A/N Sorry I haven't updated in what feels like forever. Won't bore you with my excuses, so here is the second half of the story, and I will put up Beginning of the end before Wednesday


The next morning, Merlin walked into the princess' chambers and looked at her with surprise. "You're dressed!" she exclaimed. Arthur looked at her and smirked.

"Nothing gets past you, Merlin, does it?" The princess chuckled at the maid's frustrated expression.

"You're supposed to be wearing these!" She held up the armor she'd spent all night polishing. "Your father is bestowing a knighthood on one of your men this morning!"

Arthur bit her lip. "Yeah, I'm giving that a miss. Sol and I are going for a walk by the river."

"Won't the king mind?"

"Not if you cover for me again. By the way, thanks for yesterday, I heard you ended up in the stocks. Bad luck. " Merlin gave the princess an annoyed frown.

"They were throwing potatoes!" she bellowed angrily. "It's only supposed to be rotten fruit."

Arthur giggled. "I don't think that there are any hard and fast rules, Merlin." The maid continued to glare at the princess, who sighed and pouted slightly. Merlin's glare softened and she let out a loud groan.

"Fine, go and spend the day with Sol; I'll cover for you." Arthur's face lit up with a smile.

"Thanks again, Merlin." She began to walk out the door before turning back to her maidservant. "Oh, and try not to end up in the stocks again."

Merlin gave her a dismissive wave. "I won't. I think that I'm beginning to get the hang of this old deception lark."

"I've been wrong before." Merlin muttered as she was pelted with rotten food by the townsfolk after being, once again, thrown in the stocks.

Arthur and Sol walk quietly down the bank of the river. Sol slipped on a rock and Arthur grabbed his hand to steady him. "The rocks are slippery." She smiled. "You need to be more careful."

Sol reached over and grabbed her other hand. "Don't worry, I will be." He whispered as he looked into her eyes.

túce hwón frec 'úre, artur He began to chant.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked, trying to pull her hands from his grasp. The man gripped his hands tighter as he continued.

Þec nom feoh gyse. Cume morðor rice ær. Túce hwón frec úre, artur.

Arthur stopped fighting him and stared back, her eyes now bright red and her will no longer her own.

Merlin walked into Gaius' chambers covered head to toe in rotten fruit. The physician looked at his ward and sighed. "Not again, Merlin?"

"You would think that the appeal of pelting the same person with fruit would wear off after a while, but, oh, no!" She huffed, walking over to sit next to her mentor. "Stupid Sol." She grumbled, and Gaius raised his eyebrow.

"You helped Arthur skip out of the knighting ceremony to spend more time with Sol? You shouldn't have done that, Merlin. I fear that he and his father are not all that they seem to be."

Merlin gave her guardian a questioning look. "Why?"

"What do you know about seers?"

The maid furrowed her brow. "Not much. They're supposed to be able to see the future, like prophets."

"It's said to be an innate ability. Those who have it are born that way. Some aren't even aware that what they see is the future. It comes to them in their dreams." Gaius explained and Merlin shrugged.

"What does this have to do with Sol?"

"The night before he and Aulfric arrived in Camelot, Morgan had a dream. Sol was in it."

Merlin widened her eyes in surprise. "Before they came to Camelot?"

Gaius nodded. "I've been watching Morgan since he was very young. And though I tried to persuade myself otherwise, I realized that some of the things he said he'd dreamt came to pass." He stood up and crossed the room, looking out the window worriedly. "I kept it a secret from Uther, of course. The gift of prophecy is too close to the work of magic."

"You think that Morgan is a seer?" Merlin asked, and Gaius turned back to look at her.

"I don't think it; I fear it. He said that in his dream Sol killed Arthur."

"Couldn't that have just been a dream? Maybe the man Morgan saw just looked like Sol."

The physician shook his head. "That's what I hoped. But Aulfric caught me in Sol's room and, in a flash of anger, his eyes changed color."

Merlin rested her head on her hand, trying to take all of this in. After a few seconds, she looked up at Gaius. "Who are they?"

"It's not who they are that worries me. It's what they want with Arthur."

Merlin was on her way to Arthur's chambers to help her prepare for bed when she spotted Aulfric and Sol standing outside of the princess' door. The maid slipped into a nearby alcove and listened closely to the strange visitors.

"She's ready. Tomorrow she'll do what we need her to." Sol informed his father and the older man chuckled.

"You have done well, my son. I must go seek council with the elders."

Merlin waited for Sol to pass her hiding place before tiptoeing out and following Aulfric. She followed him out into the woods, and hide behind a tree when she saw him stopped in front of a large lake.

"I seek an audience with the Sidhe elders! Do:tiag-sa ar idbairt do denam!" His voice echoed across the water. Merlin sensed something buzzing around the lake and she could make out tiny blue lights, but they were moving so fast that she couldn't make out what they were.

