End of Chapter 10: (For those who forgot)

"You saved my life. You cared for me. And, I love you. I always have!" Morgana assured him.

Merlin thought back to their time together in Camelot. He certainly used to believe that they both had feelings for each-other, but when Morgana's mind grew twisted and evil in the power of Morgause, he felt her love grow dim, and be replaced by hatred.

"Have you?" He bit his lip un-certainly.

"Yeah." She swallowed, brushing a hand across his cheek.

He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. "I love you too." He murmured, once they'd both relaxed into each-other.

She smiled as he tilted her chin up so their lips met in a kiss, filled with passion.

Her hand wound around his shoulders, reeling him closer to her. He didn't object, and wound his fingers in her raven hair, threading the strands between them.

Their lips moved in sync, as if they were made to fit each-other. He allowed her access when she asked for it once more, and they fought for dominance, both too lazy to really try.

Merlin's heart was beating faster with every passing second, and his fingers were starting to shake with the amount of emotion that he felt in his heart.

He was well and truly under Morgana's spell... But for once there was no magic involved.

Chapter 11

Merlin's hand felt un-naturally warm contrasting against Morgana's ice cold ones. The moment their fingers had laced together, he'd almost jumped back in surprise at the difference in temperature.

Morgana had assured Merlin that this was normal for her, and that her hands were always cold. She'd secretly thought that they matched with her cold heart, but she didn't say this aloud. She was convinced that if Merlin ever found out how little she cared about anyone else other than him, then he'd leave her. He'd join Arthur.

Then they'd end up killing each other.

Her mind never drifted to the thought of killing him anymore. Since they'd now united forces, their magic was unstoppable, and neither of them would have to endure the pain of fighting each other again.

They'd grown attached to each other so quickly in the past few weeks, almost too quickly. It was as if they'd been making up for lost time when she'd been out of Camelot.

However, she could tell that her partner missed his home and his friends. She often caught him gazing into the distance, as if wishing he could return to the place he'd built up his life as an adult.

"I promise you we'll return to Camelot." She'd told him, time and time again. "When we attack, I will be Queen and you can be my King... it will be perfect."

Merlin had kept this to himself, but he never thought of himself as a King; he had grown too used to the servant life to ever think about others serving him.

Instead, he'd just smiled at her. He kept on smiling even though his heart was hurting. It was breaking inside of his chest, but he couldn't do anything about it.

He couldn't even talk to Morgana, because he'd fallen in love with a heartless, cold monster, who cared not even for her own brother. He couldn't stand the thought of hurting Arthur, or Gwen - or any of his friends for that matter... it was just the thought of losing Morgana was just as painful. He'd already lost her twice, and he didn't intend to again.

He wanted to make her see that there was more to life than killing and hatred. He wanted to expell the darkness from within her and bring back the light that used to fill her heart with kindness. Unfortunately, this was proving to be a difficult task. Especially since the only kind of relationship that Morgana had in mind, was a physical relationship, with the added bonus of Merlin's protection against all those who seeked to kill her.

He wasen't even sure if what she felt for him was love... but he would take whatever was given to him. Being with her was so much better than being without her, and being forced to kill her. He couldn't even believe that just a few mere weeks ago, Morgana didn't even know of his magical powers... or that he cared so deeply for her.

The two of them were both deep in thought by the time they'd reached the Cave of Ariteth, where the person they seeked was rumored to live. Merlin jumped from the horse they'd shared first, before reaching his arms up to support Morgana on her way down to the ground. Their hands intertwined once more as they entered the cave, Merlin holding a burning torch in his free hand. _

"Merlin, this is Alator the Catha. I'm sure you remember him?" Morgana raised her eyebrows and gestured toward the Sorcerer standing before them. - They'd eventually sought out the man, after almost an hour of searching through the dark caves.

Alator bowed before Merlin, admiration filling him once more as he stood in the presence of Emyrs.

"It's nice to see you again." Merlin smiled, his voice a little strained. He still hadn't told Morgana who he really was, that he was Emyrs, and whenever he was around Alator he felt continuously nervous that his secret would suddenly be revealed.

"Likewise." The Catha straightened up, and met Morgana's frown. "My lady Morgana. Why is it that you summoned me?"

"I need your-" She paused, smiled and shook her head before continuing, "We need your help. Your... skills."

"Skills?" He echoed, raising his eyebrows in interest.

"We'd like you to join our army of magic." Merlin explained, straightening up a little. "We're creating an undefeatable army to strike down our enemies, and we need your help."

"May I ask who these enemies are?" Alator questioned delicately, inwardly surprised that the mighty Emyrs would be taking part in such a mission.

"King Arthur." Morgana replied dryly, her tone bitter and resentful. "Who else? My half-brother has had too long to prepare for my invasion... I think it's time we take the throne that's rightfully ours."

"Ours?" Alator repeated doubtfully. "Who else will be joining you on the throne of Camelot?"

She smirked, and slid her hand down Merlin's arm to entwine their fingers together. Alator's eyes widened in shock, and his gaze flickered between the two of them, trying to decide if he could really believe what he was seeing.

"Merlin and I will run a Kingdom built on magic together. - No-one will ever need to hide themselves again and the people will be free. It will be a new and better world... a world where everyone can forget about the terrible reign of the Pendragon household. Don't you see?! This world needs something new and special... which we intend to bring."

Merlin nodded slowly, his thumb sub-consciously rubbing slow circles on the back of Morgana's hand.

