A/N: soooo… ya'll liked the last chapter, eh? XD I liked the Auntie-Tossing. XD Now that's going to be a new Olympic sport.

Chapter Twenty

A few years passed since the Cattle Raid. After the battle, Cuchulainn had woken up on his chariot with Laeg grinning down at him with that wide grin of his and commenting on how he had won the heart of a Christian woman like the devil he is. Cuchulainn had laughed, but had no idea what his friend was referring to until he once more touched the cross on his ear and remembered. He remembered her kiss and the small amount of woman behind the cold shell. When he had made it back to Ulster, Emer didn't seem to notice the strange earring in his ear, but only seemed to care that he was back safely. For that, he gave her a winning grin and let her take care of him.

Years later, he wore the earring still in his ear, though not as much as he did when he came home from battling the forces of Connacht. Only now did Emer watch him oddly. "Why do you wear that cross, Cuchulainn? It seems out of place on you," she said, frowning faintly, though not unpleasantly so.

Cuchulainn had forgotten it, actually, though he remembered its significance when he touched it. "Ah… no reason, really. Thought it looked nice and I lost the mate for this one," he said as he pointed to the other earring, which was a pair of dangling silver bars. "This one I found outside a few years back and thought it looked nice, though it too doesn't have a mate."

Emer watched him, only now showing a bit of anger as she frowned deeply at Cuchulainn. She went back to her sewing and looked away from him, clearly irritated. "Cu… please know that… I don't mind it if you find a warm bed with another woman," she said softly. "I will accept you, so long as you keep your vow of only being married to me, for I can't imagine life without you in it with me as my husband." Her voice softened more and she looked up with the gentlest gaze she had ever offered him. She smiled faintly before speaking. "When I married you, I knew you were as wild as nature. The Great Hound of Ulster would be greater still in his near future and I knew that with that fame would come many women who would vie for your interest. You seem very particular, and for that I am glad, for you chose only me to be your wife. As long as you come back to me, I will love you. However…"

Cuchulainn's heart thumped oddly in his chest as he hung his head. "Please don't lie to me, Cu. I'm not stupid and I don't appreciate being treated as though I am," she said gently.

Cuchulainn smiled faintly at Emer. Did he really deserve such a generous woman when he was so selfish in return? "I was given it by a woman passing through. She healed my wounds and I kissed her when I was in a fever from the potions she gave me. She must have enjoyed it, for I woke with this earring in my ear and the other was gone. I don't remember who it was."

"They say that Queen Arturia had come through to check on the battle against Connacht, though she didn't come with troops. It could have been her, you know. She is a Christian and she also carries something on her that heals her every wound flawlessly. Rumor has it she has not changed once since she was crowned," said Emer as she stitched the cloth in front of her.

Cuchulainn nodded. "It might have been her. However, I doubt it. She's as cold as her country," he said, leaning back against the chair he sat in lazily.

Emer stayed silent as she stitched the cloth in front of her. "I heard that Briton's food stores have become low and they're beginning to beg for it at Scotland and Ireland."

"We have enough for ourselves, but not all o' them as well," said Cuchulainn. "They'll have to do something about planting crops that grow even in that snow."

Emer frowned once more at Cuchulainn. "You're being very cold and indifferent and I would like to know why," she said.

Cuchulainn looked off away from Emer, thinking. He too had heard rumors. That the queen had a lackey she used to gather information from far off in her lands to feed her what they did and who spoke of her and who bared her ill will. It felt wrong what he heard, for the letter she had sent him before had been the most sincere plea for help he had ever seen. Such a person could not be as cold and callous as the rumors claimed.

"It's nothing, really, Emer," he said softly. "I'm just… thinking."

Emer frowned more and went back to stitching. "If whatever is causing you to act so cold comes to you, please inform me."

Cuchulainn smiled at his wife and leaned over, kissing her cheek and nuzzling against her temple. "You are far too sweet for your own good, wife."

Emer blushed faintly and smiled at Cuchulainn, kissing him in return. "And you are far too difficult to deal with at times, hound."

