AN: HERE WE ARE SEASON THREE LET'S GO!

THIS CHAPTER IS NEARLY 10,000 WORDS! THE LONGEST CHAPTER OF THIS STORY SO FAR PROBABLY!

So the first part is in Third Person's POV!

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin in any way, shape, or form! I do own Elizabeth Malinor and any other characters I make up!

Enjoy!

"Ow," Merlin mumbled to himself as he rode on his horse. More than a year had passed without them finding Elizabeth and Morgana, yet here he was, on another search party looking for them. Looking for Elizabeth, he'd never give up on, now that he was fully aware of his own feelings for her, something that the Imagination Elizabeth wouldn't let him forget, but it was becoming tedious. Though it broke his heart, he'd was starting to consider the very real idea that she could have been dead. But she and Morgause were sisters, Morgause would never let that happen.

Bottom line, Merlin's mind was a mess, as usual.

"Is there something wrong with you?" Arthur asked him as they tredged along.

"I've been on a horse all day," Merlin supplied.

"Is your little bottom sore?" Arthur asked, slightly irritated with Merlin's attitude.

"You know, I would kiss it and make it better," Imagination Elizabeth piped up from behind Merlin on his horse. "You know, if I were here, and not with Morgause."

Merlin gritted his teeth. He was beyond done with the figment of his imagination, but he had no idea how to get rid of her. He'd try using spells, yelling at her, but nothing worked. He wouldn't dare go to Gaius with this issue. Merlin felt too insecure about it.

"Yes," Merlin answered Arthur, choosing to ignore Imaginary Liz. "It's not as fat as yours."

Arthur half laughed, half scoffed. "You know, you've got a lot of nerve for a wimp."

"I may be a wimp, but at least I'm not a dollop head," Merlin grumbled.

"There's no such word," Arthur dismissed

"It sounds like a word to me," Imaginary Liz commented.

Merlin chose not to respond to her. For the first few months, sometimes he'd get caught talking to nothing, to the point where so many people got concerned that they went to talk to Gaius about it, but Merlin had just dismissed it.

"It's idiomatic," Merlin responded.

"It's what?" Arthur asked, surprised Merlin knew such a big word.

"You need to be more in touch with the people," Merlin pointed out.

"Describe 'dollop head'," Arthur asked.

"In two words?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah."

"Prince Arthur," Merlin and Imaginary Liz said at the same time, though everyone else only heard Merlin's voice.

Suddenly, Arthur held up two fingers, a gesture to get everyone behind him to stop moving. They had come across an abandoned camp, a home to bandits. Suspiciously, the fire had just been burnt out, meaning that the bandits must have been still around.

Arthur slipped off his horse, and drew his sword. Then, he cautiously led his men into the camp, all of them on high alert. Arthur had them split up as they investigated the camp grounds.

The whizzing sound of an arrow suddenly broke out, and one of the knights fell to the ground, having being struck by the arrow, dead.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a bunch of armed bandits emerged from the woods with a battle cry.

"On me!" Arthur ordered his men as the bandits began to attack.

Merlin managed to get his hands on a stray sword, but it had immediately been struck out of his hand by one of the bandits.

"Are you kidding me?" Elizabeth asked from her spot up on one of the tree branches. "You didn't even try! Come on, use your magic!"

Finally listening to her for once, Merlin concentrated on the sword that was about to strike him so that it'd turn into a sort of magnet, a few helmets and pots flying towards it and becoming stuck to it. The weight of all the metal was too much for the bandit, and he fell backwards.

"There you go!" Elizabeth said happily as Merlin smirked, proud of himself.

But all too soon, another bandit came after him, this time, one with a very large, very scary looking ax. Merlin deftly dodged the swing, and fell backwards on his back. He stood up, and tried to defend himself with a large branch, but that bandit just broke that in half.

The bandit swung again, but this time, Merlin ducked out of the way, and the ax had gotten stuck in one of the trees. Using his magic, Merlin cut the tree all the way, and it had fallen back on top of the bandit.

"TIMMMBERRRRR!" Imaginary Lizzie yelled as the tree fell.

Merlin looked over and saw that Arthur was in a bit of trouble, so he ran over to where the prince was. Unfortunately, he took a spill on the way there, and fell flat on his stomach.

However, he could still be of use from the ground. Another bandit had come up from behind Arthur and was going to strike him down, but Merlin used his magic to pick up an abandoned spear, and ran it right through the bandit, killing him.

"Nice one!" Imaginary Liz commented from a new spot up in the branches of a new tree.

Arthur looked around, trying to figure out who had thrown the spear, but instead his eyes landed on his servant, who was still on the ground, making it look to Arthur that he was shying away from the battle. "We're not playing hide and seek, Merlin!"

"Dollop head," Merlin mumbled to himself.

"You got that right," Imaginary Liz commented from her new spot beside Merlin. Merlin jumped when he heard her voice so close, but relaxed when he realized that it was just her.

He got up, and walked back over to where Arthur was. They all stood in silence, waiting to see if anything else was going to attack them. Suddenly, a twig snapped in the distance, and everyone turned their heads in the sounds direction, fearing that there were more men waiting to attack them. Arthur signaled to his Knights to be ready for anything as he slowly began walking over to the bush.

Two lanky figures began emerging from the mist, and Arthur held his sword out, ready for anything, as Merlin held himself up, ready to...well, to be helpful somehow.

