This chapter references Episode 9 of series 4. For obvious reasons there are a few things I had to change from canon but I tried to make it good.

Chapter 20

Rowen sneaked up behind the servant and put a hand on his shoulder, "What are you doing?"

He jumped and shushed her.

"Why are you sneaking around outside Gwen's house?" she whispered, "There's not something I need to know, is there?"

He scowled at her, "Arthur's proposed to her."

Rowen beamed, "Already?"

"You knew?"

"Of course, I knew. Arthur and I tell each other everything."

"Is that so?"

"Well," she blushed, "Not everything. There are some things… I assume she said yes?"

Merlin grinned like a toddler, "She said yes."

"Come on. Let's go back to the castle and figure out how to be surprised when they tell us."

Merlin was very subdued as they walked back to the castle and eventually his silence became too much for Rowen and she asked, "What's wrong? You're not jealous, are you?"

"Jealous!" he scoffed, "Of who?"

"Arthur, obviously," she teased, "Gwen's a lovely girl and you've always got on so well. There's no shame in-"

"No," Merlin shook his head, "I'm not jealous. Not of Arthur."

"You're jealous of Gwen?" she cried.

"No!" Merlin chuckled, "No. She can have Arthur as far as I'm concerned. Maybe he won't want me up as early to wake him now he's got someone else to look after him."

Rowen rolled her eyes, "What is it then?"

"I miss Freya," he said sadly, "I know it's been years, and I only knew her for a few days, but I was so sure we had a future together. She was so… perfect. And now, watching two of my best friends get ready to marry the love of their life," he sighed and tried to hide a tear which was making its way down his cheek, "It makes me wonder what we could have had. So, I suppose I am jealous. Of both of them. Because Freya deserved to be happy, and she was happy with me. But now, she's gone and it seems like I can't be happy without her. And it feels so horrible because it's so selfish and I want them to be happy, they both deserve that, but-"

"You deserve to be happy too," Rowen nodded, "It's not selfish. Freya was taken away from you long before she should have been, and I'm so sorry that that's what happened. She shouldn't have died and you certainly didn't deserve to suffer because she did. And I'm sorry that Arthur and Gwen might never understand that."

Merlin didn't have the chance to respond because Gwaine came tumbling out of the tavern they happened to be walking next to, flanked by Leon and Percival.

"Merlin!"

"Gwaine. Up to your late-night drinking again, are you?"

"Unfortunately, not tonight," Gwaine frowned.

"What are you doing, then?" Rowen frowned.

"Looking for Lancelot," Leon informed them, "No one's seen him all day. He missed training and nobody's seen him around the castle."

"So you thought he'd be in the tavern," Merlin laughed, "Have you met Lancelot?"

"That was Gwaine's idea," Leon sighed.

"No surprise there," Rowen said, "Does Arthur know he's missing?"

"He knew he missed training, obviously," Percival said, "And we went to speak to him before, but he seems a bit distracted."

Merlin sniggered, but Rowen glared at him and said, "It's not like Lancelot to run off without telling anyone."

"No," Leon agreed, "That's why we're worried."

"I'm sure he'll turn up," Rowen tried to be positive, "If he's not back tomorrow, try talking to Arthur. He might pay a bit more attention once he's got a few things of his mind."

"We'll escort you back to the castle, My Lady," Leon said, "You should really be out alone so late at night."

"That's why I have Merlin with me."

Gwaine frowned and then smiled cheekily, "Are you sure Merlin didn't ask you to accompany him? I think we all know who's more likely to be useful in a battle between the two of you."

"Hey!" Merlin protested.

"Now, Sir Gwaine," Rowen chided jokingly, "Let's play nicely."

"Yeah," Merlin said suddenly, "Rowen doesn't need escorting, she could beat any of you in battle any day."

The knights laughed and Gwaine said, "Is that a challenge?" while drawing his sword and walking towards Rowen, a sparkle in his eye.

"Gwaine," Rowen said, backing away, "I don't have a sword, that's not fair."

