A/N: ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS! Thank you all so much! I read reviews over and over because it makes me smile thinking people are enjoying things that I imagine in my head... In a completely non-vain way, if that makes sense... I enjoy the fact I'm making people cringe with excitement because I know when I read a book or FF I love that feeling. :)

Bundibird, yeah look up FanFiction terminology. (I think it's an angelfire site) Helped me a lot. And I'm so glad you like my characterisation and that you picked up on the connections and the fact you liked all those lines aaand that you stayed up reading. :) I hope you didn't fall asleep on your empty coffee cup as I did after my Harry-Potter induced coma. P.S. 'Are you ever vertical' is my favourite line that I've ever written, purely because I imagine Arthur holding Merlin at a forty five degree angle from the back of his jacket at the time... A maze thing. If monsters were Merlin children would look under their beds and get disappointed when he wasn't there... I sort of wish he was under my bed... Or in it... (looks around suspiciously) Hahaha... Got to love Shatner. I'm never forthright. I like my twists and turns. Hope you slept... You need to sleep before you read or else you won't understand... Learnt that the hard way. Curly Wurly Me, glad you liked it :)! bubzchoc, just want to say how appropriate I feel it was you were my hundredth reviewer. Thank you so much. IndiaMoore, more on Merlin's hunting skills later... I tried to write that at first but it makes more sense if I do it later... Can't tell why. :) UPDATED! :) gorgeousangel, Hahaha... Nice. At least I wasn't going crazy. Uther's turning a blind eye because he doesn't believe him to be Balinor's son. No one likes Arnold (not even me). He stirs up lots of trouble... And yeah... Gwen and Merlin. More in the chapter. Distressed Clover, Later on... :)

This chapter is dedicated the Bundibird who saw my username and thought to take a chance on my writing skills and then review every time she read a funny line. It was going to be dedicated to her before I even knew she was reading just an fyi, simply because her appreciation of my FFname meant so much to me. I put a lot of thought into it, randomly. Just so you know, it was either going to be . .horror or EatTheDamnCookie :) Also, I read you bio and you and I have the same problems when it comes to Dean Winchesters hair colour...

The Court of the Lake

Weeks had passed and Merlin and Gwen still hadn't spoken. It was quite awkward how they always managed to just avoid each other, both of them taking strange unspoken shift work for their duties where both Arthur and Morgana were present. Merlin had breakfasts with the king and Gwen took dinners and lunches. Merlin was there for council meetings and functions and Gwen had dance lessons.

In the meantime, Merlin found use of his extra-Gwen free time to read up and study all he could on this strange destiny of his and magic, which he especially did after he found a section of the library, sealed off to everyone by pure accident.

One day, he had been searching for a book for Gaius and it was on the top shelf of the stack. Unwilling to get Geoffrey to help him as he would most definitely receive a lecture of some sort about a history he didn't want to know about, Merlin climbed up to the top of the shelf himself, bracing his feet in the small gaps on the shelves and thanking the Gods for the first time that he was so skinny and nimble.

But he was also clumsy and had the hand eye coordination of a blind baby duck – on occasions. So when his foot slip, he shouldn't have been surprised and yelped. He did though and ended up catching his hand around the candelabra to his right and trying to grip that, only for it to collapse.

In surprise, Merlin let go of the wrought iron but at the same time, the bookshelf swung around and knocked him to the ground in a different room. One that he had never been in before or knew even existed. The entire thing was filled with a dust layer so thick that indicated no one had been there for decades at the least. Merlin sneezed half a dozen just as he stood up, the motes collecting in his nostrils and causing his eyes to water. When he finally got over the sneezing fit, he stood up and brushed himself off, looking around.

Inside there had been a box that rattled and he made sure he stayed far away from that. There was a chair like none other Merlin had ever seen. It was a long bench with thick soft padding on top and pillows decorating it and wide enough to be a bed. Parts of it were moth eaten but he saw it was salvageable. There was also a desk with an unlit oil lamp and another chair, more like Arthur's but worn down with age and disuse.

