This one's a little longer than expected, but I'm assuming that no-one's going to complain about that? ;)

Chapter 10: Apologising

There was no answer to Uther's question and no real resolution to the meeting as their father refused to back down, quite obviously stalling by saying he needed to discuss things further with his board. Morgana saw Arthur raise his eyes to the ceiling at this less than diplomatic approach and she knew that, despite her brother's love for Uther and his very real pride in his father's achievements, the young man would tackle things very differently if he were the one holding Camelot's reins.

They left the room with Uther muttering under his breath about the personal insult that had been directed towards him by their director's refusal to meet with him personally, whilst the siblings, as usual, exchanged significant looks at their father's over-reaction.

"So much for, 'I do not object to anything as such'," Morgana quoted in a whisper, causing Arthur to grin briefly before quickly schooling the expression as Uther turned to glare at them.

However, by the time they had arrived back home, Uther's simmering fury was gradually being replaced by thoughtfulness and it seemed that he was now more confused than angry.

"What is it, Father?" Arthur asked, also noticing his distraction.

"There's just something about that woman – Hunith, she said her name was?"

"Yes. What about her?"

"I'm not sure, but she seemed a little familiar and I thought perhaps she recognised me too."

"You don't think she's a Light Blue then?" Morgana asked.

"No, I'm certain she's not, she …" He suddenly sat upright – his eyes wide. "I think we were at Oxford together – she was on one of my courses. Yes, I'm sure of it now. She wasn't Ambrosius then though, so she must have taken her husband's name - obviously a traditionalist. Now, what was her birth name?" He frowned, trying hard to remember, but his train of thought was interrupted by the housekeeper coming in with tea for them all.

"But, Uther, what are you going to do about Kilgharrah's?" Morgana pushed. "If they've got enough shares to threaten Camelot and their finances are as secure as they say ..?" She took her cup and decided to add a little sugar for once – she really needed it after everything she'd been going through recently.

"I know, I know. I'm going to have to call another meeting." Uther was already taking his Comp out, starting to send a message to everyone on Camelot's board. "This really is highly inconvenient. The cheek of it. At least I know Aredian was right about Hunith not being their director. She wasn't that significant a player at Oxford and is obviously just a front to the company – that two-way mirror rather confirms that idea, doesn't it?"

"Father, I'm sorry but … is this all really worth the risk?" Arthur asked. "Perhaps we should just leave the company in the care of this mysterious Mr. Emrys and focus our attention on Camelot and our other businesses instead. Ensure that we're running a tight ship and that incidences like this won't happen again?"

"It's a good point, Uther. There's so much we don't know about Kilgharrah's, and we could find that there are other 'Leodegrances' out there – others who are loyal to Mrs. Ambrosius that you're not aware of. In that case it might be …"

"Ah, I think I remember Hunith's name now," their father interrupted suddenly. "It was Wild. No, no, stranger than that. Something like Wilt but more ... Welsh."

Morgana dropped her spoon with a clatter.

"You don't mean … Wyllt?"

"Yes, that was it, Hunith Wyllt."

"Just great," Arthur muttered sarcastically.

"What? Do you know something?" Uther asked urgently.

"No, no," Arthur lied smoothly, "but, as you said … a Welsh company?" Morgana found herself both amused and impressed by his calm recovery.

"Yes, of course," Uther said, happily accepting the explanation. "So then, Hunith married Balinor Ambroisius did she? Quite a catch for her, I imagine – even if he was a Light Blue."

"It seems that these mixed marriages are rather common within our two companies," Morgana managed to comment eventually, her mind now reeling at the latest revelation. Merlin was the son of the founder and the current owner? No wonder that any news about the pair of them had managed to get to him quite so quickly. Still, she was now trying to work out exactly how he had found out. She thought back to the conversation she and Arthur had in her flat … if he had overheard that from the bathroom. She winced. Well, they hadn't said anything – as such - but Arthur's rant about Leodegrance and 'the war' and 'being in trouble,' would certainly have been enough to have made Merlin curious if he had overheard them and then, if Gwaine really was Kilgharrah's research assistance, as Aredian's was theirs …?

