CHAPTER 14
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THE MYSTERY OF LENORE
Hunith smiled at Lenore as she watched her peacefully sleeping in Merlin's old bed. She had only been staying with her for two days now, but she had already grown very fond of her. She had quickly found out that Lenore was a very sweet and kind person after she volunteered to help her with all of her household duties in appreciation for letting her stay with her, and Balinor was already her biggest fan. He constantly doted over her like she was his own child.
It made her wonder what life would have been like if Balinor would have been allowed to stay so long ago. Maybe they could have had a daughter just like Lenore. She sighed as she shook her head to clear away all such useless thoughts. That was over with now. At least she finally had Balinor back now, and she was extremely thankful for that despite all of the years that they lost.
The two of them had gotten married as soon as they could. They didn't have an elaborate ceremony or anything fancy. They just had a small simple ceremony with only Merlin, Cara, and Sophia in attendance. They didn't need to wait any longer to know that they belonged together. They had already waited long enough.
Up until Lenore arrived, the two of them had been living alone except for Aithusa. Now with Lenore there, the entire house seemed revitalized. It was almost as if a missing piece of them that they didn't even know that they had lost had been returned to them.
She wished that the girl would stay, but she knew that she wouldn't. She would eventually regain her memory and leave. While she was there though they could both pretend that she was their daughter and dream about what might have been. It was silly she knew, but it seemed to make Balinor happy. It certainly made her happier to have someone to look after.
"Is anything wrong?" Lenore asked as her eyes opened and she woke up.
Hunith knew that she had been staring at her for too long, and she had somehow sensed her watching her even in her sleep. She silently cursed herself for disturbing her.
"No, it's nothing, sweetheart. Go back to sleep," Hunith said in a gentle voice.
Lenore smiled as she said, "I wonder if my mother was as kind as you. I wish that I could remember her."
"You don't remember anything even after all of this time?" Hunith asked.
Lenore became suddenly fearful as she came to a decision. She was going to tell Hunith everything that she did remember.
"There's something that I didn't tell you. I don't want you to be afraid of me though. I just want you to know that I'd never hurt you," Lenore said.
Hunith looked at her oddly but nodded for her to continue.
Lenore told her everything that she remembered as she talked about being used by the Triple Goddess in an attempt to destroy Camelot and how she had refused to carry out her orders. She even told her about having all of Merlin's memories.
"Merlin's memories of home are what instinctively led me here. I knew that I would be safe here. I swear to you though that I didn't come here to hurt either of you. I didn't even know who you were at first. My mind is still so confused sometimes. I don't know what they did to me, but they somehow erased who I was before completely from my mind," Lenore said after she finished explaining what few memories that she had to Hunith.
Hunith looked disturbed for a moment at the fact that she had let someone who had just attacked her son into her home. Then she looked at the terror on Lenore's face and knew that the girl was not dangerous. She seemed to be more of a victim than anything else.
"She's not evil," Balinor said behind Hunith surprising her. He had overheard the entire conversation.
"I know," Hunith agreed.
"Thank you," Lenore said to both of them for believing in her.
"We should tell Merlin that you're here though," Hunith said.
"No! He'll come after me again. He won't believe that I'm no longer under their control," Lenore said.
"He'll have to come here and make sure of that. Do you want to take the chance that they might take you over again?" Hunith said.
Lenore shuddered at the thought of that and finally said, "Tell him then. I don't want to ever be their pawn again."
Balinor instructed Aithusa to go tell Merlin about Lenore being there. The young dragon still couldn't speak any human languages just yet, but Merlin would still be able to understand her through the bond that a Dragonlord had with all dragons.
Lenore was not surprised when Merlin somehow appeared within the hour. She knew that news would bring him running with concern.
Merlin came running into the house panting and out of breath as he said, "I don't know what you have planned, Lenore, but I won't let you hurt my parents."
"I don't want to hurt them. I swear," Lenore said as she immediately became upset.
"She's the one who told us who she was. She didn't have to do that, and she wouldn't have if she was just out to kill us," Hunith pointed out.
"Unless she wanted to lure me here into a trap," Merlin said suspiciously.
"How did you get here so quickly anyway?" Hunith asked.
"Kilgarrah. He's much faster than traveling by horseback. He usually doesn't want to let me ride with him though. Thankfully, this time I was able to convince him. He said that I was supposed to come here and meet Lenore again, but he didn't say why. He's always so dark and mysterious for some reason. I hate that," Merlin admitted.
