Okay guys! As you can see this one is the longest chapter yet (15 pages and over 6,000 words). We have lots going on and a time jump! I was going to have this out Sunday morning but I ran into a road block on the last bit of the chapter. I ended up getting a tension headache trying to figure it out and went to bed without a finished product. I have since remedied that as you can see but not without lots of time put in and many revisions. I am still not totally happy with it but I don't know what to do about it. Anywho! I hope you enjoy this chapter and will stick around for what is to come.

Meleander: I kind of addressed the no guards thing in this chapter. Kind of…very vaguely. That was a plot hole. But the real TV show was RIDDLED with plot holes so mine are minor ;P. And I know about Merlin's real power but for the sake of moving the story along we made Merlin a little stupid. I will do better next time. Mergana action will happen soon (I know I keep saying that but it will be soon!)

Hanipman: Like I told Meleander…plot devices. Silly excuse I know…but that is my only defense. It was a bad plot device.

MonsterJunkie: Morgana won't know why Merlin wanted Sarrum dead in this chapter. She will eventually figure it out because Merlin will tell her but not this chapter. They do make up though. And I like that you tell me what I could be doing better. It helps me to improve, I learn with praise and constructive critism.

Iricious: She DOESN'T KNOW that he is Emrys and she will continue not to know for a while yet. It is imperative that everyone know that. And you will love Ellie even more this chapter cause she is awesome.

And to everyone else thanks for your feedback even if I didn't write you a personalized message I still appreciate it! Btw: LADYWARLOCK WHERE ARE YOU?! I hope you are having fun in Nepal.

I don't own Merlin.

XxOxX

Merlin awoke to the sound of Gaius knocking on his door, "Get up, Merlin. You are going to be late."

"Fine. Coming." He groaned out and sat up while swinging his legs over the side of his bed and sitting up there. He reached over to his bedside table and wet the cloth he found there with water to wash his face.

####

It had been two weeks today since he had brought Morgana back from the forest. The castle had been in an uproar with the fire on the horizon and the storm that had come from nowhere with Morgana nowhere to be found. He had distracted the guard at her door long enough to open it and set her down in the bed. Her hair and clothes were still damp, but it would have to do for now. After covering her up he had to dart out and relock the door. By that time the castle alarm bells started to sound, signaling the escape of a prisoner. So Merlin had to set about finding Arthur and Gwen to tell them that she had not escaped. It took some convincing to the both of them that she had been in her room. To lie to them about what had really happened. One day he wouldn't be able to keep up with all the untruths he had told to his closest friends. It would come back to bite him much like it did with Morgana.

During that night he had resolved to see her early in the morning to try to explain to her why he hid his secret from her. He would tell her everything. And with that notion in mind he fell asleep. Morgana awoke the next morning, but instead of things going to plan, which they never did anyway, Morgana utterly and completely ignored him. She looked right through Merlin and acted as if she didn't hear him while he spoke. Naturally this irritated him because he wanted to make up for hurting her before and to tell her why he wanted his vengeance on Sarrum. He would have preferred her rage to this distance. He wanted her to scream and rail at him and want to hurt him because it would have been better than for him not to exist in her eyes.

As for the Sarrum, his body had been found a couple of days after his death by at patrol. It was deemed a brigand raid and the bodies had been burned and rained upon. The body was returned to Amata and as of yet no consequences to his actions had been found.

It wasn't long before Gwen and Arthur noticed her cold shoulder towards him and they even asked him about it. Merlin merely shrugged and said something noncommittal to them both. She would have to speak to him eventually. She couldn't keep him out forever. He had even told Gwen that she should go and see Aithusa, but Morgana refused to be around him so in the end she had gone downstairs and visited her dragon under the direct supervision of a guard.

###

Merlin got up and dressed, ate and was at the door to the royal chambers in less than 30 minutes. It would be another awkward silent day between the two of them. The chamber would be filled with the chatter of Morgana and Gwen with one another and Arthur even joined in, but the moment that Merlin spoke to her, she glared and clammed up and would not speak for a while after that. He had learned not to talk to her or around her.