The entire room was covered wall to wall with books, and not just any books. Magic books. Like Gaius's chambers there was a small staircase along the wall that led up to a second floating level and there was a ladder along the wall.

It was like all his childhood dreams come true.

The room seemed completely abandoned and due to the nature of the books inside, Merlin realised that most people probably didn't even know if its existence. So he claimed it as his own and decided that it was just for him. A sanctuary of sorts, to practice and read about magic.

It took him two weeks to properly finish cleaning the room. He left cleaning supplies in the room during the night so he wouldn't have to sneak them passed Geoffrey during the day and on all his breaks, worked on the room until he could inhabit it without a cloth over his nose.

He kept the box in a far corner and stopped the rattling by weighing it down. He didn't trust it enough to actually try and opening it and thought maybe it was best to leave some secrets locked away and eventually found a closet door inside the small room and hid it away in there.

In his room, Merlin felt more himself as he was able to have a few hours of the day unattended and free to practice whatever magic he wished. He found a lot of books on magic and books on lore and books on the Faeries and the Sidhe. Books written by Druids and books written by Knights of Camelot in the past that had had magic. There were also books on legends and depicting adventures that had not yet passed that seers predicted whilst looking into great viewing stones.

He touched the sketching's in one book with his forefinger, shaking slightly at the pictures of a king and a sorcerer, back to back and fighting off a nameless demon. For a moment he imagined them to be himself and Arthur, battling with sword and magic. He wondered if it could be true. If he could really one day change Arthur's mind totally about magic and help him restore it to the land.

Blinking away his fantasies, he looked back at the picture and snorted. The sorcerer in the picture wore a robe with stars etched into the fabric and the king looked nothing like Arthur, with his thick brown beard and a large crown. Merlin knew for a fact Arthur hated wearing the crown because it gave him a headache.

One evening, Merlin had lost track of the time reading. The library had only a small window and he rarely looked up from the books he buried his head in. It wasn't until the waning light in the room meant he couldn't see the writing, did he look up from his position on the bench and his ears pulled back.

He had been sitting curled up and quite relaxed with pillows supporting him and his legs underneath him when it happened, and as he lunged himself off the bench in surprise, he fell forward with a clatter onto the ground.

"Shush!" he heard and Merlin froze on the floor, having heard the sound from outside the hidden door. "Did you hear that?"

Merlin's ears pulled back and he tried to recognise the familiar voice. "N-no, sir."

"Listen." Trying to be as silent as he could be, Merlin dragged his feet up from underneath himself and crept forward. "That!" the voice hissed and Merlin realised his feet had scraped on the ground as he stood. "What does that sound like to you, Jonathan?"

Merlin raked his brain through for the name Jonathan and frowned, having known so many Jonathan's. It was a very common serf name. "A… A mouse, sir?"

"A mouse…" There was a resounding slap noise and Merlin flinched for the man. "You said he came this way."

"Yes sir."

"And he comes this way everyday?"

"Yes sir. Every time he has a break. I've tried to figure out where he disappears to but… I can't figure it out, sir. One minute he's there and the next minute, he's not. I lose him every time."

"How do you lose him? You only have one job. How do you fail it?"

"I'm most sorry, sir."

Sir… He's talking to a Knight. Merlin's eyes widened in horror. Sir Arnold. "He isn't just disappearing. If he was, he could do it from any point in the castle. There is a reason he keeps coming to the library to vanish. Maybe he has created a portal or… Jonathan?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Have you ever noticed the dust on the ground before?"

Merlin thought of how silly a question that was. Quite proudly he looked down at his feet and saw not a speck of dust below him. When I first got here, I was leaving white foot pri… He looked down at his feet and then followed his eye line to the door. There he saw the light smudges on the ground from where the secret door had been sliding open. There was no longer a thick layer of dust on his side of the door, but no one cared for the libraries side of his room but Geoffrey and the man hardly ever cleaned judging by the age old cobwebs on his own personal candles.

Idiot! he cursed himself. There was a light knock on the back of the bookshelf on the library side, the front door of Merlin's room. Before he could realise what he was doing, his magic worked on instinct and locked the doors from the inside just as a dull thunk told him Arnold tried, without success, to yank the candelabra.

