Yes, Merlin being helpless ishighly unlikely. And I don't blame any of you for not buying it. Merlin is powerful, but I don't think he's infallible. Even his power has limits. And while he's said to be the most powerful sorcerer to walk the earth, he's not necessarily the most powerful being to walk the earth. There are forces greater than Merlin Emrys. You won't find out just yet what those forces might be, but let's just say that Morgana isn't working alone. Thanks for the reviews, though! I probably should have explained that a little better in the last chapter. Just...bear with me, please. Hopefully it will all make sense.

Eventually.

And yay, it's Kerenza time! I must warn you that I have absolutely no control over this character. She does what she wants.


NINE: KERENZA (315 days)

Arthur, Leon, Elyan, Gwaine, Percival, and Mordred rode into the forest just after sunrise. Arthur frowned when he saw Treasa. The woman was holding the reigns of two horses, but she was otherwise alone.

The king pulled his horse to a stop in front of the woman. "Where is your daughter?" he asked, struggling to remain calm. This woman's daughter was perhaps his only chance of finding his friend within a reasonable amount of time. Treasa claimed she was more skilled at tracking spells than any other local druid. And Arthur wouldn't know who else to ask.

Something dropped from a nearby tree, landing gracefully in front of Arthur. The sudden movement made his horse whinny in nervousness. Several swords came free of their sheaths as the knights edged closer to their king, ready to defend him with their lives. Arthur knew he didn't deserve their loyalty.

"Kerenza," Treasa said, her tone one of rebuke and irritation.

Arthur studied the girl standing before him, aware that she was doing the same to him. She had a braid of strawberry-blonde hair that hung to her waist. Her green eyes were just like her mother's. She had skin even paler than Merlin's, which was quite a remarkable feat.

If it wasn't for her very feminine figure - which he was sure Gwaine was ogling - Arthur would have assumed she was a boy as she wore a long green tunic over brown leggings. Her feet were bare. She was beautiful enough to be a court lady - such beauty seemed at odds with the forest around them.

She didn't seem very impressed with her evaluation of him. "This is the Once and Future King?" she asked doubtfully. Arthur wasn't sure why she was referring to him as the Once and Future King. What did that mean? "I thought he'd be more…Well, more."

"Kerenza!"

The girl looked at her mother, and the two of them stared at each other as though carrying on an entire silent conversation.

Arthur looked back at his knights, not quite sure what to make of this wild girl. Gwaine, as he'd expected, was smirking and unabashedly staring at the girl's ample bosom. Mordred looked amused. Leon, Elyan, and Percival seemed as bewildered as the king felt.

After a few minutes, Kerenza gave an annoyed huff. "All right, all right, Ma." She turned to Arthur and bowed deeply. "I apologize for my rude and insensitive behavior, sire," she said in a monotone. He had a feeling that she wasn't sorry at all.

Hmm. She reminded him a bit of a certain manservant he knew.

"No harm done. You must be Kerenza."

She rolled her eyes. "What gave it away, sire?" she asked sarcastically. She looked almost disgusted. "You're a bit of an idiot, aren't you?"

Arthur gaped. He had gotten used to Merlin calling him all sorts of unflattering names - prat, dollophead, cabbagehead, etc. - but a druid girl? He hadn't been expecting that.

Treasa looked horrified, her face scarlet. She didn't say anything else, but Kerenza sighed and rolled her eyes again. "I'm sorry," she snapped. Then she turned serious. She gazed somberly at the king. "I will do everything in my power to bring Emrys home safely, King Arthur. He is a beacon of hope to my people. Did you bring an item of his?"

Arthur nodded, tongue-tied. She was suddenly quite serious and almost…regal. It was unnerving. He couldn't keep up with her moods. He pulled Merlin's blue neckerchief from his saddlebag and handed it down to her.

She frowned at it, arching a single eyebrow. "Emrys wears a…headscarf?"

The king chuckled. He thought it would be better if he didn't mention the times he'd caught Merlin stealing dresses. "He wears them around his neck."

Kerenza snorted.

Gwaine chuckled. "He has an appalling sense of style." The druid girl gave Gwaine a flirty smile at that. "To be fair, though, he does look rather good in them."

"Hmm." She held the fabric in both of her hands. She whispered words in a strange language, and her green eyes became golden. Arthur had to resist the urge to recoil from her. He knew that magic wasn't evil, but some habits were hard to break.

She looked around, then she pointed. "That way." She mounted one of the horses near her mother, and began riding away. She tied the neckerchief around her own neck, seemingly without thinking about it. Arthur thought it suited her.

The rest of them followed, falling into a line. Mordred ended up in the front, beside Kerenza - they seemed very comfortable talking to each other. Percival and Leon fell back, covering the rear, with Elyan and Gwaine just in front of them. Treasa rode alongside Arthur.

Her cheeks and the tips of her ears were still flushed in embarrassment. "I apologize for my daughter's behavior. She can be quite civilized when she chooses to be. She just rarely chooses to be."

"As I said before, no harm done. How old is she?"

"Twenty-two years."

He had thought she was a little younger than that. She looked closer to nineteen or twenty years. "And how long has she been studying magic?" When she gave him a strange look, he just shrugged. "I've been finding myself rather curious about the study of magic lately."

She nodded. "Kerenza was four when we discovered that she had a talent for harnessing the magic in the world around her. She began training immediately, of course."

