Hello. Once again I am very, very sorry that it has taken me so long to up-date. In my defence I did say that this may happen for reasons that I have board you all with many times before, so I will leave it at that. Also though from the number of readers I know that there are not that many people reading and caring about the updates.

Lightsbane1905. That is so true. They do get the best lines. The best entrances and exits and the best costumes and weapons. The best of everything really. I think that maybe why we, or I do anyway like them the best. That is also very true. I heard this once and think it sums it up fairly well. Your emotions are understandable, but your actions are unacceptable. That's the hat-trick, right again. I never thought of that, oh damn. Thank you so much for being the only person reviewing. I am sorry it was so long again. I will really try and be better.

The procession made up of four horses made their way out of the main street of the city and out into the large court yard at the entrance of the castle. The entire court of Camelot stood on the main steps of the castle to greet the visitors. There were so many people that there was practically no space left on the main steps. The King stood on the middle of the top step a clear path down the steps laid out in-front of him. His future Queen, not that many knew, was on his right. His most loyal supporter, not that may really knew this either, stood on his left. He avoided looking at either of these people or the procession that was now almost at the centre of the court yard.

His eyes were locked towards the sky. He was looking for a sign. Any little thing that would tell him that he was doing the right thing. Not that he had committed himself to anything. Part of him, a large part of him wanted to turn and go back inside the castle. Hope that all this would go away. He couldn't do that, it was far too late for that. While this had not completely been all his idea he had still agreed to it. He knew full well what the old King's intention behind this visit were. He would have to be as stupid as Morgana and Merlin seemed to think that he was, and he was not. He could not be, he would never let them have the satisfaction of being right.

The rider of the first horse that came to a stop a little closer to the bottom of the steps than the rest made a move to dismount. As a reflex he made his way down the steps through the path that had been left for him. Taking a few steps forward he held out his hand for the rider. They smiled, But Arthur did not see this, as his head was bowed. Out of not just curtsey, but a little of embarrassment. As he could feel all eyes of the court on him and one pair in particular.

"Thank you, King Arthur."

"Princess Mithian."

He final looked up into her warm dark eyes. Then quickly blinked away. There was something familiar about those eyes. Though not quite the same. Her hand carefully slipped into his, as she let him take some of her weight to help her dismount her horse. The hem of her dress became caught on her saddle as she moved her leg over to the other side. She saw it coming before it happened. She stumbled a little when her feet touched the ground, and she heard the sound of her dress rip a little. Arthur lucky moved very quickly and caught her before she had a chance to really fall. Only those that were looking closely saw this. That was enough though.

She bowed her head, which was now turning a faint red. "It is a great pleasure to visit Camelot at this time of change. It has been so very long."

The three knights of Nemeth that had been the princess escorts on her journey now too dismounted from their horses and made their way to the young King who they slightly bowed too. Out of habit Arthur offered the visiting Princess his arm as he led her up the steps towards the castle, the three knights following behind them.

"Yes it has." He offered. The hint of a faint smile crossing his face.

It had been a very long time since the Princess Mithian and her father king Rodor had last visited Camelot. He believed he must have been around thirteen, Mithian herself maybe ten or eleven. It had been a visit to try and find a compromise to the dispute over land at the borders of the two kingdoms. None had been reached, but they had parted on good terms. It was only now that the issue had been fully dealt with. Arthur not wanting to deal with any other outside issues, wanting to focus on the many issues inside the kingdom choose to relinquish any claim that Camelot had to the land in question. To celebrate this new development a banquet was to be held in Camelot. King Rodor had been too tired form old age and ruling his kingdom to come. That was as Arthur knew not the whole reason. The old King wished to form a stronger bond between the two largest of the five kingdoms. A bound forged by his daughter's marriage to him, the new King of Camelot.

"I am sorry that your father was unable to accept my invitation." The Princess's eyes fell a little. "I am glad that you could accept though." He quickly added picking up on her nervousness.

