Hello my lovelies. I would like to thank Meri Ley (Guest), OechsnerC and TheNinja3004 for the wonderful reviews. I would also like to thank those of you who have followed and favoured since my last update. You are all awesome.
So here is the next chapter, I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
By the time Merlin returned to Gaius' chambers he was bone tired. Everything that had happened that day had caused him to want to do nothing more than fall into his bed and sleep for the next century. But rather than make his way up to his room he collapsed upon one of Gaius' benches with a groan.
"That bad?" The older man asked with a small smile at that the dramatics of his ward.
"I had to spend the whole dinner making love sick puppy eyes at Morgana. What do you think? At least I won't have to see her until tomorrow." Merlin replied with a sigh of relief that he could for a moment forget about this whole pretending he was in love with Morgana plan.
"Ah yes. About that. Gwen came by earlier saying Morgana had asked for a sleeping draft." Gaius responded trying to hide his smile at how he knew the boy in front of him was going to react to this bit of information.
"So?" Merlin asked, not connecting the dots in his mind. He was too busy relaxing, finally.
"You need to deliver it to her." Gaius stated as if talking to a simpleton, sometimes he did have to wonder.
"Why me?" Merlin shouted as he shot up from his seat. Why was he the one who had to go and talk to her? He had had enough of this damn play acting for one night.
"Because she will be very confused if you don't. Especially if you wish to keep up the impression you are still under the love spell. Or do you want her to find out about your magic?" Gaius replied with a raise of his eyebrow which Merlin knew not to argue with. He knew his mentor was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it, did it?
"Fine. I'll go. But that's it. I'm not doing anything else tonight, I don't care if the castle is invaded by… by… sock monsters, I'm not dealing with it." Merlin snapped, grabbing the bottle Gaius was holding out to him with a glare, before storming out of the room leaving the older man to stare at where he had been.
"What on earth are sock monsters?" Gaius mumbled to himself, wondering if he needed to look into his books, but deciding to dismiss the idea. Surely if Merlin knew what they were he knew how to deal with them. With that decision made he moved towards his cot. It was time for him to sleep.
Merlin had been standing outside of Morgana's rooms for some time. Trying to build up the courage to go inside. Or more to the point, to go and pretend he loved the evil… woman. He still couldn't work out how his life had got so complicated, because it had been so free of those before this latest mess. But he knew he needed to take the potion in his hand to Morgana, even if he knew she didn't need it. It was obvious she had asked for it to see him. But how was he supposed to act? He couldn't remember much about their previous meeting, apart from coming back to himself when her lips touched his. So how could he convince her that he was still under her spell when they were alone, when he had no idea how to act? Come Merlin, you can do this. You can do this.
With that resolution in his mind he moved out of the shadows and knocked on Morgana's door, and hearing the "come in" he opened it.
Morgana had been waiting for Merlin. She had dismissed Gwen yet again, but she had allowed her to tend to her hair first, taking it out of the elaborate style she had worn for dinner, and instead letting it stream down her back. But she had refused to prepare for bed. She would not let Merlin see her in her nightshift thank you very much. There were lines she would not cross, even for the return of magic. And giving that servant those kinds of liberties was one of them.
When she heard the knock on her door she didn't move from her position sitting at her dressing table. She wanted to give Merlin the impression that she was preparing for him, even if under normal circumstances she would do nothing of the sort. But needs must and all that she supposed.
Merlin entered the room and he couldn't help but rake his eyes over the lady sitting before him. She was still wearing that damn provocative dress from earlier in the evening, but now her hair was down, cascading over her shoulders and down her back, catching the light as she turned towards him. At least with the supposed spell he didn't have to hide the attraction he felt at such a sight, even if he knew she had done it to cause just such an affect in him. He had to say he felt a little better knowing that he was getting one over her in all this. I mean she was the one who had put the love spell on him after all. It nice to realise he was now the one manipulating her rather than the other way round, but still he needed to speak. Therefore clearing his throat he did just that.
"Gaius asked me to bring you your sleeping draft, my lady." He said bowing slightly as he held it out to her.
"Thank you, Merlin. That is very kind." Morgana replied moving to stand close to him and taking the bottle from his hand. But while she did place it down on the side, she did not step away from the man in front of her. Instead she turned back to stare deep into his eyes forcing herself to show love for the one who had betrayed her.
Merlin had no idea what to do now, it seemed to him she was waiting for something, though what he had no clue. Did she expect him to kiss her? Oh he hoped not. There was no way he was kissing her. So in an attempt to seem affectionate he raise his ran so he could run it through her hair. It was surprisingly soft and smooth, the locks falling through his fingers without any hesitation. He had to say it was fascinating, all the women he had known had ended up with knots in their hair making what he was doing extremely difficult. But not Morgana, of course not she was a lady. No doubt she had had Gwen brush it a hundred times or something before she left. Oh he hoped Gwen had left.
"Where is Gwen?" He asked suddenly worried that his friend was going to walk in on them. He didn't want to even think about how he would explain this situation to her.