Actually, she was starting to feel a little hard done by now. Merlin finds out, gets upset and breaks off their relationship, when she was the one actually using her real name – the one that was on her birth certificate – whilst he was using his mother's name? What was all that about? Her internal rant was actually a little half-hearted. She understood why he'd done it and that his family connections would have probably made him highly nervous about a relationship with her, even if she had been honest with him from the start. She didn't imagine Hunith or Uther would be especially pleased when they realised the pair had been dating, never mind if the relationship had become as serious as it had been threatening to.

Despite all this, all the family and business issues, all the changes of name, Morgana did want it to become serious. She did want to get back with Merlin, whatever the consequences, and she also knew exactly where her loyalties lay if anyone asked her. Not that Merlin would ask her because he was refusing to see her and so she couldn't explain all of this to him. But, she had to see him – she just had to - and suddenly it was obvious how she was going to be able to do it. Obvious who she needed to see in order to fix this mess she had managed to get herself into.

xoxOxox

Morgana arrived at The Green Knight early that evening, just before it was likely to get busy, and was both pleased and nervous to see Gwaine serving behind the bar. She was also a little surprised, although she was sure she shouldn't be by now. A director of the board of Kilgharrah's, playing barman, in a pub which she seemed to remember Aredian muttering something about him owning. She wasn't exactly paying attention during the morning meeting, after all.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her coldly.

"I've come to see you. I have to talk to you – about Merlin."

"Well, yes, I assumed that was probably the reason."

"You have to ask him to see me. I really need to talk with him."

"Now, why would I want to do that?"

"He has to forgive me, he just has to." She realised from Gwaine's raised eyebrow that she was beginning to sound a little desperate and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

"Well, that doesn't seem very likely to me but, as you seem to believe he has a reason to, I might as well hear you out. I can't imagine what you can say to convince him though, seeing how much you and your brother have lied to him and Gwen."

"At least I told Merlin my true name," she blurted out and Gwaine gave her another sceptical look. "Uther had an affair with my mother, but her husband still adopted me as his own and gave me his name at birth," she explained. "I consider myself to be far more of a Cornwall than a Pendragon."

"I … see, but I don't imagine Merlin will think that a good enough excuse."

"Yet he uses his mother's name and not his own?" she queried.

"Ah ..." Gwaine squirmed a little at the question.

"Well?"

"It all goes back to when he was a child star – his agent thought Merlin Ambrosius was a bit of a mouthful. They all decided Merlin Wyllt worked better – I tend to agree with them on that one, actually."

"Fair enough but … he wasn't exactly upfront about his family connections either, was he? " Gwaine gave a small shrug in reply. "That's why we need to talk. We've both been hiding things and so ... I want to apologise."

"I might be able to arrange a meeting however … you will need to give me a far better reason than you have so far. I'll not have you break my friend's heart any more than you already have."

"I love him!" She hadn't meant to blurt that out. "Ah ...?" She knew she was blushing under Gwaine's intense gaze.

"Really?"

"I ... hadn't really thought about it before but - but it's true." She'd even surprised herself with the comment but quickly recovered, continuing in a more confident tone. "I'm in love with Merlin and I'm sure my brother feels the same way about Gwen and so ..."

"Well now, Gwen and Arthur's situation is rather different. After all, he really is a Pendragon and I can't imagine either of their fathers would approve of that relationship."

"You imagine that Uther and Hunith would be any more keen? We're all adults now and this is the twenty-first century. People are allowed to choose their own partners, after all."

"True but, you know this will cause problems for both companies, don't you? Especially during this current dispute?"

"Perhaps, but Arthur is not like his father, he does not approve of the take-over bid but ... he's rather too much under the thumb to rebel quite yet. I, however, have no such qualms. I think Kilgharrah's is a wonderful restaurant - better than Camelot by miles. Honestly, if it was a choice between Merlin and Uther, then it's Merlin all the way."

"Really?" The Irishman's voice still sounded suspicious, but there was now an interesting twinkle in his eye on hearing her declaration.

"You have to believe me, Gwaine. I know I haven't been entirely honest with you or Merlin but then we both know that he's kept things from me too, don't we?" She saw an interesting look cross Gwaine's face then and grinned slightly, easily interpreting it. "In fact, I'm guessing there's quite a bit more he hasn't told me, am I right?" His next expression confirmed her guess. "In which case, you have to admit, that's it's a little unfair to blame me entirely."

