A/N: So, first of all: I'm so sorry it took this bloody long for me to update. I had a job that was keeping me busy, but now that school is about to start again, I'm hoping I'll have more time. Second: I think this is the first episode I'm completely changing, so those of you who have been waiting for me to deviate from canon storylines, you're in luck!

This has been a pain to write, though you lovely reviewers made me realize I've been neglecting me. I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this ep, so it might be another week (hopefully not longer) untill I'll update again.

Also, I've been on a huge Doctor Who stint, and I've revived my Percy Jackson fic (what movies aren't good for, right?). Anywhoo; onwards! Enjoy!

Chapter 9: The Nightmare begins – part 1

Life at Camelot couldn't have been better these last few weeks. I still had an immense workload, but Arthur made it worth it. This morning, I fetched his breakfast, and headed to his room, early for once.

"Good morning, sire," I said cheerfully when I walked in. He was still in bed, so I rolled my eyes, placed the tray on the table, and went over to the bed. Sitting down on its edge, I leaned forward and brushed a stray hair out of his face. I wouldn't have dreamed of doing this only a month ago.

Arthur stirred, frowning adorably in his sleep. I smiled and pecked him on the lips, only to have strong arms wind around me and pull me in. I lost my balance and fell on top of Arthur. He didn't seem to mind, though.

The prince sighed against my lips before pulling back. "Good morning. You know, I wouldn't mind being woken up like this more often."

I rolled my eyes again and climbed off the bed. "Too bad. If I woke you up like that every morning, neither of us would get anything done."

Arthur sat up and raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you're tempted to stay in my bed all day, Merlynn?" he teased.

I turned away so he wouldn't see my blush. He'd been trying to get me to blush an awful lot lately. "Not in the least," I replied when I could trust my voice again.

Arthur snorted, but didn't reply. He did, however, finally get out of bed and head over to his dressing screen, ever so slowly. This was another habit he'd developed in the last week or so. The prince usually slept without a shirt, but now he was going out of his way to get me to stare and blush. It was a little annoying, because I usually found myself doing exactly that.

Arthur looked back and saw me staring. He smirked. I narrowed my eyes at him, grabbed the laundry basket, and strode purposefully out of the room.

On my way over to the laundry room, I ran into Gwen. "Good morning, Gwen. How are you?" I asked, smiling at the other maid.

Gwen was carrying her own basket of laundry to be done for Morgana. "I'm good, a little tired is all. You?"

"I'm good. Arthur's being a prat, as usual, but he always finds ways to make up for it later," I reply, grinning a little cheekily.

Gwen laughed. "I still think it's odd – the two of you together."

I shrugged. "It's not like anyone can see. Even when it's just you, he doesn't want to let anything on," I said, rolling my eyes. "Men: they're impossible."

"I agree. I'm glad I'm working for Morgana," Gwen said, entering the laundry room. It was mostly empty, as the maids generally didn't start doing laundry until later in the day.

"How is Morgana?" I asked curiously.

Gwen pursed her lips. "She's still not sleeping well, especially lately. Her nightmares have been keeping her up, and Gaius's sleeping draughts aren't helping much. She doesn't leave her room very often anymore," she explained, a frowning worriedly.

I bit my lip. "I'll see if I can come by after lunch today to see how she's doing."

/*/

One of the perks of being with the person you're working for is that persuading them to give you a few hours off is that much easier – not to mention a lot more fun.

An hour after having brought Arthur his lunch, I made my way over to Morgana's chambers. Gwen answered the door when I knocked. The lady herself sat up in her bed, clutching her head. I rushed over.

"Morgana, are you alright?" I asked, concerned. I sat down next to her and put an arm around her. She looked up at me, and I could clearly see the bags under her eyes and the exhausted expression on her face. She must've been terrified to go back to sleep.

"Stupid question, I'm sorry… I wish there was more I could do," I whispered, pulling her closer to me. "Do you want to sleep now? I can keep watch while Gwen works."

"Won't Arthur need you?" she asked. Morgana didn't know about Arthur and me. She knew I had feelings for the prince, and she suspected he might return them, but I hadn't told her about anything more specific. I knew it hurt her that I refused to tell her when she asked, but she understood that I didn't want to talk about it.

"He gave me some time off," I replied, shaking my head.

Morgana smirked, and looked just a little less tired. "Oh, did he? I wonder why."

I blushed and lightly shoved her shoulder. "Stop it, and sleep. I'll be right here if you have any nightmares."

And, miraculously, she did.

/*/

I stayed with Morgana for a few hours while she slept, but left Gwen to tend to her when she woke in time for dinner. I convinced myself she'd be fine that night as she hadn't had any nightmares while I was there, and made sure she took Gaius's tonic. Arthur was more than a little grumpy when I brought him his food – one noble or other had insulted him, and he hadn't been able to retort. Poor baby.

/*/

Arthur POV

Merlynn rolled her eyes. "Let it go, Arthur. When you're king, you're going to have to deal with this every day."

The prince moodily bit into his chicken. "But it's not fair. Why do they all have to be so arrogant? I'm the prince, I should be able to tell them to shove it whenever I want to!" he whined. He knew he sounded like a child, but he didn't care.

Merlynn muttered something that sounded suspiciously like sounds like someone I know, but when he asked, she replied, "Nothing," blinking at him innocently.

She was beautiful. And Arthur was ridiculously happy that he could actually think – and say – that about her now, so he did.