"Sir Arnold?" Jonathan asked hesitantly and then there was a yelp as the servant was obviously hit. "You idiot. He isn't here. Go find him and follow him closer!"

"Yes sir."

There was a scuttle and then harsh angry breaths on the other side of the door. As quietly as he could, Merlin crept over to the door and pressed his ear against it to hear Arnold's mutterings. "…smarted by a child. Honestly, is there no one in this kingdom with a scrap of intelligence?" His voice started disappearing as his footfalls echoed away.

Merlin waited until he was plunged into complete darkness and slowly unlocked the door, a click sliding the bolts back into place. He opened the door and exited, careful to create a magical dust storm over the doorway to cover his tracks and then locked it behind him with the same magic.

Then he scurried out and to the kitchens, then straight to Arthur's room. The entire way he felt an unnerving feeling he hadn't noticed he'd been experiencing since Arthur's birthday. It was the feeling of being watched.

Sir Arnold was having him watched.

"You're horrendously late Merlin." Arthur commented as he entered, the prince not even turning around to greet him. Merlin was thankful, not wanting Arthur to see him white and shaking.

He wondered if he should tell Arthur about Arnold having him followed, but then he would have to explain how he found out. "Dinner, sire." Merlin realised his mistake almost immediately as Arthur's head snapped up at the show of obedience. Merlin only ever called Arthur 'sire' if he was joking or emotionally distressed.

He started to smile, but it was too late. "What's happened?"

"Nothing…"

"Merlin."

He softened his feature and grinned. "Really. Nothing. I'm just tired."

"From what? I haven't seen you all day. My armour hasn't been polished, my clothes haven't been washed, my room most definitely wasn't cleaned…" As Arthur started to ramble, he forgot about Merlin's sudden use of titles and got madder. Merlin could deal with that. An angry Arthur was a fairly normal Arthur, and whilst he heard the chores rattle off and the list become larger Merlin was thankful for once.

He would have enough distractions to keep him from his room long enough that maybe his new stalker would lose interest in the library.

Merlin and Gwen hadn't seen each other between hiding from one another and no one had noticed the two of their intricate dance until Arthur and Morgana happened to decide to take a ride out and drag both servants with them without telling said servants. "Arthur?" Merlin hissed as they approached the stables where Morgana was already sitting on her horse. "Where are we going?"

At first he had been keen to get out of the castle in hopes that Sir Arnold's sneak would follow him and maybe he'd see him. The man was quite sneaky it seemed for whilst Merlin could feel his presence, he couldn't ever catch him in his sights. But in the forest, out in the open and on horses… he wouldn't stand a chance.

However with Gwen there… Merlin felt uneasy and nervous.

"Well, as I'm a knight now, I can leave Camelot with a minimal guard and I can be a lone guard on Morgana's pilgrimage to her father's grave." Arthur said quite boastfully. "But we're not actually going on pilgrimage, unless of course you ask my father. We've got guests coming to Camelot and this is the last time we can get out of the castle before my father forces us to play nice with King Bagdemagus' children." Arthur made a face.

"I'm guessing we don't like them."

"King Bagdemagus is fine but his son and daughter are pompous know-it-all's who have tried constantly try to best everyone including each other. I swear, those two constantly need a mediator to ensure they don't kill each other. I'm sure there have been attempts on each others lives made by the other, if the rumours are anything to go by."

Merlin looked at Arthur sceptically, then at Morgana and wondered if he knew how the two of them argued. One day he had to separate them after an extremely heated argument over who was the better archer turned deadly and Arthur was pulling Morgana's hair whilst she was digging her nails deep enough into his arm to draw blood.

"That must be hell to deal with." he muttered but was drawn back to the problem at hand.

Gwen's eyes flickered up and Merlin saw her catch sight of him then gasp and step back. Arthur and Morgana both paused and looked as Gwen stuttered, "S-Sire." she bowed awkwardly at Arthur then turned her back to them to whisper something at Morgana. Merlin knew the two of them were having a similar conversation to what he and Arthur had just had.

