They rode for almost an hour, following the instructions Morgana had given them before it became clear where she was leading them. To a small cottage in the middle of the forest, tucked away at the base of a low cliff.
It was obvious that this was the place because her horse was tied up outside, rearing back when they attempted to approach to tie their own horses beside it.
Morgana appeared at it's side instantly, catching at the reigns and holding her hands up to soothe the great beast, whispering soothingly into it's ear and brushing her hands through his mane.
"I'm sorry about that." She said to Arthur and Merlin, without turning round to face them. "He's nervous around men, his previous owners tried to train him too young and he suffered many beatings before I found him."
Resting her head against her horses neck, she smiled softly, "But I killed them for it and now they will never harm another living thing again."
Merlin stiffened, but Arthur waved his hand at him quickly, warning him to stay quiet about what she had just admitted to.
"You always did prefer horses to people Morgana." Arthur said quietly, careful to let no judgement creep into his voice.
Then Morgana turned round to look at them, curiosity glinting in her eyes, "Yes, well, I've never been betrayed or hurt by a horse. Nor feared for my life because of one's actions."
Pointing to a tree on the other side of the cottage, she pushed open the door and went inside, "Tie your horses there and then come in."
"Arthur we can still walk away." Merlin said hurriedly, as Arthur moved to do what Morgana had said, "If we walk through that door, there's no guarantee that we will ever come out again."
"Like I said Merlin." Arthur replied, shrugging off the hand on his shoulder, "You don't have to follow me."
Without another word, he strode over to the door Morgana had disappeared through, pushing it open and stepping inside.
Merlin groaned before following suit, unwilling to leave Arthur alone with his worst enemy, who's behavior was being incredibly confusing.
Arthur was silent as he watched Morgana move around the small space, with the ease and familiarity of someone who spent a lot of time there.
"This is where you live?" He breathed softly, struggling to associate the lady, Morgana had been with the cramped, cold house that was poorly constructed, with water leaking through the roof.
She nodded quickly, rifling through a chest against the foot of her bed, which was practically on top of the small cooking fire in the center of the room. "It's hardly as though I have much of a choice. I tried taking a castle, it worked for a while but magic alone is not enough to hold a throne. I needed somewhere safe, somewhere my enemies wouldn't think to look."
"All this time, I never imagined-"
"What did you imagine?" Morgana laughed bitterly, standing up with a small pouch of herbs clasped in her hands, "Believe me Arthur, this is one of the nicest of the places I have resided since I left Camelot. It has a roof and I can breathe, turns out that you learn to live without a lot when you lose everything."
Merlin stepped forward, an angry frown crossing his face, "Your choices led you here Morgana, you could've taken a different path."
Looking between them, a smirk appeared on Morgana's lips as she tipped the herbs into a pot hanging over the fire, "Really Merlin? And what would you have had me do differently? Should I have asked a trusted friend for help?"
Merlin flinched backwards at the pointed words, as Arthur nodded his head, oblivious to the reaction her words had elicited from Merlin. "Yes, we could have helped you."
Looking between Arthur and Merlin critically, she saw the panic on Merlin's face as he realized that she might tell Arthur that he knew about her magic right from the start.
"You know what Uther's view of magic was Arthur, if I had asked for help it would have put other people in danger." She said tiredly, pouring the tea she had been brewing into glasses and offering them out to the two of them.
Rather than being offended at their skeptical looks, she quickly held each of them to her lips and took a sip, "If I wanted to poison you, I wouldn't have made you come all this way first."
Taking a deep breath, Arthur took the cup offered to him and drained it in one gulp, meeting her surprised eyes with a small smile, as she truly hadn't believed he would accept anything from her.
Morgana opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of hoof beats outside the cottage, cocking his head to the side Arthur counted quickly.
"At least ten riders, friends of yours Morgana?" He said accusingly.
She shot a withering glare at him, "If I wanted you dead you would be, I don't need help to deal with the two of you. Wait here."
