Hello my lovelies. I would like to thank Guest, Gingeraffealene, emrysmorgan, Guardian of the Inheritance, Guest, Guest and OechsnerC for the wonderful reviews. I would also like to thank those of you who have followed and favoured since my last update.

So here is the next chapter, I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

Morgause stood staring out of the window of her sister's room, staring over the courtyard that had seen the death of so many of her people. She had been there since leaving her sister to escape. Had stood there and watched as the sun fully rose, waiting with baited breath for the bell to toll that would signal Morgana and her companions had been spotted. But no sound came. No there was nothing but the fearful crying of a city in mourning for the ruin she had caused, mourning the deaths she had ordered. But she could not let herself think of those things. Not now. No now she had a job to do, she had to make this pain and destruction mean something. Because it had to have a reason, she could not countenance anything else. Turning away from the window she addressed the guard who was by the door.

"Bring me Uther and his court. It is time for me to give him my demands." She said softly as steel entered her spine.

"Of course, my lady." The guard responded before moving out to do as she wished.

Once she was alone she turned once more to scene in front of her. "I will avenge you. I will make him pay. And then, then magic will rise once more in Camelot. On that you have my solemn vow, because Emrys will make it so." With those final whispered words she turned and swept out of the room, heading to the throne room. After all she was the conquer, it was her right to wear the crown now.

Arthur spent most of the walk towards where the caves were watching Merlin out of the corner of his eye. He'd heard what Morgana had said. It gave him hope like nothing else could. They now had a way to end the immortal army, and he wanted nothing more than to sit down with his friend and discuss it. To work with him on a plan which would give them the greatest success by combining both their special skills. But he could not do that while leading what remained of his people away from danger.

Then there was the fact that every time he looked at Merlin his friend was looking at Morgana, with a strange expression on his face. It was one he'd never seen there before. He had to confess, at least to himself, that he had been shocked by the venom in Merlin and Morgana's voices when they had greeted each other earlier. The looks they had thrown at each other were ones he'd never seen on either of their faces. Oh of course Merlin had told him about the secret battle that had been raging between them since Morgana returned, but he hadn't really thought much of it. Hadn't really considered how they would have reacted to each other when in private. So it was very strange to see looks other than the loving ones he was used to seeing them give each other.

And finally he found his mind returning to the one thing Merlin had told him when he confessed all that he still hadn't had time to truly process. And that was that Morgana was his sister. His actual, blood relative, and not just the lady he'd grown up with. He'd been so angry with his father when Merlin had told him that, but he'd calmed down. Instead he'd planned on talking to Morgana about it when they returned. But he hadn't been in her company that often since finding out that truth and as such he had never really had a chance, not with all that had happened since. So now, walking through the woods with her at his side, he couldn't stop himself from comparing their features, trying to find the similarity between them that came from their shared father. Their noses perhaps, and the way they carried themselves, though he was pretty sure the latter came from the upbringing rather than an inherited trait. He still wasn't sure how to go about starting the conversation with her, but that was not his concern now. No now he needed to concentrate on taking back Camelot. He would deal with everything else when they were once more home.

Uther found himself being thrown at the feet of Morgause while his court was herded into the throne room. She sat on his throne as if she belonged there. She did not. "You have no right to the crown." He snarled at her glaring with all the power he could while he was forced to kneel with his arms held taught behind him.

"And I make no claim on it. I am not here to take the kingdom from its rightful ruler, Uther Pendragon. I am here to make you pay for the crimes you have committed." Morgause replied evenly, not taking her eyes from the vile monster in front of her.

"I have committed no crimes. My laws are just. You are the criminal. Magic is evil, and you are proving that with your immortal army. No one will side with you." Uther growled back sure in the conviction of his words.

At that Morgause rose from the throne and approached Uther, bending down so she could whisper in his ear, "I'm not asking them to." Before straightening to address the court that now surrounded her.

"People of Camelot, I do not wish anymore harm to befall you. I wish for peace between us, between my people and yours. To that end I stand here asking you to pledge your allegiance to Arthur Pendragon, the true king of Camelot. I offer as a show of good faith a deal to Uther Pendragon, former king of Camelot. If he is willing to abdicate his throne completely, and bindingly hand this kingdom to his son, I am willing to let him live. If he refuses my terms, then at sunset this evening he will die. So what will it be Uther? Either way your rein will end this day."