The closer the two figures got, the more you could see them. They were clearly female, as evidenced by their long, tattered hair, and ripped dresses. They were covered in filth, and shaking. But the closer they got out of the mist, the more of their faces you could make out.

Merlin's heart started rising a little, not wanting to have his hopes so high, but he had a feeling he knew who they were.

"Well, this is where I leave," Imaginary Lizzie whispered to Merlin. "It's been a fun year. Let's do it again sometime." And with that, she was gone.

Merlin turned his attention back to the two figures, more sure now than ever over who was coming out of the mist.

Sure enough, when they were fully out of the mist, you could see the shaking, dirty, tattered forms of Elizabeth and Morgana, the two girls clutching each other as if they were each other's lifeline.

"Elizabeth! Morgana!" Arthur exclaimed as the two girls huddled closer to each other.

I...I was scarred.

I knew spending a year with Morgause and Morgana would be horrible, given Morgause's evil tendancies, but I didn't think it was going to be so horrific.

After I saw Merlin and Arthur in that clearing, all I wanted to do was jump into their arms and cry for the rest of my life over finally having seen the two of them. Of course, I couldn't actually do that, for fear of what Morgana might say and the fear it might get back to Morgause, but still.

Morgana and I had been put on a horse together, never once letting go of each other. We had to let go of each other when we got back to the castle, though, as we had to go to our own separate rooms. Rest assured, when I saw Guinevere, I didn't care about what Morgana thought; I shakily went over to her and hugged her as tightly as I could.

Gaius had directed me to my bed, and told me to wait for him to check on Morgana first, then he would come back and check up on me. I stayed quiet, because I really didn't know what to say. What did one say after being kidnapped and seeing so many horrors? I mean, I knew black magic was some real shit, but damn. It looked like Morgause was playing with magic the colour of tar.

I wrapped my soft sheets (man I missed soft sheets!) tightly around my body as I waited for Gaius to come back. I was alone, which I was grateful for. I hadn't had the chance to be alone for over a year.

Eventually, Gaius did come and check on me. He checked my vitals, my body for any injuries, all that stuff, and told me to get some rest. What I really wanted to do was sneak out of bed and go find Merlin (it was a long year without seeing that boy) and get a proper reunion, but I knew that there were guards right outside my room that were going to watch over me and make sure that I never disappeared again.

It was very late at night when I had finally managed to fall asleep, and like the past year, I didn't have a single nightmare, thanks to the healing bracelet Morgause had given me.

I had grown into a very light sleeper during my year with Morgause, due to the fact that sometimes, she'd actually experiment her dark magic on some poor soul. Once, I tried to free one of them, and it actually worked, but he had managed to get recaptured. Bless the poor man's soul, he said that he had no help in his break out, and was punished accordingly. I didn't even know his name.

Anyways, I had woken up in the very early hours of the morning, and just laid in bed as I watched the sun rise. I didn't realize how much I loved the sun until I stopped seeing it every day.

A few hours after I woke up, Gaius came in to check on me again. He said that there was still nothing wrong with me, and he had given me a big hug and told me that he was glad I was back. I accepted the embrace happily. I missed Gaius so much it actually hurt.

The next thing I knew, Arthur had gently knocked on my door and requested permission to be let in. I wasn't stupid, so of course I let him in.

Gaius walked out as soon as Arthur had walked in, and I was about to get out of bed to meet him halfway for an embrace when he picked up his pace. "No! Stay in bed," He demanded as he came over to my bedside.

I rolled my eyes at his protectiveness, but eagerly jumped into his arms for a much delayed hug. I had never felt so safe in my whole life. Okay, maybe I would have felt better if I was hugging Merlin instead, but I missed Arthur like a deep ache. I missed all the adventures that we had, I missed his pratiness, I missed his stupid blonde hair. I missed one of my best friends.

"I'm so glad you're all right," He said as he hugged me.

I clutched tighter at his back. "I almost wasn't. Thanks for not giving up on finding me."

"Elizabeth," He frowned, pulling away. "You matter more to me than just to give up on you."

I smiled. "That's good to know, at least."

Arthur smiled back as he gave me another hug, which I happily accepted. After being with the psychos that Morgause and Morgana were...I missed my real family.

Speaking, or rather, thinking of my real family... "Arthur, where's Merlin?"

"Probably still asleep," Arthur guessed. "Why?"

"I'd like to see him," I told him.

Arthur frowned. "You want to see Merlin?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Come on, Arthur, Merlin's my friend too, and I've really missed him. Can I see him?"

Arthur sighed. "Alright. I'll send for him, you tell me everything that's happened," He said, patting my hand. He went outside to tell one of the guards to go and fetch Merlin for us, then he came back and sat down across from me.

I sighed, trying to block out some of the worst things that I saw, and opened my mouth, "Morgana and I were kept in cells-separate cells-for nearly a year," I started, remembering the lie that Morgause had fed to Morgana and I. Our stories had to be the same, and sound like this, to mask what Morgause was really trying to do.

Another reason why I really needed to see Merlin?

To tell him what Morgause was plotting against Camelot.

And trust me, there was a lot.

"I would have surely gone mad if not for Morgana being with me," I fabricated.

"How did you two escape?" Arthur asked.

"They moved us, maybe a week ago," I answered. "I don't know why, they just did. Maybe it was the patrol from Camelot, I don't really know."

"The patrol found you?" He asked.

