"Merlin, I need to speak with you," Morgana said, cornering him in Arthur's room as he was gathering the laundry.
"What's the matter?" he asked, looking out into the hall for listening ears.
"My sister, she's going to appear here soon. I need to figure out what to do."
Morgana explained what happened in her original dream. That her sister lured Arthur to see a vision of his mother, so that Arthur would try to murder their father, an act that would destroy him and Camelot. Merlin had convinced him it was a lie to prevent that from happening.
"What should I do?" she asked, wringing her hands nervously.
"I think it depends on why she wants Uther dead. Why does Morgause hate him so much?"
Morgana searched her memory of the vision, but came up short. "I suppose because of the purge. The same reason all sorcerers hate him."
"Then would she not be swayed by the promise of a better Camelot?"
"I don't believe so. Her heart is full of hate. In my dream, the most recent one, because I don't hate Uther, now she enchants me to share her hatred. Merlin, I'm afraid of becoming that. That future, where you poison me to save Camelot, where you plunge a sword into my belly. Merlin, I've died twice in your arms, at your hands… I don't want it to come true…" she said, shivering.
He ran a hand over his face in frustration. "No, I can't ever imagine that. I won't let it happen."
"You might not have a choice," she whispered, her voice trembling.
"Can we stop her in some other way? There must be a way. So that future never comes to pass."
"I don't know," she said, pacing, wringing her hands in frustration. "I don't want to hurt her. I know I've never met her, but she's my sister, and…"
He caught her hands in his to stop her pacing, and said kindly, "I know, I understand. But Arthur's your brother, and Uther your father. Their lives are at stake too." He looked at her with a sudden pained expression. "And yours, Morgana. Your life's in danger too. I can't let that happen."
"What if we went to her first? What if we showed her that Camelot could change? That she can be part of it?" she looked up at him, her face hopeful.
"Okay. Where can we find her?"
"I think I know where she'll be. The question is, how do we convince Arthur to be part of this?"
They eventually decided to tell Arthur as much truth as they could without revealing themselves as sorcerers. Gaius admitted his role in saving the girl's life, and her parentage. Morgana led them to the cave, certain Morgause would already know they were coming. She wasn't wrong.
"Sister, I am surprised you've come to me willingly. I am certain you must know what the future holds," the blonde woman said, peering at her sister and her companions with curiosity.
"It is the future I am trying to prevent, Morgause. I want a better future for both of us, for all of us. One where we can be together, and not live in fear, and where our fear does not turn to hatred."
"You're very naïve to think that's possible," Morgause said, eyeing Arthur and Merlin suspiciously. "What kind of man are you, Arthur Pendragon? Brave and noble like your mother, or full of fear and hatred like your father?"
"My father is a brave and noble king, but he hates magic, because a sorcerer killed my mother," he answered, his hand tense at the hilt of his sword.
"Is that so?" she says, her eyebrows raising. "What if another sorcerer could bring her back to you? Well, only for a few moments."
"You could do that?" he asked, suddenly unsure.
"I could. Consider it a favor, one I will ask that you repay someday."
"Please. I would like that very much," Arthur said, his voice pained.
As they left the cave, Morgana held Arthur's hand tightly. Merlin walked ahead to give them privacy.
"I need you to know something, Arthur," she began.
"My father is a liar and a hypocrite. What more do I need to know?" Arthur said, pained.
"I know. But he's more than that. He's a man who loved you so much that he was willing to use what he feared the most to have you."
"He didn't do it because he loved me, he did it because he wanted an heir. He killed my mother," he said, his rage simmering.
"No, he didn't. He couldn't have known the price was her life. Sometimes, with magic, the price isn't clear. A life for a life. Perhaps he expected to pay the price with some peasant he'd procured. You'll never know until you ask him, and have a real conversation with him. But, Arthur, what will you do with the information? What do you hope to gain?"
"I want the truth, even if I have to carve it out of him," he seethed. "I want him to pay for what he did to my mother, for all the lives he took to quell his own guilt."
