Author's Note:

Hello, all! Here's chapter 14 for you :) I've also made myself a writing schedule. just so you all know :D This means that I've set deadlines on everything I have to write by the end of the summer. I've met this deadline (today) which was good :) So... yes.

Warnings: AU after series 1 episode 09, General spoilers for series 1 and 2, and Spoilers for The Once and Future King TH White.
Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING :) Except Jenny, Adrianna, Lyssa, and Brittany, and any other OC you may happen across.

Thank you to Magi's Merlin, sarahelizabeth1993, thebloodrose, Setari, and Anjay16 for reviewing :D And thanks to Wren Hightower for the beta :)

So yes. Read, review, enjoy!

- Chapter 14: The Witch in the Wood -

There was nothing completely, totally, perfectly normal about Morgana's day. At all.

It started with the Mirror sitting in the corner of her room. No, actually, when she thought about it, it didn't. It started months ago, years ago. It started with her dreams, and she'd had them for as long as she could remember. It started with Edwin, months ago, who had connected them with her sickness even though she had a gut feeling that they had nothing to do with it. It started with Sophia, who she'd first been introduced to when she was asleep and had seen her drowning Arthur with magic. It started with the little druid boy – there was a connection, there was. It started with Adrianna lying and the scar on the maidservant Jenny's face and the dreams and the magic. (She took a deep breath because - the magic.)

It started with the Mirror.

Adrianna knew something was wrong. She could practically read it in the lines on Morgana's face.

Since they arrived back at the castle she hadn't been eating, she hadn't been sleeping, and she mostly stayed cooped up in her chambers. She snapped at Adrianna constantly, criticising and telling her to leave early.

It didn't help that there was constantly shattered glass on the floor in some way or another – Adrianna wasn't sure where it was coming from because as far as she could tell, Morgana had moved all possible breakable objects out of her bedchamber.

"I don't understand it," she said, leaning onto the counter where Jenny was washing dishes. She was glared at. Privately Adrianna just thought Jenny was in a bad mood because they'd stuck her back on dishwashing duties.

"Possibly, she thinks you don't do enough of your job and wants to sack you," Jenny suggested, hinting heavily for Adrianna to get off her workspace. It was gross anyway.

"That can't be it," Adrianna said, "I do her laundry, clean her room, bring her food – not that she eats any of it."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "What would you like me to say? Maybe she knows you've been lying."

Adrianna picked at her fingernails. "Do you think?"

Jenny looked at her for a moment and then down at the sponge in her hands. "I don't know. Maybe she's found out about the Mirror?"

"Oh, God, I hope not."

And the Mirror taunted her every time she turned the bed down, every time Gaius asked her to bring Morgana the sleeping draught, every time Morgana asked her a question that hinted Adrianna wasn't telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

"Do you need anything else, milady?" Adrianna asked, her hands clenching in the pocket of her dress.

Morgana was standing at the window looking outside, a far away look on her face. She looked distracted.

"Milady?" Adrianna asked again, unable to keep the note of irritation out of her voice.

Morgana turned and then her face hardened just a little. "Yes," she said, "You've yet to give me my sleeping draught."

Clenching her teeth together, Adrianna picked it up off of Morgana's table and pressed it into her hand. "Is that all?" and that wasn't the proper way to speak to Lady Morgana at all, but she couldn't help herself.

"You're dismissed." There was something in her voice that told her that Morgana could make her life very difficult very easily.

Adrianna walked into Gaius' chambers knowing she looked miserable. "I hate this," she said wanting to whine a little.

"Yeah, well we might have bigger problems," Merlin said.

Adrianna sometimes hated him. But not really, she thought a second later, because it was in fact impossible to hate Merlin. Because he was Merlin. It was like kicking a puppy. "And what are these so-called bigger problems?" Adrianna sighed.

They didn't pick up on her sarcasm, apparently. Jenny answered, "The King isn't happy."

They were sitting in Gaius' work room as opposed to Merlin's bedroom. Gaius was… somewhere. Adrianna could never keep track of what anyone other than Jenny was doing – there was just too much.

She made a small noise of interest, sinking down into the nearest seat.

Jenny apparently didn't need anymore prompting than that. "He still hasn't captured the sorceresses," she made air quotes here and Merlin looked at her strangely. Jenny didn't notice. "And Arthur didn't bring back the Crystal of Neahtid. He won't find it either, obviously. On top of that, before we came Mordred escaped, right?"

