Thank you for the reviews.

The last chapter marked the end of Part One and now we are entering Part Two. Hopefully will still be of the same standard.

Also, I need to get on with writing...

PART TWO

THE ISLE OF THE BLESSED

Chapter Thirteen

Merlin and Morgana's Journey

MERLIN FELT LIKE HE WAS constantly looking over his shoulder. He had done since they left Camelot. There was always the threat that Uther had found out and sent guards after them or whether the cook had told anyone once they had left. His priority was Morgana and getting her to the Isle of the Blessed. He was so worried that he hardly slept. He would just close his eyes but never get the rest that his body was calling out for. He knew that once he was on the Isle of the Blessed once more, he would sleep for days. He felt like he could.

"How much further Merlin?" Gwen asked.

He chuckled. "You see the ruins there?" He said, pointing out into the distance. He felt Morgana join them and lean on his shoulder, trying to see where he was pointing to. "Those ruins used to be the Castle of the High Priestesses. It was a staple of the magical world. Every magical young girl would come to the Isle in an attempt to become a High Priestess. Basically, it was one of the pinnacles of magic. One of the highest orders. Destroyed in the purge. Nimueh tells me about how it used to be all the time."

"Maybe it can be restored," Morgana said.

He turned to her and smiled. He stopped himself from swallowing by how close she was. His feelings for her hadn't gone away if anything his feelings had grown. There were just little things that she would do or say that he could see himself doing or saying. It just felt weird whatever it was.

"Isn't it surrounded by water?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, it had to have some defences. Don't worry, there will be a boat waiting for us. Nimueh and Morgause will know that we are close and will send one before we get there." He looked at both of them. "Come on, we should get on. It is still a days walk. We should try and get to the Isle as soon as we can."

"So are Nimueh and Morgause powerful?" Morgana asked as they started to walk again.

"I suppose they are. I am more powerful than them but I am still young and still have much to learn."

"Why didn't one of them come and get me? Surely they could have just magically entered the city and got me."

"It wasn't their task to undertake. It was mine."

"So why didn't you do that? Or why didn't we leave Camelot that way?"

"Magic isn't as easy as just saying a spell. I have been trained in teleportation spells but I wouldn't like to say I am the most accurate with them. We could have ended up on the Isle of the Blessed or in the waters that surround it. We may have not even left Camelot and ended up in the council chambers or Uther's chambers or something like that. Plus, I thought that you might enjoy the walk. I don't expect that you have seen much of the world recently."

"No, I haven't," Morgana said.

He offered her a smile due to the sad tone of her last statement. He vowed to himself that he was never going to allow anything like that to happen to her again. Under his protection, she was never going to be locked away again.

Morgana held onto the side as the boat rocked as it made its way towards the Isle of the Blessed. She felt nervous as she was about to enter a place that she hoped she could call home. If anything, she could feel the magic of the place, even if it was diluted. Gwen softly held her hand as they drew closer. Morgana was glad that her friend was by her side. Even if she felt safe with Merlin, she hardly knew the man. With Gwen it was different. She knew she could trust Gwen a hundred percent.

"Here we are," Merlin said as the boat pulled up alongside the Isle.

He was the first to get out and held his hand out to help both Morgana and Gwen step onto the Isle. He grabbed their bags before he led them onto the Isle. While they walked around the ruins of the building, Morgana couldn't help but feel like she had been there before. Like she had come home. She dismissed the thought. It was probably only because of her underlying magic, which she couldn't wait to explore.

"Mother," Merlin said as he ran to hug the woman.

Morgana felt like they were intruding a special moment as the two of them hugged before the woman put some distance between them to place a kiss on her son's cheek.

"The others will be up shortly." The woman said before turning to them. "You must be Morgana and Gwen."

Merlin brought his mother over and introduced them properly. The woman introduced herself as Hunith and, not long afterwards, two women joined them, along with someone that Morgana thought she would never see again.

"Father?"

Gorlois chuckled and took a few long paces to stand in front of her and open his arms to her. "Morgana." He sighed as she jumped into them.

She hugged him tightly, tighter than she had ever hugged anyone before. Her father was alive.

"But I thought..." She started as they broke their embrace slightly.

"Let's not dwell on the past. We cannot change the past. Instead, we must look at the present and the future. For the future is ours to mould. But I understand that you might have questions. I will not know all the answers to them but I will try and answer them the best I can. Come. We have 12 years to catch up on and I want to be the one to give you the tour of the Isle of the Blessed."

Morgana quickly turned to Merlin before looking back at her father. "I wouldn't like anything else."

Her father smiled down at her as she took his arm before leading her away from the group. She had no idea what to do or think. Her father had been alive all this time. She was sure that once she got over the initial shock, she would question why he didn't return to Camelot to get her but for the moment, she relished in the fact that her father wasn't dead.