Never ever judge anyone. You don't know their story and what's really going on. A smile can hide so much.

~ Jean Norvy

Chapter 35: Two out of Three

Morgana couldn't believe it. The farm boy who had attacked Arthur in the courtyard back at Camelot, the friend that both Gwen and Lancelot spoke of so fondly, he was Emrys. How was that possible?

Merlin looked harder at her. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay. Is this a trick? A spell that you're making me see someone else?"

Merlin laughed. "No, though, that would be an interesting spell. I should look into that." The smile he had faded when he saw that Morgana didn't look amused.

Morgana kept glaring at him. "So it's really you? That time that you were in Camelot, you were Emrys the whole time? Is Merlin even your real name?"

"Yes," he smiled. "Merlin's my real name. Emrys is more my title than anything."

"I don't understand."

"I know, it can be confusing at first. Magic is far bigger and grander than most would think."

Morgana shrugged before she gave him a once over. "I guess the same could be said about you. I have to say that you aren't what I pictured under that hood."

Merlin fell into a fit of giggles. "I hear that all the time. For some reason, most people would think that there wasn't a real human being under my hood. I've heard some of the crazy stories that people say I look like. I'm sure you've heard a couple of them."

"Given what you could do, could you really blame them?" she smirked at him before she shook it off. "Merlin? I mean…Emrys…what do I call you?"

"Either is okay," he shrugged. People have called him either Merlin or Emrys all his life and he honestly didn't really mind either.

"Merlin," she decided. It was easier to separate the young man in front of her from the cloaked figure she had always knew to be 'Emrys' that way. "If you were really Emrys the whole time, what were you doing in Camelot during your visits? Besides knocking Arthur on his backside, I mean," she said smirking on that last part.

Merlin smiled at her. "I was just doing my duty. I'm sure you remember my little stunt with Uther's festival celebrating the Purge?"

"Oh, I remember," Morgana nodded. She wouldn't forget that night anytime soon.

"I just wanted him and everyone else in Camelot to know that the Purge is not something that calls for people to celebrate. It's a time where many people died and lives were destroyed. That is no cause for celebration."

Morgana's jaw tightened. Yes. She agreed with that completely. More so now than ever given what she has discovered about herself. "I can't say that I'm against you on that. But what about a few months ago? Wait…that attack that happened. Many people still wondered why it just stopped…that was you, wasn't it?"

Merlin nodded. "My family received word that Uther had found Sigan's tomb and we knew of the legends surrounding it. We knew that if it was disturbed than there was a chance that Sigan's wrath would be resurrected so my sister, friend and I went to Camelot to see if we could prevent any of it. Sadly, we couldn't do that but we did manage to stop it."

So that was what had happened. It was unfathomable. Uther was always saying that the Dragon Royals only sought to destroy Camelot and here Emrys just revealed to her that he and his family willingly went out of their way to save it.

"Wait…your sister? The girl, Liana, the one I saw slap Arthur. She's…" She couldn't finish but Merlin knew what she was trying to ask.

"Yes, she is."

Morgana shook her head in wonder. "Amazing."

"So Morgana, will you help me?"

Morgana narrowed her eyes. "You still won't tell me what it is that you want to take from the vaults."

"No. This way you won't betray yourself if the theft is discovered."

She nodded. That made sense. "And you'll help me with my dreams?"

"As best as I can but I have to confess that I won't be able to do much. Your dreams of the future are something that you must harness and master yourself. But, I can definitely help you keep from lighting things on fire spontaneously. You won't accidently cast spells without meaning to."

Morgana lightly bit her bottom lip as she thought of Emrys, no Merlin's offer.

Nowe escorted the Druids with him to Iseldir's camp. The injured had been riding on both Haeland and the wyvern he had flown in on and as soon as they stopped, they were taken in by the druid healers. Nowe watched them being carried off with a hard look on his face. Nowe regretted that he wasn't able to cut the hands off of every one of the men that attacked the camp. So many hurt and dead when they had been doing nothing wrong. He dreaded to think what would've happened if he and Merlin hadn't decided to visit them today.

The girl who that warrior from Camelot let him take came up to him. "Thank you," she said shyly.

Nowe nodded and let a small smile sneak up on him.

The woman with the girl came over and took her by the hand. "Let's go Kara."

When they stepped away he went over to Haeland after the people he was carrying dismounted. "Haeland, go over to Camelot and wait for Merlin. I'm sure he'll need you when he's done doing what he has to do there."

Haeland gave a small roar before he flapped his wings and flew off.

Nowe saw that Iseldir was walking up to him and he removed his hood to show his face. "Hello Iseldir," he said to him a bit glumly.

"Prince Nowe," he answered back with a nod. "What happened?"

"Camelot," was all he said. Frankly, it was all he needed to say for anyone to understand. "I'm afraid that Aglain didn't make it."