Merlin pressed his lips together unhappily. "Arthur just thinks that the laws on magic might get stricter, that's all," he said. "And the only thing that means is opportunities to get to the Mirror – and to research it, to find out how it works – will be scarce."

Adrianna rubbed at her forehead, smoothing out the wrinkles that were threatening to become a permanent part of her face. "I'm in there everyday! The problem is Morgana never leaves without me. She took away my key," Adrianna admitted quietly, a little ashamed of the fact. "And," she added as an afterthought, "the laws on magic don't need to get any stricter, Mr Secret-Warlock."

Merlin rolled his eyes.

She stood and stretched, unable to stay sitting despite her feet killing her. "Do you want food?" she asked, the question directed toward Merlin.

Jenny answered, "Yes, please!"

A few weeks ago, they had tried Jenny cooking. They wouldn't do that again.

It was easy to lose herself in it, to not think about all the things she needed to think about. If she thought about Ninniane, then she thought of the Mirror. If she thought of the Crystal, she thought of the Mirror. If she thought about Morgana, she thought of the Mirror. And if she thought of the Mirror, she thought of home, and her mother and father and Brittany and all of her other shallow friends. She missed the obvious things, running water and her mattress and the Internet. But she missed the little things more, like her Doctor Who poster in her bedroom and the lunch her mom packed for her to go to school with, and jeans. Oh God, did she miss her jeans.

The soup, as usual when she made it, turned out slightly watery (it was harder to cook over a fire rather than a stove).

Apparently, while she was lost in the thoughts she didn't want to be thinking but really should be thinking about, it had gotten really quiet. She looked up to see Merlin and Jenny still at the table, their heads bent together, talking about something seriously.

The smile slipped off her face. She wanted to know what they were saying. Briefly, she thought, are they talking about me? But then squashed it because it was arrogant and conceited. There was a small achy feeling somewhere below her ribs. Merlin catching her staring at them didn't make the frown on her face go away, or the feeling in her chest.

"What did you see?" Jenny asked him quietly, ignoring Adrianna muttering to herself about vegetables and soup, making a racket with the pot and the bowls.

Merlin knew what she was talking about right away but that didn't mean he was going to let her know that. "What?"

"In the Crystal," Jenny hissed, "What did you see?"

Merlin considered lying for a second but so much of his life was spent lying and Jenny had found him with the Crystal at his feet. She deserved to know. And maybe he was self-justifying but… "A woman," he said, leaning toward her slightly, his eyebrows drawing together worriedly, "Morgana and a woman with blonde hair. She was wearing chainmail. And… and magic."

Jenny swallowed with a click. "Morgana? That's why you said you were worried the other day?"

Merlin nodded and watched Jenny flatten her hair absently, not even noticing it now. He shrugged, "So… what do you make of it?"

"What?" Jenny asked, her face confused. "I'm not some all-knowing source, you know! I don't have any idea what's going on either."

Merlin sighed and looked up, sitting back in his chair. Adrianna was staring at them, a hurt look on her face. Merlin tried to smile at her but she turned away to look down at the soup.

I made the mistake of saying, "Why don't you just smash it?" to Adrianna the next day, when she decided she had nothing better to do than follow me around.

Adrianna made a small choking type of noise – "And if that doesn't work?" she demanded crossly, "You know what we'll have? A bunch of glass shards that won't do anything for anyone."

I leaned back slightly, only glad she hadn't picked up on my accidental use of the word you instead of we. "I suppose you're right," I said, shifting the stack of dishes in my hands to a more stable pile. "How would we even know if Guinevere is on the other side anyway?"

"Yes," Adrianna said, "that's what I'm worried about – Gwen. Jenny, you're never any help."

"Thanks," I said. "Just, stay here for a sec, yeah? I've got to…" I nodded toward the tray in my hands.

Adrianna clicked her tongue impatiently and sighed as I knocked on the door.

"You have to go away," I told her. "Do you know how distracting you are? I keep getting yelled at for being late."

She rolled her eyes, ignoring me. "Yes, but seriously, though – the Mirror."

"If that made any sense, I would have an answer for you."

She scowled and then promptly screamed. I whipped around to find a glaring, hyperventilating Adrianna with Arthur standing two or three feet from her. "Uhm….?"

"You!" Adrianna said, pointing a finger at him angrily. "Is there something wrong with you? You can't, like, say something instead of just grabbing my shoulder like that? You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Arthur was frowning. "You can't talk to me like that."