Merlin knocked on the door 3 times then opened it to find the two women at Gwens' vanity chatting away, Eliana still sleeping in her crib and Arthur up early at his desk with his hair and clothes still mussed from sleep. A plate of food sat on the desk, half eaten while Arthur looked at several papers.

"Arthur. Finish your breakfast, Merlin's here." Gwen chided Arthur as he looked up.

"Oh! Hello, Merlin." Arthur picked up his plate and took a few more bites out of it before setting it down. "I want the green shirt today. I was thinking of going hunting to relax a bit. What do you think about that?"

"As long as we don't kill any more unicorns."

"You can be sure I will never to that again. That was mess. I was thinking deer, or maybe boar."

"Yes, because slaughtering innocent animals is great stress relief." Gwen told them sarcastically and out of the corner of his eye Merlin saw Morgana smile.

"Definitely. Glad you agree. You should try it sometime."

"I don't think so. Too many memories."

"Why is Ellie still asleep?" Merlin looked over at the little one who was normally the first one up out of the three of the royals.

"She had a big day yesterday. She did something quite exciting for a little princess." Gwen turned to smile up at Morgana, who smiled back. Merlin wondered what was so exciting for them to have done.

Merlin pulled out the shirt and jerkin as well as some leather hunting pants from Arthur's wardrobe. He saw Morgana begin to lace Gwen's dress up. "That dress new?"

Gwen looked down at her dress, "No. I wore it when I was pregnant with Ellie. My other dresses are starting not to fit me anymore." Gwen rested a hand on her slightly protruding lower belly. The dress was cut like her others but with more give at the waist which was perfect for a pregnant queen.

"It suits you."

Gwen smiled at him, "Thank you, Merlin. Oh, look, the little princess is waking up." Merlin turned back to see Ellie starting to move around in her crib.

"I've got her." Arthur said as he finished his plate and got up from his desk. He walked over to the crib and bent down, "Come here sleepy angel."

"Dada." Came the garbled and sleepy reply as she was lifted from her crib and nestled herself into Arthur's embrace. He cuddled her and kissed her head before walking over and laying her down on his desk.

"Merlin, grab me a nappy for her." Arthur pulled off her old diaper and put it in its basket to be washed. Merlin opened Ellie's cabinet and pulled out a fresh cloth diaper and tossed it to Arthur along with a wet washcloth. Arthur cleaned up Ellie who had begun looking around the room with her bright blue eyes. When she was all clean Arthur rearranged her bedclothes and stood her up on the table. Ellie's knees bent and straightened in a bouncing motion as Arthur held her up with a smile, "I bet she's going to walk for me too. Isn't that right, Ellie?"

"Dada." She nodded and squealed as he set her back down on the floor. "Will Belinda be here to pick her up to wash and dress her?" he directed at Gwen.

"No. She quit."

"Quit? I thought she loved this job."

"Father is ill in another village. She went to tend to him. Morgana is her nanny now."

"Morgana?!"

"Worried I will turn her against you?" Morgana replied wryly, "Come on, Arthur. She absolutely loves her aunt Morgana. Don't you sweet one?"

Eliana looked up and she moved her lips silently before saying, "Gana."

"What!" Gwen said exasperatedly. "First you and now Morgana. She better say mine name soon."

Morgana on the other hand had the biggest smile on her face and a look of triumph on her face as she stared at her dumbstruck brother, "Oh, yes, your Aunt 'Gana loves you much more than your dada."

Arthur glared at Morgana and picked up his clothes. Merlin followed him behind the screen to help him get dressed as the two women laughed.

###

A few hours later Merlin and Arthur were out in the forest. Merlin had gotten much better over the years at keeping silent while his best friend hunted. He had learned to read Arthur's body language to tell him where to go and what to do. It was a ritual and although Merlin did not particularly like hunting it was one thing that Arthur and he did together most of the time. Arthur took a right and notched an arrow in his bow. Merlin sighted a deer not far from where they now stood. He stood up slowly and pulled the arrow back as he assumed his archery stance and kept the arrow just under his eye. Arthur took a deep breath in then out and released the arrow. The bowstring made a small twang as it snapped back into place and both of them heard the thud as it hit the deer along with a dying bleat. Arthur usually always made quick, clean kills. "Ha!" he proclaimed as he started for the deer while Merlin followed with supplies to dress and clean the deer before he carried it back. Arthur knelt down next to the deer and Merlin wasn't far behind when he pulled out the leatherbound cleaning kit and unfolded it to set it next to Arthur. They set about cutting the deer open and beginning the process of dressing it.

