A/N: OKIE DOKIE THEN! Here's chapter 21. I think there's only like four more chapters in this. Which, knowing me, means like ten since this whole Victoria saga was supposed to be one chapter…. ANYWAY special something at the bottom of this chapter :)

XXX

"Ouch!" a voice Merlin would have known anywhere hissed.

"Cassie!" Merlin exclaimed quietly and threw his arms around her. She hugged back for a second until Merlin thought to ask, "What are you doing here?"

Cassie pressed a finger to her lips and turned to motion him to follow her. They climbed up the stairs to the next floor and crept slowly into her room.

Merlin looked around warily before using magic to light the candles. Cassie grinned in the dim light "It's so cool when you do that" she said, flopping back onto the bed.

Merlin let a small smile cross his face before turning serious again, "Where have you been? Everyone here is worried that you'd actually left Camelot! Uther has guards out searching for you as we speak!" he told her.

She sat up and sighed "I was at Gwen's. When Arthur banished me I needed a place to stay until I could figure out how to get home."

"But you can't go home! First of all Uther is furious with Arthur for the idea of banishing you. Morgana is beside herself and Arthur is under and enchantment" he said, his voice growing louder and higher as he went on.

"Merlin!" Cassie hissed, silencing him. "Now what are you talking about, Arthur's under an enchantment?" she asked.

He took a deep breath before launching into the Noxie explanation. Halfway through Cassie stopped him "I know she's a Noxie. Now what's this about Arthur under a enchantment?" she asked.

Merlin frowned "How do you know?"

"Lancelot"

"Lancelot's still here?" he jumped up from the seat he'd taken at Cassie's table.

She rolled her eyes "Yes, he's staying with Gwen. Now can you please tell me about this enchantment?" she snapped.

Merlin sat back down "Oh, yes. So Noxie's have the power to control people's minds and she has taken over Arthur's mind and replaced his memory of you with herself" he explained.

Cassie frowned "So, you mean he's not just being a douche? He's just under some kind of spell?" she asked.

"Yes" Merlin smiled, hoping the news would take that sad look out of her eyes.

It did "Then what the hell are we waiting for, lets break this damn enchantment!" she stood up.

"Well we're not exactly sure what's going on" Merlin stalled. He wasn't sure it was a good idea for Cassie to go storming about the castle at the moment.

"Yes we do, she's going to kill Uther" she insisted.

His jaw dropped "She's going to do what?" he asked, incredulous.

"You heard me! She's got all those other knights from Valeon under her control and she's going to use them to help her kill Uther and then use Arthur to gain control of Camelot" she said.

"Well then yes, we have to stop her, but how?" he asked.

Cassie bit her lip, finally stumped. After a second she grinned "You still friends with that dragon?"

XXX

"So, young warlock and the traveler from another time, what is it that you have to ask me?" the Dragon asked in its rumbling voice that still gave Cassie the creeps.

"There's a Noxie in Camelot and she has control of Arthur. How can we break her spell?" Merlin asked.

The Dragon let out what sounded suspiciously like a snort "Noxies, troublesome creatures. The only way to break their spell is to make Arthur realize how he's been tricked. It's all in his mind and you must straighten it out" he said. "And then you must kill it." he added, almost as an afterthought.

"And how exactly are we supposed to make him realize what the Noxie did, if we can't get her away from him?" Cassie asked.

The Dragon shrugged, which drove Cassie up the wall "That is for you do find out" he said, vaguely.

Merlin sighed resignedly, he was used to the Dragon's annoying riddles, "Come on Cassie, we have work to do" he said, taking her arm.

A plan was beginning to form in his head as he led her back up the stairs that led to the dungeons.

XXX

Arthur woke to a sore back and sunlight brighter than it should have been. It took him a minute to realize that the cause of his back pain was the fact that he was on the ground and the sun was brighter because h was outside.

His eyes shot open to see a sunny woods around him and a small brook bubbling past on his right. It was a tad bit cold but still nice enough when the sun beat down through the trees.

The remains of a fire smoldered a few feet away from him and several bags lay against a tree. Next to them sat a strange looking wooden instrument that a tiny voice in the back of his mind told him was called a guitar, though he had no idea how the thought came to be there.

A branch snapped behind him and Arthur scrambled to his feet. Or at least he tried to. His hands and feet were bound together, stopping him from standing to see the figure come into his line of vision.

"Are those too tight? Cause I'm just saying, they weren't my idea" a strangely accented voice said.

