Eris, Morgana can't reach her magic because of the necklace (I know I didn't explicitly say he put her the necklace :-) My bad). There will be lots of crazy things, though. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Merille Marc, yes, it had its funny parts. I would rather define it as bitter-sweet, but I'm happy you find it funny. When wasn't Merlin's life complicated? He had a thing for attracting danger. I'm curious what you'll think about this chapter. Kara is full of resentment and she needs a scapegoat while Merlin isn't innocent either. We know his reasons, but Kara can only see her own part of the story. Is she trustworthy? That's up to you to find out. She will trick and lie to someone in order to get something and that will have consequences over the way the story is going to unfold. I'm not going to reveal if her actions are going to get someone hurt or something like that. I'm evil. I know.

P.S. Most of the witty lines are inspired by the series Hotel del Luna. Don't worry, though. You won't get any ghosts. Or maybe you will. It depends on my mood.

And yes, the title is inspired by the song from Hotel del Luna which I'm listening to right now.

Another day

"It could have been worse." The bandit declared.

"Really. What could have been worse?" Merlin asked exhausted.

"She could have got donkey's ears."

"I'm the only one who thinks that donkey ears would have been better than this?" Merlin looked around to see what others think about his remark. "I guess I am." he added after a while.

"I've thought…" the bandit muttered.

"The ears would have look perfect on her." Merlin admitted.

Time flew fast with such joyful company. He wished it would last forever. If only Morgana would have enjoyed the walk as much as she did without him having to enchant her. At the end of the journey, she was dirty and tired, but happier than he'd ever seen her. He helped her raise a camp for the night.

Much he tried he couldn't help feeling a pang of pain at the thought tomorrow she would genuinely hate him. On the way to the castle he heard a lot of people gossiping about how good he and Morgana looked together or about how much they loved each other. Even that young man had thought he was her lover. He remembered how fast he'd tried to appologize for saying she was adorable. Merlin, though, knew better. Whatever could have been between them it was in the past.

Though, when she grabbed his hand as he wanted to leave, Merlin couldn't help feeling he didn't actually want to go back to his chambers. He wanted it to last.

'Go to sleep." He spoke gently.

"I can't sleep. The moon is too bright and… I…don't know…I…I feel that I will never meet a night like this. It makes me feel sad."

"There will never be a night like that." He declared. "You know why?" She shook her head.

"Because you are next to me now. The view will never be the same without you. It make me sad, too. Though, it is not real. You don't want to be with me."

"If you are going to say this is because you're a servant and I am royalty I …I won't believe you. I don't think you are a servant. You are the king, aren't you?" He watched her surprised. "It's obvious. Even if you tried to blend in, you weren't as successful as you thought."

'Because of my magic?"

"No, it has nothing to do with your magic or anything you said or did. You played your role well, but I just know it. I can't explain it. I simply know it."

"Well, I've never blended in, but people never noticed…until now." He couldn't deny he was really surprised about this new Morgana. In just a few hours he'd seen so many sides of her.

"It's not a bad thing…You are special. People must admire you. But it must be lonely."

"Go to sleep." He suddenly decide to put an end to the conversation as he didn't know how long he would manage to hold back some unwanted tears that had found shelter in his eyes. The last thing he needed was to be reminded how lonely he was. He loved that version of Morgana, but it scared him at the same time. She could read him like a book. He wasn't used to be so transparent. It made him nervous and scared.

"I don't want to."

"Be quiet and go to sleep while I'm being nice."

"What are you going to do to me after you stop being nice?" She challenged him,

Her question had taken him by surprise. He had the slightest idea what he could do to punish her. He didn't want to punish her. He just wanted to be friends again, but being friends with that Morgana was a lie. She would disappear the next day and it would leave him hollow and lonely. It was better to end it before it got too painful.

"I can take you by force and threw you there. Like I did back in the forest." He finally came with an answer.

"I enjoyed it. Could you do it one more time?" She asked enthusiastically.

