Hi everyone! So, I originally planned to have this chapter out much earlier but life can get pretty busy with school, work and all that. Anyways, thanks to all who reviewed for the last chapter! I see a lot of interesting theories and ideas popping up! Look forward to hearing more!

Alright, let's get on with the story! Thank you for your kind patience in waiting for an update. Sit back and enjoy.

Disclaimer: Okay fine, I don't own Merlin.

Previously on Careful Choices:

"What's going on Morgana? What did Mordred mean earlier on about a bad man chasing you both?" Aithusa asked with concern.

"Well... we meet again Morgana. I see you are here too Aithusa. It seems you've been keeping secrets from me." Merlin finally spoke icily.

"Please! Please don't harm my child! I'll do anything you say, just don't hurt him! I beg of you! Please!" Morgana kept repeating brokenly in between sobs.

Chapter 5

Morgana glanced around warily, taking in the familiar surroundings. She knew where they were, although it seemed a little different from the last time she had been to the place.

"Why have you brought us here?" She asked as she gazed out towards the lake in front of her.

In the distance, the Isle of the Blessed could be seen in all its mysterious glory, shrouded by the ever-present mists of the lake.

However, where there once stood the crumbling remains of castle ruins, there was now a huge, towering fortress instead. Merlin ignored her question as he looked towards where the boat dock was.

There, right next to the floating platform, a small boat was stationed. On the boat, the ferryman stood still, silently watching and waiting for them to approach.

Merlin turned towards Morgana and gave a small frown, noting the fact that she wouldn't be able to walk while chained up.

His eyes glowed and Morgana let out a startled yelp as she was suddenly levitated slightly above the ground.

Her body floated towards the boat as Merlin walked next to her silently, carrying Mordred in his arms. When they reached close enough, the ferryman looked towards Merlin and addressed him.

"Lord Emrys." Stated the ferryman as he bowed to greet Merlin, stretching his hand out in the process.

"Kairos, you know where I wish to go." Merlin replied, his eyes flashed with magic and a gold coin appeared in the ferryman's waiting hand.

The ferryman merely nodded silently as Merlin got onto the boat and sat down. Morgana gently landed on the opposite spot in the boat, so that she was seated facing Merlin.

Once everyone was situated, the ferryman made the boat move and it glided across the water smoothly. After a moment of silence, Morgana decided to speak once more.

"Why have you brought us here Merlin?" Morgana hissed out, demanding an answer this time.

"I already said earlier before. I'm bringing us to a place where we can talk more. Also, there's no way that I'm leaving you in Camelot where you can possibly go around stirring up trouble again." Merlin responded with a glare.

"What do you mean by that? In case you haven't noticed in all your stupidity, we're travelling to the Isle of the Blessed, which means we're still in Camelot's territory. How could we possibly be leaving Camelot this way?"

"Why, thank you Morgana, for stating the obvious. You must think you're so clever. Now if you don't mind, we're here so stop speaking. Your voice irritates me." Merlin deadpanned.

Morgana turned her head to see that Merlin was indeed correct. She was once again levitated out of the boat without any prior warning and she scowled at Merlin, who had the gull to smirk at her discomfort.

Merlin quickly cast a spell and a cloak with a hood materialized in his hand. He draped the cloak over Morgana, and pulled up the hood over her head, making sure that her face was hidden from view.

"When we head inside, I want you to remain silent Morgana. If you start yelling and making a scene, I will cast a silencing spell on you." Merlin spoke.

"You think you can just…" Morgana trailed off at the look of warning Merlin gave her.

"Fine." Morgana huffed.

Seeing that she had agreed, Merlin proceeded to enter the fortress with Morgana floating on his left. Morgana scanned her surroundings with interest, taking note of the courtyard that they were in.

There were druids milling about the area. Each silently bowed to Merlin as he passed. Merlin nodded back to each druid that they passed as if their behavior towards him was a norm.

Morgana just stared incredulously at the druids, her disbelief rising with each bow that was given to Merlin. Merlin kept moving forward, crossing to the other side of the courtyard and entering a hallway on his right.