"I can't believe Morgana stole my daughter." He grumbled quietly.

"She didn't steal her, Arthur."

"She said Gana. Morgana has a nickname! How is that possible? She's been here for what, a month? Guinevere and I have been around her forever and so have you for that matter. Morgana just waltzes in there while being a prisoner and Ellie instantly loves her. She's evil!"

"6 weeks. I don't think she's evil Arthur. Ellie wouldn't have attached herself to Morgana if she was evil. Morgana is a great friend to have if you are her next target."

"Another reason why I don't want her around my daughter. I keep trying to tell Gwen that but she's like all women. She doesn't listen to me when I know I'm right."

"Are you jealous?"

"Jealous? Of Morgana? No. Not even."

"You are. You're jealous. How can you be jealous?"

"Hey Merlin."

"What?"

"Shut up." Arthur sank his gloved hands into the deer underbelly and began to pull out its innards. Merlin always hated this part. "Actually, Merlin. Let's talk about Morgana, shall we?"

"I don't think we should." He handed the smaller knife to Arthur.

"Oh but I think we do, Merlin. Let's talk about what you did to piss her off. Because she's furious with you. You should see the way she stares at you when your back is turned."

"How does she stare at me?"

"I thought you didn't want to talk about Morgana."

"Just tell me."

"Fine. Fine. There is one thing I know about Morgana and that is that no matter what she always has spoken her mind even when it got her in trouble with our father. Especially when it got her in trouble with her father. The fact that she is not speaking to you says volumes about how angry she is with you. Now the real question is: What in the world did you do to make her so angry? It must have been something big."

"I don't know."

"You have to have done something."

"I may have lied to her."

"About what? I know Morgana is sometimes prone to overreacting, but a simple lie wouldn't make her so angry."

"It's not important. She will get over it."

Arthur laughed, "You don't know my sister very well, do you?"

####

Morgana was sitting on the floor holding the tiny hands of her niece as she stood up on her two feet with her back to Morgana while facing her mother a couple paces away. She looked around Ellie to Gwen who nodded, "Come on Ellie, come over here to Mama. If your papa wants to make this a competition we can make it a competition." Ellie bounced and squealed while leaning forward and taking a step. Morgana smiled at her niece. Over the past two weeks her mind had been filled with questions and her heart had been heavy with confusion and underneath it all a seething anger that was filling her up day by day and the only relief was when she was with Gwen and Ellie just like old days. Seeing Merlin only stoked the fire and made her want to scream at him, but Morgana had only grown more cunning and patient with time. Her silence made him feel worse than her rage. But she also wanted answers to her questions. She wanted to know why he hid it from her when he could have been helping her. All of those terrible things that had happened to her never would have happened if he had been to her what she wanted…what she needed.

Morgana started to lean forward with Ellie as she started to take a couple of steps forward while keeping some of her weight on Morgana's hands. Gwen leaned forward and held out her hands. Morgana pulled her fingers gently from Ellie's grasp and she took two independent steps before falling forward into her mother's arms. "Good job! That was such a good job, Ellie! We'll show your daddy won't we?" Gwen set her daughter back down onto to floor facing Morgana and she stared to walk towards her aunt with a smile and again took two steps before falling into Morgana's arms this time.

"We don't want to make her tired." Morgana set Ellie in her lap who immediately set out to get back onto the floor. Morgana let her go and watched her crawl away to her toys. She got up off of the stone floor and walked over to help Gwen back up.

"I won't be able to get up off the floor in a few months." She sighed and put her hand against her lower back.

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Being pregnant."

