I've realised that I've been favouring merlin's POV lately, so I think I might lay off him a bit, but don't worry he's still a big part in this.


Camille was frustrated by the fact that Emrys wasn't taking to her as she had expected. She knew what Freya had meant to him, the crystal of Neahtid never lied; he had loved her, it was just a question of whether he still had these feelings for her. It had been a few years since she had died, and she could feel that he desperately wanted her to be alive, he just didn't quite believe it.

In that case, she would just have to play her part very convincingly. It wouldn't be hard to make everyone else in Camelot believe she was who she said she was, they had never met her after all. The physician might be trickier, he at least had known that Freya was dead, or had thought it.

He finished bandaging her arm and she smiled shyly at him.

"Thank you," she said.

She turned to look at Emrys, who walked over to her side. The sorceress, Morgana, followed him. He sat on the bench next to her and Morgana went to the physician, saying, "Gaius, I was wondering if I could have another sleeping draught."

The warlock lowered his voice and said, "Freya? Do you remember what happened the last time you were here?"

She realised that he was testing her to see if she was the real Freya.

"Of course I do," she whispered. "I died."

He nodded, but still kept up his guard she noticed. He wasn't quite sure yet. She would have to change that.

"I asked you for strawberries once," she said, looking up at him from beneath her eyelashes.

He smiled and she followed his lead. But then he dropped his smile and looked slightly worried once again.

"Do you ... I mean, how are you here?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "I just woke up a few days ago beside the Lake of Avalon. There was no one near me, I called out but nobody answered. I tried to head towards the mountains, but then night fell. And Merlin," she looked at him with wide eyes. "I didn't transform. I'm not a Bastet anymore!"

She filled her face with hope and relief, her eyes lighting up in faked happiness. She knew this information would only strengthen the idea that she wasn't the real Freya, but there was no other way to explain things when he realised that people weren't dying at night.

If he suspected her any more he didn't show it. Instead his face too lit up with happiness and he broke out into a wide grin.

"That's great!" he exclaimed. "Do you know why?"

She shook her head.

"I am alive, aren't I?" she asked, a flicker of fear passing through her eyes.

"Of course you are," he replied.

He took hold of her hand and placed it over her heart. He held it there for a while and she felt the rhythm of her heart beat.

"See, you have a beating heart. You're definitely alive," he said kindly.

He took her hand away from her chest, but kept hold of it. She looked down at their hands with repulsion. She wanted to flinch away, but couldn't of course.

"What happened next?" he asked.

"I realised that I might not be dangerous to people anymore, so … I thought … maybe I could come and see you," she ducked her gaze attempted to blush.

Blushing had never been her strong point. She just rarely had anything to blush about and despite her skin being so pale (when she was in her natural form) her blood didn't seem to want to touch her cheeks.

Thankfully Merlin didn't notice anything amiss so she continued, "I tried to head back to Camelot, but then earlier today I was caught up in your hunt. I was frightened. I thought they were hunting me."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and said firmly but kindly, "Freya you're safe here. No one will bring you any harm. I promise."

Camille raised her head and smiled gratefully at him.

"Thank you Merlin," she said.

"Thank you Gaius," said Morgana.

Camille looked away from the warlock to watch the sorceress walk towards the door. She turned back to look at them and said, "Goodbye Merlin, Freya."

She watched the witch with interest. She'd heard of Morgana of course, and was interested in some of the things she had done, but this woman before her wasn't the one she had heard about. How could it be that Morgana Pendragon resented all the things she had ever done? Was she really the great sorceress that she had heard of?

Morgana stared at her curiously for a moment, then remembered her manners and looked away, leaving the room. The guards left after her, and they were alone except for Gaius.

"Morgana's good now," Merlin explained. "She's redeemed herself."

"I didn't think that was possible," she replied.

"Neither did I."


Morgana walked down the corridor, thinking of the coal black eyes she had just seen. No one had eyes as dark as that. She wondered if it was anything to do with her druidic heritage. She would ask Elaine about it, maybe she would know.

As she strode down the corridor intent on finding her sister, she saw her brother at the other end of the passage. As they came closer to each other he nodded his head in her direction.

"Morgana," he said curtly.

"Arthur," she replied politely.

She felt a great weight inside her as he regarded her with distrust. He hadn't stopped suspecting her of something ever since she had come back to Camelot, and even though she had done nothing his opinion of her hadn't changed. But he had let her stay, that had to mean something.

It just pained her that he hadn't even let her see her nephew yet.

An idea slunk into her mind. Maybe she could see him. Arthur could hardly object if he knew nothing about it could he?

Glancing sideways at her guards, she muttered under her breath, "Forþ fleoge."

The guards were blasted into the wall and they both fell to the ground, unmoving. She hurried over to them and kneeled next to one, checking his pulse and then his head for any bleeding. After doing the same for the other and ensuring that they were both only unconscious, Morgana took off down the corridor, running as fast as she could in her dress.

