A/N; Okay, I know I have ignored the issue of how Agravaine got past the guards at the beginning of the chapter, but if it's good enough for the show's writers, it's good enough for me too.
The other issue I have with the show's writer's is the length of time it takes to get to Morgana's hovel. Apparently, her hovel is in The Valley of the Fallen Kings, but Agravaine got there and back within half a night or possibly even less, on numerous occasions. I thought the Valley of the Fallen Kings was a few days ride away?
Anyway, thank you to everyone who is reading and I hope you like the chapter ahead.

Merlin already knew the path Agravaine would take to Morgana's hovel but as he and Arthur left the safety of the castle and galloped deep into the forest, he could hardly just admit this fact. Like so many times before, the Warlock was forced to keep his knowledge a secret and play the role of an ignorant serving boy. Merlin had resigned himself to the fact that such 'acting' was an unfortunate necessity if Arthur was indeed to become the Once and Future King he was destined to be, but nevertheless, lying and deceiving his friend was not something he took pleasure in. Every untruth he told tore into his conscience like a stab from a semi blunt dagger and seemed to push further into the distance any chance there was of Arthur accepting him for what he truly was.

All it took was a few surreptitious uses of his magic and Merlin had 'pointed out' the trail quite clearly. A freshly broken branch here and there, a ripped piece of black fabric fluttering in the breeze as it lay snagged in a tree, some carefully placed hoof prints and at one stage, the far off echo of horse hooves thundering along a forest pathway.

Arthur's finely honed tracking skills missed none of Merlin's clues and soon enough they found themselves deep within the Valley of the Fallen Kings, very close to the location of Morgana's hide out.

Arthur brought them to an abrupt halt when he saw the horse Agravaine had ridden, tied to a fallen log which sat beside some large, moss covered rocks. The two dismounted and crept forward quietly on foot, Arthur drawing his sword a silently as he could.

...

Agravaine had burst through the small wooden door of Morgan's hovel a few minutes beforehand, panting and barely managing to contain his panic as he recounted the events of the evening.

"You useless fool!" the Lady Morgana screeched at him upon hearing how her carefully planned scheme had unravelled. "Must I do everything myself?!" Her eyes blazed with anger as she strode toward the older man and shoved him out the way of the door and peered out herself. "If the knights of Camelot have followed you here, I'll toss you to them myself!"

"I'm sorry my Lady. I did what I could but ..." Agravaine replied obsequiously. He had seen her fury before but it had never been directed towards him. The air around them seems to bristle with her contained fury and as she verbally berated him, the knight was afraid.

"You're pathetic! Why did I ever align with such a useless ..." the witch ranted, her usually pale cheeks flushing red. "Get out!"

"Morgana, this is not the end. It's merely a setback." Agravaine insisted hastily, his voice coming out more high pitched and pleading than he'd wanted. "We just have to bide our time, then we can try again. I will stay by your side until we have succeeded in getting you where you belong My Lady!" Agravaine edged toward his precious lady slowly, desperate to ingratiate himself again. A sudden image of his life without her appeared before him; a lonely, grey haired old man, his heart dry and shrivelled with only hurt and bitterness in the place of family.

Morgana looked him up and down, a disgusted expression forming on her face. She had, of course, been aware of his physical attraction to her since they first aligned and indeed, had played upon it often to ensure he carried out her wishes. Never had she returned these feelings however and the mere idea of him laying a finger upon her caused a shiver of abhorrence to creep along her spine.

"Do you think I valued you for anything other than your proximity to the King?" Morgana tossed her head arrogantly. "You were never more than a means to get me what I wanted Agravaine," She spat his name contemptuously. "You have outlived your usefulness and I have no further wish to have you around. Now get out of here before I kill you!"

Agravaine knew she was beyond reasoning; her face was so distorted by anger that any beauty she'd ever possessed was no longer visible. Her whole countenance was one of enmity and Agravaine felt himself quiver as she neared him, pointing at the door.

Without another word he turned to leave. Before he crossed the threshold, he swivelled back to face the dark haired witch, giving her one last longing look before he left.

...

Agravaine made straight for his mount, his head down as he attempted to quell the pain of rejection. His heavy black boots kicked aside numerous fallen leaves as he climbed the incline of the basin in which Morgana's hovel sat. As the brown, dried up foliage was propelled into the air only to fall again a short distance away, he could not help but liken his their fate to that of his own heart.