"Did you bring everything I told you to?" Arthur asked. With a huffed sigh, he nodded and resigned himself to spending a day with Gwen and judging by her face, she had come up with the same conclusion.

The four of them mounted their horses and took off out of Camelot, making it as far as the gates before Arthur turned at a sulking Merlin and narrowed his eyes. "Don't look so disappointed Merlin. We're actually doing something fun for a change. I thought you'd be the happiest." Arthur rolled his eyes. "Next time I'll organise for you to muck out the stables. In fact, as punishment for being so gloomy you can do that as soon as we get back."

Gwen looked up frantically and then at Merlin, catching his eye for a second before turning back to her own horse's neck. Merlin was doing something similar, only looking back to see if he could see his new shadow, creeping up behind him but though Merlin felt the eyes, he could not see who they belonged to.

About half way into the darkling forest, Gwen asked, "Where are we going?"

Morgana turned her head and frowned. After a moment her eyes widened in surprise. "That's right. Arthur and I haven't been here for years. This was before even your time, Gwen."

Arthur slowed his horse down slightly so he could speak to Gwen. "Before Sir Goloris passed, Morgana would stay in the castle with us when he was out at war. Whenever we could, we'd sneak out of the castle with another noblemen's son and his serving boy, Flynn."

"He wasn't his serving boy. Flynn was much older than us. If you're going to tell the story, tell it right." Morgana rolled her eyes dramatically and Merlin wanted to point out this was one of the many ways they fought. "When we had days of vacation, Flynn used to sneak us out of the castle and take us to this lake. It's a small journey from here and no one goes there. We used to swim and play for hours on end until he had to take us back."

"Who was the nobleman's son?" Merlin asked.

Morgana looked at Arthur and his lips twitched. "Sir Kay. He was just knighted last summer, actually." he answered primly.

"Isn't he in Sir Arnold's patrol?" Gwen guessed.

Arthur nodded stiffly then squeezed his ankles around his horse and got him to trot faster. Morgana looked back between Merlin and Gwen as Arthur resumed his strange behaviour far ahead and just out of hearing distance. "Sir Kay and Arthur were raised like brothers until his father and Uther had a falling out and now they are expressly forbidden to see each other."

"Brothers?" Merlin frowned. "Why?"

Morgana's eyes turned dark and her face grew sad. "Slaves are asked to nurse the babes of noblewomen because a mother can't be seen raising her child. When the king couldn't be seen holding his son, Sir Ector and Gaius were called in." Her face hardened a little and then softened again when she sighed and let go of all her stress. "It's one thing Arthur will never forgive Uther for. Removing Sir Ector's knighthood for whatever disagreement they had was an act of betrayal to Arthur.

"My father tried to convince Uther to do otherwise, or to at least let Arthur still communicate with the two but he was determined. Arthur even asked when he grew older for Uther to give Ector his retirement, but there was an argument. Now, they can't mention anything to do with Sir Ector without Arthur getting confined to his chambers."

"I still don't get it." Gwen said. "Arthur loves his father."

"Of course he loves his father. Doesn't mean he necessarily likes him and what he does. I don't know much about it, just what my father told me, but apparently when Arthur's mother died Uther allowed himself to be swept up by the Great Purge and Gaius and Ector took pity on Arthur and became his surrogate father's of sorts. But Ector had a son of his own for Arthur to play with so he was with the knight more than he was with Gaius."

Morgana frowned. "It's strange, they live in the same castle but never speak under fear that Uther will banish Ector once and for all. I always thought it was cruel of Uther to do.

"That was how he became friends with Leon, by chance. Leon used to hate Arthur. But Kay begged Leon to look after him. Swore an oath and everything. I know because I was there." Morgana looked a little proud with that fact. "Kay was supposed to be watching me for my father and dragged me out to find Leon. When Leon realised Arthur had a knack for swords was when they became friends. Again, I was there."

Merlin smirked, "Do you know these things because you care or because you enjoy knowing everything?"

She mocked offence and then giggled.