He continued walking deeper into the fortress, making a few turns into different corridors and passageways until they finally came to a large hallway.

Morgana's eyes widened when she saw that the whole stretch of said hallway was guarded by a row of hooded warriors clothed in dark royal blue and black on each side of the hallway.

At the end of the hallway was a large silver brass door with a design of two huge white dragons, intertwined, in the middle of the door.

Merlin strode forward towards the door. As he walked, the guards on each side bowed down and rose back up in perfect sequence as he moved past them.

Merlin stopped in front of the door and raised his right hand, placing his palm directly on the design of the dragons.

His eyes glowed and Morgana stifled back a gasp as the dragons began to move on the door. They slithered in opposite directions until they separated and glided to each side of the door.

When this happened, there was a deep rumble and the doors finally parted. Merlin entered the room with Morgana still levitating next to him.

Inside, the room was beautifully decorated with nature. It looked like one had stepped into a glowing forest. In the middle of the room, there was a huge stone archway with a shimmering veil.

A hooded guard was waiting for their arrival, standing silently in front of the archway. The hooded guard approached Merlin and bowed before rising up.

"Lord Emrys, you have arrived. We have prepared and activated the portal as you have commanded. The portal is ready for you to use milord." The guard said to Merlin.

Morgana glanced frantically towards the archway that was a magical portal. Where did it lead to? Where did Merlin intend to bring her and her son? She couldn't let that happen.

Who knew where they would end up! Morgana's fear and anxiety grew as more of such thoughts came to mind and she began to struggle against her bonds.

"Where are you taking us Merlin?! Let me go! Return Mordred to me!" She began to screech.

Both Merlin and the guard were startled by her sudden outburst.

"Morgana calm down. Your son is fine here, see? He's just asle–"

"No! I will not calm down! Release me now! You will not harm my son or take him away from me! Let me go Merlin!" Morgana yelled, becoming even more hysterical.

"I'm sorry Morgana but I warned you earlier. You leave me no choice then…" Merlin replied with a sigh.

There was a flash of magic and Morgana's world went dark. (A.N: I was seriously tempted to end the chapter here, but that would be really mean!)

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Morgana woke up with a gasp. She tried to move but realized that she was still immobilized in chains. She looked about wildly, trying to figure out where she was. Merlin stood nearby watching her as her eyes roamed about, taking in her surroundings.

"You're in my personal chambers right now. Well to be more exact, you're in my private dining room. Of course, that isn't too important at the moment." Merlin began to say, catching her attention.

"Now listen carefully, I'm going to release you from the chains so that you can move and I want you to walk into that room over there. I'll be walking right behind you." Merlin said, gesturing towards one of the doorways ahead.

Morgana nodded her assent and Merlin's eyes glowed. The chains that were wrapped around her dissolved into thin air.

She slowly tested her movements and when she was certain that she could move, she stood up and began walking hesitatingly towards the doorway that Merlin had mentioned.

Morgana kept glancing backwards to look at her son who was still unconscious in Merlin's arms. She entered the room and took note that it was quite sparsely furnished with only a simple desk and a cupboard.

"It's a good thing that I have a spare room in here. This will be your new room. Let me just add some furniture in here." Merlin suddenly spoke to her.

With a look of concentration, Merlin began muttering under his breath and his eyes flickered gold. As he chanted, Morgana watched in stunned fascination as one by one, furniture began materializing out of nowhere.

A large bed, big enough for two. Bedside tables with nightlight candles placed on top. A large beautifully designed floor rug.

A gorgeous bedroom vanity table with a vase of freshly picked forest blooms. A vintage styled wardrobe. A dressing divider. A chest of drawers. A wooden storage trunk.

The once empty room now looked similar to the one that she used to have when she was a lady of the court. In fact, it looked much grander, as if fit for a queen.

"You'll be staying here until I figure out what to do with the both of you. I trust that your accommodations are suitable enough. You have a lot of explaining to do Morgana." Merlin stated as he walked up to the bed and lay Mordred down gently.

Merlin then proceeded to lift the sleeping child's left arm before he began whispering softly. An intricate cuff bracelet appeared on Mordred's wrist. At the same time, a similar looking bracelet manifested itself on Morgana's wrist.

