentally, then held a finger to his lips. Morgana looked at him in confusion.

"We need to discuss where we're going to stay from now on, since we can't tolerate to let the other of us out of our sight and my room is rather small for two people," he said aloud, then he looked at the doorway and whispered, "ic i ætýne!"

The slatted-wood door flew open, dumping Arthur, Gwen andsurprisingly, Gaius in an undignified heap into the room.

"Merlin!" Gaius scolded. "What have I said about using your magic for tricks?"

"I'm not sure, Gaius, I think I must have missed that lesson somewhere along with the do-not-eavesdrop lecture," Merlin said cheekily.

"We were just trying to make sure you were alright," Gwen reassured them guiltily. Merlin and Morgana both raised their eyebrows at the trio.

"What did you expect? Two days ago you were ready to take each other's heads off, now you're planning common sleeping arrangements! We're only trying to look out for the both of you!" Arthur argued, helping Gwen and Gaius to their feet.

"Of course, sire," Merlin snickered. "We're grateful that you care so much."

"Merlin?"

"Shutting up, sire," Merlin answered jauntily.


As it was, it had been a very good job that Gwen had been listening. The queen very sensibly took charge and had led them to Morgana's old chambers that had been left unused ever since Morgana had left Camelot with an injured Morgause. Fewer people ventured into Morgana's old wing of the royal bed chambers as compared to the physician's quarters, thus there would be less chance of someone stumbling upon Morgana until they revealed her presence in Camelot.

So it was that Merlin gathered his meager belongings from his room in Gaius' quarters and moved his things into his new chambers with his wife. His staff and spell book in particular had been highly interesting to Morgana. Gwen had been rather amused to see the pair getting along quite well as they discussed the different elements of the sidhe magic used to create the staff. The queen practically had to order them to put the magical artifacts aside and get back to the task at hand. Morgana had put on a pout that Gwen had found was common to Pendragons but Merlin had grinned sheepishly and obediently stowed his things for later.

Within the hour, Merlin was at work removing dust cloths, straightening things, and freshening the sheets while Gwen and Morgana sorted through some old gowns that Gwen'd had brought out of storage. In consideration of Merlin and Morgana's desire for their own space, despite their awkward need to be close together, Gwen sent for Gwaine and Percival to quietly move Merlin's bed into the alcove beside the elegant four-poster.

Of course, the knights' services had come with plenty of jokes and teasing. Merlin ignored them after a while. He and Morgana were prepared to share space, but they were nowhere near prepared to share a bed even just for sleep. Merlin was fully aware of that fact and refused to be ashamed of it. The knights however, believed it was their place to ensure that Merlin felt included in their brotherhood through copious amounts of good-natured ribbing. As such, Gwaine had started to sing a baudy tavern song as they were reassembling Merlin's bed frame. However, he promptly fell silent when he brayed halfway through the chorus. Percival had still been chuckling when they had left to attend to their duties.

"Merlin, I've also taken the liberty this morning of sending for your mother. I thought it might help you as things are brought to light to have Hunith here," Gwen admitted as they were getting things situated. Merlin stiffened as he finished tucking the fresh sheets around the large feather mattress. He suddenly stood straight and with wide eyes, spun to face Guinevere.

"I'm going to be in so much trouble," Merlin said, then clapped a hand over his mouth.

"You're a grown man, Merlin, I think you'll survive the trauma," Morgana said dryly. Merlin shook his head and dropped his hand.

"You don't understand, my mother's number one rule was keep the magic secret and number two was don't get married without telling me."

"You can't be serious," Gwen laughed.

"Perhaps there were a few rules in between those two, but my mother always wanted to see me get married since she never got married herself. You see, when I was sixteen and Will was seventeen, he fancied a girl in the next village. His father had been killed a few years before and he'd become quite rebellious. Well, my mother heard Will telling me that he was planning on running away with the girl, so my mother waited for him to sneak out with his pack and caught him. Pulled him by the ear all the way back to Will's mother's house. My mother said if I ever tried it, she'd do the same to me."

"Merlin, you're the most powerful warlock to ever walk the earth, and you're afraid of Hunith?" Morgana asked in disbelief.

"My mother walked all by herself from Ealdor to Camelot to come for me. Even after Kanen hit her because she stood up to him and refused to let him starve her village. And did you see the way my mother took down some of Kanen's men? Besides that, she raised me without a single bit of her own magic. I'm not ashamed to admit that that was no small task!