There was a stunned silence that followed her words. They were ones that no one expected to hear. All she wanted was for them to align themselves with Arthur? There was no question in any of the courts mind that that was something they would do willingly. After all they already accepted him as their next king so in truth she was asking them for nothing. What they could not see was what Morgause would be getting out of such a deal. Would she hold this over their next king's head? Would Arthur become nothing more than her puppet on the throne? Would she use the fact she was giving his kingdom back against him?

Uther for his part was not thinking any of this. There was no question in his mind. He would not bow down to her, to a sorceress. "I refuse your terms. Kill me if you wish, but know Arthur will never let you rest if you do." He replied loudly letting all hear his words, hoping they would give his court strength to refuse whatever lures she threw their way. Because Arthur would come, and he would save Camelot, and he would make this witch burn.

At that Morgause stared into his eyes and couldn't help but be happy he'd refused her terms. But she also took satisfaction in the knowledge that she had offered him another way. No one could say she had killed him out of spite or revenge. No, Uther had chosen his own path, had chosen death rather than abdication. It was a small thing, but she felt it made all the difference in the world. And she knew deep inside her that the goddess was pleased with her offer, even if it was not accepted. Therefore with a nod she spoke. "You have much faith in your son I see. So be it. Uther Pendragon, by rights of conquest I sentence you to death. But I am a lenient liege and will not subject you to the flames. The axe will be your fate. Take him away."

And with that Uther Pendragon was dragged out of the room and all eyes of the court watched him as he went.

The group of Camelot's defenders stopped as the midday heat beat down upon them by a small stream. All taking the time to fill their canteens, and Merlin insisted Gaius looked at Arthur's wound. Not that the prince was particularly happy about that. He'd been hoping to have a private conversation with his friend, to determine with him what they should do next, but he wasn't sure he could do that with the physician there, even if he knew the old man knew more about what Merlin had been doing in Camelot since he arrived than anyone.

"I'm fine, Merlin. Stop being a girl." He sighed, even as he allowed his friend to lead him away from the rest of the group. In truth his leg was hurting after all the walking he'd been doing.

"I will be the one who decides that, Sire." Gaius replied pushing Arthur onto his side with a surprising amount of strength.

"Fine. But do it quickly, we need to keep moving." Arthur conceded knowing better than to argue with him.

"You need to rest, Arthur." Merlin replied couching next to him keeping one eye on the wound Gaius was caring for and the other on the man in front of him.

"We don't have time to rest. We need to get somewhere we can formulate a plan." Arthur responded determinedly. They may now know how to defeat the immortal army thanks to Morganas words, but they still had no idea how to get to the cup to empty it.

"And where exactly are you thinking of doing that? Because in case you haven't noticed Morgause's soldiers are still running around the kingdom, and they want us dead." Merlin snarked back. They had come across a couple of patrols as they moved away from Camelot, and all of them were firmly in the belief it was better not to get caught.

"There is an old castle, not too far away. It belonged to the old kings. That will do." Arthur replied after a moments thinking. It would be better there, better for the ladies with them as well as a place to strategize. Much better than the caves he had originally been heading for.

"Fine." Merlin sighed. He knew they needed a plan, but he wasn't sure how such a small group would be able to fight their way to the cup. They needed more men, and a way to kill an immortal being, but one thing at a time. With that he moved away from Arthur. There was someone he needed to contact, he just hoped Lancelot could get to them in time.

The sky was coloured with the pinks and reds of sunset, reflecting off the Camelot stone. The lit touches that surrounded the courtyard added a touch of eeriness to the silent faces of the people who had been summoned to watch their king die. He stood on a hastily built platform, looking up at the balcony he'd stood on so many times before passing sentence on those below. But this time it was Morgause staring down at Uther as he stood in chains.

"I give you one last chance, Uther Pendragon. Abdicate the throne to Arthur Pendragon and live, or refuse, and die." Morgause called out loudly so all could hear her words. So all would know of the choice she was giving him. So all would see the mercy she was offering the monster who had killed so many of her kind.

"I do not make deals with the devil, and that it what you are, Sorcerer." Uther spat out, defiant to the last.

"Very well, on your head, be it. Uther Pendragon for the crimes you have committed against those you swore to protect, I sentence you to death. May the goddess have mercy on your soul."

With those words Uther was pushed to his knees, his head positioned on the chopping block, and just as the sun slid down the horizon the axe fell down with finality on the former king of Camelot.