"He's always been that way. He thinks it gives him an edge over everyone else. He likes being the cleverest one around," Balinor said with a grin.
Then they realized that Merlin wasn't alone as Cara, Sophia, and Morgana came into the house right after him. Aithusa was sitting happily on Morgana's shoulder as she walked in. She seemed to be perfectly content there, and Morgana seemed to enjoy her company as she constantly talked to her in a low voice that the others couldn't understand with a warm smile on her face.
Hunith knew that she shouldn't be too surprised that Merlin had brought the others with him. Merlin never seemed to go anywhere anymore without at least Cara and Sophia with him. They had become an inseparable trio. She was surprised at how quickly the three of them had bonded after having known each other for only a few months.
Lenore started to shake all over now that she was being watched by all of these new visitors, and Hunith held her hand in silent support. Merlin realized that his mother had become protective of Lenore already and became even more alarmed. What if Lenore had done something to her to make her feel that way in order to protect herself?
"What have you done to my parents?" Merlin accused Lenore.
"Nothing," Lenore protested.
"I sent for you to help her, Merlin. Not to yell at her and accuse her of things that she hasn't done," Hunith said.
"Let me see if I can find out if the Triple Goddess still has any influence on her or not before you continue to attack her. How about that?" Cara said to Merlin
"Fine. Go ahead. Just be careful," Merlin said.
"You act as if she's some kind of monster, Merlin. Calm down," Cara said.
"She doesn't have your memories though, does she? For all I know, she was created specifically to kill me. She must have been or why else would she not have any memories from before a few days ago?" Merlin said nervously.
"Maybe I was. Even if that's true, that's not what I want," Lenore said emphatically.
Cara started to cast a spell even as she smiled at Lenore to reassure her. Lenore was surrounded by an unearthly glow for a moment while Cara seemed to almost be reading something.
"What are you doing?" Merlin asked Cara in confusion.
"I'm reading her aura. It will tell me if she's still under anyone else's control or influence," Cara said.
"Her aura?" Merlin asked.
"It's an energy field that surrounds all living things. I can tell a lot about a person by reading it and seeing what color it is," Cara said.
"You're going to have to tell me more about that. I've never even heard of it," Merlin said.
"Maybe Arthur really should have made her the head of the magic school. She definitely seems to be much smarter than you," Sophia joked.
"Shut up," Merlin said as he tried not to smile.
Morgana looked at Lenore and then looked at Merlin. There was something that seemed to be remarkably similar about both of them. She also studied both of their facial features and noticed how they seemed to share the same characteristics. She whispered something to Aithusa, and the little dragon nodded.
"Is it possible that Merlin and Lenore could be related somehow?" Morgana finally asked out loud.
"What do you mean?" Cara asked.
"I think that they're relatives. She seems to act so much like Merlin and even looks somewhat like him. She also seems to have the same level of power. The only major difference between them is that Lenore is extremely shy and quiet which is not Merlin's personality at all. That could be explained by being traumatized all of her life by the followers of the Triple Goddess though. Maybe she was stolen at birth and raised to become a weapon," Morgana suggested.
"We're definitely not related. I would know," Merlin said.
"Would you? You're obviously been prejudiced against her from the start. Maybe you don't want to see it," Morgana said.
Hunith began to really look at Lenore for the first time now. She could see it too now that she knew to look for it. Lenore was very, very similar to Merlin. It was almost as if . . .
Hunith screamed as a long buried memory flashed through her mind. She remembered now!
"I know who she is now. She's your sister, Merlin," Hunith suddenly said.
"What?!" Merlin and Balinor both said in complete shock.
"You had a twin sister when you were born, but someone took her from me when she was born. Then they erased her from my memory. I completely forgot about you, Lenore. I'm so sorry," Hunith apologized in tears as she embraced her.
"No, that can't be right. I was an only child. Someone's planted a fake memory in your mind," Merlin said as he looked at Lenore with suspicion.
Even Merlin could see though that Lenore looked just as shocked and bothered by Hunith's statement as he was. He could tell that she wasn't acting when she stood there in silence as she looked at Hunith with a mixture of hope, fear, and confusion on her face. Even as Hunith embraced her, Lenore looked like she wasn't sure if she should return her embrace or not.
"Could this be true?" Lenore asked Cara.