I nodded, tears choking up in my throat because of how badly I had wished one of the patrols of Camelot would come and find me, but not one ever did. "We thought we'd be free, finally. But then they were killed. Every one of them cut down. That night, the bandits were going through their spoils. Morgana and I managed to slip away somehow. We had the good fortune to be able to, or else, who knows how much longer we would have been held captive. When I saw you and Merlin I thought I was going to cry. I think I did," I added with a small laugh, and Arthur and I reached for another hug. I looked over Arthur's shoulder, and my heart nearly stopped.

Merlin.

I quickly broke away from my hug with Arthur, and smiled in relief at seeing the stupid warlock. The stupid warlock, who I had missed for so many months. Arthur looked over to see who it was, and nodded at Merlin.

"Do you mind giving Merlin and I a second alone?" I asked Arthur.

He nodded and gave my hand one final squeeze before getting up and leaving the room, eyeing Merlin as he walked out the door.

For a few seconds, there was nothing but silence. Then, I leaped out of my bed, and ran right for Merlin. He was taken a little aback when I jumped into his arms, but hugged me back tightly nonetheless.

"Oh, Merlin," I said happily, a small tear actually slipping out of my eye. "I missed you so much."

I pulled away from the hug, and he seemed really surprised. He brushed it off slightly as he said, "Do...do you..."

"Remember what you did?" I finished, my mind flashing back to when he had poisoned me.

A clear lump forming in his throat, he nodded.

I nodded too. "Yeah, I remember."

He sighed. "Elizabeth, you must understand, I didn't want to-"

"Of course I know that, Merlin," I cut him off. "I know you'd never do that to me unless you absolutely had to. And I forgive you. Morgause had made me the source of the enchantment, and you had to do what you had to do to protect Camelot. I would have done the same if I were in your shoes."

"Really?" Merlin asked tenatively.

I slapped him upside the head. Oh, how I missed this! "Yes, really! Merlin, you want to know something?" He nodded. "The whole year that I was gone, you were the only thing that kept me going."

And that wasn't a lie. Every time I let the thought that no one was going to rescue me, I remembered Merlin, and knew that he'd never give up on me, neither would Arthur. Whenever I saw Morgause do dark magic and whenever she made me do dark magic, I'd remember Merlin's face and how not all magic was evil. It was the only thing getting me through it.

"I...I thought you hated me," Merlin confessed. "I thought you would want nothing to do with me. I thought you would've turned me in to Uther!"

I gave him a look. "Remember this, Merlin. You may be a dollop head," A smile from Merlin, despite the word being a playful insult, "And an idiot, and may do things that are down right stupid and drag me into your problems but..." I cupped his face, relishing in the feeling. "I could never hate you."

Merlin smiled, taking my hand that was on his face in his own. "It's great to have you back, Lizzie. I've missed you."

I smiled happily. "I've missed you too, Merlin." And with that, I reached forward and gave him another hug.

Yep, that settled it.

I was home.

That evening, Morgana and I decided to go see Uther. Partly, because we hadn't greeted him yet, but mostly to do what Morgause had asked us to do. And trust me, I didn't want to do it so bad. But I figured that if I went along with everything that they were doing then I'd have a better chance of finding out their plans to try and thwart them.

The guards opened the door to the Great Hall, and Morgana and I began walking down the length of the room to get to Uther, who was at the front of the room sitting in his throne as a meeting went on around him.

He lazily looked up, but straightened up when he saw Morgana and I approaching. "That's enough. Leave us," He waved to the council members, and they promptly listened to their King as Morgana and I got to Uther.

We were practically running in our 'joy' at this point, and we each took one of Uther's arms as he hugged the both of us tightly to his body.

What we expected to happen did, and Uther began to cry a little bit as he cupped my face gently. Morgana laughed a little through her fake tears as she delicately dabbed at Uther's tears.

"Look at the two of you," Uther sighed as he tried to get himself to stop crying. He pulled me in slightly as he kissed the side of my head, and brought me in for a side hug as he wrapped an arm around me.

"We wouldn't be here if you hadn't given up on us," Morgana said as she went into the crook of Uther's other arm.

"Never," He slightly choked as he kissed Morgana's forehead too.

"I don't know why," Morgana replied.

"We wouldn't blame you," I added. "You've done more for us than any guardian ever would."

"You always cared for us, loved us like we were your own daughters," Morgana continued as she reached over and grabbed one of my hands. I squeezed hers back in response. "And yet we've-well, me, mostly," Morgana began. "Have insulted you, defied you, hurt you."

"I have no idea why you put up with the two of us," I joked, and the three of us laughed as Uther squeezed us in tighter.

"But we promise," Morgana began, squeezing my hand again as she 'sobered up'. "In the future, we will show you the love and respect that you deserve."

I nodded. "It may be hard because my temper is short, but we'll try," I said, and that brought out another laugh from Uther.

I looked over at Morgana, and she gave me the quick signal with her eyes that it was time to wrap this up. We both leaned in and kissed Uther on his cheeks.

"We should leave you to your council," Morgana said as I walked over to her and she took my hand again. Turning around, we both started walking away, Morgana clutching the cloth with Uther's tears in her hand tightly.

That night, we managed to grab a horse (it would be too suspicious if two horses were missing) and rode out to the location where we were supposed to meet Morgause. I wanted to stay home and fake sick, but that would mean a missed opportunity at finding out what Morgause wanted with those tears, so I just sucked it up and rode out with Morgana.