"Are you three coming or gossiping like milkmaids?" Arthur shouted out from ahead. The three thirteen year olds looked up at Arthur who was a long way ahead of them, looking grumpy. They rushed their horses to catch up with him and Arthur glared. "You know, if you two wanted to know about Sir Kay, you could have just asked. I would have told you."

"No. You wouldn't have." Morgana interrupted. Arthur just rolled his eyes.

They reached the lake in question and Merlin though it was beautiful. It was sat underneath a horizon of mountains and wild flowers grew everywhere. Close by there was a small abandoned boat, just sitting on top of the waves. Arthur grinned. "Brilliant, isn't it?"

Merlin was too awe struck to agree. "Come on then."

It took a while for Merlin and Gwen to unpack as Morgana and Arthur looked around and discovered relics of their childhood. The boat, apparently, was Flynn's and it was a miracle no one had stolen it.

Before Merlin could make sense of the boat still being there after how many years, he heard Morgana shout out, "I found it!"

Arthur went over and looked at the tree Morgana was proudly staring at. It had Arthur and Morgana's initials engraved in it, as well as Sir Kay's. Merlin approached them from behind, inspecting the etchings and tilted his head to the side. "What's your full name, Morgana?" Merlin asked.

Morgana turned to face him, one eyebrow raised. "Le Fay." she said with a small smile. "Morgana Le Fay. What about yours?"

Merlin winced and shook his head. "Just Merlin. I don't know if my father had another name."

Arthur shifted uncomfortably, staring intently at the carvings. Merlin frowned a bit at this then Morgana interrupted, "What about your mother? Did she not have another name?"

He thought about it for a second then nodded. "Ugh… Yes, I think so… Um… My cousins name is…" He squeezed his face together to remember and everyone watched him patiently. "Adhan, I think… Yeah, Adhan. So I suppose that was her last name, though she never used it. In a village as small as mine there's no need."

Morgana stood up tall, looking very official and found a stick around the edge of the water. "Then I, Morgana Le Fay, christen you Merlin Adhan... Ugh… he needs an official title of some sort." Morgana looked to Arthur who just shrugged.

"Knight of Falls-over-a-lot?"

She whacked Arthur with the stick and he yelped. "Idiot."

"How about just Knight of Ealdor?" Gwen offered. They all looked at her and Merlin turned as red as the tomatoes that were thrown at him in the stocks. "I mean, he did save them all and he did…" she trailed off and their eyes caught. Only Morgana didn't know Merlin's true part in disappearance of Hannah and Arthur had no idea of Gwen's role. He wanted to keep it that way to keep both girls safe from Uther, should he ever find out. "He did turn Arthur into less of a prat."

Arthur's jaw dropped. "Guinevere!" Merlin and Morgana both wore matching grins at Gwen's blatant disregard for royalty.

"It's true." Morgana said, pouting her bottom lip out. "None of us could stand you before Merlin showed up. But he needs to be inducted into our court. So, as I was saying." she cleared her throat. "I christen you Merlin Adhan, Court Physician of the Lake. We don't have one of those yet."

"Court physician?" Merlin questioned.

"The lake?" Gwen went on.

"Aren't you training to be one? And Gwen's right. You healed your village and fixed Arthur. And yes. The lake is our Court."

Arthur pulled his sword from his belt and slammed it into the dirt. "When we were children we used to say the Lake was our kingdom. I was king, obviously. Morgana was the Queen, though not through marriage…" he made a face as though marrying Morgana was some sort of curse. "Kay was the head knight. That's why our initials are in the tree. It was stupidly where we carved the official court documents."

Merlin and Gwen peered at the boat again and saw next to Arthur's initials was a small king's crown and beside that was Morgana's, was the more feminine version. Beside the initials KS with a knights helmet and then FB with a court jesters hat. "It was honestly the only other thing we knew how to carve." Morgana confessed when she saw Merlin staring. She withdrew a dagger and went closer to the tree.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked.

Morgana looked up at her stepbrother as though he was daft. "I'm adding Merlin to the list, obviously."

Arthur glared at her. "It's just something stupid we used to do as children. Not an official document."

She turned sadly to the tree again, touching the bark softly. "It was official when we were children."