Cara's eyes widened as she said, "Yes, it is. Your aura is too similar to Merlin's, Hunith's, and Balinor's to be a coincidence. You're Merlin's sister."
"I don't have a sister though except Sophia," Merlin protested.
"Yes, I'm the only sister that he has," Sophia said in a jealous voice.
"The Triple Goddess altered time in order to create her," Cara suddenly said as her eyes flashed with magic.
"How do you know that?" Merlin asked.
"I'm a seer, Merlin. I can see things that others can't and so can Morgana because she is my daughter. Sometimes the things that I see are things that have already come to pass instead of what is to come however," Cara said.
"What do you see?" Lenore asked her in fascination.
"They used their power over life and death in order to create you, Lenore. Then they stole you away from your mother at birth and erased her memory of you. They've been raising you as their private weapon to use against Merlin ever since. They trained you in the use of your powers and brainwashed you into hating him. They even wiped your own memories and replaced them with Merlin's own just before they sent you out against him so that you would know everything that he knew and be more of a match for him. Not to mention easier to control since you were such a blank slate. They didn't count on one thing though. You have the same big heart that Merlin does. It wouldn't let you attack innocent people no matter what they did to you to try to get you to. You're far too kind and warm hearted by nature to ever become like one of them. You're too much like your mother I think," Cara said with a smile at Hunith.
"Hey, I'm not exactly an ogre myself," Balinor said with a grin.
Lenore looked at Cara in disbelief and shock as she said, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, you're Merlin's twin sister. Not an identical twin but fraternal," Cara said confidently.
Lenore began to smile now as she hugged her mother and father. She could hardly believe it. She finally had a past and a family to belong to.
Merlin however was more reluctant to accept her much to Cara's surprise. He stayed away from the joyous family reunion and glared at Lenore instead.
"What's wrong? I thought that you always wanted a sister. You said so once," Cara reminded him.
"She's not really my sister. She was created by the Triple Goddess to kill me. She wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for their meddling," Merlin said.
"So what? She's still your sister, Merlin, regardless of where she came from or why. She isn't working with them now either. I checked. They have no control over her anymore. She's free of them. She broke their hold on her because she didn't want to be their servant. Just like I did," Cara said.
"How do I know that this isn't all a trick though? They might have planted her here in order for her to gain our trust and then stab us in the back once we've let our guard down," Merlin said.
"That's not true, Merlin. She's not under their control anymore," Cara reassured him.
"Yes, but she still could be in the future. Maybe that's their plan," Merlin said.
"Any of us could fall under their control in the future, Merlin. Does that mean that you shouldn't get to know her?" Cara said.
"He doesn't need another sister. He's got me," Sophia said.
"She won't replace you, Sophia," Cara said.
"How do you know?" Sophia asked in a small insecure voice.
Merlin hugged Sophia tightly and whispered, "No one could ever replace you, Soph. You'll always be my little sister."
"I'm the big sister," Sophia said with a smile as she returned his hug.
"Merlin, say hello to your sister," Hunith said in a curt voice.
"It's okay. I know how he must feel. I did try to kill him," Lenore said.
"You weren't yourself, Lenore," Hunith said.
"How do I know? I don't even know who that is. I may never know. I feel like an empty shell now. Whoever I might have been before is long gone," Lenore said sadly.
Merlin saw the look of despair on Lenore's face and his heart immediately went out to her despite the distrust that her origins still gave him. To his surprise, he suddenly found himself hugging her in comfort.
"I won't ever betray you again, Merlin. I promise you that," Lenore said firmly.
"You never betrayed me before. Let's just start over fresh, Lenore. It's so nice to finally meet you," Merlin said as he decided to let his reservations about her go at last.
"Thank you," Lenore said with a content smile on her face.
"So where are you going to stay at now?" Merlin asked Lenore.
"I'm not sure. I don't think that I should stay here though. I might bring trouble to the village if the Triple Goddess ever decides to come after me. Maybe I should just go and live by myself somewhere," Lenore said.
"No, you're not. You're going to stay with me. I'm sure that Arthur will find a place for you somewhere. Once I convince him that you're not out to kill him that is. That might take a while, but I think I can get that through that hard head of his," Merlin offered.
"You're sure about this?" Lenore asked.
"I'm sure. I have to watch over all of my sisters. It's a part of my job as a brother," Merlin said firmly.
"I'm the one who watches over you," Sophia said indignantly.
"We both watch over him together actually," Cara added.
"For that, I'm eternally grateful," Hunith said.