"Perhaps." He paused, now thoughtful. "Alright, I'll give Merlin your message and talk to Gwen too - see what they want to do about all of this. Maybe the four of you can all meet with me – talk out your issues together?"

"Really, that would be wonderful. Thank you, Gwaine."

"Huh! Don't thank me yet. Merlin might seem like a push-over but, trust me, he's just as stubborn as you and Arthur put together."

"That I can well believe. Well, I'm sure that if anyone can persuade him, you can," she said, giving him her very best smile.

"And I can see exactly why he fell for you," he said, pulling a face, "but then, I've never seen him as happy as he's been this last week before … all of this and so ..." He shrugged and turned to the other end of the bar. "Look, it's starting to get busy. Put your number in my Comp and then you'd better go. I'll call you later, once I've had a chance to speak to them both, alright?"

"Yes, thank you, Gwaine."

xoxOxox

She received a text from Gwaine just after midnight and assumed that he hadn't phoned because he hadn't wanted to disturb her that late. As if she'd be sleeping whilst waiting for such an important message. Anyway, the meeting was arranged for Wednesday, just after lunch time when the bar and restaurant wouldn't be open, and so she immediately went next door to talk to Arthur, knowing full well he would still be awake.

"What is it, Morgana?" her brother asked in a bored voice as he let her into his bedroom.

"I've managed to get Gwen and Merlin to meet with us," she told him, enjoying the look of hope that suddenly appeared on his face.

"You what?" She hadn't told him of the possibility before, just in case nothing came of it. No need to disappoint him unnecessarily.

"I went to talk to Gwaine. Told him we were sorry for the deceptions, told him we wanted to see them and explain."

"Really? Gwaine? Yes, I can see how that would have worked. That really was quite a good idea."

"I have been known to have a few from time to time," said Morgana sarcastically, raising her eyes to the ceiling. "Anyway, you can get some time off work?"

"Try and stop me. Where are we meeting?"

"At Kilgharrah's – Wednesday afternoon?"

"Good but … I don't hold out much hope of forgiveness. I really don't think I can go against Father if they ask and ..."

"I'm sure they won't ask that but you know Uther's wrong and if you really want a chance with Gwen than it's you that's going to have to be the one to persuade Father to back off."

"I know, I know. It's just … well ..." He winced as he always did at the thought of confronting Uther.

"I understand but, Arthur, you're going to have to learn to stand up to him. You know he's started to make some very rash decisions lately – been too aggressive – even for a successful business man in his position. I know your plans – what you would do with the company if you had control and I believe that, in your hands, Camelot could be something really great."

"I love how much faith you have in me, Morgana," Arthur said with a sigh, "but I'm really not sure that Gwen or Merlin will feel the same way, do you?"

xoxOxox

She met up with Morgause on Tuesday, quite stunned at how impressed the lady was with 'Mr. Le Fey's' portfolio, and left with the older woman's promise of a showing in one of the best high class events in London's social calendar. She too positively gushed over 'that' photo of Merlin, raving about the light and the angle and all sorts of things that had Morgana quite convinced that the blonde lady was just being polite. She had very reluctantly included that particular set for this meeting, knowing they were good, but finding it exceptionally painful to view that particular face at the moment – her heart seeming to break all over again as she looked at those large, shy eyes glancing up through long, dark eyelashes. She found herself blinking away tears, even as she signed Morgause's paper work and politely accepted her promise to 'be in touch,' not entirely believing it to be true.

In fact, the text Morgana received from the promoter the following morning had her distracted enough to take her mind off the meeting with Merlin for slightly more than five minutes, before she pulled herself together and left for the restaurant. She still hadn't talked to Arthur about Morgause (she really should remember to thank him) but they'd agreed to meet at the restaurant itself and, once there, all thoughts of photographs, exhibitions and generous deals quickly fled from her mind as the siblings were escorted to the same small board room that they'd visited before.

And there he was.

Her heart leapt, but just as quickly fell as she saw how pale he was, how dark the circles under his eyes were. She remembered Gwaine's comment then, about how she had broken his heart and the look he was giving her, a mixture of hurt and longing and suspicion, was almost enough to have her turn tail and run back out of the room; her courage under such scrutiny threatening to desert her.