"I gave her the rest of the night off. It's just you and me Merlin, no one else." Morgana replied with a smile, trying very hard not to smirk as ideas of what she truly wanted to do to servant in front of her. She could stab him now and he wouldn't see it coming, oh if only she could.
"That's… good." Merlin answered not sure what else to say or do and therefore he continued to play with Morgana's hair. It was the furthest he wanted to go in showing any affection to the woman who was betraying them all. The woman who had once been his friend and had now become his enemy.
And so they stood there, close but not touching expect for Merlin running his hand through Morgana's hair. And she was starting to get a little annoyed. Wasn't he supposed to be prostrating his love or trying to kiss or something… anything but playing with her hair! It was then that Morgana decided to take matters into her own hands. She knew after the last time she had promised herself she wouldn't kiss him, but she had no idea what else to do right now, and she could control her reaction, now she knew what it would be. Therefore taking a step closer she raised her hand to cup Merlin's cheek before lowering his face and guiding his lips to her own.
Merlin didn't know what to do. He didn't want to kiss her but he couldn't say that could he? So instead he allowed her to pull his face towards her own, gritting his teeth as he did so. It wasn't until their lips met that his whole world exploded. Because the last time they kissed he remembered very little of it. But this time, as soon as their lips touched he felt his magic rise inside him, clawing at his skin to be realised. Clawing for something he couldn't define, and something he couldn't control. It took him, his magic, wrapped him up in a turmoil of gold and sparks as if he was suddenly the centre of a hurricane. And all he could do was hold on for dear life and hope he survived. It wasn't until it finally receded enough for him mind to work that he discovered his arms were wrapped tight around Morgana, pulling her body flush against his own as he kissed her in a way he had never kissed anyone before. It wasn't until then that he realised that one of his hands was wrapped in the ends of her hair, pulling the head back to give him greater access to her lips. He wanted to be horrified by this development, but his magic was still humming through him giving him a peace he didn't understand. He wanted to push her away from him, but again he could not. The only thing his magic would allow was for him to raise his head so he could stare down at the woman in his arms.
And when he did what he saw shocked him more than anything else had that evening. Because when he looked down at Morgana he didn't see the woman he had come to know of late, the one who was bent on Camelot's destruction, no for a second the woman in his arms was superseded by a shimming vision of the one he had once known. The one who had come to Ealdor to defeat the raiders threatening his home, it was the Morgana who had stood up for those that needed it, it was the Morgana he could have loved if he had let himself do so. And it was at that exact moment he realised what it was his magic was telling him. He had a chance to get that Morgana back. If he worked this right, he could save her, he could have back the woman he had once known, but there would be a cost. Magic always asked a price after all. His would be that to gain Morgana's allegiance, he was going to have to give her his heart. Could he do that? Did he have it in himself to love this woman? Magic said he did. It was true loves kiss that broke the enchantment, he knew that now and he couldn't deny it. But could he freely give Morgana his heart to win her back to their side?
And then the spell was broken as she opened her eyes and pulled back from him. The golden shimmer he had seen around her disappeared and the Morgana he who had returned was back.
"You should go." Morgana said breathlessly, not looking Merlin in the eyes. It was the most she could do. That kiss was nothing like the one they had shared before, and she had most definitely not been prepared for it. Her magic had swelled as she had known it would, but then something else was there, something she couldn't define. It was so powerful, and she had to confess she had been afraid of what it was. Afraid of what had happened between the two of them, of why it had and how. That power had brought forth feelings in her mind she had thought she had crushed. Feelings for the man whose arms she was in that she did not want to remember let alone feel. This wasn't real, she had to remember that. This was not the Merlin she had once cared for, this was the man who had poisoned her. But for a moment, while they had kissed, she had forgotten all of that and only felt joy at uniting with him. A singing in her very being that she knew wasn't the same as normal courting couples felt. No it was something… more. She had no idea how to process it or even define it. What she needed now was space to try and think over what had just occurred. Space to regain her equilibrium and work out what it was that was going on. Maybe this was a side effect of the spell? Should she contact Morgause? No, her magic told her strongly at that idea, and she had even less of idea what to make of that. She needed space and time to deal with this. She need space.
"Of course my lady. I will see you on the morrow. I hope your dreams are pleasant ones." Merlin replied stepping back but taking hold of her hand so he could plant a kiss upon her knuckles. Whatever had just happened he needed to keep up present of courting her.
"Indeed you shall." Morgana answered back with a forced smile. The quicker she could get him out of her room the better in her mind right then.
With that Merlin left, a frown appearing on his face as soon as the door had closed behind him. He had a lot to think about here. He needed to work out if he could save Morgana, in a way he had failed to do before. Because if there was any chance to bring her back to their side, then he was going to take it. She was his friend, and maybe she could be something more, if he was willing to take chance. He needed to decide if he was willing to risk his heart to get back the Morgana he had known. He needed to decide if he was willing to risk his heart for Arthur. Was he willing to give his heart for destiny?
And Arthur who had been standing in the shadows waiting for Gwen to leave couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at the sight of his manservant leaving Morgana's chambers. Well at least that gave him an answer to one of his questions, there was definitely something going on between Morgana and Merlin. Now the question was, what was it?