While the polite thing to say, he could not have said it at the worst time. Right at the top of the steps with the main doors being opened for them and Gwen only about a foot away. There was no way that she had not heard him. Though as he glanced quickly towards her she gave no outward sign that she had heard or been affected by his words. Her head was held high as he followed the King and his guests into the castle. She only let her eyes drift towards Merlin for second. Knowing that he was sending her a sympathetic look. She did not dare look towards the King and Princess.

As the court followed the King and his guest towards the main hall, Gwen could not help but think of how familiar this was. She was very sure that Arthur did not remember much about Mithian's last visit here. He had cared about little else besides training back then. In all honestly she remembered little of the visit herself. The visit had happened when her mother became sick so she was spending less time working at the castle so she could care for her. What she did remember was sitting under a tree at the far end of the training area with Morgana and Mithian. Morgana never made a habit of going to the training area. Not since she beat Arthur and he would challenge her to a spar whenever he saw her near a sword. His male pride needing to beat her.

On this day she had been practically forced by Uther to entertain Mithian. She would much rather be reading or out riding her horse. She took her to the market, but they quickly gave up and choose visiting Gwen out of boredom. They brought some soup for her mother from the castle kitchen. Her mother insisted that her daughter spend the rest of the beautiful sunny day with the lady and Princess. They had ended up sitting under the tree on the edge of the training grounds at Gwen's suggestion. Seeing clearly the frustration growing in her friend at having to entertain someone that she had nothing in common with. For her part Gwen had liked Mithian. She was what she expected a Princess to be like. It was in comparing her to Morgana that she saw how different the unknown witch was from other high born ladies. It was for that reason that they became friends.

What she remembered of the few hours that the three young girls spent under the tree was Arthur trying to get Morgana's attestation so he could goad her into sparing with him. While he did this a lot he was more persistent on that day as he knew Morgana was told to be on her best behaviour around their guests. Doing something as un-lady like as sword fighting did not fall into the category. To her credit Morgana did not rise to the bait. At least not on that day. It was seeing the way Arthur all but ignored the Princess in favour of Morgana that was the first event that she saw that made her start to believe that Morgana would one day be Queen of Camelot.

The court filed into the great hall. Taking their places as the King made his away to his throne. From there he made a short speech, written by Merlin on the importance of the visit and the forming of strong bounds between the kingdoms. Once finished applause filled the hall. For a second a proud grin crossed the King's face. He presented a confident exterior to the world, and for the most part it was true. There were however something's that he did not have much confidence in. Being a statesman and making diplomatic speeches were two of them. He looked to Gwen for reassurance that he had done well. Hers was one of opinions that he cared most about. In some cases it was the most important. Dispute everything else that was going on, she smiled at him. Her mouth only curled a little at the sides. It was in her eyes that he saw her smile.

After the applause faded the court was dismissed to get ready for the banquet that evening. Having to leave the main hall so the servants could begin to set the hall for the evening, Arthur guided Mithian through the side door, followed by Merlin and Sir Leon. The knights of Nemeth followed their Camelot counterparts to be shown around the castle. The party of four made their way in silence to the Kings council chambers. Once inside Arthur started to feel a little uncomfortable. So he quickly moved to sit at his desk. Creating a sense of formality to the situation. Sir Leon and Merlin stood on either side of the door. Mithian also feeling uncomfortable moved a little further into the room standing a foot or so in-front of the desk.

Feeling worse now that he realized that there was no chair for the Princess to sit in, Arthur quickly spoke. "I am glad that we have been able to find a solution to the bad blood between our kingdoms."

"We didn't you did." She took a tentative step forward. "My father is most grateful."

Arthur caught a tone in her voice. She was unsure of something and wanted to ask a question, and he had a very good idea what it was. "You wish to know why."

She looked away from him as she summoned the courage to say want she wished to. "Your father-"

"Is very stubborn."

She smiled and nodded. "We never thought he would give up Camelot's claim."

"And he hasn't, I have."

His tone had been stronger and maybe harsher than he meant it to be. Mithian took a step back and seemed to sink into herself a little. Not feeling able to say anything to reverse or make up for his unintentional action he thought it was best to end the conversation. He told Merlin to show Mithian to her chambers. As she nodded and turned to leave Merlin saw form the corner of his eye, Sir Leon watching her. He had never seen Leon look at a women in that way before. He felt a little sorry for him. The knight quick turned away from looking at her to face Arthur as she passed him. Having to stay and talk to Arthur about planes for the tournament that would be held the next day.

