Sorry about the delay writing this chapter… gah annoying exams… hopefully its so good you wont mind the delay ;)

Nimue was kneeling at the foot of her bed praying again for God's guidance. "Heavenly Father, please tell me what to do…tell me what to do about my love for Merlin." Tears filled her eyes but there was no response- at least not in any obvious physical way. Nimue's headache grew worse. On the one hand she did love Merlin (and yes she was brave enough to admit that) but on the other hand if he served the pagan Goddess Mab… Nimue frowned- well innocent until proven guilty. He didn't even have any proof to say that Merlin had had anything to do with Mab, nothing but the words of a frightened Christian servant girl.

Nimue loved Merlin and she didn't know if she was strong enough to let him go. With a sigh, she rose, dusting off her bed robe; the hour was late and she was weary. Better to sleep on her thoughts and suspicions and ask Merlin himself for the answers she sought in the morning.

She began to brush out her long corn coloured hair, gazing at herself in the small mirror Vortigan had seen fit to provide her with. She wondered if Merlin truly thought her beautiful? She gave a start. There were pictures forming in the mirror glass. Was it possible that God had heard her prayer? But no… she gasped in horror, her fingers covering her mouth. The images seething, moving across her mirrored glass were all too familiar. In the mirror she saw Merlin's bedchamber; her eyes drawn, nay, focussed deliberately on the luxurious bed. Two figures were entwined beneath the thick, woollen blankets… a man and a woman. The pale, pale skin, dark, frightening eyes and painted predatory mouth; they had to be Mab's and Nimue's Merlin, her light, her love (and in that second she knew it to be true) atop her, lying in her arms content.

Great hacking sobs racked through Nimue's body and she turned away, but she could still hear their grunts of pleasure in her mind, almost smell their sweat. Her sobs fell freely onto the bed covers. Her Merlin, her love, was everything Niamh had accused him of and more. In her tears and pain, Nimue made the sign of the cross, whispering, "God save his soul and deliver him from evil… God please hear your faithful servant. Set me free of his love." Nimue pulled the covers over her head and tried to sleep. She had made up her mind. She would never see Merlin again.

"This time there is no Lady of the Lake to save you," Mab whispered in Merlin's ear, looking him full in the face.

The sound of her velvety voice, her lovely eyes made him forget about Nimue, forget about his anchor… Oh how he loved Mab, his mother and how foolish he had been to try to deny it to himself.

His mouth was on hers, his hands cupping her breasts; his mind thinking they are somehow lovelier, more womanly, more complete than Nimue's as Mab's wicked fingers guided him. He felt he would die from the ache of the pleasure he felt for her; the adoration. When Mab rolled away from him, exhausted, Merlin kissed her fingers, her cheeks, her eyebrows, her mouth and this time it was he who guided her; revelling in the lust he felt for her; the lust he had never felt for any other. He didn't care if Nimue heard his groans of delight. He only cared about her. He felt as though he was an arrow who had finally found the target of purpose in his life and now he might be content.

Mab smiled in the dark as Merlin fell under her spell for a second time. She revelled in the knowledge that Nimue would see all- oh how Mab loved having leverage… she could smell the scent of survival. She could see herself winning.

She tried to stifle the niggling thought in the back of her mind that told her she was doing wrong, that told her she was acting unworthily of her own powers. But most of all she tried not to think about Vortigan; the man whose love she had sacrificed for survival, the man who had humbled himself before her as he had for no other, the man who in her heart of hearts she knew she loved.

The sunlight fell softly on Merlin's bed and he rolled over, his hand trailing along Nimue's (or was it Mab's?) stomach. His head was as heavy as if he were drink muddled and his mouth felt oddly dry. He felt as though the entire night had been a dream. What was going on? Mab… Nimue… no it was Mab… but why?

She crooned in his ear, "Now that you love me Merlin, help me. Help me to survive."

Merlin stared at her face in confusion, "I… I… I don't understand? I love you?" He slurred the words unsteadily, still muddled.

"Of course don't you remember?" she half chided laughingly.

Suddenly it all came flooding back. Merlin recoiled in mingled disgust and shame. "I touched you?" Mab frowned, this was not how she had envisioned it would be, "Merlin," she tried touching her fingers seductively against the side of his face.

Merlin felt the bile rise up , but he managed to throw up on the floor, not on his blankets.

"Don't touch me," he shrieked, fear making his voice as high as any girls, "Mab you witch! What have you done to me?"

Mab's eyes glittered angrily. "Bound you to me, my dear… so that I will not die. Does that seem so monstrous to you?" Here eyes were hurt.

Merlin stared at her in incomprehension, her reasons barely registering. He flung back the bed covers, pulled his cloak from the back of his desk chair and ran out of his own chamber, tears of humiliation still trickling down his face. What would he say to Nimue? And what would he do about his secret love for Mab? Lock his heart away and throw away the key and run away and never ever look back? Yes that's what he would do… run away and never come back to this infernal place… not even for Nimue would he return ever again.

The sick after taste of the bile near choked him and still the shameful tears fell. He hated her and he loved her and she knew it, damn her! He would escape her eyes, her mouth, her body because he was not yet ready to face the consequences of such a love. He would find Sir Rupert and ride hell for lather for Uther's court… it was high time there was a new King on the throne!

In Merlin's bedchamber, Mab felt a tear wend its way down her cheek. She, Mab, upset because of a mere boy? Why? How had she allowed this to happen? Why had he not obeyed her like all the others before him? Why had he been so afraid of power?

Even in her devastation she smiled, putting a delicate hand to her stomach. Inside something was growing.

Wheeee victory for Mab haha- how did this story become so dramatic?

And if anyone guessed what was coming I'll eat my hat!!!

Please read and review coz I love you all