After a moment, Arthur grunted and took the dagger from Morgana's hand. "Fine. But I get to engrave it because you were always hopeless when it came to carving neatly. And give Gwen a title whilst you're at it. Everyone who comes to the Lake gets a title. Remember that law?"

Morgana grabbed Gwen's hand and dragged her over, looking her up and down. "Hmm… You could be a Princess."

"I get Court physician and she get's a princess?" Merlin scoffed.

Morgana sighed. "Yes, you're right. It doesn't seem completely fair, does it?" She took her stick and pressed it over Gwen's shoulders. "I name thee Guinevere Leodegrance, Princess of the Lake." Merlin stared indignantly as Gwen giggled.

"I'm no princess, milady."

"At the lake you are. Now come on. I wish to see what else has changed." She grabbed Gwen's hand and dragged her off a little way into the forest.

Arthur concentrated on carving Merlin's name and a small round physicians hat beside Merlin's initials and then wrote Gwen's too, giving her a smaller crown than Morgana's. "There." he said, a proud smile on his face. When he turned to Merlin and saw the knowing smirk on his face and realised his servant had noticed his obvious childhood glee. "Shut up, Merlin."

The two started exploring and Arthur took out his crossbow to hunt something. "Why are you hunting?" Merlin asked, picking berries and other things. "We have plenty of food."

"Yes, but no meat." Arthur argued. "We need meat."

"You just want an excuse to kill some poor defenceless animal."

"Animal's have defences!" Arthur objected, then turned back to the wildlife. "Just not very good ones." He added in a quiet mutter. Arthur had indeed taking him hunting and Merlin hadn't let him kill anything, always conveniently dropping something, falling over or sneezing to chase away his prey.

"You're cruel." Merlin objected, turning back to his foraging. He'd found many ingredients Gaius would be interested in and packed them away in his own satchel. While he was busy trying to determine whether the flowers he'd come by were poisonous or not, Merlin heard a small twang followed by a sickening thck sound. He turned and saw Arthur proudly lifting up a hare, bloodied and marred. "You killed it." Merlin gasped. "You actually killed it."

"That's what one does when they're hunting for meat they're going to eat." Arthur said. "I mean, you do eat meat, don't you Merlin?"

He gaped a little, unable to speak. He stared at the poor creature and huffed. "You didn't have to kill it. I brought more than enough food."

"But no meat."

"There's salted meat!"

Arthur made a face. "Fresh meat is better. You'll see." Merlin and Arthur made their way back to the camp and Merlin spotted the girls. He and Gwen made awkward eye contact then quickly looked away. This will be a long day…

As the boys returned from their forage in the woods, Morgana and Gwen had already gotten a fire going and had proven Gwen's skills with flint were almost as good as those of a blacksmith. She warmed her hands over the flames. Unfortunately the day had not been warmer for them to swim, but just being by the lake was good enough for now.

Morgana noticed Arthur and Merlin as they entered the clearing but Gwen only did as they approached the fire. When she spotted Merlin she stiffened and looked anywhere but the village boy.

Everything clicked.

For the first time, Morgana noticed it was Merlin that was making Gwen jumpy and her heart jumped into her throat as she recognised such blushes. The reason why Gwen was so adamant about her schedules lately and keeping on top of things as well as why she avoiding breakfasts. The two of them were avoiding each other. They like each other… she thought, panic and jealousy fluttering through her.

There was no chance Morgana's own feelings towards the poor and awkward village boy would let die. She tried to stifle them when she first saw him, stumbling and drunken with illness in the physicians chambers.

Her stomach had flipped and all normal thought rushed out the window. Despite the social standing or the utter ridiculousness of it all, Morgana wanted to rush over and embrace him, hug him and giggle with him. She wanted to hold his hand and kiss him. Never in her life had she wanted to kiss a boy before.

So she tried to keep her feelings secret from all but him, making deliberate passes. She was the Kings ward after all and was highly aware of just how pretty she was. Many squires and even a few of the younger knights had asked her to dance on many occasions. Merlin should have been fawning over her.

But Gwen.

Stop being a brat, Morgana. Gwen is your best friend!