"No." He said annoyed and stood up ready to leave. Then he turned around, lifted her in his arms and carried her to her tent. Morgana enjoyed the moment like a little kid, a broad smile blooming on her face, but her face darkened when he threw her on the matrass and left her there. "See you tomorrow. Sleep well!" He hardly had time to utter those words before an object flew directly to his face. He skillfully avoided it and smiled one more time before he went away.

The night was indeed unique and the realization of it crushed him like a little bug under the foot of the cruel destiny. He breathed in and tried to focus on his papers. There were loads of reports and letters on his office. He had a lot of people to greed and meet. He took another breath. He would deal with as he'd always had.

What really shocked Merlin and filled his heart with joy at the same time, was the numerous people who had already answered his call. When he had arrived in Elmet he had been surprised to find druids, spirits, pixies, sorcerers and different types of magic creatures waiting for him. He had never expected that he would ever be able to manage something like that: all those people were actually listening to him. They were looking for his opinion, for his orders. He was feared and loved at the same time.

Aithusa had started to become more friendly with him. She even managed to speak her first words and she was progressing really fast. He wished he'd never left her alone. She was such a beautiful creature.

He had a lot of things to do, but he was impressed how fast the former Perilous Lands started to look like a thriving kingdom. Tomorrow he would go back to Camelot, but he was glad to see the defence walls were already up. Now, he would need an efficient army.

He had an idea how to procure a part of that army, but it was crazy and difficult. He would have to awaken the knights of Medhir. Which were sleeping in Camelots vaults. It wouldn't be easy, but he was a warlock. And a clever one.

"Have you met the druids?" Merlin asked as Mordred joined him in Gaius' chambers. Merlin had used magic to copy a letter he wanted to send to his people and now he was filling in the names of the leaders he addressed each letter. It was exhausting, but the euphoria of seeing his dreams coming true kept him going. He'd done this the entire week since his return to Camelot. Mordred, Kilgharrah and some of the leaders that had already arrived in Elmet had helped him to deliver the letters.

"They will be in Elmet by tomorrow," Mordred announced. "They gave me names of the people from the surrounding villages. I can look for them. Kara had already been to the surrounding kingdoms. She sent me a letter in the morning. She needs more letters. Some of the people had promised to help her, too. She will go to the mountains. There are rumors that a strong sorcerer and his followers are hiding there. Tomorrow I'll tell Arthur I have to go. I'll miss him, but it's for the best."

"Thank you, Mordred. You've done a lot this week. I'm sure you'll be able to return one day. Arthur cares for you and so do the knights. I know Elmet can't compare with Camelot, but we've achieved a lot till now. Thanks to you all."

"It's perfect. Elmet, I mean. It is not comfort that I seek, but acceptance." Mordred answered wisely.

"Thank Kara from me. I know she doesn't like me, but I hope she will accept me one day. And give her this when she returns." Merlin took a small packet out of his bag."I've cast a spell on it. Like we did with the knights. You have the spell to restore it to the right size inside the packet."

They'd put a spell on the Medhir knights to turn them into toy-like little knights Merlin and Mordred could sneak into their bags and take with them to Elmet. It had been a piece of cake.

"What is it?" Mordred asked. "If I may."

"Just a little gift for the wedding."

"Which wedding?" The knight asked. Merlin laughed at Mordred's reaction.

"Here. You might need this." The warlock offered him a small box. Mordred opened it and found a nice ring inside.

"But…"

"I found it while cleaning the Elmet's vaults. I don't have someone to offer it to, so I've thought about you and Kara. It's up to you to decide when you want to give her the ring. Just let me know so I can prepare my best outfit for the wedding. And do not worry about the preparations. Consider it my wedding gift for you. Just tell me the day."

"Thank you." The former knight couldn't find his words. He'd never dreamt about something like that. He loved Kara and marrying her was the perfect thing to do, but everything seemed like a dream.

