A/N: You know that thing called life? Yeah, that's happening to me right now. This chapter is shorter than most, but it has been a while since I have updated something so I hope you enjoy! I will answer your reviews later in the week! Im just so busy with uni*cries*
The Calm Before The Storm
It was already past sunset when Gwaine and Owen made their way into the citadel. After the guards at the entrance of the city realized who they were, they let them cross the city without many questions, and so the knights pushed their horses forward. Gwaine took that as a good and a bad sign; good because that meant they weren't proclaimed fugitives or deserters, he had heard stories of knights and that turned their loyalties against the crown, it never ended good—and bad, because if the guards looks were anything to go by their return was expected.
The two knights along with Elyan—who was asleep, leaning against Owen's back—crossed the town in silence. A few windows' houses were illuminated with candles and the otherwise bursting- with-life Camelot looked eerily empty and hollow.
Now, just a few minutes away from the castle, Owen began thinking of all the scenarios they could find once they arrived…. He visibly paled thinking about them. With the adrenaline rushing through his veins when he went after Gwaine and then the shock of finding Elyan, Owen had given little thought in case they came back, but now incredibly close to the castle he couldn't help but worry.
First of all, Marissa; his sister. That woman at her age of nineteen was the living nightmare of Owen, and as much as he loved her he knew, perfectly well, that his sister wasn't going to be kind to him once she finds out he had been ready to leave her behind. The tantrum and the earful he was going to get could even make Uther, the great King of Camelot, sweat. Secondly, Uther himself, along with Leon and Lancelot; his peers would look down at him, Leon will be incredibly disappointed, and Uther might even go as far as to take away his knighthood. Owen imagined dungeons, humiliation, and disgrace. Not a good thing was waiting for him inside the castle and even though he didn't regret his decision, he was incredibly aware that it hadn't been a wise one.
Owen sighed and was brought to the present when he heard a low humming. He blinked as he realized where the humming was coming from: Gwaine. The chivalrous knight was happily humming a tavern song. Owen would have yelled have not been for Elyan, who was peacefully still sleeping.
"Gwaine?" Owen asked as if his friend has lost his mind. "We are about to enter the castle. Uther will probably bereave us from our knighthood and you are singing?"
Gwaine shrugged with easiness. "Will you like me to cry?"
Owen didn't deign to answer.
"Relax mate, we brought Elyan back, I'm sure we will be forgiven, besides Elyan holds important information about Morgana, wasn't Uther worried about that a few days ago?" Gwaine pointed and Owen risked a glance over his shoulder with a grim face.
"That is if he's ready to share about that anytime soon."
Gwaine glanced at Elyan too and sighed. "You think he will be alright?" He asked a few moments later as the entrance of the castle along with the guards defending it came into view.
Owen remembered the haunted look on Elyan's face, and he was painfully aware that out of four missing knights they only managed to find one. The story Elyan will have to share wasn't going to be a nice one and he realized he feared that part the most. He could lose his knighthood and face his sister, but his friends? He couldn't do a thing for them.
"… I don't know."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It was late at night when Arthur made his way back to Ealdor along with Merlin. He was mental, physical, and emotionally drained. After the exhausting talk about Will and Edmund both friends had gone training and had stayed until late in an effort to recover the time they had lost, now, several hours later, everything ached; bones, soul and brain—even if Merlin protested it was impossible—and Arthur was eager to hit the bed… well, floor more like it. Arthur groaned internally. If he ever came back to Ealdor he was going to buy himself a nice, warm, puffy bed. Hell, he might even be as gracious as to buy one for Merlin too.
"Oh, don't look so bitter," Merlin said from his right side as Ealdor came into view. The sorcerer's blue eyes shined gold and the ball of light that had accompanied them the whole way from the clear disappeared in a blink. "You will do better tomorrow."
Merlin had misinterpreted Arthur's grunt but he had a point; he had not made great progress today. Merlin spent the whole day trying to decipher the vase, leaving Arthur to train on his own, without Merlin throwing spells there was little Arthur could do, so he spent the afternoon alternating between reading about the history of magic, doing some exercises with his own sword, and annoying Merlin with lots of "Are you done?" "Did you figure it out already?" "How much time this is going to take you, Merlin?"