Arthur was leading the group with him towards the entrance of the castle glad they would make it before night set in, when suddenly Morgana cried out, grabbing her neck as if she could breathe as she fell to her knees. Arthur turned to run to his sister's side when he saw that, but he found that someone else had gotten there before him.

Merlin had been walking with Arthur when he heard Morgana cry out. He didn't even think before he went to her, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her close, whispering meaningless words into her ear as he slowly stroked her hair. He didn't know what had caused her pain, that didn't matter. All that did was she was in pain. His magic reacted without his conscious thought telling it to do so as it seeped into the woman in his arms. The woman he loved.

"Shh, it's okay, you're okay. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, my love." He said softly as he felt her relax in his arms. Finally he could tell she was calm enough for him to release her, not that he wanted to, but he thought he probably should. He would prefer her not to blast him away again thank you very much.

"What happened?" He asked when she was sitting on her own, though he couldn't find it in himself to let go of the gentle grip he had on her shoulders.

"I don't know, I just… Uther's dead." Morgana replied as she finally put the pieces together in her mind. She had known her sister was going to kill him, but she never expected to feel it when it happened. She had hated him, but right then, she couldn't find it in herself to be happy that he was gone. She had always thought she would, but no. All she felt was pain at his passing. "Why am I not happy?" She asked turning her eyes to the one man who she felt would have any idea of how she was feeling. Turning her eyes to the man she loved and she hated, the man she didn't trust with her heart, but trusted with her brother and his kingdom.

"He was your father, Morgana. It is understandable for it to hurt." Merlin responded softly, though he did take a quick look around them, glad to see only Arthur, Gwen and Gaius near enough to hear him.

"But I hated him." Morgana replied in confusion. She couldn't understand it. He was a monster, why did his passing hurt her so?

"Love and hate are same emotions, without one, you cannot feel the other. You taught me that." Merlin answered gently, before easing back as Arthur knelt down beside him in front of his sister.

Arthur had heard Morgana's words, heard that his father was dead and he couldn't think of anything but that. He felt denial coursing through him, a hope that she was wrong, but when he heard the acceptance of her words in Merlin's voice he knew she was telling the truth. His father was gone. He would never see him again, never feel the squeeze of his hand on his shoulder to show he was proud of him, never share laughter or see the love in his eyes when he looked at him. Oh he knew he hadn't been the pillar of greatest he'd believed him to be. He'd heard Merlin's stories and knew the truth now, knew the truth of Uther's rein, but no matter what kind of king he'd been, he was still his father, and he didn't want him to be dead. He wanted to curl inside himself and pull away from the world, pull away from the hurt at knowing Uther was gone was causing him. But then he looked at the woman in front of him and he realised it wasn't just him in pain. With that thought he pulled himself together and knelt in front of his sister. "Morgana?" He asked carefully, not sure what to say. They hadn't had a chance to discuss the fact they were siblings yet, it seemed wrong that the first time they were going to do it was because their father was dead.

"I'm sorry, Arthur." Morgana replied, her voice breaking as tears coursed down her cheeks, everything finally becoming too much for her. Her confusion over Uther's death was the final straw before all that had happened, all she had done pushed into her mind. Before she felt all the pain and suffering she had caused her brother… and her father.

"You have nothing to apologise for." Arthur responded instantly. Oh he knew his words were a lie, but now was not the time to try and deal with her betrayal. She was with them now. That was all that mattered in Arthurs mind. She was his sister, and he would forgive her anything, because she was now the only family he had left.

"You are wrong. I have so much I need to make up for." Morgana vehemently replied. She could not let Arthur sweep away what she had done, she was going to tell him everything, she needed to tell him everything.

"And you can, when we take back Camelot, you can. For now, let us go inside and mourn our father." Arthur answered, putting enough emphasis on the word our that Morgana realised without a shadow of a doubt that she did not need to tell Arthur what she had done. He already knew it all.

Arthur stood then, before holding out his hand to help her up, though they both knew that hand was more than just the offer of a gentleman to a lady, it was an offer of family forgiveness and love. It was the possibility of the future they could have together, as brother and sister.

"I would like that." Morgana replied taking his hand and standing, smiling at her brother with a true smile in what felt like years. It was time to put the past behind them and get to know each other as the siblings they were.

"So would I." Arthur agreed, before tucking her hand into his elbow and guiding her towards the entrance of the castle, where the others were standing waiting for them. Yes, tonight they would mourn the man who had gone, and tomorrow they would plan how to claim back the kingdom.