A week had already passed since the joyful walk through the woods and the land was completely different. Yet there were still a lot of people to invite. Mordred hadn't dared to announce his decision to Arthur and he postponed it for another day, but that night he decided to leave Camelot. Merlin needed him more than Arthur.

A lot of people had left Camelot during that week. Merlin felt sad to say goodbye to some of the people he'd got so used to chatting in the morning. During his stay in Camelot he'd got pretty well with most of the people and being Gaius' apprentice had offered him the opportunity to meet and chat with a lot of them. However, he was amused to see some of them the next night in Elmet. He wondered how many people like him had to stay hidden outside the walls of Elmet. They were as surprised as him, if not more, to see Arthur's servant there. But it was great to have some familiar faces in a foreign place.

However, Merlin hadn't come to a solution regarding Morgana. In fact, things had got even more complicated. The necklace would prevent her from using her magic so she wouldn't be a threat to the inhabitants, but Merlin was worried about her.

He'd been right about the spell. The next morning, the spell was gone. Finna had to put another spell on her as Merlin wasn't around and she didn't know what to do with Morgana. Then, the witch got too sick to register what was happening around her.

She did not even recognise him when he visited her. The witch spent most of the time asleep. The physician gave her something to help her relax and sleep. He couldn't find anything wrong with her body. Yet she was in some sort of shock. She spent hours looking at the cellar without paying attention to anything around her. She refused to eat or talk. And she was like that for over a week.

During this time Aithusa never left her side. The white dragon seemed to be the only one who could reach her.

From what Aithusa could find from Morgana, the High Priestess spoke only to her dragon, Morgana was under the impression she was again chained in that pit. The shock of meeting Emrys, combined with her nightmares might have caused her to have a breakdown and she sort of disconnected from the outside world.

Merlin had never wanted something like that. He suspected Morgana had suffered a lot all those years, but he never expected her to be so damaged. So, he did his best to help her, but there was little he could do. Especially as he was the last person she wanted to see.

Meanwhile, Merlin debated her situation with his council and decided to let her free on the condition of never leaving the country. All the members agreed that keeping her in chains would cause her even more damage. Even Kilgharrah had to admit it much as he hated her.

The guards had been instructed not to let her outside Elmet and no knights were more loyal than the Medhir ones. So, she was moved inside the castle and left alone. As Merlin was one of the very few who had his own room and none from his council wanted to give their chambers to the witch, Merlin decided to keep her in his bedroom while he would spend the night in the library. After all, he wasn't in Elmet to sleep.

As long as she wouldn't do anything stupid she would be free to do anything she wanted. The change helped her improve her health and the witch started to make progress with each day that passed. She stopped having nightmares. She still slept most of the time, but both Merlin and Aithusa made sure her dreams would be pleasant.

But what actually helped was an old healing spell. It was meant to extract bad energy from the body and help clean the mind. The drawback was that the caster had to absorb that energy which made the spell very risky. Yet, Merlin decided not to give up. He hadn't spared her life to have her condemned to be like a ghost. Yet the process took time. He had to absorb that energy little by little every day. He couldn't risk turning mad, either. So, it took over a week and it required a lot of energy from Merlin.

Merlin really hoped that Morgana would enjoy this new chance; he hoped that seeing magic being used freely and people being judged fairly for their errors would make her go back to being the kind and lovely girl he had once met in Camelot so many years ago. Yet, he had to renew the spell on her necklace to be sure Morgana wouldn't hurt anybody with her magic. Maybe, in time, when she would learn how to use it, he would allow her to access it again. Maybe…but he feared it was only a fairy-tale. Deep down, he knew that the girl he had used to call his friend would never come back again. No one can go back to the past, not even the great Emrys.

I've started with "another day" and I ended with "A little braver" (Youtube chose for me).

P.S. I'm waiting you tomorrow for a new chapter from Thorns (if you like Harry Potter fanfictions. Though, it has very little to do with Harry Potter story, except a few characters).