"I set things on fire before I was an hour old, levitated and moved things around before I could talk, and manipulated time before I was three! She had to keep me in line through sheer strength of will and ample use of guilt. If I had been so inclined, there's no way she could have physically stopped me."

Morgana's eyes widened and her face paled.

"My mother has a temper when she's upset," Merlin continued. "You should have seen how angry she got when she realized Will knew about my magic. Scolded me for a full twenty minutes and sent me straight off to Gaius!"

Gwen and Morgana gaped at Merlin as he caught his breath after his rant. Morgana had heard very little after Merlin had described what he had done at such a young age. It was almost unfathomable, what Hunith had accomplished entirely on her own, and in secret. Morgana shook her head and forced herself back to the task at hand.

"Merlin? Our children had better take after me and not come into their magic until they're older," Morgana said as she pulled another gown from the storage trunk and studied it distractedly.

Merlin's face reddened at the implications of having children with Morgana, but it brought his dream to mind and caused a sappy smile to spread across his face. He wasn't entirely sure how aware Morgana was of what she had said, but it gave him hope that things would turn out for the better. Gwen too, was smiling broadly; she couldn't wait to tell Arthur how well things were going.


Four days later, Merlin was helping Arthur prepare for training under the king's amused eye. The warlock tried to ignore the snickers and the hardly concealed smiles as Merlin scratched or fidgeted or paced about the room.

"What's wrong, Merlin? Bit agitated?" Arthur asked innocently. Merlin glared at the king in response. "There's a cure for that itch, you know," Arthur teased.

"Not having this conversation with you," Merlin retorted, returning to the table to retrieve another piece of armor.

"Eventually, you'll have to spend more than thirty minutes at a time outside her presence, Merlin."

"We're not going to be hasty just because we're a bit inconvenienced."

"You're looking a bit more than inconvenienced, Merlin. You're about to crawl out of your skin!"

"Where's George?! Why couldn't he get you into your armor? I thought I wasn't supposed to do this anymore?"

"You should know why I didn't ask for George, he re-polishes every piece of my armor before and after he puts it on me. I think he believes a fingerprint is going to be the death of me. Don't even get me started on his jokes," Arthur said exasperatedly.

"Please, I wouldn't dream of it. I learnt every last one of them when you tortured me with training with him," Merlin complained. Arthur smirked at the memory. Then the king's face fell.

"I'm just trying to see how you're doing. I've been reviewing the old laws with Guinevere and I think we're ready. I'm convening the council tomorrow morning to discuss the ban on magic and to present Morgana's case to them. I'd like you both to be there."

"I'll let Morgana know," Merlin agreed, fastening the last buckle on Arthur's wrist guards and stepping back.

"How are you doing, really?" Arthur asked.

"Fine," Merlin answered quickly. "I mean, it's getting there. It's a bit awkward, sharing space with Morgana. There's such a history between us; it's like we take one step forward and two steps back. One minute she's smiling and mentioning our future children and the next she's scowling at me like everything is my fault!"

"Welcome to marriage, Merlin," Arthur laughed. Merlin shook his head and continued.

"She's woken up screaming and crying at the memories resurfacing in her dreams every night that we've been sleeping in our new chambers. She calls for me and clings to me in the night, then pulls away into herself in the morning. We've been reading a lot, practicing magic, and Morgana has taken to ignoring me now and then by sorting through and mending her clothes.

"There's little we can do stuck as we are in our chambers until Morgana can show her face and neither of us have ever done well in close quarters with little to occupy our time. I'm not sure what else to do." Merlin finally fell silent, shocked that he had admitted that much. Telling Arthur about his magic seemed to have opened the floodgates. Arthur was rather surprised as well at the torrent that had come pouring from Merlin's mouth. The king had never heard Merlin speak so much about himself at once.

"Give it time. Isn't that what they say? 'Time heals all wounds?'"

"Well, I wish I could find 'they' and beat them with a stick for not being more helpful," Merlin groused, folding his arms in an effort to keep himself from chewing off his already torn fingernails. Arthur laughed and sent Merlin back to Morgana while he headed down to the training field where the knights were waiting.

"What did Arthur want this morning?" Morgana asked a few hours later.

"He said he wanted me to help him into his armor but it was just an excuse."

"An excuse?"

