Seeing Morgana's face Merlin realised he had said the wrong thing, him and his big mouth! Now what did he do. He quickly decided to try to deflect by taking the high moral ground "I will not use magic to try and control the thoughts of others and I am surprised you asked me.

"I just thought you could just make then think they had seen something they hadn't that's all." Morgana protested "After all if King Rodor thought Arthur was in love with someone else and Uther thinks Mithian is they might drop the whole idea.

"You wanted me to make them think they had seen things they hadn't by invading their minds, don't you realise that this is just reinforcing the Kings views of magic and it is used for the wrong purposes. What if they discussed with the other King what they had seen? After all they are friends!"

Merlin shook his head sadly. "I thought better of you."

"I want to help them. They are both going together to try to convince their fathers this is not necessary, but you know what Uther is like. He won't listen. It won't matter that they both approach them." Morgana was desperate to help her brother "If you won't do it teach me how to."

"No I won't besides you are a long way off that yet. Please promise me you won't ever use your magic in this way, if you can't I am not sure I can teach you more." Merlin pleaded.

Morgana stormed off, Merlin was only to pleased she hadn't picked up on his comment about the purge. He hoped she wouldn't question him later about it.
Morgana was livid, she didn't see why Merlin had been so dismissive of her request. After all Arthur and Mithian were intending to face the two kings together but she knew the chances of success were low. If they had thought the couple were involved with other people they may well have relented. It would have been a risk as if Uther had got wind of any supposed woman in Arthur's life the reaction would have been severe. But she felt the risk was small enough. Sitting in her rooms she thought back on the conversation to see if there was anything she could do to change the outcome. As she thought about the conversation something struck her.
"You can't just bend the rules to suit you, look what happened when the purge started."

What the hell did he mean by that, she knew the purge started when magic was involved in the death of Arthur's mother but what rules were bent? Was it worth asking Merlin? Who else could she ask?

Merlin meanwhile was worried as to whether his slip up would be picked up on and if so what he could do. He knew Morgana was a smart lady and if he wasn't careful he could be in real trouble. He was well aware of the reason for the purge even if Iseldir hadn't told him. As a younger lad he often used to listen to the elders talking, as they often forgot or didn't realise he was in earshot. Like a lot of kids he knew that the grown-ups often didn't tell the children everything. He had always been curious. Maybe to curious for his own good. But he knew the purge was started after magic was used to help conceive Arthur and that the King had asked for magic to be used but couldn't live with the knowledge he had been in part responsible for his beloved wife's death. Merlin realised as he got older that things weren't always clear cut and if Uther had been firmly told his wife would pay the cost the outcome may have been different. But then the Once and Future King would not have been born. So in some way the gods must have wanted the purge. It was a conundrum he hadn't solved.

Merlin knew speaking to Kilgarrah would not solve his problem, the dragon would laugh and say he should never have trusted Morgana in the first place. He remembered the warning the dragon had given him about trusting her. Merlin was also aware that the beast had been in solitary confinement for twenty years so his view of things might be twisted. It was a waste of time asking Gaius who would probably say it was his own fault for not thinking before talking. That was certainly something his mother would have said.

The young warlock was feeling the pressure of his destiny and would have liked to walk away, but he knew he had no choice. Once he had decided this, his course of action became clear to him. He was lying enough already and if he continued on this course he would need a better memory. So he would have to keep as near to the truth as he could. He would also need to speak to Arthur before he told Morgana. But the scared voice in his head told him to wait as long as he could, in the hope he wouldn't need to say anything.

Meanwhile Arthur and Mithian had tried to finalise their plan for approaching the kings. They practiced what they were going to say in front of Gwen who did her best to offer advice. Arthur knew his father wouldn't be swayed, but had hopes of King Rodor who adored his daughter. But as he was getting on in years Arthur knew he wanted to see his daughter safely married to someone who would look after her. Arthur knew if the marriage did take place he would do his best to care for Mithian, and hoped he could come to love her, but he would always wonder if he would have found his true love.

Mithian felt much the same, she liked Arthur but as a brother figure not a husband. Her father loved her with all his heart but he knew how hard it would be for a woman to rule, let alone a single one. He had also been easily influenced by Uther. Hence the ban on magic in Nemeth, even if he turned a blind eye to the practice. Mithian hoped her father would realise that if she married Arthur the ban would have to be enforced to the letter. It would destroy so many people's lives. Mithian felt Arthur had a more relaxed view on magic but it could be years before he took the throne and became a king in his own right. Maybe if the marriage went ahead she could talk Arthur into the same blind eye her father had.

So it seemed four people were to have a sleepless night if for different reasons.