"What are you doing?!" Morgana cried out frantically as she rushed past Merlin, pushing him aside so that she could hold her child.

"Calm down, it won't harm you. It's just a precautionary measure on my end. Those bracelets are enchanted to prevent you from causing grievous physical harm to anyone, including yourself. This way, you won't be able to injure or kill a person wearing that." Merlin explained.

"They are also magic suppressors, designed to continuously drain your magic just so that you don't have enough to cast spells. The magical energy collected in the bracelets are then channeled to the earth of these lands so that it returns back to nature. I'm the only one who can remove them." Merlin continued to elaborate.

The moment the last word left his mouth, Morgana whirled around to face him, her eyes burning with fury. A loud smack resonated in the room.

"How dare you! You track us down mercilessly even after I told you we wished to be left alone in peace. You then threaten me and hold my son hostage so that I would do as you say and now you bind our magic and keep us here as prisoners?! You're a vile and loathsome man!" Morgana spat angrily.

Merlin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His cheek stung from the slap Morgana had given him. When he reopened his eyes, they had darkened with rage.

"…what you just did was very rude." Merlin uttered softly, a hint of steel in his words.

Morgana took a step back when she saw the dangerous glint in his eyes and heard the change of tone in his voice. Merlin was about to continue speaking when someone cleared their throat loudly.

The warlock and the witch turned to face where the sound came from. There, at the entrance of the room, stood two people.

The first was a pretty maiden with fawn brown locks and twinkling hazel eyes. She had a sweet smile and an innocent looking face.

She was clad in a simple but lovely dress. The other person was a young and handsome man.

He had chestnut brown hair and the same hazel eyes as the maiden. He had a mischievous smirk on his face that enhanced his features.

He was wearing a dark outfit that looked similar to the clothing of a knight and he had a sword strapped to his back. There was a crest of a red rowan tree on his clothes.

Morgana stared at the crest with slight astonishment. From what she knew, that was the symbol of the Blood Guard. Her surprise grew when both of them bowed to Merlin.

"We apologize for interrupting your majesty. I bumped into Astoria over here just outside your chambers. She said that you had summoned her to meet you. I was about to come and find you myself. Sunset is upon us in a matter of hours. There is still a lot of preparation needed. We are awaiting your arrival sire." The man spoke to Merlin.

Merlin just nodded his head and turned back to look at Morgana.

"I need to attend to other matters right now but this conversation is far from over. We'll talk again soon. I'll leave you with Astoria for now. She'll explain things further while I'm not around." Merlin said gesturing to the maiden.

"Come, Darrius. Let us be off quickly or else we'll be late. I'd hate to keep everyone waiting for me."

With that, Merlin strode out of the room. The young man gave a nod to Morgana and smiled at the lady before he followed after Merlin.

Morgana turned to the young woman in front of her and voiced out the first thing that was in her head.

"I'm sorry, I must be mistaken but did that man just address Merlin as a royal?" Morgana asked in disbelief.

"No, you aren't mistaken. We do consider his majesty, King Merlin as a royal. He is the leader of our people after all. Were- were you not aware?"

"What?! Surely you jest! Merlin? As a royal? That is completely ridiculous!" Morgana cried out in disbelief as she sat on the bed, trying to process what she had just been told.

It was such an absurd idea. The Merlin she remembered was just a servant boy who always managed to find a way to secretly thwart all her plans.

Him being a king just seemed so unlikely. He had always been content with being a follower rather than a leader. Then again, Merlin was often underestimated by those around him.

He was far smarter than he let on and much braver than he seemed. It looked like he had finally stepped up and grew into his role as a sovereign.

So that was the reason why everyone was bowing to him earlier before this. He was their leader.

"He must not have had the time to tell you, I guess. Especially since it's a busy time for him right now with today being Samhain and all. Sire is busy getting ready for the ceremony that will be taking place in a few hours." Astoria said, breaking Morgana out of her thoughts.

"Since he's the king, he is the one in charge of conducting the annual customary sacrificial blood rites to appease the spirits during the eve of Samhain. He is also the one who will lead the congregation in mourning and praying for the dead tonight since Samhain is a day of remembrance for our dearly departed." Astoria explained.