Merlin led the way along the main corridors of the castle towards the guest chamber that had been set aside for the visiting Princess. He didn't know what to say, if he should say anything. He probably should not say anything given that he was a servant and she was a Princess. She just seemed so tense that he wanted to say something to make her feel more at ease. There was a part of him that wanted to hate her. He knew why she was here, why her father had not come with her. The whole court knew. Gwen was his friend. She was like a sister to him, the most caring person her knew. He hated seeing her hurt or upset. No one deserved it less. He just couldn't bring himself to hate Mithian though. True he wanted her to leave as soon as possible, but he did not wish her ill. Maybe if Arthur could find the courage to make his engagement to Gwen officially and Leon was a little bolder then this could all have a happy ending. He unfortunately had seen too much to believe in those anymore.

"You don't like me do you."

Her voice was measured and soft as before, but there was more strength behind it. This and what she said cased the secret sorcerer to freeze in his tracks and slowly turn to face her. His mouth opened a little, as he tried to find the words to reply. To find any words really as he was sure that he was standing like an idiot with his mouth half open for longer than it was possible to brush off and had to say something soon.

"It's okay if you do." She moved a step forwards. "I would like you to though."

Merlin finally found his voice again. "Why would it matter if I like you. I'm just a servant."

She laughed a small laugh through closed lips. "No you're not."

His mouth once again hung open, a little wider this time. His eyes also widened to a slightly comical size, but only for a brief second. He had to wash any trace of surprise from his face and quickly appear as nonchalant as possible. Years of worry about being caught out, being watched to closely had given him these reflex urges which kicked in now to deflect any attention from himself.

"What makes you say that." His voice came out a little higher than he would have liked, but all in all he thought that he recovered well.

"He trusts you." He couldn't help himself he scoffed a little at her words. "It's true. A servant would never be given the task of escorting guests like this. He also kept glancing towards you during his speech. You wrote it didn't you." He didn't answer but he looked away from her. "Having that kind of trust placed in you must make you very special." With that she started to more on.

"You have no idea." He whispered under his breath.

"Sorry, did you say something." She turned back round to face him.

"No." he quickly answered. Seeing that she did not believe him he was forced to say more. "I was just still wondering why you want me to like you."

Mithian looked away from him. Her body became a little tense again. She had hoped that he would be able to understand what she was trying to say without having to say it so plainly. In truth she was a little embarrassed. With a deep breath though she found the courage to answer the strange servant in-front of hers question.

"I would like Arthur to like me. It's clear that he doesn't. I hoped that if you, who he trusted did, it would help."

Merlin wanted to kick himself. How could he have not seen that. He must have been to busy worrying for Gwen and his secret that he never gave a thought to how Mithian was feeling about all of this. She had feelings too and it was unfair to think she did not and only think of the feelings of others. Not dwelling too much of this fact and how he learned it he smiled at her

"He is a new King and he misses his father. Give him time. He is unsure of himself in certain situation. I'm sure that he likes you. You should give him time to know you better."

She smiled so warmly at him, that he forgot to feel guilty about how his words may effect Gwen. He just felt so bad for her. Smiling a little back at her he started to once again led her to her chambers. As they did he hoped that he had not made things worse by maybe encouraging her feelings for Arthur. That was if she had any, she had only said that she liked him. That was all, nothing strange in that. Expect that not many people did like Arthur. At times he wondered if he even liked him. Now was not the time to pull on that thread. He wondered though how things had suddenly become so complicated. He had believed with Uther gone, and Morgana not a direct threat things would be easier.