Gwen wasn't looking at either of them, her eyes fixed firmly on the desk, her body leaning subconsciously towards Merlin as the slim man turned his gaze on Arthur, his look now a little less hurt and rather more curious, as if trying to work out why Uther Pendragon's son would be here at all.

"Take a seat you two," said Gwaine, signalling them to sit in much the same places as they had on Monday. "Now, I know this is a difficult meeting for all of you but, when Morgana came to see me, she said enough of interest to make me think it worth our while to hear her out."

"Fair enough," said Merlin, pointedly not looking at her. "But I'm curious as to why he is here. I wonder why you would even trouble yourself to attend. Surely the up and coming Arthur Pendragon is not planning to apologise for something?"

"I certainly wasn't planning on apologising to you, Merlin. However, I am here to say sorry to Guinevere." Gwen looked up at him briefly and then swallowed hard, her eyes quickly finding the desk again, she shook her head slightly, tears in her eyes. "Honestly, I truly am. Neither of us set out to deceive you we were just … investigating the restaurant and then … well then we realised that our father was wrong and that we had no intention in helping him to take it over but, by then it was all too late."

"Why would you not want to take it over? A successful business like this?" Merlin pushed, obviously finding it easier to deal with Arthur than her at the moment.

"I'm not denying that owning this place, or at least having an interest in it, wouldn't be of great benefit to Camelot," Arthur answered. "But, for the record, I do not agree with Father's plans for the place. Kilgharrah's should stay as it is, whoever owns it."

"Funny, I don't seem to remember you saying that on Monday," said Gwaine. Arthur winced and, this time, it was his turn to look down at the table. Merlin smiled at the blond's reaction.

"I expect he's too much of a coward to say such a thing in front of his father." Arthur looked up at Merlin with a glare.

"I am not a coward, and I am telling Father exactly that. He knows my feelings on the matter; that turning this place into another Camelot does not make good business sense. He will understand that soon enough – he's just too stubborn and too cross at the stunt you pulled to be thinking clearly at the moment.

"So, you're not really here to apologise at all," said Gwen then, the hurt in her voice quite obvious, even if she was trying hard to appear unruffled. "You're just here to say that you're asking your father not to take us over, but that you can't really promise anything?"

"Of course not. Guinevere, you know that's not true."

"Do I?"

"Look, I never intended to pass on anything to Father. Neither did Morgana," Arthur continued. "We told him from the start that Kilgharrah's was not a good target, that it's secrets were an asset not something to be suspicious of. I am sorry I didn't tell you my name but then we weren't the only ones here keeping our family a secret, were we ... Merlin?" The pair glared at each other.

"I've gone by the name of Merlin Wyllt since I was eight years old," he stated firmly. Arthur raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"And I've gone by the name of Morgana Cornwall since I was born," she replied. Merlin looked at her briefly, shrugging slightly.

"So Gwaine said and … we know that to be true and that you were adopted by Uther when you were ten but … Arthur really is a Pendragon and he certainly did lie about his name."

"Only by omission," her brother replied with a wince. "And for that I am sorry."

"You signed into the restaurant in that name though," said Merlin. "You have a Comp assigned to Arthur Cornwall."

"A second name can often be useful, can't it, Merlin?" This time it was the dark haired man's turn to wince. "And you didn't honestly expect me to book the table under Pendragon, did you? I mean, the main reason for coming here was that it was my date's first choice of restaurant. Even if there had been no business issue, I would not have felt comfortable as a customer here using my real name."

"Although you were here for business, weren't you?" said Merlin. "I know full well that you were questioning Will at the Casino that night, Morgana, and that Arthur was quizzing Elyan … and me for that matter."

"We've already admitted that we did come here to gain information for Uther," Morgana stated, "and that there was very little information we could actually give him. He wanted to know who the head chef was and who the mystery owner was and we did not and still do not know this information."

"So you decided to befriend a couple of staff?" Gwen accused. "Get them to fall for you and then find out the information that way?"

"No!" Both Arthur and Morgana shouted the denial.

"No, that's not true. Merlin, you have to believe me," Morgana pleaded. "I know I was pushy, but I wasn't even thinking of Uther or his 'job' when I talked to you. I just wanted to get to know you better and then ... then I started to fall for you and the more I did that, the harder it became to come clean."

"You should have told me," he said, turning a stern, but somehow rather cute glare at her.