When Arthur broke Merlin's concentration for the tenth time in a span of five minutes Merlin threatened him to turn him into a donkey. The prince considered this a low blow, after all, Arthur was kind of traumatized by a certain past event, so after grunting some more and threating him back with a; 'You do that and you will be spending a nice two months in the dungeons of the castle, you idiot!' Arthur had finally let him be.
If anyone else would have been the receiver of those yells and threats, that person would probably be shaking to death. Arthur was a scary man when he wanted to be. But Arthur could only deal with so much for a day and he was not an emotional man—or at least he thought so—so after hearing from Merlin himself that he considered Arthur a kind of surrogate brother he knew that was at his limit.
He had been silent for a long time and then, scrubbing his face clean from the tears, he took Merlin by the shoulders and began dragging him in the direction of the clear, talking about training and how lazy Merlin actually was, but truth was Arthur was so touched with the words he had no idea what to do with them. Merlin had laughed, joked, and pretended to be furious as the banter grew steady all the way to the training grounds. Arthur hoped that all of it was enough for Merlin to know that the sentiment went both ways, and by the way Merlin rolled his eyes at him Arthur was sure he understood.
"You know? You keep saying that…" Arthur said easily as he answered Merlin's previous statement, his blue eyes fixed on the eerily quiet village. "But time is something we don't have, Merlin. I need to learn new ways to fight magic and you need to figure out the vase. Sooner rather than later."
"I know." Was all that Merlin said, Arthur knew the moment Merlin advanced on the vase he will tell him…. but the whole afternoon Arthur had only been able to think about the infamous last words of his uncle, his voice echoed inside his mind like a bad omen.
'There's no cure, your father is as good as dead, there's no way to break the spell!'
Arthur shook his head vehemently. No. He wasn't about to start believing his uncle now, was he? He closed his eyes for a moment in annoyance with himself. Even in death Agravaine refused to let him live in peace.
They entered the village and while Merlin kept going forward Arthur turned swiftly to the left.
"Uh, Arthur, my house is in that direction." Merlin pointed over his shoulder and smirked. "Did you train so hard your brain just collapsed?"
"I know that," Arthur deadpanned and you could almost hear the 'you idiot' implied, but he didn't really mean it, not after everything that had happened today. "Today is Tavern Day in Camelot, so I was thinking, how about we have a few drinks?"
Merlin smirked as he walked towards Arthur. "The tavern? You want to visit the tavern of Ealdor? The tavern is so small I don't think your ego can fit in there Arthur, I don't even know if it will be open!"
Arthur rolled his eyes and ignored Merlin's remark. Just for today, Arthur thought, just for one day.
"Good thing we are only two, right?" Arthur said as he passed an arm over Merlin's shoulders, dragging him forwards. "Besides, the tavern is just on the other side of the town and by Ealdor's standards that is shorter than the walk from the kitchens to my room. So we will know sooner rather than later. If it's closed we go home." Arthur concluded.
"You think this is a good idea?" Merlin asked amused. "I thought the plans were waking up very early tomorrow to compensate for today."
"And we will," Arthur said sternly.
Merlin sighed, he was quiet for exactly ten seconds and then took a huge gulp of air. Arthur sighed internally, Merlin was about to start babbling.
"I can't believe you are serious, Arthur! We are here to train!" Merlin said in a low whisper, not wanting to wake up any of the citizens of Ealdor. "Besides Tom kind of hates me since the last time I went there, remember the last time I came to Ealdor? About a year ago and Gwaine accompanied me? Well, to make the story short, there was a tavern, and there was Gwaine, and I was in the middle of it. I don't even know how we managed to get home and—"
"Will you stop complaining, Merlin," Arthur said rolling his eyes before he smirked. "I think we both deserve a drink. It was a long day. Besides Gwaine told me Ealdor's beer was better than Camelot's and honestly how can I go back not knowing that? Uh?"
Merlin sighed as he pushed Arthur's arm away from him. "Alright, but just one, I don't want my mother worrying about us."