We walked past the guards in the cave, who gave us a curt nod as we entered. When we walked in, I could see a huge pot filled with some brownish liquid, but I paid it no heed as I looked around for Morgause.

I didn't have to look for long, because when I turned back into the direction I was standing in before, there she was. "My sisters," She sighed. "How have you fared?"

"Camelot has welcomed back its daughters with open arms," Morgana reported with an evil smirk on her face as she looked over at me. I had no choice but to match the look, which I had perfected over the year.

"Uther does not suspect?" Morgause asked as she took my hand and Morgana's hand.

"He laps up my lies like the sniveling dog that he is," Morgana bit.

"And the boy?" Morgause asked, looking over at me. "He still believes that you have feelings for him?"

"Merlin?" I asked, forcing myself to put a disgusted look on my face at the mere mention of his name. "He believes that nothing is wrong. As for his feelings?" I snorted. "I practically have him eating out of the palm of my hand," I said, squeezing Morgause's hand at the word 'hand'.

"Speaking of hands," Morgana interrupted as she reached up and held out the cloth with Uther's tears to Morgause.

"You've done well," Morgause praised us, though I wanted nothing more than to take my sword and run her through, sister or not.

Morgause held up the tissue and stared at it. "The tears of Uther Pendragon have only begun to fall."

She reached over and dropped the tissue into the cauldron, the previously yellow cloth sinking deep into the brown liquid.

Morgana and I watched as Morgause grabbed a rather large, rather funny looking root, and dropped it into the cauldron after the napkin.

As soon as it started sinking in, a piercing scream invaded my ears, and I instinctively put a hand to my head to try and stop the screaming. One glance at Morgana confirmed that she heard it too. She looked just as befuddled as I did.

Morgause, however, was smiling away happily. "The mandrake root is very special. Only those with magic can hear its cries."

"That would explain Harry Potter, then," I muttered to myself, only loudly enough that I could hear.

"But with those without magic," Morgause continued as she began to stir the liquid inside of the pot. "The mandrake pierces the very recesses of the soul, twisting the unconscious into the very image of fear and dread. Uther Pendragon will find that his great Kingdom counts for nothing, when he has lost his mind."

I had no choice but to smile evilly, as did Morgana, but Morgana's was more genuine than mine.

Morgause then began to say a spell, most likely to enchant the mandrake root with whatever magic drove the craziness that it could inflict. I had to admit, I was slightly curious as to how Morgause was going to do that. When she was finished, she reached in and grabbed the now covered in brown mulch mandrake root, before handing it to me. I, however, couldn't stand touching something so evil-and gross, by the way-so I just handed it off to Morgana while Morgause began to explain the plan with what to do with the mandrake.

You know, I thought my nanny when I was eight years old was evil.

But Morgause? Even worse.

When we had gotten back to Camelot, Morgana had immediately gone and placed the mandrake underneath Uther's bed. I would have ripped it right off, knowing the horrors that it was most likely going to inflict on Uther, but I couldn't do it as I was the only person other than Morgana that knew that it even existed, and I didn't need Morgana on my case about how I was trying to help Uther when I needed to stay on her side and learn more information.

I didn't get to talk to Merlin all day the next day, as he was far too busy with Arthur now that they were back to their regularly scheduled days because Morgana and I had been 'found', and I was dying to catch even a second alone with him so I could spill the beans and he could go and tell Gaius the two of them would help Uther.

All that intense pressure on my shoulders was exactly what was keeping me from enjoying the feast to celebrate mine and Morgana's return, and my belated birthday party from Uther that night. I was very twitchy, and irritated by everything as all I wanted to do was try and figure out a way to get around Morgana and Morgause without exposing myself as a wannabe double agent.

After about an hour into the feast, Uther stood up and silenced the room so that he could make a speech. "Standing here, seeing so many happy faces, seems almost like a dream. I can tell you, I have not felt like this in a long time."

"What, drunk?" Arthur joked, and that rose a laugh out of everyone at the feast. It even got one out of me and my tortured soul.

Okay, that might have been taking it too far.

"Drunk with happiness," Uther corrected as he playfully slapped his son with a napkin. "I would have searched the entire world, the seas, the skies, the stars, for those smiles," Uther went on as he gestured to Morgana and I.

See, my smile was actually genuine. How could Morgana be so cold hearted to a guy like that?

Okay, I got it, Uther wasn't the nicest of people, but at least he was trying to make an effort with us.

"To have them stolen from me was like a blade to my heart," Uther continued, putting his hand to his heart for dramatic effect. "Morgana, Elizabeth, there are no words. You two mean so much to me. And Elizabeth, I know how much of a fuss you make when your birthday celebrations are missed, so I can only hope that this will begin to make up for it."

When Uther had said that last part about my birthday, I had flushed a deep shade of red as the rest of the room laughed, and I wanted nothing more than to sink into my chair to underneath the table and never come out, but it was a nice gesture.

"To the Lady Morgana, and the Lady Elizabeth!" Uther declared, holding up his glass to us.

Everyone followed suit, and Uther leaned over and gave Morgana a hug, though I knew she had a look of hate on her face instead of one of love. Uther pulled back, and he was about to reach over and try to hug me too, but I knew he wouldn't make it, so I just reached out my hand and placed it in his so that he could give it a tight squeeze. "Thank you for embarrassing me," I commented lightly.