Cuchulainn pouted slightly, making Emer giggle. He grinned when his goal had been achieved and sat beside her on the sofa. She went back to her sewing and let him lean her against his warmth.

Emiya had grown considerably since he had first arrived. His body was more developed and manly, his face had lost most of the boyish roundness and become more angular, his face still looking odd, though less so now. He looked more like his Asian brethren than he did when he was younger, though his face was still very unusual looking. His skin had become more tanned from his work outside and his hair had grown a bit longer and shaggier. Arturia had complained to him once about it, but he refused to cut it any shorter than he kept it usually. His skills in archery had become far better than Arturia had expected of him, as did his skills with a blade. He had started becoming hard to battle for her. It had come to the point where she no longer wanted to duel him because she knew she was going to become very dirty and beaten up from fighting him.

As she watched him help the farmers feeding the castle plant some vegetables, she saw the browning skin of his back, saw the pale scars of a whip and saw the many cuts and scrapes she had caused on him. His back was a strong one, muscled and toned and growing still. His shoulders had grown wide and his waist became slim. He was very handsome, pretty even, but she had never seen him follow after another woman other than her. It somewhat troubled her that her pet did not wish to mate with a woman. She knew he didn't fancy men, for he sneered and was cold to men.

Arturia herself hadn't grown at all, unlike the men and women around her. Merlin was looking the same as he had when he had given her Excalibur, but he was the only one. Gawain had grown broad in his shoulders and more muscled, his face, angular and fair like that of Cuchulainn. Bedivere had grown as well, though his cloak now covered both arms, hiding his missing hand from everyone. If anything, he had become as beautiful as a woman, though Arturia could still see him as a man.

She looked down at the wall of the castle and saw Gawain's brother Agravaine talking to someone dressed in a cloak. She frowned and moved back slightly so she would not be seen at her window.

"I have the potion with me here. Serve this and all will go to plan," said a woman's voice, though very faint.

"Very well," said Agravaine. "Be careful, that lapdog of the queen's is always about… listening at walls and keyholes."

"I know. Just do as I ask and all will be well," said the woman. Then, everything went silent.

Arturia looked out and saw that they had disappeared. She frowned and moved back into her room. Who had been plotting and to what end were they plotting against? Agravaine was a thorn in her side, one that irritated her far more than a thorn, actually, for the betrayal of one of her knights was far greater than that of her guardsmen whom she had slaughtered a few years earlier.

As she sat back in her chair, she thought about the exchange. When dinner came, she went down and took her dinner at the dining hall table with Emiya at her side. Emiya had taken up an attitude of superiority that she did not understand. He was her servant and did what she asked, but would ignore her knights when they asked something of him. It was as though she alone was the master of a willful dog.

And, indeed, she was the master of a willful dog. Emiya sat beside his queen with the single good thought that had become his focal point in doing her dirty work. She asked him. No one else asked him, for he was not their servant. He was HER servant alone. He had come across this thought a year or so ago when he was gathering information and had come back to see the knights were talking without her there. She had overslept and was inside her chambers while they talked about the growing famine that was starting to plague Briton. Without her there, there was no need for him to talk to the men. She was the reason he did the things he did, and she alone would be the one to receive his information.

Suddenly, Arturia dropped her spoon on the table and trembled, eyes wide. He took the spoon and sniffed it. It had a strange aroma to it. Gawain looked over and his eyes widened as well. "She's got a spell of some sort on her! It's all over her!"

Indeed, something seemed to be happening to Arturia. Her shoulders grew wider, thought she hardly grew any taller. Her face became manlier looking, though still the youthful look of a sixteen year old boy. She fell out of her seat and Emiya dropped to her side, holding her up. "My queen?"

Arturia's eyes rolled around as she took in her surroundings. Her hips had shrunk and her chest had become muscled instead of the relatively small soft mounds on her breast. She had become a man. Merlin raised his eyebrows as he looked at her. "It seems there was a potion in her food," he said.

Emiya frowned deeply and helped his queen up, though now she was a man. "Why would anyone put a potion in her meal to make her into a man?"