Arthur blinked, he had almost forgotten about her. In Camelot he needed to do things right but in Ealdor? It was the closest thing to being a free man, well, except for Hunith, so he agreed with that.
"Yes, yes. Jesus, Merlin, relax, no one's getting drunk, promise. Besides, I don't get drunk." Arthur said proudly and Merlin bit his tongue wisely. To their good luck—or bad, depending on which side are you— the tavern of Ealdor was open that night.
"Just one," Merlin repeated before Arthur pushed the door open. The prince entered the place like he owned it and Merlin sighed with a soft smile. Arthur could wear all the 'peasant's clothes he wanted but some things never change.
As predicted, the tavern as almost empty besides a group of four men who were seated in a corner, whispering over spilled beer and a game of cards. They both jumped when, from behind them, a young man snored from his spot on the floor, passed out cold.
Arthur and Merlin shared a glance. "He's your friend?"
The sorcerer shrugged, "It's a small village but not that small."
"What about the privileges of being born in a small town then?" Arthur asked totally confused. "Aren't you all supposed to be family or something?"
Merlin was about to answer when they were interrupted by a loud yell.
"Oi, how can I help ya' boys?" Arthur and Merlin turned to see Tom, the bartender, who was entering the tavern from a back door.
"Evening, Sir," Arthur called with a stern voice.
"You don't need to be so formal," Merlin whispered and Arthur shrugged, crossing his arms. Merlin waved half-heartedly towards Tom. "Heya, Tom, you have space for another two?"
The bartender didn't seem to hear, as he stared at Arthur up and down with narrowed, analytic eyes. Merlin tensed imperceptibly. Arthur was unaware of the whole thing of this as he kept on analyzing—with a scowl on his face—the sleeping boy at the entrance. Tom had been in the fight against Kane and therefore he had known Arthur well enough so the sorcerer was worried that Tom, even after all these years, would be able to recognize him, but after a second longer the man just shrugged to himself before he gave a raspy cough. "Sure thing, Merlin, if it's for you sure thing."
"Thanks," Merlin grinned impishly and took the table by the other side of the tavern. Arthur took his seat with easiness as he looked around. "Told you it was rather small."
"It's alright," Arthur said relaxing into his seat. He was no prince here, he was a no one, so he could forget about etiquette for a moment.
"What can I get ya'?" Tom yelled from the other side above the sudden yells of the drunken men by the other corner.
"Two jars of your best beer, good man," Arthur answered. Tom nodded—with a roll of his eyes— and went to get the drinks.
"You have any idea how much the 'best beer' of Ealdor costs?" Merlin asked.
"Surely not as much as the best one in Camelot." Arthur retorted, Merlin hummed as he narrowed his eyes at Arthur, Arthur usually does not fancy going to the tavern, and he was acting kind of weird, actually wasn't he eager to go to sleep just a few minutes ago? So why the sudden change of attitude? Besides, Arthur was acting kind of… nicer. Was that a good or a bad thing Merlin wasn't sure, but there was something off here. Tom appeared a moment later with two huge jars of good looking beer for them.
"If my mom catches me drunk… again…." Merlin started and Arthur scoffed lightly.
"It's your birthday Merlin, even you have the right to have a drink even once in a while," Arthur said taking a sip from his jar and Merlin blinked. Arthur took a second and a third sip before he placed his jar on the table and sighed. "What Merlin?"
"Who told you?"
"I remembered."
"My mother told you, didn't she?"
"No." Arthur refuted and Merlin shot him a look. "Maybe…"
"So… this is like a birthday present?" Merlin said looking at his beer. Well, being gifted a drink on his birthday was a first.
"Yes, problem?"
"No," Merlin answered quickly.
"Thought so."
They were quiet for a few moments and Merlin just had to talk, seriously, Arthur thought, couldn't Merlin just take the 'present' for what it was?
"Thank you," Merlin said honestly, "but my birthday is tomorrow."