"You know I like to snap up every opportunity to do so," Uther teased as he placed a kiss on the back of my hand. He let it go, and I sat back down so that I could continue to pick at my food. I hadn't had much of an appetite because of the GUILT sitting in my stomach, but I had to try and eat. But my eyes just kept following Merlin around the room, trying to catch his eye and get a moment alone with him. I didn't even notice Uther walking away to get some air as I tried to focus on what to do.

However, a quick whisper into Arthur's ear from one of the guards and a nudge from Morgana was enough to break me out of the spell. The three of us went outside where Uther was huddled in the fetal position on the ground, and Arthur, along with Merlin's help, was able to get his father into his chambers. I grabbed Uther's sheets and pulled them back as Arthur and Merlin deposited Uther on to the bed.

"Be careful!" Morgana said, her voice filled with fake worry. "Is he going to be all right?" She asked as she helped me put the blanket back on top of Uther.

"He should sleep till morning," Gaius suggested, being the court physician.

Morgana turned back to Uther, masking her hatred of Uther with concern as she grabbed Uther's hand and placed a kiss upon it. I must admit, she was a rather good actress.

As soon as Merlin, Arthur, and Gaius had left the room, she dropped Uther's hand away from her in disgust. Morgana turned to me and grabbed my hand, smiling happily. "It worked, sister!" She squealed.

I put on my best evil face as I glared down at Uther. "Now we must hope that it will continue to work," I said, though the words made me want to slither with disgust with myself, if that made any sense at all.

Later that night, Morgana and I were able to slip back out of the castle to go and see Morgause again. Honestly, the castle needed a better defence system.

"Already the rumours are spreading," Morgana reported as we sat with Morgause in her little cave.

"The mandrake's posion does its work well," Morgause explained.

"Soon, the entirety of Camelot will believe that their King has gone insane," I commented, letting my 'evil side' show. Okay, I hated that I felt this way, but it was just a teensy bit fun being evil, or, well, pretending to be evil.

"And a Kingdom without a King is ripe for the picking," Morgause continued.

"When do you go to Cenred?" Morgana asked. Cenred was the King of another Kingdom, where Ealdor, Merlin's home village, resided in, actually. Morgause was planning on going to Cenred and asking him-well, more like seducing him-to help her take over Camelot, and the knowledge of the impending war was making my very antsy. I still couldn't find a moment alone with Merlin! Whenever I wasn't busy, Merlin was busy with Arthur, and whenever Merlin wasn't busy with Arthur, I was busy with Morgana! It was a horrible, never ending cycle.

"Tomorrow," Morgause answered.

"And he will do what we want?" I asked, pretending to be interested in all this.

"Cenred wishes only to please me," Morgause told us as she held up the new mandrake root.

"Then your time with him has been well spent," Morgana concluded as Morgause dropped the mandrake into the cauldron, and I had to force myself not to flinch as its screams pierced my ears.

Screams pierced my ears from the small room that I had in the abandoned castle. Morgause, Morgana, and I never stayed in one place for too long in fear of Camelot's patrols finding us, but Morgause had decided to stay at this place for a couple of weeks so that she could "experiment" some new spells she had concoted.

I was trying to focus on the book that Morgause had gotten for me when she realized that I liked to read, but all the thoughts that were filling my mind were those poor men that had dared tried to defy Morgause being tortured through her experiments. I tried ignoring it at first, I really did, but the screams became too much. I pushed myself away from the small table that I was sitting at, and walked over to the window. I put my hands to my head, covering my ears from the horrible sound of tortured men.

Every instinct within me wanted to go and help those men, but I was selfish. I was worried about what Morgause might do to me if she found out I was a 'traitor', sister or not. I knew I wanted to push her off a building for kidnapping me and taking me away from my home.

It had been two months since I had left, and all I could think about was Camelot. Whenever I laid down on the stiff bed with the worn blankets, all I could think about was my fluffy bed and soft, warm sheets that were waiting for me back home. Whenever I was dining with Morgause and Morgana, all I could think about was how Morgana, Arthur and I used to joke over dinner with Uther. You know, before Morgana turned into a total raging bitch.

It wasn't enough to just cover my ears anymore. It was seriously getting bad. I went over to my bed, pulled the covers back, and climbed in. I picked up the pillow, and slammed my head to the spot where it used to be before pushing the pillow on top of my head, and pulling the blanket back over my head in a better attempt to block out the sounds.

It had eventually stopped and somehow, throughout the chaos, I had managed to fall asleep. I only realized this when I felt the blanket being pulled away from my head, and I peeked my eyes open to see Morgause looming over me.

I tried sitting up quickly, but Morgause gently took my shoulders and pushed me back down. "If you're sick, you should be resting, sister."

"I'm not sick, sister," I responded. "I was just a little tired, is all. I wanted some rest before dinner."

Morgause nodded, and took my hand in her own. "Are you sure you're all right? It would be no trouble at all to have you have dinner in your bed, if that is what you wish."

Dinner? In bed? Away from the dark magic room, which, for some strange reason, was right beside the dining room? "I would like that very much, thank you, sister."

Morgause smiled and leaned over, giving me a kiss on the cheek. She gave my hand one more squeeze, and stood up to leave. My curiousity got the better of me, and before I could stop myself, I asked, "How much longer until you're finished with you're captured men?"

Morgause turned around, a slightly puzzled look on her face.

I quickly shook my head. "It's just...the screams..."

Morgause nodded in understanding. "They are quite bothersome, aren't they?"

I smiled in relief and nodded. Maybe this meant that she was going to let them go!