"Oh. Well I've been told each pregnancy is different. I was only sick with Ellie for about a month. I had a backache from about my 4 month until I delivered her. Gaius told me it was because of the way she had set herself. As for the actual having a little person inside of you it feels odd. When they first move it feels like butterflies in your belly until the baby gets bigger then you can feel them kick or feel different body parts pressing on different places. You have to go to the bathroom all the time when you get closer to delivering. With Arthur he was always obsessed with where she was and which direction she was facing. It's really interesting when their back is against your belly. You can feel it and rub their back. It's the most wonderful thing in the world. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. I was just curious." Gwen sat down in the rocker and Morgana took up her place on the windowsill.

"Morgana…were you?"

Morgana's eyes went wide and she shook her head furiously, "Me? No. Not me.

"Who?"

"It's not important."

Although Gwen was curious she let that subject drop in favor of a new and much more interesting one, "What did you two have a row about?"

"Who?"

"You and Merlin. I can tell he did something because when I said his name your eyes instantly turned darker. So out with it. It's been two weeks at least since he did something to you. You both are my friends, right? I would like to hope that you can count me as a friend again."

"I would too. But I don't want to talk about him."

"You can't ignore him forever."

"Oh yeah? You just watch me."

"He cares about you."

"Don't give me that, Gwen. If he cared about me he wouldn't have lied to me."

"So he lied to you?"

Morgana clenched her teeth together and let out a deep breath. "Yes, but it's not important."

From across the room they heard, "RAWR! Dada! BOOO!" as she smashed her toy sword against the blocks that scattered across the floor.

Both women shared a laugh and Gwen turned back to her, "If it's not important then why is it bothering you so much. You aren't even speaking to him. Even when you were angry at Uther you always yelled at him. You never kept your anger to yourself and now you are angry at him and not speaking to him. He didn't do something unspeakable did he?"

"No! Why would you think that? Merlin wouldn't do that."

"I didn't, but you never know. Anyone can surprise you. Especially little baby dragons that are not at all like the stories say they are. Thank you for taking us down there."

"You liked that did you? Aithusa loved Ellie. I think everyone loves her. They were both fascinated with each other." It had taken quite some convincing to have Gwen go down there in the first place and even more to have her bring Ellie.

"So what did he do? You have to talk to him eventually."

"No I don't." she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Morgana." She chided before continuing, "I bet he feels bad about it too."

"Alright, Gwen, have you ever had anyone lie to you and I don't mean some sort of tiny lie, like they ate the last sweet roll or something. I mean something that if you had known could have changed your life forever but didn't tell you about it and lied constantly. How would you feel?"

"Hurt, betrayed, confused. What could have been so important?"

Now Morgana was in a position of power. She could tell Gwen that Merlin had magic. She could out him to his friends and watch the chaos unfold, but she decided against it because she wanted her answers first and she would never get them if he was imprisoned or dead or the like. "I can't tell you."

"Keep your secrets then, but you should talk to him. It might surprise you."

Morgana turned to stare out the window and her eyes landed on Merlin and Arthur who had just returned from the hunt with a good sized deer. "Speaking of him…"

###

Merlin separated from Arthur at the castle gate with the deer draped across his shoulders wrapped in cloth. He headed down for the kitchens and waved at the butcher who gestured for him to lay the deer across the cutting table. "I suppose you will be wanting to take a leg to the beast?"

"I would be wanting."

"Fine. Eats well, that beast."

"She does." The Butcher cleaved through the meat of the hindquarter to sever the leg for Merlin to pick up. "Thanks." He grabbed the bloody leg and darted from the kitchen to where Aithusa was kept. When he got down the cavern he heard the rattle of chains and as he walked into the light he saw Aithusa start to come down the rock then come to a halt when she saw Merlin, an almost disappointed look on her face.

Merlin stopped at the edge, "What's this then? I bring you a present and you look like that."Aithusa looked at him bashfully and he tossed the leg to her, "It's fresh, all bloody, just how you like it. Now what was that look for?"

Aithusa shifted her mind to Merlin's and showed him a scene from the day before. The first thing he saw was Morgana and the accompanying joy that came with the little dragon seeing her. She sensed others behind Morgana and peeked around. Her senses and nose told her that they weren't a threat. Morgana would never bring her anyone who would hurt her. "Come on Gwen. She won't hurt you." Out of the shadows he saw the Queen's face and in her arms the tiny bundle that was Eliana. Both mother and daughter had wide eyes as they slowly approached the dragon, who extended her neck and pulled her chain taut while sniffing her newcomers.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. You don't bite, do you? Well, you don't bite those who are nice." Aithusa nodded and kept watching them.