"It's probably past midnight so it's technically your birthday, Merlin, so… just—drink your beer and shut up, alright?" Arthur said awkwardly and looked to the side, this was the main reason he never did nice things for anybody, somehow—he didn't know why, seriously—people thought he was mocking them, or not being honest or something. Stupid.
"I can't believe this!" Merlin said in a low whisper with fake shock and Arthur felt the need to slap his face. "The prince of Camelot, the ultimate prat, is inviting me drinks for my birthday? Can I tell Lancelot and Gwaine about this? Or is this one of those nice things you do but you don't want people to know in case they think you have a heart?"
Merlin tone was so honest Arthur made a double take at his face, that's when he saw the impish grin of his friend and Arthur kicked him under the table with a fake scowl.
"See? This is the reason I never do anything nice for you ("Or anyone, really" Merlin added) and you know? Now that I think about it, you are right, I shouldn't invite you anything."
"What? You just said you would pay because it's my birthday!" Merlin said aghast.
"I don't know, I didn't see the moon that high up, Merlin, probably it's not past midnight yet so you might be right, and since your birthday is tomorrow I see no reason to pay for anything." Merlin's face dropped. With a huge smirk on his face, Arthur took a huge gulp of beer and hummed in approval. "This is good, quite good actually. Unbelievable Gwaine was right. Ealdor is full of surprises, it seems, including you, I guess."
Merlin was quiet for a moment before he bowed. "Thank you, Sire, this is really very thoughtful coming from you, since—"
"Nice try, idiot," Arthur laughed, "Very clever, but you are still paying."
Merlin hugged. It was worth a try.
"Prat," Merlin said at the same time the kid passed out cold gave a loud snore and before they could help it they laughed.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Arthur groaned from his place on the cold ground of Hunith's hut. And even thought he was awake he definitely didn't want to open his eyes just yet, while he lay awake on the floor he remembered what had gone down last night… and well, it definitely hadn't been just 'one drink.'
Arthur had never gone drinking with Merlin, after all, the prince of Camelot couldn't be seen spending his afternoons at the tavern like some of his knights did, he couldn't get wasted either, not in front of so many of his people, he couldn't go and flirt, bet, and get drunk like the rest of his men. However, he was free to drink inside the castle or in parties, so he had developed, quite quickly, a good resistance to alcohol.
Seeing that it was Merlin's birthday and it would probably be the first and last time they could share a drink in a long time Arthur thought it was a good idea. They have had a few stressful days, with Morgana, his father, training and the bloody vase still intact Arthur thought they deserved it.
Good Lord above, he had been wrong.
The first two drinks were all fine, they talked about Camelot, about the knights and how they would be faring without them, they shared childhood stories about Edmund and William, about Gaius and Hunith and Uther. Two drinks later, though, Merlin was already singing with the group of four men. Arthur, who was surprisingly quite sober, had just watched and laughed amused, the snoring kid by the door joined the drunken chants. Arthur even joined in a song as Merlin sang with all his heart. He was going to make sure Merlin never forgets about this.
However, it was beginning to get late, and as much fun Arthur and Merlin were having it was time to go if they really wanted to wake up early tomorrow, besides Arthur had already covered Merlin doing magic once and that had been enough to sober Arthur up. He had looked around and it looked like no one had noticed but still it was a risk Arthur wasn't willing to take.
"Alright, gentleman, I think it's time for us to go," Arthur said as he won the last play of cards and rose from his seat. There were protests and half yells all around.
"Just one more round, Archie," Felix, the oldest man in the group, complained. Merlin and him had barely had time to think about a fake name and when asked Merlin had spluttered the name "Archie" and now, apparently, Arthur was going to be known as Archie around Ealdor. The idea didn't make him jump with happiness, to say the least. Archie, what kind of name was that? He blamed Merlin for it.
"C'mon, Merlin, let's go." Arthur urged his friend as Merlin haphazardly got up from his seat.
"If you wann' go, daz' fin' but let the kid stay, 's been ages!" A younger man said. Merlin looked towards Arthur, like expecting an order. The prince just scoffed, it was like he was his bloody mom.
"Merlin, get up, now," Arthur ordered firmly. "We have work tomorrow—"
"But it's my birthday!" Merlin complained.
