Hello, readers – I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season and a great first couple weeks of 2023.

This is the last chapter before stuff gets real, so I hope you enjoy the breather and character/relationship building. Oh, and it's longer than the last three updates have been. Hooray?

Bo had intended to confront Lancelot as soon as they got out on the road, only to find her plans thwarted by another of Leon's forced attempts at courtship. She endured twenty minutes of stilted conversation about, of all things, her choice of weaponry and battle attire – Leon was of the opinion that, if she insisted on participating in escapades like the one they were currently engaged in, she should at least carry a real sword rather than her preferred daggers and wear proper armor, to which Bo sweetly replied that armor would hamper the use of her best weapon while tightening the laces of her corset to display her cleavage more effectively, flustering the knight to the point of incoherent sputtering – before Arthur took pity on them and stepped in, sending Leon to scout the path ahead.

The knight gave Arthur a grateful look as he urged his horse forward, but Bo merely arched an eyebrow at him. "You could've done that twenty minutes ago. You were enjoying that, weren't you?"

Arthur responded with a shrug and a singularly remorseless grin. "Well, it was funny." Then, before Bo could retort or retaliate, he too trotted ahead, leaving her to fall back to where Merlin, Lancelot, and Dyson were riding a short distance behind.

"What was all that about?" Merlin asked as his horse drew even with hers. "I've never seen Leon go out of his way to talk to you like that…or look so uncomfortable when he does."

"Oh, that… Well…" Bo let out a long sigh. She really didn't want to talk about this – mainly because talking about it somehow made it feel more real – but Merlin deserved to know. Besides, if she didn't tell him, Lancelot or Dyson probably would, and he should hear it from her. So she reluctantly explained how Morgana had been forced to use their relationship as a cover for their visit to Alvarr's camp, and how Uther had decided their forbidden romance was compromising Morgana's judgment and resolved to put an end to it. "So he's decided to pull some Dark Ages arranged marriage crap on me and Leon even though there's zero chemistry between us," she finished with another dismal sigh, "and he's thinking about making Morgana marry some asshole prince named Urien."

Merlin knew nothing about Urien and therefore couldn't fully appreciate what a terrible fate marrying him would be, but was appropriately horrified nonetheless. He immediately tried to brainstorm ways to escape their predicament, only to hit a wall with every single one.

"Face it," Bo said despondently, "unless Uther gets a concussion that makes him forget this whole thing or either Leon or I fall into a coma next week, the only way out of this engagement is for the three of us to run away."

That stopped Merlin cold, because of all the potential solutions he'd tossed out, leaving Camelot was the only one he hadn't considered, even though it was the most obvious one. Still he hesitated to agree, because while he desperately wanted to help Bo and Morgana escape the unhappy marriages Uther wanted to foist on them, the thought of leaving the only place where he had ever truly felt he belonged, of deserting Arthur just when his friend was making real progress toward becoming the Once and Future King Merlin had always known he could be but had sometimes despaired of actually seeing in his lifetime, made him feel like his insides had been flooded with ice.

Something of his feelings must have shown on his face despite his best efforts to hide them, because Bo smiled sadly and said, "Yeah, I figured you wouldn't go for that."

Her crestfallen look only deepened the cold, hollow feeling inside him. Swallowing hard, he said, "I'm not saying no. If there's no other way… Whatever happens, I won't let either of you be married off against your will. This is just…"

"A lot to dump on you all at once," Bo finished with an understanding nod. "I get that." Deciding a change of topic was in order – Merlin obviously needed more time to process everything she had told him, so it seemed that the best thing she could do at the moment was back off and give him that time, and it wasn't like she particularly wanted to keep talking about her and Morgana's troubles now that she'd let him know what was going on – she turned in her saddle to face Lancelot, who was riding on her other side.

"Speaking of complicated situations, what's up with you and Kenzi?"

"Oh," the former knight stammered, caught off guard by the way her attention had suddenly shifted to him and the bluntness of her opening inquiry, "well, that's… We… After the way things ended between Gwen and I-"

"I know all about the fake dating," Bo interrupted, sparing him the embarrassment of stumbling through an explanation. "It's classic Kenzi: totally insane, but just crazy enough to work."