"Do not fret, sister," Morgause reassured me. "Their screams will not last much longer, as neither will no longer have a life to scream and beg for."

I waited until she was gone and had shut the door behind her to let my face drop. I pressed my face into my pillow and silently mourned the deaths that were surely about to happen.

Maybe ten minutes later, the screaming started again.

My eyelids flew open, and I sat up with a deep gasp. There was a slight scream in my throat that I tried to kill as I took deep breaths. I felt myself panicking a little, and brought my knees up to tuck them under my chin, wrapping my arms around my legs before rocking back and forth slowly.

"You're not there, you're not there, you're not there," I whispered to myself quietly as I felt tears burning at the back of my eyes. I buried my face into my arms as I tried blocking out the screams that weren't there anymore. "You're okay, you're okay, you're okay," I chanted. "You're home, you're home, you're home."

The servant door to my chambers were opened, and Gwen came rushing in quickly, holding a candle. "Elizabeth? Are you all right?" She asked.

"I'm fine, Gwen," I dismissed quickly, turning away and wiping at my tears. Being seen as weak was not something I wanted. If word got to Gaius he'd be my personal shrink and that was the last thing that I needed.

"Are you sure?" She asked, coming over a little.

"I said I was fine! Will you just leave?!" I snipped, and immediately regretted my tone when I saw the hurt flash in her eyes. She just quickly curtsied before she left, taking the candle with her.

Back in darkness, I groaned and fell back on to my bed. Great, now I felt like a bitch for hurting Gwen's feelings. The first thing on my agenda tomorrow is begging her forgiveness back. I didn't mean to be so rude to her, but I was feeling so stressed and cranky and slightly scared that I had to release my anger on someone and that person turned out to be Guinevere.

I leaned back into my bed, wrapping my blankets around me as I began to plan out my ten part apology to Gwen. No way was I falling back asleep. I was too terrified that those memories might come back to me. I tried repressing them as best as I could, but it was hard, trying to forget a whole year of your life. I mean, it was hard enough fighting off the memories in the day, now they were invading my dreams at night, too?

The next night, it was time to visit Morgause again. Morgana went ahead and had gotten the old mandrake from Uther's bedroom, and we made our way to a new location in the darkling forest where Morgause wanted us to meet her to learn of the new plans.

Sure enough, Morgause and the Bloodguard had arrived on horseback. Of course, Morgana and I had to walk (something I was not happy about) but it wasn't that far of a distance from the castle and with word out that there was a traitor in Camelot (couresty of Morgana telling me when I was too weak-well, sort of, mentally-to get out of bed to attend an emergency council meeting regarding Morgana's attack on one of the guards when she tried slipping back into the castle the night before) we couldn't risk being seen, and we were likely to be seen with a big ass horse.

Morgause got off of her horse and came right over to us. "I'm sorry you had to wait. There was much to discuss," She said.

"But your visit was successful?" Morgana asked her.

"Cenred's army ride for Camelot on my command," Morgause reported proudly.

"Is there truly nothing that you can't do?" I asked in pretend praise. Ugh, I was really starting to get sick of this.

Morgause smiled. "It is you two that gives me strength, sisters." She took our hands and gave them a squeeze. She was reaaally into touching, wasn't she? "How goes the battle for Uther's mind?"

"When Cenred marches on Camelot, he will find a Kingdom without a leader," Morgana told her.

"Finally, we are ready," Morgause said.

"Not quite," Morgana said, a small frown line etching in her forehead. "Merlin suspects me," She told us.

My stomach dropped. "He does? Just you?" I didn't even have the chance to properly tell him yet! This was not how I wanted him to find out.

Morgana nodded as she began pacing. "Just me. I'm the one that goes into Uther's room and puts the mandrake in there."

"Has he told Arthur?" Morgause asked as she moved closer to me.

"Not yet, but he will," Morgana told her.

"Well, then we must stop him," Morgause decided.

"That will not be difficult," Morgana deduced.

"Why?" I asked, geuinely curious. Now, I had to tell Merlin as soon as I got back to the castle, suspicion be damned.

Morgana suddenly turned her head in the direction of a bunch of large rocks and a fallen tree. "Because he's already here!" She called out in that direction.

And I felt like the ground was shaking.

Okay, so it was probably just me shaking, but still!

Reluctantly, Merlin popped his head out from where Morgana was glaring. Morgause looked kind of surprised, actually.

He looked over at me, and I honestly had never felt so ashamed in my life. The way he was looking at me had a 'How could you?' sort of vibe to it, and I wanted to drop to his feet and explain everything while begging his forgiveness.

But I couldn't. Not while Morgause and Morgana and the Bloodguard were standing here. Not when I'd just found out useful information.

So instead, I avoided Merlin's gaze as Morgana asked, "Did you really think I was really that stupid, Merlin?"

And with that, Merlin immediately ran off. He wouldn't get very far though, not with the freaking Bloodguard going after him.

Morgause turned back towards me and Morgana. "You and Morgana go back to the castle. Keep up your appearances. I'll take care of Merlin."

I wanted to protest, but I had a plan forming in my mind already, so I just nodded in agreement. Morgana and I turned around, and began walking back to the castle.

If my plan was to work, I'd have to get started right away.

Early the next morning, Morgana was in my chambers as the two of us were having some breakfast. I made it look like I was still accessorizing for the day, and started looking around in one of my many, many, many jewelry boxes (I had gotten a crap ton of jewelry for my birthday again this year! It was like the people of Camelot thought I had nothing better to do all day than make myself look pretty). I started making my searching more "scattered" as I shifted through jewelry, throwing pieces of it here and there.