The sound of that shriek still played in her head all most an hour later. There was still the overwhelming feeling that there was something out their lurking in the growing shadows of the forest. She was not scared, no there was precious little that truly scared her now. What else did she really have to lose apart from her life, and that was something she was very sure would not be so easily taken from her. Fate it seemed liked playing with her, letting her die now would be far too easy. It was honestly more irritating than anything. Whatever it was she was very sure it would find a way to cross her path. Trouble almost always did. She just wished that it would do so sooner rather than later. While she had long since gained the virtue of patience, it was still not something that she enjoyed. She was about to pull the rains of the horse to make them stop. Planning on dismounting and trying to find out what was going on, her patience now running out, when she heard the shriek again.

This time it was louder. Birds that she had not noticed before sprung to life and flew away from where they had been perched. Her newly acquired horse came to a sudden stop. Their head darting around trying to see what had caused such a sound. Morgana felt her heart fall into the pit of her stomach. She knew what was making that painfully sound.

Resigned to her fate she pulled sharply on the rains and forced the horse to move towards where the sound had come from. The horse clearly did not want to move, but years of horse riding allowed her to take control and keep the horse on track. This time though they travelled at a slow pace. The air seemed to get suddenly colder the closer they got to where she believed the sound had come from.

When the sound came again it was so close and high pitched that she felt as if it could split her head in two. The horse did not enjoy this any more than Morgana did. He froze to the spot just as Morgana did, her body becoming ridged. The only movement she made was sudden watering of her eyes. With a deep breath she all but jumped off the horse. Turing towards it for a second to stroke it's main. She expected when she took her hand away that he would run off, but he stayed. For the briefest of seconds a thin smile crossed her face. Horses while having a mind of their own if they choose to be could be very loyal.

Walking forward with her head held high she saw a clearing a little way ahead. In the centre of the clearing she saw something that made her blood run cold. It had to be a trap, but she couldn't help herself. Running forwards into the clearing she fell to her knees.

"Aithusa." She whispered.

Her hand first gently stroked the dragon's face before quickly worked at untying the ropes that tied the young dragon. Aithusa's eyes did not leave Morgana from the second she saw the witch running towards her. Morgana for her part choose to avoid looking too closely at the dragon. If she did she felt that she would spill the tears that were welling up. Only when there was one rope left to untie did she allow herself a glance at the dragon. She was clearly tired and weak. Most likely she had not eaten or slept well for a while. She scoffed a little at how similar their situations were. Importantly though Aithusa seemed to not be wounded or badly hurt. Before she could let out a sigh of relief she felt something coming towards her. A strong surge of magic was heading right towards her back. Pulling herself to her feet, while still standing in-front of Aithusa, she started to lift her right arm to block the incoming attacked shield the young dragon.

She was fast, but whoever was attacking her, had set this trap up, was faster. At least they had the element of surprise. The force of the hit, knocked her back a few feet. It was not enough to keep her down, but before she had a chance to even try and pull herself to her feet, she heard words she knew well echoing all around her. The voice was familiar and if it was possible to fight back the sleeping enchantment that was being placed on her with sheer force of will then she would have been able to do so. Just before her eyes fully closed and all went black all she could think was that she had been very wrong. She did have something to fear, something to lose. Something that had been used against her because she no-longer believed she had it, empathy.

A figure in a faded grey cloak walked slowly over to the fallen witch. Bending down when she reached her. Like the first thing Morgana did when she reached Aithusa, a hand slipped out from the cloak and gently stroked the side of her face.

"Falling is so hard, with an open heart."

The last thing that Morgana was clearly aware off was a cold hard object touching the side of her face as the hand stroked her face. For the brief second she felt the object against her skin a warm feeling of safety and protection washed over her. Once she could no longer feel it any more anger built up inside her.

Thank you and I hope that you liked it. I really hope that I am not insulting anyone by explain this, but I worry that I have not written it clearly. It is more a comment on my bad writing and not any of you. The line "Falling is so hard, with an open heart." Is about failing being harder when you do so while caring about something. Also the object that Morgana felt was her mother's healing bracelet.

I plan to start up-dating at least once every two weeks from now on and not let any of the other stuff affect me. I know I should be less of a little baby and just get on with it. Cause really now I have lost some of the love for this and just want to get it done case I don't like leaving things undone. So that is what I want to do. Hopefully I will get some of the love back as I get back into it.