Merlin shrugged. "Probably to play a joke on her," he said, trying not to smile. "I have entertained such thoughts as to turn her into a man to see how she fairs."

Emiya grunted and picked up Arturia and walked over to the stairs. "I will take her up," he said.

Gawain jumped up. "Why the hell would anyone do that? Arturia's a good woman, why the hell would anyone want her to be a man?"

"Because it's funny," said Gaheris, sniggering behind his hand.

Merlin took the soup she had been eating and eyed it. It must still have the potion in it. He smiled faintly at the men. "I'll be off then. Inform me if anything else happens." Then, he turned on the spot and disappeared with a deafening crack.

"How does he do that? And why does it always have to be so damn loud?" gruumbled Bedivere. "I know he's a wizard, but the crack bothers me a great deal."

Gawain shrugged. "Not a clue. I just take it as is and leave it alone."

While the men in the hall continued to eat, Merlin set to work. He summoned a mirror and tapped his wand to it. "Give me Hogwarts," he said to it.

The mirror shimmered and a small woman appeared on it, blonde hair down to her shoulders and amber eyes eyeing Merlin suspiciously. "Yes? Who is this? How do you come to have one of these?" she said.

"Professor Weasley-Riddle, I presume," said Merlin. "I have need of a house elf to give you a sample that needs to be broken down. I believe that it is the reason that my pupil has suddenly become a man."

"Astra's not that good at breaking potions down, but Snape is. I'll get him to deal with it," said Professor Weasley-Riddle. She stopped and came back to the mirror. "You're that boy… Merlin."

Merlin nodded. "I thought you might recognize me, though I have aged… unlike you, my professor." He smiled faintly and caused the woman to blush faintly.

"My name is Amber, you are old enough that you can use it, Merlin," she said.

Merlin chuckled and looked over when a loud crack announced the arrival of a house elf. The house elf bowed and held up his hand. Merlin gave him a phial of the soup and nodded. "Thank you," he said just before the house elf disappeared with another crack. "And thank you, Amber. I'm sorry you will have to deal with Snape, but I'm certain it will be worth it."

"He's been causing more havoc as a ghost than he did as a human," said Amber with mild irritation. "Minerva's the only one that can keep him relatively quiet, but they cause more noise when they float around growling and kids become traumatized when they hear him call her his little 'love kitten'. It's very creepy, but at least it keeps him out of my hair."

"Yes, I'm sure. I remember that behavior all too well," said Merlin, smiling faintly. Amber nodded and then waved to him as he said "good bye" before the mirror only showed his face reflected on its silver surface.

"Let's see who would make a potion to turn Arturia into a man and to what end would this achieve," he mumbled to himself as he leaned back in his chair.

Arturia lay in bed where Emiya had put her, her naked form very much like that of a man. Emiya frowned when he saw it and covered her as well as he could before going to his place in the sitting room next to the fire, shutting her door behind him.

However, something fell over the room that he could never understand fully. He knew how to use his imaging magic, but he knew nothing of any other form of magic besides that. It was like a fog coming down over everything. It made Emiya sleepy and made him wobble as he tried to stand. However, he simply ended up landing on his simple bed beside the fire and fell unconscious.

A womanly figure wearing a long dark cloak walked through the room. She opened Arturia's door and walked in, locking the door behind her. Then, she went over to Arturia's bed and pulled the covers from Arturia's new male body. With that, the woman crawled onto the bed and leaned over Arturia's hips.

Arturia was having a strange dream. She felt as though she weren't in her own body, as though she was simply borrowing another person's body and was feeling what that person felt as an outsider. She felt soft hands touching her body, but her body wasn't that of her own female body, but that of a man. She felt a woman's soft flesh against her and felt something warm envelope a strange area of the borrowed body and pull on it.

It made Arturia's mind reel and caused her to jump and jerk. Why was this dream even occurring? She was a woman! Why was another woman even daring to touch her?! Then, it was like an explosion occurred, her body seemed to erupt on its own and still she felt the strange sensations continue. The wet, warm thing covering that strange area of her was unbearable! Why did it continue?! She jerked more underneath the woman's administrations and squirmed to get away from her. She started to cry from frustration when she couldn't do anything. She was trapped and bound, like a bird with broken wings.