He finally managed to look up and felt his face form into a scowl, before him, with her tiny hands on her hips, in a way that seemed strangely familiar, stood the young woman he had banished the day before. "Then whose idea were they?" he growled.

The girl dropped down next to him and pulled his feet into her lap, "Lancelot's actually. He was worried you might hurt me, but I'm pretty sure these are hurting you more than you could hurt me" she laughed softly.

Arthur was tempted to tell her he could hurt her very badly indeed, when her laugh distracted him. It sounded eerily familiar and for some reason made him ridiculously happy.

She looked up at him and saw it all written on his face, "I wouldn't try it sweetheart. I could kick your ass in about ten seconds flat" her voice was sharp but he could see that she would never truly hurt him.

"As Prince of Camelot, I demand you take me back this instant" he insisted.

The woman laughed again "And as standing Princess of Puerto Rico, I say no" she retorted easily.

Arthur had to try very hard to keep his jaw from dropping. Why had no one told him he'd attempted to banish a princess? She was probably just as used to getting her way as he was. "My Lady, my most sincere apologies for…" he began but trailed off as she began to laugh again.

"Arthur, we usually skip apologies. And since your head's been messed with, I will forgive you for calling me 'my lady'" she made a face at the last two words that was so comical that the Prince let out a tiny chuckle.

The woman raised her eyebrows "Funny huh? Well call me Cassie, or I'll keep you tied up here as long as it takes."

Her name reminded him that his father called her Lady Cassandra. He wasn't sure what to make of this strange and familiar young woman but he found himself relaxing.

She noticed as well and grinned, a wild, reckless grin that pulled at a tiny string that used to attach to his heart. "Here's how we're going to do this, I'm going to tell you about me, and then I'm going to tell you about you. And then you're going to remember" she said, squirming until she was in a comfortable position.

He raised his eyebrows "And how would you know all about me?" he asked.

Cassie rolled her eyes "Because I know you, dipshit" she said as if it was obvious.

Arthur had no idea what the word 'dipshit' meant but he assumed it wasn't a compliment, "Fine then, prove it" his eyes assessed her in a challenge.

Unfazed, she simply rolled her eyes and stared at him for a second before speaking "You have four scars that run horizontally along your ribcage on your right side. You got them when you were mauled by some massive bear on steroids when you were out hunting because you were mad at me."

He scoffed "You're close with Merlin, he could have told you all this. Besides, the day I went hunting I was confused, not angry" he said. Then added a tad uncertainly "And it was about Victoria, not you."

Her expression was unreadable but he sensed the tiniest bit of disappointment in her stare and immediately felt guilty. He was almost sure it had been Victoria who he'd cornered in the hall during the banquet, who'd against even what she wanted, rejected him. But the seed of doubt was there and he could easily see the tiny girl he sat with in the woods, in front of him that night. Her big, hazel eyes a mix of confusion, longing and sorrow. The same way they were now.

"Okay, so I am close with Merlin. But he couldn't have told me what you said to me that night. Or all the things you told me when you were recovering from the bear attack and I stayed with you constantly. What do I have to do to make you remember?" she asked.

The look in her eyes almost broke his heart. He wanted to remember and he didn't understand why he couldn't. Why, whenever he tried to think of times he'd seen her in the past, Victoria filled his head.

"Alright, so I'll tell you about me. You know most of it already but I can reiterate" Cassie brought him out of his thoughts, hiding her hurt well.

He nodded slowly and she launched into an introduction. She was from a kingdom far away, across a massive sea. She came from a large family and used to have a brother. She hated girly things, loved the ocean and made music her life.

"That's what that thing does, isn't it?" Arthur interrupted, pointing at the strange wooden instrument.

She beamed "Yes it is, and you know what it's called" she prompted.

"A guitar?" he guessed softly, worried both that he'd be right and that he'd be wrong.

Her grin grew wider "Yeah, it's a guitar" she reached back for it and pulled it into her lap, "I can play something if you like?" she offered. Without waiting for his nod, she pulled a small triangular, purple object out of her braid. She used it to pluck out a fast, rhythm on the instrument. It changed quickly as she went through it and he felt himself let his eyes slide closed as the song turned slow and soft.

Arthur simply sat and listened, leaning back against a tree and breathing deeply. The song was pretty in a simple ways but if he listened he could hear the complex harmonies woven through it.

Just as he felt himself about to drift off the instrument faded out and was replaced by her voice "A la nanita nana, nanita ella, nanita ella. Mi niño tiene sueno, bendito sea, bendito sea."