But Merlin… She stared at him and wondered what she found so endearing about him. He was a clumsy peasant boy with ears far to big for his head, gangly and now too tall to tame himself. It seemed he was all arms and legs and couldn't control either. He had no finesse and was unable to fight but at the same time he was amazing and brave and so idiotic it made Morgana laugh happily.

She ignored her feelings for the rest of the afternoon, choosing to instead follow Gwen and Merlin's lack of interaction and nervous mumbling whenever they were forced to speak. She glared a little. Morgana had always had a problem restraining her emotions, but she couldn't be upset with this.

By all means, Gwen and Merlin would make the perfect couple. In fact, marrying Merlin would mean Gwen would always have a home in Camelot seeing as Merlin was training to be a physician and Arthur would most likely employ him as Court Physician when he was king.

Was that why she liked him? Because she can marry him? It wasn't completely unreasonable. Gwen was three years shy of the marrying age. Morgana herself had many suitors, but she hadn't thought that the only one she wanted would be the only one she couldn't have.

They got back to the castle near dusk, slightly muddied but not enough for Uther to notice. The boys left to go towards Arthur's chambers and Morgana and Gwen headed back to hers. They walked back in silence, Morgana still thinking about Merlin and didn't hear Gwen speak until she was standing right in front of her. "Morgana?"

She jumped a bit and realised she was sitting at her vanity, with Morgana hovering beside her nervously. "Sorry?" she frowned a bit. "Was lost in thought."

"I was just commenting on how good the day was." Gwen said quietly. For Arthur maybe, Morgana thought spitefully. You and Merlin were acting like frightened rabbits around each other and I was too busy noticing to have fun. She felt a little sour about making Gwen a princess of the lake. "Are you alright?"

Morgana stared down at her mirror and then back up at Gwen. "Are you and Merlin courting?" she blurted out and two seconds later she realised maybe she should listen more to Helena's lessons on tact.

Gwen turned bright red and then squeaked. "What? No. Why? Did he say something? Oh no." she raised her hands up to her face. "What have I done?"

Morgana leant forward then pulled back when she realised she looked like her Aunt Patrice and the gossiping women at her afternoon's teas. "What have you done?"

Shifting precariously from foot to foot, Gwen eventually grabbed a chair from Morgana's dining table and sat across from her mistress. "It was after Arthur's birthday and he and I were both upset about what happened with Mary and Gregory. We went for a walk and spent the afternoon together and he thanked me for looking after him while he was unconscious and I… I…" she closed her eyes and groaned.

Morgana couldn't take it. "What did you do?"

Gwen gasped and pulled her face in her hands, curling her feet up on the seat. "I kissed him!"

The king's ward fell off her chair. Literally, fell. "Morgana!" As Gwen knelt down to help her up, Morgana clutched her arms to pull herself up.

"Then what?"

Gwen swallowed and shrugged. "I… I don't know. I apologised and ran into my home."

"You apologised?" Both girls were standing. "Was it that bad?"

"What? No." Gwen shook her head. "Honestly, it last less than a second."

Morgana frowned. "Well that's not a kiss. That's nothing. I've kissed Arthur for less than a second."

Gwen made a face. "You kissed Arthur?"

"When we were little. I think I was five. That's the kind of kiss you gave Merlin right? A five-year-old kiss. Because that doesn't count as a kiss."

Blushing, Gwen nodded furiously and groaned. "I ruined everything." she fell back into her seat and Morgana reached out and patted her shoulder as Gwen started to cry.

It wasn't a good feeling, what she felt now. Morgana didn't feel good in knowing Gwen was upset over this. It didn't make her happy or bring her any relief. Instead, she was actually hoping that maybe her best friend did find an awkward love with Merlin, if only to make her happy again. "Did he kiss you back?"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I don't know. I got scared and I ran. I didn't want to know if he rejected me." She burned red as Morgana's hand came to rest on her cheek.