"Lady Kenzi is a remarkably clever and insightful woman," Lancelot said diplomatically, though not without a note of genuine admiration. "I admit I had some doubts at first, but her scheme has indeed cleared the way for Gwen to reunite with Arthur. Both of them seem much more at ease with me now as well." His relief at that was obvious, as he hadn't wanted to lose Arthur's friendship, and despite some initial uncertainty over how just being friends with Gwen would work out, he was glad to still have her in his life.

"What about you? Is it hard for you to be around them and watch Gwen be happy with Arthur?" Bo put on the air of a concerned friend as she asked this question – which wasn't hard, since she did care about Lancelot even if the two of them weren't especially close – but she also watched him carefully, analyzing every minute detail of his reaction.

"I'm glad for her," he said at once, so quickly that it sounded like a knee-jerk response, or a rote answer he had programmed himself to give on demand. "Arthur is a good man, and if he makes Gwen happy, I wish them all the best."

"That's great," Bo replied, struggling to hide her frustration at his evasiveness, "but how do you feel? Underneath all the self-sacrificing nobility, are you still hung up on Gwen?"

Lancelot blinked at her, clearly taken aback to be interrogated so straightforwardly about his most deeply personal feelings. "Well, I… Gwen was the first woman I ever loved. All my life, I never wanted anything except to earn my place among the knights of Camelot…until I met her. Such feelings are not easily set aside."

"I see." It wasn't exactly what Bo had hoped to hear, but at least he was talking about setting aside his feelings for Gwen, not proclaiming his everlasting devotion to her. "Moving on from your first love can be hard, and Gwen's a great girl-"

"I'm sure she is," Dyson interrupted from his place on Lancelot's other side, "but as I've said countless times, she's not the only one in the world."

Judging by the look he sent her over the neck of Lancelot's horse, Bo guessed Dyson had given his buddy this pep talk a lot since he broke up with Gwen, and didn't want her undoing whatever progress he might have made in talking Lancelot around by saying anything that could be interpreted as encouraging him to hang on to his hopeless crush. Fortunately, he had also given her an opening, and Bo wasted no time jumping on it.

"You're absolutely right; in fact, I know of a few right here in Camelot," she said, ostensibly addressing her words to Dyson, though of course Lancelot couldn't help hearing her as well, being positioned between the two of them. "Morgana's my favorite, obviously, but I think Kenzi's pretty great too…" Glancing at Lancelot out of the corner of her eye, she was pleased to see him perk up when she casually dropped her best friend's name into the conversation.

"That's true," he agreed with more enthusiasm than she'd heard from him throughout their entire discourse so far. "Besides being the most loyal friend anyone could ask for, Lady Kenzi is a remarkably brave, resourceful woman, and incredibly resilient too – from what she's told me, it sounds as if her life hasn't always been easy, yet despite all the hardship she's endured, she still has a wonderful sense of humor. I don't always understand her jokes, but I do love to hear her laugh." A fond smile crept onto his face as he went on. "The way it lights up her whole face, and makes her eyes sparkle…"

His rambling came to an abrupt end as he became aware of Bo, Dyson, and Merlin watching him and shook himself as if to break out of a trance, looking at first disconcerted, then embarrassed.

"Well," Dyson remarked with a grin, "it looks like you have learned to appreciate the charms of at least one other girl after all. Good for you." He reached over to slap Lancelot on the back.

Lancelot shrugged his hand away, still flustered. "It's not like that! Lady Kenzi is… Well, she's made the pain of losing Gwen easier to bear, and I'll be forever grateful that she convinced me not to run away from all the good things I have in Camelot, but there is nothing more than friendship between us. As much as we've been pretending otherwise, it's all a sham."

"It doesn't have to be," Merlin spoke up, having listened to the exchange between the other three first with confusion, then interest that slowly grew as he realized what Bo was getting at with her queries and observations.