It didn't take long to get to Gwydre's room. Once she reached it, she burst in through the door and slammed it closed behind her. Pressing her ear against it, she listened for any noises outside. She couldn't hear anything; it seemed that no one had followed her. Sighing in relief, she turned around to see her nephew's cradle. It was on the other side of the room, alone in the middle of the floor. She moved towards it and peeking over the edge, she saw Gwydre wrapped in cloth, sleeping soundly. She could only see a little of his face, but immediately knew that Arthur and Gwen were lucky to have such a wonderful son.

As she bent over the cradle further, she felt something hard and sharp rest against the small of her back. She stiffened and then turned around slowly. Gwen was behind her, holding a dagger and pointing it straight at her.

"Get away from him," she said dangerously.

Morgana was slightly shocked at the expression on her once-maid's face. She looked alarming and parlous. It just went to show what a woman would do to protect a child.

But Morgana didn't mean Gwydre any harm, if only she could find a way to make Gwen see that.

"Gwen …" she said.


After speaking to Freya and assuring her that she had a home in Camelot, Arthur left Gaius's chambers intent on finding Gwen. At this time of day she would probably be with Gwydre, so he made his way up to his son's chambers.

He had thought that Merlin had been quite protective of Freya back in the physician's chambers and didn't seem entirely comfortable with him being near her. Once again, he wondered what past the two of them had. Gwaine had informed him of Freya's story, but he had been vague on the parts concerning Merlin.

When he reached the room that had been allocated as Gwydre's he heard a noise from within, so he stopped to listen. It sounded like someone was crying. He opened the door cautiously and peered inside.

Gwen was kneeling on the floor in front of Gwydre's cradle, tears falling down her cheeks. Morgana was standing a few feet from her holding Gwydre, a large smile on her face.

Arthur was inside the door and had drawn his sword before he noticed that Gwen wasn't crying. She was laughing.

Wiping the tears of mirth from her face, she looked up and saw Arthur in the doorway. She smiled broadly at him and stood up saying, "Arthur!"

Then she noticed the sword he was holding and her face fell.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

As a response he was silent, looking over at Morgana in confusion. She looked worried and almost ashamed. So she should be. She was holding his son.

"Put him down," he said warned, levelling his sword with her throat.

She swallowed and looked nervously at the blade inches away from her neck.

"Arthur, no!" Gwen cried.

She ran over to stand between him and Morgana, putting herself in front of his sword. He looked at her in confusion.

"What are you doing?" he asked incredulously.

"It's alright Arthur. She won't hurt him," she said.

He looked from one woman to the other, trying to figure our just what was going on.

"She doesn't want to hurt him," she said again.

All he could do was stare at her.

"Here," Morgana said, handing the child over to Gwen. "I'm sorry Arthur, I just wanted to see my nephew."

"I …" he said, lost for words.

"We were just reminiscing," Gwen said. "Morgana was telling me about one of the times when she beat you at swordplay."

Arthur could only stare at her. She was as bad as Merlin. Didn't any one understand that this was Morgana they were dealing with? The one who had betrayed them all? Why was everyone acting as though she was still their friend? Unless she had enchanted them in some way. Could it be possible?

Arthur lowered his sword, then feeling foolish he sheathed it.

"Nice to see you two have made friends," he said slowly.

Gwen seemed untroubled by his words, but Morgana caught the double meaning in them and stared at him, not unkindly, it was more a look of … fear? No, it couldn't be. She wouldn't be scared of him. No, her expression was more of worry than fear. Perhaps she was worried because she could tell that he was on to her. Or maybe he was just being paranoid. What if she really had changed?

He shook these thoughts from his mind and told himself to be cautious. It was still rather unlikely that she was redeemed. He would just have to keep a closer eye on her from now on.

"Where are your guards?" he asked.

Morgana blushed.

"Um, I may have left them back in a corridor somewhere. Sorry, I just wanted to see Gwydre," she said.

Arthur was surprised at the lengths she would go to see her nephew. Maybe he should allow her to see him more often. It might keep her content and stop her from running away from the guard all the time. He needed her under close watch after all.

"I'll leave if you want me to," she said, moving towards the door.

"Wait," he said.

He opened the door and said to the guards outside, "Escort Morgana to wherever she wishes to go."

He turned back to her and she smiled weakly as she left the room. Once she had gone Gwen looked at him reproachfully.

"Why did you do that?" she asked.

"Because of who she is, what she's done," he replied.

"You don't trust her then," she said.

"How can I?"

"Arthur, I think she really has changed. There is a sadness in her eyes and I know it's because she regrets everything she has ever done. Maybe you should be more lenient with her," she suggested.

He shook his head and walked to the window. Resting his head against the glass, he said sadly, "I should never have let her stay here."

"Then why did you?" she asked.

He didn't say anything.

"It's because of him isn't it?"

He looked up at her questioningly.

"It's because of Merlin," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"He was the first to believe that she had changed. He's the reason you let her stay, isn't he?"

He wanted to deny it, but he realised it was true. Merlin believed that Morgana was changed, so he had considered it, however now he wasn't so sure.

"I don't trust her," he said, ignoring Gwen's question. "Maybe I should make her leave."

"Merlin would never forgive you. He believes that she deserves a second chance."

"I know, but isn't the safety of the kingdom more important than what one man believes?" he asked.

"This is Merlin though. You wouldn't do this to him."

"What if I had to?"


Hope you enjoyed it!