Arthurs eyes shot open and he sat straight up "Cassie!"

XXX

Merlin was tired. In fact he was so tired, he was tempted to collapse on the nearest horizontal surface and sleep for the next few hours.

The night before he and Cassie had woken up nearly half the castle to enlist their help in curing Arthur and the men form Valeon of Victoria's mind tricks. All it had taken was a pleading smile from Cassie and everyone had agreed to help.

He, Lancelot and Gaius had, with the help of some of the other Knights and Guards, managed to get Ewan and the six knights of Valeon locked upstairs in Gaius's chambers, where they proceeded to try every remedy Gaius had in his books and every spell Merlin could find.

Nothing worked.

"Maybe we should try talking to them about Valeon" Lancelot suggested.

Gaius nodded "It could possibly make them remember why they are really here and who Victoria really is" he agreed.

The seven men sat on the floor, unconscious for the moment, their hands and feet tied. Lancelot pulled a chair out to the open floor space in front of them, turned it backwards and sat on it, leaning his arms on the back.

Merlin murmured a spell and the men slowly began to wake up. As they realized they were out of their beds and tied up they began to struggle.

Lancelot cleared his throat and they all froze, staring up at him. "Good morning gentlemen, I'm sure you're all a bit confused at the moment. We apologize for all of this, but it has to be done" he said, his voice very soothing and clam.

Ewan spoke for them "What has to be done?" he asked, his eyes slightly less blank than usual.

"We have to get you out from under a spell" Merlin put in, he stepped forward, looking directly at a red-haired knight, who looked very young and a little scared "Can you tell me about Valeon? About your life there and why you came here?" he asked.

The knight nodded very slowly and tentatively began speaking of what he did in Valeon, and the training he went through as a knight. Then he told them about the mission to Camelot. "We were supposed to come here to negotiate a peace treaty. Ewan is the king and queen's best ambassador so they sent him with us to protect him. It is a long way from Valeon to Camelot, and one night we stopped to rest in a cave by a river that had frozen in the northern cold." His eyes now looked clearer and his voice had taken on a stronger tone.

Another knight piped up and continued for him "In the morning there was this incredibly beautiful woman telling us that she was another emissary and we were to treat her as such. Ewan agreed so we did as well."

Ewan was staring at them, his brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to remember this.

"Gentlemen, I'm going to read you something and you're going to tell me if the woman fits this description" Lancelot said, picking up a book from the table next to him. He read aloud the description of Noxies then looked up.

Then knights of Valeon all nodded vigorously "That's exactly what Victoria is! And it's how she tricked us!" one of them said.

"You're all clearly confused" Ewan finally said, "Victoria isn't a magical creature, she's an emissary from Valeon just as I am."

The rest of them men in the room sighed. They still had some work to do.

XXX

Arthur reached forward and yanked Cassie into his arms. She squeaked in protest and he laughed, kissing the crown of her head.

"Does this mean you remember me?" she asked quietly, her hands hovering tentatively at his sides.

"Yes, yes it does. And I am so, so sorry for ever forgetting you" he kissed her head again. She smiled at this and slid her arms around his back, burying her face in his shoulder.

They sat like that for a long time, Arthur murmuring apologies in her ear and Cassie simply smiling against his shirt.

Finally she leaned back and opened her mouth to tell him they needed to go back to Camelot, when Arthur cut her off with a kiss.

After a few seconds Cassie pushed him away, "We have time for a reunion later, now we have to get back to the castle before Victoria kills your father" she said, starting to get up.

He jumped up, knocking her the rest of the way off his lap and to the ground "What?" he asked, reaching down to help her up.

Cassie gave him a look before answering "Victoria planned to kill your father and use your attachment to her to become queen of Camelot. We have to go back and stop her."

"Then let's go!" he said, looking around for any mode of transportation. She rolled her eyes and led him around the tree they were standing in front of to see a Horse tethered to the one next to it.

Arthur raised his eyebrows "You rode a horse out here on your own?" he asked her skeptically.

She narrowed her eyes at him, her mouth forming into a pout and he laughed before turning to grab the saddlebags. He attached them to the saddle and climbed up, holding a hand out for Cassie and her guitar to get on behind him. She handed him her guitar instead and climbed up behind him on her own. He chuckled and shook his head before handing the instrument back to her and spurring the horse into motion.

Once they were almost back at the castle Cassie shouted for him to stop. He did so and turned to look at her over his shoulder.