"It does," Lancelot said flatly, his gaze fixed resolutely on the road ahead. "She doesn't feel that way about me."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Bo told him. "If you tell her it might've started out as pretend but it's more than that now, that you'd like to give it a real shot with her… As long as that's the truth, of course." She cut herself off in order to give the former knight a stern look. "Don't lead her on if you're not absolutely sure you're over Gwen enough to really give something new a chance, because Kenzi deserves better than to be used as some kind of distraction or replacement. She deserves someone who'll give her five hundred percent, and if you can't do that, then you need to end this before someone's feelings get hurt."

She stopped short of adding that if he did hurt Kenzi, she would hurt him, but he seemed to read the unspoken warning loud and clear in her fierce expression and tone of voice. So did Merlin, who gave her a half-amused, half-exasperated look; it was a wonder either she or Kenzi ever had any romance in their lives, he thought, given their mutual penchant for threatening anyone who got too close to the other.

"You don't need to worry about that, Bo," he said, trying to sound reassuring rather than impatient. "Lancelot's too honorable to pursue anything with Kenzi unless he's completely committed to her."

"For what it's worth, if you can make that commitment, I think you should give it a chance," Dyson put in. "You deserve to be happy."

"You've given me much to consider, all of you," Lancelot said with the air of someone who'd been bombarded with all the helpful advice he could take. "If you'll excuse me…" He nudged his horse forward and steered her to the outer fringes of the group, putting a little distance between himself and the other riders so he could do his considering in relative peace.

Deprived of her diversion, Bo turned her attention to the next available target, which happened to be Dyson. "You know, Lancelot's not the only guy who deserves to be happy. What about you? I haven't seen you spending much time with the ladies lately." This was quite a change from the Dyson she'd first met in the twenty-first century, whose skill at charming the fairer sex was legendary – something that used to get on her nerves, at least when he turned his charms on girls that weren't her, and while she didn't exactly want the current version to become a player, she couldn't help wondering about the apparent seismic shift in his attitude.

"I doubt I'm going to find happiness with any of the ladies of Uther's court."

"Why not?" Bo demanded, puzzled by his pessimistic tone. "I bet there are lots of women who dig the whole 'dashing knight' thing."

"Maybe, but the ones who do are usually the wrong sort. Noblewomen," he elaborated in response to her raised eyebrow. "When I served the king of Ailech, my pack was sometimes invited to feasts at his castle in celebration of important victories, and I met my share of high-born ladies. Most of them were silly and shallow, only interested in gossip or comparing their gowns to everyone else's, and as far as I can tell the human variety aren't much different…except that human nobles take a dimmer view of having a night's fun with a woman you don't intend to marry."

Bo frowned – that sounded like the old Dyson – but he wasn't finished.

"Besides," he went on thoughtfully, "I'm not sure that kind of short-lived flirtation interests me anymore."

"Really?" Now that's different. Her interest piqued, she asked, "What changed your mind?"

"I suppose you did," Dyson answered after giving it a moment's thought. "For most of my life, all that mattered was becoming the greatest warrior I could be, and I was certain that the camaraderie I shared with my brothers was the only companionship I needed; not that we didn't enjoy female company as well," he admitted with a brief yet devilish grin, "but we spent so much of our time on the battlefield that we didn't have many opportunities to indulge in anything more than fleeting pleasure. The king forbade us from traveling with women, thinking they would be a distraction; Ciara was the exception since she and Stefan were married, and because her skill as a healer was useful."

"What a douchebag," Bo muttered.

Dyson shrugged. "As I said, I didn't mind at the time, if only because I couldn't imagine living any other way. Even when we met Ciara… Stefan wasn't the only one who fancied her," he confessed in a quiet voice laced with regret.

This came as no surprise to Bo, who of course remembered (more vividly than she'd like, to be honest) how his future self had ended up with the gorgeous fairy warrior, though she hadn't known the attraction between them went all the way back to the days when Ciara was married to Dyson's best friend. "So you both fell for her…and what, she chose your friend? That must've sucked."

