"Will you allow me a private moment with my physician?" Uther asked, while Helios leaned lazily against the bedpost. He mulled over the request, and seeing no harm that the two older men could cause, decided to grant him the privacy that he wanted.
Gaius, for his part, knew all too well, why Uther wanted to speak to him. Wisely, he remained quiet as Helios and his men removed themselves from the room. Once the room was empty, he began checking the king over.
"It's been a month." Came his voice, meek and panicked.
"Yes, it has." Gaius answered. He had been against the bindings since she was a child. He was personally grateful that their travels had taken them away from Camelot for a month. It had all but been confirmed by his sources that they were fine and making their way down the path that would lead to their; a destiny that included magic.
"We've missed the day of the binding ceremony. What happens when we miss the binding day?" Unter inquired.
"I don't know for certain." Gaius answered truthfully.
"But you must have an idea?" Uther demanded.
"I'd imagine Gwen is having quite the shock. She's probably doing things that she can't explain. She slowly gets stronger and Morgana gets weaker, until her powers are restored." Gaius informed.
"Hm, and last you saw Morgana was quite powerful."
"Yes, but untrained. You only allowed me to teach her how to suppress, not use." Gaius reminded. "It's still untrained magic, that was suppressed. Gwen taking that in, will probably be a lot. Chaos even."
:::
Guinevere was currently levitating and petrified. Morgana stood before her, wide eyed, trying with all her might to pull her down by her leg.
"What's happening to me?" She screamed, eyes strobing gold, magick happening everywhere around them. Morgana let go of her leg and swallowed hard. Surely it had been four hours now and Gwen hadn't budged.
Morgana could feel the magic, raw and wild. She had tried some spells of her own, but nothing had worked. Right after Gwen had allowed the one plate to fall, all the dishes in the kitchen fell to the ground, breaking. Next had been the sink, the faucet broke, and mimicked a geyser; which Morgana was tending to before Gwen ended up in the air. Then all hell broke loose.
"Gwen I think you're stuck." Morgana guessed.
"What the fuck?!" Gwen screamed at the top of her lungs, all the windows broke.
Merlin had just exited the car when he saw the shards of glass spew from their home. He quickly made his way into the cottage to be greeted with a very in the air Gertrude.
"Elena!" He exclaimed, believing it be her holding up the other women. Perhaps there was an argument or fight.
"She's stuck!" Morgana shouted in fear.
Arthur walked and stopped in his tracks. He took in the scene for a second and sprung into action, tugging at her legs. Gwen for her part was almost hysterical.
After a few moments of trying, Arthur turned to Elena. "What's happened?" He almost shrieked.
"I made pancakes…" was all a panicked Morgana could offer, before she hit the ground. Merlin rushed to her, she was out cold.
He turned his attention to Arthur. "Catch her!" He yelled before his eyes too turned gold.
"Swefne!"
Gwen dropped into Arthur's arms, very much asleep.
:::
Morgana couldn't have known some of the magick within her, was leaving. It would be like a dripping dam, slowly it would leave until one day the dam would break; Guinevere's magick would yearn to return, as it has since the separation.
For now though, when Morgana wakes up, she is relieved to see her best friend laying next to her, fast asleep. She doesn't remember going to bed herself, but she still feels so drained.
Her mouth is dry; swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Morgana stretches, she needs water, and Merlin.
When she exits the room, she find Merlin on the couch, deep in thought. She watches him for a few moments before clearing her throat. When he looks at her, she sees the concern and care in his eyes, but she sees something else too.
Suspicion.
There was apart of Morgana who understood.
There was another part that wished he could go back to how he was.
"How are you? How's Tru?" Merlin asked, genuinely. He was on his feet, and as if he had read her mind, was preparing a glass of water.
When he brought it to her, their hands touched accidentally, prompting Merlin to looking into her eyes. Cerulean on Emerald.
Suspicion.
Instead of retreating back to the room, she sat in the chair opposite the couch. Merlin had fixed the windows, she assumed, seeing that everything was back to normal.
She waited for him to talk more, as he sat back down, but instead he slipped back into his deep thoughts.
"You're hiding something. Both of you are. " Merlin finally said sadly.
"Let's go for a walk Merlin." She offered and half commanded after a few moments. In that instant, she decided she would tell him the truth.
He looked at her.
Suspicion.
"Oh come on, Merlin. It's me-" she offered to ease the tension.
"Who are you?" He cut her off.
"Let's go for a walk." She softened.
Merlin finally got up and they were off.
The night air was void of a chill, but there was a light breeze. It was dark by now, and the owls could be heard. Merlin and Morgana's steps rhymes as they walked in silence. Neither knowing how to break the ice.
"I guess you got some questions for me?" Morgana finally spoke.
"Well Morgana," she froze, "... I've got questions for both of you."
"Morgana?" She questioned rhetorically, voice husky, and airy, like a whisper. "Yes, Morgana, servant of Camelot, and The Once and Future Queen. "
Merlin chuckled sarcastically. "Lies." She laughed softly while he shook his head.
"With good reason." She defended, gently. "Leon was the one who came up with the idea of an assumed name. Only after your brother spoke of the Pendragon's so lowly. The only way Leon could convince me to trust you two was you didn't know who I was." Morgana explained, careful to guard Gwen's secret.
"And Tru?"
"Just a servant." Morgana answered quickly. Before seeing headlights approach the small cabin.
Merlin, too, saw the visitor approach. Giving Morgana one last look, he turned to walk away. "Let's finish this later." He spoke as he headed back towards the cabin, Morgana walking next to him.
::
"Gwaine?! Wha-what are you doing here?" Arthur sputtered as he opened the front door.
