A/N: I suck, epically. I am aware. Life happened and writers block and I just never updated. But I'm going to finish this story, I already have the end planned out and it's only a few more chapters. Yeah the end of this was sad but I wanted to leave you with a cliffhanger and the whole "oh hey, Merlin has magic" thing went faster than I thought it would.

XXX

Cassie took a deep breath, standing in her secret position across the hall from Lancelot, ready to jump out as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

They heard footsteps and knew it was time. Uther's voice floated down the hall ahead of him, he was muttering to himself something about laws and chaos and they knew he was alone.

As he reached the end of the corridor Lancelot nodded and he coughed loudly, stepping out from his hiding spot, Uther turned to him and missed the small girl behind him who stepped out from her hiding place and bashed him over the head with a heavy clay jug.

The king crumpled to the ground quickly and Lancelot looked at her over his body, an eyebrow raised. The princess smirked and shrugged one shoulder before leaning down to pick up the unconscious and possessed King of Camelot.

"He's a lot heavier than I thought he'd be" Lancelot groaned as he helped her lift Uther up onto their shoulders and drag him down the corridor.

"And you're supposed to be a knight of Camelot?" she teased with a grunt as they maneuvered themselves up the stairs. It didn't help things that Gaius's rooms were on the opposite end of the castle from the Kings chambers near where they caught him.

They finally pushed open the door and Cassie nearly dropped the King. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"This man came and got me out" a slightly nervous Arthur answered "He said they needed me for this" he looked to Michael warily.

Cassie didn't trust the old man, not one bit. But she was thrilled to have Arthur back. She leaned Uther onto a table and ran to hug her prince. He was sitting on one of the benches by Gaius's work table and she scrambled onto his lap, twining her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest.

He held her close to him placing kisses in her hair as one hand rubbed up and down her back. It was a rare moment of weakness for her and it made him realize just how dire the situation was. "What do we have to do?" he asked, looking up at Merlin, Gaius, Michael and Lancelot.

"We must find a way to pull the spirit of the demon out of your father and send it back to where it came from" Gaius explained, casting a wary look at Michael, who was just staring at the prince.

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Arthur asked, giving the old man a look of his own.

With a small, clever smile Michael stepped forward "In exchange for a promise from you, I can return the demon to where it came from" he said

"What's this promise?" he asked, his suspicion rising.

The old man shrugged in a way that reminded him eerily of Cassie "You must promise me that once you are king, magic will be allowed in Albion" he said.

Arthur nearly dropped the girl on his lap, "What?" he asked. Even Cassie looked up at that one a mixture of intrigue, horror and hope on her face.

"You must promise or I shall not help" Michael insisted. The prince stared at him trying to come up with an answer, a way around it. Banning magic in Camelot had been something his father had worked towards for a very long time. It was something important to him and he didn't know if he could just go against that so easily.

"Just say yes already!" Merlin finally spoke up from his spot across the room. Everyone turned to him in shock including the redhead next to him.

Not letting everyone's surprise deter him, he stood up "Haven't you ever wondered if everything wrong that magic or its users have done to you is because your father banned it?" he asked, "Magic can do so many wonderful things like put this demon back where he came from or save people from sickness. If you allowed magic, maybe you'd be able to fight off all the bad magic with good magic of your own."

Arthur looked down at Cassie who had her eyebrows raised in an appreciative expression. He tightened his arms round her gently to get her attention and she looked up at him with questioning eyes. "When I am king, you will be queen. What do you say?" he asked.

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him in awe for a second, then the slightest flash of pain entered her expression before she answered and it was gone "I say that I agree with Merlin. It's long past time for a change."

Her voice was a little shaky and Arthur wondered whether it was from his impromptu proposal or whatever he'd seen in her eyes the second before she answered him.

But there was no time to dwell on it now as Michael and Gaius began preparing the spell. They drew another star inside a circle in some kind of black markings in a cleared space in the middle of the floor. The lines smoked slightly and Arthur pulled Cassie closer to him again.