"Not exactly." Another shrug from the wolf. "I wanted Stefan to be happy, and I saw that he loved her more, that he wanted to make her his wife – something I wasn't sure I was ready to do, even for someone like her…so I never told her how I felt. It's too late for that now, of course, but now that you've shown me that there is more to life than battle, and that taking the time to form a deeper bond with a single person can be more rewarding than an endless string of temporary lovers…"

"You want what I have with Merlin and Morgana?" Never having seen herself as a romantic role model, Bo was taken aback to hear that, and maybe a little gratified as well.

"Why not? If a succubus can make that sort of commitment, surely I can too. I'm not saying I want two women, though," he quickly clarified. "I'd be happy with one woman, as long as she's the right one."

Bo reached over and squeezed his hand (leaving her reins held so loosely in the other that she would be in a very bad position if her horse decided to bolt, but luckily for her the faithful old gelding continued dutifully plodding along between Dyson's and Merlin's mounts). "Don't worry, there are plenty of other fae in the sea. So tell me, what is this right woman of yours like?"

"I don't know. Someone who cares about more than court gossip and fancy dresses," Dyson said with a half-smile that soon slipped away, his expression turning serious. "Someone who sees the world for what it is, who knows how ugly it can be but still wants to make it better… And it would be nice if I could spar with her."

"So, a badass with a hidden heart of gold, huh?" That brought a frown to Bo's face once more, because she couldn't think of any unattached women in Camelot who fit that description off the top of her head…but looking for one should definitely be a good distraction from the whole 'arranged marriage' mess. "I'll help you with that," she declared, sitting up straighter in her saddle. "When we get back to the city, finding you a girlfriend will be my new project."

Suddenly, Dyson wished he hadn't opened up to her. "Uh, you don't have to do that."

"It's no trouble," Bo said graciously. "I'm always happy to help out a friend."

"It's no use arguing with her," Merlin chimed in, giving the wolf a sympathetic look. "When Bo decides to help someone, she's going to do it…whether you want her to or not."

###

Predictably, Arthur decided to stop at nightfall. After a great deal of nagging from Merlin, he was slowly coming around to the idea that there might actually be something amiss at Idirsholas, but he still didn't seem to feel much urgency in completing their mission, or maybe he just wanted to prolong their time outside the city (and away from Uther) as much as possible. In any event, his argument that, if there was anything dangerous in the old fortress, it would be better to wait and face it in the daylight was perfectly reasonable, so Merlin reluctantly gave in and helped Lancelot set up camp.

"I'll get the firewood," he offered, as his fellow servant began apportioning their provisions.

Bo, seeing that Leon appeared to be psyching himself up for another attempt at 'quality time' with her, jumped to her feet. "I'll help."

"Oh…well…if you have to," Arthur said with an odd grimace. Lowering his voice, he added, "I guess it'll be good to have you at full strength when we reach Idirsholas, just…try not to take too much out of Merlin, all right? If these Knights of Medhir turn out to be more than an old wives' tale, we might need him too."

The two of them stared at him in bewilderment, which soon turned to amusement when they realized what he was talking about.

"Uh, Arthur," Merlin choked out as he fought to contain his laughter, "you do know that wasn't some kind of euphemism, don't you? We really are going to gather firewood."

A look of profound relief flashed across Arthur's face, though it vanished when Bo said, "Although, now that you mention it, I could use a snack. Come on, lover." Seizing Merlin's scarf, she dragged him off in a show of lustful fervor. Just before they disappeared into the trees, the pair looked back, and burst out laughing at the prince's nauseated expression.

They stumbled deeper into the woods together, clutching each other for balance as their laughter gradually petered out along with their breath.

"I know…I shouldn't…mess with him like that," Bo panted, "but he just makes it too easy."

"He does," Merlin agreed, leaning against a broad pine tree as he gulped in air. "He's just so…so…" His voice trailed off, and he waved his hand vaguely to indicate his futile search for a word that encapsulated all of the prince's qualities.

"Arthur," Bo supplied, to which Merlin nodded; that pretty much summed it up. Seeing the humor drain from his face as he contemplated other recent examples of Arthur's Arthur-ness, including his insistence on stopping for the night, she added, "I think he made the right call about not pulling an all-nighter, though. It wouldn't do us any good to get there at midnight and go stumbling through a crumbly old castle in the dark. We probably wouldn't even see those knights of yours if they were right in front of us."