She let her magic extend out towards the lake, and that's when she saw them. There were about a dozen of them, each only about three inches tall, with bright blue skin and butterfly-like wings. Merlin smiled as they swooped down and dipped their toes in the lake, causing small ripples in the water. Under the lake was a beautiful city, made with lights that radiated with magic.

"I come before you to plead for the chance to win passage back to Avalon and a life of immortality!" Aulfric announced as one of the larger male fairies hovered in front of the man.

"Your punishment for killing another Sidhe is a mortal body and a mortal life." The fairy declared. "You will never be able to return to Avalon."

"Please," Aulfic begged. "The crime was mine, not my son's."

"The gates of Avalon remain closed to your son, unless the soul of a mortal princess be offered up to them."

Aulfric smiled widely. "Thank you. An immortal life for Sol is all that I desire, so I promise you the soul of the greatest princess of all. Arthelia Pendragon!"

Merlin gasped loudly and quickly ducked behind the tree when the man turned. Morgan was right. They were going to kill Arthur.

Gaius stared at Merlin with amazement as she finished repeating the conversation she had overheard. "Avalon!" he exclaimed. "What you saw at the lake, it's Avalon. It must be." Merlin stared at him with curiosity. "The land of eternal youth. Mortals are only supposed to glimpse it the moment before death." He explained.

The maid furrowed her brow. "Well I saw it and I'm still here."

"Extraordinary." Gaius exclaimed. "What did it look like?"

"It was beautiful. It had…" Merlin shook her head. "Wait, what does it matter? Aulfric and Sol have enchanted Arthur and are going to sacrifice her to these 'Sidhe' things unless we do something about it."

Gaius nodded in agreement as a knock was heard at the door. A young guard poked his head in. "Merlin, the princess requests your presence immediately."

The dark-haired maid stood in the council chambers behind Arthur, who had requested an audience with her father. Morgan sat in the small throne next to the king's, shooting daggers at the Sol, who was holding the princess' hand.

"I request this audience, Father, to discuss a matter of great importance. It cannot have escaped your attention that I and Lord Sol Tír-Mòr have grown very close." She announced.

Uther laughed. "Not too close, I hope."

"He has asked for my hand, which is why I come before you today to ask your permission to marry."

Merlin widened her eyes in surprise at this statement, as did some of the servants and most of the nobles. Morgan looked as though he was going to pass out from shock. None of them had ever seen Arthur fall for a boy so fast, and now she was asking to marry some stranger?

"Arthelia, you only met two days ago." Uther pointed out.

"We are in love." Arthur stated with certainty. Uther raised his eyebrow.

"We had no idea that you were such a romantic, had we, Morgan?" the king asked the young lord, not noticing the look of absolute terror on his face.

"No, my lord, she's full of surprises." He whispered, staring at Sol, who smirked back at him.

"We are going to be married. I don't care what either of you think about it." The princess sneered.

"Is this you being rebellious, Arthelia?" Uther asked. Arthur clenched her jaw.

"You won't stop me. If I want to marry him, I will."

Uther shook his head. "You've got your whole life ahead of you. Sol is no doubt your first love, but he certainly won't be the only one. Enjoy yourself while you can."

"Father…"

"These are my council chambers you stand in. If you don't start showing me some respect, I will have both Aulfric and Sol executed." Uther said angrily. "Do I make myself clear?"

Arthur was fuming when she and Merlin entered her chambers. She grabbed some clothes from her wardrobe and threw them into her leather bag.

"I thought that the King was a little harsh." Merlin remarked cautiously. Arthur was enchanted; she could sense the powerful magic around her, and that made her unpredictable. Merlin had to be careful how she approached the princess about Sol and the Sidhe.

"I don't need sympathy, especially from you. Now get out." Arthur ordered coldly.

"But I think he has a point." The maid finished, walking over to the princess and placing her hand on her shoulder.

"I know what you think you're doing, and I know you think you're in love…"

"Who are you to tell me what I'm thinking?" Arthur snapped, slapping Merlin hand away.

"I'm your friend!"

"No, Merlin. You're my servant. Nothing more." She hissed. The comment hurt, but Merlin refused to give up so easily.

"Arthur, you don't know what you're doing. Sol has enchanted you with magic. You're under a spell!"

"I told you that people would try to keep us apart." Sol cooed as he and Aulfric glided into the room. Arthur began to walk towards the young Sidhe with a loving expression on her face, but Merlin stuck out her arm and stopped her.

"Look, don't listen, he's controlling you. I saw them. I followed Aulfic. They're planning to sacrifice you." Arthur's expression faltered as Merlin's words struck something in the princess' mind.

"He's going to kill you. Sol plans to sacrifice you to buy a life of immortality. If you go with him, you'll die." The maid continued. Arthur shook her head.

"It- it doesn't make sense. We're-we're in love." She stammered, stepping away from the men.

"They're magical beings! Look at their staffs!" Merlin reached for Aulfic's staff and the older man's eyes flashed red, warning the maid to back off. "Look, Arthur. Look at his eyes! Do you see now?"