"She must be powerful," Arthur said thoughtfully, "To have been training since such a young age." Had Merlin been thinking of Kerenza as a possible Court Sorcerer? Was that why he'd been on his way to meet with Treasa?

Treasa sighed, shaking her head. "She is very skilled, but she is far too impulsive. She would make a terrible Court Sorcerer."

Arthur looked over sharply. "How did you -"

"Lucky guess." Somehow, he doubted it was all luck. And the wink that she sent him confirmed that. "I believe Emrys was coming to see if I would be a good fit for the position. I am a skilled sorceress, in my own right, though my daughter has long surpassed me. But Emrys is the one who needs to be Court Sorcerer. He has been wasting his time, trying to find another to take the role that rightfully belongs to him."

Arthur sighed. "I know. He's a stubborn man, Treasa." He glanced in her direction, surprised at her calm demeanor. "How are you able to speak about magic so freely with me? I followed my father's rulings for several years. I...persecuted sorcerers. My own best friend has been too afraid to be open with me about his magic."

"I have seen the future you will bring about, King Arthur. I have nothing to fear from you."

"Does Kerenza have your gift of seeing the future?"

"No."

They were quiet then. Arthur looked toward the front of the line, where Kerenza and Mordred were having an animated discussion about something. The girl was still wearing the neckerchief. He wondered if she had to keep contact with it for the spell to work.

She was certainly a wild one.

"Thank you," Arthur said. "For helping us."

Treasa smiled warmly at him. "You are very welcome."


Merlin stared at the bars of his cell. He couldn't figure out how Morgana had managed to block his magic. His magic! He knew that he wasn't the most powerful being to ever live - human sorcerer, yes. Living being, no. But he was still incredibly powerful.

And Morgana certainly wasn't powerful enough to cast a spell like that. Merlin had never even heard of a spell like that.

So how had Morgana heard of it? And how had she put it in place? Just who - or what - was the witch consorting with in order to have access to spells of such dark magic? And why? He was fairly certain that if she knew who he was, he'd be dead. Or, at the very least, he'd be on his way to death, probably quite painfully.

At this rate, he'd probably be dead anyway. The fact that there was something powerful enough to block his magic was a scary thought. He knew for a fact that it wasn't Morgana who had cast that spell. She wasn't strong enough to block his magic. But apparently, there was something that was strong enough. He wasn't exactly eager to find out what that something was.

He looked up when he heard heels clicking on the stone floor. He was surprised to see Morgana, carrying a tray with the usual daily meal: a lumpy roll, a bowl of watery broth, and a goblet of water.

He narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?"

She slid the tray under the cell door, sloshing the precious water and soup. "Arthur and several of his knights rode out of Camelot this morning," she told him smugly. "I think they plan on rescuing their little lost puppy."

He sighed. He was so tired of her games. She was just mocking him now. "And then what, Morgana? You'll enchant me again so I'll try to kill my king? That didn't exactly work for you last time, did it?"

She scowled, clenching her fists tightly. "Only because of Emrys. While Emrys is still alive, nothing I do will succeed. The Cailleach was right; he is my destiny and my doom. I cannot get what I want until he is gone."

Merlin's heart was beating wildly in his chest. "Emrys?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

Morgana sneered. "I'm not surprised that Gaius never did tell you about him. He's very talented at keeping important information to himself."

The warlock relaxed slightly. She obviously didn't know that he was Emrys. And what was that about him being her destiny and her doom? What did that mean? "Who is Emrys?"

"A thorn in my side." She began pacing. She continued to speak, but it was like she'd forgotten that he was even there. "I can't take the throne until Arthur is dead. I can't kill Arthur until Emrys is dead. I can't kill Emrys while he has his magic."

"What does that have to do with me and Arthur?"

"For some reason, Arthur considers you a friend."

Merlin nearly snorted at that. He considered Arthur his friend, of course, but he doubted the feeling was mutual.

"He'll come in to rescue you, and Emrys is sure to follow him." She smiled wickedly. Merlin suppressed a shudder. If she ever did find out his true identity, she would torture him. "As soon as he steps foot into this building, he won't be able to use his magic. Without his magic, he's nothing but a doddery old man. I can easily kill him, without my own magic, and then I can kill Arthur. And I'll let you watch everything. You can watch me take everything that you care about, just as I lost everything I care about."

Merlin shook his head. "Morgana, you're insane. You can put an end to all of this. Arthur is a good ki-"

"That throne belongs to me! I was the firstborn. If I were on that throne, magic would be legal again. My people wouldn't be hunted down and murdered. Innocent children wouldn't be killed."

He looked at her. Could she really be so blind to her own faults? "Except that you've already killed innocent people - men, women, children - in this pointless war of yours. You haven't given Arthur a chance to prove that he's not his father. In fact, all you've done is proven that you are just as wicked and unjust as Uther was."

Angry, Morgana stormed away.


No, seriously, guys. I have absolutely no control over Kerenza. I've never had a character be such a wild card before, and have such control over themselves. I have a plan for her, but at this point, I have no idea if she'll stick to the plan or not. I feel like I have no say in what my own original character does. I mean, she was originally supposed to be a princess of some random kingdom, only to show up for a chapter or two. And now...She's a barefoot, sassy, wild druid girl. What? I don't even know. Still, hope you guys are enjoying her so far because I have a feeling she's not going anywhere.