"Arthur, I've been down this path before, it's a very dark path. And at the end, the person who's hurt most is you. You have an opportunity here, to find out the truth. And if the truth is what Morgause gave you, you can use that knowledge to do some good."
"What do you mean?" he asked, honestly confused.
"Stop the persecution, stop the executions. No one else has to die for possessing magic. This can finally end," she grasped his hands in hers, her voice thick with desperation.
"Father will never stop…"
"He will if you tell him to. You have the leverage," she pleaded.
Arthur looked shocked. "Blackmail the King?"
"It's not blackmail, it's… applying political pressure," Morgana smiled tightly. "It's better than a sword in the chest."
"I'm not so sure it is better. He deserves the sword," Arthur said, still shaking with anger.
"Perhaps, but you don't deserve what will come of it. You aren't a murderer, you couldn't commit regicide, patricide, without it destroying you," Morgana said. "I know, because I was once tempted as well, and I couldn't go through with it. Even after he'd hurt me. I didn't want to become the very thing I hated, someone who acted based on fear and hatred. I want to be better than that. I know you do too."
Arthur fell silent but for the tears streaming down his face. Morgana pulled him into her embrace. "I'm here for you, you don't have to face this alone, and you never will. I'll always be at your side, my brother."
"Brother… you've never called me that before," Arthur said, giving a sniffle unbecoming of a prince.
She stiffened, aware of her slip.
"But it's true, isn't it? The whispers all these years? Uther is your true father, isn't he? And you've recently realized it?" Arthur said, still clinging to her, his face in her hair.
"I believe so, yes," she admitted. "Would you find that disgraceful? To have me as your sister?"
He pulled away, his face splotchy from the tears that had spilled down his cheeks. "Never. I'd be grateful if you were."
Morgana stifled a sob and embraced him again, her beloved brother and the Once and Future King of Camelot.
They faced Uther together, confronting him about his secrets, his shame. The death of his wife, the conception of his daughter. They didn't do it in anger or outrage, but with compassion and pity.
"This can't continue, Uther," Morgana said. "The persecution of magic users. Would you have hunted all physicians if Gaius had made a mistake that killed one of us? Blamed the entire trade for the acts of one?"
"That's different. The sorceress knew it would kill her…"
"And you didn't?" Arthur asked, pained.
"I didn't think it would be her!" he shouted, red-faced and angry.
"But it would be someone," Morgana said.
He frowned, calming slightly. "I had selected a prisoner."
"But that wouldn't satisfy the Triple Goddess. It had to be someone you loved," Morgana said.
"So I've been told," Uther said, his eyes closed as he sighed.
"Then the sorceress did nothing you didn't ask for, but you've persecuted her people for over two decades since. It has to stop," Arthur said.
"If you think I'm going to welcome magic back into Camelot, you've lost your mind," Uther said, angrily.
"I'm not asking that. There's a middle ground. Just stop hunting them. Let the Druids alone. Don't execute sorcerers, just exile them if they're caught practicing magic. Let them live their lives, somewhere, if not in Camelot," Arthur pressed.
"I won't be soft on magic just because I bear some fault in using it to have you," he growled.
"How would the people feel to know their king's failings are the basis of his policy?" Morgan said, heatedly. "What sort of king murders innocents because of his own regrets?"
Uther looked at them with cold fury. "I won't stop protecting Camelot from magic. I will not stop until I see every last sorcerer burned. We're done here."
They left Uther's chambers in defeat.
"He's a monster," Morgana sobbed against Arthur's chest. "He'll just continue to murder innocent people. And eventually either he'll murder my sister, or she him."
"I'm not going to let that happen. She's your sister, so, sorceress or not, she's my family too. I'll find a way to protect them both," he said, stroking her hair as she cried.
"You really mean that, Arthur?" she looked up at him in surprise.
"I mean it. I won't let her hurt anyone, but I will protect her from our father. You have my word."
She tightened her grip on him and whispered, "Thank you."
She knew it may be impossible for him to keep his word, but she loved him even more for trying.