I could feel a headache coming on. Adrianna was beginning a reply, a scowl set on her face when I decided enough was enough. Suppose some random noble decided to walk by and thought that they should tell the King that servants clearly needed to be taught their place? I stomped on her foot. Adrianna swore loudly.

"There is something wrong with you," I hissed in her ear. Then I cleared my throat, "Um, Sire? Was there something you wanted?"

He was looking at us like we were at least partially insane, but maybe not in a bad way. I was rapidly becoming used to that look. He drew himself back a little. "Yes," he said, maybe quieter than usual, "You –"

"Adrianna!" It was Morgana's sharp voice that cut through the confusion. She drew level with Arthur, her heels clicking against the stone, "I'm in need of you."

She didn't even look at Arthur or me at all – I nervously flattened my hair. Adrianna looked startled and nervous. "Milady," she said, curtsying and standing hesitantly. Morgana made a gesture as if to say, don't make me wait on you, and Adrianna hastened down the hall toward her chambers. I curtsied as well, staying low with my head bent and my heart hammering against my ribs.

"Morgana, what're you doing? You'll frighten the poor thing," I heard Arthur say, half a teasing tone to his voice, half a serious one.

"I require her services right now, Arthur. Surely you can get Merlin to do whatever it is you need? Adrianna has other things to do." Her voice was biting and not playful in any way.

I pictured Arthur's face to be slightly surprised. "Morgana, what's gotten into you? I don't understand."

My calves were beginning to cramp and I hoped this conversation would wrap up a little quicker. Lady Morgana's voice was too low for me to catch what she said next, but a moment later I heard her heels clicking away and Arthur called, "Morgana!"

I straightened gladly – why did males only have to bow while females had to curtsy? It was painful. Somehow I think I would've been told, 'you're not doing it right, then,' if I had actually mentioned this to anyone. But maybe not. I didn't actually know.

"I never understand anything she says," Arthur said, watching her turn a corner. Then he turned back to me. "Right," he said, "I may not actually know what you're doing here but I do know that you're being unnecessarily obvious about it to the point of stupidity."

"It's not anything harmful," I said automatically, "I promise. I know that doesn't mean anything but –"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I didn't think it was. But that doesn't mean that it won't get you in trouble."

I sighed. "How did you know anyway?"

Arthur smirked slightly. "I heard you talking about a mirror and mirrors are pretty rare. Why do you need one, anyway?"

"I doesn't matter," I said, looking down. "I'm sorry – we'll be quieter about it in the future."

He was staring at me like he didn't quite know what to say (another look I was becoming acquainted with more and more often). "And thank you," I said suddenly because the thought had just occurred to me, "for not …" I trailed off because I didn't know how to finish the sentence. I wasn't sure if I should finish the sentence at all.

His face tightened and he took a step back, though we weren't really close to begin with.

The footsteps caught me by surprise but it didn't surprise me that it was Merlin coming up the steps with a huge tray – I knew we were somewhere near Arthur's chambers. He stopped at the sight of us and I couldn't help my face turning red though it had no reason to. He gave us a suspicious look.

"What are you doing?" he said, glancing between us and then at the empty tray in my hands.

"Nothing," I said at the same time Arthur said, "Finally, Merlin, my chambers are a complete disaster!"

The big need of Lady Morgana's was her laundry, Adrianna thought sarcastically (because if she couldn't be rude out loud, she was certainly going to be rude in her head). She was piling dresses neatly in the hamper, careful not to wrinkle anything too badly. Morgana also had a pile she said needed mending and that Adrianna shouldn't bother bringing it down to the seamstress' because Morgana was sure she could do an adequate job herself. Adrianna had never so much as sewn her skirt when it ripped.

Recently, she thought as she lugged one of the heavy baskets down to the laundress', she decided that life was way too complicated. Of course not as complicated as hers because most people didn't go back in time through a Magic Mirror to a place where magic happens to be banned on penalty of death.

It wouldn't be so bad if Brittany were with her, or her mom, or anyone but Jenny.

Jenny was nice, genuinely caring, and a little clumsy. But she was also very selfish. Adrianna couldn't believe that she could even contemplate staying here. And no matter how Adrianna teased her, her little crush on Prince Arthur was really kind of unhealthy and – well, it just wasn't good to develop attachments like that.

Plus – why did Jenny get someone to rely on anyway? Why didn't Adrianna have anyone like that? It wasn't fair.

She fumbled with the second basket after taking the first downstairs. Morgana was staring at the Mirror, running her fingers over the metal frame. "Yes?" she asked coldly when she caught Adrianna staring. "Is there something you needed Adrianna?"