It was while he dwelt in this state of self pity that Arthur caught sight of him from where he and Merlin stood in an adjoining shallow. Merlin was close enough to hear his friends' choked back cry but before he had time to hold him back and convince him to wait for extra help to arrive, Arthur took off after the older man. With the stinging pain of betrayal burning in his veins, Arthur made no attempt to move quietly and within a few seconds Agravaine had heard him approaching. As the first few rays of dawn feebly lit up the thickly treed forest, Merlin watched as the two men finally faced each other, swords drawn for the confrontation that had seemed inevitable since not long after Lord Du Bois had arrived at Camelot.

Agravaine pursed his lips as he glared at his nephew. He should have known the hot headed youth would have trailed after him, regardless of the foolishness of such actions. Without Morgana's aid he knew there was no way he could defeat Arthur in a fair fight; however swords were not his only weapon. He'd experienced firsthand how the young King crumbled when his confidence was shattered. Agravaine sneered at the young man before him before he began speaking.

"Your father would be ashamed of you Arthur. Your insecurities and naivety made controlling you such a simple task!"

Arthur fought to stop the emotions threatening to consume him; his arms shook with the force of his anger and his vision had slightly blurred as moisture pooled in his eyes. Uther had taught him very early on how derisive sentimentality was to a man's ability to fight and although he knew his father was not correct in everything he sanctioned, in this instance Arthur knew it to be true.

"Shut up uncle!" Arthur retorted as steadily as he could.

"It was so easy to convince you to act against your convictions. Time and time again I watched as you let your people down with your lack of resolve. You're a weak man Arthur Pendragon and a weak man makes for a weak King!"

"Arthur, he's just trying to wind you up. Don't believe anything ..." Merlin started to call out but he was cut off abruptly.

"Stay out of this Merlin." Arthur told him firmly, eyes never once leaving those of his enemy. In truth, he appreciated Merlin's support and loyalty to him, but he needed to deal with Agravaine himself. He set his feet firmly on the ground and took a few steadying breaths before he dared address his traitorous relation directly.

"Why Uncle? That's what I don't understand." His brow furrowed unconsciously as he examined the man before him. "How could you be so desperate for power that you'd side with Morgana? After all she's done to bring Camelot to its knees? She is the reason why my father - your brother - ended up a broken man."

"Morgana and I share a similar goal Arthur; to avenge all the wrongs done to us by your father." Agravaine glowered at his nephew.

"My father did nothing to you Agravaine! What deed do you speak of?"

Agravaine laughed chillingly, his head bent back to expose his throat as he did so.

"So, Uther managed to keep the truth from you all this time." He spluttered. "Your life is built upon lies Arthur."

"What are you talking about? What lies do you speak of?" Arthur asked, his carefully constrained feelings almost breaking loose.

"Uther as good as killed your mother when he made a pact with the Sister's of the Old Religion. My beautiful, innocent sister's life was bartered for that of an heir."

The words seemed to float in the air like dust motes as Arthur considered the full implications of what his uncle said.

"That's not true Agravaine!" Arthur spoke determinedly, shaking his head minutely.

"I'm afraid it is Arthur. Ygraine was cast aside like so much rubbish in return for Camelot's future. You are a product of magic Arthur; the very thing you've been brought up to abhor!"

Arthur clenched his jaw muscles and kept his expression neutral as he glared back at his uncle.

"I don't believe anything you say anymore Uncle." Arthur retorted, doing his best to sound more convinced than he actually was. "Merlin and Gaius have pointed out to me the depth of your betrayal. I was wrong to think blood ties meant more than years of loyal service. I won't make that mistake again." Arthur continued more resolutely. He cursed himself silently for his previous displays of bad judgement, vowing to make up for it in the future.

Agravaine squinted at the younger, stronger man opposite him, impressed despite himself at this show of wisdom.

"You might as well drop your weapon Agravaine, there will be no escape. You will be taken back to Camelot and sentence will be passed." And as Agravaine had stated so bluntly less than eight candle marks ago, the sentence for treachery was death.

"I don't think so Arthur." Agravaine laughed evilly, his gaze shifting to a point several metres behind his nephew.

Merlin had been watching the confrontation closely, ready to do whatever was needed if Arthur's safety should become endangered. He had full confidence in the King's ability to defeat Agravaine with a sword but there was always the chance of something untoward happening. When the older man's face contorted into a smarmy grin and he changed the direction of his gaze to the ridge several metres behind Arthur, it seemed that the balance of the encounter had just shifted dramatically.

"Look what cat dragged in." The Lady Morgana sneered down at her half brother. "My dear, dear half brother all alone with no knights to protect him!" she continued arrogantly, a cruel smile etched on her face.