"Battles are rarely fair, my lady," Gwaine bantered. He lunged forward and Rowen squealed, taking off at a run towards the castle. Gwaine laughed and chased after her, leaving the others laughing behind them. They ran all the way to the castle and through the corridors, both giggling like small children the whole way. Gwaine had always instinctively acted like an older brother towards Rowen, in a similar way to how Arthur had. They were frequent sparring partners when Rowen decided to join the knights for training, even if their fights did end with them chasing each other around the grounds for no good reason. Arthur's group of unexpected knights were like her family, as they were to Merlin and Gwen too. They often joked about Rowen and Merlin being the babies of the group and the knights were extremely protective over both of them. It was ironic, really, because, thanks to their magic, it was Merlin and Rowen who were most likely to be able to look after themselves in a fight.

The next day, the royal engagement was announced and a tournament was started. Rowen was seated between Gwen and Agravaine as Arthur's knights all competed in the tourney. They had briefly spoken to Arthur about Lancelot's strange disappearance but he'd been too caught up in his joy to take much notice. Merlin and Rowen had even theorised that perhaps he had left because he had found out what Arthur was planning and it had broken his heart. But then Merlin reminded her that Lancelot was loyal to Arthur and it had been years since he considered Gwen romantically.

Sir Lancelot was, regretfully, pushed to the back of their minds for the tourney. That was until he made his grand reappearance without even a falter to suggest he had been missing.

"Where have you been?" Arthur asked as they all dined together that evening.

"Been?" Lancelot repeated confusedly, "I have been nowhere."

"No one saw you for two days," Elyan said, "Where were you?"

"Two days?" Lancelot cried, turning to Arthur, "I am sorry, Sire, I was ill. I thought it had only been a few hours. Apparently in my fevered state, it underestimated how much time had passed."

"Did you go to see Gaius?" Arthur asked in concern.

"No, sire, I didn't think to trouble him with such a small matter. As I said, I thought I only felt unwell for a short while."

"Perhaps you should visit him after dinner," Arthur suggested, "Just to make sure nothing's wrong."

"Thank you, sire."

"But where were you?" Leon asked, "I'm sure we must have checked your chambers. We searched everywhere."

Elyan spoke up, "It was I who searched the knight's quarters while you all searched the town. I could never quite remember whose were whose, I must have checked someone else's thinking it was yours. I'm sorry, my friend, I should have found you."

Lancelot smiled, "I do not think I would have noticed if you found me or not. It would seem that I cannot remember yesterday at all. You are not to blame."

"So long as you are well now," Arthur said, "That is what matters. But perhaps someone should teach Sir Elyan how to navigate the castle for next time."

Everyone laughed, relieved to have found their friend happy and healthy. Rowen looked at Merlin, but her smile faltered when she saw him frowning.

The next morning, Rowen approached Merlin, "What is it?"

"I'm worried about Lancelot," he said, biting his lip.

"Why? Did Gaius find something wrong?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just that- Rowen, I checked his chambers at least twice, I know I did. I know exactly where all of their rooms are and I did not look in the wrong one. He was not there. And then, last night when I bought him back to Gaius to be checked over, Gaius said that there didn't seem to be anything wrong, but he was awfully cold and should stay just in case so he could keep an eye on him. I let him have my room, but I didn't have many blankets and I had to go out to get some."

"So?"

"So he said, 'Wouldn't it be great if one of us had magic so we could just conjure up some more instead of going out to find some?' I thought he was just being sarcastic and I was about to just summon some but- something in his eyes. He genuinely didn't know."

"Didn't know what?"

"That I had magic. He was genuinely speculating about what life would be like if one of us had magic. He's forgotten."

"He wouldn't forget that," Rowen said.

"I know," Merlin sighed, "That's why I'm worried."

"Where is he now?"

"He's gone to see Gwen."

Rowen's brow creased, "You don't think he was really ill?"

"No. And I don't know what actually happened."

"He didn't look ill at all," Rowen speculated, "And if he wasn't in his room, he had to be somewhere."

"Gaius said that the only thing physically wrong with him was how cold he was," Merlin mused, "So what happened to him?"

"I don't know. But I don't think that Lancelot's the one who's been walking around Camelot for the past day. I'm going to do some research."

"I'll help you."

They spent as much time as they could reading any book they could find on dark magic. The pair sat on the floor in Gaius' chambers, scanning through page after page in the hopes of finding something.