Iseldir's face hardened a bit. "He was a good friend."

"I'm sorry for your loss," said Nowe.

"Thank you…I'm thankful that you were there to see to these people's safety."

"My brother and I just happened to be there when the attack happened. We're thankful that we were there to help."

"Oh yes, Aglain had called for you. Was what he summoned you for helpful?"

Nowe broke into a small smile for the first time since the attack. "Yes. He acquired a lost treasure for our kin." He then pulled out the spiral. "He wanted to give us this."

Iseldir's eyes widened. "A piece of the Key of Ashkanar," he breathed.

"Yes…now we're set to try to find the other two pieces of the key to try and retrieve the egg."

"The other two pieces are scattered, though it is known that one of them-"

"Is in the vaults beneath Camelot," Nowe finished. "Yes, Merlin is going off to get it back."

"However, even if he does find it, the key is still useless without all three pieces and the third piece has been lost in time."

"Do you know anything about it Iseldir?" He was one of the smartest people he knew, next to his father and Abel.

"I'm afraid not."

"Oh." Nowe's eyes narrowed. Iseldir had a point. Merlin had told him that two of the pieces had been lost and the only reason they have this one was because it fell into their laps by chance. They can't expect the last piece to just fall into their hands like this one. There has to be some way to find it.

"Yet," Iseldir said suddenly. "There is a spell."

"What spell?"

"It's called a type of locater spell. It's a spell that could be used on magical objects that are pieces to a whole. The key you have is one third of a whole."

"Do you know how to do it?" Nowe asked eagerly.

"Yes, though it's something that only a strong sorcerer can cast and I'm afraid that I or anyone here can't do it."

"Tell me what I need for the spell and then my brother could use it."

"I would be happy to give you the spell, but sire, you don't have to wait for your brother. You could use the spell."

"Me?"

Iseldir nodded. "Yes. You are more powerful than you seem to believe you are."

Nowe raised his eyes at that one. He never thought of himself as powerful. Simple spells like levitating and moving things, yes, he could do but he still has trouble with more complicated spells. Something like this seemed complicated and he didn't know if he could.

"I'm afraid I might not be as skilled as you believe Iseldir. It would be better for me to simply wait for Merlin."

"Better or safer sire? Do you want to wait for Emrys because you believe its best or because it means that you won't risk seeing yourself fail?"

Nowe bit his bottom lip lightly. Maybe he had a point. If it worked then he would know where to find the last piece. If it didn't, then he could wait for Merlin to try.

"Do you really think I could do it?"

"It's not about what I think sire. It's about you believe. I believe you can but it means nothing if you don't believe it."

Nowe's jaw tightened. Maybe he had a point. Back home in Frith Nowe had argued to his brother, father, mother and sister that he could handle being on this mission, alone. He had really believed that he could when he said that. Even though the mission became more complicated than they thought he had still insisted that he could handle it. What would his words be worth if he didn't bother to try?

"How does the spell work?" he asked Iseldir with determination in his eyes.

Arthur was in Gaius' lab with Lancelot as Gaius examined the men who had lost their hands during the raid.

"Will they be okay?" Arthur asked as Gaius dressed bandages over the now handless wrists.

Gaius cleared his throat. "Their wrists have been treated. There's no danger of them bleeding out now."

"That's not what I meant," he slurred out.

Gaius said that they would be okay but the real damage would be psychological over physical. Lancelot was dabbing a cloth soaked in medicinal alcohol over Arthur's cut on his head.

"It will be a hard adjustment and not everyone reacts the same way. Some could be like Sir Tate and some could not."

Sir Tate had lost a hand to Balinor many years ago and he managed to adjust to the change in a way to retain his pride but not many other followed his example. Many had resigned themselves to a broken and secluded existence.

Arthur seemed depressed that men in his charge had come out of their expedition had been broken. He remembered the young knight that lost his hand from the mess of Mordred's breakout and he had hoped that it would be the last time he had to see something like this but not only had it happened again, it was worse.

Lancelot wasn't sure how he felt about any of this. Yes, he felt bad that these men's lives have changed so drastically and permanently but he still couldn't ignore the fact that they had attacked a camp of unarmed people. The only ones that had fought them were Emrys and his brother and if they weren't there, yes, none of their men would've been hurt but more people like that woman and child he ran into would've been killed.

There was a hard knock on the door. Gaius called for the visitor to come in.

It was Sir Leon. "Arthur?"

Arthur noticed that Leon seemed a bit frantic. "What's wrong Leon?"

"Sire…its Morgana."

The other occupants tensed, like magic.

"Morgana?" Arthur breathed.

"She's back!"

Now their jaws dropped.