She turned to look at the princess, gasping in horror when the princess looked back at her with the same red eyes. "I see everything."

The maid looked around at the three snarling, red eyed people in the room sheepishly, knowing that things would a whole lot worse before they got any better. She lunged for Aulfric's staff again and the old man held it up at her.

Na mben sis!

A bolt of blue energy shot out from the end of the staff and hit Merlin in the chest, causing her to fly against the far wall and knocking her unconscious.

Gaius had just finished putting away his books on Sidhe myths when Morgan came running in, panicked. "She's gone! Gaius, he's taken her!" he shouted.

The old physician put his hands on the young man's shoulders in an attempt to calm him down. "Slow down, Morgan."

The young lord shook his head. "I know that you don't believe me, but it's happening. My dream is about to come true. I need to tell Uther."

Gaius nodded and made him sit on his work stool. "I do believe you, Morgan, but you can't go to the king about this. If Uther thinks you've got the seers' power, he'll charge you with witchcraft."

Morgan opened his mouth to argue, but Gaius shushed him. "We've known each other a long time, you trust me don't you?"

He nodded.

"Then trust me now. Stay here and don't say a word to anyone about this. I'm going to find someone who can help us." And with that Gaius quickly shuffled out of his chambers.

"Merlin! Merlin, wake up!" Gaius' voice called to the maid from what seemed like miles away. She slowly opened her eyes and saw her guardian hunched over her, a concerned look on his face. "Merlin, what happened?"

"Aulfric…" she managed to mutter as she slowly sat up, everything hurting. "Where's Arthur? I have got to go after her. What's that buzzing noise?"

Gaius helped her slowly stand up. "Merlin, you can't, not in this state. You owe it to you powers that you survived at all."

Merlin gave him a weak smile. "I'll be fine, she needs me." She tried to walk, but everything was fuzzy. Gaius caught her arm.

"Has that buzzing stopped?" She nodded. "Liar."

"Arthur needs me, I have to go." She began to walk in the direction she hoped the door was in.

"Merlin?" Gaius called pointing to the door in the other direction. "That way."

"Just testing you."

Merlin ran as fast as she could to the lake, hoping that she wasn't too late. She was still slightly disoriented, but she knew that she couldn't let that stop her. When she arrived at the edge of the lake, she spotted Sol standing waist deep in the water, his hand outstretched and Aulfric on the shore, watching. Merlin looked around for Arthur before remembering that in Morgan's dream, Sol was standing over Arthur. The princess was in the water drowning!

Using her magic, Merlin grabbed Sol's discarded staff from the ground and pointed it at Aulfic, who turned around a little too late.

Swilte, gold beorþ!

The older man exploded with a loud scream, causing Sol to look back to the shore. "Father!" he shouted, wading his way out of the water. Merlin pointed the staff at him.

Óga ceoles!

With Sol and his father both dead, Merlin rushed into the water after the princess, promising herself that if she succeeded in rescuing Arthur, she would start wearing trousers. The water clung to her dress, causing the material to feel heavier and making it harder to move around and even harder to resurface after looking under the water. Merlin was beginning to lose hope when she felt something metallic in the water and thanked the gods that Arthur was wearing chainmail. She grabbed the princess around the waist and pulled her out of the water.

Arthur's head was throbbing. She opened her eyes slowly and Merlin sitting at her bedside, grinning.

"Where am I?" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"What do you remember?" her maid asked, biting her lip. The princess shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

"I remember a boy, Sol. I remember going up to my father and…" She sat up like a flash, her eyes wide. "What was I thinking?"

She watched as her maid suppressed a giggle. "Well, we did wonder. Especially when you eloped with him last night. I had to bring you back to Camelot." The maid explained, still grinning ear-to-ear. Arthur rubbed her temples.

"Why does my head hurt so much?"

"Well, when I caught up with you, I couldn't persuade you to return, you were beyond reason. So I had to make you by knocking you out. With a lump of wood."

Both girls were silent for a few seconds before Arthur pointed her finger in her maid's face. "No one can know about this."

Merlin shrugged. "That's fine with me, I think that you've embarrassed yourself enough for one week."

The blonde sighed and laid her head back down. "What will I tell my father?"

"I can always take the blame again." The dark-haired girl suggested. Arthur looked over at her with a confused face.

"Merlin, if you do that, my father will throw you in the stocks for my stupidity. I've made you suffer for my errors in judgment enough. No, I will tell my father that I went on a hunting trip to get over Sol, and that I forgot to tell him." Merlin nodded before getting up to leave.

"Merlin," Arthur called after her maid, smiling. "Thank you, for putting up with me during Sol's stay. You are a loyal servant." The maid gave her a wide smile.

"Was that a real thank you?"

"Yes, well, don't get used to it, you're still a complete buffoon and the worst servant ever." She jested, throwing one of her pillows at the maid, who just rolled her eyes.

"Prat."


A/N Thank you for reading! Please review! :)