"—And Hunith will be worried," Arthur added as an afterthought.
Merlin looked about to complain but in the end, he sighed and nodded, raising his hands in defeat. Arthur blinked, apparently the word that could make Merlin do anything was 'mother', good to know, however, he wasn't about to make a joke from that, Arthur would probably do the same had his mother been alive.
"Right, you are right." Merlin nodded once and then waved goodbye at the man on the table. "I'll see you around."
The men laughed and Sebastian, the youngest on the table, nagged Merlin's ribs. "You can refuse every once in a while, mate, it's not like Archie's gonna kill ya'."
"No but he would probably dump me into a dungeon or something," Arthur glared alarmingly at Merlin and before he could stop him…"You can't just say no to the prince of Camelot."
There was a silence for a moment as Merlin sobered up a little. Arthur was glaring so hard at his head even drunk Merlin knew he had messed up.
Then the whole table laughed, slamming their hands on the table so hard Merlin thought they were going to break it.
"The prince of Camelot? Good one Merlin."
"You really that bad, Archie boy?"
"He's not that bad, right Merlion?" Arthur added from the side, glaring daggers at his friend.
"Uh, we've heard stories about the lad," Felix said, grasping his beard in deep thinking. "Though he helped us when Kane came to attack us,"
"You used to complain about him all the time!" Sebastian added after finishing his beer in a go. "You and… what his name? Gwaine? Told us everything he made you do in Camelot! He doesn't sound like a good leader to me if you ask me."
"Shut up, Sebs," Rick, the quietest man in the table added. "You are able to walk and talk aroun' just becaus' he saved your sorry ass."
They conversation kept going back and forth, and soon the drunk men forgot about Arthur and Merlin, as they immersed on a conversation about Uther, Arthur, and the kingdom of Camelot. Arthur sighed and pressed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. He was going to kill Merlin for this.
Merlin opened his mouth to say something but Arthur just shot him a glare.
"Shut up, Merlin."
Merlin closed his mouth loudly and nodded, he motioned something with his hands and as he went to retrieve satchel, Arthur paid for their drinks—because Arthur did pay, he was a man of honor, he even paid for the rest of the man's drinks— and then he half carried Merlin home.
"You are certainly not a drinker, Merlin," Arthur said with half a smile as Merlin dragged his feet alongside him, an arm over Arthur's shoulder to keep himself steady.
"I have been telling everyone for years… no one listens." Merlin mumbled and then bumped Arthur chest with his hand on a fist. "Thank you for today, Arthur. Was nice. Nice beer, nice friends."
"You are welcome, but next time we stick to your idea," Arthur grumbled.
"Just one beer?"
"Just one beer." Arthur huffed in understanding, now he knew why his friend insisted on that. Then, out of the blue, Merlin began laughing and Arthur joined shortly after, he was quite sober but that didn't mean the beer hadn't worked on him a little.
"What are you laughing at, uh? You idiot?"
"Your hair! I still can't believe you let me dye it!"
Arthur huffed annoyed as his other hand toyed with his own hair. "I still look handsome… I think."
"Don't know about that, but surely it was a massive improvement."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur glared.
"Nothing." Merlin straightened a little and his laugh died for a moment. "You know? I've been thinking..."
"About?" Arthur asked to the wind, trying to locate the right path to Hunith's house.
"About William," Merlin said looking to the front and then he hiccupped, signaling with a hand to an empty house. "That was Will's house…"
Both friends stopped in front of the abandoned hut, the black wood was muggy and the door was stuck halfway open, softly blowing in the wind. With the whole Dempsey's family dead—William's mother had passed away a few months ago, according to Hunith—the house was empty, and not only empty but it looked eerily darker than the rest, or that could be just Arthur's imagination. They were both silent for a long while and Merlin hummed, he took one step forward and Arthur grabbed the back of his shirt harder, keeping him from moving.
"Oi, where do you think you are going?" Arthur whispered, "There's no one inside."
"That's the saddest part, isn't it?" Merlin sighed and his eyes flashed gold, the door fixed itself and attached it rightly to the wall. Arthur threw a look over their shoulders but the path seemed empty.