"I wasn't the only one keeping secrets," she said pointedly and his face twitched slightly, subconsciously accepting the accusation.

"How did you find out?" Arthur asked him.

"I overheard you talking to Morgana that morning," said Merlin, "and that made me very curious so I dressed quickly and followed you out."

"You followed us? You must have dressed very quickly indeed," said Arthur suspiciously.

"Heard a few other interesting comments," Merlin continued, "enough to make me pretty suspicious, and so then I contacted Gwaine and had him look you both up in more detail."

"So," Gwaine continued. "The two of you expect us to believe that you came here to spy, then started to fall for these two and are now determined to put Uther off his goal?"

"It's the absolute truth," said Arthur firmly.

"So, if that's the case, would you be willing to help us? Tell us something about Camelot that could help our counter claim?"

"Gwaine!" Merlin said, shocked at the suggestion.

"You can't expect them to do that," said Gwen. "It's family. They can't go against family any more than we can."

"I can."

"Morgana!" said Arthur shocked.

"What? I've never had any affection for Uther, you know that." Her brother shook his head, knowing her feelings, but not understanding or liking them. "And you know that how I feel about him has no effect on my relationship with you, don't you? You're the only true family I have now."

"I wish you would just try to get to know him better … to understand him. He loves you Morgana and …"

"It's irrelevant, especially in this case. You've said yourself that he's wrong in wanting to take over and you need to know, Gwaine, that I support your counter bid one hundred percent. As far as I'm concerned, I'm happy to keep an eye on what Uther's planning and, although Arthur may legitimately feel he cannot go directly against his father, I have no such qualms. Tell me what you need to know and I'll get you the information." She looked Merlin straight in the eye as she said it but he shook his head.

"I wouldn't ask that of you, Morgana."

"You don't need to. I'm offering. Merlin …?" He shook his head again. "Look at me ..." He lifted his head slowly, reluctantly. "This is why I asked for this meeting, this is why I asked to see you. Nothing else matters, don't you understand? I am really, really sorry I didn't tell you the full truth, I'm even more sorry that I hurt you. Please, tell me what to do to fix this and I will. Anything." He held her gaze then, his eyes softening slightly and she dared to hope that he was coming around. Dared to hope that he might forgive her eventually.

"I can't say I understand quite why my sister feels so strongly about you," Arthur said to Merlin, a small, amused smile tugging at his lips, "but I know how happy she has been with you and how devastated she's been the last few days. You asked why I'm here? Well, to apologise to both of you of course, but mostly for Morgana. I know that it's too late for us, Guinevere, I understand that you're seeing Lancelot now but … if there's a chance for my sister to be happy then I was willing to come here and explain my part in the whole fiasco."

Merlin looked at Arthur curiously, again as if trying to read the truth of his statement from his expression. Then he turned his gaze to Gwen and raised his eyebrows, silently communicating something to her with that questioning glance. His friend frowned slightly, a question of her own in the gaze and Merlin, almost imperceptibly nodded, apparently giving her permission for something.

"I was hurt and upset when I sent that text," she admitted nervously now, at long last, looking Arthur in the eye. "And … I suppose one part of me did contemplate contacting Lancelot but …" She bit her lip, again employing that look – the one that had made Morgana so convinced that these two were related when she had first met them – the shy glance up through dark eyelashes, that had her knees turn to jelly when employed by Merlin. "... in the end I didn't."

"You … didn't? You mean you're not going out with him?" Arthur asked breathlessly.

"N-no. I couldn't. Not after ..." She coloured and bit her lip again. "Not while I still had feelings for you." Morgana saw Merlin smile very slightly at the comment. He was still looking after his friend's interests, perhaps even before his own but then, apparently, Arthur had come here for much the same reason in regard to her.

"Well now, this is all very sweet," said Gwaine with a broad grin, "and so nice to see you all starting to get along again but, you must understand that this is not going to be easy for you. Even if the pair of you are speaking the truth, you must know that this still puts you … well all four of you, in a tricky situation with both your families and your businesses." He looked around the table as the group all nodded their reluctant understanding. "Well, I have to get back now but, you've an hour or so before Gwen and Merlin need to be back at work so, why don't you go upstairs and talk a little more before then?"