Michael murmured a spell and the pentagram began to glow a faint gold. Merlin and Linda leaned forward and Cassie tried to as well, the magic drawing her interest. Arthur hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her back, his aversion to magic prompting him to keep her as far away from it as possible.

She shot him a look and he loosened his grip. He almost hated how much control she had between them but that's just how she was, domineering and independent. And he loved her for it.

"Help me move him" Michael instructed Lancelot who had been standing awkwardly by the door. The dark haired knight jumped into action and together he and Michael managed to haul Uther onto the floor in the center of the pentagram.

Lancelot backed up quickly and Michael started chanting. They were strange words, ones Cassie had never heard Merlin use, but then of course she hadn't actually seen him do all that much magic and there had to be thousands of spells in the world.

Michael's eyes began to glow the gold color she was used to seeing and the pentagram began to smoke. Uther's body began to shudder on the floor and this time it was Cassie who had to hold Arthur back.

He looked down at her, his blue eyes filled with concern and her hazel ones full of reassurance "It's okay, he knows what he's doing" she whispered. He nodded and let one corner of his mouth tweak up a little.

Michael began to shudder as well, his body sagging against the table as he chanted, the light of the pentagram flickering.

"He needs help" Cassie realized aloud.

"What are we supposed to do?" Arthur muttered. She elbowed him gently as Linda got up and began chanting with her uncle.

"She's magic too?" the prince whispered, slightly exasperated through his worry. Cassie elbowed him again.

Linda continued to chant but everyone in the room noticed how badly she shook. Her magic wasn't strong enough and a transparent gray-ish shadow was working its way out of Uther's body.

"They need more help" Gaius murmured but Cassie knew he wouldn't step forwards. If after all those years of being Uther's loyal friend and confidant, he came forward as a practicer of magic, it would be the ultimate betrayal.

But then Merlin stood up and joined them. He listened closely to their chant for a moment and then joined them, his eyes glowing gold almost immediately.

She felt Arthur's jaw drop against her shoulder and winced slightly. Oh they were going to have some explaining to do. She placed a hand on his chest to hold him back and he looked at her in bewilderment "Patience" she mouthed, nodding her head towards the ugly gray form that was now almost entirely extracted from the king's body.

The last tendril of grayish transparent matter was pulled free from the king with a popping sound that made everyone in the room flinch.

Michael was nearly sagging but he began a new chant with the same intensity. It was really just one spell chanted over again and as soon as Merlin and Linda had it down, they added their voices and their magic.

The gray shape began to writhe in painful looking positions. Cassie could just barely make out a face on it and the face was twisted in horror. It became more and more transparent. "Move him!" Michael stopped chanting his spell long enough to gasp out. Then he passed out. Linda squeaked and dropped to her uncle's side, stopping her chant as well.

Merlin carried on the entire spell as Lancelot and Arthur reached over to tug Uther by his feet off the pentagram, both being careful not to let their hands go over the edge of the circle.

At the center of the star a black hole in the floor was forming as if it hadn't been so intense in the room Cassie would have rolled her eyes at the cliché of it.

The gray shape began filtering down into the hole and Merlin began to sag slightly against the table. His magic was strong but like all things, there was only so much of it.

Cassie finally moved from her spot behind Gaius's work bench and went to help him stay up. She began to say the words with him quietly, even though it would do nothing.

She just wanted to hold him up and help him, but the look in Arthur's eye told her that her joining him was like pledging allegiance.

She was tempted to roll her eyes again as the last of the gray shape filtered into the floor and the hold closed up slowly, the edges of the pentagram still smoking.

Merlin slouched against her and Lancelot moved to help get him off her, though the kid was so scrawny she didn't really need it.