"How do I greet her? Like a dog or horse or something."

"Of course not! She's a dragon, not a house pet."

"Sorry. I don't have much experience with this."

"Just come up to her, extend her hand to let you sniff her and tell her your name and who you are."

"She understands us?"

"Quite well actually. She can't talk though. I think that she should be able to, but she doesn't now. But she makes noises and the like to tell you what she wants." Another nod from Aithusa.

Gwen got in sniffing range and extended her hand slowly. She smelled of fear, a lot of fear, but also curiosity and a kind heart. "Hello, Aithusa. I'm Guinevere, Gwen, how are you today? This feels silly."

Aithusa snorted and rolled her eyes but bowed to her then her eyes fastened onto the other thing in her arms. Ellie was reaching for the dragon with wide eyes and a smile of wonder. Gwen got closer and allowed the dragon to sniff Ellie, who reached down and petted her snout.

"That's Eliana. She's Gwen's offspring. Baby." Morgana told the dragon who turned to look at her in confusion before sniffing the tiny human again. The confusion and curiosity made Merlin laugh. The dragon seemed incredulous as she looked between Gwen and Ellie as if confused that humans could really be so tiny. "Don't look like that. She's little, like you were when you hatched."

"She really understands."

"Yes. And she is quite gentle. Here." Morgana plucked Ellie from Gwen's grasp and put her down next to the dragon on the cave floor.

Ellie looked confused before putting her hands on Aithusa's hide and hitting it softly with her fists. Aithusa had brought her snout back down to sniff Ellie again and the soft breaths from her nostrils tickled the back of Ellie's neck. The shrill giggle that erupted made Aithusa jump and then sniffle again. Morgana and Gwen started to laugh with the little girl.

"I see now. Morgana brought you a little snack." Aithusa's eyes went wide and her outraged emotions made Merlin chuckled. "I only meant it as a joke you know. Did you have fun with her then?"

Aithusa nodded.

"Well I'm sure that Morgana will bring her down for you again."

Aithusa posed him a question after giving him an image of Morgana then himself then putting them apart when before they had seen her together.

"Oh. Well she's angry with me."

Why?

"Well she didn't know I had magic. I kind of lied to her."

Confusion at the word Lie came from Aithusa.

"Like if I told you that I had another snack for you and I really didn't. Something like that."

Merlin got a grumpy reply from Aithusa as if that would be very mean for him to do.

"It's not a very nice thing that is for sure. I just don't know how to make her forgive me."

The image of Aithusa with her deer leg.

"A present? Not likely. I already gave her one when I let her see you more often. She doesn't even want to talk to me. What else do you think I should do?"

Aithusa shrugged and went back to eating her meal.

"You aren't a lot of help."

A snort.

"Well you know her better than I do it seems."

Another snort.

"You really aren't being helpful."

She huffed and her shoulders moved up and down like she was laughing at him.

"That's mean you know and you are really a cheeky thing aren't you?"

She gave an affirmative trill before getting up and climbing back up to the top of her rock. His smile faded as he stared at her twisted and gnarled back legs.

"Why haven't you even tried to heal your legs?" the question came unbidden before Merlin could stop himself.

Aithusa looked back at him then down at her legs and concentrated.

"You could heal yourself before and you healed me and Morgana, why haven't you tried to heal yourself?"

A sudden and sharp pain stabbed into his temple. Merlin cried out and put a palm to his head.

"It hurts you? How can that be? Well I guess that the bones must have grown wrong and it would be like rebreaking them wouldn't it?"

A nod came from the dragon then an image of Kilgarrah then of herself.

Merlin was confused. "What?"

She tried again. 'Not same.'

"How did you speak like that?"

Aithusa shrugged but seemed excited by this new development.

"Not the same? Do you mean that you don't know how they look? Or how they are supposed to look."

She nodded.

"Then why hasn't Morgana…oh right…she wouldn't know much about it either would she?"