The courtyard was abuzz with people as Morgana walked in to meet Uther who stood at the door with his heart still. She was slightly dirty but looked safe and sound. He slowly descended and went to give Morgana a hug. Morgana lightly returned it. She then turned to look at her escort. Arthur, with Lancelot and Gaius behind him, came out of the doors to see Morgana in the courtyard, along with her escort Merlin.

Soon enough they were all gathered in the throne room. Morgana stood before the throne with Merlin by her side with Uther and Arthur sitting in their chairs with the court watching them.

"Morgana, what happened to you?" asked Uther. "You just disappeared."

Morgana let her head drop slightly. "I was feeling quite upset with everything that was going on around me here in Camelot that I thought it would be good if I left to visit my father's grave. I thought that a trip to see him would cheer me up."

Uther narrowed his eyes. "You went to visit Gorlois' grave? Why did you not say anything? I could've had an escort arranged for you."

"I know," she said quickly. "But I thought it better to go alone. I wasn't feeling much for company."

He nodded sternly at her. He could understand it, even if he didn't like it. Gaius had talked to him about Morgana feeling upset over everything that had been going on around her from her sister leaving to those attacks to her chambers. He shifted his gaze to the peasant boy next to her. "And who is this?"

He took a step forward. "My name is Merlin sire."

"He's an old friend," said Morgana.

Uther's eyes widened. "Old friend?"

"Yes," Arthur spoke up from next to him. "Merlin has visited Camelot a few times before. We've gotten to know each other quite well."

Morgana nodded. "Yes, well, on my way back to Camelot I had ran into trouble and slipped down into a small ditch. Merlin came by and helped me. We recognized each other straight away and when I told him that I was heading back to Camelot he insisted on escorting me back."

"I see," Uther said leaning back into his throne. "Well Merlin, you have my full gratitude."

Merlin shook his head. "It was nothing sire. I was happy to help out a friend of mine. I was coming to visit Camelot all the same and it made more sense to travel here together than separately."

"Nevertheless, you have my gratitude. You will spend your visit in Camelot as a guest here in the castle."

He bowed his head. "Thank you sire. It would be an honor."

Morgana couldn't help but smile at Uther but it wasn't a happy smile; it was a smile exuding mischief. Uther didn't know that she just invited Emrys, a man who he constantly said he wanted to have killed, to be an honored guest before his whole court. And he did it full of gratitude at that. She wanted to laugh at it all. She looked back at Merlin and he had a small smile on his face but his eyes flew to her and she knew that he shared in her amusement of it all too.

Arthur was happy to see that Morgana was safe and she hadn't been in any danger, however, this meant that all the trouble that they went through at the Druid camp, it was for nothing.

Lancelot took Guinevere's hand and lightly caressed it. Morgana was safe and hadn't been in danger. And their friend Merlin was back for another visit. Yet, Lancelot couldn't help but feel that there was more to all of this than at first glance.

Gaius had his gaze focused completely on the peasant boy Merlin. He had it on good authority who he really was. He didn't know exactly what was going on but he knew that both he and Morgana had just completely misled the entire court. He wondered what it was that Emrys was doing here presenting himself out like this to them.

It was now dark when Nowe received all the supplies needed to cast the locater spell to find the other pieces of the triskelion key. There was a great map of the Five Kingdoms spread out before him. There was a stone bowl inscribed with runes that the Druids were lending him full of water with two candles on either side that were burning lightly. Iseldir was off to the side with two other druids overseeing Nowe's attempt of the spell.

Nowe took out the triskelion he had lightly put it in the stone bowl. He took a deep breath and let out a huff before he narrowed his eyes.

"Stede ye æghwæs" Nowe's eyes burned with a magical glow that was soon mirrored by the key before him. It glowed brighter before a white fire started to burn on its surface from within the bowl of water that it sat in before two sparks flew off from it and landed on the map above it. The sparks burned into the parchment before it fizzled out.

Iseldir stepped forward and looked down on the map. "It seems as if you succeeded sire."

Nowe was breathing a bit hard but he was smiling. "I did?"

The druid nodded. "Yes. The piece of the triskelion you had called out to the other pieces and they answered."

Nowe looked over on the map and saw that the burn marks on the map were in two small dots. One of them was in the spot that marked the city of Camelot. That must've marked one of the pieces that was being housed in the vaults there. The other mark was off in a spot that was a bit off to the outskirts of the Kingdom of Essetir.

"The one in Camelot…that's the one Merlin is trying to get. But this one, it's closer than I thought it would be." He could reach that area in less than half a day by wyvern. "Thank you Iseldir."

He held up his hand. "I hardly did anything sire. This was mostly you."

Nowe nodded. "Still, you have my thanks."

He bowed his head. "It was an honor."