Arthur just sat there for a minute, looking at everyone in the room. Michael was still passed out on the floor and as far as the prince was concerned he could stay there, Linda was still leaning over him, but she looked tired as well and would probably be unconscious in a few minutes. Gaius was leaning Merlin down on the cot in the corner and Cassie was looking at him with a strange expression on her face. Lancelot was standing by her awkwardly and Arthur stood, keeping his eyes on the only one who hadn't betrayed him in one way or another.

"Lancelot, come help me get my father up to his chambers. We will tell the guards that my father realized his lapse in judgment and came to get me then fainted" he said, leaning down to pick up his father's limp body.

The dark haired knight jumped into action and helped him lift the king from the floor. They left and Cassie frowned after them. Shit had hit the fan. Well the proverbial fan, seeing as there were no fans in Camelot.

XXX

Arthur stood glaring out his father window as the king rested after the whole exorcism process. He was angry but not quite sure who or what he was angry at.

It seemed that everyone had known about Merlin's magic but him. Gaius hardly batted an eyelash when his young protégé stepped up and started chanting along with the old crone. Lancelot had just stood there, staring like he almost expected it.

And then there was Cassie, his dearest Cassie who simply put her hand on his arm and held him in place. She knew and she hadn't told him.

Worst of all was Merlin, Cassie was excusable for trying to keep his secret, but only just. There was no getting around it, Merlin had straight up lied to him.

He wondered how long everyone had known about Merlin's magic. Gaius had probably known for a long time. It was difficult to live with someone and not know everything about them. And Merlin had undoubtedly known for a very long time.

He would never admit it but Arthur was a little upset that Merlin hadn't trusted him enough to tell him about his magic. And it made the Prince wonder what he would have done about it if Merlin had.

The door clicked open behind him and he turned to see Cassie poking her head around the door to make sure she wasn't interrupting any private conversations.

Her eyes landed on him and she gave him a tentative smile. He ignored her and turned back to the window to watch the scribes and squires inform the people of Camelot that the taxes and laws the King had enacted while ill had been repealed and that he was healing quickly and the Prince would be taking over for the time being.

He didn't hear her approach –she must have not been wearing her usual boots- but he felt her arms wrap around his waist from behind and felt her stretch up on her tip-toes to place her chin on his shoulder.

As always her touch relaxed him and it suddenly hit him full force how much he had come to depend on her.

He turned in her grip and held her to him. She turned her face into his chest and just stood there, letting him hold her the way she knew he needed to.

It was funny, a few months ago, back in her own world and time, Cassie had never understood just how important one human being could be to a person's daily functions. Now, in a faraway place and time with no guarantee she would stay, she had found that one other human being who she simply needed and who needed her just as much.

"Let me talk to you" she whispered tugging gently on his arm. He nodded and with one last quick look as his still sleeping father, he followed her from the room.

Outside she took his hand and led him up to her chambers. Once inside them with the door shut, she pushed him up against it was a force disproportionate to her small size, and kissed him hard.

Unsure how to react, Arthur hesitated a moment before pulling her closer and kissing her back.

Cassie pulled away and stepped back, walking slowly over to the table in the center of the room, running her fingers along its smooth surface. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions" she started, her voice quiet, calm and detached, "But first I'd like to say that I am sorry for keeping things from you."

He didn't miss that she said things as in plural, but reigned in his curiosity for the time being. "How long did you know?" he asked.

"Since I came here" she answered quietly, not looking at him.

"And why has no one told me?" he asked, stepping further into the room and therefore closer to her.

Now she looked at him "Do you even need to ask that?" she raised her eyebrows "Your own father is the man who ordered the killing of thousands of people because of their magic. It has plagued your kingdom since and no one knew how you would react. If you had told anyone, Merlin would be dead. And that boy couldn't hurt a fly except to protect you" she ranted.

Arthur was taken aback by her bold and angry outburst. He had no idea that she cared that much about Merlin, and though he knew it was simply as friends, it annoyed him. "So you two were conspirators in his secret and no doubt countless others" he snapped back.