"Don't do that again—"
"Whenever someone dies… they just don't leave, right? They leave traces of them behind. Kilgharrah and I once talked about that. My father left me his heritage, Freya has her lake…your mother and my father live through us... no one ever leaves."
"That's good Merlin, otherwise wouldn't it be sad that you just died? No memories?"
"You have her eyes, you know? Your mother's eyes."
Arthur, who was looking at the house in deep thinking, frowned. "How do you know?"
Merlin blinked and caught himself on time. "I—I heard your father saying so once."
Arthur hummed and looked at the house again. "You always talk about this Freya girl, will you ever tell me about her?"
Merlin's eyes unfocused and he blinked several times, then he chuckled. "It's not a nice story."
"Somehow, it never is."
"I'll tell you about her, but not today."
Arthur agreed with that. "Alright, lets go home. You are heavier than you look, Merlin." Arthur grumbled and Merlin began babbling about who was the skinnier one and who insisted on eating chocolates at all times, 'Do I need to remind you who just made a new hole on his belt'. Arthur motioned Merlin to be quiet when they finally found Hunith's house. Merlin seemed to understand because he placed a hand over his mouth.
Arthur and Merlin stopped in front of the little hut, before Arthur could even try to pick the door open the wooden door opened from the inside. Arthur had never seen Hunith angry until that moment. She still had her day clothes on, her arms were crossed over her chest and she was giving them a significant glance.
Arthur had never felt as ashamed of himself as that day. Was this the famous 'mother's glare' everybody talked about? Because Arthur did feel very small under the gaze of a woman who was a head shorter than him. Hunith raised her brows like waiting for an explanation.
Arthur and Merlin shared a glance.
"It was just one beer." They both said at the same time.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Elyan woke up with a start. He grunted as he rolled softly to the side. God, his body ached and his neck was killing him. He blindly felt the covers above him and the mattress under him. It was soft and somehow it smelled familiar, but even then he felt disoriented. Where was he? He sat up t on the bed—because it was a bed—and he was startled to see Gaius smiling at him a few paces away.
"Good morning, Sir Elyan," Gaius said as he motioned the knight to be calm.
Elyan blinked several times as images of what had happened before rushed through his mind but still, he kept quiet. Gaius went to fetch the knight water that the knight drank in a second. Gaius chuckled lightly.
"Well, good to see you are alive and breathing Elyan," Gaius said taking a seat on a stool beside the knight, who returned the empty vase. "You are in Camelot, you were brought here yesterday by Sir Gwaine and Sir Owen."
"I don't even remember arriving." Elyan finally said.
"You were asleep the whole time, your body has been through a traumatic phase Elyan. It's comprehensible that the moment you thought you were safe, your body collapsed, to put it simply." Gaius said easily as he eyed Elyan carefully, who was inspecting his recently bandaged wrist. "I took the liberty of healing you while you were asleep, I hope that's alright. You had a few bruises on your back, that's why you were sleeping on your chest, you had a sprained ankle too, it's a miracle you didn't notice the pain."
Elyan hummed, inspecting his wrist and then clasped his neck. "Anything else?"
Gaius shook his head. "Nothing, but I may warn you that you won't be returning to duty at least for a few days. A lot has happened since you have been gone, and well, given the circumstances… Uther wants to speak with you."
Elyan blinked at that and grabbed his neck harder. "I understand."
Gaius patted Elyan's knee. "It's still early, you can rest for a few hours before Uther comes down to check on you," Gaius stood up from his stool, and went to the door, he had not yet opened completely when Gwen came rushing inside. The old man moved out of her way as Gwen practically ran to hug her brother.
"Oh, Elyan! I just heard from Lancelot himself! You are finally back!" She said in a hurry as Elyan tried to keep her away.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, but I might just drop dead from asphyxiation." Elyan gave a soft chuckle and Gwen released him instantly.
"Sorry, sorry," Gwen said before she hit Elyan on his shoulder.
"Oi, what was that for?" Elyan complained half-heartedly.