Finally, Morgana took notice. "Are you looking for something, sister?" She asked. She had taken to calling me "sister" when Gwen wasn't around, which she wasn't, hence the "sister".

"My bracelet," I answered as I kept "looking through" piles of jewelry. "The one that Morgause had gotten me for my birthday? The one that I never take off?"

"Have you lost it?" Morgana asked as she came over to me.

"I don't know what happened to it!" I exclaimed as I turned around to face her. "I had it when we went to see Morgause last night, and now it's gone." The thought finally "clicked". "Oh, you know what? It's probably somewhere in the forest."

"Are you sure?" Morgana asked.

I nodded. "That's the only explanation. I'm going to go look for it." Trying for a speedy exit, I moved to leave.

Morgana grabbed my wrist, and I tried not slapping her in the face. What now? "Do you want me to come with you?"

I gave her a smile. "I'm sure I'll be all right on my own," I told her.

"Are you sure?" She asked again.

I tried to kill the frustration that was building up inside of me. "Yes, Morgana, I'm sure. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. Besides, I need someone to cover for me in case someone comes looking for me. I'll be back before you know it, I promise."

It took a little more shoving, but I finally got Morgana to agree. "All right," She said. "But be back soon, okay, sister?"

I nodded, and leaned forward to give Morgana a hug. With that, I went to my closet and began pulling out my adventure clothes. Ah, sweet trousers!

I didn't know what Morgause could have done to Merlin, so I grabbed my sword for protection, and stuffed my pack filled with food, some water, and a lot of medical supplies. I was no physician, but Morgause had taught me some basic healing spells, amongst other spells that I didn't care to remember. She thought I had the makings of a great Healer, good for healing "our people" in battle. Yeah, right.

It had taken me a while, but I finally made it back to the spot where Morgana and I had visited Morgause. He was by himself, thank God, so I didn't have to deal with Morgause. But unfortunately, he was tied up in metal chains, obviously courtesy of the Bloodguard.

I began running when I had him in my sights. Well, the back of him, so he couldn't see my approaching. He heard my footsteps, though, and tried to turn around to see who it was, but failed.

"Merlin!" I cried out as I finally got to him. I slid down on the ground next to him, and pivoted on my knees so that I was in front of him.

"Elizabeth?" He asked, confusion on his face, but it was immediately replaced with bitterness and disgust. "Get away from me, you traitor!"

"Merlin, it's not-" I tried, but he cut me off.

"I can't believe you!" He bellowed, trying his best to back away from me. "I can't believe that you would play on my feelings like that!"

"Merlin, I didn't-" I tried again, but once again, he cut me off.

"What happened to you being good?" He asked. "What happened to it not mattering that Morgana was your sister, that you wouldn't become evil no matter what?!"

"Merlin!" I screamed, finally getting him to shut up. "Do you honestly think that if I was evil I would be here right now? I would have let Morgause let you die."

Merlin was silent for a few seconds, but I started talking before I could lose my nerve or he started yelling again. "The only reason that I was with Morgana and Morgause last night was to find out their plans against Camelot! I've been trying to tell you ever since I got back! But oh, no, you've been too busy with Arthur! I wanted to tell you that the mandrake was the result of Morgana and Morgause trying to make the Kingdom weak so that Cenred could come and invade, and that I would have stopped them, had it not been for them thinking that I was on their side. And the only reason I'm still on 'their side' is to learn more information about what they're doing so I can try to save Camelot!" I explained all in one breath.

I was breathing heavily by the end, and all Merlin could do was look at me in surprise at my explanation. "Oh," He said quietly.

Anger built up inside of me as I smacked him in the arm, hard. Hard enough that he went falling over on to his side, not having anything to keep him from falling over. "'Oh'? I just had to endure all of your hurtful accusations and all you've got to say for yourself is 'oh'?!" I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Okay, for the sake of right now, I'm going to ignore that. Right now, we have to get you out of these chains and back to Camelot."

I reached over and pulled him up as he said, "It's no use, I've tried using my magic. Nothing's working. Morgause has enchanted them not to be broken by anything."

"Oh, please," I said. "In my vocabulary, the word 'unbreakable' does not exist," I finished as I examined the chains.

"Then why do you break nearly everything that you touch?" Merlin murmured to himself as I tried tugging on the chains.

I froze, and looked over at him. "You really want to do this right now?" I asked, dead serious.

He quickly shook his head. "No-no, ma'am."

I smirked. "That's what I thought."

Suddenly, the hissing of some sort of creature interrupted us, and I dropped my hands from Merlin's chains to my swordbelt instinctively. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, these big...ass...scorpion...things came out of the mist.

"Merlin!" I shrieked, hearing the loud sound of their pincers and stinger.

"Kind of tied up at the moment!" He pointed out, and I swiveled my head to look at him. I smacked him hard in the chest, causing him to fall over again.

"Did that look like the appropriate time for a pun?" I asked angrily, but I helped him back up anyways.

"Sorry, no!" Merlin said as I steadied his body. "Okay, you hold them off as long as you can, and I'll try my best to get out of these things."