Cassie, who had been turned to the window, whipped around again, her anger flashing across her face before she calmed herself. "Yes, I have other secrets Arthur, and yes he knows some of them. But don't you see? We're both different, he has his magic and I don't belong. He understands that part of me and I understand that part of him. And since when was this conversation about my friendship with Merlin?" she asked, hands on her hips.

He had the grace to look embarrassed. So he changed the subject "How often does Merlin use his magic?"

She composed herself as well, "Whenever you need saving, whenever any of us needs saving actually. And sometimes to do some of his chores. You give him an awful lot to do" she said.

Though he was touched that Merlin used his powers to protect him, he chose to show his slight annoyance at the fact that Merlin didn't do all his chores to cover up his happy emotions. "Well I'll be giving him more now that I know he doesn't do them all" he grumbled.

And of course Cassie saw right through his tough guy act and laughed. And that simple sound made Arthur feel all the better.

"I'm sorry" he said to her, frowning as he walked up to her.

She shook her head with a soft smile "There's nothing to apologize for. You simply didn't know" she said, leaning up and pecking him quickly on the lips before dancing out of his reach before he could grab her and hold her there.

He made a face and she laughed again. Then her expression turned serious. "No one must know. Not a soul, you hear me? This is a life or death secret and you cannot tell ANYONE" she emphasized.

Arthur nodded, his expression telling her that he understood the gravity of the situation and the direness of the consequences.

She smiled again and flounced over to the bed to flop down in a way that no princess would ever be caught doing.

A knock came on the door and since Cassie was on the other end of the room, Arthur moved to answer it. He pulled open the heavy wooden door and on the other side stood the subject of their conversation himself.

Merlin's nervous expression became one of total panic and he turned to bolt, but the Prince was faster. He reached out and grabbed the scrawnier boy by the shirt collar and pulled him into the room.

The dark haired boy gulped and looked up at him.

"Be nice" Cassie called from her spot on the bed where she was still laying, her guitar over her stomach, strumming soft chords at random.

Arthur let a smile creep onto his face at her words and Merlin visibly relaxed. "So you aren't going to turn me over to your father to be killed?" he asked.

"I didn't say that" Arthur teased but his friend knew he didn't mean it and his face broke out into a wide smile.

"I knew you wouldn't turn on me!" he stated, full of confidence and excitement. Cassie snorted from her spot on the bed but he ignored her, throwing his arms around the Prince in a surprisingly tight hug for someone with such small arm muscles. Maybe the kid didn't need more chores after all.

"Just promise one thing" Arthur said sternly when he was released. The dark haired boy's head bobbed up and down in automatic agreement. "You will never use your magic against Camelot, no matter what" he insisted, still totally serious.

Merlin's smile faded and his expression became serious "I swear it. I'll always be loyal to you, promise."

"Awww" Cassie's coo ruined the moment and both men laughed.

XXX

That night the sky was beautiful, sunset had dyed the horizon a million shades of orange, yellow, red and pink mixed with fleeting hints of blue and purple. It was breathtaking and Cassie wished she had her camera on her as she watched from the highest balcony she could find.

"Pretty, no?" said a familiar voice from next to her. She turned to see Alex leaning against the stone railing as well, taking in the beautiful sight.

She simply nodded, knowing he was there to talk about more than the sunset. She waited patiently, watching until the last sliver of the sun's disk dipped below the horizon and the world set on fire for just a brief instant.

Then he spoke again, "Your time's up hermanita" he told her. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She had expected this. The event her dream had been warning her about had come to pass and she had helped save Camelot, even though Merlin had carried most of the weight. But even though it was expected, the idea of leaving made a lump form in her throat and her eyes prickle with tears.

"You go back at first light. Be ready or you'll end up back in the twenty first century without your eyeliner" Alex teased, coaxing a sad smile out of her. "It's where you belong, you know" he said quietly after a few long moments of silence while the remaining light of the day bled back into the earth.

"I know" she managed, her voice coming out a little strangled, "But it doesn't mean I don't belong here at all" she said and turned away from the dying day and into her last night.