"Here!" Merlin cried eventually, "Look at this. It says that you can create a living image of someone given that you have access to part of them which you can use as part of the spell."

"Part of them?"

"Hair, nails, fingers," Merlin grimaced, "Any body part, I think."

"And what, someone's chopping off parts of Lancelot to make a ghost of him?"

"Something like that."

"But if it's an 'image' surely it couldn't be solid. He's very much real and solid."

Merlin read on a little bit, "No. It's very convincing. The thing created is called a Shadow. This says it's fairly similar to necromancy when you raise someone from the dead and create a Shade, but the person you're creating doesn't have to be dead."

"That's freaky. We have a Lancelot clone."

"Sort of. This says the person who raises the Shadow has total control over them. Somebody's kidnapped Lancelot and is controlling a Shadow of him."

"How can we know for sure?"

"It says that there's a spell we can cast over a doorway or an arch. When someone walks through, the enchantment casts a special type of light on them which makes Shadows invisible."

"Can you do the enchantment?"

"I think so," Merlin nodded.

"Merlin, if this does prove to be a shadow, who has the real Lancelot?"

"My guess," Merlin said gravely, "Morgana."

"Excellent. Come on, we'll sort this out later. We have a tourney to go to."

Later that evening, Merlin, Gaius and Rowen were crouched in a cupboard in the physician's chambers. Merlin had just finished casting the enchantment over the doorway to him room when the door opened and Lancelot walked through. Sure enough, when he passed through the arch, the room was enlightened with an eerie blue glow which seemingly only Merlin and Rowen could see. While they flinched and protected their eyes from the light, Gaius and Lancelot didn't even bat an eyelid. But when Rowen and Merlin looked up again, Lancelot was vanished. The door out of Gaius' room was opened by an invisible force and slowly, an arm materialised on the handle, followed gradually by the rest of Lancelot's body. There was no denying it. The Shadow had passed through the spell and turned invisible.

The thee looked at each other solemnly.

"We were right," Merlin said, "That's not Lancelot."

"Why would anyone want to summon a shadow of Lancelot?"

"To kill Arthur?" Rowen suggested, "He is one of the most trusted knights."

"We'll have to watch him in the tourney. He'll be jousting against Arthur," Merlin said.

They all nodded, "Let's go."

"We must be careful," Gaius warned, "This is dark magic we're dealing with."

"I don't understand," Rowen shook her head, "What's he doing?" She and Merlin were hiding in one of the corridors at night after he'd found her by the kitchens.

"After the jousting match, I saw Gwen go into his tent," Merlin said, "Maybe he's trying to ruin the wedding."

"Oh no."

"He just met with Agravaine. They're planning something."

"We have to stop them," Rowen said decisively, "Merlin, what happens if you kill a Shadow?"

"I don't know."

"You try and stop Lancelot from doing whatever it is Agravaine's planning. I'll go to Morgana's hut and try to find our Lancelot."

Merlin nodded, "Be careful."

She ran to the stables as fast as she possibly could and jumped onto her horse forcing it to a full gallop before they had even left the square. She felt slightly guilty for putting so much pressure on the horse, but a man's life and the royal wedding was at stake. When she thought of it, it probably would have been better to send Merlin to fetch Lancelot. He had a good disguise as an old man who Morgana happened to be terrified of. It would have been much easier for him. If Morgana were to spot Rowen- which she almost definitely would- there was strong chance she might just kill her on the spot. So now, Rowen would have to rescue Lancelot without being spotted by her evil sister and without using magic, just in case.

When she arrived outside Morgana's hidden hut, she quietly dismounted her horse with a muttered apology to the exhausted animal. Remembering how Merlin had mentioned a side door when recounting his story of what had happened when he went to steal the Fomorroh, Rowen snuck around to the side of the hut. It was very late at night and she could only hope that Morgana was asleep and not waiting up to find out how her plan had worked.

Of course, there was the chance that Merlin had got it wrong, and it wasn't actually Morgana who was responsible for conjuring the Shadow. But it had met with Agravaine and in a contrived sort of way, it did make sense for Arthur's Uncle to be working with Morgana.