"Oh, what could go wrong?" I asked myself sarcastically as I pulled my sword out of my belt. I turned around in a battle stance, and swung at the scorpion that was closest to me. It took a couple of hits, but I managed to get it down just as another got closer to Merlin. It was a cycle that lasted I didn't even know how long. I would fight off the scorpions that got too close to Merlin as he tried to figure out a spell to get him out of the chains. He would occasionally blow some back with magic to help me out, but he should have really been using his time to get out of the god damn chains so that we could get out of here.

"Merlin!" I said as I struggled to catch my breath. I was starting to get really tired. I didn't know how much longer I was going to last. "I can't hold them off for much longer!"

"I know! I know!" Merlin said as he looked around us worriedly, the number of scorpion thingies growing by the second. Merlin opened his mouth to do another chant, but cut himself off with a grunt of pain. I swirled behind me to see one of the scorpion-guy's withdrawing it's stinger from Merlin's back.

Anger building up inside of me, I ran over to the scorpion without even thinking, and slashed him right through. Apparently I had enough adrenaline in my system, as it cut the thing right in half. I immediately dropped my sword and ran back over to Merlin, who was fading fast from the venom.

I gently put my hand on his back to feel a warm, sticky liquid. Blood, I thought as I put another hand on his chest to keep him upright. Oh, come on! What was that spell that Morgause taught you? It could close the surface wound but the wound on the inside would still be there. As long as I could get the bleeding to stop that'd be great. Was it...æppuldre ús one? Yes, that had to be it!

I focused all my magic on the hand was on Merlin's wound. I pressed slightly harder on it as I encantated my first, real spell to actually help, like Merlin did. "æppuldre ús one," I breathed, and I felt my hands grow warm slightly. I looked over at his wound when I was done and was upset over the fact that the spell hadn't done anything. It was wrong.

Yeah, some great Healer.

Merlin just leaned over and growled in pain, trying to keep most of it in. "Merlin, I'm so sorry, I don't know what else to do!" I told him as I hugged him to me slightly.

Suddenly, using all the strength that he had, Merlin sat up and roared a spell that I had honestly no idea what he was saying so I couldn't tell you.

"What the hell was that?" I asked when he was done.

"You'll see," He groaned in pain as he fell more on to me.

I wrapped my arms around him to keep him upright, but now there was nothing to protect us from the scorpion things.

Suddenly, it seemed as if Merlin had given up all together with his strength and he just fell right on top of me. "Merlin!" I squealed as I fell on my back, Merlin on top of my stomach. I carefully rolled him over, and grabbed his head and put it in my lap. "Merlin!" I said as I tapped his cheeks. His eyes were closed, I needed him to be awake! What if something bad happened to him while he was asleep? I could barely protect the both of us when he was awake, now he was partially unconscious!

The sun had finally fallen when it looked like we were royally screwed. Merlin had finally woken up, but was still too physically weak to do anything. Well, freedom was nice for a few days. Death will probably be okay. I mean, I had nearly died how many times?

Then seemingly out of freaking nowhere, the loud sound of wings flapping erupted from overheard of us, and Merlin and I both looked up.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" I laughed, half in surprise and half in shock.

"Yep!" Merlin said.

"Let me guess," I started as Kilgharrah, the Great Dragon himself, swooped down to kill the scorpions. "You freed Kilgharrah?"

"Yep," Merlin responded weakly. "It was a good thing you weren't there, you would have killed me."

Kilgharrah literally fried the scorpions to a crisp, to the point where Merlin and I could have had scorpion meat for dinner. Finally, the pain became too much for Merlin again and he passed out once more.

"Merlin!" I called out worriedly as I cradled his face.

I looked up to see Kilgharrah coming straight for us. Without so much as a warning, he picked Merlin up with one of his claws, and picked me up with the other one and suddenly, I was flying in the air.

I held on tightly to one of his talons so that I wouldn't fall off. Oh my God! I was flying! Well, I was experiencing major turbulence, but still!

The only thing that I had to say to Kilgharrah when I looked up at him was, "Boy, am I glad to see you for once!"

TBC...

I feel like this was a very powerful start!

I am already seriously, hardcore digging season 3! Who's with me?

Literally this season will be so much more fun to play around with, especially with Lizzie's plan to act like a double agent. I knew she didn't really get around to it until closer to the end of the chapter, but I really wanted to do that last scene with her and Merlin so I had to keep Merlin finding out until the very end.

And what about Lizzie's dream to her year with Morgause, hmm?

REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!

THE ADVENTURES OF ELIZABETH MALINOR CONTINUE...

Merlin and Elizabeth shouted in awe at the fact that they were riding a dragon.

"The Great Battle for Camelot has begun," Kilgharrah prophecized.

A fiery explosion caused a bunch of the Knights to be blown backwards.

Arthur assembled his Kingdom to prepare for seige.

"It is your fate to be the greatest King Camelot has ever known," Merlin told Arthur as they prepared for the battle.

Arthur and many of the other Knights of Camelot fought against Cenred's men that were attempting to take over Camelot.

Uther Pendragon rushed off into battle to defend his Kingdom.

Morgana let out a battle cry as she shoved the magical staff into the tomb.

"RETREAT!" Arthur ordered his men.

"The staff is meant to summon an army of the dead," Elizabeth whispered to Merlin later as the castle was in disarray due to the invasion. "Morgana's probably used it already!"

Arthur fought against a skeleton.

"What are you going to do? Kill me?" Merlin asked Morgana as she approached him with a sword.

Morgana let out a cry as she swung at Merlin.

TUNE INTO THE NEXT EPISODE OF I'VE GOT THE MAGIC IN ME!