"That's not a bad idea," said Merlin rather curtly, standing and heading toward the door. "This way." Arthur and Morgana exchanged a glance, shrugged and started to follow him.

"Oh, and by the way," said Gwaine with a broad grin. "I suggest you stick to talking over your differences rather than any other form of apologising. Now's not the time to complicate things further, don't you agree?" Merlin muttered something under his breath which sounded suspiciously like a swear word, whilst Gwen and Arthur both looked highly embarrassed at Gwaine's implication.

The large staircase from the foyer swept majestically up to the large bar, with the Casino housed on the other side of the first floor. Morgana had thought that was the limit of the place but, she realised, the grand building had appeared to have more floors than that so she wasn't entirely surprised when Merlin lead them to the end of the corridor and to an apparent fire exit, where another door on the left opened up to a more modest staircase which took them up to the second floor.

Again reminding Morgana of a grand hotel (which she supposed it probably once was) the long hallway was richly carpeted and decorated with smart, wooden doors spaced evenly along. Merlin simply nodded at Gwen as she opened one door and invited Arthur in, whilst he took her further down to the final door before pausing on the threshold with a large sigh.

"Oh, Merlin ..." Morgana said, throwing her arms around him, quite unable to resist any longer. He was going to forgive her, she was sure he was, but he remained rigid within her grasp, his hands remaining stubbornly by his side as he flatly refused to hug her back. "I really am so sorry, you have to believe me," she continued, but he pulled away from her, apparently not able to look her in the eye as he did so.

"Ah, you'd better come in then, I suppose," he said moving through the door and leaving it open for her to follow.

"T-thanks." She walked through the door and then stopped, her mouth falling open at the sight that greeted her. "This is ..." she swallowed hard. "Is this all yours?"

The room was enormous with high ceilings decorated with ornate carvings and old fashioned furniture. This appeared to be the main living room, although it was far larger than the conference room, with one door leading to the left and two to the right. However, it wasn't just the size of the place that had her gaping. There were dragons everywhere. Numerous pictures, similar to the ones she'd seen downstairs, covered every wall. Every cushion, every ornament, every piece of furniture appeared to have a dragon theme. If it wasn't dragons then it was knights, or wizards or beautiful damsels in distress, captured in high towers. There was something about the various drawings on the wall that had Morgana instantly curious and, as she moved towards one, her eyes fell on the large table next to the wall, which was covered with numerous paper dragons, all apparently created by folding. Nearby were others … hundreds of others, some larger ones hanging from the ceiling, others still half folded. She picked one up and looked first at it, then at the picture and finally at Merlin, her mouth still open.

"You made this? All of this … it's you. All those decorations, the origami dragons and nests that came with our food … you made it all?"

"Ah ... yes," he gave a shy smile. Far more genuine than any she had seen so far today. "A little hobby of mine."

"... little … hobby?" She looked at the dragon she was holding and shook her head in disbelief.

"You can keep it, if you want. Unless there's another you prefer?"

"Ah no, this is fine … thank you." He shrugged. "I meant what I said, Merlin. About how sorry I am about everything."

"I know. I do understand but, it's like Gwaine said, even knowing the truth doesn't entirely help. It's still awkward, isn't it?"

"I don't see why it should be. I don't care what Uther thinks – I don't care how important your family is within Kilgharrah's. All I care about it you and being with you." Merlin looked up at her again, apparently surprised at such an emotional comment from her.

"Morgana ..."

"Merlin." She moved quickly to hug him again and this time she felt his body relax a little against hers. "I meant what I said downstairs," she continued. "I'll do anything you ask. What do I have to do to convince you? What do I need to say to have you forgive me?"

"I do forgive you it's just ..."

"You do?" She pulled slightly away and beamed at him. She saw him swallow hard at that and drop his eyes.

"Morgana – you were right – I kept secrets too and it was quite deliberate on my part. I just didn't want to get too close and, even before I knew who you were, I didn't think I should trust you. I've learnt not to trust anyone because ..." He stopped and shook his head.

"What?"

"No, that's just it. It was hard enough before and, I do forgive you and I do want to try to make it work again but … you'll have to be patient with me. I have far too much to loose if I make the wrong decision. I can't tell you everything quite yet."

"Merlin?"