"Keeping Merlin out of trouble is a full-time job in itself. No wonder it takes two of them," Morgana joked.
Merlin glared at all of them as he swiftly changed the subject, "Speaking of jobs, how would you like to be an instructor at the magic school that I'm starting up. You're a former High Priestess. I know that you can teach the students all kinds of things. Plus you know everything that I do. That automatically makes you a genius."
"Someone thinks highly of themselves," Sophia said as she rolled her eyes.
"I'll take it. Maybe I can use that job to make up for my past," Lenore said.
"Do you have to go so quickly? I've barely gotten to know you," Hunith said sadly.
"I suppose I could stay for a little while if it won't be too much trouble. I don't want to impose," Lenore said hesitantly.
"You would never be imposing on us, Lenore," Balinor said firmly.
"I'll stay then. Just for a little while," Lenore said happily.
"It'll probably take a few days to get through to Arthur anyway. He's stubborn. Once he gets an idea in his head, it takes forever to get it back out again," Merlin complained.
"You and he should be brothers then because you're exactly the same way sometimes," Cara observed.
"What are you talking about? I'm nothing like him," Merlin said.
"It took you forever to accept your sister," Cara pointed out.
"Oh. Well, I was just being cautious. That's all that was. That doesn't make me pig headed and stubborn," Merlin said.
"If you say so," Cara said with a loving smile as she kissed Merlin.
Lenore smiled at how the two of them acted together. She already liked Cara and owed her a great deal. If not for her, she wondered if Merlin would have ever accepted her.
"Balinor, I wonder if I could ask you something," Morgana said.
"Go ahead," Balinor said.
"I would like to take Aithusa back home with me to Camelot. She and I seem to have developed an extraordinary bond with each other, and I would like to have her stay with me. I promise that I will take good care of her, and I won't let anything happen to her. She seems to want to go with me too at least as far as I can tell," Morgana said.
"You can speak to her? Can you actually understand her?" Balinor asked in surprise.
"Not the way that you can, no. I can somehow interpret her moods though, and I seem to always know what she's thinking. I know that she can understand me as well. I can't explain it, but I know that it's there," Morgana said.
"Yes, I know it is too. I can see how quickly that she's taken to you with my own eyes. It's very rare that a non-Dragonlord can bond with a dragon in the way that you have. It's probably your mother's heritage that's given you such a gift. You can take her with you, Morgana. Just make sure to bring her back by here sometimes. I get lonely," Balinor said with a grin.
"I will. Thank you!" Morgana said happily as she hugged him.
"I guess we'll be going then. I've got to go check out a possible new site for the school that Sophia told me about. I'll be back to pick up Lenore in a week. Is that alright?" Merlin asked.
"That's fine," Lenore agreed.
In a shimmering pool of water miles away, Blodeuwedd watched through a scrying spell as Merlin and the others left Lenore behind. She turned to the Green Knight in disgust as she said, "The sister failed. I knew that she would because she's too much like him, but the Triple Goddess insisted. Now it's up to me I suppose to come up with yet another plan to destroy Emrys. Why am I not surprised?"
"Why not try to take over Lenore again?" the Green Knight asked.
"What's the point? She wouldn't kill her brother before so why would that change now? She's still useful for something though. The spell that created her life still requires the death of someone else in order to preserve the balance. I would love to make that someone else Merlin. In fact, I'm going to ensure it. I'm sending the Questing Beast after him. Let's see him survive its bite," Blodeuwedd said.
"Why not have another plan going at the same time as well? Ask the Sidhe to send one of their own to kill Merlin at the same time as you send out the Questing Beast. Surely one of them will kill him, and then the balance will be restored," the Green Knight suggested.
"I like the way that you think. I'll do it. We'll strike him from two fronts at once and watch him fall. Even if he survives one attack, surely he will fall to the other. Then Camelot will be without its greatest defender, and we'll be one step closer to watching it crumble," Blodeuwedd said with an evil laugh.
Next: Merlin goes to inspect the odd cave that Sophia suggested to him be used as the headquarters for the magic school. Along the way there, he's attacked by the Questing Beast. Even if he survives that assault though, he'll still have one of the most powerful of the Sidhe waiting in the wings to destroy him. Can even Merlin survive both attacks? Sophia comes up with a plan in mind to help him do exactly that, but neither Merlin nor Cara may like the results. Also a familiar figure from another show will make a brief appearance with an agenda all their own.