Suddenly an image of Morgana and Merlin came into his head, the one of them kissing, then a question.

"Why don't I kiss her? Are you trying to get me killed?"

'No.'

"You talked again. Real words in my mind instead of images."

Aithusa nodded in triumph, then showed him the image again, as if she was urging him to go and do that.

"So your plan is for me to kiss her, then what?"

Happy feelings flooded his brain.

"So you think me kissing her will make me forgive her?"

'Yes.'

Merlin smiled at her, "And what happens if she get even madder?"

Aithusa snorted.

"You are a mad little dragon. You know that?"

#####

Morgana rubbed her eyes and headed for her room with her bodyguard trailing behind her. Arthur never let her out of his sights now it seemed. She was always being followed everywhere she went since killing the Sarrum. Her lips curled up at the memory and her heart beat faster as she thought of her hands around the hilt of the sword as it plunged into his chest. She rubbed her wrists, which had been free of her manacles for about a week after telling Gwen how difficult it was to sleep in them. As her room came into view the guard beside it opened the door and she walked into her old room. The door shut and she heard the click of the lock behind her. The window was locked too and there was a guard right beneath her window. She didn't have anything sharp in her room to be used as a weapon and they provided her with two sheets. It wasn't the same as her old room, not exactly, but it was much much better than her small prison cell. Morgana crossed the room to sit at her vanity and let her hair down from where she had pinned it.

"Morgana." Came a voice from near the window and a shape detached itself from the darkness near her curtains.

Morgana covered her mouth to muffle her startled cry and she jerked up from her seat. The stool tumbled over on its side and made a loud noise on the stone floor. Morgana looked to the door and expected the guard to come bursting in at the noise. When no guards came she looked back at the shape and quite quickly realized who it was. "What the hell are you doing here in my room?! Get out!"

Merlin came into the light and crossed his arms over his chest, "You are finally talking to me?"

"Get out." She growled, "Guards!" when no answer came she called louder, "Guards!"

"I made it so that no one can hear us in here, mostly because I think it may get loud."

"What are you intending?"

"For us to talk. You keep avoiding me. I have things to explain to you."

"I don't want to hear your excuses. I don't care."

"Oh but I think you do, Morgana. I think you care very much about my answers."

"You want to talk? Let's start with this." Morgana closed the few paces between them in a few quick steps and slapped Merlin across the face hard enough to make her hand immediately sting and start to throb but she ignored the pain and glared up at the man in front of her.

Merlin reeled back and the surprised look on his face nearly made her laugh. He placed his palm on the side of his face where she had struck him and rubbed, "That make you feel better?"

His tone made her want to hit his other cheek as well. How dare he come in here and want to speak to her. Hiding in here like some sort of criminal or stalker, either put her on edge. "Oh yes, but maybe I should try it again just be sure." She leaned forward and he brought his hands up in a placating gesture.

"This isn't how I imagined this going." He muttered.

"No? Then what exactly did you expect? That I would welcome you in my bedchamber at nightfall with open arms?" she snapped and crossed her arms over her chest.

Merlin's cheek had just begun to throb in time with his heart after, of course, thie initial explositon of pain. Merlin mirror Morgana and crossed his arms over his chest as well. No need to appear weak to her. "I didn't expect to be attacked. I only want to talk. You haven't even let me explain."

"Explain? Well then, start explaining. Start with how long you knew about my magic and let me think I was crazy, or how you poisoned me, or how you have been keeping it a secret from Arthur, or how you have betrayed your own kind. Go on. Start talking."

Maybe this wasn't as good of an idea as he originally thought. "How about you ask me something. I will answer any question you like."

"Maybe I don't want to talk about it. Maybe I just want to slap you again."

"Be reasonable."

Immediately after he uttered those words he regretted it because her back stiffened and the anger flickering in her eyes roared to life, "You did not just tell me that did you?"

"Sorry. Sorry. I'm an idiot. I know how you must be feeling."

"And how is that?"

"Hurt, Betrayed, Confused, Angry. And you have a right to be. After all, you told me about your magic when you were scared of it and needed a confidant and I tried to be a good friend, Morgana, I did."

"And we both know how that ended. All the things that happened to me easily could have happened to you and right now our roles could have been switched.