"I guess."

Despite his acquiescence, she could tell he still wasn't happy. Moving closer so she could peer earnestly into his eyes, she said softly, "I'm sure Morgana's fine. She's probably hanging out with Gwen and Kenzi right now, or maybe doing a little bedtime reading – or picking out her outfit for tomorrow, like she said."

"You're right." To her relief, Merlin managed a smile that didn't even look totally forced. "After all, how much trouble could she get into at this hour?"

###

As it happened, Bo was right about Morgana spending her evening with Gwen and Kenzi, but the three of them were discussing more serious matters over dinner than what to wear the next day.

"Why would Morgause send a message to you now?" Gwen wondered. "It's been weeks since she visited Camelot, and she hasn't contacted you in all that time, has she?" When Morgana shook her head, the maid went on, "And you only spoke with her once or twice while she was here, isn't that right?"

"Yeah, but they must've been some pretty special conversations to make her give you that fancy bracelet," Kenzi remarked, watching Morgana through half-narrowed eyes.

Morgana looked down and fiddled with the napkin in her lap as heat flared in her cheeks. "Bo told you about that?"

"Bobo tells me everything."

Raising her eyes to meet the other girl's probing stare, Morgana said firmly, "Well, in this instance there was nothing to tell. The bracelet was lost the very same night Morgause gave it to me, and I haven't searched for it. Whatever overtures may have been intended in giving me such a gift hardly matter now."

"Overtures?" Gwen echoed, her eyes growing round with shock. "You think this bracelet was meant as a…an offer of courtship?"

"Bo suspected as much," Morgana replied while smoothing out her crumpled napkin, "though if it was, it was a grievous miscalculation on Morgause's part. I have no interest in…that…not with her."

"Good." Kenzi slathered butter on a piece of her bread. "Then you won't be accepting her invitation to a secret moonlit rendezvous."

"I didn't say that."

Kenzi's eyes popped open wide as she nearly spat out the bite of bread she'd just put into her mouth, and Gwen frowned in a more restrained show of confusion, so Morgana explained, "Morgause was instrumental in opening Arthur's eyes to his father's hypocrisy and convincing him to accept magic; she deserves better than to be ignored."

"That's true," Gwen agreed, even as her forehead crinkled in a slight frown. "Ignoring her message would be terribly rude."

Finally managing to chew her food enough that she could force it down, Kenzi sputtered, "Are you both high? You can absolutely ignore a note from a woman you barely know that opens with 'my dearest Morgana' – seriously, who writes that to someone they've had all of two conversations with that didn't even add up to a whole hour – and asks you to sneak out to meet her alone, at night! That's obviously a setup for a date!"

"That may be what Morgause has in mind, but I don't have to go along with her wishes. I'll simply explain that although I'm flattered, her affections are misplaced since mine are already spoken for." Morgana reached over and laid a hand over Kenzi's, squeezing gently as she fixed her with an intent gaze, hoping the other girl could read the truth of what she was saying in her eyes. "I would never betray Bo or Merlin, I promise. I love them far too much to ever do that."

Kenzi searched her face for a moment, gauging her sincerity, before relenting. "Well, I guess you can't exactly text her back to tell her you're not coming." She made a face, showing that she still wasn't thrilled with the situation, then blew out a long, dramatic sigh. "Fine, you can go. Just shut her down hard and come right back here, got it?"

"I beg your pardon? It's bad enough that I have to put up with Uther ordering me around without you thinking you can do it too!"

"She's right, though; you shouldn't stay out too late. Honestly, I'm not sure meeting Morgause at all is a good idea, even if it is the courteous thing to do. Not because I think you'll let her seduce you away from Merlin and Bo, of course not!" Gwen hastily clarified when Morgana gave her a look that was somewhere between offended and hurt. "It's just that I saw how upset you were when Uther stopped you from going with them, so I wonder if…if that hasn't made you eager for a chance to do something else he would disapprove of."