"I have to get off here" she told him "Victoria doesn't know I have you, and she doesn't know her spell is broken. In order for our plan to work, you have to pretend you're still in love with her."

Arthur made a face to show exactly how little he liked that idea and Cassie laughed "You can do this" she said before kissing him quickly and dismounting.

With a quick wink she slapped the flank of his horse and sent it into a gallop towards the castle. Arthur peeked behind him one last time to see her watching from where she stood.

He turned back towards the castle and set his shoulders, spurring his horse faster to get this done with.

XXX

Morgana shot a grin at Gwen before raising her fist and knocking on the large door in front of her. There was no immediate answer, so she knocked again. Then a third time until finally the door swung open to reveal a very unhappy looking Victoria.

"Good morning!" Morgana said cheerfully, "I'm the Lady Morgana, King Uther's ward, and this is Gwen, my ladies maid" she introduced.

Victoria pasted a very fake smile on her face "It is very nice to meet you, I am Lady Victoria of Valeon" she said, making to close the door. Morgana stopped her, steeping into the room, Gwen following, her head down to hide a grin.

Victoria scowled "Is there anything I can do for you my lady?" she asked, her politeness obviously fake.

"Yes! Actually I wanted to offer you one of m dresses for the banquet tonight. We're close enough to the same size and I'm sure you don't have anything appropriate because of the long journey" she smiled brightly.

Gwen grinned aw well at her and Victoria was left with no choice but to join them. she followed the two through the castle, to Morgana's elegant chambers. Once there, she threw open her wardrobe to reveal it stuffed with dresses.

Gwen began to pull out dresses at random "Oh this would look lovely on you my lady! And this too!"

This time Morgana had to hide her laugh.

After hours of trying on dresses, Victoria's patience was running thin. She was sick of these silly girls and was contemplating killing them, when a servant burst into the room.

"Merlin!" Morgana stood, addressing the skinny servant boy by name, "What is it?" she asked, her eyes flicking to Victoria for the briefest second. She was immediately suspicious.

"Uh… Gaius wanted to know if you needed another sleeping draft" he said, shuffling his feet uncomfortably.

Morgana smiled "No, tell him thank you but my sleep has been rather peaceful of late" she said and the boy scampered out of the room.

Gwen noticed the suspicion in Victoria's eyes and knew that Merlin had just given Morgana the signal to let her know that Ewan and the knights had been cured and Arthur and Cassie were back, "Morgana, you shouldn't be so obvious!" she chided, teasingly, then she turned to Victoria "Merlin thinks you're the most lovely woman he's ever seen but he's shy. We weren't supposed to tell you but Morgana's being so obvious about it."

Victoria's suspicion morphed into vanity and she smiled "Well of course, I wouldn't say anything to the poor boy" she said.

Morgana smiled back, thinly concealing her contempt for the creature in front of her who's own vanity would be her downfall, "Well I should have a bath before the banquet, Gwen will take that one in a bit for you before tonight" she pointed to a random dress.

Victoria smiled again and thanked them both before exiting the room.

XXX

That night the banquet to celebrate the signing of the peace treaty was filled with happy members of Camelot's court, involved in all kinds of revelry, drinking, eating and dancing.

Merlin stood in the back watching, waiting for the plan to take effect. Victoria stood by Arthur who was barely concealing his distaste for her. Morgana sat up at the high table watching over Uther with a fierce protectiveness. Gwen stood behind her, her eyes scanning the room warily. Lancelot stood with Ewan and the other knights of Valeon stood strategically around the room. Victoria had done a skimpy job on their memories, only enchanting them to listen to her and not speak.

Gaius looked over at him from the side table he stood at. They knew Victoria would make her move that night. The emissaries from Valeon would be returning to their kingdom and she would miss her chance.

They couldn't know when she would attempt to kill Uther so they figured they'd force her hand. Gaius glanced back at the door to the banquet hall just as it opened.

In walked a smiling Cassie, wearing a gold ball gown that showed off the dark inked words on her tan skin. She looked incredible and the welcome she received from the rest of the room was enough to make Victoria pale in anger.

She turned nearly white and grabbed Arthur, pulling him down for a kiss. He pulled away, to look back at Cassie, who at the moment was embracing Sir Leon.

Victoria made a frustrated noise and turned to the king at the high table, beginning to screech out words in a strange language.

Her eyes began to glow a bright blue as everyone turned in her direction. Uther stood, looking her in half horror, half confusion.

Merlin leapt into action, darting through frozen, confused partygoers. In his peripheral vision he saw Lancelot, Cassie, Ewan and the other knights of Valeon moving as well. Morgana stood, ready to knock the King out of the way.