"I know that better than anyone, Morgana and I wanted to tell you about my magic, but Gaius told me not too and I was so young and so reliant on everyone else that I listened to them and I shouldn't have."

"So you had Gaius to help you understand your power and for a long time I had no one. And you didn't think that it would come back to haunt you?"

"I sent you to the druids!"

"And you got them slaughtered! Why couldn't you have just told me! I could have stayed here! I wouldn't have made all the choices I had made if I had someone here to rely on! I had nightmarish visions every time I closed my eyes at night. I set fire to my room. And all the while you and Gaius acted as if I was completely mad. I was terrified that I was going to be put in chains and you and he watched me as I fell."

"I never wanted to make you feel alone. I tried my best!"

"Your best wasn't good enough. Not nearly good enough! And what would happen if I told Arthur your little secret? What do you think he would do to you? You've only got one of these." She pointed to the collar, "So would he just put you to death?"

"I can't let you tell him. He's not ready for magic yet."

"Yet? What do you mean, yet? It's not like you have some grand plan that started with you becoming a servant."

"Not exactly, but Morgana you can't tell him."

"And what would I get out of my silence?"

"Morgana." He warned.

"No, Merlin. I've suffered terrible things. I had nightmares and dreams and felt alone and lost. You caused my sister's death and in the end I've suffered unimaginable pain."

I'm sorry."

"That's all you have to say for yourself? Sorry? It's a wonder why the hell you are even here if all you have to tell me is that you are sorry! There has to be another reason. There's always another reason. What is it?" she stalked up to him.

"I'm not trying to hurt you or deceive you."

"Too late on both counts. Why does it matter to you if I won't speak to you? You hate me as much as I hate you."

"I never hated you, Morgana."

"What?"

"I never hated you. I feared you, desired you, respected you, protected you, healed you, and hated what you did, but not you."

His answer caught her off guard and she hated that, "I hate you, no matter what you have done or will do."

"You should. I've hurt you."

"You can't just come in here after all of this and tell me that you care about me." Morgana admitted to herself that she sounded whiny but it couldn't be helped.

"That wasn't my intention either. I've thought a lot about it and there were so many times where you could have killed me. It would have been only too easy to slip a blade between my ribs or harm me with your power but you kept on giving me chances to escape."

"Stop. Stop right there. I left you in places where the odds would be impossible for any normal mortal to survive. I never intended for you to escape."

"So you must feel something other than a seething hatred towards me too." Merlin reasoned.

"I loathe you." She hissed.

"It's different now because know my secret we are on even ground again."

"Hardly on even ground." He was getting closer to her. She could feel the heat from his body even at half a pace away. She gestured to her collar.

"Work with me and I will show you things that Morgause never could. You can't just go head to head with Arthur and expect results. You always said that he was a better man than his father so let him prove it. There is always another way. We can bring magic back to the realm without violence and bloodshed."

"I can't trust you." Her anger slowly began to turn to a new emotion.

"You don't have to trust me. Just talk to me again."

"What if I turn on you?"

"Then I was wrong about you."

"Would you want to take that chance?"

"Yes." He was closer now and her anger had taken a backseat to her curiosity. An alliance with Merlin would be beneficial to her now, especially if she could get him to help her get this collar off.

"Good." Morgana closed the distance between them and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "Sealed with a kiss then?"

Merlin pulled back and stared down at her. "I thought you hated me. Why would you kiss me?"

"Hate is such a strong word." She bit down on her lower lip and smiled up at him with a mischievous look in her eyes. "This is going to be rather interesting, don't you think, Merlin?"

XxOxX

Okay….soooooo what do you think. I actually rewrote the argument between Merlin and Morgana about 3 times. About a 1000 words each time and settled on this one. I also originally wrote a sex scene to go along with the fight. I still have it in storage but after putting it with the rest of the chapter it didn't make any sense. So I have to save it (possibly for next chapter). I have so many things to write about now! We are going to see the druids, dragons, some Mergana sexy times and possibly a few more things in the coming chapters. I hope everyone will stay tuned. :D My muse appreciates the time you took to read this and if you have any feedback whatsoever tell us!