Arthur's childhood friend stood at the threshold, grinning from ear to ear.
"I've been in a journey, I stopped in Ealdor to see you, your mother informed me that I had just missed you. She gave me directions here. I'll be leaving town tomorrow at noon. You gonna let me in?"
"Sorry" Arthur opened the door more, allow Gwaine entry. "You picked a hell of a time." Arthur chuckled, it's been mayhem in here."
"So what kind of adventure?" Arthur asked.
"A secret one, it's about Camelot." Gwaine offered.
Arthur's brow shot up, just as Merlin entered the cottage, Morgana in tow. Gwaine's eyes lit with desire, and recognition. How could he ever forget Morgana? However, he was now confused as to why she was called Elena. He would have to find a way to get her alone so he could speak with her. She might know where they took Guinevere.
"Merlin, Gwaine is here." Merlin for his part seemed very happy, Morgana however studied the man before here. Could it be? The boy Gwen and I knew from so long ago.
"Gwaine, meet Elena. She and her friend Tru are staying with us for a while." Arthur introduces them. To which Gwaine planted a kiss on her fair hand.
"I'll get supper going." Merlin announced, jealousy floating within him.
"I'm going to get ready for dinner." Morgana said, slipping her hand from Gwaine's and quickly making her way back to the room. She had to check on Gwen and try to keep the princess hidden from their guest.
He had recognized her, she was sure of it.
When she entered the room, she was sure that her task would be near impossible.
Levitation.
There she was, about a foot above the bed, fast asleep. Her eyes though, open, moving rapidly, consistently gold. Morgana could feel the magick filling the room, it pressed against her chest and stole her breath… she felt weak.
"Merlin!" She yelled with the last breath she had before passing out.
Merlin had heard the call and a few seconds later was at the door, trying to get in, but something was blocking it from opening.
"Elena. Elena. Elena!" He called for Morgana over and over to no avail.
He ran back into the living room.
"Arthur, something's wrong and I can't get in." Merlin informed his brother quickly, Arthur was on his feet in an instant. He ran to the door and began to push at it. After a few thrusts, Elena's hand fell into sight on the other side of the door.
"It's Elena, she's passed out again." He informed as he turned to run out the house. Grabbing his axe, Arthur ran to the window to his room. Looking in he could see Tru levitating again.
Merlin and Gwaine heard the sounds of glass shattering when they rounded the outside of the house. Arthur had made quick work of breaking it and was now climbing in, cutting himself of shards that still remained. Once his brother was in, Merlin began to climb into the room next, assessing the situation.
When it was Gwaine's turn he stopped. Eyes wide.
Guinevere.
There she was, a foot in the air above her bed. Long hair cascading, she looked at peace until you looked at here eyes.
"Tru can you hear me?" Arthur asked, panicked, shaking her. "Tru? Merlin?" Arthur now turned to his brother, who upon looking at, he knew knew nothing.
"Onwacan." The only thing Merlin could think to do was wake her up. She plummeted to the bed, screaming, causing all manner of objects to fly about the room.
Merlin was able to calm everything down after a few moments. He also was able to temporarily bind Gwen, however, her eyes were still gold; not a flash of gold, but as if the brown eyes he had become used to had been replaced.
One thing Merlin knew for certain, Tru was POWERFUL.
"Gwaine?!" Came Tru's hoarse voice before she promptly passed out.
::
"What the hell was that?!" Gwaine asked, eager to be sure that the princess was well.
"It just started?" Arthur answered, momentarily coming out of his deep thought. "Merlin, do you know what to do?"
His brother shook his head, no.
"And Leon is God knows where." Arthur continues.
"We have to get them some type of help, at least find out what's going on." Gwaine pressed… it looked a lot like magick.
"Where?" Arthur asked.
"The Darkling Woods. There are druids there and the seer who lives amongst them. Perhaps they could help… we were supposed to go there awhile ago, perhaps this is as good of time as any." Merlin offered. Although he was suspicious of them, they were still, for all intents and purposes, his friends. "Think about is Arthur, maybe we can find out what ails them, and you can talk to the seer about your destiny."
"What if Tru goes all magick on is again?"
"I can temporarily control her, we just have to be quick. We might not even encounter any issues." Merlin countered.
"Famous last words." Gwaine chimed in. "I'm coming with you guys, I wouldn't dream of passing up a chance to speak with a seer. I have a team that could help us."
"Honestly, with Tru being such an unknown variable right now, we could use all the help we can get." Arthur agreed, confused as to why Gwaine was so eager to help. Merlin nodding behind him.
"Right, I'll go wake that lot up, we leave at dawn." Gwaine said making quick work of leaving. He could not believe his luck. Keeping the Princess safe just got a lot easier.
::
Morgana awoke for a second time unable to remember falling asleep.
This time however, her head was throbbing. She laid there for a moment in the warm bed, before she gingerly sat up. She was greeted by a very worried Merlin, sitting in a chair across from the bed the women were in.
"What happened?" She asked.
"We don't know." Merlin answered truthfully.
Morgana sat on the bed, searching her memory, a frown maring her face.
"We're going to The Darkling Woods, to the druids; there's a seer there, perhaps they can help." Merlin spoke, breaking Morgana from her thoughts.
"Druids?" She had heard awful things about them, and for as much as Morgana disagreed with Uther, she couldn't help the fear that crept into her belly.
"Yes. They should be able to help us figure out what's going on with Tru." He stood to leave. "We're out of here in a few hours, why don't you rest a bit more?"
"Merlin?" Morgana called as he neared the door, hand in knob. "I'm sorry for lying, one day I'll be able to tell you everything."
Merlin turned and gave her a sad smile. The next thing she knew he was gone.