Morgana was relieved that she woke up that day with nothing set afire or broken. The whole day yesterday, Morgana had spoken with Merlin in the guest chambers he had been given. He had spent the day showing her how to use magic to light a candle. She had thought him mad to actually get her to use magic in the castle like this but he insisted that it was necessary. He argued that she needed to learn how to channel her magic to manifest when she wanted so that it didn't come out when she didn't want it to. He assured her that she was safe with him there and there was no reason to be scared or nervous. She didn't know why but she believed him. It took her over a dozen tries but she managed to get a spark to ignite the candlewick. It took another couple of tries to get it to light and fade when she wanted. As she was learning to cast the spell Morgana felt…calm. She felt as she did when she was teaching herself how to use a sword. She felt like…herself. When she succeeded in casting the spell Merlin had looked at her in happiness and pride, not in the fear and unease that she had associated with the display of magic. He said that this was the first step to gaining control of her magic.

Guinevere had later come in and noticed that Morgana seemed quite calm than since the fire in her chambers. "You're looking well," Gwen said as she stepped in.

Morgana's smile deepened. "I had a good night."

Gwen's eyes narrowed. "Really? What happened? Maybe it has something to do with a certain visiting farmboy that brought you home?"

A chill hit her heart. She was scared that Gwen knew what they had been up to. "Merlin?"

"Did something happen with him and you on your trip back?"

"What?" she laughed both in amusement and relief. It was embarrassing but she preferred that over the alternative. "No," she said waving it off. "Nothing like that…though he is quite fun and nice to talk to."

"He is," she agreed. "I wonder how his sister is doing?"

Morgana smiled. "He did say that she is doing fine though he is happy to have a break from her."

"I can believe that," Gwen mused. Liana was quite the spirited woman. "I wonder what he's doing back in Camelot for though?"

Morgana shrugged. "He said something about picking up something for his family. He said that he would be able to find it Camelot."

"A gift?" asked Gwen.

"I don't know. He told me that it was something that they needed to have back."

Morgana really didn't know what it was. During their trek back to the city Merlin hadn't given her any more information on what it was that he wanted to get. He just said that it was in the vaults and that she would be safer if she didn't know what it was. Morgana had warned him that if he took something from the vaults that it wouldn't be unnoticed for long. There were people who always kept track of the vaults and its contents and they would find if something went missing. Merlin thanked her for telling him that but he said that he could handle it. She had no reason to doubt him on that. She just hoped it wasn't something dangerous.

Nowe walked into a local pub dressed as a commoner carrying a bundle over his shoulder. He saw that it was already packed with people who were enjoying a drink with one another and that worked out well for him. It meant few people who would be interested in him. If there was someone with a rarity like the triskelion around here than they might be involved in something out of the ordinary and the best way to find out about people like that would be in the tavern. At least that's what Gwaine had always told him. He went over to the tavern's keeper behind the counter.

The man gave him a once over. "Oh, you're a young one," he said with a grin.

"I'm older than I look," he said indignantly.

That only made the man snort. "Want a drink then?"

Nowe shook his head. "No, I'm thirsty but not for a drink. Information."

"Oh," he said with a raised eyebrow. "That's not cheap you know."

Nowe rolled his eyes and then slammed a gold coin down in front of him. "I think I can handle it."

The man took the coin. "How can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me if there is anyone around here with a taste for collecting things."

The keeper narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean if there is anyone here that deals in rare objects or likes to study strange things."

The keeper still seemed a bit confused. "I'm afraid I don't really understand. There's no one doing anything like that here. The strangest thing we have around here is Borden."

"Borden? Who's he?"

But the keeper shook his head. "Sorry, I can't just begin talking about people's personal business."

Nowe huffed before he went and slammed another gold coin down. "How about now?"

He took the coin. "Yeah, he's a bit of a private fellow. Hardly leaves from his hovel on the outskirts except when the local trader comes around."

Nowe bit the inside of his cheek. He had a hunch. "Where exactly is this hovel?"

Nowe followed the keeper's direction and was led to a secluded part of the woods. He wandered around until he felt something warming up in his pouch. He reached in and found that the triskelion piece he had was warming up. That was a good sign. He wandered around for a few more moments before he found a small shack hidden off in the trees.

Nowe went to the door and gave it a gentle knock. "Hello?" he asked.

"Go away!" a voice sounded off from inside.

"Julius Borden?" Nowe asked.

The next moment the door opened slightly to reveal a slightly shaven man. "What do you want?"

Nowe straightened up. "I think you might have what I want."

End of Chapter 35

A/N: Things are getting intense, aren't they? Merlin is preparing a heist with both Morgana and Gaius aware of who he really is and Nowe is about to confront a power-hungry sneaker. I was able to get this written up before I left. I hope this makes up for the long wait.

Stede ye æghwæs – Locate in whole

The next chapter will have Merlin stealing the key piece from the vault but runs into a complication. Nowe has his fair share of trouble too when Borden not only won't part with his piece but wants to take his.