"Yes. Arthur rarely admits to feeling emotions. He always hides his heart behind orders and taunts. You ought to remember that."

"No, I just remember a spoilt bully," Morgana said.

"No. He had changed a lot before you left the first time. You just didn't want to see that he wasn't his father."

Morgana scowled at his honesty, but Merlin was inwardly pleased that her ire was half-hearted and not truly directed at him.

"He wanted to know how we were doing," Merlin said softly, distracting her from her thoughts.

"And how are we doing?" Morgana asked curiously.

"We're getting there. Eventually," Merlin answered, smiling lightly and holding out his spell book in invitation. Morgana nodded her acceptance and smiled in return as she took a seat at the head of their table. Merlin sat down perpendicular to her and lay the spell book on the corner of the table between them.

Smiling eagerly, Merlin opened the magic book to a random page. Morgana's eyes brightened at the set of spells before them and they began to discuss the different elements to each enchantment. It was one activity they had discovered in their seclusion that didn't devolve into petty bickering and scowls, as they had found they were likely to do, confined in such cramped quarters.

They were learning, slowly but surely, how to share space and cautious, chaste affection with one another. Morgana allowed Merlin to hold her and rock her when she broke down in the night, and it was becoming her habit to take a hold of his upper arm and give it a squeeze whenever he returned to their room. Merlin had pressed a kiss to the top of Morgana's head when he had comforted her the night before, surprising the both of them, though she hadn't protested. But beyond that, they had kept to themselves.

They had gotten into an animated discussion on the subtle variations between shield spells and the strengths of each when Morgana had leaned in closer to Merlin to read the page directly in front of him. Merlin realized as she did that they had somehow woven their legs together, touching at their ankles. It had been entirely subconscious and Merlin was surprised by how natural and comfortable the intimacy of the position felt.

Morgana sat back as she turned the page to a spell Merlin had really enjoyed learning a couple years previous. He smiled, eager to discuss this particular section, but his enthusiasm was dampened when a quick knock resounded from the door. They weren't expecting anyone. Usually it was just Gwen who came to visit and this knock was decidedly firmer than Gwen's. Morgana met Merlin's wide eyes and quickly moved to hide on his bed behind the curtain while he hastily stood and shut the book. Merlin spun around to face the entryway and sat awkwardly on top of the large tome to hide it just as the door opened.

"Good job, Merlin, that doesn't look suspicious at all," Arthur said sarcastically. Merlin smiled snarkily in return. "The guards at the gate assumed you were with me on the training grounds. So I've brought you a surprise."

"That makes no sense whatsoever, Prat," Merlin drawled, smiling as Morgana poked her head out from the curtain. Arthur smirked.

"Merlin! Is that how you speak to your king?"

"It's your mother," Arthur said triumphantly as he stepped aside to reveal Hunith. Gwen had shared exactly how nervous Merlin had been at the prospect of his mother coming. Arthur had been only too willing to personally escort Hunith to her son when she had turned up at the training fields. He had shrugged off her insistence that a servant could help her to Merlin, and not just because Merlin and Morgana were currently off limits to servants. Apparently there was someone who could ultimately control the strong-willed warlock even better than Gaius. Arthur hoped to see Hunith in action; he was seriously considering asking Hunith to stay in Camelot. Perhaps Merlin would learn some sense of self-preservation if she did.

"Mother!" Merlin exclaimed, quickly glancing towards Morgana's hiding place in panic before he rushed forward to embrace Hunith and block her potential view of Morgana. "How did you get here so quickly? The messenger couldn't have reached Ealdor more than two days ago. I wasn't expecting you for another day, at least."

"Nathaniel and Ceren were traveling this way to sell some surplus grain, so they let me ride along in the wagon," Hunith explained. "Now tell me, what's your news? You apparently got new accommodations, what's going on?"

"He's been promoted, for one," Arthur answered for a speechless Merlin. Hunith smiled brilliantly at Arthur's words.

"And married for another," Morgana said, coming to stand beside Merlin and taking his arm as had become her habit. Hunith's smile fell and she gasped in shock. She took a step back, looking at Merlin with narrowed eyes. Hunith put her hands on her hips then lifted a single eyebrow, looking eerily similar to Gaius.

"You eloped with Morgana?!" Hunith incredulously questioned her son. Merlin did the only thing he could.

He covered his ears.


A/N: Thanks for reading! Please, let me know what you think!