"He will be lighting the great bonfire in the courtyard once dusk approaches later on and members of each druid family will light their own torches with the flames of the bonfire to carry back to their own homes and kindle their own hearth-fires. To think, winter time will be upon us very soon." Astoria continued in a faraway voice.

"Oh sorry, where are my manners? I realized I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Astoria, one of the members in King Merlin's royal council. That Blood Guard you saw earlier was another member of the council and also my brother, Darrius. Anyways, you probably have a lot of questions now so I'll try my best to answer them. So, what would you like to know?" Astoria asked.

"Well, you could start by telling me how in the world Merlin of all people ended up becoming king. I mean, I guess it's possible but the idea is so unimaginable!"

The cheerful appearance on Astoria's face slowly morphed into a serious expression upon hearing Morgana's words.

"I don't know if you're trying to be insulting but, I'll have you know that King Merlin is a great ruler. After the death of the Once and Future king, the whole of Camelot was plagued with sadness and turmoil. The druids were divided because we had no proper leader. People still feared and hated those with magic. King Merlin came to our people and he united us."

"He brought us to this uninhabited island and rebuilt our magical community from ground up. He created this sanctuary for our kind to live peacefully without having to fear that we would be killed for having the gifts that we have. He gave our people a place to call home and he has worked tirelessly to ensure that we continue to have this home. That is why he is our leader. That is why he is our king." Astoria expressed passionately.

Morgana remained silent as she listened to Astoria's speech. What did one say after hearing all that?

"Anyways, moving on. Earlier just now, King Merlin mentally summoned for me and instructed that I was to give you a tour around his chambers and explain some of the rules that we have here. You'll come to find that we tend to use telepathy a lot when it comes to communication. Now then, let's begin the tour starting with this room!" Astoria exclaimed excitedly.

"As you can see, his majesty has prepared this room to suit you and the little one asleep on the bed. You'll find the garments you both need inside the wardrobe over here. Don't worry about the sizes. All the clothes here have been magically altered and will expand or shrink appropriately upon being worn so as to fit nicely." Astoria stated as she opened the wardrobe to show Morgana the colorful array of dresses and the variety of small tunics inside.

"Over here in this storage trunk are some toys for your child to play with in case he wants to. I'm sure he'll like them very much. If he would like different toys, just feel free to ask and we'll see what we can do." Astoria said, lifting the lid of the large wooden chest to show Morgana.

"Alright, we're done here. Now, I'll show you the other rooms. We can leave the young one in here to sleep. The sleeping spell will take a while to wear off. Follow me please." Astoria voiced out, walking out the bedchamber.

Astoria headed towards another room and held the door open, ushering Morgana inside. Morgana stepped in and her eyes widened when she saw the beautiful indoor hot springs that was built in the room.

"This is the lavatory and bathroom. The privy is behind the partitions over there. Towels and bath soaps are on the shelves there. The water's heat is maintained through magic so you'll always have a nice warm bath." Astoria gestured to the hot springs.

"Oh, and please do remember to lock the door when using this room. King Merlin uses these bath chambers too. Wouldn't want him to walk in on you accidentally, now would we?" Astoria added on with slight chuckle as she and Morgana walked out the room.

Morgana just remained silent and followed Astoria to see the private library room, the study room and finally the dining area in the main hall of Merlin's private chambers.

"Food will be served for you and your son at the dining area over here during mealtimes. Well then, that's about it, I guess. Any questions?" Astoria enquired.

Morgana turned to look at the two rooms in the furthest part of the chambers that they had not entered.

"What's inside there?" She asked, pointing towards the rooms.

"Oh, I'm afraid those rooms are off limits to you. In fact, everyone is restricted from entering those two rooms. Not a single person has been given permission to enter King Merlin's sleeping chamber and his alchemy room before. They are very private and personal to him." Astoria answered, as she walked towards one of the rooms.

"As you can see, when I try to enter this room, a barrier appears and prevents me from going in." Astoria illustrated by placing her hand near the doorway of the room, causing a shimmering force field to appear.