"Well you didn't give him time to actually think about it. Maybe now he thinks that you believe it was a mistake." she said hopefully. "If you really like him…"

"I don't know if I do." she cut Morgana off. "I've just… I've never had a friend apart from you." Morgana fell quiet and stared at Gwen sadly. The two of them had been friends for three years now and before that, Morgana had always seen her rushing around after Elyan as he followed Leon. "I really like Merlin but I don't know if it's just because he's the first boy whose paid attention to me or if I really like him."

Morgana straightened up. "Do you know what you need?"

Gwen frowned. "What?"

"To relax."

With a moan, Gwen shook her head. "Oh, Morgana no… If Helena finds out, it's my job, not yours."

"She won't find out. Come on. You get the swords, I'll go send signal Olivia and we can practice until dinner." Morgana grinned as Gwen started smiling a little. "See! It's already working."

With that, Morgana went out and found the closest guard. "Can you please send message to Sir Bedivere's daughter's maid, Olivia that Helena has been given the afternoon off?" The guard nodded and went on his way.

If nothing else, Morgana was resourceful and even if Merlin and Gwen fell madly in love, she would always have that over both of them.

"Merlin… Merlin…" Merlin shot out of bed and sat up, sweat dripping from him. He looked around the room and then groaned, tilting his head back. Carefully he tried to sense if he was being watched and felt no eyes on him in the present, so got out of bed.

After twenty minutes, he finally managed to sneak passed all the guards and picked up the torch near the top of the stairs before climbing down to the pit where the dragon was waiting for him. "Honestly, you need to start learning new party tricks." he said, peering up at the dragon who came down and landed in front of him.

"Merlin." The dragon said warningly. "There is a prince coming to Camelot with his sister. Maleagant and Camille. They are the children of one of Camelot's greatest allies in the future. King Bagdemagus will aid Arthur in one of his life's greatest challenges."

Shifting from foot to foot Merlin asked, "So why am I here?"

"Maleagant is not his father. He is not fond of Arthur, Uther, Camelot or his sister." The Dragon bowed his head down and looked deep into Merlin's eyes. "Should he cause any misgivings, all future alliances with Bagdemagus will be ruined as well as all chances of winning the war."

Merlin frowned. "What war?"

"The war that shall decide not only Arthur's fate, but the fate of the entirety of Camelot."

"You enjoy riddles, don't you?"

"Merlin, listen to me." The dragon leant forward and Merlin could feel his hot breath blow over him like a stormy wind. "You must ensure that neither Maleagant or Camille cause Arthur harm and at the same time, ensure the peace between the kingdoms. If you do not–"

"There will be no chance of winning the war." Merlin droned. "I get it, I do. But, how am I supposed to defend Arthur from a prince?"

The dragon smirked. "How did you defend Arthur from a Warlock thrice your age?"

The v-shaped frown on Merlin's forehead deepened further. "Ahmet was a Warlock?"

"They are more common across the seas than in Albion, but none are, or ever will be as powerful as you."

There was a sense of fear brewing in his stomach. "Maleagant is going to do something, even if I stop Arthur from being the victim, isn't he?"

"It is up to you, Merlin." The Dragon pulled away. "Your destiny or your loyalty?" The dragon took flight and went heavenward, leaving the raven-haired boy glaring at the ceiling.

"Why can't I have both?"

"One day, young Warlock. You will." the voice echoed out over the cavern until all the reflections were an inaudible blur.

Merlin just shook his head, thinking that if he had been told back in Ealdor he would be taking instructions from an oversized golden lizard that had the potential to breath fire, he wouldn't have told them they were crazy. Maybe I'm just crazy. Arthur would agree.

He went back up to his chambers, most adept at sneaking back through the castle without being noticed. He got into bed and snuck under his covers, dragging them over his head and then shoving his pillow on his face.

Merlin screamed, muffling his own cries until he was out of breath. Then, he slammed the pillow down on his chest and stared at the ceiling. Maleagant was coming in the morning and he had no idea what he was supposed to do and less of an idea of what he was supposed to prevent or what he was supposed to do about his new stalking friend.

Maybe I was better off in Ealdor where they wanted to kill me… It seems a lot easier in comparison.

A/N: I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter... I think because parts of it felt filler-ish but it's important filler information I tells ya!

Review, Danke Schön :)