Merlin murmured a spell as he wove in between the confused people in the banquet hall. He saw Victoria pull a dagger out of her sleeve as Uther climbed over the table and walked towards her, his eyes glowing the same blue as hers were. Morgana moved to stop him, but her skirts stuck on the table, slowing her down.

This wasn't how things were supposed to go and it was getting out of hand. Uther reached Victoria as Lancelot reached him. He took the dagger out of her hand and raised it, pointing it at himself.

Lancelot slammed into him snatching the dagger out of his hand and stabbed it into Victoria's heart.

She screeched an unnaturally high pitched and animalistic sound as she began to dissolve into white snow, her form arching and twisting into a horrific un-human shape before falling into a pile on the ground.

Uther snapped out of his trance and stared in horror at the scene before him. "What happened?" he asked as Arthur snapped out of his own trance.

Cassie reached them then and the prince pulled her into his arms, holding her almost protectively. She rolled her eyes.

"Lancelot saved you sire" Morgana, who had finally made it over the table, piped up.

Uther turned to the dark haired man beside him, who was looking down at his feet modestly "Didn't I order you never to return to Camelot?" he asked.

Cassie frowned and made to move forward to defend him but Arthur stopped her. Merlin, Gwen and Gaius all waited nervously for what Uther would say next as Lancelot nodded.

"And you have come back to save my life?" he questioned. Lancelot nodded again. Uther made a slight face then turned to his son "You have a knighthood to bestow in the morning" he said then turned to the knights from Valeon.

Lancelot looked absolutely floored and barely noticed when Gwen rushed forward and hugged him.

Ewan and his knights explained everything to the King, how Victoria was a Noxie and how she attacked them and controlled their minds.

They agreed to renegotiate the treaty, properly this time and finish it by tomorrow.

The banquet ended early, and everyone went back to their rooms to sleep. Everyone except Arthur. He went up to the highest parapet to think.

He had nearly let someone make him forget about the most important person to him. He cared about Cassie more than he could even understand and he couldn't let anything come between them ever again.

Hearing footsteps behind him he whirled. There stood Merlin, wringing his hands the way he did when he wasn't sure if Arthur was going to yell at him or not.

The Prince sighed and nodded him over. Merlin joined him leaning against the wall, looking out over the kingdom.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked tentatively.

After a second Arthur nodded "I was just thinking about everything that happened" he started, then stopped. He had never been any good at sharing his feelings, being Prince of Camelot was a lonely life and it was difficult for him to open up to anyone. But Merlin was the best friend he had and he was a pretty good friend, so he continued, "I care about Cassie more than anything and I hate to think of what I put her through, I never want her to think I don't care about her anymore" he admitted.

Merlin frowned. He didn't know much about girls, or feelings like that. But he knew about Cassie. He knew she would never blame Arthur for anything out of his control. And he knew she cared about him as much as he cared about her. "So tell her that." he shrugged.

Arthur looked at him, observing the skinny, awkward boy, who just sometimes gave him the best advice. "Thanks Merlin, I think I will."

XXX

A/N: So I only got one response saying they would like a Narnia story which is okay but I would like some help from all my wonderful, darling, lovely readers (have I flattered you enough yet?) to figure out which story idea I want to use. I have three and I could use any of them but I want to know what you think.

Narnia story options:

Basically all take place about a year after the Dawn Treader. All the Pevensies are called back to Narnia by accident because of my OC who's in Narnia and two of the options she blows the horn by accident.

Option 1:

At the end of WWII, Tessa goes to England to search for her missing fiancé. While there she finds a wardrobe in the attic and opens it. She ends up in Narnia where, after intense shenanigans, she finds the cutest little horn and blows it to see how it sounds.

Option 2:

Tara is a photography assistant in England for work. One day she finds a wardrobe in an antique shop and at the insistence of her friend she climbs in. It leads her to Narnia where she is confused and harassed same as first option, she finds the horn yada, yada… this character will be a lot like Cassie.

Option 3:

Elara is not a spy, or a criminal, despite what King Caspian thinks. When the horn is blown and the Kings and Queens of old show up they find a very annoyed Princess of an island kingdom warning them about invaders from a place across the sea.

All:

Narnia is facing war from a foreign place, but this attack is more than it seems. There is a source of dark magic behind all of this and it's going to take my dear OC to figure it out.

And as incentive, whoever votes, I will send a message with a bit of the first chapter once I finish it.