"So what?" Kenzi rejoined, her attitude toward Morgana sneaking out apparently shifting now that they weren't discussing the possibility of her cheating on Bo anymore. "Sometimes you gotta stick it to the man, especially when he's being an unmitigated dick."

Morgana smiled at her, grateful for her support – not to mention pleased to hear that someone else shared her opinion on her guardian's current behavior – then tried to assuage Gwen's concerns, which were still evident in her eyes and the tiny furrow in her brow. "Listen, Gwen… Even if I am feeling rebellious at the moment, what harm could meeting with Morgause possibly do?"

It was a perfectly reasonable question, one Gwen didn't have a ready answer for; all she had was a vague sense of unease in the back of her mind, like an itch she couldn't quite pinpoint. Arthur had returned from his meeting with the sorceress in a murderous rage, one that had taken the combined efforts of Merlin and Bo to snap him out of before he did something he would have regretted for the rest of his life.

Of course, that was hardly Morgause's fault when she had merely shown him the truth; she bore no responsibility for the misdeed she had revealed or for Uther's decision to hide it from his son for so long, nor had she actually encouraged Arthur to do anything with the information she'd given him, so there was no reason to suspect her of harboring any ill intentions…and yet…

Intentionally or not, she had provided the spark that had ignited Arthur's fury, and in Morgana's current state of mind, Gwen feared it would take a lot less to incense her, provoke her into doing… Doing what? Again, Morgause hadn't put Arthur up to anything; he'd acted of his own volition, and there was no evidence that Morgause had wanted anything more than to let him see his mother for a few precious minutes. Though it did beg the question of why she would go to all the trouble of dueling him and putting him through her test just to do him a favor…

But I'm probably overthinking it because I'm worried about Morgana, and maybe I'm unfairly blaming Morgause for how Arthur reacted to the things she showed him. Seeing him so hurt, so lost as he was forced to rethink everything he'd thought he knew had cut Gwen deeply, and maybe that had influenced her feelings toward the person who was indirectly responsible for his distress, because it wasn't like her to be so suspicious, to look for nefarious motives where, in all likelihood, none existed.

"No harm at all, I suppose." Gwen shook her head to clear away her troubled thoughts and forced her mouth into an agreeable half-smile. "You're right – it's only one conversation, and after you've spurned her affections, I don't imagine she'll ask to see you again."

"No, I don't suppose she will."

With their debate settled, the three women finished their food quickly and in relative silence, after which Morgana got up to prepare for her after-dark excursion.

"Cover up the cleavage," Kenzi advised. "Looking your best when you turn someone down is just mean." The critiques didn't stop when Morgana put on a cloak, however. "Okay, wait just a minute – that's what you wear for sneaking around in? The Little Red Riding Hood look would work if you were meeting Dyson, and he could be the woodsman and the big bad wolf all rolled up in one smolderingly sexy package, but it doesn't exactly scream 'stealth wear'."

"Why should I be concerned with stealth?" Morgana countered. "As the king's ward, I have every right to walk the halls of this castle whenever I choose. If anyone were to question me, looking as if I was trying to avoid detection would arouse more suspicion."

"Point," Kenzi acknowledged; sometimes the best way to get somewhere you weren't supposed to be was by simply acting like you belonged there, as she knew well, having pulled the same trick a few times herself. "Plus you can always say you're just walking off your latest bout of insomnia."

"Indeed. Now, if you're finished criticizing my sartorial choices, I do have somewhere to be."

"Hmm…" Kenzi looked her over one last time, and then, with an affected air of grudging acceptance: "Well, if this is the best you can do…"

Morgana arched an eyebrow at her, causing her to drop the act and break into a grin. "Okay, okay, you look great like you always do – now quit fishing for compliments and get out of here."

Satisfied, Morgana pulled her hood up, then left the warm candlelight of her chambers behind and ventured out into the night.

I was going to save Morgana's scene with Gwen and Kenzi for the next chapter, which will be all about what she does while Merlin and Bo are gone, but I decided to go ahead and include it in order to make this a little longer. Don't worry, there'll still be plenty to cover next time, starting with a meeting that's bound to be awkward considering Morgana's misconceptions about what Morgause wants from her…