"For returning so late! I was beginning to get mortified!"
Elyan blinked several times as he frowned, his hand went to take Gwen's. "Gwen… I—I didn't… come late. Didn't… didn't Arthur tell you?"
Gwen's soft smile died a little. "What do you mean? You were on patrol, you and your patrolling team took longer than expected. I know you were attacked, but that doesn't…" Gwen noticed the look on Elyan's face, "What are you not telling me? Elyan—what happened."
Elyan frowned for a moment and before Gaius could stop him Elyan answered. "Gwen, my patrol was attacked a week ago by Morgana." Elyan waited for a few seconds until Gwen managed to nod. "I was the only one who made it back."
"A week—That's… if you were only attacked…"
Elyan's pressed his lips into a thin line before he answered. "Gwen, we weren't just attacked, we were kidnapped by Morgana."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"You stupid… arrogant, big headed, ungrateful, idiot!
Owen closed his eyes and stopped himself from covering his ears. "I already said I'm sorry."
"And you will need to keep apologizing for the rest of your life, Owen!" Marissa yelled.
Owen had thought that the worse had been over. When Gwaine and Owen arrived with a passed out cold Elyan, Leon and Lancelot had been more worried about that than anything else. Luckily for them, it had been Lancelot who had found out that they had gone missing and smartly, knowing perfectly well where they had gone, he had written in Gwaine's patrol's book a self-assigned mission, so all knights thought Owen and Gwaine had left with direct orders of Leon. Leon, of course, knew about the charade but seeing Elyan alive had dismissed the anger of the knight, after all it had been him who had wanted to send a patrol in the first place.
Marissa, on the other hand, was another thing entirely. Leon and Lancelot were having a meeting with Owen and Gwaine. Giving the fact that they were the only knights in Camelot who knew about Morgana, they needed to talk about the next best course of action and go to Uther, who will probably question Elyan to the last piece of his information, they had not even started when Marissa had literally stormed inside.
Owen dragged his sister to the corner and there, at peace, they argued about what had happened. Lancelot, Leon, and Gwaine watched amused as the almighty Owen, ever patient and easy going was brought to his knees.
"I can't believe you appointed yourself on a suicidal mission," His sister said hysterically.
"I came back didn't I?"
"But you weren't planning on doing so! I thought you were really not coming back!"
"But-"
"No, don't interrupt me. After all, you weren't planning on ever hear of me again, didn't you? So shut up." Gwaine from across the room laughed heartily and Marissa threw him a look. "I know this was your idea, so if you know what is good for you, you will keep silent, Sir Gwaine."
Lancelot smiled lightly as Leon coughed.
"Are all girls this problematic?" Gwaine mumbled with red ears and then, after a few more yells finally Marissa broke into tears and hugged her brother.
Owen shared a glance with his friends over the red head of his sister.
They all shrugged.
Woman, can't live with them, can't live without them.
A/N: Well this was it! Shorter than most but hope you like it. In the next chapter we will hear about Morgana, after all, Elyan managed to escape, so that means trouble for her right? and I'm really wanting to move on with the story, I have every chapter planned out! But every time I sit to write, every chapter ends up being larger than expected, and so I have to divide one chapter into two or something. But this story it's getting finished, no matter what. As the title of the chapter says, things will get back course, we will have Morgana back, discussions and problems to be solved.
Quick reminder that we have to worry about: Merlin breaking the vase, Uther's loss of memory, the stone in the stone test, Morgana and her plans, what happened to the other three knights, who's reading Merlin's letters, who overheard the conversation [back in chapter 8 I think] and what will Gwen tell Arthur when he comes back.
I know, I have a lot of things to figure out.
Thank youuuuu for the reviews and follows! You guys MAKE MY DAY! Seriously, I always read whatever you write with a huge smile on my face.
Since I have to run I'll keep this short, hope you like seeing Merlin drunk, a bit OOC but, well, forgive him. And a very woman powered chapter (I think) With Marissa, Hunith, and Gwen that did little appearances but all of them were kind of intimidating. I love Marissa. Though we won't see much of her in the future.
-Juliet'lovestory-