She very gently pushed the side door open, praying to everything that it wouldn't squeak. She kept it as close to being closed as she possibly could but ensuring there was enough space to slip into the dwelling. Once inside, she cautiously closed the door again and then ducked behind a very convenient shelf. Crouching down on the floor, she peeped through a gap between two jars to look around the single-room dwelling. She could see Morgana, lying curled up on her bed, presumably asleep. Not wanting to risk her sister actually being awake, she pulled what she would affectionately call 'A Merlin' and mumbled a sleeping spell under her breath, waiting until she heard her sister sigh contentedly before standing. She crept out from behind the shelve and looked around. Crumpled in the corner of the room, arms tied to a chain above his head and half his hair missing, was Sir Lancelot. He didn't look physically injured at all, merely exhausted as if it was taking all of his energy to keep the Shadow alive. His pale face was drenched in sweat which dampened what little hair he had left. Rowen was glad that it was his hair which Morgana was using to conjure the Shadow and not something more gruesome like his nails. Then again, he did have more hair than nails or fingers, so perhaps it made sense.

Being as quiet as she could, she crept over to the man, slightly weary of how close they were to Morgana's sleeping form. She whispered his name, ignoring the quiver in her voice and gently shook his shoulder. The man only groaned rather too loudly and his head flopped to one side.

"Come on, Lancelot, I can't carry you by myself."

Risking a glance out of the window, she saw how the moon was beginning to lower in the sky and panicked slightly. It was beginning to look doubtful that they would get back to Camelot before whatever Morgana's plan was, happened. With a quick golden flash of Rowen's eyes, the cuffs around his wrists burst open and his arms flopped to his side, the chain clattering next to them. Rowen cursed herself and looked over her shoulder to Morgana. Thankfully, her sleeping charm held, and her sister only mumbled slightly and turned over.

After one more unsuccessful attempt to rouse the knight, Rowen sighed, gritted her teeth and knelt in such a way that she could wrap his arm around her shoulder and haul them both to a standing position. Surprisingly, Lancelot was light enough to pull up relatively easily. As Rowen began shuffling towards the front door, which happened to be the closest, it occurred to her that it was probably expected for Lancelot to have become lighter after at least five days being held captive. By the looks of things, so long as he had enough energy to be the source for Morgana's enchantment, the Shadow would continue to roam through Camelot. Morgana wouldn't waste food on something she didn't need to. Not when that something was a knight of Camelot. It took too long for Rowen to get Lancelot out of the hut. By the time she was outside, she too was covered in sweat and shaking with exertion. It was difficult enough to carry a fully grown man, but doing so silently was near impossible and definitely very tiring.

She dragged Lancelot as gently as she could towards the horse and then sighed. How on Earth was she going to lift him onto it? She doubted for a second whether it would even be safe to transport the knight in such a way, but she certainly couldn't drag him all the way back to Camelot. After wasting precious time coaxing the horse to lie down, she was finally able to drape Lancelot's limp body over the base of the horse's neck. It whinnied in protest.

"I know, I'm sorry. But once you get back to Camelot, you can rest for as long as you want," she stroked it's mane, "Now, up you get."

It took a few attempts and Lancelot nearly flopped right off the horse once or twice but finally, it was on its feet, glaring at Rowen. She ignored her guilt and mounted behind Lancelot, "Let's go."

She'd only been riding for a few minutes when she heard a scream of rage from the direction of Morgana's hut.

"Oh no." Rowen had, obviously, hoped that her sister would sleep for a while longer.

She urged the horse to go faster and Lancelot groaned at the movement. Rowen didn't know who to apologise to first. She tried to tell herself that Morgana couldn't catch them; they were far enough away and she hadn't seen a horse anywhere near the hut. But she didn't relax until she was inside the city of Camelot safely. She slowed as she moved through the city. The sun was now rising high into the sky and Rowen was sure she must be too late. Rescuing Lancelot had been too easy, had gone too well. Nothing ever happened this smoothly. An uneasy feeling settled inside her and that feeling doubled when Lancelot suddenly gasped in pain and a silvery ball of light appeared over his face. Rowen leapt off the horse, not caring that it was still moving, and looked at the knight. He seemed to inhale the light, the ball dissipating into whisps which entered Lancelot through his nose and mouth. Rowen had a funny feeling she knew what that meant.

The Shadow was dead.

Perhaps Morgana had succeeded after all.