"And... you agree with this plan willingly Merlin?" Alator inquired uncertainly, using his magic to test for any enchantment that could be clouding the young warlock's mind and senses. He found none, other than a veil of confusion and love that was drawn across his thoughts.

"Yes. I agree that the world needs a new and better leader, and that there should always be a place for magic in Camelot. Both Morgana and I have suffered under the reign of Uther Pendragon, both constantly having to hide our true selves... fearing that everyday we could be discovered." He sighed heavily at the memories. "I fear Arthur is heading down the same, destructive path. - He should be stopped before it's too late."

Alator nodded solemnly, trying to hide his surprise and confusion for this sudden change of heart from the young warlock. "If it's your wishes... then I shall aid you in anyway that I can."

"Thank you Alator." Morgana bowed her head and squeezed Merlin's hand, encouraging him to do the same. Merlin did so, but thought he caught a flicker of betrayal in Alator's eyes before he bowed. The flicker was gone before he could even question it.

"So, what did you have in mind?"

Arthur's mind was a haze of confusion. After his best friend's betrayal, he'd ordered all his closest Knights to be put under questioning, just to make sure that they weren't in on the secret too.

All of the Knights swore that they'd had no knowledge of Merlin's magic, and weren't even aware that he was united with Morgana. They'd been just as shocked as him, and for a while had just sat there in a daze while the King told them all that he knew.

"I mean, he'd mentioned something about a girl he was seeing... and I often teased him about it." Gwaine had admitted, when questioned, "But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that it was Morgana."

The questioning had got him nowhere, or if anything, it had made him even more depressed. Giaus had tried to assure him that Merlin was not one to use his magic for evil, but the King had simply not believed him.

"I've known Merlin for too long now, and I can promise you that he's been fighting against Morgana for just as long as you have. – Before you in fact!" He'd insisted.

"No Giaus, my Father is right. Sorcery corrupts even the noblest of men. I'm afraid we've all been deceived."

Giaus didn't want to accept these words as truth, and desperately sought out information from those who lived in the woods and the out-lying villages. However, every time he asked after Merlin he'd always come back empty handed; as no one knew where the raven-haired man had gone. There were of course rumors that he lived in isolation in the woods with Morgana, but Giaus didn't want to accept this as truth either. – He couldn't stand the thought of Merlin united in evil.

"I'm sure he's just confused, under Morgana's spell, mixed up in a whole load of things he doesn't understand..." Gwen had used these words to comfort Arthur time after time, so often in fact that they now didn't bring any comfort to him at all.

"I just... I wish I understood." He whispered to no-one in particular while he sat on one of the large chairs in his chambers. "He was always such an idiot, but he was the most loyal friend I've ever had. I never told him how brave I though he always was. Now, I've just lost my respect for him."

"He must have his reasons." Sighed Gwen, patting his hand gently from the chair next to him. "I'm heart-broken too but, you must remember that he's still your friend. Don't do anything you'll regret."

Arthur gritted his teeth in annoyance, "Why should I show him mercy though? For all I know he's been feeding valuable information to Morgana for years! He could have been the reason Camelot was almost taken, when Morgana's men somehow found their way into the town."

"I thought we'd agreed that was your Uncle..." She bit her lip, fearing a sudden outburst from her husband.

"We were obviously wrong!" He shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. "Merlin obviously framed my Uncle, who must have been innocent."

"That still doesn't explain why we found your Uncle dead, amongst Morgana's men..." She murmured quietly, so quiet that Arthur only just caught the words.

"Stop making up excuses." He snapped.

Gwen sighed again and shook her head, knowing that he was a hopeless case.

"I'm sorry." She shrugged. "I'm trying to make you see that-"

"No I'M trying to make YOU see." He interrupted. "Merlin is a criminal and a threat to our Kingdom alongside Morgana. You must stop seeing him as a friend, and start seeing him as an enemy."

"Perhaps if you'd have let him explain... rather than just accusing him of being a sorcerer then the situation would have been different." She reasoned gently.

"I'll have none of that nonsense." He disagreed. "Magic killed both my parents, and it has corrupted my best friend."

"What are you going to do then?" She question wearily.

"I'll send out a large search party to bring him in. Or even better, both him and Morgana."

"Arthur you don't really think that Knights of Camelot stand any chance against two powerful sorcer-"

"Just go and give the order will you!?" He threw Gwen's hand off him and stood up, so violently that his chair toppled from its upright position.

The food that had been set out for them by Arthur's new servant lay untouched on the table, but neither of them quite had the appetite to eat the contents of the plates.

She opened her mouth as if to protest, but after a few minutes Gwen closed it slowly before standing up. She walked smartly out of the door, making sure to shut it with a bang on the way out, to let her husband know that she was frustrated with him.

He was blinded by his heart-break and sorrow over his friend, and she knew that he was making the wrong decision. But what could she do? A Queen has no power over her King, and a Queen cannot disobey her King.

She just prayed to God that where-ever Merlin was; he was safe and that he was somewhere far away from Morgana and her schemes.

She knew her friend would never want to hurt or attack Camelot, she knew. She just wished that Arthur would see this too... before it was too late. Otherwise they'd be forced to fight each other.

Hello. Yeah… I'm not dead. – I swear. I'm so, so, SO sorry for the wait for this ridiculously short chapter. Action is coming in the next… if any of you are willing to stick around till the end of this story. I'm so sorry, but I've just been ridiculously busy and to be honest: COMPLETELY out of inspiration.

Thank you so much for reading this if you are, I honestly love and am grateful for every single one of you. xx