Arthur moved to catch hold of her arm, but was too late, as she slipped through the door.
Pulling Merlin with him, they stepped up to the window so they could look out and watch what she was doing.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Morgana said, lifting her chin arrogantly as she faced down twelve riders, led by a man who was built like a bear.
"Bandits." Arthur muttered under his breath as he and Merlin peeked out carefully to avoid being seen. From where they were they could see Morgana's hand, subtly held up towards them behind her back. The message was clear, stay inside.
The leader laughed as he swung down from his horse and walked towards her, "Now that's no way to treat guests, especially not when they ride all this way to visit you, all alone in the woods. So far from anywhere else."
Morgana took a step forward, refusing to let him intimidate her, "You are no guest, guests generally don't show up uninvited with a group of fully armed men. And seeing as how you are no guests of mine, you won't mind me telling you to be on your way."
She turned to walk away from him, stopped by the hands that gripped her by both shoulders.
Staying perfectly still, she stared straight ahead as he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "No one walks away from me. You have two choices, you can make a gift of those pretty horse of yours to me, or you can invite me and my men in to... entertain us, and then we'll take the horses anyway."
Reaching up she ran her hand softly over one of his hands until he released her enough for her to turn back round to face him, "Well then, I suppose that the choice is clear."
He grinned as his men laughed behind him, cut off quickly as she slashed across his throat with a knife she had concealed in her sleeve. "I kill you all." She said coldly, reaching down to draw the sword that had been hanging from his hip.
The eleven remaining men dismounted, angrily advancing on the woman who was standing over the body of their leader.
"That was a mistake." One of them muttered darkly, as Morgana just smirked and beckoned them forwards.
The group surged forwards together towards Morgana, who danced towards them, slashing back and forth with the sword quickly to drop three of them before they knew what was happening.
With their number reduced to eight already they became more cautious, circling her threateningly as she looked between them, a calculating look on her face.
Unseen by them, her eyes glowed as a tree branch above cracked straight through, falling down to crush two of them under it's weight, wounding a third who fell heavily to the ground holding his shoulder.
Stepping close, Morgana lunged, driving her stolen sword into the chest of one man, her hair flying as she whirled around to slash across the stomach of another.
The three remaining charged together, hoping to overwhelm the witch in one last effort, but she ducked and weaved between them and soon they were just three more bodies decorating the forest floor.
The man who had only been injured clawed at the ground as he scurried backwards, trying to get away from her. "Please, please don't kill me. I don't want to die!" He cried out as she held her sword to his throat, the blood of the other men dripping from it to stain his shirtfront.
Morgana shook her head sadly, "You've seen where I live, I cannot let you go."
She drove the blade into his heart quickly, killing him as painlessly as was possible.
Then she turned round and waved her hand at the door of her cottage, which was instantly flung open by Arthur who marched out followed by Merlin.
"You locked us in?!" He growled angrily.
Morgana just shrugged, driving the tip of the sword into the ground, "You would've joined the fight, I didn't need or want your help."
Merlin looked down, his eyes drawn to a dark patch that was spreading across her side, almost impossible to see against the black fabric of her dress. "Morgana you're bleeding."
"I know Merlin." She said softly, brushing past them to go back inside.
Following her, they found her lying on the bed clutching at her side, the color slowly draining from her face.
"Can't you just heal it, with magic." Arthur said helplessly, gesturing towards her side with his hands.
Morgana let out a breathless laugh as she pressed her other hand to the wound as well in an attempt to slow the blood loss, "Not all magic is the same, I have never been skilled at healing, least of all on myself. At least this is good for you though Arthur. This wound isn't mortal but I am in no position to fight you. So what happens now? It's your choice."
Sitting beside her on the bed, Arthur gently touched her shoulder, "I told you I wanted you home."
"You really meant that?" She asked disbelievingly.
Arthur just nodded his head, moving her hands so he could see the wound for himself, "Merlin, you've worked with Gaius, help me."