She felt herself explode once more and then gasped for breath. The warm, wet, thing that had taken her so roughly was gone and all that was left was the bitter cold. Then, her covers were placed back over her body before she heard the strange woman leave. Good riddance! How dare she assault another woman so!?

The woman passed through the sitting room and took the foggy spell down. She held a phial of some white substance in her hand and had to wipe a bit of stickiness from her mouth, frowning in disgust. "I hate doing this sort of thing," she muttered. "But it is for the future that I have planned." Then, she walked out quickly.

A loud crack caused Emiya to jump to his feet. He shot straight into Arturia's bedchamber and found her still sleeping. He walked over and moved the covers back to check if anything unseen had occurred. Arturia's male body was covered in a very fine perspiration and was cooling quickly. Her masculine face was flushed and she was panting slightly, her manly chest rising and falling hard. He looked to her newly formed penis and frowned. There was a sticky substance around her stomach and it didn't take Emiya much to figure out what had occurred. A woman or someone had put the potion in the soup to turn Arturia into a man so they would be able to have sex with Arturia. He pulled the covers back over her body and turned around, going back to his bed. He would have to inform Merlin about this, for he trusted no one else with his queen's welfare accept himself.

The mirror lit up once more and Merlin picked it up. "Hello?"

A woman with long white hair pulled back into a long braid appeared in the mirror, blue-gray eyes eyeing Merlin for a moment before her strong face broke into a broad grin. "So! It seems little Merlin's grown up!" She stopped and eyed him a moment longer and blushed faintly, looking away. "And looking just like the movie. Wow, that's creepy."

"Pardon?" Merlin did not enjoy it when his old history professor tended to ramble to herself about things he had no idea about.

She waved a hand dismissively at him and held up the phial. "You wanted to know what was in this, right? Snape helped me pick it apart. I'm not real good with doing that, but he did help a great deal so… Anyway, what it is seems to be a gender change potion much like the one I gave to the twins to use in their joke shop. Only that one was still being developed and they finished it for me," said his professor.

"Professor Malfoy, it's nice to see you looking well," he said, grinning faintly.

Professor Malfoy waved her hand at him once more. "It's Astra, Merlin. And it's Malfoy-Elric now. I married two Elrics and Draco came back from the dead." She huffed slightly and rubbed her face. "Never in my life… never… would I have ever imagined I'd end up with three."

Merlin smiled faintly and leaned back with the mirror in his hand. "Can you make an antidote?"

"Well, I can certainly try, Merlin," she said, her Texas accent coming out more. He remembered the day when he had to ask why she spoke so differently from everyone. She had to tell him about living in America before the Great War destroyed her ability to go back home.

Merlin nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Astra. When can I expect it done?"

"Oh… I don't know. Probably a few hours. It depnds on how many breaks I need to take to get away from Mr. Loud-mouthed-snarky-know-it-all who keeps backseat driving," she said with a grimace.

"I heard that, Mrs. Malfoy," said a smooth voice from behind her. A silvery looking man with long, dark, oily hair floated behind her, glaring imperiously down his hooked nose at her.

"Oh shut up before I sick Minerva on you for acting up, Snape," snapped Astra. She turned to Merlin and nodded. "I'll get back to you in a while. See ya!" Then, the mirror returned to reflecting only his face as he sat back once more.

Merlin smiled faintly as he gazed at the mirror. It was as though he were at Hogwarts as a boy, watching his teachers bicker good-naturedly at each other. Some didn't get along with others, but they stuck together when things got rough and things had become rough when he was going to the school. They had to continuously rebuilt parts of the castle themselves and employed the help of the older students so they could finish the job more quickly. The used alchemy and magic to accomplish it all.

And so, Merlin waited in his chambers, waiting for news of an antidote and unknowing of the event that had taken place inside the castle while he had to deal with getting the mixture analyzed.