Adrianna swallowed hard saying, "No, milady," and bent her head over the basket.

Morgana was scared – more afraid of anything than she'd ever been in her entire life. Usually she prided herself on her bravery, especially as a woman seeing as most men thought them rather delicate. She didn't know if she could be brave regarding this.

It was magic.

She knew it was, regardless of what Gaius told her. She didn't have anyone else to go to. Gwen was gone and Gaius was telling her that it was just her nightmare and I'll give you something stronger. She didn't want anything stronger. She wanted to know what was wrong with her and how to make it stop.

It started with the dreams of course. She could see the future – and she shuddered physically at the thought - flashes of faces that turned up the next day, the results of tournaments. She couldn't help but think of Sophia. Arthur told her she'd been wrong but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more going on.

Then the magic started. She convinced herself that she wasn't going insane. It was magic. It started small. She woke up from a dream – one of the dreams that she knew she'd revisit in her waking hours – and screamed of Gwen, and the vase on her bedside table shattered into a thousand pieces all over the floor.

Gwen hadn't come of course. No one came. And, even if she wanted to, even if she could, she couldn't go to Arthur because he was away finding the Crystal of Neahtid.

She told herself she'd screamed so loudly the glass cracked.

But it happened again and again and again until she hid all of her breakables in the cupboard and locked it. Then there was the fire. It was only small, recently. The candle on the table was lit when it shouldn't have been – she questioned Adrianna on it but she swore she hadn't touched it. Then she hid the candles, too.

It scared her because she didn't have any idea what could happen next.

Adrianna had caught her looking at the Mirror. She didn't even know why she was looking at it. Sometimes it felt like there was something more to it. And recently she'd been dreaming of a woman with blonde hair wearing chainmail. Morgana didn't know who she was or what she was supposed to be doing in Camelot, but she did know that whatever it was would happen soon.

She snatched her hand away. "Do you need something Adrianna?"

Adrianna dropped her gaze to the laundry basket, "No milady. Are you… I mean – are you all right?"

Morgana stared at her for a moment, swallowing. "Yes, I'm fine."

Adrianna nodded, standing stiffly and curtsying awkwardly before backing out the door.

Morgana sighed, resting her forehead against the cool Mirror. She could swear sometimes that she could hear whispers and feel something familiar, just out of reach.

Adrianna dropped the basket of clothes heavily on the floor in Merlin's bedroom, fighting tears. She didn't even know why she was crying. She hadn't cried since the night she and Jenny found themselves locked in the dungeons – bearing of course the Dragon Incident where she thought she had a perfectly justifiable excuse.

She didn't have a thimble or a needle or any thread, either. For some reason this was why she slumped to the ground and leaned against Merlin's bed and started crying in earnest.

Apparently she was noisy, because the next thing she knew Gaius was knocking on the door and then entering. She covered her face with her hands.
"Why are you crying?" he asked, coming over and perching on the bed.

Adrianna hiccoughed, trying to breath properly. "I don't have a thimble," she said.

Gaius sighed and patted her head and she attempted to calm herself down.

It was the next morning that everything decided to come crashing down. Adrianna was standing behind Morgana, filling her cup with wine and Jenny was quietly serving the King (and Adrianna thought, Oh, poor Jenny. Why would they pick her for this?), trying not to shake so badly she dropped the platter. Merlin was standing somewhere as far back as possible, pretending to pay attention while generally not paying attention at all.

Adrianna hadn't slept well at all, Jenny simultaneously hogging the blankets and being half on top of her. Adrianna would suggest they sleep head to foot if she didn't think she'd wind up with a face full of Jenny's feet (so, so gross – feet were disgusting).

She was tired. As a result, when the doors banged open, she jumped so badly the wine jug knocked right out of her hands and splashed down the front of Lady Morgana's dress.

She was about to apologise frantically when King Uther himself stood up with Arthur at his side and drew his sword. "What is the meaning of this?" he bellowed.

A woman with knotted blonde hair and wearing a gown of chainmail stepped forward. Two knights rushed in after her. She unbuckled the gauntlet clasped around her wrist and threw it down at Uther's feet.

"We tried to stop her, my Lord but—" one of the knights – Sir Leon, if Adrianna remembered correctly – said and he looked slightly ashamed.

"Silence," Uther commanded. "A woman cannot issue a challenge." And then, "Who are you?"

The woman smiled and shifted, her chainmail clinking. "My name is Morgause."

And then Jenny really did drop the platter.