"Morgana." Arthur whispered as he spun around to take in the sight of his half sister, standing with her head held high and a crazy glint in her eye. She was dressed in a long black dress and with her dark hair hanging thickly, the pale oval of her face stood out dramatically.

"Well go on Agravaine, attack him. I want to see what you're made of." She teased, knowing full well that the man would do anything to please her. If nothing else, it would be a diverting piece of entertainment, not that she'd let it go on for too long; the task of dispatching Arthur Pendragon was one that she fully intended to complete herself.

"Go ahead Agravaine; I'll even things up a bit for you shall I?" Morgana smirked, her eyes flashing gold malevolently as she cast a silent spell of weakening upon her half brother.

Agravaine pressed forward as he was bid, a malicious grin upon his face. With Morgana's help, he quite fancied his chances and unlike the noble knights of Camelot he had no qualms about attacking a man whose strength had been diminished by artificial means.

Before Arthur had even redirected his full attention back upon his opponent, Agravaine made his first strike.

Merlin watched on aghast as the two men traded blows, knowing full well Morgana had rendered it almost impossible for Arthur to defend himself. The fluidity of movement and practiced ease Arthur normally possessed on the battle field was replaced by sluggish, clumsiness and such awkwardness that it was disturbing to witness.

Arthur flinched noticeably after failing to parry a right arm jab from Agravaine which connected with his ribs. Then before he could recover, Agravaine struck again, this time landing a strike to Arthur's right shoulder.

While Arthur continued to struggle, showing less skill and speed than one of the youngest squires of Camelot, Merlin realised he had to act now. His hatred for Morgana grew as he watched his proud, masterful friend reduced to a plaything, powerless and completely at her mercy; the similarities to her treatment of Lancelot resonating in his mind.

Merlin knew that if he could get Morgana's attention away from Arthur the spell would be interrupted for a few seconds or possibly broken completely, but how could he do so without attracting undue attention?

Less than a minute later the acrid smell of burning started to permeate the air and smoke began to drift toward the top of the ridge where Morgana stood, however the witches full attention remained on the fight below her.

"Morgana?" Merlin spoke quietly at first but increased his volume when it was clear he was being ignored. "Morgana, I think your house is on fire!" A vision of a multi-headed fomorrah withering in the heat and flames sprang into his head.

The witch turned around and looked back into the shallow basin where her hovel was, mouth open in surprise.

"What? That's not possible." She screamed in outrage before running down the slope to stand outside the blackening door of her pathetic little hide out, Merlin following a few metres behind.

"Who did this?!" she screamed irately, nostrils flaring. She felt no particular attachment to the place she'd called home for the past half year but the collection of magical items, manuscripts and other otherworldly paraphernalia she had inside, had taken considerable time and energy to amass.

Arthur recovered his faculties immediately upon the shifting of the witches focus and he wasted no time in making it count. In quick succession he landed numerous telling blows, pushing his uncle backwards steadily, away from the brow on which Morgana had appeared.

"I wonder how that happened?" Merlin asked cheekily. He was finding it harder and harder to contain his pent up anger as he thought about how callously his friends had been treated by the witch. It seemed she would never tire of attacking Arthur and Camelot, and as her methods grew more extreme, his thoughts returned to Kilgarrah's urging so many years before. "You must let the witch die young warlock!" the old dragon had told him after he'd decided to cure the head injury she suffered when propelled down the stairs by his own actions.

Morgana lifted her right hand and muttered an incantation to quell the heat and flames before turning to Merlin, still seething in anger.

"Shut up servant!" she hurled at him contemptuously. "Something as trivial as a little fire will not stop me from killing your precious Arthur. Now get out of my way!" Merlin had deliberately moved himself directly into her path and as she continued to glare at him, he returned her stare with just as much ferocity.

"I don't think so Morgana!" he spoke in an eerily low voice. All traces of the innocent, powerless youth that Morgana remembered from when she lived at Camelot were gone. The man standing before her now looked strong, determined and almost threatening. She giggled at the very idea of being afraid of Merlin then drew herself straighter and taller.

"Get out of my way or I'll throw you aside!"

Merlin tilted his head ever so slightly, one side of his mouth curving upward.

"I'd like to see you try."

A/N: Bamf!Merlin is awesome but not cruel Merlin so I have to tread a fine line here! When he did away with Agravaine at the end of Series Four, it was so obvious that it truly hurt him to have to do so, regardless of how evil the guy was and that compassion is what makes the character so utterly loveable. (Well, it is an important part of it anyway.)