"If you continue to try and force your way in, you'll find yourself receiving a nasty shock and King Merlin will also be immediately alerted of your attempts to do so. Oh, one more thing before I forget! As of now, you are confined to the chambers of his majesty. This means the main entrance of these private chambers and all windows are also blocked with the same barrier to prevent you from leaving." Astoria added on.

"I need to leave now. The ceremony is starting in a few hours and I have to help with preparations. Dinner will be served for you and your son later on. If you require anymore assistance or have any further questions after this, please do feel free to summon me through this. It will contact me when you call out my name." Astoria explained as her eyes flashed gold before she held out her hand.

Morgana hesitatingly reached out and took the beautifully designed compact mirror. She thanked Astoria, who smiled and nodded at her before leaving the chambers.

Morgana sighed to herself before quickly making her way back to the sleeping chamber that had been given to her.

Upon entering the room, she was met with the sight of Mordred sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes sleepily. She rushed towards her son and plopped down on the bed beside him.

"Oh, little one. You're alright, you're safe!" She cried out in relief, embracing her child tightly.

"Mama! You're okay too!" Mordred exclaimed, cuddling back just as tightly.

After a few moments of hugging, Mordred released his hold and glanced around the room with his mouth gaping open as he took in the sights.

"Wow mama! Where are we? It's such a big room! Like, like a room for a king!" Mordred exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.

"Yes, it is a very grand place. Now I want you to listen to mama carefully. Do you remember that man who chased us?" Morgana asked.

Mordred's eyes widened and he nodded his head vigorously. He glanced about the room warily, looking for the man his mother had mentioned.

"Well, he's the one who has brought us here. He wants to ask mama some questions so we will be staying here for a while. The man put on these special bracelets on us so now we can't use magic but if we behave and be good, he will take off the bracelets and let us leave, so mama needs you to be a good and brave boy okay Mordred?"

The little boy frowned and a look of concentration appeared on his face as he tried to do magic. When nothing happened, his face turned ashen. The young child's lower lip began trembling as if he was about to cry.

"O-okay mama… I'll try and be a good boy." Mordred sniffed, trying to be strong.

All of a sudden, Mordred let out a loud gasp of shock as if just remembering something important.

"What about Thusy mama?! Is she okay?!" He asked in panic.

"Hush my sweet child. Not to worry, Aithusa is fine. She's just too big to be inside so she's waiting outside for us. The man promised that he wouldn't hurt her at all." Morgana answered soothingly.

Mordred still looked uncertain so she quickly thought up of a distraction to change the subject.

"Come my dear, dinner will be served soon. While we wait, how about I show you something really nice? It looks like you've been given some new toys to play with. It's your birthday after all isn't it?"

At the word "toys", Mordred's eyes lit up and he stared at Morgana eagerly, all earlier fears gone from his mind.

"Yes, please mama!" He squealed happily.

Morgana proceeded to where the wooden storage trunk was and lifted the lid for Mordred to peer inside. He was a bundle of excitement, looking through all the new toys and oohing over them.

After careful consideration, he picked out a toy and turned around with his back facing the chest. He plopped himself on the ground and began to lose himself in his own world of fun and games.

Morgana sat down next to him and joined in the fun. With that, the both of them began to pass the time with the entertainment they had.

Okay, so I have a feeling some of you may be thinking it's a little weird that Merlin isn't throwing Morgana straight into a dungeon, since at this point, Morgana is still considered the villain here. Well, my reasoning for this is that Merlin still isn't sure what he should do with them at the moment and Mordred being there complicates a lot of things.

It wouldn't exactly be honorable (We all know how important honor is to people in the world of Merlin, right? Especially for the nobles and knights.) to separate a young child from their mother and throw her into prison, leaving Mordred alone and scared.

Having both of them imprisoned would be a really traumatic experience for Mordred as well, so the best option would be to have them confined in Merlin's chambers until Merlin can figure out how to deal with the situation.

Well, that's all for now, thanks for reading! Leave a review on your thoughts about this chapter and do stay tuned for more. Until the next update then!

~Faye

(Updated: 12/08/2020)