"I've not had much luck with girls," he said in a more relaxed tone then. Moving away just a little but allowing her to take both his hands in hers. "After Gwen, well … that was all friendly and everything, but I'd fallen in love with this girl by then - Freya and then – well, she died and ..."

"Oh, Merlin. I am sorry." He shrugged.

"It took me a while to get over that – and I haven't dated anyone since; hence Gwaine's cheeky comment at the party and, well, I suppose I'd sort of promised myself that it really wasn't worth it."

"What? Falling in love?"

"Too complicated, too messy." He smiled slightly again. "Honestly, I didn't think I could until ..." He turned bright pink and looked at the floor.

"And then I broke your heart all over again. Merlin, I'm sorry but … I've been hurting too; the thought of never seeing you again, of never holding you again it … it's been more than I can bear and I …" She moved a little closer to him, continuing to stroke his hands with her fingers.

"We could give it another go but, it won't be easy," he said then, "and … I don't want you to do anything mad – spy on Uther or anything like that. Just, let's start again, get to know each other slowly, properly and then, perhaps ..." She nodded and the pair fell into a silence that was almost relaxed.

"I understand. It's fine. As long as I'm with you … as long as you don't hate me."

"I could never hate you, Morgana," he said, apparently surprised at the suggestion and she fell quickly back into his embrace, amazed at just how emotional she was about such a positive comment.

"Merlin I … I love you." She felt him freeze, before he fell to gently stroking her hair.

"I really wish you wouldn't," was his unexpected reply, before the pair fell into another long silence, both still holding each other close.

"Don't take this the wrong way but, after seeing this much, I really am curious about the rest of your apartment," she said eventually and, at long last, he gave her a totally genuine smile.

"I'll give you the tour," he said and she continued to gasp in awe at the huge, luxurious bathroom and the enormous four poster bed in his equally grand bedroom. She raised an eyebrow at the sight, despite herself, quite unable to prevent herself from imagining lying in there with Merlin. "Behave!" he said, making her laugh as they returned to the main room.

"No kitchen?" she asked with a smile.

"Of course. It's next door," he said pointing to the door to the left of the living room. "It's a kitchen and dining room, and Gwen's flat opens up onto it too. We use it as a social room - all of us that work here." He quickly showed her that room before they moved back to his main living room. Feeling happy again for the first time in days, she quickly turned and threw her arms around him once more and this time, finally, he hugged her back properly, pulling her close against him and gently stroking her back.

"I've missed you so much," she confessed.

"Me too ..." Merlin murmured into her hair, as a nervous knock sounded at the door. "Come in, it's open," he called out.

"Didn't know what we might be interrupting," said Gwen with a smile, "but it looks like you've made up too."

"Yes, although, as I said, it isn't going to be easy," Merlin replied.

"True," said Arthur, "but some things are worth fighting for." He turned a loving smile on Gwen.

"Your father might have something to say about that," said Merlin and Arthur pulled a face.

"Well, we'll find out on Saturday," he said.

"Saturday?" Morgana asked.

"The Oxbridge Ball. I've invited Guinevere."

"Oh ..." said Merlin, looking nervously at Morgana who gave him a small smile in return. "Do you think we should?"

"Can you both get away?" Morgana asked. Gwen gave Merlin an amused look and he shrugged.

"I'm sure it can be arranged. So, ah, would you like to go with me, Morgana?"

"I'd love to."

xoxOxox

Chapter 11. Explaining: It's the Oxbridge Ball and a number of questions are finally answered.

A/N. Aah, all friends again. Better?

Wyllt is one of the names given as Merlin's surname in legend. It does mean Wild but is said to have been given sarcastically - a bit like 'Little John' in Robin Hood. I liked that; Merlin's name being Wild when he has such a modest personality.

Thank you all again for you lovely reviews and comments. I love the fact that many of you are saying that modern AU's aren't really your thing but that you like this anyway. That is what inspired me to write Kilgharrah's - the personal challenge as to whether I could manage to do something like this and still keep the characters true to canon. I'm pleased that so many of you think it's worked.

There are just two more chapters planned (and basically written) although, channelling Morgana, I forsee some additions? Merlin's pov has already been requested for an earlier chapter and an epilogue has started to flit around in my head during this last week too. I'll keep all your thoughts, suggestions and ideas in mind and see how I might approach any tie-ins.