Merlynn blushed that delicious red that he loved so much. Arthur had been making it a game – trying to get her to blush as often as he could. It made him feel a little smug that he had that kind of effect on her. She mumbled a thanks and went over to his bed to throw back the covers, which led his thoughts to places they really shouldn't be going now. Arthur focussed on his food instead.

"So, what did you do this afternoon?" he asked.

"I watched over Morgana and talked Gwen into helping me repair that shirt of yours," she replied, gathering up the laundry. She paused, biting her lip. While Arthur thought it was adorable, it also usually meant something was bothering her.

"Yes?" he prompted.

"Morgana's nightmares have been getting worse; she's terrified of even going to sleep. Gaius's sleeping draughts aren't helping at all anymore. I'm worried about her, Arthur," Merlynn said, putting her basket down and walking over.

'She really would make a great Queen,' Arthur thought absently, before shoving that idea firmly to the back of his mind. Where had that come from?

"I'm sure it's just a phase," he said hurriedly, hoping the thought hadn't shown on his face. "She's had them before, you know."

"Never this bad," she countered. "Or at least, never in the year I've been here."

Arthur frowned. "You've only been here a year?" It had seemed to him like he'd known Merlynn forever.

She smiled and cleared away his plates. "More like a year and a half. I came here two springs ago, and it's summer now."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I know what time of year it is, Merlynn."

The maid suppressed a grin. "Just making sure, sire. You usually don't worry your pretty little head over little things like that."

Arthur smirked. "But you do think I'm pretty."

"Arthur, I think you're more than pretty," she said with the tone of an adult talking to a four-year-old, "but I also think you're an arse. A royal one, remember?" she added, grinning.

"How could I forget?" he asked, catching her hand and kissing her palm. "I think you're the first one, aside from Morgana, who ever stood up to me."

Merlynn blushed again, but was still grinning. "Someone had to. Otherwise your head might've gotten too big for your crown," she said dryly. "But if you want your laundry done anytime today, I need to go take it downstairs. Goodnight, Arthur."

I grinned at her again and watched her go. Merlynn was… hard to describe. But she made him happy, and he'd like to believe that he did the same for her. He still had the feeling that she didn't always tell him everything, but then again, it was Merlynn: she couldn't keep a secret to save her life.

Arthur shook his head and finished his dinner. No one could figure out Merlynn anyway.

/*/

Merlynn POV

I couldn't help but wonder how I'd gotten myself into this predicament; it seemed like the whole bloody castle was angry with me! Well, the whole castle except for Morgana and Gwen. Technically speaking, it was all Morgana's fault, but I couldn't bring myself to be angry with the confused Lady.

It started when Morgana had a dream – or, rather, a vision – and did magic in her sleep. It had woken me up in the middle of the night, and, when I'd followed the feeling through the castle, it had led me to Morgana's chambers, where Arthur and a couple of guards were trying their best to console the sobbing woman.

Uther was convinced it had been someone trying to kidnap his ward, but I could see in Morgana's eyes that she knew that it was her own doing.

Gaius told me not to get involved, and that it was better for everyone to just continue to pretend they were just nightmares, instead of visions. But how did that help anyone? I agreed that Uther shouldn't find out under any circumstances, but letting Morgana believe she was crazy?

The Dragon wasn't any help, either. He said that I shouldn't help 'the witch', and that she was destined to become evil. But this was Morgana we were talking about. She was a noble who cared about the people, who went hungry during the famine because she gave her food to the children. She helped my village when it would've been much easier for her to turn a blind eye.

Neither Gaius nor the Dragon understood, so I went to the one person I could think of who might.

"Hi, Gwen. Can I come in?" I asked, after having shown up at her house that night.

If Gwen was surprised to find me there, she didn't show it. "Of course."

We sat down at her table while the kettle hung over the fire. A cup of tea sounded like just what I needed right now. "What's the matter?" the other maid asked calmly.

I told her of my predicament. "What should I do, Gwen? If I tell her about my powers, something might go wrong and I could die, or someone might use her to try and figure out my identity – or worse, Uther might find out and kill us both. But if I don't tell her, it might drive her crazy, and cause her to do even more dangerous magic…"

Gwen went and got the hot water, pouring us some tea and not saying anything for the longest time. When she had finally sat back down again, and had taken a sip of her tea, she looked up. "Do you have to tell her about your powers, though?" she suggested.

I frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Gwen shifted a little on her chair, clearly not sure about what she was saying. "I mean, your biggest problem about telling her would be that your secrets would be in danger, right?"

"Gwen, it's not that simple. Camelot–" I started, but she cut me off with an impatient wave.

"I know Camelot and Arthur need you – that's not my point. I mean, what if you helped Morgana, but just didn't tell her you have powers of your own?"

My frown deepened. "How could I do that? There's no way I could know enough magic to teach another magic user without possessing some of my own. She'd never…"

"You told us your friend Will was a sorcerer, right?" Gwen said, her eyebrows raised.

Then I saw what she was getting at. "You want me to pretend I learned a whole bunch from Will, and pass it on to her?" I asked, incredulous. It wasn't a bad plan per se, but there was so much that could go wrong. Then again, what other choice did I have?

A/N: Semi-cliffie, I'm sorry ^^

QUESTION! I've had this idea for a Modern AU femMerlin fic, but I'm not sure if I should start another fanfic while I still have 3 going... What do you guys think?